People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 43

Ever since Su Yang mentioned divorce, Xia Heyu has been in a daze. She had expected Su Yang to act like in the previous life, suppressing her and not letting her divorce.

She never imagined it would be so easy, so easy that she couldn’t even react in time.

The incident on the street spread throughout the commune in less than a day. Xia Heyu’s parents were questioned as soon as they went out. Despite their love for her, they couldn’t bear such continuous humiliation and declared that they no longer had a daughter like her.

Sun Xiaoyuan was angry that Xia Heyu had embarrassed her son in public, and when Xia Heyu returned that day, she was given a harsh scolding. The next day, she forced Su Yang to go with her to the commune’s civil affairs bureau, where they obtained the long-awaited divorce certificate. However, Xia Heyu wasn’t happy.

She went home to collect her things from Su Yang’s house, but before she could even step inside, her older brother threw her out. Facing the neighbors who were watching her misfortune, Xia Heyu could no longer hold back her tears. She grabbed her belongings and rushed straight to Su Zhentang’s house.

But Zhu Yuemei didn’t let her in either. She had already divorced Su Yang; what was the point of staying at their house? Was she trying to make more jokes for the Su family?

Xia Heyu stood in front of Su Zhentang’s house, feeling lost and confused. She couldn’t understand why, after being reborn, she hadn’t changed the miserable situation from her past life. Instead, her circumstances seemed to be worsening.

After knocking for a while, and even though both Su Zhentang and Zhu Yuemei were home, no one came to open the door. Xia Heyu couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She stood there in a daze for quite some time before heading to the nearby sent-down youth center.

She knew that two of the female sent-down youth had gone to build their own houses, so there must have been empty beds in their previous dormitory. She wasn’t very big, and squeezing in with them wouldn’t be much of a problem.

It was already dark, and today it was Wang Shanxi’s turn to do the cooking. He was washing the dishes when he heard someone knocking on the door, so he went out. Seeing Xia Heyu standing there with a pile of luggage, he frowned. “Do you need something?”

Xia Heyu lowered her head and peered into the house. “Educated youth Wang, I was wondering if I could stay here at the youth center for a while. Do you think that’s okay? I won’t stay for free; my high school textbooks are still with me. I can lend them to you. I know you’re all short on books, and these could help you with your studies. After the college entrance exams are reinstated, it will be beneficial to you…”

Xia Heyu had just remembered the reinstatement of the college entrance exams. In her previous life, she had nothing to do with the exams, as her grades had always been at the bottom of the class. She had only managed to graduate through sheer luck.

Su Yang’s grades were better; in the previous life, he had even been accepted into a normal university. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the resources to spend so extravagantly.

When Wang Shanxi heard her mention the reinstatement of the college entrance exams, the excitement in his heart was beyond words. But he quickly composed himself. The accuracy of the college entrance exams’ reinstatement was still uncertain, and even if they did come back, high school textbooks were not hard to come by. But allowing Xia Heyu to stay at the youth center? Leaving aside whether the policy allowed it, just considering her character—inviting a guest in was easy, but getting rid of them was another matter.

The atmosphere at their youth center was good right now, and he didn’t want to see it become chaotic because of Xia Heyu.

“Sorry, Xia comrade. It’s not that I don’t want to help, but this is a youth center, and only the sent-down youth are allowed to stay here. You don’t meet the criteria. You’ll have to find someone else to help.”

Wang Shanxi said this, then quickly shut the door with a loud bang, ignoring any further knocking from Xia Heyu.

Standing in the courtyard, the chill of late autumn wind swept through, but it couldn’t extinguish the fiery emotions in his heart.

Jiang Yutao and the others also heard the knocking. They could vaguely hear Xia Heyu’s voice from the room, and out of curiosity, they all went out to ask Wang Shanxi.

Wang Shanxi motioned for them to come to the kitchen to talk.

Zhou Zhenfeng was still not back, and it was cold, so Zhao Rongguang hadn’t gone out recently. In no time, everyone gathered in the kitchen.

Wang Shanxi suppressed his excitement, trying to speak in a calm voice: “Just now, Xia Heyu came to knock on the door. She said she wanted to stay at our youth center for a while. She said she wouldn’t stay for free. She offered to lend us her high school textbooks, so that when the college entrance exams are reinstated, we can achieve good results.”

Upon hearing the first part, Li Yunying and the others thought Xia Heyu was just being ridiculous. But when they heard the latter part, they were all very excited.

“Will the college entrance exams really be reinstated? Is the news accurate?” Li Yunying was the most excited, unable to contain herself as she walked forward for quite some distance.

