Chapter 404: Stockpiling Coal and Vegetables

At half past five in the early morning, Li Ping'an opened his eyes in the darkness.

The wind outside was strong, making the window paper flutter with puffing sounds, as if an invisible hand were frantically slapping it.

He rose quietly, pulling on cotton trousers and a cotton jacket in the dark.

The coal stove in the main room had been sealed overnight; now, pulling back the ashes, the honeycomb coals below still glowed with dark red embers.

Adding a fresh chunk of coal, the flames gradually revived, licking the black coal holes.

Lin Xueqing also woke up, rustling as she slipped on her clothes and got off the kang.

"It's colder today than yesterday." Her voice thick with sleep, she said, "I'll make you two pancakes to take."

"Don't bother." Li Ping'an lowered his voice, "I'll just drink some hot water and go. You sleep a bit longer; it's so early and cold, you can still get a few more hours."

A dim yellow glow spread across the room, revealing the fatigue in her eyes.

Lin Xueqing nodded, "Then wear more warm clothes, don't catch a cold."

Li Ping'an dressed and came into the courtyard, lifting his head to look at the sky.

On the indigo sky, stars were sparse, a crescent moon hung slanting in the west, casting a clear, cold light.

The air was biting; drawing a breath made his lungs feel chilly.

The courtyard gate was lightly knocked.

Li Ping'an opened the courtyard gate with a flashlight in hand.

When Li Ping'an and Chen Jianghe pushed their cart to the vegetable station entrance, the line was already winding like a long snake.

At least fifty or sixty people were lined up ahead.

Shadows loomed, people crowded together in the pre‑dawn darkness, their exhaled white vapor condensing into mist in the cold wind.

"Goodness, this is even earlier than yesterday," Chen Jianghe stamped his frozen feet.

"Today is the official distribution, fifty catties per household per person," an old man in a military coat at the front turned back, saying, "Who wouldn't put in the effort? If you're late, you won't even get five catties, let alone fifty."

That's true; those who come later are left with the scraps others have picked over.

Stored winter cabbage determines the winter's food; every household in the city relies on it.

Some in the line brought small stools, sitting and dozing.

Some paced back and forth, stamping their feet to keep warm; usually they were elders or young men coming to buy.

Li Ping'an parked the cart at the roadside and stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Chen Jianghe in the line.

The sky gradually turned a bluish hue.

Like light ink diffusing on xuan paper.

The vegetable station's gate remained shut, but inside came voices, the rumble of carts, and the muffled thuds of heavy loads being moved.

The air carried the fresh scent of cabbage, mixed with the earthy sweetness of soil.

"Brother‑in‑law, do you think this year's cabbage will be as solid as last year's?" Chen Jianghe asked quietly.

"It depends on luck." Li Ping'an gazed toward the vegetable station, "Those who arrive first pick the good ones; those who come later get the leftovers. That's just how it is."

As they spoke, a commotion suddenly erupted behind the line.

Jia Zhangshi's sharp voice cut through the morning mist: "Make way! Make way! My family has a patient; we need priority!"

The crowd grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Who doesn't have difficulties?"

"Line up! Everyone line up!"

Jia Zhangshi pushed forward, saw Li Ping'an, and her eyes lit up.

"Ping'an, vouch for me—my son Bang Geng has a fever; I need to buy cabbage quickly to take home and care for the child!"

Li Ping'an frowned.

"Aunt Jia, everyone's already in line. If you're in a hurry, discuss it with those ahead."

"What's there to discuss!" Jia Zhangshi glared, "You're already at the front—what's the harm in letting me cut in?"

Someone in the line objected.

"Hey, how can you be like this?"

"We've been waiting half the night!"

Jia Zhangshi was about to throw a tantrum when the vegetable station's gate creaked open.

Several staff members came out carrying a large scale, led by a middle‑aged man wearing glasses.

"What's all the noise? Line up! Follow the allocated supply!"

