Chapter 31: Savings Plummet Past the 2,000 Threshold
Given Jian Xingxia’s current financial situation, she couldn’t afford to buy anything new.
Refrigerators were far too expensive; even a tiny one cost five or six hundred yuan, and the freezer space wouldn’t be very large. The mountains had low temperatures, providing a natural cold storage environment where things generally didn’t spoil easily, so what she lacked was purely freezer space.
She might as well choose a large chest freezer instead; a 200-liter one cost a mere three hundred yuan.
Jian Xingxia then set her eyes on a washing machine nearby. The second-hand shop owner was currently dismantling, cleaning, and refurbishing it. Seeing how clean the washing machine looked, Jian Xingxia haggled, “How about five hundred yuan for both?”
The owner rolled his eyes. “This washing machine is practically brand new. It cost me two hundred just to acquire it.”
Jian Xingxia smiled. “No way, owner. For this size and condition, you wouldn’t have paid more than a hundred yuan to take it off someone’s hands.”
When her university dorm had a massive graduation garage sale, their washing machine—which was even slightly larger than this one—only sold for eighty yuan.
Jian Xingxia told the owner, “Owner, you probably just acquired this one too, right? If I buy it and take it away immediately, you won’t have to haul it back and forth, nor will you have to worry about the machine aging from sun and wind damage. You’ll free up space to take in other items. Once your inventory moves, your business will thrive.”
The owner didn’t say a word, focusing entirely on assembling the cleaned washing machine. Only when the final screw was tightened did he grumble unhappily, “Young lady, it takes time for us to pick up and deliver goods, and the items we haul back still need to be cleaned and refurbished. We barely make any money at all.”
Being willing to say this meant he wanted to make the sale.
Jian Xingxia rushed to say, “Owner, we’ll haul it ourselves! That way you can save some strength and take a good rest.”
Seeing that they indeed had an electric three-wheeler, the owner finally nodded. “Fine, fine. I’ll let you have them for five hundred, but I won’t cover delivery.”
“Awesome! Thank you, owner!”
The owner helped load the freezer and washing machine onto the electric three-wheeler. There wasn’t much space left on the vehicle, so Jian Xingxia simply unwrapped all her packages, asked the owner for a clean plastic bag, and wedged them directly inside the freezer and washing machine.
Ten jin of rock sugar cost eighty yuan, the second-hand washing machine and freezer cost five hundred yuan, and she also bought some packaging tools—a small scoop, food packaging bags, and two round and two square stainless steel basins—which cost 128 yuan.
After buying the grain last time, Jian Xingxia had only 2,385 yuan left. Now, with her savings reduced by another 708 yuan, her balance plummeted past the 2,000 threshold for the first time, leaving a mere 1,677 yuan.
Jian Xingxia: …My heart hurts so much.
No wonder people said a broken home was worth ten thousand pieces of gold; even though she sat upon all these mountains and plots of land, accumulating some savings truly wasn’t easy.
…
On the way back, Little Hu Liu rode carefully, fearing that the bumpy mountain path might damage the appliances. It took nearly an hour of riding before they finally returned to the old house.
Da Hei was still turning the soil out back, so Jian Xingxia didn’t dare let Little Hu Liu inside. She hurriedly leaped down from the vehicle and asked Little Hu Liu how much she owed for the trip.
Little Hu Liu felt a bit awkward. Now that he was out of school, he relied entirely on odd jobs to earn money, but since he and Fangfang had been little tagalongs behind Jian Xingxia when they were kids, he felt rather self-conscious about taking her money now.
Jian Xingxia patted Little Hu Liu’s shoulder. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about when earning money through your own labor.”
Only then did Little Hu Liu purse his lips. “Then, Sister Xiaxia, just give me thirty yuan.”
Jian Xingxia’s eyes widened. “Thirty?”
Little Hu Liu tried to explain, “The electric three-wheeler is borrowed, and Hu Ming’s family doesn’t charge money, but I’ll definitely have to charge it back up fully for them, and help out with some chores in return…”
Jian Xingxia shook her head. “Hu Liu, I’ve asked Auntie Lu. Normally, on non-market days, calling a vehicle to head into town costs fifty yuan round-trip. On top of that, you accompanied me everywhere to buy things, helped me haul the freezer and washing machine, and even delivered them deep into the mountain…”
Realizing she wasn’t complaining about it being too expensive, Little Hu Liu let out a sigh of relief, a timid smile finally appearing on his face.