Zhao Rongguang also stood up, staring intently at Wang Shanxi. The quotas for workers, peasants, and soldiers were incredibly hard to get. Even though Zhao Rongguang’s family had connections, he still couldn’t secure one. He had always dreamed of attending college, and sometimes, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he would imagine himself sitting in a university classroom.

To get into college now, it all depended on local recommendations, and securing a spot was extremely difficult. The college entrance exam had been abolished for many years, so suddenly hearing that it might be reinstated, who wouldn’t be excited? Everyone here had been studying for many years, and the news was electrifying.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei were aware of the historical timeline. They knew the college entrance exams would be reinstated in two years. Jiang Yutao had planned to wait until next year to reveal the news to Li Yunying and the others. Based on their personalities, even a small chance would make them study seriously.

Next year would be 1975, and there would still be one or two years before the exams were reinstated, which would give them plenty of time to prepare.

Gu Nianwei’s thoughts aligned perfectly with Jiang Yutao’s.

But now that Xia Heyu had brought it up early, they didn’t need to do the work of explaining. Otherwise, explaining the source of the information would be quite troublesome.

Wang Shanxi took a deep breath. “Regardless of whether this news is true or not, as long as there’s even a glimmer of hope, we should start preparing. If the day comes, it’s better to be prepared than to be caught unprepared.”

Wang Shanxi spoke earnestly and seriously to everyone. “Our country has lacked talent for too long. Even if the exams aren’t reinstated in the next two years, they will surely be reinstated eventually. We need to stay strong and make an effort. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the county town to find some textbooks. Starting the day after tomorrow, we’ll study for half an hour after every meal.”

Wang Shanxi was the leader of the youth center, and everyone listened to him.

Li Yunying covered her face and collapsed to the ground, tears streaming from her fingers uncontrollably.

It had been eight years. She thought she would spend her entire life rooted in the countryside. She had resigned herself to it, but now, at the end, she had found hope.

Even if it was just a glimmer, it lit up her dull life like never before.

Li Yunying’s crying made the others tear up as well. Every young intellectual could not help but be moved upon hearing such news.

Zhang Huihui, Zhao Rongguang, and the others had only been in the countryside for a few months, yet they had already experienced the hardships of being a farmer. If they could, of course, they wouldn’t want to spend their whole lives farming.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei felt the same way. Both of them were born in the future, and since they had crossed over, they had never worked a day under the sky. Their lives had been comfortable, so who would want to live a life of hardship?

After the small meeting ended, Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei walked back to their room together.

Jiang Yutao asked Gu Nianwei, “Weiwei, do you want to go to college?”

Gu Nianwei did want to go to college. The first batch of students after the reinstatement of the college entrance exams would be the brightest of talents. Anyone who got into college would inevitably become a pillar in their respective fields. Although Gu Nianwei didn’t think she had such lofty ambitions, she still wanted to experience college life in this era and feel the academic atmosphere of a university.

“Yes!”

Jiang Yutao took Gu Nianwei’s hand. “I want to go too. Let’s go together.”

In her previous life, Jiang Yutao had struggled to make ends meet. The orphanage was financially strained, and if she wanted to study, she had to rely on herself. From high school, she worked various jobs to support her education, and in the end, she was only able to get into a second-tier university. In this life, now that there was an opportunity, she wanted to experience life at the top university.

“I want to apply to the capital’s university. Let’s work hard together.” Jiang Yutao’s words made Gu Nianwei turn to look at her. When they were in school, Gu Nianwei’s grades were good, but after being away from school for many years, she wasn’t sure how her focus would hold up if she started studying again. However, looking into Jiang Yutao’s eyes, she could see the burning fire within her.

In that moment, Gu Nianwei felt that Jiang Yutao’s ambition lit up the starless night. She thought to herself that she would always remember this night—when her good friend, her comrade, invited her to reach the peak of their country’s universities together.

She smiled. “Alright,” she responded.

That night, none of the people at the youth station slept well. Early the next morning, Wang Shanxi hurried out, and Jiang Yutao and the others were distracted all day while stripping the hemp stalks.

After two more days of stripping the hemp stalks, most of it was done. From then on, tasks like making hemp ropes or shoe soles were ones Jiang Yutao and the others didn’t participate in.

When they returned to the youth station, Wang Shanxi was already back. He brought good news as well—he had visited every high school in the county and even the recycling stations, managing to gather all the textbooks from first to second year of high school, and even some from middle school.

Before it got dark, Zhao Rongguang went out and found some large wooden planks, which he put together into a blackboard frame. Gu Nianwei contributed two bottles of ink, and together, they painted the planks black. Wang Shanxi brought out the chalk he had managed to buy from several different places.

