Chapter 16: Shocked Yet Again

Fu Mingze walked into the educated youth residence just as Zheng Jiamin was coming out of the kitchen with two bowls of vegetable porridge. “I scooped one for you. Come on, let’s eat.”

In the main hall, two tables were set up—one for male educated youths and one for female. The separation was clear.

As soon as Zheng Jiamin sat down, he began to slurp his food noisily and asked while eating, “Why was Comrade Shen Mo’er looking for you? Since when are you two so familiar with each other?” His curiosity wasn’t unfounded—Fu Mingze hardly spoke to the female youths who lived under the same roof, let alone villagers.

Even though everyone kept their heads down eating, almost all ears perked up at that moment.

Fu Mingze acted as if he didn’t notice and replied calmly, “We’re not close. Her family is building a new house, and she wanted to ask how people in big cities usually do it.”

“She should’ve asked me, then! I’m an encyclopedia of alleys in Shanghai. There are loads of little Western-style houses near my place—super classy,” Zheng Jiamin said in an exaggerated tone.

Fu Mingze didn’t respond, just gave him a look like he was a fool.

Zheng Jiamin understood—villagers building houses could never model them after fancy Western-style homes. Still, he asked curiously, “How come Comrade Shen Mo’er’s family suddenly has money to build a new house?”

Getting their 300 yuan back wasn’t exactly a brag-worthy event. The Shen family’s main and second branches certainly wouldn’t spread the story, and Shen Mo’er or Shen Shaoyuan were even less likely to say anything. So word hadn’t spread much in the village—Zheng Jiamin, gossip as he was, hadn’t even heard.

But Zhang Zhiqiang clearly knew. He gave a cold snort and said sarcastically, “Where’d the money come from? From blackmailing Shen Lingling and her uncle’s family.”

Fu Mingze set down his chopsticks, looked at Zhang Zhiqiang indifferently, and asked, “Asking for compensation from relatives who took your house—how is that blackmail?”

Zhang Zhiqiang was instantly speechless.

He knew Shen Mo’er’s family was in the right, but everyone had their biases. Shen Lingling had complained to him that she now had to give her family an extra three yuan each month. Naturally, he felt more sympathetic toward her.

Fu Mingze ignored Zhang Zhiqiang’s reaction. He unfolded a handkerchief from the side, took out two eggs, and handed one to Zheng Jiamin. “A thank-you gift from Comrade Shen. She boiled them—still warm.” With that, he cracked one open and began to eat.

Zheng Jiamin came from a working-class family and was relatively well-off. His family sent him things from time to time, and he often shared good stuff with Fu Mingze. Due to various reasons, Fu Mingze rarely had the chance to return the favor openly.

So Zheng Jiamin didn’t hold back—grinning, he cracked his egg and dug in. “Two eggs just for that little thing, and she even boiled them? Comrade Shen Mo’er is really something!”

Fu Mingze’s hand paused slightly, and the corners of his lips lifted.

Eggs were a rare source of nutrition at the time. Even though many farming households in the brigade raised chickens, not many were willing to spend money or resources to exchange for eggs. So educated youths rarely got the chance to eat them.

Even though boiled eggs didn’t have much aroma, the boys at the table all imagined they could smell the rich scent of fresh protein. They couldn’t help but swallow discreetly.

Even the girls at the next table were casting discreet glances over.

Zhang Zhiqiang, sitting next to Zheng Jiamin, was practically stabbed in the eyes by his chewing. He gulped down his porridge in a few sips and stormed off.

Zheng Jiamin raised his eyebrows smugly at Fu Mingze.

Since the eggs were already cooked, they could’ve eaten them in secret. But Fu Mingze brought them out at this very moment—obviously to annoy Zhang Zhiqiang. He got it!

After eating, Fu Mingze fetched some water to wash up and changed clothes. Just as he was about to do laundry, he pulled out a bar of soap from under the communal bed—then nearly laughed in anger.

The soap he had just bought a few days ago had been broken in half—more than half was gone, and only a small stub remained.

Zheng Jiamin peeked over and immediately exploded, “Which shameless bastard stole Fu Mingze’s soap?! Oh wow, they even left a stub—what, trying to act like they’ve got morals?”

The male educated youths were all present. They looked at each other nervously, no one daring to speak, fearing they’d be mistaken for the thief.

Zhang Zhiqiang, sitting on the edge of the bed, said snidely, “Who’d steal from Fu Mingze? Who here’s poorer than him?”

Zheng Jiamin snapped, “It was brand new—an entire bar! I even gave him the soap coupon myself—don’t you think I’d know? A thief at the youth point and all you do is make snide remarks? Zhang Zhiqiang, you jackass—what kind of team leader are you?!”

Zhang Zhiqiang had just been taking pleasure in Fu Mingze’s misfortune. But after getting chewed out by Zheng Jiamin, he realized that missing items at the youth point was his responsibility as the team leader. So he quickly put on his shoes and ran out. “I’ll go get the brigade leader.”

