Comrade Jiang Manyue barely slept all night, but by dawn, she had finished everything.

Carrying her bag, she stepped out of her room. Despite staying up all night, she felt refreshed and clear-headed.

Others weren’t having such a good time. Bai Wanrou came out carrying a full basin of soiled pants, pinching her nose with a look of disgust. Her pale face showed exhaustion and anger.

Seeing her like that, Comrade Jiang Manyue felt thoroughly satisfied.

About time she had a taste of this life—after all, it used to be her who slaved away like a beast of burden.

“Comrade Jiang Manyue.”

Seeing her about to leave, Bai Wanrou immediately chased after her and shoved the basin into her hands, speaking in a commanding tone.

“I still have to go to work later. Hurry up, wash these clothes, and make breakfast too.”

After being tormented by Ma Qingxiang all night, she was sore, exhausted, and had dark circles under her eyes.

Comrade Jiang Manyue found her utterly ridiculous. “What are you dreaming about in broad daylight?”

This was the life she herself had lived before, yet Bai Wanrou couldn’t even handle one day of it.

And she still had the nerve to order her around? Clearly, the slap from yesterday didn’t knock any sense into her.

Bai Wanrou’s face twisted in anger. “You don’t have a job now. Since you married into the Ma family, it’s your duty to serve your elders!”

Trying to saddle her with this burden again? In her dreams.

“I’ve already broken off my engagement with Ma Xiangyang, so that’s your duty now.”

With that, Comrade Jiang Manyue dumped the basin onto the ground. The dirty pants scattered everywhere.

“Ah!” Bai Wanrou shrieked, hopping mad.

Her brand-new shoes were splattered with filth on her first day wearing them to work.

Comrade Jiang Manyue watched her stomp around and left without a care, bag in hand.

Without morality holding her back, no one could guilt-trip her again.

“You just wait, Comrade Jiang Manyue! I’m telling you, don’t think you can break off the engagement so easily!”

Bai Wanrou stomped in frustration. She was sure that once Ma Xiangyang got the marriage certificate, Comrade Jiang Manyue would suffer.

But she didn’t care about the curses shouted behind her.

Later that day, she and Wang Baozhu returned to their stall in town. Surprisingly, customers who missed out yesterday had come early to wait for them.

“Sister, we’ve been waiting for you!” The young women were visibly excited.

“We heard you’re selling jeans. I even brought my best friends along!”

It was only her second day setting up the stall, yet she already had loyal customers.

“Don’t worry, everyone will get a pair today!”

She laid out the jeans she’d worked on overnight, and the women practically scrambled to grab them.

Some bought for themselves, others for relatives and friends.

“Stop pushing!” Wang Baozhu was startled by the commotion, thinking it looked like people rushing for train tickets.

“There’s enough for everyone!” Comrade Jiang Manyue reassured them while collecting payment.

Her jeans were well-made, stylish, and cheaper than those in state-owned stores.

In just over an hour, all sixteen pairs were sold out.

Her skills were no joke. Even the auntie selling sundries at the next stall looked on with envy.

“Baozhu, where are you getting these jeans from?”

“Auntie, they’re not from the provincial capital. We make them ourselves.”

“Amazing!” The auntie’s eyes gleamed. “Selling these must be really profitable.”

Even the guy selling cassettes and radios next door couldn’t help but grumble, “She’s doing better business than me.”

The two sisters happily counted their money. The cost of the jeans was only a third of the fabric price.

They netted 140 yuan in one go—it felt like becoming rich was just around the corner.

“Big Sister!” Wang Baozhu began packing up the stall. “We sold more in an hour than I do in a whole week!”

“Why don’t we focus solely on selling jeans? The profit is too good.”

“I’ll go buy more fabric now. We’ll keep making jeans.”

But Comrade Jiang Manyue smiled. “Jeans are trendy now, but it’s not like we’re the only ones who can sell them.”

They had made good money in two days, but wealth attracts attention.

Still, if they kept this up, she’d have enough in a month to pay the rent for that storefront across the street.

She planned to expand. Selling only jeans was too limited.

She’d buy more fabric to create different styles of clothing.

She was well aware of 80s fashion trends. So the two of them took their money and headed to the supply and marketing cooperative.

She carefully selected several types of fabric. Then she remembered her promise to Qin Ran to pick someone up from the train station.

After storing the money properly, she checked the time.

“Baozhu, take the fabric home first. I have to go to the train station.”

“Okay, Sister! Don’t forget to come back for dinner tonight.”

Leaving the cooperative, Comrade Jiang Manyue boarded the bus to the train station.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes had been watching her every move from afar.

It was peak time at the train station, around ten thirty in the morning.

People bustled about with large bags.

Comrade Jiang Manyue took a photo out of her bag, studying the man in the picture.

With his handsome features and distinguished demeanor, he should be easy to spot.

Many passengers had already emerged from the station, and just as she stepped forward to look around, someone yanked her forcefully.

“Ah!” She was pulled to the ground.

By the time she realized it, her bag had been snatched, and the thief was already bolting away.

She got up and chased after him. “Stop right there!”

The thief was quick, a small thin man, and he darted into an alley across from the station.

She followed, panting heavily, until the alley reached a dead end.

“Give my bag back or I won’t be polite,” she warned.

The man stopped and turned around with a sneer.

He was scrawny and sleazy-looking, like a local thug.

Instead of fear, he smirked at her. “You’ve got stamina, girl.”

Then he shouted behind him, “Hey brothers, get a load of this! She came right to us.”

With that, two more men emerged.

One was tall and burly, wearing a floral shirt, cheek puffed out from pressing his tongue against it.

The other had long hair and a mouth full of yellow teeth, his grin making one’s skin crawl.

The three of them quickly surrounded her, closing in step by step.

Comrade Jiang Manyue realized she had been lured here. “What do you want?”

The thief rummaged through her bag, but all he found was twenty yuan and some cloth coupons.

“Damn it, just this much?” he cursed. “I saw her make over a hundred from selling clothes!”

She had spent most of her earnings on fabric at the cooperative, and the rest was with Wang Baozhu.

Clearly, they had been tailing her since town.

She tried to leave but the tall man, clearly their leader, blocked the exit.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

His eyes roved over her, as if stripping her with his gaze.

Suppressing her disgust, she stepped back, but one of them shoved her hard.

“Hehe, she’s a bit plain, but not bad-looking.”

The leader licked his lips and sneered, “Not bad at all. No money? Then pay with your body.”

She had underestimated the thugs of this era. She backed away cautiously. “If you dare touch me, I’ll call the police.”

The three men exchanged looks and burst into laughter.

“Go ahead, call them.”

“Come on, let’s have some fun. We’ll make sure you enjoy it—hahaha!”

Their filthy words were unbearable. If she got caught here, the consequences would be dire.