Chapter 25

Gu Qingchuan remained expressionless, not uttering a word. He pulled out two yuan bills from his pocket and slapped them on the small table. Turning his gaze to the fleeting villages outside the window, he felt the corners of his mouth lift ever so slightly. His girl was clever and bold enough to openly bring him food.

Jiang Ci graciously accepted the two yuan, her fingertips inadvertently brushing against his. Gu Qingchuan curled his fingers, but by the time he turned back, the girl had already withdrawn her gaze.

Jiang Ci pushed two meat buns toward Xing Lao San. “One yuan. Do you want them?” If it weren’t for the fear of raising his suspicions, she wouldn’t have sold him the buns at such a low price.

In their line of work, Xing Lao San thought, it was common not to make a sale for three years and then eat well for ten years. This deal was substantial; the smell of the big meat buns was tempting. Even at one yuan each, he would still buy them. “Big sister, you gave my brother four. Why only two for me? I’ll buy four as well.”

Having already given him a discount, he was greedy for more? Jiang Ci shot him a glare. “Didn’t you just say they were too expensive? You can have two; take it or leave it.” With that, she began to pull the buns back toward her.

“Fine, fine,” Xing Lao San hurriedly fished out a yuan and snatched the buns from her hand, feeling regretful. This girl had quite the temper; he dared not provoke her.

Several passengers disembarked at Sishui Station, and the previous attendant approached Jiang Ci, asking, “Young lady, there are available sleeping berths in the sleeper car. Would you and your companion like to switch? The next stop is a major station, and it’ll be full soon. If you want to secure a sleeper, now is the time.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” Jiang Ci replied as she stood up. “Please take us to the sleeper car; we’ll pay for the tickets.”

Sun Feifei felt a bit disappointed. Now that they were getting sleeping berths, they wouldn’t see the two young men next door anymore. She wondered if they would ever cross paths again.

Noticing Jiang Ci reaching on her tiptoes for her luggage, Xing Lao San elbowed Gu Qingchuan. “You ate her meat buns; get up and help her out.” He thought Gu Qingchuan was handsome but never gave girls a pleasant expression. With his attitude, when would he ever get married? Xing Lao San shook his head in his mind.

Gu Qingchuan lazily stood up, his impatience evident as he stepped out. “Such a hassle.” He raised his hand to rest on the luggage rack, looking down to ask, “Which one is yours?”

“This big suitcase is right next to you,” Jiang Ci replied, quickly hooking her finger around his before grabbing the handle of her bag.

Sitting underneath the luggage rack, couldn’tXing Lao San  see their little exchange. Gu Qingchuan took the suitcase down and silently returned to his seat, feeling the warmth from Jiang Ci’s touch linger in his heart.

Biting into his big meat bun, Xing Lao San savored its deliciousness, almost swallowing his tongue. “This girl is pretty, but she’s too fierce. I wonder who will marry her in the future. With that temper, can anyone handle her? Hey, brother, let me tell you, as an experienced man, it’s better to marry a gentle and obedient woman than one who’s too fiery.” Regardless, the meat bun still tasted great.

Gu Qingchuan pinched the spot where Jiang Ci had brushed against his fingers. “Ah… perhaps someone would actually like that.”

After switching to the sleeper car, Jiang Ci didn’t return to the hard seat compartment. Liu Cuilian, fearing her belongings would be stolen, also stayed put in the sleeper car. Gu Qingchuan and the others didn’t cross paths with Liu Cuilian until they disembarked.

Upon arriving at Zhushi Train Station, Sun Feifei changed into a light autumn jacket. Two Southern Heavy Industry Group comrades drove over to pick them up, holding a sign on the platform. Jiang Ci approached them with her introduction letter, and they hurriedly took the luggage from her hands. “Thank you for your hard work, comrades. Let’s go; the factory has arranged accommodations for you.”

Xing Lao San watched as the two young girls selling buns were picked up by the workers in uniforms from the Southern Heavy Industry Group, and all his suspicions faded away.

He and Gu Qingchuan each carried a dirty military cloth bag as they walked toward the west side of the train station. “Brother Chuan, once this deal is done, bring out those good things from your home and hand them over to us brothers. I promise to share it with you; you’ll have enough for a lifetime. By then, you can even marry a beautiful wife.”

“Let’s see if your offered price is reasonable,” Gu Qingchuan replied. “I’m not easily fooled; take me to meet your boss.”

As Liu Cuilian disembarked from the train, she was taken to the police station by the secret group’s personnel. After several hours of interrogation, a female officer disguised as Liu Cuilian contacted the “Boss Zhao” she had mentioned.

Liu Shirong received a call from Liu Cuilian, who said her goods had been sold. They asked if he could get more—be it large yellow croakers or calligraphy and paintings, they wanted as much as he could procure. Liu Shirong felt as if he were floating with excitement. However, acquiring such items wasn’t easy, so he sought out Dong Hua once more.

He and Dong Hua reached an agreement: as long as she could get good items, they would split the profits evenly. Dong Hua, of course, set her own condition—she wanted Liu Shirong to remove Gu Qingchuan’s name from the list of those being denounced.

In the past, Liu Shirong would never have dared to do such a thing for the sake of his career. But now things were different; with seventy thousand yuan already in hand, he planned to make a big score with Dong Hua before resigning and heading south to find a better opportunity. He readily agreed and reported that Gu Qingchuan’s name had been removed from the list.

