Chapter 68

Gu Xiangqian held Su Ye’s waist and slowly sat down on the chair. After a moment, he calmly and affectionately rubbed her head.

After a while, he looked down and said to Su Ye, “The rehabilitation medication I took has side effects. The doctor recommended not having children within six months after stopping the medication.”

His ears were still red as he spoke.

…

…

Su Ye was silent for a moment. So that’s how it is?

This was actually an easy problem to solve—just one piece of contraceptive would be enough. But these days, with the emphasis on having many children being a blessing and more people giving strength, where could they find contraceptives? In China, it would probably only be available in the 1980s, with the family planning policy.

The smile on Su Ye’s face cracked little by little. She stood up and hurriedly started tidying up the papers she hadn’t corrected yet.

A smile finally appeared in Gu Xiangqian’s eyes as he said, “During the summer vacation, take a week off. I’ll also apply for a family visit leave and take you to Shanghai to meet my uncle.”

“You’ve never been to Shanghai, right?”

Although Gu Xiangqian’s parents were no longer around, ^[1]“he wasn’t born from a stone” is a figurative expression used to emphasize that someone, like everyone else, has family and relatives. It suggests that the person is not some sort of … Continue readinghe wasn’t born from a stone, and he had no relatives nearby. His mother had a brother. During the New Year, Gu Xiangqian had mentioned wanting to visit Shanghai, but at that time, Su Ye hadn’t thought about living with him, so she didn’t agree.

Su Ye nodded, “Alright. What does Uncle like? I need to prepare early.”

Gu Xiangqian brushed her hair and said, “No need, just going there is enough.”

—

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Guo Aiguo secretly distributed the grain he had bought to his grandmother and older brother’s family, and Mrs. Fang also provided some to her natal family.

The Su family was never worried about not having fine grains to eat, and Su Lina never went back to buy grain from Yao Chunyu again.

The Su family were wealthy local merchants, and Su Lina was among the more well-off of Yao Chunyu’s classmates. Yao Chunyu originally thought she could trade the fine grains for the small ^[2]“yellow fish” refers to a specific type of gold bar that is shaped like a small fish. The term likely comes from the traditional Chinese design of gold bars that are made in the shape of … Continue readingyellow fish Su Lina had, but after just one exchange, Su Lina never approached her again.

Yao Chunyu went to see Su Lina once, and Su Lina helplessly spread her hands. “I can’t help it, my grandmother is very traditional and values gold bars more than her own life. Sorry, I can’t buy grain from you anymore.”

What could Yao Chunyu say? She could only smile and say, “It’s fine, if you ever want fine grains again, just come find me. The person selling the grain is still around, and I can still contact him for you. I heard he’s leaving next year.”

She gritted her teeth and made a harsh remark, but Su Lina remained unmoved.

Losing one source for trading gold bars didn’t make a huge impact, but Yao Chunyu felt uneasy, so she went to find Fang Xiulian, who often asked her about grain.

She told Fang Xiulian, “I know a way to get fine grains. There’s someone selling them, but he only accepts gold bars.”

At the time, Fang Xiulian had just received cheap rice at two yuan per jin from her cousin. After hearing Yao Chunyu’s words, she immediately shook her head without thinking. “Too expensive, I don’t have that much money.”

Fang Xiulian was still happy that Yao Chunyu knew where to buy grain. If it weren’t for the great quality and low price she had gotten from her cousin, she might have really gone to Yao Chunyu.

But now… three jin of fine grain for one small yellow fish? It was ridiculous to even think about it! Without hesitation, Fang Xiulian turned her down.

Yao Chunyu’s smile froze. She didn’t expect that her usually successful fine grain deal would be rejected twice in one day.

From what Yao Chunyu knew, Fang Xiulian’s family was not short of money at all—both her natal and marital families were well-off. In addition, both she and her husband were only children, and their life together was enviable. Li Maogang, besides developing a little slower than Gu Xiangqian, had better circumstances in almost every other way.

