Chapter 10

Bai Hongmei shouted angrily: “I am not a kidnapper, I am the biological mother of these children. You fat bastard, stop talking nonsense.”

The public security comrades didn’t care about that and pointed at the three shivering children.

“Then explain to me why you dress so respectably yourself and give the children tattered clothes.”

Bai Hongmei’s eyes suddenly turned red, and she wiped her tears while saying, “Comrades, I will not hide it from you. My husband is a martyr, and the clothes I am wearing were all bought when he was alive.”

“After he died, I, a weak woman with three children, lived a very tight life. I also wanted to give my children some nice clothes, but I really didn’t have much money…”

After Bai Hongmei revealed her identity, the attitude of the people around her really changed.

The fat manager touched his nose and softened his tone: “Since your husband is a martyr, I can’t blame you too much.”

“Comrade Public Security, her son has soiled the fabric from our supply and marketing cooperative. As long as she buys the fabric back, I won’t pursue the matter.”

Bai Hongmei was horrified and screamed, “How can I afford to buy so much fabric? Aren’t you blackmailing me?”

She pointed at the saleswoman at the supply and marketing cooperative, her eyes reddened. “It’s all because of this woman who looks down on others. If she hadn’t said such mean things, my son wouldn’t have made such a mistake. She’s the one who bought all the fabric!”

The saleswoman’s face flushed red as she glared at Bai Hongmei as if she had spit poison at her. Although she had a bad temper, she had a clear mind and had seen the world. She did not let Bai Hongmei lead her in thinking, but smiled faintly.

“Manager, you are taking care of them because they are the families of martyrs and trying to make a big deal out of it. But judging from their attitude, they don’t appreciate your kindness at all.”

Qiao Baozhu and her adoptive mother were hiding in a corner. When they heard the saleswoman’s words, they couldn’t help but cheer.

“Just because I have a bad service attitude, you can destroy public finances? In the final analysis, it is because you, as a mother, have not educated your children well.”

“You just told the police that you don’t have money to buy good clothes for your child, but how can you afford to buy yourself some fancy clothes? No matter how poor your conditions are, you can’t dress your child up like…”

The word “beggar” was already on the tip of her tongue. Sun Jihong swallowed it hard when she remembered that the whole thing was caused by this word.

With a frown, he said to the fat manager in a stiff tone: “Manager, she is a family member of a martyr and has no money to buy cloth. I can pay for her three feet of cloth as a donation. But so much cloth was soiled by her children. If this matter is not dealt with seriously, everyone will come to our place to dump their poop in the future…”

An ordinary saleswoman was so rude to the manager. It was obvious that this person had a strong background. Maybe she got the job through a backdoor.

Qiao Baozhu narrowed her eyes and looked at the saleswoman carefully.

“You! Ha, I see, you guys are in the same group.”

“You are public security comrades, but you can’t tell right from wrong and protect these bad guys from bullying me. Humph, you must have received benefits from the supply and marketing cooperative!”

Bai Hongmei was so angry that she was shaking all over and scolded the police comrades for being unfair. This attitude really annoyed several police comrades.

He clamored to take Bai Hongmei and her three children back to the police station and lock them up for thorough interrogation.

Bai Hongmei rushed out of the door in one step, grabbed the big tree at the door, and climbed up in a few steps.

She put one leg on the branch, held the trunk with one hand, and shouted for help below.

“Help! The police and the supply and marketing cooperatives have teamed up to bully the families of martyrs. Is there any kind-hearted person who can call the army? Help!”

When she made such a noise, the three children were frightened and started crying loudly, calling for their mother frantically under the big tree.

The widow of the martyr was forced to jump off a tree to commit suicide, and the orphan of the martyr knelt on the ground and cried. For a while, many people gathered to watch.

People all sympathized with the weak, and when they heard about the identities of the mother and her two daughters, they accused the police officers of being unfair.

Several public security comrades were extremely angry, but Bai Hongmei just kept shouting that she would not come down until the troops came to pick her up.