Soon enough, Zhou Mancang was called over. But with seven people living in one room and constant comings and goings, there was no way to figure out who had taken half a bar of soap.

As expected, the matter ended unresolved.

Zheng Jiamin was even angrier than if he’d been robbed himself. His face flushed red as he cursed, swearing that if he ever caught the thief, he’d beat them so badly even their parents wouldn’t recognize them.

Fu Mingze patted his shoulder, indicating that it wasn’t worth the fuss, then left with his enamel basin.

*

The theft of half a bar of soap at the youth point quickly spread through the village. The villagers, idle as they were, began whispering about it. Who would’ve thought these educated urban youths would stoop to petty theft?

Even Shen Mo’er heard about it from Aunt Chen. Apparently, the most handsome youth among them, Comrade Fu, had a brand new bar of soap stolen.

The next day, several families in the village also reported missing soap.

Turns out, their daughters had taken the soap to the youth point to give to Comrade Fu.

If he hadn’t refused, the soap might never have been returned—and who knew how far the accusations would have gone?

Shen Mo’er hadn’t paid much attention before, but after hearing this, she realized something—though Comrade Fu didn’t talk much, he was actually very popular among the village women. The older ones simply liked his good looks, while the younger girls were clearly smitten, always trying to please him.

Thinking back to his appearance, Shen Mo’er found it understandable.

Still, the soap incident was quickly overshadowed by another event.

It began when Shen Mo’er asked Aunt Chen, Aunt Cai, and a few other enthusiastic ladies to help gather stones for the foundation and timber for the beams. Word spread fast—people soon realized that the Shen family was building a new house!

And not just any house—a brick-tile house with blue bricks and clay tiles!

That’s when people got confused. Even if the first and second branches had compensated them, wasn’t this the family that had nearly starved to death not long ago? Shouldn’t they be saving money instead of building a fancy house? With just father and daughter, the current house was enough. Even if they had to build another, why not make it a mud-brick house? The price difference was huge!

Then they heard something even more shocking—Shen Shaoyuan had gone to work as a temp at the commune’s brick kiln. The kiln leadership even approved discounted bricks and tiles for him at the factory price.

Suddenly, people didn’t know what was more surprising: that he could get factory-price materials or that he got a job at the kiln at all!

Some folks finally realized—it had been a while since anyone saw Shen Shaoyuan at the work site.

With the heat rising daily, work hours had shortened, and Shen Shaoyuan had always had a weak presence. No one had noticed his absence.

Kiln work was all hard labor—digging, mixing clay, firing kilns, carrying bricks. Grueling work, yes, but the pay and benefits were good. Even temp workers got wages and holiday perks—much better than toiling in the fields for work points.

Many began thinking: Shen Shaoyuan looked like he’d topple over in a light breeze. If he could get in, I must be even more qualified!

So people started asking Zhou Mancang how Shen Shaoyuan had gotten into the kiln and what job he did.

Initially, Shen Shaoyuan had just gone to help temporarily, which required permission from the brigade. After a few days, Xu Weiguo helped him secure a temporary worker position, which also required formalities.

So yes, Zhou Mancang knew exactly how and where Shen Shaoyuan got in.

“What now, you all want to be kiln workers too?” Zhou Mancang glared at them, voice booming like thunder. “He’s in the Publicity Section—writes slogans, draws posters. You think you can do that? A bunch of fools who don’t know their limits!”

The villagers were stunned. Again.

“What? Shen Shaoyuan? He can write slogans and draw posters?!”

“Wait a minute, isn’t he just elementary-educated? Knows a few characters at most. And the kiln hired him for writing and drawing?!”

Zhou Mancang replied, “Sure, he’s only got elementary schooling, but his wife was highly educated. Heard she could write and draw, and he learned it from her.”

The villagers were speechless.

But come to think of it, some older ones did remember—his refugee wife was indeed quite cultured, spoke and acted gently, and even taught kids poetry once.

The couple kept to themselves. If he’d quietly learned from his wife over the years, it wasn’t impossible.

So now, Shen Shaoyuan was officially a worker, and they were building a proper brick house?

Suddenly, even the idea of his daughter wanting a live-in son-in-law didn’t seem so outlandish.

And just like that, the low-profile Shen father and daughter became the talk of Yangliu Brigade—news of them spreading even to nearby villages.

But with the attention came trouble.

That night, Shen Mo’er had drunk too much water before bed. Waking up in the middle of the night to relieve herself, she had just stepped out of her treasure vault when she heard a faint sound outside.

The drowsiness vanished. She crept to the door—and sure enough, there was movement outside.

She crouched by the door, waiting. Soon, a thin iron sheet slowly slid through the gap, gently pushing the latch—bit by bit, it was unfastening it.

In the darkness, Shen Mo’er raised an eyebrow and shifted her body slightly to the side. At that very moment, with a soft creak, the door slowly opened—and a shadow darted in—

Or tried to.

Because just as he lunged in, Shen Mo’er crouched slightly and kicked out hard.

Bang!