Chapter 14

“Pfft, and who’s the one being unreasonable now? Can’t see past the matter of men and women—it’s all you can think about.”

He was the one who had just apologized a second ago, and now he was the one dragging in the soldier. Honestly, how someone like Deng Hongda—so arrogant and emotionally clueless—managed to land a temp job and even get it converted to a permanent position was beyond belief.

Xu Shaojun glanced at his watch and interrupted the exchange, “Alright, it’s getting late. Comrade Jiang, we still have things to take care of. If we delay any further, it’ll be too late.”

…

Jiang Yao and Xu Shaojun arrived in front of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Chen Sao was already waiting under the big banyan tree with a middle-aged woman who had a few wrinkles on her face.

As promised, Xu Shaojun stayed back at a distance, keeping an eye on both bicycles and glancing toward Jiang Yao from time to time, clearly worried something might go wrong.

The moment they met, Chen Sao walked up warmly with her aunt and introduced them, “Auntie, this is the distant relative I mentioned earlier. We haven’t seen each other in so long, you probably don’t recognize her anymore.”

“Little Jiang is a good girl, and she’s a high school graduate. She’s definitely the right person to take over your position—she won’t cause any trouble at the co-op.”

Auntie Chen came forward with a kind smile. “So you’re Little Jiang. I’ve heard your cousin talk about you before.”

Jiang Yao played along smoothly. “Yes, Auntie. My cousin mentioned that you had a grandson and are going to the city to help take care of him. Congratulations! Once you’re off to Yuncheng, who knows when we’ll meet again.”

While speaking, Jiang Yao handed over a wax paper-wrapped package with a firm bottom.

Inside were a few peach pastries that her grandmother had packed, worried that her granddaughter might get hungry. Beneath the pastries was an envelope containing five hundred yuan.

Now that they were near the co-op, Jiang Yao wasn’t too worried about being cheated. And when the auntie felt the special shape at the bottom of the package, her smile grew even brighter.

“Auntie, these are a specialty from my village. My grandmother especially asked me to bring some for you to try.”

“Very thoughtful of her! Please thank your grandmother for me. And Little Jiang, don’t be too sad—we’ll meet again if fate allows.”

“Ow, Guifen, my stomach’s acting up. Could you keep Little Jiang company while I take a quick trip to the bathroom?”

With that, Auntie Chen took the peach pastry package with her. Of course, she didn’t dare inspect it out in the open—what if a coworker walked by while she was counting money? She’d never be able to explain it.

If this kind of transaction became public, she’d be in serious trouble.

Once inside the bathroom and confirming it was what she wanted, she nodded in satisfaction, stuffed the money into her waistband, and casually left the pastries in the rest area.

On the way back, she passed her own counter, picked out a couple of pieces of candy, and put them in a bag—after all, when acting, one must play the part fully.

“Little Jiang, the reason I asked you here today is so you can take over Auntie’s post.”

She handed Jiang Yao the bag of candies. “Bring these back for your grandma to enjoy. Can’t believe she still remembers my sweet tooth.”

“Go on, take it. We still need to go to the manager to finalize the handover.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Jiang Yao followed Auntie Chen to the co-op manager’s office, and everything was taken care of before dark.

Because Auntie Chen was eager to be with her grandson, Jiang Yao could start work as soon as the next day. Once she got the hang of things, Auntie Chen could finally leave the job she had held at the co-op for more than ten years.

Once everything was settled, Jiang Yao returned to Xu Shaojun, got on her bicycle, and the joy on her face was so sincere that it rubbed off on him. He found himself smiling slightly without even realizing it.

“Comrade Jiang, everything went smoothly?”

“Perfectly. I’ll officially start tomorrow.”

“Congratulations, Comrade Jiang. You got what you wished for.”

Riding behind her at a short distance, Xu Shaojun’s eyes were drawn to Jiang Yao’s braided pigtails, and he found himself momentarily dazed. They were beautifully done—better than anything he’d seen even from his cousins in Beijing.

Her hands were clearly gifted.

When they reached the road leading to her brigade, they parted ways. Just before leaving, Xu Shaojun looked at the nearly pitch-black surroundings and grew worried that Jiang Yao might have trouble seeing.

He handed her a flashlight that he had borrowed from a comrade who had transferred from the Public Security Bureau. The bicycle, too, was borrowed from that same friend.

Once he returned, he planned to buy a new flashlight to return the favor.

Jiang Yao smiled and shook her head, refusing it. Xu Shaojun, who was in a rush to head back, needed it more than she did.

Her home was only a few steps away, and with the faint moonlight overhead, she could manage.

On the way back, Jiang Yao was still excited about landing a proper job and was thinking about how to convince her family to drop the whole matchmaking nonsense.

She had no idea that what awaited her next would be enough to wipe away all her joy.

By the time she reached the Jiang family’s front gate, the stars were already twinkling beside the moon.

From inside, two female voices were growing louder and louder.

In the narrow alley between the Jiang house and the neighbor’s, some of the neighbors pretended to be out cooling off in the night air but clearly had their ears plastered to the wall, eavesdropping.

Jiang Yao already had a bad feeling.

Carrying the bag of candy from Auntie Chen, she opened the gate and stepped into the courtyard.

Inside, her grandparents were seated at the head of the main room. Her father, Jiang Chaomin, sat beside her grandfather.

Across from him were her second uncle and second aunt—the same ones who had once tried to sell the original Jiang Yao and her brother when they were little.

In the middle, two young women were arguing nonstop, so caught up in the fight that they didn’t even notice Jiang Yao come in. They were the second uncle’s daughters.

Her eldest sister-in-law was still at her own parents’ house for a rare visit, which usually meant staying two or three days.

“Grandpa, Grandma, you two must stand up for me!”

Jiang Zhu was wiping her tears, looking weak and wronged—completely different from the fierce girl who had argued at the door that morning.

“Mother always favors my younger siblings—fine, I’m the elder sister, I can let things go. But now even my own sister has taken a liking to my fiancé, whom I’ve already agreed to marry.”

“Even my mother is siding with her, trying to force me to give up the engagement to my younger sister!”

Jiang Zhu wiped away more tears and continued to complain:

“What am I supposed to do? If my sister had confessed her feelings before the engagement, I could have stepped aside, no problem.”

“But… but we’re already engaged. If we switch brides now, regardless of whether the groom agrees, what will people think?”

“Will they think I looked down on the Li family and sent my sister in my place? Or that there’s something wrong with me, some flaw in my character that made them back out and pick my sister instead?”

“You all need to think about me too! Just because my sister is considered a sweet girl worthy of love, doesn’t mean I should be treated like dirt, trampled on by everyone!”