Chapter 3: The Vicious Female Supporting Character in the 1980s (3)

The canning factory’s permanent worker benefits were considered pretty good. The assigned dormitories could be partitioned into one large and one small room. Liu Mei and Father Su slept in the large room. Su Yue was usually at school. Su Qin slept in the small room.

However, even when Su Yue wasn’t home, half of the small room still had her single bed.

Su Qin searched the whole room and couldn’t find a single high school textbook. Not even a set of test papers. It had all been sold off clean.

At that time, Liu Mei had even helped her pack, saying it was to clear out the unwanted stuff and make the room more livable.

Liu Mei said it was a pity she couldn’t get into college, but in reality, she was afraid Su Qin would repeat a year and waste more money. Besides, if she kept studying, when would she get married?

If she didn’t go to school and worked for a few years, she should be ready for marriage. That way, she could make room for her son.

Su Qin pulled out a folding chair, sat at the desk, and flipped through the textbooks. Compared to the difficulty of the graduate entrance exam, this level of knowledge wasn’t too hard. She just needed a systematic review.

She studied late into the night. The next morning, it was hard to get up, and she left the house half-asleep.

Su Qin felt like she was back in high school again. She was still dazed when she reached the workshop entrance. Only when she saw a short-haired middle-aged woman walking toward her did she suddenly snap out of it.

“Team Leader Cheng,” Su Qin called out and jogged up.

Cheng Lan stopped and, seeing it was Su Qin, her expression tightened. Her tone carried a rare trace of anger. “What is it?”

She was indeed displeased with Su Qin.

Cheng Lan was a capable and sharp woman at work. Due to her husband’s job transfer, she had just been transferred from the neighboring food factory this month to be the workshop’s team leader. Normally, she wasn’t enthusiastic about matchmaking, but she was getting anxious seeing Cheng Wenfeng already twenty-five and still unmarried.

If Su Qin didn’t like Cheng Wenfeng, she could have just refused. But to embarrass someone in public made her lose face. This incident had spread like wildfire. How was she supposed to manage the workers in the workshop?

“I let you down and did something impulsive. I’m here to apologize to you.” Su Qin’s tone was sincere. She even gave a slight bow. Her manner was direct and not the least bit hesitant.

Su Qin knew very well that Cheng Lan wasn’t an ordinary person. And she herself wasn’t that capable either. Normally, even if she slacked off or came in late, Cheng Lan wouldn’t pursue it too strictly. But after this incident, she’d had a tough time.

To avoid more suffering, Su Qin put her utmost sincerity into this apology.

Cheng Lan hadn’t expected her to come specifically to apologize. Her scrutinizing gaze lingered on Su Qin and she spoke with a calm tone, “There’s no need to apologize to me. Marriage is a serious matter. No one can force it. It’s not like we’re buying and selling people.”

She had only tried to play matchmaker because Su Qin looked pretty. Back then, she asked the wrong person. If she had found out that Su Qin still couldn’t let go of Zhou Zhiyuan and had made such a fuss about it, she absolutely wouldn’t have dragged Cheng Wenfeng into this mess.

“I need to apologize to you. You were just trying to help,” Su Qin lowered her eyes, her voice dropping a tone, “I’ve already apologized to Cheng Wenfeng too.”

Sure enough, Cheng Lan was distracted by that. “You went to see him?”

“I just treated him to an ice pop.” Su Qin bit her lip slightly, looking a little embarrassed.

If she remembered correctly, Cheng Wenfeng’s parents had already passed away during those ten years. He was raised by his grandparents, and after the two elders passed away one after another, the person Cheng Lan worried about the most was this nephew.

Left with no choice, Su Qin had to bring up Cheng Wenfeng. She really did treat him to an ice pop, and judging by how the story unfolded later, he didn’t seem to blame her for it.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lan looked a bit surprised and glanced at Su Qin a few more times.

She had always taken a liking to Su Qin. The girl had a fair and rosy face, was lively and spirited, completely different from Cheng Wenfeng, who always had a stiff face and kept people at a distance. He could scare girls away just by standing there.

Su Qin wasn’t the first girl to reject Cheng Wenfeng. The last girl took one look at him and told her mother it wouldn’t work. Said he looked like someone who would commit domestic violence. That had made Cheng Lan furious.

Cheng Wenfeng’s attitude toward blind dates was to neither refuse nor talk. When he met a brave girl who tried to talk to him, he could kill the conversation within three sentences. He was extremely difficult to get along with.

