Chapter 26: Am I Being Watched?

Su Jinyan’s compliments failed to lift Zhao Yuanyi’s spirits.

He understood the reasoning behind her words, but his connections weren’t strong enough in this area, making it hard for him to get any goods.

“Husband, I have a classmate whose mother is the director of a textile factory. I’ll go inquire tomorrow to see if I can get some fabric and also check if I can get some red woolen coats.”

The sheer silk scarves that had fallen out of fashion were being superseded by those with gold threads woven in; they cost around five to eight yuan. If someone wore one on the street, it would evoke envy from other girls.

It was a profitable venture, but unfortunately, she couldn’t access items from this era.

However, there were plenty of men’s and women’s woolen coats and black leather shoes available.

Hearing this, Zhao Yuanyi raised his eyebrows. “That’s alright. As long as it’s fine cotton fabric, I don’t care about the color.”

“Sounds good! By the way, can your mother use a sewing machine to make clothes?”

Zhao Yuanyi shook his head. “No, we don’t have that at home, and we’ve never used one.”

“Oh, I was thinking about making clothes to sell.”

The two continued chatting for quite a while before turning off the lights to sleep. With a common topic to discuss, Zhao Yuanyi clung to Su Jinyan for several hours, which led to her sleeping in the next day until nine o’clock.

After getting up, Su Jinyan had a bit of breakfast and asked Zhao Yuanyi to explore the areas around two train stations and a bus station.

He could go wherever he wanted as long as he didn’t keep an eye on her.

If Zhao Yuanyi wanted to sell things in secret without getting caught, he had to familiarize himself with the nooks and crannies of the capital, so he obediently rode his bicycle out.

The original owner had few friends throughout middle and high school; there were a couple of boys who liked her, but none genuinely wanted to date her, merely infatuated with her appearance.

Living that way was certainly stifling.

Perhaps this was the life of a minor character?

After leaving home, she found a guesthouse nearby and intended to book a room for a couple of hours. However, she forgot that during this period, they needed an introduction letter everywhere.

Leaving the guesthouse in a huff, she planned to find an alley to access her space, but while turning a corner, she noticed someone was seemingly following her.

Feeling the possibility, Su Jinyan’s legs went weak for a moment, and her face paled.

Trying to appear calm, she turned around to glance casually. A man dressed tightly in layers leaned against a utility pole, pretending to look elsewhere.

At this point, it was confirmed: she was being watched!

But for what reason?

Had they been following her since yesterday? She had dragged out a large sack in an alley not long after entering; did anyone see her?

Su Jinyan dared to pause for only a brief moment before stepping against the wall, calmly untied her shoelaces, and retied them.

With her laces securely tied, she strolled leisurely towards the supply and marketing cooperative.

It seemed to be a shopping day there; a long queue formed outside. After asking an older woman, she learned that fresh pork and mutton were available without tickets today, limited to two pounds of pork and one pound of mutton per household.

No luck!

She and Zhao Yuanyi’s household registrations wouldn’t be settled until after school started. As for Zhao’s parents, they could buy a house and settle down once they had the money; in this era, obtaining a residence permit in the capital wasn’t too complicated.

Additionally, since she had plenty of storage space, there was no need to spend money.

For now, she would have to rely on her ancestral roots to support this poor offspring.

Once inside the cooperative, she bought a large front door for her father-in-law Zhao Zhengjun, two bottles of Moutai, and spotted some crayons. She picked up a set of crayons and drawing paper for Zhao Qi. After browsing the expensive items on the second floor, including radios, sewing machines, and watches, she left the cooperative carrying the cigarettes and alcohol.

Throughout the process, the man had followed her from a distance, but Su Jinyan appeared calm on the surface.

Even if her legs still felt weak, and her heart fluttered in fear, she didn’t dare show even a hint of it.

She thought it was likely just plain surveillance, possibly due to the issues Xin Huimin was facing right now, or perhaps because she visited the Xin family yesterday?

She also wondered if Zhao Yuanyi was being watched as well.

After returning home, she said nothing, handing the cigarettes to Zhao Zhengjun before taking Zhao Qi back to the room.

She took out the paper and crayons from her cloth bag and taught Zhao Qi how to draw, along with recognizing numbers one through five.

Lunch was prepared by Mrs. Sun.

With mixed flour steamed buns and pork stew.

Perhaps realizing Su Jinyan’s family was doing well or for other reasons, Mrs. Sun was generous today; the dish contained plenty of lard and tender slices of meat, making it quite enjoyable.

Just as they were about to eat, Zhao Yuanyi returned.

Su Jinyan’s face was calm, revealing nothing.

After lunch, she pulled Zhao Yuanyi back into their room. Mrs. Sun couldn’t help but happily intervene, preventing the kids from running off to find their parents.

“Yuanyi, have you been…”

She hesitated on how to phrase it, worrying that mentioning Zhao Yuanyi might affect his view of the Su family.
“Yanyan, are you okay?”

Upon hearing Zhao Yuanyi’s concern, she felt her legs were still somewhat weak and shook her head slightly. “Did you get followed too? Did you notice anything strange yesterday?”

“I didn’t notice anything yesterday.”

Seeing Su Jinyan’s downcast expression, Zhao Yuanyi assumed she was frightened and gently squeezed her hand. “Are you scared? It’s fine; just don’t go out these days.”

Though he was puzzled about why they were being followed, he couldn’t help but wonder about the situation with Xin Huimin.

Su Jinyan nodded, then added, “I promised my grandparents that I’d bring them something the night after tomorrow.”

“Grandpa and Grandma used to be wealthy, yet now they have nothing to eat…”

“I’ll go.”

Su Jinyan bit her lip. “Yuanyi—”

Zhao Yuanyi pulled her into his embrace and gently patted her back. “It’s okay, don’t overthink it. Your parents will be fine.”

The tense days passed for three days.

On the third day, Xiao Li arrived early to fetch her. Seeing Xiao Li, Su Jinyan let out a deep sigh of relief.

These three days, she had been worried that someone would discover her secret. Each day, she had dragged Zhao Yuanyi out for outings, to the park, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City, walking until her legs felt like they would break.

Even though she was uneasy, she left the children with Zhao Yuanyi and Mrs. Sun and returned alone to the Su family home.