That night, everyone ate their meal absent-mindedly. Afterward, the blackboard was half-dried, and everyone was filled with a mix of anxiety and disappointment. They couldn’t wait to start studying the next day.

Wang Shanxi said, “Since no one’s in the mood to sleep, let’s start tonight. We’ll begin with the middle school textbooks. We’ll review what we know, and what we don’t know, we’ll learn from scratch. Our first lesson will be Chinese. Everyone, get your pens and notebooks ready to take notes for the first lesson.”

That night, in the small kitchen of the Liu Shu Gou youth station, four or five oil lamps lit up the room. The enthusiasm of the eight young people in the youth station was enough to warm the night.

During a break, Jiang Yutao remembered Zhou Zhenfeng, who hadn’t been coming back to the youth station recently. “Anyone who has money right now, be sure to keep it safe,” she said. “I heard from Aunt Xu that recently, Zhou Zhenfeng has been gambling with Liu Erhua’s son, Sun Godan. They’re betting big, and I suspect Zhou Zhenfeng’s running low on money.”

Xu Dazui had indeed told Jiang Yutao this, and she wasn’t afraid to verify it.

Zhao Rongguang frowned. “I know about his gambling. I tried to advise him, but he just cursed me out. I suspect he’s lost a lot. We’ve hidden our money, so don’t worry about that. But as for your place, make sure the door is locked. I’m worried that if he loses big, he might try to break into your room.”

Zhao Rongguang had only learned about Zhou Zhenfeng’s gambling recently. He had wanted to mention it last night, but with all the talk about the restoration of the college entrance exams, he forgot. Zhao Rongguang felt it was important to bring it up now, as, no matter how useless Zhou Zhenfeng was, he was still a man. If he snuck into the female youth workers’ rooms in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep, the consequences could be unimaginable.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei weren’t too worried about it. With Jiang Yutao’s current strength, she could easily lift him with one hand. Gu Nianwei was also skilled, and if it came to a fight, two Zhou Zhenfengs wouldn’t be able to match her.

However, it never hurt to be cautious.

Jiang Yutao thought for a moment and said, “Aunt Xu mentioned the other day that her house has a lot of mice and that she was going to buy some mousetraps. I’ll ask her to buy a few extra when she goes, and we can put them by the doors and windows when we go to sleep.”

Zhao Yonglan, who was known to have the most money in the youth station, suddenly became anxious. “Can you buy a few for me too? I want to put them in my trunk.”

Thinking about what Zhou Zhenfeng had done to her before, Zhao Yonglan felt uneasy.

“Alright, I’ll get them for you.” Since money was involved, Uncle Manzhu from Xu Dazui’s family usually went to the commune twice a week, so it wasn’t a problem for him to bring them along.

But Zhao Yonglan still didn’t feel secure. “I’ll go to the commune myself tomorrow to buy them.”

After Zhao Yonglan insisted on going herself, Liu Yingjun and Zhang Huihui thought it over and decided to accompany her. Mainly because Jiang Yutao had mentioned that Xie Heyu might be trying to scheme against her. Although nothing had happened so far, it was clear that Xie Heyu had a lot of hostility toward Zhao Yonglan.

It was still the same principle: it’s not that you’re afraid of smart people plotting against you, but rather the danger of a fool making reckless moves.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei didn’t plan to go to the commune. Gu Nianwei wanted to visit the county town. Since the incident last time, she hadn’t been there, and she felt the need to go and check things out to ease her mind.

Jiang Yutao also wanted to go. During her time in the village, she had been busy with gossip. She hadn’t saved up much of anything else, but she had accumulated quite a bit of melon seeds. The flavored ones were inedible, and she had to sell some, or else they would keep piling up. Her backpack was nearly full.

The two of them decided to go together and then split up when they reached the county town to take care of their own business.

That night, when Jiang Yutao went to bed, she flipped through the system mall and bought a stack of oil paper. The last time she sold sunflower seeds, she gained some experience. Using a cup as a measuring tool was fine, but if someone came without a bag, a cup of seeds wouldn’t even fit in their hand, which was a bit inconvenient.

She decided to fold the oil paper into triangles, with a small packet holding one or two ounces of seeds. This method not only prevented spillage, but also made the seeds easier to hold. Jiang Yutao spent the night sorting the seeds, placing different flavors in separate bags, and writing the names on the bags with a fountain pen to avoid mix-ups.

As the night grew later, Jiang Yutao blew out the oil lamp and went to sleep. Her neighbor, Gu Nianwei, however, stayed up for nearly another hour before finally getting some rest.

