Chapter 32: Educated Youth × Hoodlum 2

“Educated Youth Zeng, what do you mean by that?”

“Yeah, so what if someone marries a rural guy?”

“And you’re laughing at others—don’t end up shamelessly seducing one of our rural men yourself!”

Zeng Lin’s words had angered the crowd. After all, besides them educated youths, everyone else present was a local villager.

“I would never!” Zeng Lin snapped angrily, glaring at them and refusing to say another word.

Gu Yin walked for over an hour before finally reaching town. He rubbed his legs and thought to himself that he really needed to get a bicycle—walking every day like this would be exhausting. Afraid the post office would close early, he went there first to retrieve Chu Wan’ning’s mail.
“Comrade, is there a letter for Chu Wan’ning?”

“There is, and there’s also a package.”
The postal worker handed him a letter and a small bag. Gu Yin weighed it in his hand, didn’t overthink it, and tucked it away.

He did a simple disguise before sneaking into the black market. It was bustling with activity, selling all kinds of things. Gu Yin found a spot and laid out his goods.

Since he was unfamiliar, most people just glanced at him and walked away. Only a few asked about the price, but none seemed serious about buying. Gu Yin wasn’t in a rush and responded politely to all inquiries.

After a while, a woman dressed neatly with permed hair approached. She seemed to have been looking for something in the black market for a while—her expression was anxious. She came straight to him and asked,
“How much for this ginseng?”

“Three hundred.” Gu Yin had already looked into market prices. The ginseng in his hand was large and of excellent quality—worth the price.

This kind of thing only had a market if there was demand. In this era, nutritional supplements were scarce, and most people relied on ginseng to sustain life—it was precious.

“That’s too expensive. Lower it a bit.” The woman frowned as she spoke, but didn’t immediately leave.

“Sis, this is wild ginseng, very high in nutritional value.” Gu Yin handed her the ginseng for inspection. “Take a look.”

The woman examined it closely and nodded. She’d searched for a long time and hadn’t found any of this quality. Plus, her father urgently needed it, so she quickly nodded in agreement.
“Then throw in a chicken too. I can make soup with it.”

“No problem.” Gu Yin agreed readily. “Sis, here you go.” A chicken only cost two or three yuan.

The woman took the chicken and ginseng and handed him thirty large-denomination bills. Before leaving, she thought for a moment and said,
“If you have more in the future, save it for me. I’ll be coming here frequently.”

“Sure, take care, sis.” Gu Yin grinned wide, showing eight teeth. He was rich now!

Having sold the most valuable item, Gu Yin felt at ease. He continued answering customer inquiries while glancing around. There was an ample supply of rice, flour, and oil—he could buy groceries before heading home.

“This is wild chicken?”

“Yeah. Brother, want one?” Gu Yin smiled and added, “I’m rushing home. I’ll give you the last one cheap—two yuan fifty. I’ll even throw in some wild greens.”

“Make it two yuan,” the man bargained.

“Brother, two is too low. Two yuan twenty. Look how plump this chicken is—enough to feed your whole family, plus stir-fried greens.”

The man thought it over. This chicken would cost at least two-fifty elsewhere.
“Alright, wrap it up for me.”

After buying everything, Gu Yin counted the money in his hand—three hundred and eight yuan and fifty cents. That was a small fortune. He carefully tucked it into his inner pocket and finally relaxed enough to buy some supplies.

“How much for rice?”

“Two mao (20 cents) per jin.”

“That expensive?”

“Well, you don’t need ration coupons here,” the vendor chuckled. “Brother, how much you buying? I’ll give you a deal if it’s a lot.”

“Ten jin of rice and ten jin of flour.”

“Then I’ll give it to you for one mao six per jin. Total of three yuan twenty.”
The vendor enthusiastically handed over the goods. After paying, Gu Yin also bought seasonings and cooking oil from nearby stalls.

He even saw some freshly made sweet pancakes and spent half a yuan on ten of them to let Chu Wan’ning try. Then he finally left the black market.

There was still over a year until the college entrance exam was reinstated. If Chu Wan’ning started preparing now, she’d make it. Thinking this, he excitedly went to the recycling station.

People said recycling stations in this era were treasure troves—you never knew what you might find.

He gave the old gatekeeper three mao. The old man nodded.
“Take what you want, just leave when you’re done.”

“Alright, thank you, Uncle.”
As soon as Gu Yin entered, he was overwhelmed by the massive piles of items. He dug through the mess and finally found a few slightly damaged high school textbooks. He sorted them out and put them in his backpack.

He continued searching and in a wooden box, he found a jade pendant. After carefully examining it, he believed it to be from the Ming dynasty—though damaged, it was still valuable. He frowned but wiped it clean and tucked it into his inner pocket.

