Return To 1990

Water Leakage

 Lu Feng stopped, turned around condescending, only to see a diverse kind of scenery from above. He hurriedly looked away and asked, “W-What’s the matter?”

 He Yanli felt him getting embarrassed, and she was secretly proud. After all, she was a few years older than Jiang Xiaoyan and she was more charming. She deliberately stood up and said, “The relationship between our families is very close. When you have time, let’s have a meal together. Come to my apartment and let me serve some good food.”

 “That is not necessary. Xiaoyan is very busy; she leaves early and returns late, so she does not have much free time.”

 “She’s not free but you are, I have half a bottle of Laobaigan left, want some?” He Yanli blinked her eyes seductively, as if they could talk.

 If it was an ordinary person she was talking to, he definitely would not be able to resist her, but Lu Feng has seen similar scenarios before; he smiled and said, “Sister He, how many years has it been since you have been widowed?”

 “Only Two or three years!” He Yanli said, raising her eyebrows.

 “I think it’s time you find a companion and live your life well. Life should be a common struggle. Life shouldn’t be just leaning on whoever has more power. People in power won’t get anything in the end.” Lu Feng finished speaking and went upstairs.

 “Why are you being so snobbish with your words?” He Yanli’s expression was unpleasant to the extreme, she reached out and pulled her blouse back up, covering her exposed cleavage and muttered, “I don’t believe it anymore. Are there any men who don’t want to eat meat?”

 Lu Feng returned home and sat on his bed, thinking to himself that he must stabilize his financial condition before his lies get punctured. These people are now pleased with themselves and once they have given enough, they will expect something back in return.

 When the time comes, the imaginary old man behind Lu Feng, or something with someone on it, is self-defeating. He must earn the first pot of gold as soon as possible to make himself stand firm.

 In rural areas, the price of a can is 30 cents. If it is exchanged for grain from the farmers there, it would allow him to make profit by selling grain to the bureau for high prices. Corn, that is now seven cents a catty in retail, can be bought by the Grain Bureau for more than 8 cents a catty!

 The main cost of canning food is: saccharin, fruits, water, labor, electricity and canned bottles. All of which when added up, makes the cost only eight to nine percent of the 30 cents!

 “If you count the difference in cost price of the cans and the selling price the grain will be sold to the bureau, the profit margin is a whopping 345%!” Lu Feng was stunned after calculating the profit.

 Profitable! 

 The current rural area is still a small peasant economy and self-sufficient. The demand for clothes, shoes and industrial food is extremely large. Road traffic is inconvenient, resulting in semi-isolation from the city and making the local market unprecedentedly strong.

 Lu Feng finally understood why during the 2008 global financial crisis, selling home appliances and automobiles in the countryside could have saved the domestic economy.

 “Now just get the canned bottles and then, wait to make a fortune!”

 Lu Feng was a little excited, but gloomier. The glassware factory is not easy to cheat!

 “It’s not good or easy to cheat, but you must cheat!”

 When Lu Feng finished talking to himself, he laughed out loud. When others are reborn in novels, they become arrogant. The first pot of gold in his own rebirth was from deceit, and he is playing tricks everywhere, which is quite laughable.

 Lu Feng heard the sound of the door opening. Jiang Xiaoyan opened the door and Duo Duo rushed in, holding her new doll in her arms, and threw herself straight into Lu Feng’s arms exclaiming, “Baba! have you bought something for me?”

 “Your dad isn’t a money printing machine; he can’t buy good things for you every day.” Jiang Xiaoyan changed her shoes and while looking at Lu Feng asked, “Why do you dress like that nowadays?”

 Lu Feng glanced down, only to realize that he had forgotten to change his clothes, and hastily said, “Just found it and put it on to have the feeling of being newly married again.”

 “You hated it till now!” Jiang Xiaoyan blushed then said, “Why are there so many people downstairs? What are they talking about?”

 “It’s okay, it’s Li Da Fang: her cousin is here.”

 Jiang Xiaoyan was cooking and talking to Lu Feng about her work at the restaurant and factory today. Duo Duo was lying on the bed and combing the doll’s hair.

 The family then had supper and Jiang Xiaoyan counted the debts owed. She then quietly looked at Lu Feng and asked, “When I went out in the morning, I saw your buddies waiting for you at the door.”

 Seeing her like this, Lu Feng was afraid of her crying again while eating, and hurriedly said “I-“

 “You don’t need to explain it to me. I should be content. I just want you to go to work; I can pay back the money you owed!” Jiang Xiaoyan sulked and ate her meal, she already felt very happy.

 At least for the past few days, he hasn’t come back drunk and menacing, he doesn’t beat me, and he has changed a lot!

 Lu Feng could only sigh and eat. 

The rest of the day will be long, so take your time. First try and solve the canning bottle problem.

 Duo Duo felt the tight atmosphere and felt that it was similar to the past. Holding a big bowl, her eyes were full of panic.

 After eating, Lu Feng took the initiative to help Xiaoyan wash the dishes and the two stood together silently while washing the dishes. There was nothing to say; It seemed that yesterday’s ambiguity had approached the critical point, like a gorgeous firework which was fleeting in the blink of an eye.

There is no TV in the household and if the lights are on, it consumes electricity; hence, at nine o’clock in the night, all three family members went to bed early. Duo Duo got up from her bed, looked at Lu Feng and said naively, “Baba, come and sleep here, it’s okay!”

Lu Feng looked at Duo Duo standing on the mat where the two slept, smiled and said, “If Dad sleeps there, your mother will get hot.”

 Originally, it was an ambiguous sentence; therefore, Jiang Xiaoyan did not respond. She just pressed Duo Duo on the bed and gently patted her back to coax her to sleep.

 Lu Feng also turned his head to doze.

 In the gloom, Jiang Xiaoyan’s expression revealed a touch of disappointment. 

Should I still wait for his initiative? was the question plaguing her heart.

 That night, He Yanli couldn’t sleep. She rolled over and over again, thinking about Lu Feng sitting in the passenger seat of the Santana again and again in her mind.

 The next morning, Lu Feng drowsily heard a fierce knock on the door. He opened his eyes and asked drowsily, “Who?”

 “I, He Yanli, please help me, the water pipe at home is cracked.” He Yanli’s voice was very anxious.

 “I’m not a plumber, go find a professional!” Lu Feng spoke as he put on his clothes.

 “There is water everywhere in my home, you can at least help me find the valve!”

 Lu Feng opened the door, He Yanli stood outside the door in thin clothes. She stretched out her hand, pulled Lu Feng and ran towards her apartment.

 As soon as he walked in, he observed that the apartment was full of water. The water was coming out nonstop from the kitchen plumbing.

 The faucet was broken and could not be turned off. Lu Feng searched for a while, found the on-off valve, turned it off, turned around and said, “It’s down here. Just change the faucet.”

 “Thanks for your hard work, I disturbed your sleep.” He Yanli was embarrassed.

 “It’s okay, no problem.” Lu Feng said, and looked around the room. The quilt on the bed was still spread out. There was underwear beside the bed everywhere, making him not know where to look in the small apartment, “I’ll go back now!”

 “Don’t, you can sit here as long as you like.” He Yanli said, grabbing Lu Feng’s hand and said, “This Sister’s home is disorganized, and there is no place to sit. You can have a seat on the bed.”

 She then pushed Lu Feng onto her bed.