Although she had promised not to sell goods on the black market anymore, making money was addictive. Having enjoyed the days when money came in every week, it felt unbearable to go an entire month without seeing any. It was as if something was scratching at her heart like a cat’s claws.

Before, she hadn’t paid attention and had only thought that food items were in short supply and would sell well, forgetting that the craftsmanship in this world wasn’t up to par. The rice she was selling was of such good quality that it easily drew attention.

She decided to sell items that were in line with the current level of craftsmanship in this world, things that wouldn’t stand out too much, just to clear up some space and make a little profit.

The next morning, after breakfast, everyone set off together.

It wasn’t a market day or a holiday, so there weren’t many people on the road to the commune. When they arrived, Zhao Yonglan and the others went to the supply and marketing cooperative, while Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei took the bus to the county town.

Upon reaching the county town, the two agreed on a time to meet later and then went their separate ways.

Jiang Yutao found a secluded spot, freshened up, and headed toward the movie theater.

As she walked, she chatted with the Melon-eating system: [System, do we have any pills that can temporarily alter one’s appearance? Every time I go to sell something, I have to put on makeup in advance, and it’s really slowing down my path to becoming the richest person in the world!]

The Melon-eating system didn’t expect Jiang Yutao to be so shameless: [I suggest the host raise the pillow higher when sleeping at night. In your dreams, not only the world’s richest person, but even the Jade Emperor, you deserve to have.]

Jiang Yutao clicked her tongue, feeling that the Melon-eating system had become more intelligent since its upgrade. The former little AI that was a bit of a fool was long gone: [Stop with the jokes and get to the point. Do you have it or not?]

Recently, Gu Nianwei’s awakening progress had steadily increased and was now at eighty percent. Jiang Yutao had also accumulated a decent amount of Melon Coins, thanks to the melon she got from the drama between Xia Heyu and Su Zhengtang. Adding everything up, she had nearly three hundred coins in balance.

Jiang Yutao felt pretty pleased with herself.

The Melon-eating system had everything in it. There were pills that could temporarily alter a person’s appearance, and it knew Jiang Yutao’s style. So, it offered her the cheapest version.

Low-level Disguise Pill: A bottle contains ten pills. Each pill, when consumed, can alter one’s appearance for five hours. After five hours, it will revert back. One bottle costs 200 Melon Coins.

Jiang Yutao: Sorry to interrupt.

But thinking about it, she still felt a little reluctant to spend the coins, so she made a proposal to the system: [System, you know these days, everything comes with a sample pack. This 200 Melon Coins deal isn’t small. If you don’t offer a trial version, I can’t see the results, and it’s hard for me to spend that much. How about this: give me one pill to try first. If it works, I’ll buy more. What do you think?]

Fearing the system wouldn’t agree, Jiang Yutao even listed several examples of trial-sized products from supermarkets in her previous life, talking for nearly two minutes, dry-mouthed.

The Melon-eating system, being younger, quickly searched the networks of the future. After verifying that what Jiang Yutao said was indeed true, it found several reports and then said: [Okay, the trial version has been sent to your system backpack. Please check it.]

Jiang Yutao felt that the upgraded system was just as silly as before. She had thought it had improved, but that was probably just an illusion. After all, it was still a little fool that couldn’t find its way with just a little coaxing.

She opened the system’s backpack, took out the pills in the white porcelain bottle, and recalled the system’s description of the Low-level Disguise Pill. She then took out a small knife and divided the pill into five equal parts.

One pill could alter her appearance for five hours, but two hours would be enough for her. Wouldn’t taking two-fifths be the optimal solution?

Jiang Yutao’s plan worked. She found a spot to eat the Disguise Pill, and soon her whole appearance changed drastically. She transformed into the same look she had used when she sold sunflower seeds last time. At the same time, a countdown appeared on the system panel.

Now, Jiang Yutao was completely at ease.

She swaggered over to the cinema, and not long after she arrived, someone stopped her. Jiang Yutao took a closer look and recognized the person—it was a familiar face.

“Hey, miss, why are you going back on your word? Last time, you promised you’d come sell sunflower seeds every weekend, but I’ve come several times and haven’t seen you,” the young woman said. She was the first customer Jiang Yutao had encountered when she sold sunflower seeds last time.

Jiang Yutao smiled and said, “Well, the autumn harvest came up, didn’t it? How could I not be busy at a time like this? Are you here for some seeds today? I’ve got four flavors—salt and pepper, green tea, garlic, and cream. The cream ones are the sweet ones you bought last time.”

As she spoke, Jiang Yutao took out the small bags she had prepared for sampling and gave the young woman a little of each flavor.