Otherwise, Cheng Lan wouldn’t have lowered her standards so much. Any well-educated girl with a decent job or a good family background had no interest in Cheng Wenfeng.

They were afraid he would hit them.

Su Qin had a faint purplish bruise under her eyes. Because her skin was fair, it was quite noticeable. Cheng Lan saw it and assumed she had been losing sleep over this whole matter, and couldn’t help but sigh.

Maybe other girls thought the same way but just didn’t say it to his face. At least Su Qin went to apologize to Cheng Wenfeng in person. It seemed this girl was just a bit straightforward and didn’t have any bad intentions.

On top of that, Cheng Wenfeng was currently unemployed and had lost his formal job. Cheng Lan was even more anxious. She couldn’t possibly look in the countryside, could she? They didn’t even have city household registration.

“Forget it, forget it, get back to work.” Cheng Lan’s temples throbbed. She didn’t want to argue with her anymore.

“Okay, see you later, team leader.”

Su Qin entered the workshop, put on her work clothes, mask, and gloves, then went to her post.

Cheng Lan walked by with the attendance book. Everyone immediately looked at Su Qin. In their hearts, they all thought this girl was bound to suffer a lot in the future.

Even Liu Mei looked extremely worried.

Su Qin wasn’t a hardworking person to begin with. If Cheng Lan wanted to, she could use any excuse to fire her. Then she’d be stuck at home eating for free, just another idle mouth to feed.

Zhou Xiufen was waiting to see Cheng Lan teach Su Qin a lesson. She knew how much Cheng Lan cared about that nephew. He was the only male left in the Cheng family.

Looking down on Cheng Wenfeng made Cheng Lan even angrier than looking down on herself.

But she waited and waited, and Cheng Lan didn’t bring it up, as if it had never happened.

Even when Su Qin accidentally knocked over half a basket of sliced pineapples today, Cheng Lan just walked over and told her to be careful, then helped her lift it and put it back into the washing tank.

That left people puzzled.

Su Qin didn’t think too much about it. Right now, all she wanted was to survive until payday. She paid no attention to anything else and focused on working hard.

As soon as she got off work, she headed straight to the recycling station.

The workshop had given everyone some pineapple cores today. Su Qin brought them to the recycling station owner. The woman said she didn’t have to bring anything, but the smile lines around her eyes showed her true thoughts.

In this era, food was scarce. People didn’t even have enough to eat, let alone fruit.

Even pineapple cores were rare treats.

Today, Su Qin had found a few more textbooks. Two of them had missing covers, but that didn’t matter.

“Did you collect enough yet?” the woman asked.

“No, I haven’t found math or Chinese books yet.” Su Qin shook her head.

“These are all the ones we’ve received. Maybe check again next time,”

Su Qin looked apologetic. “Sorry to trouble you, sister.”

“You brought me pineapple cores, didn’t you?” The woman was delighted by the “sister” and smiled brightly.

Su Qin was about to say more when a truck drove in. The woman went to open the rusty metal gate.

“Sister, I’ll get going then,” Su Qin didn’t want to disturb her.

“Alright.”

Su Qin walked along the wall of the recycling station, avoiding the big truck as she left.

He Peng was sitting inside the truck and looked out the window in confusion. “Isn’t that Su Qin? What’s she doing here?”

Hearing this, Cheng Wenfeng, who was driving, raised his eyes just in time to see that slim figure. Her shiny black hair was braided into a plait, and she was holding a few books in her arms.

When the truck stopped, He Peng quickly jumped out and opened the back. The truck was full of scrap metal.

He Peng was a bit of a loafer, but he had some unconventional ideas. The past few days, he and some friends had taken on a warehouse demolition job. The scrap metal could be sold for money.

Since he couldn’t drive a big truck, he had asked Cheng Wenfeng to help.

Together, they moved the metal and weighed it. They sold it for a decent price. He Peng, being generous, wanted to give half the money to Cheng Wenfeng.

Cheng Wenfeng coldly pushed the money back.

“I’ll hold onto it then. We’ll go for drinks and food sometime.” He Peng knew his temperament and didn’t insist.

“Drink less,” Cheng Wenfeng frowned.

Afraid of getting lectured, He Peng turned to the owner and asked curiously, “What was that girl here for just now?”

The woman was doing her bookkeeping and casually replied, “She came to look for high school textbooks. Said she didn’t have money to buy new ones but wants to take the college entrance exam, so she came to see if there were any here.”