Meanwhile, the female officer disguised as Liu Cuilian had successfully contacted Boss Zhao. The real Liu Cuilian, aiming to redeem herself, obediently made several phone calls to Liu Shirong.

To avoid alarming anyone, Cui Pingzhou specifically called Grandma Miao. “Grandma Liu Shirong has removed your family from this list of denunciations. However, there’s now a case involving Liu Shirong, so it’s not yet time to take action against him. Just right now, Brother Chuan is about to undertake a big task. Once he achieves success, we can reinstate your family’s name, so please don’t be anxious.”

Grandma Miao thought about her grandson, who had been away for several days. He only mentioned wanting to see the Southern reform and opening up. She suspected that his father-in-law’s status likely meant he had gone to do something important, but it couldn’t be mentioned yet. Grandma wasn’t in a hurry. “That’s good; this is an opportunity for my adopted granddaughter, that ungrateful wolf, to leave on her own. That way, she won’t come back later to pester the young couple.”

Cui Pingzhou understood that the “ungrateful wolf” Grandma referred to was her adopted granddaughter, Xie Tingyu. He smiled. “Alright, I’ll make a big scene then.”

A day later, Qinshi announced the first batch of one hundred twenty families whose landlord and rich peasant labels were removed. Their children would no longer face restrictions on employment. Families that found their names on the list cried tears of joy that day.

Seeing that Gu Qingchuan’s family was indeed not on the list, Dong Hua felt quite pleased. In the bustling crowd around the announcement board, she found the dazed Xie Tingyu.

Dong Hua led the confused Xie Tingyu to her small courtyard, closing the door behind them. She feigned urgency, saying, “Tingyu, your family missed this batch of denouncement removals. You might never have another chance in your life! You made a hasty decision to come back this time.”

Dong Hua was well aware of the situation with the Xie family. Xie Tingyu had gone to live there when she was fifteen, and their intention was to keep her for a few years, having her help with housework and chores, then ask for a bride price when the time came for marriage. The match she was told about wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t bad either. The groom’s family was willing to offer two hundred yuan as a bride price and even had a formal job at a food factory.

Xie Tingyu had high standards and looked down on the suitor her family had found. She disliked his ordinary looks and clumsy demeanor. After hearing that the family was about to have their landlord labels removed and coveting her grandmother’s possessions, she severed ties with the Xie family and eagerly returned home.

Now, pale-faced and disbelieving, she thought, “Even if my brother’s name isn’t on this list, it has to be on the next one. There’s no way he won’t be included.” If Gu Qingchuan wasn’t getting his name cleared, what was the point of her returning home? She had cut ties with her adoptive parents and could never go back, and now Gu Qingchuan and Jiang Ci were engaged. She felt like she had lost everything—no family, no money, and no future.

Xie Tingyu was unwilling to accept this fate.

Dong Hua handed her a cup of hot tea. “Silly girl, Gu Qingchuan is about to become Cui Pingzhou’s son-in-law. If his name isn’t on the list now, it must mean Cui Pingzhou has offended someone. Maybe Cui Pingzhou will face the consequences. Gu Qingchuan will never get back up again, so don’t be so naive anymore.”

Xie Tingyu gripped the cup tightly, feeling the heat burn her fingers, but she couldn’t feel the pain. It was true—her brother was probably being dragged down by Jiang Ci’s family. Why did Jiang Ci’s mother have to marry Cui Pingzhou? It forced her brother to marry Jiang Ci. She was filled with hatred; Jiang Ci had ruined her carefully planned future.

“What am I supposed to do? I’m already eighteen; how many more years can I wait?” In Gu Qingchuan’s situation, she couldn’t even name a suitable husband. The things were hidden away by Miao Xiulan, and she didn’t dare take them out for her dowry. She felt utterly defeated.

Dong Hua finally cut to the chase. “Your grandmother brought something to Cui Pingzhou’s family a few days ago to propose a match. Is she still hiding good things? Where is it hidden?”

Xie Tingyu explained, “She cut the four posts of her bed to hide things inside. Who would have thought something could be hidden in the bedposts? My grandmother has been so biased; the family has been poor for ten years, and she never took anything out. Now she’s given it all to Jiang Ci as a betrothal gift.”

Dong Hua was frustrated. “Who would have thought to hide things inside the bedposts? When they confiscated the house back then, Miao Xiulan passed out on that very bed, and the children all huddled in the corner crying. They couldn’t just throw Miao Xiulan out while she was unconscious, so they didn’t smash that bed.”

There must have been plenty of things still left inside those bedposts; it was impossible for all of it to have been given as a betrothal gift. Dong Hua said, “Tingyu if you can find what your grandmother hid, I have a way to sell it. We can split the profits fifty-fifty. Once you have money in hand, you can find any good match you want.”

“You want me to steal from my grandmother?” Xie Tingyu shot up, slamming the cup back onto the table. “I will never do something so heartless.”

She hurriedly left Dong Hua’s house, glancing carefully around as she exited to ensure no one was watching before stepping out of her own yard.

Dong Hua curled her lip. Three years ago, when she sought out her adoptive parents, her conscience had already been eaten by dogs.