Chapter 524: Gossip-Eating Life-Saving System (23)

Hearing the old lady say this, Guo Lihua smiled and agreed, thinking that she still had a Yellow Croaker Fillet at home she intended to steam for New Year's Eve, and decided she would cut half of it to bring over later.

Seeing the Guo family exchange for a Pomelo to take back, Wang Yumei felt a stir of impulse in her heart.

She and Lu Ziwen were both employees at the power plant, so naturally, they received a double portion of the New Year goods issued by their unit.

Thinking of the Pomelo's crisp sweetness, she gritted her teeth, picked out a pound of the largest walnuts from her two pounds, and carried them to the Xie Family.

"Yang Yang, can I trade these walnuts with you for a Pomelo? I've tasted the flavor of a Pomelo before, but your Brother Lu hasn't, and I want to let him have a taste too."

Xie Yang also exchanged one for her.

At this, the neighbors seemed to have received a signal and all set out in succession:

Kang Dama scooped up a pot of glutinous Yellow Wine that her son had sent for her husband to drink and asked Xie Yang to exchange it for a Pomelo; Luo Caifeng carried a small half-pound of two-finger-wide dried fish and also exchanged it for a Pomelo; the Zhang Baogen family was reluctant to part with good things, as their money and coupons had to be saved for their son to marry a wife, so Li Axiang brazenly brought over two sweet potatoes and a head of cabbage.

Xie Yang glanced at Zhang Xiaolian, who was timidly hiding behind Li Axiang, said nothing, and also exchanged a Pomelo for the Zhang Family.

"Mom! I saw the other families all looking for the Xie Family to exchange for Pomelos, let's go exchange for one too... no, let's exchange for two!"

Wang Lin had been eyeing the direction of the Main Room; seeing that in just this short while, the Xie Family had already traded away six Pomelos, and counting the one given to the postman, how many Pomelos could the Xie Family have left? What if they wanted to keep the rest to eat themselves and wouldn't trade anymore?

If you want good things, you have to trade for them early!

However, Niu Cuifen was so troubled by her son's marriage that she didn't even have the heart to celebrate the New Year, let alone the mood to trade for a Pomelo.

"Go, go, go! This kind of thing can't even be eaten as a meal, what are you trading for!"

Wang Lin was so angry she stomped her feet: "It was Brother who provoked you, not me, why are you taking your anger out on me."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Wang Tao lifted the door curtain and walked into the house; seeing the atmosphere was wrong, he immediately turned around.

"Taozi, you stand right there!" Niu Cuifen chased after him, "Where is your salary for this month?"

Wang Tao looked somewhat helpless: "Mom, I've already gotten engaged to Xuefang, I have to send her family holiday gifts, right? You wouldn't give me money to prepare them, so I had to use my salary to buy them."

"What! You spent all your salary?" Niu Cuifen was so angry she could barely stand, "What's the rush for holiday gifts! It wouldn't be too late to send them after the factory issues the New Year goods."

"The New Year goods have already been issued," Wang Tao scratched his head.

"Issued? Then where are the New Year goods?" Wang Lin rushed out and asked.

She still wanted to trade with Xie Yang for two Pomelos!

Wang Tao stammered and did not answer.

As soon as Niu Cuifen saw her son's pathetic look, she knew they had been taken to curry favor with his object of affection.

The mere thought that her daughter-in-law had already gotten a hold of her son before even entering the family made her feel terrible.

Thus, the other families in the Dazayuan watched another spectacle from the Wang Family.

The most enthusiastic of them all was Zheng Miaomiao.

Come to think of it, the gossip about the Wang Family had sustained her life for two or three months now.

Now, her lifespan value had accumulated to two years.

Of course, besides the neighbors in the Dazayuan, her classmates and teachers at school, pedestrians on the main road, and colleagues at her parents' workplaces had also contributed quite a bit of gossip material.

In short, two years of life was the result of her unremitting gossip-eating.

It wasn't easy!

It truly wasn't easy!