“College entrance exam?” He Peng found it even stranger. “Didn’t she already take it?”

“Her family didn’t have money for her to repeat a year. Her biological dad and stepmother forced her to go out and work. All her study materials were sold. Now she’s secretly studying, hoping she can still get in,” the woman said with sympathy. “It’s pretty pitiful.”

“What?” He Peng wanted to laugh.

“Let’s go.” Cheng Wenfeng coldly interrupted, shooting him a glance. “I still have something to do later.”

He Peng quickly followed behind and got in the truck.

As the truck drove out of the recycling station, He Peng remembered what the boss lady had said, “I can believe that Su Yue likes to study, but how come I never knew Su Qin was so into studying? She has the determination to secretly study and take the adult college entrance exam? Did I hear that right?”

She couldn’t even get into a school before, now she thinks she can get in?

Cheng Wenfeng didn’t respond, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“You say—” He Peng turned his head to look at him and continued gossiping, “Is she secretly competing with Su Yue? Isn’t that just asking for trouble?”

He Peng kept talking the whole way, but Cheng Wenfeng’s expression didn’t change. No one knew what he was thinking. He only said one sentence when they arrived, “Get out.”

“Oh.” He Peng dawdled.

“Hurry up. I need to return the truck. I have something to do later.”

“Oh, oh.” He Peng moved faster.

Just as he got off and shut the door, the truck drove off, leaving him in a cloud of exhaust.

“Cough, cough, cough.” He Peng choked right away. Looking in the direction the truck left, he frowned and muttered, “Cheng Wenfeng, Cheng Wenfeng, you really have no sense of humor. How are you going to find a wife in the future?”

Back at the He family house, He Peng started worrying about Cheng Wenfeng’s marriage again.

“Mind your own business. You don’t even know if anyone’s willing to marry you.” Mother He snapped at him.

He Peng spoke confidently, “I’m two years younger than him, right? If I want to get married, girls would line up to marry me. After all, I have a sweet mouth and can coax girls. One coax and they’re grinning from ear to ear. Wenfeng doesn’t have my skills.”

Mother He thought of how Cheng Lan had been arranging blind dates for Cheng Wenfeng lately. No parents, no support, and now without a proper job. It really wasn’t easy.

After returning the truck, Cheng Wenfeng didn’t actually have anything to do. He originally planned to go to Cheng Lan’s house but changed his mind since it was mealtime and he didn’t want to go then.

Cheng Lan had already asked him to come over two days ago. He hadn’t gone yet, and today she urged him again. If he didn’t go, she would definitely nag him.

The next morning, Cheng Wenfeng got up early and went to Cheng Lan’s house.

Before heading there, he stopped by a bookstore. First, he picked out a children’s comic book, then walked to another section and flipped through some girls’ magazines one by one. He chose two and also took a copy of storybook.

Cheng Lan had married late. Her eldest daughter was only in her second year of university, and her son was still in elementary school.

Nowadays, most families didn’t have a television. Being able to afford magazines was already pretty good. Many people could only go to the bookstore to flip through them for fun.

Cheng Lan was reluctant to buy too many for her two kids. After all, the family’s life was tight. Cheng Wenfeng used to mail them a few each month and would also include a storybook for Cheng Lan.

As Cheng Wenfeng held the books and was about to check out, he suddenly stopped and looked inside the bookstore.

Su Qin was sitting in a corner against the wall, a math workbook on her lap, holding a pen in her hand, scribbling on scratch paper.

She looked focused and absorbed. Cheng Wenfeng couldn’t help but watch her for a while. When he realized someone was coming over, he finally stepped forward.

At the Cheng house, Cheng Lan’s younger son, Zhang Jun, was the happiest. He circled around him, sweetly calling him “cousin.” As soon as he got the comic book, he ran back to his room.

It was the weekend, and Zhang Linlin had come back too. Although she wasn’t as obvious as Zhang Jun, her smile couldn’t be hidden when she received her magazines. She couldn’t resist flipping through them and, uninterested in the adults’ conversation, made an excuse to go back to her room too.

“This child,” Cheng Lan shook her head, then looked at Cheng Wenfeng and said, “You already bought them books twice this month. Don’t buy any next month.”

“Liking to read is a good thing.” As he said this, Cheng Wenfeng thought of Su Qin crouched in the corner doing math problems.

Cheng Lan gave him some rice and oil, along with a piece of cured meat and half a bag of sugar. “These were given out by your uncle’s work unit. Take them back with you later.”

