“Does this car have air conditioning now?” Ning Shu couldn’t help but ask, her surprise getting the better of her.

Before Assistant Cai could answer, he had already activated the air conditioning inside the car. “Yes, Comrade Ning, look, it’s right here. This car’s air conditioning was developed two years ago, and it has been installed in mass-produced cars this year.”

“Well, we really are quite lucky.” Ning Shu felt a wave of emotion; she almost wanted to cry.

Finally, air conditioning!

What comes after air conditioning?

Oh right, the beeper, and then the big brother phone, followed by compact mobile phones.

Thinking about it this way, Ning Shu felt a sense of hope for the future; the digital age was on the horizon.

But then she remembered that this would still take 20 more years.

Ning Shu calmed herself.

What was she even thinking?

In 20 years, she’d be an old lady, turning fifty.

“Comrade Ning, have you learned how to use it?” Assistant Cai asked, noticing that she seemed distracted.

“Ah… I’ve learned, thank you, Comrade Cai.” Ning Shu quickly snapped back to attention.

Although her mind was wandering, she had been listening.

“Why don’t you give it a try?” Cai asked, a hint of concern in his tone.

“Sure, no problem.” Ning Shu replied confidently, deftly turning on the air conditioning without a hint of hesitation.

She didn’t seem at all like someone who had just encountered car air conditioning for the first time.

After all, she had been ecstatic when she first learned about it.

“Comrade Ning, you’re quite impressive! It’s rare to see a woman with such boldness.” Assistant Cai said, though not intending to belittle women; it was just that, in this era, few women drove cars.

Ning Shu smiled, understanding his perspective.

Suddenly, she had a thought. “Comrade Cai, I think this car air conditioning is great. If only we could install one like this in our house.”

“Ah? Comrade Ning may not know, but air conditioning for homes has already been invented. The air conditioning in this car is actually a modified version of the home unit. Our country produced the first air conditioner ten years ago. However, it was quite expensive, so you don’t see it often,” Assistant Cai explained.

“What?” Ning Shu felt as though she had wasted years without knowing such important information.

She blamed herself for not paying closer attention during her visits to department stores; if she had known air conditioning existed a decade ago, she wouldn’t have endured the heat and cold for so long.

“However, at that time, air conditioning was used only in special situations. It wasn’t until 1974 that residential air conditioning was developed, also known as window air conditioning,” Assistant Cai added.

“Do you know how much the current air conditioning costs?” Ning Shu asked.

“A little over 2,000,” Cai replied.

He was well aware of the price. “Air conditioning consumes a lot of electricity, so the electricity bill can be quite high. But Comrade Ning, the air conditioning in homes and in cars is different. The car’s air conditioning can both cool and heat, while home air conditioning can only cool and cannot provide heat.”

“Oh?” Ning Shu understood that the car’s heating mechanism utilized the engine’s heat, which indeed made it different from home air conditioning.

However, she figured that while overheating could be dangerous, being cold could also be life-threatening.

As long as it cooled effectively, she was satisfied. “So, if we want to buy a home air conditioner, do we need some sort of voucher? An air conditioning voucher? I haven’t heard of such a thing before.”

“Yes, you do need one,” Cai said. “But since air conditioning is so expensive, I haven’t seen it in anyone’s home yet.”

In this era, the average salary for workers was about 30 yuan, with some earning more and some less.

In cities, double-income families were more common.

If you calculate it roughly, an annual salary would be about 1,000 yuan.

After deducting everyday expenses, saving two to four hundred yuan was already quite impressive.

Given that air conditioning costs over 2,000 yuan, it would require a double-income family to spend seven or eight years’ worth of savings to buy one.

Clearly, few could afford it.

If Ning Shu were living such a frugal life, she wouldn’t even consider spending seven or eight years’ worth of savings on an air conditioner. “So, Comrade Cai, do you have any way to get an air conditioning voucher?” she asked directly, her straightforward nature shining through.

Assistant Cai, having reached his position through cleverness, understood her implication.

He chuckled, “I’ll ask around. If Comrade Ning is interested in air conditioning, we could promote it a bit; who knows, it might stimulate consumption among the public. That would be a good thing.”

Ning Shu thought that people in this line of work really knew how to talk. “Thank you, Comrade Cai. If possible, I’d like two tickets,” she said.

She didn’t mention whether she had the money to buy them; she just wanted to prepare the tickets first.

“I understand,” Comrade Cai replied.

It was beneficial for him to get on good terms with the Lin family.

Lin Guodong was the team leader, and Lin Hairui was a valuable athlete.

Building a relationship with them could only help him.

After chatting for a while, Ning Shu gave Comrade Cai the gas money since the car’s tank was full.