Jia Zhangshi grudgingly shut her mouth, shot Li Ping'an a fierce glance, and retreated to the back of the line.

When the sun had fully risen, it was finally Li Ping'an's turn.

The staff member took the ration book, flipped to the winter vegetables page, and stamped it with a blue seal.

"Li Ping'an, Xi Kua Yuan, three people, one hundred fifty catties."

"Four." Li Ping'an corrected, "My daughter was registered last year."

The staff member rechecked and nodded.

"Four people, two hundred catties."

"Chen Jianghe, four people, also two hundred catties."

The cabbage was piled into small hills, gleaming with a bluish‑white sheen in the morning light.

Each stalk was about the thickness of a small arm, leaves tight, roots still damp with soil.

Li Ping'an squatted down, carefully selecting each stalk.

He picked only those that felt heavy, with thick leaves and solid cores.

This was an eye honed over many years.

Chen Jianghe also picked carefully, and the two of them had enough in a short while.

Together they weighed them, four hundred and three catties.

The staff waved their hands: "Don't count the remainder, just load it."

The cart immediately felt heavy.

They tied the rope and pushed the cart back.

The wheels rolled over the frozen road, emitting a squeaky groan.

Passing Hu Tong Kou, they ran into a few neighbors who had just bought cabbage.

Each was thirty or fifty catties, carried in burlap sacks on their backs or held in net bags.

Seeing the mountain-like cabbage on Li Ping'an's cart, some eyed it enviously, others curled their lips.

They really can buy it.

Others have money, after all.

Li Ping'an pretended not to hear.

Life is lived by oneself; one knows its own cold and heat.

Returning to Xi Kua Yuan, it was already close to noon.

Lin Xueqing helped unload the cart; seeing so much cabbage, she felt both happy and worried.

"This much—will it fit in the cellar?"

"Stack them." Li Ping'an wiped his sweat, "Move the potatoes to the corner, line up the cabbage neatly, leaving a gap in the middle."

The two went down to the cellar and worked for half an hour.

The cabbage was lined along the wall base, like a row of pale green soldiers.

Roots down, leaves up, neat and orderly.

The top was covered with a straw mat, both ventilated and frost-resistant.

Leaving the cellar, the sunlight was just right.

Li Ping'an washed his hands in the courtyard; Lin Xueqing brought hot water.

"Eat first; this afternoon we still need to buy coal."

Lunch was simple: stewed cabbage with vermicelli, and flatbread.

Li Yaozong came home from school, saw the cabbage stalks piled in the courtyard, and asked curiously, "Dad, are these not needed?"

"Needed." Li Ping'an picked up a piece of flatbread, "The outer old leaves are chopped to feed the chickens; the inner tender hearts are pickled into sour cabbage."

Xiao Nuanqing imitated her brother, breaking off a piece of flatbread to soak in the vegetable soup, eating with her face all smeared.

At two in the afternoon, Li Ping'an and Chen Jianghe set out again.

This time they went to the street office coal factory.

The supply of honeycomb coal was also quota-based; if you went late, the good coal would be gone.

Outside the coal factory, a queue still formed, though fewer people than at the vegetable stand.

After all, not every household is willing to buy honeycomb coal.

One catty costs two fen; two hundred catties cost four yuan.

Enough to buy ten catties of white flour.

Someone in the queue was discussing.

"I heard the coal lumps at the coal station are cheaper, saving one and a half fen per catty."

"Cheap is cheap, but it doesn't burn well. My family's coal lumps last winter burned five hundred catties and still didn't keep us warm."

"Then does honeycomb coal burn well?"

"It burns well!" a dark-skinned man interjected, "One piece of honeycomb coal equals three or four pieces of coal lumps. It's also clean, no ash falls indoors."

Li Ping'an listened quietly.

He already knew all this.

That's why he chose honeycomb coal.

The three rooms of the west wing courtyard relied on the coal stove for heating the kang, cooking, and warmth.

Coal lumps burn fast; at night one has to get up to add them two or three times.

