Chapter 15

Huang Li was right about one thing: Ye Manzhi is quite a self-centered person, always thinking highly of herself.

Besides that, she also has a tendency to protect her own.

The nature of the Zheng family and Xue Qiao’er’s character is irrelevant to her; what matters most is ensuring the safety of her fifth brother, the “victim,” which is the immediate concern.

“Brother, I’m going to stay with Qingmei for a few days. I won’t be home. Can you go home and spend some time with Mom?”

“Mom’s old enough; she doesn’t need me to keep her company,” Fifth Brother said as he crouched in the vegetable patch, catching bugs for the pumpkins.

“Ah, you guys are all the same—no better than us daughters when it comes to being considerate!” Ye Manzhi complained.

“…” Fifth Brother didn’t respond.

Ye Manzhi used a stick to knock a caterpillar off a plant, clicking her tongue. “In the past, even though the eldest sister got married and you moved out to enjoy yourself, I stayed home, taking care of everything. Once I’m gone, there won’t be a single child around Mom. How lonely will she be?”

Fifth Brother laughed bitterly. “Even if we’re not home, Mom can still take care of herself.”

Chang Yue’e had been married to Old Ye for nearly twenty years and had long integrated into the family, managing the finances. When Ye Manzhi spoke, it almost sounded like their mother had suffered a great injustice.

“That’s different. Before, it was just the six of us, but now we have a sister-in-law.” Ye Manzhi played the role of the family’s troublemaker. “You don’t understand the mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship. Mom just swallows her bitterness.”

Fifth Brother, a bit uncertain after her words, considered it for a moment.

Because of a physical defect, he was particularly sensitive to the emotions of others. He felt that Chang Yue’e didn’t like Third Sister-in-law very much.

“I have to feed the pigs and chickens every day, and tend to the vegetable garden. I can’t leave for too long. How many days are you planning to stay with Lin Qingmei?”

Ye Manzhi wasn’t sure how long it would take. “You just need to go home at night to keep Mom company. During the day, do what you need to do—it won’t interfere with feeding the pigs.”

She tossed the caterpillar she’d picked into the chicken coop, watching the chicks scramble for the food.

“Brother, are you going to keep living in Crescent Alley?”

She wanted to suggest a new place for him to live, but she needed his approval first.

“Mm, it’s big and cheap. What’s wrong with it?”

“Crescent Alley is too mixed. Any decent girl will hesitate to date someone living there! And the other day, you were chopping down trees with a bunch of burly men in front of the Zheng house, shouting and making noise—it looked intimidating. I’m worried you might get influenced by them.”

Fifth Brother remained silent.

He was over thirty and didn’t think he could be easily influenced.

“How about I help you find another place to live? I’m at least a trial street official now, and I have connections at the housing office. I can ask them to help find a cheap place in a good location.”

Ye Manzhi was more concerned about him than even their mother. Ye Manlin, trying not to laugh, casually said, “Alright, if my official sister can find me a good place, I’ll try to find a girlfriend.”

“Deal! You just wait to get married,” she said.

Ye Manzhi wasn’t joking. She really did have a connection at the housing office, someone from the tailoring class.

The person had an extremely high attendance rate and sometimes even brought fabric to the street office for her help with cutting.

“Sister Zhao, do you have any spacious yet affordable courtyards?”

Sister Zhao flipped through a registry book. “How many people will be living there? And what kind of location are you looking for?”

“Only one person for now. The room doesn’t need to be too big, but it needs a large yard. My brother wants to keep horses, pigs, and chickens. And Crescent Alley is not an option.”

“Your brother raises a lot of animals. Crescent Alley is the cheapest, but other areas will be more expensive,” Sister Zhao pointed to a listing. “This one’s pretty big, two rooms and a kitchen, seven yuan a month.”

“Is there anything cheaper?”

Fifth Brother was frugal, making money that he never spent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be raising chickens and growing vegetables for self-sufficiency.

Crescent Alley’s rent was only five yuan, so there was no way he would move to a seven-yuan place.

