Chapter 5

Tang Wan’s heart nearly leapt into her throat. She swallowed hard and forced out a weak smile.

“I just couldn’t sleep, so I got up to use the bathroom.”

Seeing her tired and disheveled appearance, Lu Huaijing, recalling what had happened at the Tang family’s house yesterday, pushed aside any lingering doubts. Her parents had been sent to the countryside, and she must be feeling miserable about it. His tone softened.

“It’s still early. You can go back and rest a bit more. I’ll go for a run and bring back breakfast.”

“Thank you.” Tang Wan sighed lightly, her form resembling a ghost as she shuffled to her room, opening the door and slipping inside. Her back seemed to carry an invisible sorrow.

Lu Huaijing couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. Even if it was to repay her grandfather for helping his father, he knew he had to treat her kindly.

Tang Wan, oblivious to the fleeting thought in Lu Huaijing’s mind, happily entered her space.

Relying on no one but herself, she smiled broadly at the pile of things in front of her, her laughter shaking her whole body.

After laughing to her heart’s content, she first opened the wooden box she had dug up from Deputy Director Su’s yard. Good heavens, half a box of small yellow fish, along with some miscellaneous gold jewelry and jade bangles.

It was clear these weren’t obtained through legal means.

She sneered, then began counting money. When she left the Tang family, her mother had slipped her a cloth bag.

Inside, besides a letter of introduction and their family’s household registration, there was 800 yuan along with a stack of tickets. She had also rummaged through her uncle’s house in Qin family and found another 900 yuan.

Her mother likely gave 800 yuan to Qin family to foster her younger brother.

Additionally, she had obtained 6,000 yuan from Deputy Director Su’s house. There was no doubt that Su was wealthy—her father, a factory director, couldn’t easily gather that much money.

As for the tickets, Tang Wan quickly sorted out the local ones and those that were close to expiration, then stuffed the rest into a metal box.

She tapped her chin, thinking for a moment. After packing her belongings and changing into simpler clothes, she went to the front desk. The front desk auntie was dozing off, nodding her head.

“Big sister.”

Tang Wan gently nudged the auntie. The auntie startled, then grumbled irritably, “What are you shouting for so early? Calling my soul or something!”

Tang Wan didn’t mind her morning grumpiness and lowered her voice, asking, “Big sister, I’m about to leave East City, and I still have some local tickets I haven’t used. Do you think…”

She subtly revealed the corner of the cloth bag. The auntie, who had been annoyed just a moment ago, suddenly perked up, looked around, and then smiled broadly, pulling Tang Wan aside.

“I just woke up, don’t mind me. You want to go take a bath, right? Let me take you to get the key.”

As she spoke, she led Tang Wan to a small room behind the front desk where they rested during shifts.

Once the door was shut, the auntie excitedly said, “Big sister, do you have cotton tickets? My nephew’s getting married soon, and he’s just short on cotton tickets and radio tickets!”

Other tickets were less important, but the big items like these couldn’t be substituted.

“I do.” Tang Wan smiled mysteriously. After all, Deputy Director Su was wealthy. She had radio tickets and even bicycle tickets—those were valid nationwide. She wasn’t in a rush to take them out.

When she pulled out the colorful tickets, the front desk auntie’s smile stretched wide, and she eagerly started picking through them, wanting them all.

“Big sister, what do you want to trade for them?”

“Anything is fine—money or grain.”

Tang Wan planned to take the tickets and leave by train, but she wouldn’t be able to use them when she got there.

“Alright, I’ll give you the market price.”

This was a rare opportunity, and after some hesitation, the auntie reluctantly gave up a few of the tickets and began counting the ones she had left.

“The most valuable are the radio tickets. I’ll give you 120 for those, and the rest… I’ve calculated it. How about 50 yuan for each, plus a bar of soap and an enamel bowl?”

There were quite a few tickets, including the rare red sugar tickets and oil tickets. The front desk auntie’s price was very reasonable, and Tang Wan naturally didn’t refuse.

“Big sister, you’re very straightforward. I’ll give you the tofu tickets as a gift.”

Seeing Tang Wan being so generous, the front desk auntie was even happier. She smiled brightly and said, “Big sister, wait a moment for me. My house is just behind the guesthouse. I’ll go back and get the money now.”

“Okay.”

Tang Wan wasn’t worried that the auntie would run away. In these times, there was always a job for someone, and if she ran, she risked losing her position.

What she was more concerned about was that the auntie might report her.

So, Tang Wan prepared for the worst. About five minutes later, the auntie sneaked in, holding a bag.

“Little sister, take a look.”

She didn’t exchange grain with Tang Wan, as city people already ate commodity grain, and there was a shortage of it. She had hoped to exchange for grain tickets, though.

“This is just right.”

Tang Wan counted the money; everything was good, and the items were fine. She took the bag and returned to her room.

There were still some tickets left, but she was too lazy to go out and exchange them. Lu Huaijing was a soldier, and she didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself.

If they expired, they expired. She could keep them as mementos. Fortunately, there weren’t too many left.

After sorting through her little stash, she had nearly 8,000 yuan. In 1970, it was quite a significant amount of money, enough for her to live comfortably wherever she went.

The only issue was her “class status,” which had to be resolved as soon as possible, not to mention her parents…

Knock knock knock…

Time passed quickly. Tang Wan packed her bags and went out. Lu Huaijing and Tang Zhou were standing by her door. “It’s still a bit far to the train station, so we should leave early.”

“Sis, let me carry your luggage.”

Tang Zhou eagerly stepped forward to grab her suitcase, but Lu Huaijing beat him to it.

Tang Wan suddenly realized that she hadn’t gone with Tang Zhou yesterday to collect his luggage. Thankfully, she had emptied out the Qin family’s house in the middle of the night.

She couldn’t help but smile. “Zhou Zhou, once we get there, I’ll buy some fabric for you to make clothes.”

“It’s okay, sis. It’s hot right now, and I can wash and wear the ones I have in the morning.”

Tang Zhou grinned, leaving the Qin family. There was a bit more happiness on his face, though every time he thought of his parents, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy.

“I bought some steamed buns.”

Lu Huaijing handed each of them two steamed buns and an egg. These were white flour buns, a bit dry, but both Tang Zhou and Tang Wan ate them happily.

The eggs were nothing like the artificial ones from later generations. Tang Wan felt like she could eat several in one go.

When leaving the guesthouse, Tang Wan exchanged a glance with the front desk auntie. Both of them looked away, acting as if they were strangers. Neither mentioned what had happened earlier that morning.

That was just how things were—better safe than sorry.

Their luggage wasn’t much. Lu Huaijing had hurried to the train station after receiving a telegram about Tang Shi and had only brought a couple of changes of clothes and an introduction letter.

By the time the cotton mill was in chaos, Tang Wan and the others had already reached the train station. Lu Huaijing went to make a phone call to a comrade nearby, and when he returned, he noticed that Tang Wan had a suspicious expression.

“Comrade Lu, what’s going on?”

“Last night, the house of Deputy Director Su of the textile factory and the Qin family were robbed, and their homes were completely emptied. Someone also sent a report to the revolutionary committee.”

Lu Huaijing thought back to the encounter with Tang Wan that morning and felt a surge of suspicion. But when he saw the bright gleam in her eyes, he couldn’t help but clap his hands and praise her.

“Who did such a thing? How did they manage to cause so much trouble!”