“Sister Xiaxia, Auntie Lu was talking about a car, which is comfortable to ride in. Mine is just an electric three-wheeler.”
“But you helped me carry the heavy loads too, and this stretch of road into the mountain isn’t easy to navigate. How about this—let’s each compromise, and I’ll give you fifty.”
Fifty yuan was also Jian Xingxia’s absolute limit. If she had asked the second-hand shop owner to deliver it into the mountain, the delivery fee alone would likely have exceeded fifty. However, the money in Jian Xingxia’s hands was currently nearing rock bottom. She was like a clay bodhisattva crossing a river—barely able to secure her own survival, let alone offer more support to the hardships of others.
Little Hu Liu accepted the fifty yuan. He needed to save money for his father’s rehabilitation training and also wanted to buy an electric three-wheeler of his own, leaving him no room to indulge in extra charity either.
Even so, he insisted on helping Jian Xingxia move the washing machine and chest freezer into the main hall. As for the rest, no matter what he said, Jian Xingxia refused to let him carry it.
“Alright, alright, these things aren’t heavy, I can manage by myself… No, no, it’s mostly because I haven’t decided where to put them yet. Go on back first, I’ll figure it out slowly on my own.”
Jian Xingxia glanced at the closed back door, not daring to let Little Hu Liu venture any further back.
Seeing this, Little Hu Liu had no choice but to follow her instructions, riding his electric three-wheeler back out.
Only when Little Hu Liu’s three-wheeler rounded the corner of the mountain path did Jian Xingxia hurriedly lock the front courtyard gate and head out back to find Da Hei.
Whenever she wasn’t home, Da Hei never dared slack off in his labor. By now, he had already turned the entire plot twice and was clearing the remaining wasteland.
Jian Xingxia inspected the plot; the soil was thoroughly turned. After letting it bake in the sun today, it would be ready for planting tomorrow. She told Da Hei to stop after clearing one more ridge, as she would need his help with something shortly.
Da Hei naturally agreed immediately, though he still wasn’t used to Jian Xingxia’s phrasing. How could a master ask a servant for “help” with chores?
Jian Xingxia returned inside and began setting up her appliances and packages.
The chest freezer was placed in the small hall, while the washing machine went directly into the spacious washroom.
She had already tested the washing machine at the second-hand shop, so she immediately gathered the clothes she had changed out of after showering yesterday, stuffed them inside, and fished out the laundry powder from her recent packages to pour a little bit in. It was a cheap top-loading washing machine, which Jian Xingxia liked immensely; this type of machine packed a lot of power and washed thoroughly clean.
Listening to the loud, rumbling chug of the washing machine, Jian Xingxia felt these two hundred yuan were truly well spent.
She recalled when her university dorm started, many rooms couldn’t bear to spend a few hundred yuan on a washing machine, stubbornly hand-washing their clothes for years. But even though Jian Xingxia lacked money, she knew how to calculate the value of spending money to save time. An eight-hundred-yuan washing machine split among four people in a dorm meant only 200 yuan each. Used throughout four full years of university, it averaged out to 50 yuan a year, or less than four-fifty a month. In the end, they even sold the washing machine for eighty yuan upon graduation.
Jian Xingxia watched the washing machine agitate the clothes with absolute delight. The old house had solar power installed, so electricity didn’t cost money, and the water was pumped directly from the well, making laundry entirely free!
The chest freezer was set against the wall in the small hall. Since the kitchen was in the courtyard, walking over beneath the eaves to retrieve items was highly convenient, requiring no exposure to rain.
The electric kettle was placed on the small wooden table next to the freezer, alongside a large, old-fashioned electric rice cooker—the kind large enough to feed seven or eight people. There was also a small rechargeable fan, which could even be carried into the mountains if needed.
Now that the system had rewarded her with solar power, Jian Xingxia wished she could use electrical appliances constantly.
Once she felt the inner walls of the chest freezer beginning to chill, Jian Xingxia called Da Hei into the kitchen.