Gu Xiangqian had donated all his family’s wealth to the state and was still willing to use his salary to indulge Su Ye, with her eating candy, biscuits, milk powder, and malted milk every day. How could someone like Li Maogang, a rich second-generation, ever let Fang Xiulian go badly?

The current price of gold wasn’t high, and trading a small yellow fish for several jin of fine grain was already a good deal. Yao Chunyu instinctively felt that something was off.

Fang Xiulian called her husband, and Li Maogang replied with an “Eh,” coming out of the kitchen with a plate of hot roasted duck and placing it on the dining table. There was also a bowl of white porridge made from rice, steaming and fragrant, looking delicious and appetizing.

Roast duck… Yao Chunyu’s eyelids twitched instinctively.

In recent days, Yao Chunyu has been hearing the legend of the “duck” repeatedly. The word appeared so often that whenever she saw a duck, she reflexively thought of the incident where Su Ye found a duck.

She smiled and said to Fang Xiulian, “It’s already mealtime so soon. I have some things to do, so I won’t disturb you.”

After Yao Chunyu left, Fang Xiulian remained in a state of surprise for a long time and hadn’t yet come back to her senses.

Actually, today Fang Xiulian wanted to talk to Su Ye about Yao Chunyu selling grain. She had suspected for a long time that Yao Chunyu was hiding a lot of grain.

The day Yao Chunyu hurriedly returned from the outskirts, she didn’t even notice that Fang Xiulian had seen the rice grains stuck to her clothes. Fang Xiulian had observed Yao Chunyu for a long time.

Fang Xiulian and Su Lina were distant relatives. If it weren’t for her cousin, Mrs. Fang, casually mentioning in conversation that her cousin’s family had exchanged gold bars for grain, Fang Xiulian might not have even realized that Yao Chunyu was selling grain.

Cousin Su had bought three jin of grain with one small yellow fish, and was scolded by her grandmother. Since the Su family no longer lacked grain, the cousin certainly wouldn’t ask Yao Chunyu for more. But unexpectedly, after being turned down by the cousin, Yao Chunyu came straight to Fang Xiulian.

Fang Xiulian quietly discussed it with her husband, “I suspect Comrade Yao is selling grain. Last time, I found rice grains on her, even on the cuffs of her pants, and there was rice dust on her clothes.”

Li Maogang did not give a clear answer, saying, “Just focus on your own business and don’t meddle in others’. Didn’t you learn a lesson from the last time with your sister-in-law? Don’t guess things without evidence.”

He paused for a moment, lowered his voice, and said seriously, “I know about this now. Don’t discuss it with anyone else. If you must, only talk to me. This is a sensitive time, do you understand?”

Fang Xiulian was very curious, and she poked her husband playfully, “I’m just telling you, I wasn’t thinking of writing a report! Do I look like the kind of person who would secretly report others?”

Li Maogang patted his wife’s head, smiling as he said, “Of course not. You, Xiulian, are bold and meticulous, good at noticing things others don’t. Come, eat some roast duck. And honestly, your sister-in-law’s cooking is top-notch.”

Putting everything else aside, whatever good food Su Ye had, it always caught Fang Xiulian’s attention. Whatever Su Ye liked, she would send. She could always pick things Su Ye enjoyed, and some rare items that couldn’t be found elsewhere—if Fang Xiulian helped, it was a sure bet. This knack for reading the situation, if it were in the past, it would definitely have made her good business material.

—

Wednesday, at No. 1 High School.

Su Ye arrived at school and carefully discussed Lu Siyuan’s review with He Meimei. If Lu Siyuan’s problem was with the sciences, Su Ye could help with that.

The real difficulty lay in his Chinese and political studies, which weren’t good. Those were subjects Su Ye had to seriously work on herself. Each subject has its own expertise, so Su Ye had to consult He Meimei.