The young woman’s eyes widened when she saw the four different flavors of sunflower seeds in her hand. When she heard Jiang Yutao mention the cream flavor, she was even more intrigued. “Is the cream like the kind of frosting on a cake?”

Jiang Yutao gave her a thumbs-up. “You’ve got a good eye, sis. Let me tell you, these cream-flavored seeds are only sold by me. You won’t find them anywhere, not even in Shencheng or the capital.”

Jiang Yutao wasn’t lying. To find so many flavors of sunflower seeds, you’d have to wait until at least the 1990s.

The young woman, who had been craving sweet-flavored sunflower seeds, was now even more intrigued by the cream flavor. In her mind, this type of seed had just become even more appealing.

Under Jiang Yutao’s introduction, she tried the green tea-flavored seeds, which had a strong tea fragrance, as well as the salt and pepper and garlic flavors. She loved them all.

While eating the seeds, she introduced herself to Jiang Yutao. “I’m Zhang Dezhen, I work here at the cinema as a ticket seller. What’s your name, miss?”

Jiang Yutao wasn’t about to reveal her real name. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “I’m Ying Taotao.”

“That’s a nice name,” Zhang Dezhen complimented Jiang Yutao’s name, then proceeded to state her purpose: “Our cinema also sells snacks. How many sunflower seeds do you have? I’ll take them all. I won’t haggle with you, I’ll give you three cents per jin.”

Jiang Yutao’s sunflower seeds tasted great and were sold exclusively by her, so Zhang Dezhen wasn’t worried about them not selling.

While Zhang Dezhen was being straightforward, Jiang Yutao began to wonder if she had priced her seeds too low. It has always been said that rarity makes things valuable. Her price of three cents per jin was actually not insignificant, but Zhang Dezhen’s approach of not negotiating at all made Jiang Yutao feel uncomfortable.

It was the kind of feeling where, when buying something, the shopkeeper asks for fifty, but she offers twenty, and the shopkeeper immediately agrees without thinking—it was frustrating.

Seeing Jiang Yutao stay silent, Zhang Dezhen felt a little uneasy. She wondered if she had priced the seeds too cheaply. After all, she had never tried seeds with such unique flavors. Last month, when she went to the city for a meeting, she had heard colleagues talk about the flavor of cream-flavored sunflower seeds. She even visited a cake shop to see what cream cakes looked like, and the scent was tempting.

She knew that cream-flavored sunflower seeds wouldn’t be cheap.

She thought to herself, “Five cents per jin, any more than that would be too much; I don’t have the authority.” Zhang Dezhen had been working at the cinema since she was sixteen. Now twenty, she had just been promoted to the position of ticket seller team leader in June. She had only a small team, and if the price was set too high, the supervisor wouldn’t approve.

With such unique flavors, once the seeds were sold in the cinema, if they were packaged in half-jin portions and sold for four or five cents, many people would buy them. Most people who could afford movie tickets were young couples, and who would care about those extra few cents?

Jiang Yutao wasn’t unwilling to sell the seeds for three cents per jin, but since Zhang Dezhen had already mentioned a price increase, it would be foolish for her to insist on three cents.

“Okay, I have six jin of the cream-flavored seeds, and four jin each of the salt and pepper, green tea, and garlic flavors. That’s a total of 18 jin. At the price you’ve set, it’s fifty cents per jin, totaling nine yuan. But you’ll need to wait a bit, I’ll go get my partner to bring the rest of the seeds.”

Zhang Dezhen nodded. “Okay, I’ll wait here for you. Hurry up and come back.”

Jiang Yutao nodded at her before walking away. She opened the map of the county town, found an alley where no one was passing by, and hid inside. She then transferred the sunflower seeds from her space into a large burlap sack, carried it, and carefully made her way to the spot where she had agreed to meet Zhang Dezhen. Zhang Dezhen was still waiting there, now with a scale by her side.

Jiang Yutao didn’t go inside the cinema to complete the transaction with Zhang Dezhen. Instead, she walked toward a more secluded spot. Jiang Yutao took the seeds out of the sack, and Zhang Dezhen weighed each one individually. After calculating everything, she happily counted out nine yuan and handed it to Jiang Yutao.

“If you have more seeds in the future, just come to the cinema to find me. I’ll take as many as you have,” Zhang Dezhen said.

With Zhang Dezhen being such a straightforward and no-nonsense wholesaler, Jiang Yutao was very satisfied. She handed over the seeds she had specifically set aside for tasting: “Alright, it’s a deal. I’ll come to you directly when I have more stock.”

Zhang Dezhen, seeing the extra half jin of sunflower seeds in her hands, smiled even more sincerely. Who doesn’t appreciate someone who knows how to handle business?