“Seven yuan is already cheap. Xiao Ye, our street’s public housing is different from the unit’s allocations. The units’ housing is welfare-based, so they charge two or three yuan a month. Street public housing is generally a bit more expensive. Seven yuan a month for a courtyard this size is actually a good deal!”

“Sister Zhao, do you have anything cheaper?”

Sister Zhao sighed and started flipping through more registries. “There are only three places that rent for less than five yuan, besides Crescent Alley. One is right next to Chenjiatun, close to the cemetery. It’s four yuan a month, but not many people want to live there, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“The second is an old house in Waibozi Hutong. It’s an unclaimed property from the Liberation period, hasn’t been lived in for years, and the housing office doesn’t have the funds to repair it. It’s pretty rundown, but the location’s good. Right outside the alley is the grain station and the market. It’s five yuan a month, but you’ll have to do the repairs yourself.”

Ye Manzhi thought to herself that with such a good location, the place still hadn’t been rented out, so the maintenance costs must be high.

“What’s the third one?”

“The third one is a row of flats opposite the east gate of the Military Industrial Compound, five yuan a month.”

Ye Manzhi thought carefully about the row of flats near the east gate. “Such a nice place for only five yuan?”

Sister Zhao laughed. “It used to be an abandoned large cart shop, but after it was leased to Factory 656, they repaired it themselves. We still have to charge the original five yuan rent.”

Ye Manzhi jokingly asked, “Did Factory 656 give up the lease?”

“Hahaha, no way! All six of those units are occupied. It used to house carts and mule carts, but as more cars came in, the factory phased out the animal-powered carts. They didn’t leave the buildings empty though. Four of the units were sublet out,” Sister Zhao whispered. “All to people with connections.”

Ye Manzhi knew that such a place would have no connection to her family, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to chat casually.

She added in a low voice, “With so many leaders in the factory and connections, how can there be enough of those apartments to go around?”

“Haha, you’re right,” Sister Zhao wasn’t from Factory 656 but was happy to gossip about other units without holding back. “Out of the six units, four were sublet. The remaining two are a temporary military representative’s apartment, and one’s vacant.”

“A popular apartment like that is still vacant?”

Sister Zhao leaned in closer, lowering her voice. “Last year, someone tried to lease that vacant apartment. Liu, the deputy factory director, approved the sublease, and I was almost going to help with the paperwork, but the new military representative suddenly called it off!”

“Wow!” Ye Manzhi was surprised, quickly confirming, “Was it that Captain Wu?”

“Yes, yes, it was him—the one who came last year,” Sister Zhao said with excitement. “I heard that this military representative told the factory leadership that Liu, the deputy factory director, didn’t have the authority to dispose of military representative assets, and his signature wasn’t valid.”

“So the sublease was for a vacant apartment, but it turned into a military representative’s apartment?”

“Both were supposed to be temporary military representative apartments, but one was enough, and the other had been empty for a long time,” Sister Zhao shook her head. “That Captain Wu is a strange person. He’d rather let the apartment sit empty and pay rent than let anyone else stay there. What’s he trying to do? It doesn’t look good for his reputation!”

“…”

Ye Manzhi thought to herself: What is he trying to do? Establish authority, of course!

She had heard Old Ye mention that when Wu Zhengrong first came to the factory, he criticized many of the factory’s military supplies. The chief engineer and technical deputy factory director, accustomed to the old, rule-abiding military representative, didn’t get along with the new arrival, leading to a lot of conflict.

Liu, the Deputy Director of the Technical Department at 656, is a significant figure.

Wu Zhengrong dared to publicly embarrass Liu during a meeting, not for any other reason but to establish his authority.

He couldn’t possibly have been trying to offend anyone on purpose, could he?

However, the effect of his move seems to have been too significant. Over half a year passed, and not only did Liu’s connections fail to secure that house, but no one else dared to come forward either.

Ye Manzhi wickedly wondered if Wu Zhengrong had regretted it by now—paying the rent monthly for a house he couldn’t even use.

Although the matter of changing houses hadn’t been settled, Ye Manzhi quickly found an opportunity to get her elder brother out of the house.

