No one could tell if Xie Lang was truly drunk or just pretending. But when he stood up after the meal, he was clearly swaying and tipsy.

Song Guanshu took the initiative to head to the front to pay the bill. Xie Lang stumbled forward after him. “I said I was treating. How can I let you pay?”

The owner was used to drunk customers fighting over the bill and asked with a cheerful smile, “Gentlemen, which of you is paying today?”

Song Guanshu had already taken out the money. “I’ll pay.”

Though the prices at the little restaurant were on the high side—twice that of a state-owned restaurant—it had one distinct advantage: no grain or meat coupons required, just cash.

If you did the math, it was actually more cost-effective than eating at a state-run place.

Seeing that Xie Lang could barely walk straight after drinking, Jiang Ling worried he might end up dead in a ditch—or worse, spend the night lying on the road.

Although the temperature was above freezing, a night outdoors might not kill him, but it could certainly leave him seriously ill.

Jiang Ling said, “Let’s take Xie Lang home. We can’t just leave him out here and risk something happening.”

Song Guanshu didn’t object. He simply asked, “You care about him that much?”

Jiang Ling rolled her eyes at him. “What nonsense. What if something happens and we’re held responsible? We still have to keep working at the daily chemical factory, and I’m counting on Xie Lang to give Wei Ming a hard time.”

Xie Lang, squatting and fumbling with the bicycle lock with trembling hands, didn’t hear a word of their conversation.

Jiang Ling frowned as she watched Xie Lang climb onto his bicycle. The man couldn’t even walk in a straight line—could he really ride a bike?

She suggested, “Why don’t we walk back instead?”

Falling while walking was still better than crashing on a bike—at least the recovery would be quicker.

Xie Lang waved his hand. “I’m fine. I can ride.”

No sooner had he spoken than, whether to prove his point or because his brain wasn’t quite functioning, he took off in a flash, not even looking back at the two behind him.

Jiang Ling quickly patted Song Guanshu on the back. “Hurry, follow him.”

They escorted Xie Lang all the way to the building where he lived and watched him go upstairs before heading back the same way.

Somewhere along the route, maybe they had run over a nail or something, because halfway through, Song Guanshu suddenly turned to Jiang Ling and said, “The back tire’s flat.”

Jiang Ling was still sitting on the back seat of the bicycle. At first, she thought he was mocking her weight and got angry, ready to snap back. But to be sure, she looked down—and saw that the rear tire was completely flat.

It was clearly not because of her weight, but because something sharp had punctured it and let the air out.

“Damn it, who’s so lacking in morals to throw nails on the road?” Jiang Ling looked at him. “So what now?”

Song Guanshu motioned for her to get off. “Let’s walk back.”

It would take at least half an hour to walk home, and the night was cold. Jiang Ling rubbed her arms and reluctantly jumped down from the back seat.

During this period, no matter the region, there was no nightlife. With few entertainment options, people went to bed early—by eight o’clock, most were already tucked in.

Only households with a television might stay up a little later.

Even if people stayed up late, it was always at home—watching TV, listening to the radio, or maybe doing some bed exercises. No one went out wandering the streets at night.

So aside from Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu, the streets were empty.

Few pedestrians didn’t mean none. Just as the two were leaving the main road and about to enter the steel factory’s family housing area, they heard a young man singing loudly. It was obvious he was drunk.

Late at night, neither Jiang Ling nor Song Guanshu had any curiosity to go find out who the drunk was.

But sometimes, even if you don’t go looking for trouble, trouble will find you on its own.

That group spotted the two walking on the street and noticed one of them was clearly a woman.

Their leader, Xiao Bing, waved his hand, slurring his words, “Let’s go check it out. There’s a chick over there.”

The five men, though stumbling and unable to walk straight, managed to surround Song Guanshu and Jiang Ling in a flanking formation—it was clear this wasn’t their first time doing something like this.

Jiang Ling muttered under her breath, “The flat tire earlier was a sign. We shouldn’t have gone out tonight.”

Xiao Bing’s father was the deputy director of the steel factory. At work, Xiao Bing acted like a tyrant, bullying men and harassing women without consequence. But he had a powerful father. As long as it didn’t involve murder or arson, whether it was assault or harassing a woman, Deputy Director Xiao could always spend some money to smooth things over.

Just by looking at the group’s greasy, flashy outfits, you could tell they weren’t good people.

Not to mention the way he opened his mouth—his sleazy tone was unmistakable. Shaking his leg, he said, “Little sister, what are you doing out here so late? Waiting for big brother?”

The visibility at night was poor, and it wasn’t until he got closer that he saw Jiang Ling’s face clearly. One glance, and he was nearly stunned. He had never seen such a beautiful girl in his life.

