I'm back in 1990

Chapter 185: Methods of Heating in Winter

On November 3rd, autumn was in full swing, and the leaves of the plane trees along the roadside began to fall. In just a few days, the winter solstice would arrive, and the damp and cold winter in the Yangtze River Delta would be coming soon.

Although there was a fireplace in the old apartment, it hadn't been used for many years, and burning wood was too troublesome to obtain in Shanghai. So, Huang Xiaochuan recently asked Ge Changli to help him buy ten kerosene-burning heaters.

Today, Huang Xiaochuan received a notification from Ge Changli that the heater he bought had arrived in Shanghai and that he should bring the relevant documents to complete the customs clearance and pick-up procedures.

Huang Xiaochuan declined Ge Changli's help, intending to take his own people to pick up the goods.

Yu Wei and Tang Yuan happened to be there too, saving Huang Xiaochuan the trouble of going looking for them separately.

"Yu Wei, Tang Yuan, could you two take some time these next couple of days to accompany me to customs to pick up some goods?"

"What did you buy?" Yu Wei asked Huang Xiaochuan while he was eating an orange.

Picking up the goods from customs means Huang Xiaochuan must have bought something from abroad. If Yu Wei, who studied this major, didn't even know this, he might as well find a block of tofu and kill himself.

"Winter is coming soon, and I was worried that your dad, your mom, my dad, my mom, and your sister would be cold, so I bought them kerosene heaters."

"And what about me?"

"You don't need that, you're too yang! You're too hot! There's an old saying that a young man's butt can melt ice." Huang Xiaochuan deliberately teased his annoying brother-in-law.

Actually, when I bought so many, I had already taken Yu Wei's share into account.

Yu Wei was so angry he refused to eat his oranges: "You, surnamed Huang, you're showing favoritism! I'm your brother-in-law! Aren't you afraid I won't open the door for you when you come to pick up my sister?"

"You damn brother-in-law, you won't even call me brother-in-law, and you still have the nerve to ask me for things. Do you really think you're so great? If you dare not open the door, my father-in-law will be the first to deal with you."

Yu Wei thought about it and realized it was true! He really couldn't control this guy anymore, which made him even more frustrated.

Huang Xiaochuan was overjoyed to see Yu Wei get the short end of the stick!

However, he stopped there and turned to Tang Yuan, who was watching them bicker, and said, "He doesn't get any, but Tang Yuan does. Tang Yuan, your brother-in-law will give you a set later."

Tang Yuan glanced at Yu Wei, whose face had turned green with anger, and covered her mouth with a laugh, saying, "Thank you, brother-in-law!"

"Why don't you learn from your son Tang Yuan? People say that you become like those you associate with, but you haven't learned any of Tang Yuan's good points. Instead, you've amplified your own shortcomings. You need to get this sort of thing fixed." Huang Xiaochuan didn't miss any opportunity to mock Yu Wei.

Unable to gain any advantage from Huang Xiaochuan, Yu Wei had no choice but to seek help from his sister.

"Sis, didn't you hear me? That guy surnamed Huang is trying to ride roughshod over me, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

Unexpectedly, Yu Xiang completely ignored him and gave him two empty promises, telling him to figure it out himself.

If it weren't for Tang Yuan, Yu Wei felt like he would have been abandoned by his family.

On Wednesday, Yu Wei and Tang Yuan had no classes in the afternoon. After Huang Xiaochuan met up with them, they took a taxi to the customs-supervised warehouse to pick up the goods.

With Tang Yuan around, customs clearance is quick. Her older brother, Tang Yuan'an, is more powerful than a county magistrate, and his younger sister can handle customs clearance for imported goods with all the necessary documents in no time!

Tang Yuan also introduced Huang Xiaochuan and Tang Yuan'an to each other.

"My brother is Tang Yuan'an, and my brother-in-law is Huang Xiaochuan."

The two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries for a while.

In fact, Huang Xiaochuan and Tang Yuan'an were quite familiar with each other. In his previous life, when Huang Xiaochuan was doing foreign trade, he had troubled Tang Yuan'an quite a bit. However, this was the first time the two had met in this life.

