Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Buying Big-Ticket Items

Wang Lianfa has been in contact with city folks more over the past six months and has picked up some of their ways. Kids shouldn’t just be cooped up at home; they need opportunities to go out and broaden their horizons. City kids just know more things.

Plus, it’s also what Liansheng and his wife want. Taking advantage of the summer vacation, they’re planning to take the kids to the city for a few days. Hong Ming and Hong Liang are even going to Huicheng for school.

When they heard he was going back, his mother and sister-in-law quickly started packing things for him to take back.

A few kids were so excited they nearly went crazy, eagerly packing their clothes.

In the blink of an eye, the house was empty, leaving only the two Wang brothers.

“Big brother.” Wang Lianfa handed his brother a cigarette, lit a match to help him light it, and said, “While we’re not home, all this land will have to rely on you and Sister-in-law to manage. During the busy wheat harvest and autumn harvest, don’t overwork yourselves; spend some money to hire people to help us…”

Wang Lianqi took a drag of his cigarette, suddenly looked up, interrupting his brother and said, “Hiring people, doesn’t that make us the landlords?”

Wang Lianfa shook his head and said, “Don’t worry, big brother. I’ve seen small restaurant owners in Huicheng who hire workers. I even asked Liansheng about it, and he said there’s a limit on the number, as long as it’s not too many. Hiring a person or two for our family is not a problem.”

Seeing that his brother was still frowning in disbelief, Wang Lianfa added, “You know, some old rightists and capitalists and landlords have been cleared. Hiring a few people to help with the autumn harvest really isn’t a problem.”

Wang Lianqi finally nodded, pondered for a moment, and made up his mind: “I’ll go back with you to see Hong Hui and also witness with my own eyes this individual business you talked about.”

Wang Lianfa laughed, “I just said, the policies here haven’t been fully implemented yet, it’ll still take some time. But there are quite a few small eateries, stalls, and street vendors now.”

“Hmm, no problem, I’ll just check it out.”

Ling Chengyan took a car out, didn’t go for a long drive, but still returned at around eight in the evening, with the sky fully dark.

Unexpectedly, upon entering, she saw both her cousins were there, Wang Liansheng was in the courtyard drinking and chatting with the two of them.

Inside the house, second sister-in-law Zheng Xiaotian had come over too, with a large group of children listening to the radio. When they saw Ling Chengyan enter, they were chattering excitedly, calling her fourth aunt or mom, making the place as noisy as if the roof would come off.

Ling Chengyan placed her luggage down with a smile and said, “You all came at just the right time.”

Just as she finished speaking, Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun came in with a few young men, carrying a large cardboard box and a long bamboo pole.

This scene drew everyone’s attention inside and outside the house.

Wang Liansheng looked a bit surprised at the young men pouring in, especially eyeing the box in Zhang Wanxiang’s arms with some disbelief. He turned to his wife: “Is that…?”

Ling Chengyan smiled and nodded, “You’ve guessed it.”

Saying that, she quickly called two young men inside to bring out a chair to place the box on.

“Is it really a TV?” Wang Lianfa also saw the words on the box.

Of course, the box also had a picture of a television on it; even those who couldn’t read would know what it was from the image.

Wang Lianfa had seen one at the department store, but Zheng Xiaotian, who had mostly stayed home over the past six months, hadn’t seen one. She’d only heard her husband mention it, calling it a box where you could see people. Unlike radios, which you could hear but not see, this was more advanced and scientific.

A group of kids was even more fascinated, their eyes sparkling as they crowded around, only to be shooed to the side by Wu Qingyun as two young men took shovels to dig a hole by the window to plant the long bamboo pole.

“What do they need the bamboo pole for?” Zheng Xiaotian asked quietly.

Ling Chengyan also replied quietly, “It’s for the antenna. You need an antenna to get TV channels.”

Zheng Xiaotian didn’t quite understand what an ’antenna’ was, but she knew they needed this long pole to watch TV.

When buying the TV, Ling Chengyan had thought it through and the antenna was already set up — a rough wooden triangular frame with a crossbar fixed with several straight or curved aluminum wires attached.

The young men worked diligently, and soon enough, the pit was dug, and the antenna was fixed to the top of the bamboo pole. Once the pole was erected, the antenna was lifted high into the air.

Several children craned their necks so much they were at a 90-degree angle, each exclaiming in wonder.

“Wow, it’s so high!”

“Higher than the roof!”

Ling Chengyan patted Hong Liang’s little head next to her and said, “It has to be higher than the roof to receive the broadcast signal.”

A group of kids stood there, mouths agape, eyes wide, with expressions of amazement.

Once the antenna was set up and the power and antenna connections were made, it was finally time to open the box and see the TV.

Under the eaves of Ling Chengyan’s house was a light, illuminating the small courtyard brightly.

Everyone, whether adult or child, had a solemn, even reverent look on their faces, their eyes all fixed on the cardboard box.

Zhang Wanxiang took a pair of scissors to cut open the sealing tape, and Wang Lianfa carefully rolled up the four pieces of tape and put them away. He’d seen woven bags made from such tapes being used to carry groceries in the provincial capital—sturdy, lightweight, and attractive—so he didn’t want to lose them.

As the box opened, everyone glanced over, a bit stunned, as they saw something white inside… it didn’t look like a TV.

Ling Chengyan directed, “That’s just foam, useless stuff. Just take it out.”

Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun reached inside and pulled, only to find there were two pieces, light as air, without any weight.

“What’s this stuff, so light, it tricked me for a second,” Zhang Wanxiang muttered, tossing the foam behind him. The kids didn’t even wait for it to hit the ground before catching it to play with, marveling at how light it was.

The TV was then taken out of the box and placed on the prepared table, and nobody cared about the foam, the box, or anything else. All eyes were glued to that square box.

The power was connected, the antenna attached, and the TV turned on…

The TV screen lit up, but there were no images, only flickering grayish-white snow.

“Hey, why isn’t there anyone?” Zhang Wanxiang, who had the honor of turning the power on, was a bit dumbfounded.

Ling Chengyan added, “Turn the antenna pole. Turn it slowly…”

The two young guys grabbed the bamboo pole and slowly turned it, adjusting the angle of the antenna.

“There it is, there it is!” Zhang Wanxiang shouted, echoed by a dozen voices.

The two guys who were turning the antenna quickly stopped, hurrying back to watch the TV. Sure enough, a soccer game was playing.

However, none of them had really been into soccer; when they had free time, they’d mostly played basketball.

Wang Liansheng explained, “This is soccer, a bit like basketball. Basketball is played with your hands, and this is played with your feet. You see that net basket? Whoever kicks the ball into the opponent’s net scores.”

The crowd suddenly understood, “Ah, so that’s how it is.”

And so, a big and small group gathered in front of the TV, either standing or sitting, watching the crowd chase a leather ball around like fools.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep