Chapter 540: Gossip Survival System (39)

When Xie Yang and Gu Yu'an entered through the side gate, there were people in several of the households who walked out to greet Gu Yu'an.

Gu Yu'an grabbed a handful of Fruit Candy from his coat pocket and distributed them to everyone: "Xiao Xie and I are engaged, and the wedding date is set for National Day. I'm planning to decorate the bridal chamber during this time, so it might get a bit noisy, and I ask for your understanding."

"You're engaged? Congratulations, congratulations! It's just decorating a bridal chamber, what's the big deal!"

"If you need any help, just come to us. We might not be able to help with much else, but we have plenty of strength."

As long as he didn't refund their rent and make them move out to find other housing, that was fine!

In recent years, with the return of the Educated Youth to the cities, houses had become increasingly difficult to rent. A single old, broken, and small room would be priced at three or four yuan; how could it be as comfortable as living here!

Xie Yang watched with a smile as he responded to the tenants' greetings, not mentioning that she had no intention of changing the current rental model within the next ten years.

Ten years later, as they entered the nineties, house rentals and sales would spring up like bamboo shoots after rain. By then, she could take back the rented rooms, carry out an overall renovation, install floor heating and air conditioning, lay down floor tiles, remodel the bathrooms and kitchens, plant fruit trees in the corners, and create flower beds in front of the doors... no one would say anything even if the commotion was large.

But it was still too early for that.

"These are for you."

After the engagement, Gu Yu'an took the initiative to hand over his bankbooks and wages, looking at her with doting eyes as he said:

"I heard from Grandma that you are the one in charge of our family, and the one in charge has to manage these."

Xie Yang gave him a playful glance and took them.

There were three bankbooks in total, containing 1,850 yuan, 8,250 yuan, and 10,000 yuan respectively; the total actually exceeded twenty thousand.

In the year 1980, there couldn't be many "ten-thousand-yuan households" in the whole country.

Xie Yang looked at him in surprise: "Did you save all of this?"

Gu Yu'an shook his head: "The one with eight thousand two is what I've saved from my allowances, bonuses, and various subsidies over the years, and the one thousand eight hundred fifty is the house rent my aunt saved for me. This one,"

He lowered his eyes to look at the bankbook with over ten thousand, his expression indescribably desolate: "is what my parents left behind. It's their life savings plus the compensation for their deaths in the line of duty. I used some before I went to the army, and after I joined the army, I basically haven't touched it."

Xie Yang sighed softly, wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him: "Then we won't touch this one in the future either; let's just keep it as a memento from Mom and Dad."

Gu Yu'an rubbed her head: "That's not necessary. If your father-in-law and mother-in-law have spirits in heaven, they would be eager for you to spend more, to keep yourself healthy and plump, and to add a child or two to our Gu family in the future..."

"..."

He couldn't be serious for more than three seconds.

Xie Yang let go of him, but was held even tighter.

"I haven't counted the cash yet."

"You can count it while I'm holding you."

"..."

In the end, he sat on a chair, and she sat on his lap, counting while held by him.

There was a total of over six hundred and seventy yuan in cash in the wage envelope, which he said was the salary he received after transferring to the Public Security Bureau; after deducting daily expenses, the rest was all here.

Various tickets and vouchers were also stuffed casually into a kraft paper envelope.

However, those highly sought-after tickets with short validity periods, such as Grain Coupons, Oil Coupons, Sugar Coupons, Meat Coupons, and Non-staple Food Coupons, had already been spent by him after the two established their relationship; the bulk had been moved to her house, and a small portion had been sent to his aunt.

What remained were things like Bicycle Coupons, Watch Coupons, Foreign Exchange Certificates, Industrial Coupons, Coal Coupons, and Cloth Coupons.

She and he both had bicycles and watches, so these two types of tickets weren't needed for the time being; Coal Coupons were generally most in demand at the end of the year; as for Industrial Coupons and Cloth Coupons... they would need quite a few for the upcoming wedding, so was he secretly saving these up?