When He Meimei heard Su Ye’s description, it seemed as though the Lu Siyuan Su Ye was talking about was a completely different person from the one He Meimei had known for three years.

“Is he really as good as you say?” If he were that good, the teachers would have already treated him like a treasure.

Su Ye felt a headache whenever she mentioned him. “I can’t help it. Just do me a favor and spend half an hour after school every day tutoring him. He’s really smart. While you’re at it, you can also help the other students in the class with their liberal arts. Their science subjects aren’t too much of a problem anymore.”

He Meimei finally agreed when she heard the second half of the request. She wasn’t sure she had enough influence to tutor Lu Siyuan alone, but if it meant helping the struggling students in the class with their Chinese, she was happy to do it.

She couldn’t let Su Ye work so hard to improve the students’ grades, only for her own Chinese teaching to drag them down. That would make her feel guilty.

“Perfect timing. Our group’s review materials for Chinese and Political Studies are ready. We’ll make a few copies for each class so the students can copy them down and memorize them every day.”

That afternoon, after school, Su Ye occasionally patrolled the back of the classroom, stopping to help students from other classes with problems when needed. After answering a question, she checked the backend data.

The grain prices were steadily rising, and the trend was looking good.

Through the window, Su Ye saw Yang Chenxing carefully memorizing ancient texts. A few boys sitting near him, though scratching their heads in frustration, had at least managed to memorize a sentence or two.

After He Meimei finished tutoring and left, the few boys who hadn’t memorized the ancient texts let out a sigh of relief. Xu Le, with a serious face, said to them, “Do you have the nerve to leave without finishing your memorization? The graduation exam is in half a month. Do you think you can pass it?”

As Su Ye walked by the playground, she saw a few boys still running laps. Surprised, she asked, “Why haven’t you gone back yet?”

One of the boys grinned and said, “How could it be that easy? What if we don’t get our diploma and end up poor and ugly for the rest of our lives?”

Another boy added, “Yang Chenxing said if we run while memorizing, our brains will work better, and we’ll remember more clearly. Ha ha ha.”

The sunset bathed their faces in a warm glow, and Su Ye couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

—

Changyou Grain and Oil Factory.

The workshop team leader, Zheng, was inspecting a batch of oil presses imported from abroad. Before signing his name after completing the inspection, he thoroughly checked every part from start to finish, as was his meticulous habit.

Screw rods, turbines, drive shafts, gears… until he reached a critical part when a plump leader in a blue work uniform approached.

He smiled as he said to Secretary Zheng, “Have you signed the form yet? The engineers from abroad are pushing us for the inspection report. They can only teach us how to use the machines once it’s signed.”

He continued, “Director Lu has already personally inspected these machines abroad, and there’s no problem. Don’t keep them waiting, or they might get upset. They value punctuality.”

Secretary Zheng was feeling the pressure and was about to stare blankly when he saw the deputy factory director grab a pen and sign the form for him.

—

Sweating profusely, Secretary Zheng woke up from his dream. Although there was no wind on a summer night and the temperature wasn’t too high, he felt like he had been pulled out of the water.

His wife, woken by the noise, grumbled sleepily, “What’s all this noise in the middle of the night? What’s wrong?”

Wiping his sweat, Secretary Zheng weakly said, “It’s nothing. I suddenly remembered something, and it’s making me anxious. Didn’t our factory just import a batch of machines? It cost 180,000, funded by the mayor’s special budget, and the factory director used the factory’s profits this year to secure the machines. But the factory has laid off so many workers this year, how could there be any profits to use as collateral? What if something happens…”

“I was the one who inspected those machines, but I always felt something was off with Deputy Director Yu. Why was he checking machines that aren’t even his responsibility? I should’ve told the factory director earlier, and kept a closer eye on things. Maybe I’ve been too tired these days, my mind’s been unsettled, and I keep dreaming about bad things.”

He muttered repeatedly, his words jumbled. His wife, impatient, turned over and went back to sleep.