When Comrade Cai was about to leave, Ning Shu invited him to lunch, but he declined.

As soon as Comrade Cai left, the three kids, known as Sanbao, Er Bao and Yi Bao, began to chatter excitedly.

“Mom, can you drive for me to see?” Yi Bao asked.

“Mom, what is air conditioning? It felt so cool when you turned it on earlier,” Erbao continued.

“Yeah, it’s cooler than a fan,” San Bao added.

Ning Shu replied, “You both get in the car, and I’ll drive you around the yard.”

The yard was spacious, but they could only go back and forth, without making turns.

Once the kids were in the car, Ning Shu explained, “This is called air conditioning. It can blow cold air in the summer and warm air in the winter. Scientists invented it, isn’t it amazing?”

“Wow, that’s really cool! It must be great to be a scientist,” Er Bao thought.

Although he admired athletes, he felt scientists were better because they invented things that benefit everyone.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Ning Shu said gently, not wanting to discourage him but also wanting to keep his dreams grounded.

“I’m just saying,” Er Bao replied. “I know I can’t be a scientist, but Big Brother and San Bao can. They’re so smart!”

Previously, Yi Bao and Er Bao thought scientists earned a lot of money, but now their view changed.

Air conditioning was truly a fantastic invention, better than a fan.

Yi Bao even thought that if he became a scientist in the future, he would invent something as good as air conditioning.

San Bao’s thoughts were also stirred.

He wanted money too, but he never thought about being a scientist.

He thought being a painter could also earn money.

The teacher at his training class said some paintings were very valuable, even more than TVs or refrigerators.

So, instead of being a scientist, he thought he could be a painter and use the money he earned to buy things invented by scientists.

Yay! San Bao felt his idea was great.

As the car moved, three kids were curious.

Since they had never seen their mom drive before, they were not scared even though it was their first time sitting in a moving car.

They felt the car moving backward.

“Mom, it’s moving! You’re amazing!” Er Bao exclaimed excitedly.

“Of course! I’m your mom,” Ning Shu said proudly, even though the car was going slowly.

She was cautious not to hit anything.

“Yeah, Mom is the best!” Yi Bao praised her.

“Mom is the best mom ever; other moms can’t drive,” San Bao chimed in.

When they were little, their mom used to praise them a lot.

Now that they were growing up, they began praising her.

Ning Shu felt so happy listening to her kids.

She smiled and drove around a bit before stopping, as she needed to prepare lunch. “If you’re hot, you can stay inside. I’ll check if the food is ready,” she said.

“Okay, go ahead, Mom,” they replied.

Er Bao enjoyed the comfortable air conditioning and didn’t want to get out.

But once Ning Shu left, San Bao had an idea. “Brother, can I go call Yu Chengci?” he asked.

“Sure, go ahead,” Yi Bao replied, although he also wanted to go.

Having a car was exciting for them.

If it were a car they bought themselves, they wouldn’t want to show off; they would be afraid of being called wasteful.

But since this car was a reward for Er Bao, they wanted everyone to know how great Er Bao was.

So, Yi Bao and Er Bao continued to sit in the car while San Bao went to find someone.

Yi Bao thought his brother was silly for wanting to call someone instead of enjoying the cool air.

Even if San Bao didn’t go, Yu Chengci would find out soon enough.

Since Yi Bao and Er Bao and Sanbao started middle school, Yu Chengci’s mom had put more pressure on him.

Now that it was summer vacation, he had to do homework every other day, with his brother supervising him.

He couldn’t wait until the last few days before school to copy homework like before.

“Yu Chengci… Yu Chengci…” San Bao called out.

Yu Chengci was eating lunch, and his brother was going to supervise him again after lunch when he heard San Bao’s voice.

“Lin Haiyang!” Yu Chengci ran out, seeing San Bao had already entered the yard.

“Yu Chengci, we have a car now! It has air conditioning! Do you know what that is? It blows cold air in summer and warm air in winter. Are you hot? Want to try the cool air? It’s so comfortable!” San Bao said rapidly.

“I know about air conditioning,” Yu Chengci replied. “The Ling family has one, but can they really fit such a big one in a car? Plus, the Ling family’s air conditioning only blows cold air.”

“Come check out my family’s car!” San Bao urged. “Hurry up; I’m sweating! I want to go enjoy the air conditioning!”

“I’ll ask my brother. You go ahead,” Yu Chengci said.

“Okay, I’ll see you later!” San Bao ran off, excited to enjoy the cool air.

But as soon as San Bao got home, the two brothers from next door came over, curious about the car.

Not just Yu Chengci, but also Yu Chengyuan was interested.

He had never seen a car with air conditioning and couldn’t imagine how such a big machine could fit inside a car!