After saying that, she sat next to Cheng Wenfeng and nagged, “I was busy last year. I said I’d buy you some clothes, but I didn’t have time. I just transferred here and couldn’t spare a moment. Let’s go shopping in a few days. Auntie will buy you some clothes. It’s been a long time since we went shopping together.”

“I already bought some myself.” He politely declined.

Cheng Wenfeng’s parents passed away early. Cheng Lan had to support the family when she was still young. When she started earning money, she gave it all to the elders at home. She treated Cheng Wenfeng like her own son.

Over the years, she had gotten used to worrying about him.

Cheng Lan asked about his job, “I heard you’re going to be driving freight for the canning factory?”

That job was tiring and only temporary. Cheng Lan hadn’t arranged it for him.

“Yeah, just for now.”

“Well, it’s fine. Jobs are scarce now. It’s hard to find permanent positions. We’ll have to wait and see.” Cheng Lan had tried hard to help him get a job, but it hadn’t worked out.

“I understand.”

Besides his job, Cheng Lan also had other concerns. Her nephew was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He didn’t talk much, but he would never commit domestic violence. Why didn’t girls these days have more patience to understand someone better?

She thought for a while before finally saying, “The way I see it, city girls might not be good for married life. A lot of them can’t take hardship. If they get married and have kids, it’ll only cause trouble.”

Cheng Wenfeng stayed silent. He neither agreed nor disagreed.

Cheng Lan made up her mind and said outright, “If we find someone from the countryside, there are plenty of pretty and capable girls. When the canning factory hires temporary workers, I will arrange for her to work there. She’ll be grateful to our family and will live a good life with you.”

Her standards at the beginning weren’t this low. In her eyes, Cheng Wenfeng was tall, hard-working, and filial. He was a veteran with a stable job. He could marry anyone.

But she went from introducing educated girls, to girls with permanent jobs, and finally to temporary workers. Each girl was harder to please than the last. Some were scared of being abused just by seeing Cheng Wenfeng. Others had parents who thought their family’s feng shui was bad. Cheng Lan was angry but helpless.

Cheng Wenfeng didn’t have his parents to help him. If he married a difficult one, how would he manage? It was better to find someone from the countryside who felt she was marrying up and would be content.

“Auntie, don’t worry about it.”

“How can I not worry? You’re already twenty-five. In a blink, you’ll be twenty-six, twenty-seven by the lunar calendar. In a few more years, you’ll be thirty. The Cheng family will have no one left!” Cheng Lan choked up before she could finish. She wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, her heart full of sorrow.

Cheng Wenfeng was helpless and couldn’t refute her.

“I’ll go ask around again. This time, I’ll make sure I get all the details and find you someone absolutely reliable.”

Cheng Wenfeng knew he couldn’t win against Cheng Lan and stopped offering his opinion.

While Cheng Lan went into the kitchen to cook, he planned to sneak away quietly to avoid having her stuff a bunch of things into his hands again.

Just before heading out, Cheng Wenfeng saw a box in the corner. Inside was a stack of books. He walked over to take a look, and a glint flashed in his eyes. He turned and knocked on Zhang Linlin’s door.

Instead of taking the things Cheng Lan had prepared, Cheng Wenfeng left with the box of books.

*

Su Qin finally made it to payday. She planned to go to the recycling station once more, then stop by the bookstore to buy the rest of the textbooks.

As soon as she arrived, the lady boss greeted her with a smile and told her that they had just received a lot of textbooks, all for high school.

She brought over a box for Su Qin. Inside were high school textbooks, from first year to third year, along with a lot of study materials.

“So complete?” Su Qin was pleasantly surprised and immediately offered to pay.

“No need, no need. It doesn’t cost much.” The lady boss waved her off and told her to just take them and use them. She even encouraged her, “Don’t worry. With this kind of determination, you’ll definitely get into college.”

Su Qin carried the box of materials back and found that it even contained several brand-new exercise books. She was even more excited. After organizing everything, she discovered that there was one set for each subject. She looked at the exercise books with a bit of confusion, then fell silent.

Each textbook had a name written on it, but it had been crossed out. The exercise books, however, were brand new with nothing written on them.

Su Qin stared at the stack of exercise books, her nose stinging with emotion.

The next day, she bought a few boxes of pastries and brought them to the recycling station. Afraid the lady boss wouldn’t accept them, she just left them on the table and walked away.