After the transaction was completed, Jiang Yutao helped Zhang Dezhen carry the sunflower seeds into the cinema and then left. Zhang Dezhen took the seeds to her office, then went next door to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a roll of oil paper. She divided the seeds into half-jin packets.

Next, she took out a small blackboard for writing and labeled the seeds with their names and prices. She placed the board behind the cinema’s movie board and arranged the packets of seeds according to their names on a shelf behind the ticket counter.

The ticket seller, Xiao Liu, had a good relationship with Zhang Dezhen and, seeing what she was doing, became a bit worried: “Sister Zhang, do you think this will be okay?”

Zhang Dezhen wasn’t at all concerned: “Of course it’s fine. I went to the city yesterday, and the cinemas there all sell little snacks. We’re following the higher-ups, and if anything happens, someone higher up will handle it. What’s there to worry about?”

Moreover, Zhang Dezhen felt that she was helping the cinema make extra revenue, and since she wasn’t keeping the money for herself, she wasn’t worried at all.

While the two of them were talking, a young woman in a red shirt stood by the counter, her eyes fixed on the words on the small blackboard: “Comrade, the ‘cream-flavored sunflower seeds’ you have here, are they the same kind of cream as in cream cakes?”

With business arriving, Zhang Dezhen put on a sincere smile and enthusiastically replied, “Yes, yes, you can try them.” Mimicking Jiang Yutao, Zhang Dezhen took a small portion of the seeds and offered them for tasting. She didn’t want to give too much, so she only handed the red-shirted girl a small pinch, about six or seven seeds.

After tasting, the red-shirted girl immediately made up her mind: “I’ll take two packs. And what flavor is this green one?”

Zhang Dezhen quickly grabbed a few seeds and offered them to her: “It’s green tea flavor, try it.”

Once the red-shirted girl tasted the seed, she decided to buy two packs of that as well. After thinking for a moment, she decided to also get one pack each of the remaining two flavors.

After the red-shirted girl left, Zhang Dezhen was still in disbelief. The sunflower seeds were selling so cheaply, and she had easily earned twenty-four cents. She bought the goods for five cents per two liang, and after splitting them into half-liang packets, she sold them for four cents each. With this, she made a net profit of three cents per pack. Selling three liang of seeds meant she earned nine cents.

Zhang Dezhen’s hand trembled slightly as she counted the money.

After this successful start, the sunflower seeds sold even better. By 7:30 p.m., after work, the net income from selling seeds alone was already two yuan and seventy cents.

This was just for half a day! Her monthly salary was only thirty-six yuan!

When Zhang Dezhen returned home, she was still in a daze.

Seeing her in a distracted state, her father asked, “What’s wrong? Did that Liu Qianjin kid bully you?”

Zhang Dezhen shook her head and told her father about the sunflower seed business. She also let him try the seeds she had brought back.

After tasting a few of the seeds, her father said, “The county is currently cracking down on illegal buying and selling, but it’s mainly targeting goods that are in short supply, like food and industrial products. Sunflower seeds are a rare agricultural byproduct, but they’re not unavailable. Now that the autumn harvest is over, there are still many families growing sunflower seeds, and it’s allowed for local people to sell their own produce.”

He continued, “The girl you’re talking about, who can create so many flavors of sunflower seeds, must be very talented. You should build a good relationship with her, make a positive connection.”

As Zhang Dezhen’s father spoke, Zhang Dezhen’s heart, which had been swayed by money, instantly steadied.

Now that illegal buying and selling were not allowed, it was useless for her to feel tempted. What she needed to do now, as her father had said, was to build a good relationship with Ying Taotao.

…

While Zhang Dezhen was talking to her father, Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei were walking back to Liushu Village, gossiping.

The two of them had a fruitful day in the county. Jiang Yutao had successfully found a reliable distributor for her sunflower seeds, while Gu Nianwei had figured out the current black market situation and sold off some of her goods.

Compared to Jiang Yutao’s small business, which earned a few hundred a day, Gu Nianwei made three to four hundred today. Although this amount was less than her cost price, inflation in the future meant that what 100 yuan could buy now would not even be available for 1,000 yuan in the future.

So, when everything was calculated, Gu Nianwei hadn’t lost out.

Moreover, she had discovered something else: Lin Jianzhong was also involved in black market trading.

How ironic! Two months ago, he was the high-ranking director of the supply and marketing cooperative, using things he hadn’t even verified to threaten her into marrying him.

The wheel of fortune had turned, and in just two months, while she was still living well as a young intellectual, he had fallen from being the director to becoming one of the black market traders he had once hunted down.