But regardless, for someone who was originally on the verge of death, being able to extend her life by two years just by eating gossip was truly not bad!

She was very content.

So this winter break, she planned to comfortably hunker down at home to hibernate; it was too cold outside, and she didn't want to freeze into a dog just for the sake of gossip.

Of course, if there was gossip delivered to her door, it would be a waste not to eat it!

Taking advantage of the clear weather, Xie Yang took a half-day off and made a trip to the Post Office to send out return gifts to the Qiu Family and the Chen Family.

The Chen Family sending New Year goods to her family was within her expectations.

So after the weather cooled down, every time she had a break, she would go to the black market to look around, buying whatever was suitable for New Year gifts and saving them to send together for the New Year.

But that the Qiu Family also rushed to send so many good things before the end of the year was something she hadn't expected.

Fortunately, while looking for New Year gifts for the Chen Family, she had also incidentally prepared quite a lot of New Year goods for herself; by splitting some off and making another round to the State-run Market, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and the black market, then adding some New Year goods and rewards issued by the Mechanical Factory, she managed to put together a decent return gift.

The crispy dates rewarded by the Factory Director, along with the dried apricots and persimmon cakes she had sun-dried when the weather was clear, were also sent to both families in amounts of three to five pounds each.

Taking advantage of the fact that it hadn't snowed yet, she hurriedly sent off the two packages that were bigger than she was.

"Xiao Xie! Xiao Xie! Let's go! Let's go collect the New Year goods!"

Just as she returned to the Mechanical Factory, Xie Yang was pulled by the warm-hearted head of the finance department to the Logistics Office to collect the New Year goods.

This year, the Mechanical Factory's performance was quite good, especially in the second half of the year; after Xie Yang helped the factory improve the machining precision of the lathes, several production workshops were so busy with business that they had to work three shifts every day.

When performance is good, benefits are good.

This year's New Year goods were several times better than in previous years.

Each employee received a small bundle of Salted Kelp, a piece of Salted Fish, a live chicken, and two pounds of dried peanuts.

The factory office, workshops, and Technical Department received an extra bucket of jellyfish heads compared to other positions.

The Technical Department received an extra half-pound bottle of small-mill sesame oil compared to other departments—this was specially approved by the factory leadership, and no one complained.

Seeing that there was a live chicken in this year's New Year goods, everyone was quite excited:

"It's so good this year? There's actually a live chicken?"

"Last year I was thrilled with half a salted chicken; I didn't expect there to be a live chicken this year! I hope the factory gets better year by year!"

"Everyone, don't forget to thank Comrade Xiao Xie!"

The head of the finance department, who handled the wages and bonuses, was the most aware of Xie Yang's contributions; she pushed Xie Yang to the front and said happily:

"Without Comrade Xiao Xie, our factory's performance would at best be on par with last year, and the New Year goods would still be half a salted chicken. Being able to eat a live chicken is all thanks to the contribution Comrade Xiao Xie has made to our factory."

"We really should thank Xiao Xie!"

The Factory Director, carrying his tea mug, also came to the Logistics Office and explained the origin of this batch of New Year goods with a beaming smile:

"The kelp, salted Fish, and jellyfish were brought to us by our sister units, with only one condition: after the New Year, they will send Technicians to our factory for exchange and study, and at that time, Xiao Xie will lead them for a few days. The live chickens and peanuts were secured for us by the higher-level department because the latest batch of components we delivered met the requirements for foreign trade exports. Tell me, shouldn't we thank Comrade Xie Yang?"

"That's a must. Xiao Xie, Uncle thanks you! You helped our factory secure such great benefits!"

"Thank you, Xiao Xie! If there's anything you need our help with later, just say the word!"

"Xiao Xie, if there's any work at home that needs doing, you can also look for us."

"Right, right, right! We can't help with your work, but we can still handle some washing, scrubbing, or manual labor."

"..."

Xie Yang was surrounded so tightly that not even water could pass through.

In the end, it was the Factory Director who helped her out of the predicament.

But this wave of enthusiasm lasted until she returned home...