The next day at work, she received a task—to represent the Guangming Street Office at a meeting at the Municipal Commercial Bureau!

She was accompanied by Liu Jinbao, a friend of women’s affairs.

Their usual activities were confined to Guangming Street, and they had never attended a district meeting. Being suddenly assigned by Director Mu to attend a city-level meeting made both of them excited and nervous.

“Xiao Ye, why do you think Director Mu specifically asked us to attend this meeting? Could it be that they value us especially?” Liu Jinbao asked.

Ye Manzhi didn’t overthink it, replying practically, “Maybe it’s because we’re the most good-looking!”

“Ha ha, you’re right! Having us go to the meeting will make Guangming Street look good!”

They arrived at the city from the suburbs and walked into the Municipal Commercial Bureau’s second-floor conference room, where most of the seats were already taken.

Since the seats weren’t assigned, Ye Manzhi actively chose the only two vacant spots in the front row directly facing the podium.

“Shall we sit in the back?” Liu Jinbao didn’t want to sit under the leadership’s watchful eyes.

“It’s better to sit in the front!” Ye Manzhi, a bit of a country bumpkin, whispered, “It’s a rare chance to attend a city meeting. Who knows when the next one will be? Sitting in the front row allows us to see the leaders clearly, hear their speeches clearly, and we’ll have more to talk about when we go back!”

Liu Jinbao felt that her reasoning was a bit off, but he followed her lead and sat in the front row.

The banner above the podium read “Municipal Commercial Bureau Coal Briquette Promotion Meeting.”

Liu Jinbao quietly asked, “What are coal briquettes?”

“I’ve never heard of them either. Since it’s a promotion meeting, these coal briquettes must be a new product, so it’s normal that we don’t know about them.”

Ahem, the Deputy Director Zhang on the podium lightly coughed to signal the start of the meeting. “These two young comrades in the front row are absolutely right. The coal briquette is a new product produced by our city’s coal company. In response to the national call for coal conservation, we are promoting it to the public.”

Deputy Director Zhang took two pieces of honeycomb coal from a box and formally introduced the benefits of using this shaped coal.

He rambled on for half an hour.

Ye Manzhi summarized the main points in her notebook: saves coal, saves firewood, saves transportation, saves effort, and is cleaner and more hygienic.

In short, it’s better than loose coal.

Ye Manzhi thought to herself, no wonder Director Mu sent the two of them. The content of this meeting wasn’t very important.

It’s still summer, and people mostly use coal for cooking, which is only half the amount used in winter. Promoting honeycomb coal during this time might not have much effect.

Deputy Director Zhang’s next words confirmed her thoughts.

“Since the coal briquette is newly produced and has limited supply, we’re setting up three trial coal stations in the city starting this month. After the meeting, you can organize residents in your jurisdiction to buy the briquettes from these stations for trial.”

Liu Jinbao grumbled, “Well, whenever there’s a new thing or policy, it’s always us grassroots cadres who have to promote it. Just watch, before we get residents to use honeycomb coal, we’ll have to use it ourselves first!”

The wording used by the leaders was quite insightful—if they only had to “mobilize” residents, it would be enough to just promote it. But since it involved “organizing,” it meant they had a specific task to carry out!

Ye Manzhi, having been at work for less than a month, hadn’t yet learned to pick up on these subtle cues from leaders. But after his reminder, she understood.

It seemed like her family would have to start using honeycomb coal too.

When the leadership asked if there were any questions, Ye Manzhi raised her hand.

“Director Zhang, could you tell us how much coal is typically used for cooking, boiling water, and preparing meals? How many briquettes would a family need each month?”

“Good question!” Deputy Director Zhang praised. “We did trials with some families. For a family of 7-8 people, the monthly coal consumption is about 100-110 briquettes. Our retail price is 35 yuan per 1,000 briquettes, so the monthly cost is under 4 yuan.”

Ye Manzhi quickly calculated in her mind. For her family of eight, they would need about 4.5 yuan per month for coal, plus firewood to mix in to get enough.

If Deputy Director Zhang’s figures were correct, switching from loose coal to honeycomb coal would save about one yuan per month in fuel costs.