Once sealed, honeycomb coal can last until dawn.

It saves effort and worry.

When it was their turn, the sun had already tilted westward.

Issuing the ticket, paying, loading the cart.

The honeycomb coal was tied with straw rope into neat stacks, placed on the cart.

Pushing it back, the wheel ruts grew deeper.

Passing the coal station, they saw several neighbors from the courtyard house buying coal lumps.

Liu Haizhong directed his son to move the coal, Yan Bu Gui was weighing, and Xu Damao squatted by the roadside smoking.

The coal lumps were black and irregular, filling several sacks to the brim.

While moving them, coal dust flew about, blackening faces and hands.

Seeing the honeycomb coal on Li Ping'an's cart, Xu Damao snorted.

"Yo, Chief Li is so well-off."

Li Ping'an didn't respond, just pushed the cart past.

Liu Haizhong straightened his waist, wiped a handful of sweat, looked at the honeycomb coal, his expression complex.

Yan Bu Gui flicked the abacus, muttering: "Honeycomb coal… two fen per jin… two hundred jin costs four yuan… four yuan can buy eight jin of white flour…"

Returned to the Siheyuan, the sky was already dusk.

Li Ping'an and Chen Jianghe unloaded the honeycomb coal under the eaves of the Xi Kua Yuan.

Stacked neatly, they covered it with a torn straw mat.

Lin Xueqing brought hot water, and the two washed the coal dust off their faces.

"Brother-in-law, I'm heading back." Chen Jianghe said, "I still have to go to work tomorrow."

"Go back, and take care on the road."

Seeing Chen Jianghe off, Li Ping'an stood in the courtyard, looking at the stacked coal and toward the cellar.

This winter's supplies are ready.

The cabbage is in the cellar, the coal under the eaves.

He felt at ease.

The aroma of food drifted from the main hall.

Lin Xueqing was stir-frying cabbage, using the cabbage hearts she had just bought that day.

Tender, sweet, with a fresh winter chill.

Li Ping'an walked into the room; the two children were hunched over the table doing homework.

The coal stove burned brightly, the honeycomb coal's flame steady and warm.

The room was warm, a layer of condensation had formed on the glass window.

"Dad, the teacher praised me today." Li Yaozong lifted his head, "I acted bravely for justice."

"How did you act bravely for justice?"

"A kid in my class was being bullied; I saw it and went to help, then the teacher came." The child's eyes shone, "I said my dad is a security cadre who catches bad guys and protects everyone."

Li Ping'an smiled and ruffled his son's head.

Xiao Nuanqing also came over, holding up her sketchbook.

"Dad, look at what I drew."

On it was a simple stick-figure person, big hand holding small hand.

Crooked, but you could tell it was a family.

"That's really good." Li Ping'an picked up his daughter.

Outside the window, the sky had grown completely dark.

In the Siheyuan, every household had lit their lamps.

The coal lumps' chimney belched black smoke, the honeycomb coal's chimney gave off thin smoke.

They intertwined, rising softly in the twilight.

From the Central Courtyard came Jia Zhangshi's scolding, probably complaining that the coal was hard to burn.

From the rear courtyard came Liu Haizhong's coughing, the coal dust choking him.

From the front courtyard came Yan Bu Gui's abacus clacking, still reckoning those few cents.

In the Xi Kua Yuan, the family sat around the table to eat.

Braised cabbage with tofu, flatbread, and millet porridge.

Simple, warm.

Li Ping'an placed a piece of tofu into his wife's bowl.

He also gave each of the two children a piece.

"Eat more, grow strong."

"You eat too." Lin Xueqing served him a bowl of porridge.

Under the lamplight, all four faces glowed warm.

Outside, the north wind still blew.

But inside, it was warm as spring.

This winter should not be too hard to endure.

Li Ping'an thought so, lifted his bowl, and slowly drank the porridge.

The days passed just like that.

Ordinary, genuine, solid.

That was enough.