Xie Yang gave him a look that said, "Not bad, not bad, keep up the good work."

Gu Yu'an chuckled and lowered his head to kiss her.

But since they weren't married yet, after a brief taste, he restrained himself, stood up, and held her hand while explaining his ideas for the bridal chamber layout room by room.

"Three rooms. One will be like your house, with a front hall and a back kitchen; I'll build a warm kang in the hall, and I also plan to build a fireplace so it'll be warm when we bring Grandma and Xiao Shitou over to spend the New Year in winter. For the two bedrooms, one will be for us, and the other will be a guest room. Do you think we should build a kang or get a bed?"

Xie Yang thought for a moment: "Let's have a bed for our room."

She had passed by the Recycling Station a while ago and seen a Thousand-work Step Bed; if she repaired the broken parts and applied a new coat of lacquer, it would be a very fine antique.

If it weren't for the fact that her rooms already had beds, she would have moved it home long ago.

"We both have good body heat, so if we install a chimney stove, it won't be cold in winter. Let's build a kang in the guest room; even if Grandma and the others come to stay, it will mostly be in winter. Once the snow melts, travel is convenient, and she will definitely like sleeping on a kang."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

From then on, whenever they had time, they would come here to discuss the layout of the bridal chamber.

Of the two Ear Rooms on the sides, one was used for storage, and the other was converted into a bathroom.

The walls were painted white; the door frames and window frames were repainted with red lacquer; the cheap green window glass was replaced with new glass of higher transparency, and new curtains and door curtains were hung.

Gu Yu'an even climbed onto the roof to clean the gutters on the eaves, picking out the broken tiles and replacing them one by one with new ones.

Xie Yang, meanwhile, measured the dimensions of each room, drew blueprints, and communicated with the carpenter about custom-made furniture.

The empty rooms were gradually filled bit by bit with furniture and household items.

Working during the day, studying at night, and using their only rest days to decorate the bridal chamber—after a few months, both of them had lost a circle of weight.

Before the start of summer, Xie Yang decided to get some good things to nourish the whole family.

"Oh, Xiao Xie, off work already? What good things did you buy this time?"

Seeing Xie Yang pushing her bicycle in with a cloth bag hanging from the handlebars, Luo Caifeng, who was washing vegetables in front of the water basin, asked teasingly.

Xie Yang said with a smile: "It's good stuff."

It was venison!

She had wandered through the black market and seen someone selling game; remembering when she had hoarded deer antlers in the previous plane, she had also hoarded a batch of venison, so she took a piece out.

There was an old saying among the people—"Ten sheep are not as good as one deer."

Deer eat a hundred kinds of herbs and drink clear springs; the meat is delicate and tender, without the greasiness of Pork and the gamey smell of mutton, and the texture is crispier and more tender than beef. Most importantly, it is easy to digest and absorb, and in the Great Ye Dynasty, it belonged to the "immortal delicacy among meats" that only the nobility could afford to eat.

When people mentioned the most nourishing meat, it was certainly mutton. But mutton was suitable for winter, while venison was better for summer.

Hearing Xie Yang say this, Luo Caifeng guessed that it must be meat.

It had to be the Xie Family!

It had only been a few days, and they were eating meat again.

What Xie Yang took out was a piece of venison leg; she cut off a portion, waiting for Gu Yu'an to come home from work later so she could have him deliver it to her aunt's house.

She divided the remainder into two, slicing half into thin strips to be seasoned and marinated, then stir-frying them over high heat with ginger, garlic, cilantro, and bird's eye chili; the other half was stewed in a soup with milkvetch and Potato.

"So fragrant! Whose house is stewing meat again?"

"Besides the Xie Family, what other family can eat meat every few days?"

The neighbors who smelled this fragrance couldn't help but sniff their noses.

It was too fragrant!

Even the smoke drifting from the Xie Family chimney smelled fragrant!