It seemed quite cost-effective.

Ye Manzhi and Liu Jinbao brought the meeting’s information back to Guangming Street. As Liu Jinbao had predicted, before encouraging residents to buy honeycomb coal, Director Mu had first called on all the officials to take the lead.

Ye Manzhi immediately raised her hand to support the leadership.

After work that day, she didn’t even eat dinner but went straight to the vicinity of Waibozi Hutong, where her elder brother was waiting for work.

“I was just looking for you,” her elder brother said, dropping his horsewhip and jumping off the cart. “How long are you planning to stay at Lin Qingmei’s house?”

Since no one was guarding the chicken coop at Yueya Hutong, he was worried about thieves.

“Forget about your chickens and ducks for now. I’ve got a good job for you. Do you want to take it?”

Ye Manzhi went straight to the point.

Her elder brother was quite money-oriented, and she didn’t believe he would be indifferent.

As expected, her elder brother was interested: “What kind of job?”

Ye Manzhi explained her meeting in the city, “Our street office, the police station, the grain station, health station, housing bureau, and postal office all need to order honeycomb coal. Based on everyone’s coal coupons, we need to order three months’ worth. Each household needs about 350 briquettes, so we’ll need to buy a large amount.”

“Don’t we have honeycomb coal at the local coal stations?”

“No, we’ll have to buy it from the trial coal stations in the city. The retail price is 35 yuan for 1,000 briquettes, but if we buy in bulk, we can get it for 31 yuan per thousand, which is cheaper than loose coal.”

Her elder brother thought this was just a transport job and smiled, “Sure, I’ll gather a few people, and we can transport it in one trip.”

Ye Manzhi wanted to keep him busy for a while longer, so she couldn’t let him finish it in just one go.

“Don’t invite too many people! There are three pilot coal stations—two in the city and one in the eastern suburban area. Though the latter is farther away, coal farmers in the suburbs can get a 4% discount off the wholesale price! I’ve already spoken to Director Mu, and if you go to the suburban station to haul the coal, that 4% discount is yours. The others won’t give you additional transportation or labor fees. After all, moving 10,000 blocks of coal is no small task, so we both benefit.”

Fifth Brother was quite gifted with numbers. He could calculate things in his head after mentally running through the figures, having been playing with an abacus since he was four or five years old.

So, as soon as the younger brother reported the numbers, he quickly calculated that hauling 10,000 blocks of coal would earn 12.4 yuan.

Earning 12 yuan in just a few days, even if he had to report to the cooperative, was definitely a big deal!

Seeing that he was interested, Ye Manzhi acted helpless and said, “As for where the recommendation letters for the suburban farmers come from, you’ll have to figure that out yourself. We have no idea.”

Fifth Brother had a wide social circle, knowing people from all walks of life.

It shouldn’t be difficult for him to find a farmer in the suburbs.

Fifth Brother nodded and said, “I know two folks in Dayanggou, and they helped me hatch this batch of chicks.”

“…” Ye Manzhi wasn’t interested in his chicks or pigs, so she quickly got to the point. “This coal is in high demand, and you’ll need to queue up early. So, it’s best to leave in the evening, stay at our grandmother’s house, and head to the coal station early the next morning. This batch of coal is a street task, and since no one is in a hurry, you only need to make one trip a day. Don’t wear out Hongzao.”

The Ye family’s old home was in the countryside, and it was closer to Dayanggou, so it made sense for Fifth Brother to head there.

Fifth Brother, eager to earn money yet reluctant to tire out Hongzao, happily agreed to his sister’s suggestion.

Since she wanted Fifth Brother to stay at their old home for a while, Ye Manzhi, being the youngest in the family, decided to accompany him on the trip. They would leave on Saturday evening and return Sunday afternoon, allowing her to enjoy a day in the countryside.

However, just as they were preparing to leave, something major happened on Guangming Street!

Due to the expansion of the 656 factory and the land covering many ancestral graves, several protesting residents clashed with the workers on duty, which then escalated into a brawl, resulting in five workers being seriously injured and more than ten others slightly injured.

The five seriously injured workers were rushed to the hospital.