There was no other choice but to call the army and ask them to identify Bai Hongmei’s identity.

Seeing how lively it was now really surprised Qiao Baozhu.

Adoptive mother Bao Huihua was so anxious that she pulled Qiao Baozhu’s sleeve and was about to walk out.

“It’s too late. You’re getting married tomorrow. Go, go.”

Qiao Baozhu patted her adoptive mother’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Mom, don’t worry. It’s just fabric. Buy it now.”

As he said this, he pulled his adoptive mother into the supply and marketing cooperative again and walked straight to the fabric counter.

People outside heard that the cloth of the supply and marketing cooperative was thrown with mud mixed with poop, so they didn’t dare to come in to buy goods.

“Comrade, are you still selling this fabric?”

Sun Jihong was wiping the cloth with an unhappy look on her face. When she heard someone coming to ask her about it, she forced herself to cheer up and answer.

When she saw that the person coming was Qiao Baozhu, she immediately recognized that this girl was watching the fun at the supply and marketing cooperative just now.

The old man blushed and said angrily, “The fabrics haven’t been cleaned up yet. You have to pick out the good ones. I’ll give them to you when I’m done.”

“Aren’t you going to sell these on the counter?”

Qiao Baozhu smiled brightly: “That lady outside definitely can’t afford these fabrics. If there are some fabrics that are not too dirty and are cheaper, I’m willing to buy them.”

Sun Jihong’s eyes lit up, and she happily gave a price: “The original price of floral serge is 35 cents per foot. Now that it’s dirty, I’ll give you a 50% discount. How about that?”

Qiao Baozhu was ecstatic. The naughty kid had just thrown dirt around, and she saw that most of the dirt was on work cloth. Work cloth is cheap and resistant to dirt, so it wouldn’t make a difference if she washed it at home.

Only a few feet of the serge fabric were dirty, but Sun Jihong complained that the fabric was ruined. In fact, she just wanted to punish the ignorant customer.

Qiao Baozhu didn’t want to meddle in other people’s business, so the important thing was to take this opportunity to bargain.

“Okay, I’ll take all of them, no matter how many you have.”

There were 30 feet of dirty flowered serge cloth, and Qiao Baozhu bought another 40 feet of flowered cloth and a piece of work cloth.

“Thirty feet of flowered serge will cost you five dollars and thirty cents. Flowered cloth is more expensive, so I’ll charge you eight dollars. A bolt of work cloth is about ninety feet, so I’ll charge you sixty feet and seven dollars and eight cents.”

In those days, there was no fixed length for a piece of cloth. As a cloth salesperson, no matter how much it was, I would always say less and keep the remaining cloth for my own use.

Qiao Baozhu bought the dirty fabrics and solved a big problem for Sun Jihong. Qiao Baozhu was also wealthy and had plenty of money and notes, so she bought a lot of clean and good fabrics.

Sun Jihong returned the favor by not only offering the lowest price but also giving away a lot more.

Qiao Baozhu bought 130 feet of dirty cloth for only 21 yuan, which was 43 feet of cloth coupons.

She hurried to pay the bill. As soon as she got the receipt, she heard someone shouting outside: “Oh my god, the People’s Liberation Army is really here.”

Qiao Baozhu’s eyelids twitched, and she quickly walked to the window and saw a jeep parked outside the supply and marketing cooperative.

Several men in military uniforms were negotiating with the public security comrades.

The leading man was tall, with a high nose bridge and a cold face. He was dressed in a military uniform and had an imposing manner that could not be ignored.

Shen Xiao felt someone was spying on him, and he raised his head abruptly. His sharp black eyes filled with murderous intent met a pair of mocking eyes.

Qiao Baozhu had no time to retract the sneer on her lips, and her contempt and disdain were fully exposed in front of Shen Xiao.

Shen Xiao frowned: What’s that expression on the woman’s face in the window?

Did he offend her?