Chapter 141: Chapter 143: The Car-Owning Class

Manual labor is hard, but an electric one is much easier, for everything in the future. Apart from other things, if someone in the house gets a headache or a fever and the village health center can’t handle it, we have to go to the hospital in the city. If we walk, it takes two hours. If we ride a tricycle, it still takes an hour. But with this electric tricycle, it will take less than half an hour.

Tang Zhinian was in agreement. Who wouldn’t want such a handy asset? If anyone in the village owns an electric tricycle, it’s enough to make others green with envy.

He had always wanted an electric one, but he never had enough money. Wait, that’s not right. In fact, he did have the money. All the money earned from selling coriander was saved without a penny being spent.

But he didn’t dare to touch that money because it was for marrying off Tang Zhijun. They’d earned a lot this year so he felt he could afford to spend a bit too.

“How much does this cost?”

Tang Zhinian was more taken with it the more he looked. He touched the vehicle from corner to corner. Indeed, for a man, a vehicle is an irresistible attraction.

Even a tricycle is still a vehicle.

“One thousand six hundred,” the vendor came over and gave him a straightforward quotation. The price quoted was very real, without any padding. In reality, people these days are so honest that they wouldn’t dare to quote too high a price. No one would dare buy something overpriced otherwise.

“One thousand six hundred?” Tang Zhinian was in a bit of a bind – one thousand six hundred was no small sum. Though their household had earned a lot, spending such an amount all of a sudden was also heart-wrenching.

But he turned back and glanced at Tang Yuxin. She looked so small standing next to the tricycle, her little face appearing jovial, evidently also very fond of it.

“Alright, let’s buy it,” he clenched his teeth. Purchasing it would indeed be convenient. In case there’s any emergency at home, they wouldn’t need to fret over finding a doctor.

So, he paid the one thousand six hundred.

Once the vehicle was selected and test-driven, Tang Zhinian withdrew money from the bank and promptly paid it. Then he practiced riding it in the open space. It’s quite similar to the manual tricycle at home, but it’s faster and heavier. However, it wasn’t difficult.

After a few rounds in the yard, Tang Zhinian could handle it. At that time of the day, there were only a few vehicles on the road, mostly tricycles and bicycles, so the road condition was good, with fewer people and vehicles around.

Tang Zhinian was bold. As soon as he picked up the skill, he took his daughter shopping with it.

Having a new vehicle put a grin on his face, despite the winter wind causing stinging pain.

Upon reaching People’s Supermarket, Tang Yuxin alighted of her own accord. Tang Zhinian parked the tricycle by the roadside, unperturbed about it being stolen. Those days, thieves were scarce and people were generally honest. By just adding a lock, the tricycle would be safe, given that everyone else also left their vehicles untidily along the street.

Tang Yuxin picked a bright red cotton-padded jacket for herself, which Tang Zhinian also rather liked. Yes, it looks good on her, he thought. But, he found the peach-colored one more attractive – the color was more vibrant.

Tang Yuxin gave an annoyed face-palm upon seeing the peach-colored one.

Wearing that would make her look like a walking turkey and she did not want to wear that.

Tang Zhinian also bought a pair of black leather shoes for her. Around Chinese New Year, not many children in rural areas wore leather shoes. Only those from relatively better-off families could afford to.

In this life, Tang Yuxin had never suffered and she had not been taken advantage of, like in her previous life.

In her past life, she never had new clothes. Her clothes were worn until they were threadbare. It was only when Wei Jiani grew taller that she had new clothes to wear, which were the ones Wei Jiani had outgrown.

She pressed the sole of her new shoes against the ground, the shoes were very comfortable. Although there weren’t many styles, by modern people’s aesthetic standards, they were still pretty.

Tang Zhinian put the clothes in the sidecar and then went to buy other Chinese New Year groceries such as rice, flour, and cooking oil. If it were a manual tricycle, it wouldn’t be possible to fit all this. But now, even after buying so much, it still only occupied a little corner. Tang Yuxin sat in the sidecar, observing the street.

People wore all sorts of colors, but most of them were very simple. The sulfuric explosives occasionally heard added to the strong festive atmosphere.

Tang Zhinian also bought snacks like sunflower seeds, peanuts, and candy that kids loved eating. He wasn’t afraid that Tang Zhijun might also bring similar items. Chinese New Year is for the kids, adults can make do with whatever is available.

When it was almost dark, Tang Zhinian took Tang Yuxin back to the village. She enjoyed shopping very much, and of course, she helped her father keep a close eye on their new tricycle, so it wouldn’t attract any thieves.

By the time they returned, Tang Zhijun was already back.

“Uncle, Uncle…”

Sisi ran out from the inside. Wearing her new clothes, she came out very happily to show off her new treasures.

“Our Sisi is growing up so nicely,” Tang Zhinian reached out and hugged Sisi, touching her chubby little face. After a winter of nurturing, she had gained back some weight, her face looking rounder. But no matter how thin or chubby she was, she was a beautiful child.

Sisi bit her little finger, feeling extremely curious about the good things Tang Zhinian brought back.

“You little rascal, you have your part too,” Tang Zhinian held Sisi in one hand and rummaged through the tricycle with the other, pulling out a big doll to give to Sisi.

Sisi, warmly thanking her uncle, took the doll and held it tightly in her arms, absolutely delighted. It felt as though she had another little companion to play with. She struggled out of Tang Zhinian’s arms, holding the doll and went off in search of her mother.

“Come on over and try it.”

Tange Zhinian called over his younger brother to try out their newly purchased electric tricycle.

“Alright.”

Tang Zhijun rubbed his hands together. Without even unloading the items from the tricycle, he hopped onto the vehicle. He had ridden other people’s electric tricycles in the village before, so this was not new to him. In fact, he picked it up more easily than Tang Zhinian.

In a matter of moments, he could already ride the tricycle around the village.

Tang Zhinian called both his brother and sister-in-law together. He then took out their bank books. With such a large amount of money, they had kept it in the bank and not left much at home. The previous flood incident had given them quite a scare. If not for Tang Yuxin unintentionally finding the money, he wasn’t sure how long it would have taken for them, the brothers, to save ten thousand yuan.