As night fell, Gu Yin stopped searching. He greeted the old man,
“Uncle, I’m heading back.”

“Alright, come back sometime. A lot of these things are from raided households—what you find depends on your luck!” The old man gave him a knowing smile.

By the time he returned, it was already dark. Gu Yin quickened his pace, and when he arrived in the village, almost everyone was asleep. Rural folks worked hard and slept early. Gu Yin quietly snuck into the house and happily called out,
“Wife, I’m back!”

Chu Wan’ning rushed out and looked him over from head to toe.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Your man is awesome!” Gu Yin boasted, lifting his chin and taking out what he’d bought.
“Look—I bought rice and flour, and all the seasonings too. Now you don’t have to worry about me wasting oil anymore.”

Chu Wan’ning rolled her eyes.
“What does wasting oil have to do with buying oil? Did you eat lunch? Are you hungry?”

“I ate, I ate—I had an oil pancake, and it was delicious.” Gu Yin brought everything to the kitchen and put them away in order.
“I even bought you sweet pancakes. Didn’t you say you like sweets? Try one!”

He handed her a still-soft pancake.

Looking into his clear, childlike eyes, Chu Wan’ning suddenly smiled. Why did he seem just like a kid? She took a bite.
“It’s delicious.”

“Don’t eat too many though. I’ll make you spicy stir-fried wild rabbit in a bit—super tasty!”

“I’ll wait and eat with you.” Chu Wan’ning smiled gently.

“Oh right, your letter and package are in the backpack. Take a look.” Gu Yin reminded her while cooking.

Chu Wan’ning took them out and was surprised to find high school textbooks—math and chemistry. She asked curiously,
“What are these?”

Gu Yin glanced back.
“I found them at the recycling station. I heard through the grapevine that the college entrance exam will be reinstated soon—maybe in just over a year. I thought you could start preparing and get into a good university.”

“But…” Chu Wan’ning lowered her head. Several of her peers had already given up and married locals. Some even had kids. Wanting to study again was incredibly difficult.

“But what? Hey, hey, hey—you don’t dislike studying, do you? Comrade Chu Wan’ning, that’s not very ideologically sound!”

“Shut up!”
His chatter had ruined her moment of emotion.

“Fine, I’ll shut up. But I still have to say this: our family has never produced a college student. You have to work hard so I can feel that honor. Tomorrow, I’ll go talk to the team leader and get you a lighter job—then you’ll have time…”

As he spoke, Chu Wan’ning suddenly hugged him from behind.

“You’re being so sweet all of a sudden.”

“I’m not sweet—I’m useless at everything, but I’ve got a wife now! As a man, letting a woman suffer isn’t something to brag about!”

Chu Wan’ning listened to his nonsense.
“Didn’t you lie around the house all last month? All you do is talk big!”

“I was thinking! Deep thoughts take time, okay?” Gu Yin plated the food and saw her skeptical look.
“Alright, alright, I was lazy. But I’ve changed, seriously changed!” He raised his hand in oath.

“I’ll trust you this once.” Chu Wan’ning patted his face, and the two sat down.

Chu Wan’ning didn’t start eating right away. She opened the letter and read:

[Daughter, we were so worried when we heard you fell into the water. Are you hurt? Do you feel unwell anywhere? Your father has contacted many old friends, trying to get you transferred back, but the situation is difficult. Please wait a little longer. Also, how is the man you married? Is he of good character? If you don’t like him, don’t force yourself to stay together. When you come home, we’ll find you someone better.]

The package contained brown sugar and other nutritional items, as well as a large-denomination bill. Chu Wan’ning’s eyes turned red. Going to the countryside back then had been out of necessity. She had never blamed her parents, but Father and Mother Chu had always felt guilty and constantly sent her things.

“What did your parents say?” Gu Yin handed her chopsticks and gently stroked her cheek in comfort.

“They asked if you’re a big bad guy!” Chu Wan’ning teased him deliberately.

“I don’t believe you,” Chu Wan’ning said, sensibly not asking more questions. The two of them enjoyed a satisfying meal, and with full bellies, sat down on the bed.

“Mom and Dad gave us ten yuan. I’ll leave it with you. When you have time, find some people to fix up the house.”

Chu Wan’ning handed the large denomination bill to Gu Yin, but noticed that he didn’t put it away. She frowned in confusion.

“I don’t want it,” Gu Yin said, stuffing the money back into her hands. Then, with a face full of excitement, he asked, “Guess how much I earned today?”

“Five yuan?” she guessed.

Gu Yin shook his head.

“Ten?” she guessed again.

He shook his head once more.

“Just tell me already!” Chu Wan’ning grew anxious.

Gu Yin hurriedly pulled out a thick wad of bills from his inner pocket. “I earned 308 yuan and fifty cents today. I spent less than ten on bits and pieces, so I still have more than 290 left.”