A younger lackey, shaking his leg, stammered, “B-Brother Bing, this chick is really something.”

Xiao Bing slapped the lackey across the face. “No matter how good-looking she is, she’s mine.”

Even after being hit, the underling didn’t dare fight back. Instead, he lowered his head like a dog that had been fully domesticated.

Jiang Ling, meanwhile, was calculating in her mind. Neither she nor Song Guanshu had drunk much tonight—they were both sober. Was it possible for the two of them to take down these five drunk thugs?

Xiao Bing was tall and broad, his face covered in pockmarks, looking a bit like a toad that had cultivated into a human. Jiang Ling didn’t have trypophobia, but the sight still made her turn her head in disgust.

When it came to pretty girls, Xiao Bing had patience. He started with a sweet-talking approach. If that didn’t work, he’d move on to threats and coercion.

“Little sister, what’s your name? Where do you live? Do you have a boyfriend? How about giving big brother a chance?”

As he spoke, he completely ignored Song Guanshu standing beside Jiang Ling. With his delicate features and calm demeanor, Xiao Bing assumed he was just a pretty boy without any backbone.

The more Xiao Bing looked at that delicate face, the more he liked it. He couldn’t resist reaching out to touch her.

The next second, Song Guanshu slammed him to the ground.

The change happened so quickly that even Jiang Ling was caught off guard. Xiao Bing and his lackeys certainly hadn’t expected that this pretty boy would dare to fight back.

In her heart, Jiang Ling gave Song Guanshu a thumbs-up. A real man. From now on, she’d definitely cut back on mocking him—even in her thoughts.

Jiang Ling quickly took two steps back. She couldn’t stand in the middle of a fight and risk becoming a liability.

Those thugs might have looked big and fierce, but all five of them were utterly overpowered by Song Guanshu.

And he didn’t hold back. When he fought, it wasn’t just to win—it was to break his opponent. Of course, he was aware that Jiang Ling was right behind him, and that he couldn’t go as far as to kill.

But still, every blow landed with precision and force. The gang’s howls of pain grew weaker and weaker.

Jiang Ling’s expression shifted as the sounds of bones breaking filled the air.

Xiao Bing, who had been strutting around the steel factory like a tyrant for years, still had a bit of backbone. Even now, he was still throwing out threats. “Do you know who I am? My dad is Xiao Zhenhua, the deputy director of our steel factory!”

He thought name-dropping his father would be enough to stop the beating. But when the blows didn’t stop, he moved on. “Do you know who my uncle is? My uncle is Xiao Zhenbang, the head of Beicheng’s Grain Bureau!”

He really shouldn’t have mentioned his uncle. As it was, he’d only gotten the same treatment as his lackeys—a broken leg.

But when Song Guanshu heard that his uncle was a government official, he made sure both of Xiao Bing’s legs were broken.

Beating up those thugs was satisfying, but Jiang Ling was still worried. She and Song Guanshu might end up in trouble for this. After all, those men had powerful relatives. If they were found out, revenge would definitely follow.

Jiang Ling seemed to have been scared into tears and pretended to try stopping the fight. “Second Brother, stop hitting them, please! Don’t get yourself into trouble!”

“Second Brother, you just got out of that place—you can’t go back in. Don’t you know, when you were inside, Mom cried so hard at home she nearly went blind…”

Song Guanshu was a smart man. He quickly caught on to what Jiang Ling was doing.

He found it amusing, and didn’t keep beating them. Instead, he raised his hand and used a knife-hand strike to knock all five of them unconscious.

Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu then left the scene together.

By the time they got back, it was only eight o’clock. The lights in the homes across the courtyard—the Sun family and Grandpa Sun—were already out.

Song Guanshu pushed the bicycle into the kitchen. He needed it for work the next day, so he’d have to patch the tire tonight.

After they entered the courtyard, Jiang Ling locked the front gate behind them.

Song Guanshu filled a basin with water and began patching the tire.

Jiang Ling quietly washed up beside him. By the time she had finished washing her face, Song Guanshu had already pulled a rusted thumbtack out of the tire and let it drop into the basin with a plop.

“How could a nail end up on the street like that for no reason?”

Song Guanshu said firmly, “Someone tossed it on purpose.”

After the wave of educated youths returning to the city, some of them still hadn’t found jobs or gotten into college. So they set up small roadside stalls near their homes to patch tires. But of course, there weren’t that many tires needing repair. So some started to get crafty with dirty tricks.

Later, when they had climbed into bed, Jiang Ling didn’t fall asleep right away. She knew Song Guanshu was still awake too.

