Chapter 19: Lu Zhoushan Sends a Letter Back Saying He’s Alive

After what Lu Minghua said, Wang Shufen also felt that he had a point.

Even if she were the boss herself, she wouldn’t be willing to pay someone who didn’t actually work.

“So what do we do now? Are we just going to let it go like this?” Wang Shufen asked, looking wronged.

Leaning on the table, Lu Minghua said, “The only thing we can do now is go borrow some money from the bank.”

After discussing it, the two of them headed to the bank.

When the bank heard about their situation, they registered both of their IDs and also recorded information about their eldest son, Lu Qingming.

At most, they were allowed to borrow 30 yuan.

When the elderly couple heard that amount, they were actually relieved. With that bit of money, they could at least buy a pot and some vegetables—enough to get through the next month.

They filled out all the necessary forms. The bank staff even went to the military unit to verify that their son was indeed serving there before they approved the 30 yuan loan.

Once they got the money, they immediately went to the market to buy kitchen essentials like pots and bowls. Just those items cost five or six yuan, which made Wang Shufen’s heart ache—she kept muttering that they should buy less.

But they had no choice. Everything in the house had been stolen. If they didn’t buy the basics, how would they survive the coming month?

Though frustrated, they still bought everything they needed, spending a total of 10 yuan.

After carrying their purchases home, Wang Shufen cooked a meal. Once they had eaten, the two of them went straight to bed.

The next day, they hurried out to look for work.

Though not that old, both of them hoped to find something a bit easier.

They asked around at several places, but even the more relaxed jobs didn’t want them. They didn’t have impressive appearances, were a bit older, and when asked what skills they had, they couldn’t name anything. No employer wanted that.

They didn’t dare spend money on breakfast, so each had a plain steamed bun and kept looking.

By afternoon, still without luck, they decided to try a different place the next day.

That evening, while eating dinner, Wang Shufen was filled with worry. “I don’t know when our eldest will come back. What if his injuries are serious and he can’t recover quickly? What will we do?”

They still didn’t know what had happened to Lu Qingming.

Lu Minghua was annoyed. “What else can we do? We’ve got to find a proper job and stick with it. We’ll wait until our eldest comes back and go from there.”

“What, you wanna starve to death right now?”

Wang Shufen shook her head. Starving was the last thing she wanted.

If their eldest really returned, they might have some hope. Maybe he’d even get married someday, and their life could improve.

So they decided to keep looking for work.

With the previous day’s experience, they changed tactics on the second day. This time, they didn’t ask for easy jobs—they would take anything that wasn’t too grueling.

Because of this lowered expectation, they finally landed a job doing odd chores.

“You’re a bit older, so your wage will be 18 yuan a month. Your wife is a bit younger and seems pretty quick at doing things, so she’ll get 20 yuan a month,” the boss told them.

“If you’re both willing to work, you can start this afternoon. I’ll count it as a half-day’s wage.”

The boss seemed pretty easy-going. After thinking it over, they both nodded. The other jobs they’d found only paid 15 yuan a month—this one was a bit higher.

They then asked the boss if they could get part of their wages in advance.

They wanted to repay the bank as soon as possible, to avoid pressure. After all, the bank’s collection methods could be brutal.

“No way,” the boss said, immediately growing wary. “If you don’t work a full month, there’s no way I can pay you. If you want advance pay, go ask someone else.”

Panicked, the two of them quickly said they didn’t need the advance anymore and eagerly grabbed their tools to start working.

They had finally found a job—they weren’t about to lose it.

It wouldn’t be easy to find another.

Plus, every extra day they spent job hunting would mean another day’s worth of meal expenses. This current job included breakfast, which helped them save money.

They worked diligently, and the boss was satisfied with their performance.

Meanwhile, Gu Qiangwei had no idea what was going on with them.

Business was good on opening day, and it stayed steady for the next two days. Though it began to slow down after that, they still made money every day.

