ryethenovel Chapter 64 Adding a Three-Wheeled Vehicle
Chapter 64 Adding a Three-Wheeled Vehicle
Xu Chunsheng's inner thoughts: ...
Anyone who didn't know better would think you brought my sister back.
Tang Changping continued:
"I brought Chunhua's..."
Tang's mother was also an impatient person; before she could even finish listening to Tang Changping's words, her voice had already reached Xu Chunsheng's ears outside the house.
"Why didn't you tell me you were bringing Chunhua back?"
Tang Changping then realized that his first sentence had been ambiguous and hurriedly tried to correct it:
"No, it's not..."
But his elderly mother arrived even faster than he could correct her.
Zhang Xiulan pulled aside her son who was blocking the doorway, revealing Xu Chunsheng standing on the stairs.
……
The two exchanged an awkward glance, and Tang Changping, standing to the side, also said awkwardly:
"It's Chunhua's younger brother, Chunsheng."
"Cough cough."
Xu Chunshan cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence between the two, and called out to Tang's mother with a smile:
"Hello, Auntie. Chunhua didn't come; Chunsheng did."
"I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I brought some fruit for you and your uncle."
Zhang Xiulan was amused:
"Okay, okay, come in and sit down."
"You're just here to have fun, why did you bring anything?"
Zhang Xiulan turned around and called for Xu Chunsheng to come inside and sit down:
"My son Changping even mentioned that you took him home for dinner back then. Thank you for your help."
After Xu Chunsheng sat down, she also sat down in the chair opposite him.
"Your uncle went out to buy fertilizer, he'll be back in a bit."
……
Zhang Xiulan is a talkative person, while Xu Chunsheng had worked in a factory, delivered goods, and worked as a courier and food deliveryman in his previous life, so he could talk about a little bit about everything.
Tang Changping occasionally chimed in, so the two chatted quite well.
"You young people are really energetic. On this land, you set up a pig farm, and now you want to learn how to brew wine. One thing after another, you dare to think and do, and you're not afraid of hardship."
"Click." The door was pushed open.
Xu Chunsheng looked towards the door and saw a man in his fifties holding a few gardenias in one hand and pulling out a key with the other. There was also a bag of fertilizer at his feet.
This must be the male owner of this house—Tang Yongnian.
Xu Chunsheng stood up and greeted the people at the door:
"Hello, Uncle."
Tang Yongnian nodded slightly:
"Yes, hello, please sit down."
Tang Yongnian closed the door, took the flowers he had folded, and went straight to his wife's side:
"The gardenias in Old Yang's yard are blooming, I picked two for you."
Zhang Xiulan took the flowers and said with a smile:
"How many flowers did you pick from Old Yang's yard?"
"It's alright, he has plenty there. Once mine is planted, we won't need to pick his anymore."
Xu Chunsheng restrained himself from looking at the malnourished-looking stems and a few leaves on the balcony, as he couldn't recognize what kind of plants they were.
Tang Changping was different; he stared at the flowerpots on the balcony:
"Dad, you should pick the ones from Uncle Yang's house instead. I'm afraid yours won't be able to open."
Xu Chunsheng looked at Tang Changping with some surprise: I didn't expect Teacher Tang to be so brave at home.
Tang Yongnian ignored his son and sat down next to his wife.
"I heard you're opening a winery. Is everything ready?"
After saying that, he continued to criticize, fearing that Xu Chunsheng was overconfident and underestimated the importance of brewing wine:
"Brewing wine is not something you can just talk about. It's normal for beginners to have bad-tasting wines in their first few batches. It takes a long time to accumulate experience and slowly hone your skills to brew good wine."
Xu Chunsheng sat up straight, his attitude sincere and humble as he spoke:
"Uncle is right. I've learned some things from the book these past two days, but doing it myself is definitely not as easy as it's described in the book. I would like to ask Uncle for some guidance."
Seeing that Xu Chunsheng did not show any dissatisfaction because of his reprimand, Tang Yongnian nodded inwardly.
"Have you got all the tools?"
"It's all ready, washed, and hung up to dry."
……
The two quickly finalized their plan to help Xu Chunsheng's family through a question-and-answer session.
Seeing that the conversation had almost ended, Tang's mother warmly invited Xu Chunsheng to stay for lunch:
"Chunsheng, don't rush off. Have lunch with us. I'll just cook a couple of simple dishes."
Xu Chunsheng was about to decline when Tang Yongnian interrupted him:
"Stay for dinner."
His words, though seemingly casual, carried an undercurrent of unyielding authority.
Xu Chunsheng swallowed the words that were about to come out and changed his words:
"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Auntie."
Xu Chunsheng chewed the food in his mouth, his brows slightly furrowed, but he didn't show it on his face at all.
Zhang Xiulan's cooking was strange; it was neither salty nor bland, and had an indescribable texture. It felt like there was something stuck between your teeth and lips when you ate it, and the more you chewed, the more awkward it became.
He glanced at Tang Changping with a hint of existential doubt, only to see the man calmly and methodically eating his rice, occasionally picking up a piece of vegetable, eating slowly and deliberately.
Turning to look at Tang Yongnian, he also appeared completely calm and composed.
Xu Chunsheng swallowed the food in his mouth and, following Tang Changping's example, ate more rice and less vegetables.
After the meal, Xu Chunsheng chatted with Zhang Xiulan for a while before leaving.
"Auntie, come to my house sometime, and we can chat."
"Okay, then drive carefully on your way back."
Xu Chunsheng made an appointment with them for a pick-up tomorrow before leaving.
As Xu Chunsheng was going down the stairs, he kept sighing: "Auntie has it tough. She's a quiet person all over the place, and she hardly ever says a word."
Xu Chunsheng wandered around the streets for a long time before finally finding someone selling live fish at the market. After buying the fish, he bought some other things before going home.
When Xu Chunsheng arrived home, he saw two large earthenware jars under the eaves, filled with soaking corn.
Looking at the two large jars, Xu Chunsheng realized that he should buy a large plastic bucket specifically for soaking grains, as plastic buckets are lighter and less prone to breakage than earthenware jars.
After briefly telling his family about his visit to Tang Changping's parents that day, he prepared to get some accessories added to his tricycle.
Aside from the first time I drove the tricycle home and had people in the cargo bed, I've been busy with other things ever since and haven't carried anyone else in it.
Tomorrow I'm going to pick up Tang Changping and his son, so I'll need to put the whole bench inside.
Xu Chunsheng first measured the distance between the left and right sides of the truck bed, then sawed two thick, long wooden planks that were 20 centimeters wider than the truck bed, and laid them steadily across the sides, just enough to rest on the iron frames on both sides.
The older sister helped nail a short strip of wood to the bottom of each end of the wooden board, wedging it inside the frame to prevent it from sliding forward during sudden braking and causing a fall.
Xu Chunsheng then brought over a long wooden bench and placed it between two wooden planks. After securing it, he first nailed the bench legs from the bottom of the planks upwards with iron nails. Then he pulled over a few thick iron wires and repeatedly wrapped them tightly around the bench legs, planks, and the edge of the truck bed, twisting them into a figure-eight braid. After wrapping them tightly, he stuffed the broken ends into the gaps to prevent scratches.
With everything almost done, Xu Chunsheng shook the stool vigorously, sat down to test it, and seeing that it was stable and sturdy, he considered the job complete.
Xu Chunsheng sat in the truck bed, looking at his sister with a teasing expression:
"Sis, I'll go and bring Teacher Tang back to you tomorrow!"