Gu Nianwei felt a sense of relief.

It was still a little before 7 p.m., and the sky hadn’t completely darkened yet. The air was misty as the two of them walked hand in hand, not in any hurry.

As they entered Liushu Village village, the dog raised by Accountant Xu’s family began barking loudly, its voice particularly sharp in the dark night. After this dog, several other dogs joined in, but soon their owner called them to stop.

Before they had even reached the young intellectuals’ compound, they saw Li Yunying and Wang Shanxi standing outside with an oil lamp, waiting for them.

The two of them immediately felt warmth in their hearts and quickened their pace.

When Li Yunying saw them, she quickly walked over: “I heard the dogs barking in the village, so I guessed you should be back. I came out to welcome you. Why are you back so late? Was the trip smooth?”

“It went smoothly. Was there something wrong? Why are you out here to meet us?” Gu Nianwei, who had spent more time with Li Yunying, felt that if there had been no major issues, Li Yunying and Wang Shanxi should be studying at this hour.

Considering how enthusiastic they were about studying just last night, it was hard to believe they’d lost that energy in less than a day.

Jiang Yutao also looked at Li Yunying.

Li Yunying glanced around, motioned for them to come inside, and quietly said, “Let’s talk inside.”

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei exchanged a look before following Li Yunying into the yard. Wang Shanxi followed them and closed the door behind them.

Instead of going back to the small house, they followed Li Yunying into the dormitory. As soon as they entered, they saw Zhao Yonglan sitting against the wall with a blanket in her arms. Her eyes were red and swollen, looking like a peach, clearly from crying. Zhang Huihui beside her also had slightly red eyes.

“What happened?” Jiang Yutao asked.

Li Yunying placed the oil lamp on the table. “Today, when Yonglan and the others were returning from the commune, they passed by a mountain ravine near Zhangjia Village. A man, around thirty years old, from the Lin family’s shop ran out. Taking advantage of Yonglan not paying attention, he tried to carry her away. Liu Yingjun and Huihui chased after him for quite a distance before catching up. They fought with the man and managed to get Yonglan back.”

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei were both deeply shocked. “Is there no law anymore? How dare he snatch someone right in front of so many people!”

Jiang Yutao knew that the old bachelor was bold—if he weren’t, he wouldn’t have been able to pull off something like knocking Zhao Yonglan unconscious and imprisoning her, like something from a book. But she didn’t expect him to be this bold. There were three of them, including Liu Yingjun!

Even though Liu Yingjun was young, he was still an adult man. How could he dare? How could he!

Even now, when Zhao Yonglan thought about it, she still trembled all over.

Gu Nianwei thought about those human trafficking cases that had been exposed in later years and the horrors the abducted girls had to endure. She knew all too well.

Just thinking about that kind of harm made her feel sick to her stomach.

“What about that old bachelor?” Gu Nianwei asked, her fists clenched tightly at her sides. If that man were in front of her, she’d smash his head in.

Zhang Huihui took a deep breath and said, “I tied that old bachelor up with Yingjun. We left him in a hunter’s trap near Zhangjia Village. We’ve already discussed it with the shop manager. When it gets dark, we’ll go pull him out of the trap and send him to the police station.”

They couldn’t send him in the daytime. In fact, they couldn’t even show any signs of what had happened.

Being snatched by a man in Zaoxiang Commune was unheard of. If word got out, this incident would spread widely, and that would not be good for Zhao Yonglan.

There are always some disgusting people in this world who don’t care about right or wrong. They only use their brain that’s half-eaten by dogs to think. They’d say things like, “A fly doesn’t sit on a seamless egg.” If that old bachelor didn’t go after anyone else but Zhao Yonglan, it must be because she must’ve seduced him, making him do it.

Some self-righteous people would say, “Who knows how long Zhao Yonglan was carried off? Maybe she already became a victim.” They would project the most filthy, vile assumptions onto Zhao Yonglan. Some might even demand that Zhao Yonglan marry that old bachelor.

This world is always so unfair. In matters between men and women, it is always the women who are condemned. Take the case of Zhao Chunhua, Luo Xueming, and Su Changshan for example. Both sides were at fault and deserved criticism, yet Zhao Chunhua bore the brunt of the blame.

Jiang Yutao immediately said to Li Yunying, “I’ll go too. I’m stronger.”

Recently, Jiang Yutao hadn’t been hiding the fact that she was strong—everyone at the youth station knew by now.

Li Yunying nodded. “Let’s all go. One group will take the old bachelor to the police station, and the other will go knock on Director Yang’s door. Director Yang from Zaoxiang Youth Office is an upright person. After the Wang Yuan incident, he has been paying extra attention to the work of the youth. With something like this happening, he’ll help us.”