Both women were satisfied with that.

Since they were a new store, it would take time for word-of-mouth to build. People had to buy the clothes and try them out before recommending the place to others.

And it’s not like people buy clothes every day. As long as they had daily income, it was already good.

After deducting rent and other costs, as long as they weren’t losing money, they were content. Things would improve over time.

Because they had to start preparing next season’s clothing, they were quite busy. Gu Qiangwei was in charge of sales, while Su Qingshuang went to the factory to develop samples.

She was already used to reviewing each batch of design drafts with Gu Qiangwei before going into production.

Once everything was confirmed, they’d place orders with the factory.

Their teamwork was great, and they were happily busy every day.

The elderly couple worked diligently for several days. They had breakfast provided and would return home in the afternoon. Even when exhausted, Wang Shufen still cooked dinner.

After eating, they were too tired to even move. They washed up and went straight to bed.

At first, they’d still mutter a few words at night—either about why their eldest hadn’t come home yet or to angrily complain about Gu Qiangwei.

But over the last couple of days, they were too exhausted to say anything.

The moment their heads hit the pillow, they were asleep.

Everyone’s days went by quietly, and the elderly couple gradually got used to the high-intensity labor.

A few days later, they received a letter.

It was Wang Shufen who brought it home.

She had twisted her back at work that day, so the boss let her go home early but still paid her full wage.

Just as she got back, she saw the newspaper delivery boy walking around the compound. When he saw her, he asked, “Is this Wang Shufen’s home?”

“I am Wang Shufen,” she replied.

The boy double-checked and then handed her a letter. “This is for your household. Here you go.”

He left after handing it over. Wang Shufen looked at the letter, feeling puzzled, and brought it home.

She opened it, but only recognized a few basic characters. She couldn’t really read it.

There was nothing inside except the letter itself.

She had no idea who sent it.

Shaking her head, she casually placed it on the table. She’d just wait for her husband to come home and read it.

Because of her twisted back, she had spent eight jiao to buy a bottle of medicine on her way home.

She hadn’t wanted to spend the money, but she needed to work the next day.

After applying some ointment and lying down for a bit, she got up to cook. After dinner, once Lu Minghua returned and finished eating, she brought over the letter from the windowsill.

“Take a look—what does this letter say? Who sent it? I ran into the newspaper boy in the compound today, and he gave it to me.”

Wang Shufen handed it over. She couldn’t read, but surely Lu Minghua could?

Lu Minghua looked at the envelope. It had his eldest son’s name on it, which made him feel suspicious. He opened the letter and skimmed it.

When he reached the middle of the letter, his expression changed dramatically. He tightly grabbed Wang Shufen’s hand.

She was confused. “What’s wrong with you, old man? If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Why are you grabbing my hand like that?”

He was acting weird, and not saying anything.

Lu Minghua looked around and told her to go close the windows.

Seeing how serious he was, Wang Shufen felt something was off. She quickly shut all the windows, and the two of them quietly went into the bedroom.

“Old man,” she asked, “What does the letter say? Why are you being so mysterious?”

“Didn’t we get news before that Zhoushan was dead?”

“This letter today is from Zhoushan,” Lu Minghua said, still not explaining clearly.

Just that sentence startled Wang Shufen. Her mind immediately flashed back to the missing pension money.

Was her husband imagining things now too?

But after being married for so many years, she knew what he was thinking.

He grabbed her hand and clarified, “What I mean is, the one who died was the eldest. The one who’s still alive is the second son. But the military mixed them up—they thought the second son had died.”

“The ashes they brought us belonged to the eldest!”

“The second son wrote us this letter to explain everything.”

Finally, he made himself clear.

Wang Shufen was instantly overjoyed. “Really? Really? You’re not lying to me?”

“How could I lie about this? The one who died was the eldest. The second son survived and even got promoted—he’s now a platoon leader!”