The brawl happened in the evening, and Director Mu and Deputy Director Zhang had already gone to the hospital. Even Aunt Feng, who never worked overtime, was unusually involved in comforting the families of the injured.

Meanwhile, Ye Manzhi and three other newcomers were assigned an even more difficult task by Deputy Director Zhang.

To prevent anyone from getting overly emotional and seeking revenge, potentially causing a second brawl, the street office and police station needed to organize two joint patrol teams.

The patrol locations? Right near the graveyard!

Ye Manzhi, who was preparing food and drink for the trip and eagerly looking forward to a carriage ride in the countryside, felt her world darken when she heard Deputy Director Zhang’s message.

“???”

Seriously, of all places to fight, they had to choose a graveyard!

Didn’t they worry about disturbing the ancestors’ peace?

She paced around the house like a donkey on a mill, and finally, she had to send Fifth Brother ahead while she stayed behind to participate in the patrol.

With both city and countryside now promoting equal pay for men and women, if men can do it, so can women.

Even though she was terrified, she gritted her teeth and followed through with the task.

The patrol team was split into two groups, and Ye Manzhi’s group consisted of three street officials and three local police officers.

There were only six of them, which made their presence appear vulnerable. Each person brought some kind of self-defense tool.

Ye Manzhi chose a lightweight yet practical stove ash hook, Zhuang Ting carried a broom, and Liu Jinbao, valuing his life, carried a shovel.

The group, armed with self-defense tools, set off toward the graveyard.

Liu Jinbao initially carried the shovel on his shoulder, but halfway through, it became too heavy, and he had to drag it along the ground.

The shovel scraping against the stones produced sparks and a cacophony of noise, which, combined with the desolate atmosphere of the graveyard, created a terrifying effect.

“Liu Jinbao, can you make that shovel quiet down?” Officer Lei Tao could no longer tolerate the noise.

Liu Jinbao defended himself, “We’re walking by the graveyard; we have to make some noise. Otherwise, it’d be too eerie!”

Everyone was annoyed by the noise but had to admit that he made a point, so they let him continue.

Just as they were about to reach the outskirts of the graveyard, they suddenly heard a bark of dogs, followed by the blinding white light of three or four flashlights.

“Who’s there? Stop right now!”

Upon hearing this, Lei Tao waved his own flashlight and shouted, “We’re the patrol team! Who are you?”

“What patrol team? This area is under control. You need to turn back right now!”

Lei Tao turned to the other officers. “Is this area under control? I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“If it was, would the station head have let us patrol? Let’s go check it out, we better not let anyone slip through.”

So, the six of them ignored the warning and continued forward. After walking less than twenty meters, they were surrounded by several people in green military uniforms.

The flashlight beams swept across their faces one by one. When the beam landed on Ye Manzhi, it paused for a moment before moving on.

A young soldier in uniform, Xiao Qin, muttered, “I saw three white figures coming from far away, clinking and clattering. Turns out, they’re in police uniforms. Scared me half to death!”

He exchanged a few words with his companion before running off toward the western side of the graveyard to report that he had found a familiar face.

Soon, Wu Zhengrong walked over briskly.

“Which unit are you from?”

“We’re from the Guangming Street patrol team. Didn’t you hear about the brawl in the evening? The leadership sent us to guard the scene, to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation.”

“Guard?”

Wu Zhengrong’s gaze swept over their stove ash hooks, shovels, and brooms. His expression became slightly amused. “Who’s in charge here?”

The six of them exchanged glances, and no one spoke up.

They were a temporary team, made up of trial officials and young local officers from two different units, so no one was really in charge.

Seeing that no one wanted to step up, Wu Zhengrong pointed directly.

“The comrade standing at the front, please step forward!”

Ye Manzhi looked around and realized she was the one at the front.

She had been standing with Liu Jinbao, but that sly face of his had stepped back a moment ago when they got surrounded!

She hesitantly pointed to herself and asked, “Are you looking for me?”

Wu Zhengrong, dressed in military uniform, appeared stern and imposing in the dusk. He nodded and said, “Yes, you, come with me!”