Zhou Cheng only opened the items Xia Xiaolan had sent through others on the third day of the New Year, and what he had asked his subordinate to mail also arrived after the New Year.
The package contained two cartons of Zhonghua cigarettes.
Various carefully wrapped pastries.
Cosmetics bought from Beijing’s Friendship Store.
A small gun assembled from bullet casings.
The most valuable items should be the Foreign Exchange Certificates Zhou Cheng had tucked inside. He said that since winter was cold, the certificates plus money could buy two washing machines, so his future mother-in-law and aunt wouldn’t have to wash clothes in the cold weather.
Oh, the word “future” was added by Xia Xiaolan – in his letter, Zhou Cheng had simply said mother-in-law and aunt.
He also asked about Uncle Liu Yong’s back injury and whether it had fully healed, including two ginseng roots in the package to help strengthen his uncle’s health.
This package, never mind the thoughtfulness – these items themselves were very expensive.
The cigarettes and pastries were the cheapest, the cosmetics were quite expensive, Foreign Exchange Certificates were hard to obtain, and the two ginseng roots were as thick as Xia Xiaolan’s little finger.
“…Xiaolan, do you like watching TV? When I save up more Foreign Exchange Certificates, I’ll send them so you can buy a television. You could use these certificates to buy a TV first, but I still think washing machines are the invention that must change one’s quality of life. Missing you, Cheng.”
Xia Xiaolan’s teeth ached with emotion.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford televisions or washing machines and other appliances now, but she felt the money was more useful kept aside, so she hadn’t bought any appliances.
Zhou Cheng was right – television was optional, but washing machines were something both she and her uncle’s family needed.
She hadn’t thought it through as carefully as Zhou Cheng. Liu Fen and Li Fengmei were both their families’ “washing forces,” and winter clothes were very heavy – cotton jackets couldn’t be put directly in water, and the outer layer had to be taken apart to wash the cover. But jeans couldn’t be taken apart, and the stiff denim needed hand washing… It wasn’t just winter – washing clothes was troublesome any time!
Xia Xiaolan took everything out – the cosmetics were for the women, the pastries were for everyone, the Zhonghua cigarettes were definitely for Liu Yong, as were the two ginseng roots. As for Foreign Exchange Certificates, besides Xia Xiaolan, only Liu Yong had heard of them.
Although they had moved to live in Shangdu, none of them had even scrubbed the mud off their trouser legs clean, let alone used any Foreign Exchange Certificates.
How to use these things, where to go buy things – asking Liu Fen and Li Fengmei would certainly draw blank stares!
But Xia Xiaolan said they could buy washing machines and imported ones at that.
Liu Fen didn’t say anything, but Li Fengmei’s eyes lit up: “Can we buy a TV?”
As for washing machines, Li Fengmei wasn’t really that desperate for one – hadn’t she been washing clothes by hand for so many years? It wasn’t like she could wash in the countryside but suddenly became delicate in the city.
She wanted a television. When Xia Xiaolan said the Foreign Exchange Certificates could buy an imported color TV, Li Fengmei was tempted.
Some villagers already had color TVs. At first, only Uncle Da’s family had a black-and-white television. In summer evenings, villagers liked going to Chen Wangda’s house for cool air, all gathering in the courtyard to watch TV, staying until the TV programs ended and snow appeared on the screen before reluctantly leaving the courtyard.
Everyone brought their small stools to sit in the courtyard. Li Fengmei, bothered by mosquitoes, had only gone twice.
If they had their own imported color TV, it wouldn’t need to be big to make her happy.
Li Fengmei was thinking about discussing with her niece whether they could use the certificates for a TV instead of washing machines. After all, these were gifts from Zhou Cheng. Liu Yong said Foreign Exchange Certificates were exchanged with US dollars, only foreigners could get them – if not for Xiaolan, why would Zhou Cheng care about her and Liu Yong?
When Xia Xiaolan took out the two ginseng roots, Liu Yong and Li Fengmei stared in amazement.
“What’s this?”
“…Looks like, like ginseng, similar to what Uncle Da soaks in his wine jar.”
Liu Yong wasn’t sure.
He and Li Fengmei were even less likely to have seen ginseng – Yunan Province didn’t produce it. Maybe it could be found in traditional medicine shops, but that might not be wild ginseng.
Liu Fen knew even less.
Nobody in the Xia family had eaten this thing. She remembered hearing stories about “ginseng babies” when she was young, but those were just stories – she had never seen real ginseng.
Zhou Cheng said he found it to strengthen Liu Yong’s health. Xia Xiaolan guessed it wasn’t cultivated ginseng – looking at its thickness, it must have grown for at least seven or eight years if not ten.
“It’s not a ginseng baby, it’s wild ginseng, looks to be about twenty years old… Zhou Cheng said it was to strengthen Uncle’s health. Aunt, you should stew it with chicken for my uncle. Cut about a third at a time – one root can be used for three stews.”
Using a whole root would work too, but Xia Xiaolan worried Liu Yong might get a nosebleed.
In movies and TV shows, even the ginseng whiskers had great medicinal properties – those must have been old mountain ginseng of several decades. As for claims about 500-year-old ginseng, Xia Xiaolan thought that was nonsense. Such premium items would be reserved for truly important people’s longevity – ordinary people couldn’t even dream of smelling hundred-year-old ginseng.
If hundred-year-old ones were hard to find, twenty or thirty-year-old ones should be obtainable, right?
Xia Xiaolan realized this was 1984 – the chances of buying real wild ginseng were at least a hundred times higher than in 2017! Besides hoarding houses, perhaps she should also stock up on such precious medicinal materials that would become increasingly rare in the future.
Xia Xiaolan made a mental note of this.
Liu Yong touched the two ginseng roots, thinking about discussing with Li Fengmei whether they could stew one and keep the other for soaking in wine.
Xia Xiaolan then divided up the cosmetics. These weren’t ordinary items you could buy anywhere but imported cosmetics only available at places like the Friendship Store. Li Fengmei and Liu Fen refused to take them, so Xia Xiaolan had to keep them for now.
The adults all had gifts, and Liu Zitao’s mouth was stuffed full of pastries – whether from eating too much or from anger, his cheeks were puffed out.
But when Xia Xiaolan gave him the small gun made from bullet casings, Liu Zitao swallowed his pastries and nearly choked. Li Fengmei quickly gave him a bowl of water. Red-faced from choking, Liu Zitao spoke between heavy breaths:
“Is this, is this gun for me?”
Getting Xia Xiaolan’s confirmation, Liu Zitao clutched the bullet casing gun tightly and jumped high:
“Thank you, brother-in-law! My brother-in-law is the best!”
How people nowadays admire Zhou Cheng’s profession! With this bullet casing gun, Liu Zitao would be unrivaled in the countryside. Even at his elementary school in Shangdu, showing it off would make kids his age kneel and call him Brother Tao. Some silly kids might even call him daddy just to touch and play with the bullet casing gun.
For Liu Zitao right now, this gun was more effective than any amount of red envelope money.
The little kid couldn’t fully appreciate the charm of cash yet, but he loved this bullet casing gun – it was something he wouldn’t give away for any amount of money. Forget Chen Qing’s brother, he only had one brother-in-law, and that was Brother-in-law Zhou Cheng!
Everyone was happy.
Seeing everyone’s joy, how could Xia Xiaolan not be happy?
Zhou Cheng was so good at giving gifts, each item showing such thoughtfulness. Even if he hadn’t saved Liu Yong’s life, with a few more gestures like this, which of Xia Xiaolan’s family members wouldn’t he win over?