Lan Jin had barely finished speaking when the three people on the other end of the walkie-talkie went quiet for a second, then burst into excitement.
"Right, why didn't we think of something so simple before? We've all been obsessed with food, not even considering using what we already have to trade for it," Ling Jiang said, then added with a laugh, "Hey, Lan Jin, your brain works pretty well."
"I just suddenly thought of it. Before, we didn't have much charcoal, just enough to burn for ourselves, so I never had the idea. But these past few days we've been cutting nothing but wood. There's so much at home now, we can naturally take some out to trade. But before that, we have to figure out what's going on with the black market."
After all, their knowledge of the so-called black market came only from Lao Gao, who had overheard it while fiddling with the walkie-talkie. None of them knew its exact location or how it actually worked. Whatever they planned to do, they had to understand the black market first.
Trading charcoal could ease their food worries for a while, but it was no long-term solution. Nobody knew how long the extreme cold would last. Even if they had extra charcoal, their own needs came first.
Still, the thought of having a way to get food made everyone excited. At Lao Gao's shout, they hurried up to the rooftop to get to work.
When it came to making charcoal, the main force was still Huang Jinghe.
Huang Jinghe, who had mastered the process, didn't think charcoal-making was hard. The real difficulty was cutting big logs into smaller pieces.
They worked on the rooftop from dusk to full dark, but barely managed to cut a few small pieces. Meanwhile, the kids and dogs who had come up to play had long since worn themselves out.
Lan Jin, holding a drowsy little bean sprout, said, "I think I have a chainsaw at home. I'll go look for it. Let's come back tomorrow."
Lao Gao looked at her in surprise, then his eyes lit up. "Sister Lan, you have a chainsaw and didn't say earlier?"
"It's out of fuel. Once it's used up, that's it. And I didn't think of it before."
"I have fuel! Forget it, we'll stop for today. Tomorrow we start fresh. Sister Lan, give me the chainsaw. I'll oil it up tonight, test it, and we can use it right away in the morning."
They didn't bother tidying up the rooftop. Each grabbed a few pieces of wood and followed Lan Jin downstairs.
At home, after settling Qiao Qiao, Lan Jin retrieved the chainsaw from a hidden corner of the master bedroom. "Here. This one."
Lao Gao's excitement was obvious. "Sister Lan, you really are my Sister Lan. This chainsaw is big enough to handle all the logs we brought back."
He tried it right there in front of her door. After pulling the starter cord twice, the chainsaw roared to life with an ear-splitting buzz.
Seeing it worked, Lan Jin explained casually, "I bought this back when I went home for tomb-sweeping. Used it once, then left it sitting. It came with a small bottle of fuel, but that was used up the same day. I poured the last bit in here. It burns through fuel fast, one bottle doesn't last long."
This wasn't just an excuse. Many people really did buy small chainsaws for clearing grass around graves during the Qingming Festival. If it was done every year, the weeds could be pulled by hand. But after a few years, shrubs with thick branches might grow, and that was when a chainsaw came in handy.
Usually, people didn't buy big ones for home use. Lan Jin, however, had bought this large one because she'd wanted to cut a padlock and didn't trust the smaller models to do the job.
Its size suited Lao Gao perfectly.
Whether he cared about the backstory or not didn't matter. She had explained her reason for owning it, and that was enough.
The younger ones might not get the reference, but Grandma Ling, who had come over after hearing the noise in the hallway, understood right away. "Jiang'er, didn't we also buy a small chainsaw years ago for tomb-sweeping? Seeing this just reminded me. Did you bring it when we moved?"
Ling Jiang blinked. "We have a chainsaw?"
"Yes, bought it years ago. When we left, I packed it in the miscellaneous box. You probably never even opened it."
Grandma Ling went home to search, and soon enough, she found it.
It was… very much a tomb-sweeping model.
Still, better than nothing. Even the smallest chainsaw was more useful than a kitchen knife.
Lao Gao compared the two and sighed. "Sister Lan, you're the real deal. I'm just curious, how many years has it been since you last visited that grave?"
Lan Jin ignored him and went to bed.
The next morning, before dawn, the sound of Lao Gao sawing wood echoed through the building. The noise got them all up and moving.
To save the trouble of moving logs up and down, Lao Gao was working directly in 3201, the unit with the most wood. When Lan Jin and Ling Jiang stepped out, the hallway was full of dust.
Qiao Qiao came out to watch, but the dust stung her eyes. She rubbed them and said, "Mama, see not clear."
"That's right. Too much dust here, not for you. Go back and play with Nana."
Qiao Qiao thought about it, blinking against the grit in her eyes, and finally agreed. "Okay."
After taking Qiao Qiao back, Lan Jin and the others arrived at 3201, where Lao Gao, still full of energy, had no idea what had just happened. "You're early!"
Ling Jiang rolled her eyes. "With that noise, who could sleep?"
"Sorry, sorry. I'll start later tomorrow."
Still, the difference was obvious. With the chainsaw, productivity had skyrocketed. Lao Gao had already cut a good pile of logs into large sections, and Ling Jiang was slicing them again into perfect charcoal-sized pieces with the smaller chainsaw.
With the two of them busy, Lan Jin and Huang Jinghe couldn't stand idle. They quickly set up a charcoal rack on the balcony, burning wood while organizing the rest. The entire day passed without a break, and the same routine repeated for days afterward.
===
From the very beginning of translating this novel, I've made some adjustments to Qiao Qiao's dialogue. In the early chapters, she was only about 2–3 years old, still a toddler, so I kept her speech very simple and childlike. Naturally, there was no complex grammar in her lines.
Now that Qiao Qiao is over 3 and no longer considered a toddler, I've adjusted the way she talks. Her speech is still short and fragmented, but it's now a little more advanced than a typical toddler's.
For example, in this chapter, Qiao Qiao says "妈妈,看不清." This could be translated as "Mama, I can't see clearly," but I chose to write it as "Mama, see not clear." This keeps the childlike feel while reflecting her growing speech skills.
And of course, when Qiao Qiao turns 5 or maybe 6, I'll adjust her way of speaking again to match her age and development.