“Alright.”

Zhao Yonglan wiped away her tears. “Damn that Xie Heyu! I’ve never wronged her. Why is she scheming against me? I’ll get back at her sooner or later.”

Zhao Yonglan had previously half-believed what Jiang Yutao had said about this matter. For so long, there had been no action from Xie Heyu, and Zhao Yonglan had secretly thought Jiang Yutao had made a mistake. On the way to the commune today, she had even talked about it with Zhang Huihui and Liu Yingjun. While they felt it was something to be wary of, they still thought Jiang Yutao was overreacting.

But before she could finish speaking, she was slapped in the face with reality.

Zhao Yonglan regained her composure as the night grew even deeper. Around 9 o’clock, Wang Shanxi knocked on their door. Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei put on their coats and followed the main group outside.

In those days, there were few entertainment activities, and everyone went to bed early. They didn’t take the village road but instead cut across the small hill behind the youth station, taking a longer route through the fields.

They moved silently, so quietly that even the Su family, who lived next door in the neighboring yard, didn’t notice them.

Once they were out of the Liushu Village area, Gu Nianwei and Zhao Rongguang turned on their flashlights.

No one said a word as they hurried along. In less than twenty minutes, under Liu Yingjun’s lead, they found the old bachelor, bound hand and foot with his mouth gagged, crouched in the trap.

The old bachelor had been in the trap for the whole afternoon. At first, he had shouted, but the area was so remote that no one would pass by. As dusk approached, he stopped shouting, fearing that too much noise might attract wild animals from the mountains.

When he suddenly saw the flashlight, he opened his eyes wide and whimpered.

Zhao Rongguang handed the flashlight to Wang Shanxi, then jumped into the trap, stepping directly on the old bachelor’s right ankle. The old man’s face twisted in pain, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Liu Yingjun tossed a piece of hemp rope down from above, the kind used by the village women to tie up livestock, extremely sturdy.

Zhao Rongguang tied the rope around the old bachelor’s waist, and Jiang Yutao, Gu Nianwei, and Li Yunying stepped forward to help pull. Together, they quickly hauled him out of the trap.

Before the old man could regain his footing, Zhao Yonglan stepped forward and slapped him twice. Before he could react, Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei, pretending to be casual, each kicked him once.

Jiang Yutao used her strength, while Gu Nianwei applied skillful force, kicking him where it hurt. The old bachelor howled in pain.

Just as he shouted, Zhao Rongguang, who had jumped into the trap, slapped him across the face: “Shut up! If you make another sound, we’ll take you deep into the mountains, dig a hole, and bury you.”

The old bachelor immediately thought of the female youth who had killed over twenty people from the Zhang family. A wave of heat surged from below his belly, and he dared not make a sound anymore.

No matter how bold a person is, everyone fears death.

Zhao Yonglan kicked him twice more and was about to kick again when Jiang Yutao stopped her: “Don’t waste time. I picked up a big stick for you; you can hit him with it on the way.”

Zhao Yonglan stopped and didn’t charge at him again.

The group walked forward, surrounding the old bachelor. Zhao Rongguang and Wang Shanxi held the rope, dragging him along, while Jiang Yutao, Gu Nianwei, and Li Yunying positioned themselves in different spots, ensuring the old bachelor couldn’t escape.

Zhao Yonglan held the big stick and, with each few steps, struck the old bachelor.

The old man dared not make a sound, terrified of being buried alive.

They did not disturb the villagers on the way, and eventually, they reached the commune. Liu Yingjun took Zhang Huihui to find Director Yang, while Jiang Yutao and the others brought the old bachelor to the police station.

The officers on duty at the station were familiar with Jiang Yutao and her group. When Wang Shanxi spoke, the officer’s face immediately changed.

He stepped forward, yanked the cloth out of the old bachelor’s mouth, and the old man immediately fell to his knees in front of the police officer.

“Comrade police, comrade police, you must save me! These little bastards said they were going to bury me alive!” He cried, crawling toward the officer’s pants leg.

The officer kicked him away: “Do you even know what you’ve done? If it were up to me, people like you should be buried alive.”

The officer had already understood what happened. He asked Jiang Yutao and the others to wait outside while he dragged the old bachelor to the interrogation room.

The old man was no match for the experienced officer. By the time Director Yang arrived, the officer had already interrogated the old man and uncovered the full story.

The officer, holding the record of the interrogation, asked the victim, Zhao Yonglan: “Do you have a grudge against Xia Heyu? The old bachelor, Lin Laizi, says he tried to abduct you because Xia Heyu gave him the idea.”