Chapter 24: From Now On, Work with Me

Yi Jixiang was extremely aggrieved—she was truly innocent!

Yi An’an turned around and left with a cheerful smile.

Tang A’ren looked at the woman’s carefree back with eyes full of envy.

What a great personality she had—if only he could be as decisive as her!

Tang A’ren and his fellow educated youths wandered around inside for quite a while. In the end, because they didn’t have enough ration tickets, they weren’t able to buy anything.

“A’ren, it’s all your fault! Why were you standing so close to that woman? We were just one ticket short. If you had pleaded with her, maybe she would’ve sold to us. But she thought you were with that woman, so she refused to give us any leeway. Now look, we wasted 1.6 yuan on the round-trip bus fare!” one of the educated youths complained.

“This rice was for the brigade. What are we going to do if we can’t bring it back?” another one added, glancing resentfully at Tang A’ren.

Tang A’ren opened his mouth slightly, wanting to argue that the incident had nothing to do with that girl. But having been oppressed for so long, he didn’t dare speak up and could only mumble softly.

“Tang A’ren!” Yi An’an stood not far away, waving at him.

Tang A’ren was stunned for a moment and walked over. “You haven’t left yet?”

“I didn’t call you earlier because you still had things to buy, and I didn’t want to get you involved,” Yi An’an said. “Thanks for carrying my basket all the way. If not for you, I don’t know how I would’ve managed—it was so heavy!”

If she had been a moment later, she wouldn’t have run into Sister Lan, and things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly today.

Tang A’ren smiled honestly. “It was just a small favor.”

Yi An’an glanced at the educated youths. “So you didn’t get to buy what you needed?”

Tang A’ren nodded and whispered, “We didn’t have enough rice tickets, so…”

“Perfect, I need to pay you! Here—this is two jin worth of rice tickets and two yuan. See if it’s enough for what you need,” Yi An’an said as she rummaged in her pocket, pulling out the rice tickets and two yuan, and handed them to Tang A’ren.

“Pay me?” Tang A’ren was startled and didn’t dare accept the money.

“For helping carry the basket earlier. I want to ask you to continue delivering goods to Sister Lan in the future. Don’t want to do it?” Yi An’an asked.

Tang A’ren was dazed. “You want me to deliver goods?”

“Yep. Not just pickled vegetables—there’ll be other businesses too. From now on, you work with me. Are you in?” Yi An’an asked.

Tang A’ren was even more confused and was about to speak, but the educated youths behind him saw the ration tickets and rushed forward, helping him accept them. “He agrees! We accept on his behalf!”

The group of them swarmed into the shop to buy rice.

Tang A’ren was deeply embarrassed and mumbled, “Sorry, I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

He didn’t even have two yuan to his name—he’d have to save up.

“Alright, as long as you work for me, we’ll consider it repayment!” Yi An’an said. “My name is Yi An’an, from Yan Family Village. You’re in Dongjiazui, right? If I need you, I’ll come find you!”

With that, she checked the time. It was getting late, and today was the last day for selling books. She had to hurry.

Yi An’an waved at Tang A’ren and left quickly.

Tang A’ren stared at her back, stunned for a long while.

“A’ren, awesome! Look at what we bought!” The other educated youths came running out with half a sack of rice and a few White Rabbit candies.

Tang A’ren was stunned. “You spent the whole two yuan?”

“Of course! That woman said you’re going to earn money working for her, right?” one of the youths said.

Tang A’ren got anxious. “You guys are really…”

The group began fighting over the candies and dashed away in a swarm.

Tang A’ren sighed. How was he going to pay that money back?

Yi An’an arrived late. Factory Director Feng had already moved all the books onto a handcart at the back door and was looking around anxiously.

“Oh good, you’re finally here! The bookstore sent someone over this morning to inspect for pirated books. We can’t keep them at the factory anymore, so I had them carted out! Looks like this job’s over—this is the last batch. Be careful, and if anything happens, don’t drag me into it!” Director Feng said quickly.

“Don’t worry. Like we agreed, the paper and ink are from your factory, so you only get half. The other half is my risk. If I get caught, it’s on me—I won’t say a word about you!” Yi An’an reassured him.

Only then did Director Feng feel relieved, though he seemed to still have something to say.

Before he could speak, Yi An’an took out the 1,000 yuan she earned yesterday and handed it to him. “Here’s your share from today. That should ease your mind.”

Director Feng’s mouth twitched in surprise—he didn’t expect such decisiveness from a young girl like her.

“Alright, come find me if you need anything else!” Director Feng said quickly and left.

Yi An’an pushed the cart away in a hurry. Yesterday, she had arranged to meet the students near the cinema for the exchange. But the situation had become more dangerous—she couldn’t bring all the books at once.

She looked around and remembered an abandoned primary school in town. She pushed the cart there, hid the books, took 20 copies in her basket, and headed to the cinema.

The students she had spoken to were already waiting and rushed over when they saw her.

“The price went up today—11 yuan!” Yi An’an said in a low voice.

The students were stunned. “Why did the price go up? Ten was already sky-high! Why 11 now?”

“Because there are only 50 books left. After today, no more!” Yi An’an said in a hushed tone. “If you don’t buy now, don’t expect to get any before the exam!”

The students looked at the money in their hands. That ten yuan had been hard enough to scrape together.

“Alright, alright, I can tell it wasn’t easy for you guys. I’ll sell them for ten yuan today, but I’m telling you—this is your last chance. The second batch definitely won’t go for ten!” Yi An’an added.

Hearing that, everyone scrambled to take out their money. Even the hesitant ones, who had been waiting for the official bookstore to restock, hurried to buy. The 20 books sold out in an instant.

“If you didn’t get one, follow me to another location. There are inspections now—we can’t stay here long!” Yi An’an said, changing locations several times. She made several trips back and forth, selling more books until only a dozen remained.

On the final trip, Yi An’an entered the abandoned school and was just placing books into the basket when she heard footsteps outside.

“I’ve seen someone going in and out several times—it has to be here. This must be the base!” a man’s voice came from outside.

Yi An’an’s heart jumped. She quickly picked up the basket and tried to slip out the back, but the front door was kicked open!

Startled, she tripped over something. The heavy basket tilted backward—sending her crashing into someone’s chest.