Now that they are also related by marriage, they quickly became acquainted after meeting.

Tang Yuan'an noticed that Huang Xiaochuan was buying kerosene heaters, and that he was buying so many at once, so he asked him a question.

"Xiao Chuan! Why did you buy so many heaters?"

Huang Xiaochuan explained with a smile, "If we divide it among several families, it will be gone. We bought it after careful planning. One set of tangyuan (sweet rice balls) is enough for my parents, Yu Wei's parents, my grandmother, and my own family. Dividing it among several families is just right, so it will be warmer in winter."

Tang Yuan'an nodded in satisfaction: "There is heating in the north. Although my Tang Yuan is from Zhejiang Province, he grew up in the north and is used to heating. Shanghai is great in every way, except for the lack of heating. Well, you're so thoughtful. You're even better than me, his older brother. How come I didn't think of that?"

"Brother Yuan'an, you overestimate me. I just did it on the side; it wasn't something I bought specifically for Tang Yuan and the others."

"Xiao Chuan, since you're here tonight, don't leave. I'll arrange a car to take you back after dinner," Tang Yuan'an warmly invited them to stay.

"Brother Yuan'an, I have class tomorrow, so I'll treat you on Saturday night. We can have a good get-together then."

Tang Yuan'an wasn't one to be coy, and readily agreed: "Sure! Saturday night then."

"I'll let you know once I've arranged a place. Yuan'an, please give me your contact information."

Tang Yuan'an handed his business card directly to Huang Xiaochuan, who took it and put it away.

Tang Yuan'an then found a van for Huang Xiaochuan and the others, and drove the three of them back with the van and their goods.

Huang Xiaochuan was first taken to the old apartment. One set of heating stoves was left for Yu Wei and Tang Yuan to take with them. The other nine sets were temporarily left at the old apartment. Huang Xiaochuan would notify his uncle to arrange for someone to pick them up.

In the evening, Huang Xiaochuan went to the Second Military Medical University to have dinner with Yu Xiang. He then went to the old apartment building to get a heater and brought it back to his dormitory. This thing doesn't use electricity, so it's relatively safe to use.

The other four students in the dormitory were studying when they saw Huang Xiaochuan dragging a large cardboard box back. They all got up to see what it was.

Seeing that the outer packaging was all in a foreign language, Zhang Gaolei asked, "Xiao Chuan, what did you buy?"

"It's getting cold soon, this is a heater, with this we'll have a much better winter."

"Is this plugged in? The power consumption must be high; can our circuitry handle it?"

"It doesn't need electricity, it's powered by kerosene. Old Ding, I'll leave the kerosene buying to you. Aviation kerosene is best, buy a lot."

Ding Yi agreed without hesitation: "Got it! Is half a ton enough?"

"Damn, do you think this is buying water? You don't need that much. Fifty liters should be enough for now. Flammable items shouldn't be bought in large quantities at once. Just buy more when you run out."

"Alright!"

Wu Duo was also seeing this thing for the first time. His family always used central heating, so he was quite curious about this kind of kerosene-burning stove.

"Xiao Chuan, is this stuff high in calories? Is it enough for our room?"

"Class monitor, remove that 'ma' from your dorm room. In this tiny dorm, if you turn this thing on, it'll be so hot you'll be sleeping naked at night."

Wu Duo muttered doubtfully, "Really?"

Zhang Gaolei and Chen Zhe also didn't believe that such a small furnace could have such great energy.

"We'll know once it gets cold. Alright, alright, you guys take your time figuring it out. I'm going to make a call."

Huang Xiaochuan went to the balcony and made a phone call to his uncle, asking him to send someone over in the next few days to pick up the two heating stoves that were meant for his grandmother and aunt.

As for the two sets to be sent back to Qingjiang, that's simple. Just call Lao Huang and ask him to have someone tell the long-distance bus driver from Qingjiang to Shanghai that Huang Xiaochuan will put the two sets of stoves on the bus. Lao Huang can just pick them up at the station. One set for each of the two families.