Lying flat on her back, she said to him, “What happened today—I’ll take it to my grave. I won’t tell anyone.” At this point, the two of them were already grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

There was a trace of amusement in his voice. “Go to sleep. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

The next day, after work, the first thing Song Guanshu did when he got home was wash his jacket.

The clothes that had been touched by those thugs the night before felt dirty to him—he needed to wash them right away.

Jiang Ling had nothing to do, so she sat in the courtyard, watching him wash clothes.

When Li Jun and Juxiang from the neighboring courtyard entered, this was the scene they walked into.

Li Jun curled her lips and signaled to Juxiang with a look that said, See? I told you so. That young wife is lazy as can be—cunning, greedy, slick, and lazy rolled into one. She had never seen a wife who made her husband do the laundry.

She even felt a bit of regret. What a good man Xiao Song is—such a pity he ended up with the wrong wife.

Juxiang was the third daughter-in-law from the neighboring courtyard. When she saw Jiang Ling, she smiled and greeted her, “Doing laundry? You must be Xiao Song’s wife. I’ve heard about you for a while now—glad to finally meet you today.”

As she chatted with Jiang Ling, she didn’t forget to nudge Li Jun. “Sister Jun, I’ll chat with the Xiao Song couple for a bit. You go back and look for those shoes I lent you. I’ll wait outside.”

She pointed to the west wing. “I live in the west courtyard of your place. Just call me Sister Juxiang. We’re neighbors—if you ever need a hand with anything, just come call me or your Third Brother from the west courtyard.”

Jiang Ling found her voice and manner far more pleasant than Li Jun’s.

“Of course, thank you, Sister. We’re just two young ones, newly married, with no parents or relatives nearby. We’ll definitely be relying on the neighbors sometimes.”

Juxiang said generously, “That’s what neighbors are for. We’re all living in this world together. I help you, you help me—that’s how it should be.”

Li Jun went home to look for the shoe pattern but couldn’t find it, so Juxiang stayed in the courtyard chatting with Jiang Ling the entire time.

“Jiang Ling, where do you work?”

“I’m in the Accounting Section at the daily chemical factory.”

Upon hearing that, Juxiang couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up. “Now that’s a good place to be.”

As she spoke, she glanced toward the east wing room and said, a bit vaguely, “You and Xiao Song both have official jobs, and both work at the daily chemical factory. You’re really well-matched.”

Then she asked, “You’re a city girl, aren’t you?”

Jiang Ling smiled. “Whether city or countryside, we’re all screws in the machine of social construction. But yes, my parents used to work at the daily chemical factory too.”

Parents who were both factory workers—that meant she was a city person.

Juxiang said, “Then your family conditions are quite good—having your own job and parents who were also factory workers.”

Xiao Jiang was pretty, a city girl, had a formal job with a factory position—how could she not be a hundred times better than Li Jun’s younger sister? It was just that Li Jun had no self-awareness. Taking advantage of Xiao Song when it came to food and drink was one thing, but she even had the nerve to try marrying her sister off to him. The whole family just wanted to cling to him.

Juxiang raised her voice and called toward the east wing room where Li Jun was, “Sister Jun, haven’t you found it yet?”

“Not yet, almost!”

Juxiang let out a mocking laugh and said to Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu, “Any time you lend something to Sister Jun, it always ends up hard to find.”

When Juxiang and Li Jun entered the courtyard earlier, Jiang Ling had seen them arm-in-arm, looking all chummy, and had assumed they were close friends. Turned out they were nothing more than plastic sisters^[1]Plastic sisters (塑料姐妹花) is a Chinese slang term referring to women who appear to be close friends on the surface but are actually insincere, competitive, or even backstabbing toward each … Continue reading after all.

It wasn’t time to start cooking yet, so Juxiang wasn’t in a rush to go home.

She lowered her voice mysteriously and said, “Did you know? Something happened at the steel factory.”

Then realizing that this young couple weren’t employees of the steel factory, she quickly adjusted her wording. “You two are young, just don’t go wandering around at night. It’s dangerous out there.”

Jiang Ling had a feeling it might be related to what happened last night, so she asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“My man said that yesterday, Deputy Director Xiao’s son was beaten up near our family housing area. I heard it was bad—almost beaten to death!”

Jiang Ling widened her eyes in shock. “How could something like that happen? Is Deputy Director Xiao’s son alright now?”

Juxiang shook her head. “It’s really serious. Both of his legs were broken, and I think his arm too. And they say he was left outside all night. Didn’t freeze to death, but it sounds like he caught something bad from the cold.”

Jiang Ling put on a deeply sympathetic expression. “My god, what kind of person could be so ruthless? That’s way too vicious.”