Chapter 62

“Boom, boom, boom…”

After a rumble of thunder, the sky opened up and rain began to pour.

Yu Xiangnian, hearing the rain, excitedly hobbled outside.

Watching the large raindrops pelt the ground, it wasn’t long before the courtyard was filled with water.

In ancient times, there was the charcoal seller who worried about cheap charcoal and wished for cold weather. Today, there’s Yu Xiangnian, worried about unsold shoes and wishing for heavy rain.

Suddenly, everything around her went dark—there was a power outage.

Cheng Jingmo lit a kerosene lamp and placed it on the table. The dim light cast everything in shadowy indistinctness.

Yu Xiangnian didn’t even notice Cheng Jingmo’s darkened expression.

The next morning, Yu Xiangnian went to the city with Liu Zhen and Wang Hongxiang.

She took them to meet with the Haozi, showed them the warehouse, and arranged for the delivery.

There were still 8,500 pairs of rain boots in the warehouse. Delivering 1,000 pairs each night, it would take nine days to finish.

By then, Brother Ping’s child would be mostly recovered, and she would get her payment!

When Cheng Jingmo returned home from work, he saw the bicycle in the house covered in mud.

It was clear that Yu Xiangnian had gone to the city again, probably to meet the man from yesterday.

It seemed that man was useful to her recently. What was she planning?

After dinner, Cheng Jingmo took the bicycle to the faucet in the courtyard to wash off the mud.

Yu Xiangnian pretended to go for a walk after dinner, watching as the three people left the residential compound one by one and then strolled over to the health clinic.

She needed to keep an eye on Wu Xiaomin to prevent her from making any more reports, and also to give her a warning.

When Wu Xiaomin saw Yu Xiangnian, her face turned cold.

At that time, the families were at home cooking, doing housework, and looking after their children. The health clinic was nearly empty, and neither of them was trying to pretend anymore.

Yu Xiangnian, fanning herself with a hand fan, walked up to Wu Xiaomin.

“Dr. Wu, if you don’t want everyone to know about yesterday, you’d better behave. If you try to stab me in the back again, I guarantee everyone in the compound will find out.”

Wu Xiaomin replied angrily, “You’re just spreading rumors!”

“If you say I’m spreading rumors, then I won’t hold back. I’ll find your friend from yesterday and let everyone ask him if I’m spreading rumors.”

Wu Xiaomin: “…”

Yu Xiangnian sat under a large tree outside the health clinic, enjoying the cool breeze while watching the children play.

As the families finished their housework and came out to enjoy the cool air, they were surprised to see Yu Xiangnian sitting there.

“Why is this nasty woman out today?”

“She’s sitting there, so she must be looking for Dr. Wu again. Haven’t you heard about her competition with Dr. Wu yesterday?”

“Quick, tell everyone what happened…”

“…”

“Dr. Wu can’t compare in terms of looks, but she knows medicine and is reasonable, much better than her.”

“But Dr. Wu has had her share of moral failings too. How can she take advantage of someone’s visit to their family and then keep visiting Deputy Commander Cheng’s home every day?”

Yu Xiangnian could tell that people were talking about her.

Groups of women, in threes or fours, huddled together, chatting away and occasionally glancing at her before continuing their gossip.

If you’re going to talk about people behind their backs, at least try to be discreet!

But Yu Xiangnian didn’t care about what they were saying!

She stayed there until dark and only went home when the mosquitoes became unbearable.

She knew Cheng Jingmo was in a bad mood lately.

With such things happening, he couldn’t talk to anyone about it and had to bottle up his feelings.

She tried to minimize her presence, avoid disturbing Cheng Jingmo, and spent her time in her room reading comic books.

Ten days passed quickly, and her foot was healed, allowing her to walk normally again.

The goods had all been delivered to Brother Ping, and the handcart had been returned to the daily chemical factory. She was now just waiting to collect her payment.

That morning, Yu Xiangnian rode her bicycle to Brother Ping’s place.

“Brother Ping, how is your child recovering?” she asked.

Brother Ping rarely showed a smile, but today he did, “I guess I made the right bet.”

Rui Rui had been discharged from the hospital the day before, and before leaving, another thorough check-up confirmed that his heart was now fine.

“That’s great.”

“With your skills, why bother with the black market?” Brother Ping said with sharp and sincere eyes, “The doctors here aren’t up to par. We could collaborate with the hospital; you’d just need to handle the surgeries. I’ll handle the rest, and we’d split the profits—four for the hospital, three for you and me.”

Yu Xiangnian nodded, “Thank you, Brother Ping, for your high regard. I still prefer to handle small-scale transactions. I’d rather avoid doing surgeries.”

She was currently practicing medicine without a license. If something went wrong, it would involve medical malpractice. Her identity would be exposed, and she could be arrested for illegal medical practice.

Surgery carried risks, and she couldn’t guarantee success for every operation.

Brother Ping raised an eyebrow, puzzled, “You don’t want to make money?”

“Too risky. If something goes wrong, it’s a matter of life and death. It’s better to avoid it.”

Brother Ping didn’t press further, “Alright. If you ever need money, feel free to come to me.”

They then settled the payment for the goods.

Brother Ping had received 9,361 pairs of shoes from her, totaling 16,849.80 yuan. He rounded it up and gave her 16,900 yuan.

Such a large sum of money couldn’t fit into the bag Yu Xiangnian was carrying.

Haozi found a burlap sack for her to carry the money.

Yu Xiangnian thought to herself, isn’t this the so-called wealthy person? The money’s so much it needs to be carried in a burlap sack!

The sack was filled more than halfway with money.

Yu Xiangnian felt anxious. If she were robbed, the money wouldn’t just be worth selling Cheng Jingmo; it could even buy off Yu Xiangyang and still not cover the loss!

“Brother Ping, could you have Brother Haozi escort me part of the way?”

Brother Ping and Haozi exchanged a glance, and Haozi suddenly laughed, “Others are wary of us, afraid we’ll rob them, but you’re asking us to help you carry money!”

Yu Xiangnian replied, “If you were planning to rob me, Brother Ping wouldn’t have given me this money. Since you’ve given it to me, it would be a hassle to rob me again. I trust Brother Ping and his people.”

Haozi said, “You’re more persuasive than I am.”

“Haozi, escort her,” Brother Ping instructed.

Haozi took Yu Xiangnian to the accounting office of the daily chemical factory before leaving.

Everyone was curious to see someone using a burlap sack for money, and the entire factory came to look. Even Yu Xiangguo showed up.

“Was that person who handled your goods just now?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You should avoid these people. They look shifty and untrustworthy.”

Yu Xiangnian thought to herself, how could Haozi not look shifty?

She said, “Don’t judge people by their appearance. They are trustworthy.”

Yu Xiangguo felt a bit awkward being confronted directly and scratched his nose, changing the subject.

“I heard from Uncle Qiu that Qiu Yang is coming back.”

“Qiu Yang is coming back?” Yu Xiangnian nearly jumped with joy, her eyes shining as she looked at Yu Xiangguo. “When exactly is he coming back?”

“I’m not sure of the exact date, but it should be in the next few days. Uncle Qiu and Aunt Yang have been telling everyone.”

Yu Xiangnian said excitedly, “When he’s back, let Yu Xiangyang know. I haven’t seen him in a long time!”