He Suqin had already learned about He Qiutang’s exam results. She did quite well—good enough to rank near the top. He Suqin felt very pleased. After all, she had put so much effort into tutoring her, and her younger sister wasn’t dull either. How could she possibly fall behind?
As for the things she had asked Shen Lanxiang to prepare, they had already been sent to the parents of her friend. Originally, their daily chemical factory was under strict inspection due to several leadership changes, so it would have been too conspicuous to openly bring gifts at this time. Even meals would be postponed until near the New Year, when they could properly treat the other family to a couple of dinners.
The position arranged for He Qiutang was quality administrator. He Suqin nodded at this—it wasn’t a high-pressure job, it was stable, and there was room for future development.
However, she remained calm and did not tell her mother or sister directly. She decided to wait one more day; tomorrow the results and job assignment would be officially announced anyway. What difference would it make to say it earlier or later?
So on the way back, Shen Lanxiang and her daughter were still talking about this matter. But when they reached the alley, they saw a group of older women gathered in a corner, huddled together against the cold wind, chatting.
Shen Lanxiang’s intuition told her they were probably gossiping about someone again.
And indeed, some of them saw Shen Lanxiang and her daughter returning and immediately waved and smiled in a strange way, which made Shen Lanxiang even more suspicious.
“Mom, don’t bother with them. Let’s go home,” He Suqin tugged at her. Reasoning with these people was useless, and arguing was even more pointless.
After the mother and daughter left, the group immediately gathered again.
“I told you, a widow raising three children—keeping all the kids at home, how could it be that easy? Look, the first two did well enough, but the youngest still got a job. She must have found herself a good man.”
“Exactly. Why do our children have to go to the countryside, while theirs don’t? If she really got a job, we’d accept it—but clearly she’s exploiting loopholes in policy.”
“That’s right. Tomorrow I’m definitely going to report them to the neighborhood office!”
The He family had always lived relatively well. Plus, with He’s father’s past actions and Shen Lanxiang’s strong personality, no one in the area dared to openly bully them. But not being bullied didn’t mean they weren’t envied.
Everyone wanted their own children to have jobs or good marriages. It was hard to accept all the good fortune going to the He family.
After the mother of Yu Sui Sui opened the topic, she didn’t say much more. Widows attract gossip; in this alley, several widows were looked down upon by her. She always felt that their husbands must have liked those attractive widows. But picking fights with them would also make her look petty—so when she finally got the chance to criticize Shen Lanxiang, she naturally wouldn’t let it go.
She had already decided that, to set an example, she would go to the neighborhood office the next day to arrange for Yu Sui Sui to go down to the countryside. Then she could compare herself with Shen Lanxiang and present herself as a more responsible, big-picture-minded housewife.
As for whether she felt sorry for her daughter—that wasn’t her own decision. It was Yu Sui Sui herself who had said she wanted to go to the countryside.
In reality, most people wanted to stay in the city, but Yu Sui Sui seemed convinced that Xu Zikai would go down to the countryside with her. So when her mother asked her about it, she answered very decisively.
Because of this, Yu’s mother now felt very confident. And when she thought of the He family’s youngest daughter, who rarely left the house, she felt she was like a pampered bourgeois young lady.
He Qiutang: It was getting colder and colder outside. Since there was nothing to do, why would she go out? Besides, Zhao Huai’an was also going out on a delivery run, so she had no interest in going anywhere or having fun.
This trip was first to learn the procedures, and second to observe how things were done, otherwise just seeing cabbages all day would already be exhausting.
“The main delivery run is to the supply and marketing cooperatives in two nearby counties. Take a look at the route first, I’ll check the goods,” Zhao Huai’an said today while going out with Uncle Bao.
“Uncle Bao, at this distance, we can probably return tonight,” Zhao Huai’an looked at the simple map and estimated the route.
“That’s right. The roads around the capital are easy to travel on. If it were some remote, hard-to-reach place, all the time would be spent on the road,” Uncle Bao checked the goods and then inspected his bag to make sure everything was there—documents, waybills, a water cup, and a lunch box.
Of course, Zhao Huai’an also saw Uncle Bao quietly bring another small bundle into the truck and place it at the back. He pretended not to notice.
Then Uncle Bao took out two iron rods.
“Kid, put these under your seat. This is for self-defense.”
Zhao Huai’an? What did he mean?
Seeing the boy still looking confused, Uncle Bao chuckled. “Drivers like us not only need to know how to drive and fix cars—we also need self-defense skills. You never know if you’ll run into road bandits. Take them, just in case.”
Bandits? Zhao Huai’an was slightly stunned. Living in a peaceful era, he had never imagined that drivers on the road could still encounter bandits halfway, like ancient highway robbers.
“Well, you’re still young and haven’t experienced much. Anything can happen on the road. On long-distance runs, sometimes two or three people have to rotate driving—not because it’s tiring, but because who knows what kind of trouble you might run into.”
After getting into the truck, Uncle Bao began telling Zhao Huai’an about his experiences when he was younger—encounters with road bandits, each story more thrilling than the last.
“Not to mention far away—just talking about recent events—how do you think Old Wang’s truck got damaged?” Uncle Bao didn’t explain in detail, but the implication was clear: being a driver may look respectable on the surface, but it isn’t particularly safe either.