Chu Wan’ning’s eyes widened in shock. It took a moment for her to come back to her senses. “How did you earn so much? You didn’t do anything shady, did you?” Suddenly, she remembered the rumors she’d heard about Gu Yin. “You didn’t go gambling again, did you?”

“No, no, no! I’ve quit for good!” Gu Yin swore. “I found a wild ginseng root in the mountains—really big and good quality. I sold it for three hundred yuan.”

“Not bad,” Chu Wan’ning said, finally relaxing.

“Of course! I’ve been lucky since I was a kid!” Gu Yin said proudly. “Here, I’ll keep a dozen or so yuan for myself. The rest—two hundred and eighty yuan—you keep for savings. You’ll need money when you go to university. I’ll get Mingzi and the others to help fix the roof in the next couple of days. They’re good for physical labor. I’ll also find someone skilled to make sure my wife lives comfortably.”

Chu Wan’ning was touched by his endless chatter. Her heart stirred, and she leaned over and gave him a kiss, then quickly dove under the blanket and pulled it over herself.

“Ahhh! Wife, you ambushed me!” Gu Yin protested, diving under the covers too and pulling her into his arms. “Hey, hey! Don’t move—wait! I haven’t put the money away yet!”

“Then go put it away!”

“…”

The next day, Gu Yin, feeling refreshed, went to see the brigade leader. Beforehand, he had bought a few packs of quality cigarettes and brought some brown sugar he’d bought the day before.

“Uncle Lin!”

“What are you doing here, kid?” Lin Weiguo glanced at him suspiciously.

“What kind of thing is that to say, Uncle Lin? Of course I came to see you!” Gu Yin said with a cheeky grin. “See? I even brought gifts!”

“Out with it. What do you want?” Lin Weiguo didn’t dare accept the gifts. He could tell right away this brat was up to something.

“It’s about my wife. Uncle Lin, is there any easy work you can assign her? She doesn’t need a lot of work points—just something light. She’s so busy every day, she doesn’t even have time to cook or do laundry for me.”

“You little brat! Always fooling around and now you expect a woman to support the household? Don’t you feel any shame?”

Lin Weiguo got angry just hearing him talk. “The only light job is gathering pigweed, but that’s usually for kids. It only earns two work points a day. Don’t come crying to me when you end up with no food.”

“No, no, no! I’m not like that!” Gu Yin quickly assured him.

“Hmph. Don’t say I never help you out. In a little while, we’ll be choosing a new teacher for the elementary school—from among the educated youth. Tell your wife to prepare herself.”

“Got it, I got it. Thanks, Uncle Lin! I’ll head out now. Tomorrow I’ll have my wife start gathering pigweed,” Gu Yin said with a grin, turning to leave.

“Take your stuff with you,” Lin Weiguo coughed.

“No, no, no—this is just a little gift for you, Uncle Lin. Please accept it.”

“You brat!” Lin Weiguo chuckled. He figured he might as well look out for the wife a bit more in the future—this boy clearly wasn’t dependable.

After leaving, Gu Yin went straight to find Chen Ming and Wang Jie.

“Gu-ge, you looking to go have some fun?” Wang Jie winked at him. He’d been cooped up at home for days and was itching for something to do.

“Fun? All you ever think about is playing.” Gu Yin rolled his eyes at them in annoyance. “If you guys have nothing better to do, come help me fix the roof at home. I’ll pay you.”

“Gu-ge, we’re brothers—why are you talking about money?”

“Yeah, Gu-ge, talking about money hurts the feelings. But we don’t really know how to fix roofs, though.”

“No worries. Tomorrow we’ll head to town and hire a few professionals. While we’re at it, we’ll pick up some building materials.”

“No problem. I’ll bring my ox cart over tomorrow to save us some walking,” Chen Ming promised.

“Thanks, brothers.”

“Come on, Gu-ge. Don’t be so polite with us.”

…

“Wife?” Gu Yin called out as he reached the doorway. No response. He figured Chu Wan’ning wasn’t home from work yet, so he took his time washing rice and cooking, waiting for her to return.

Not long after, Chu Wan’ning walked in. While she was washing her hands, Gu Yin told her about everything that happened that day.

“Gathering pigweed?” Chu Wan’ning thought for a moment. It was indeed an easy job, just poorly paid. But what about income after that? It’s not like wild ginseng could be found every day.

Gu Yin noticed her hesitation and said casually, “Wife, just focus on your studies. Supporting the family is a man’s job. Once the roof’s fixed, I’ll go buy food. That sugar pancake and oil flatbread last time—nothing beats the ones I make.”

“I don’t feel at ease with you always going to the black market to do business. Maybe I should just work normally instead.”