On the hospital bed, Wang Xuezhong stared up at the ceiling, looking as if life had lost all meaning.
He hadn’t had the surgery. He’d missed his chance.
It was over. The blind man’s eyes were useless now.
When his coworkers came to tell him he was going to be fired and his house confiscated, he barely reacted.
As a man, he couldn’t possibly be in a worse state.
He ignored his son’s nagging, too. There was only one thing going round and round in his mind.
It was all over!
When Wang Chuanzhi saw that his father wasn’t responding, he hardened his resolve and slipped away.
But when he got home, he was stunned. There wasn’t a soul in the house.
He’d only been gone for two days, yet cobwebs had already formed.
“Mom! Mom!”
He shouted, but there wasn’t a single reply.
His racket brought a neighbor to the door, who poked their head out and told him:
“Your mom ran off ages ago. She left the day your dad got into trouble!”
“She ran off? Then what am I supposed to do?”
Wang Chuanzhi held out both hands, his face full of shock and confusion.
“Why are you asking me, kid? How should I know?”
The neighbor stopped talking to him and went back inside.
Wang Chuanzhi stood in the empty house, dazed for a long while.
He couldn’t make it on his own!
Like a frostbitten eggplant, he drooped his head and went back to the hospital, where he told Wang Xuezhong everything.
“Dad, say something! The factory’s stopped paying for the medicine. If we can’t pay tomorrow, they’re going to kick us out!”
“Stop yelling!”
Wang Xuezhong was furious. How had he ended up with such a useless son? The boy was fifteen or sixteen, and besides eating and calling for his mother, he couldn’t do a thing!
“What are you panicking for? Wang Xiaoya has to go back to school eventually. She might have run away, but she can’t run away from school forever.”
“But school doesn’t start for another month! What are we supposed to do now?”
It was a pressing, very practical problem.
Wang Xuezhong shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He’d made up his mind.
“I’m checking out tomorrow. I’ll go get the money!”
He’d given that twelve thousand to Liu Yingying. Given the situation, he had to get it back—and he also had to demand compensation from Liu Yingying’s husband, Tu Zhi.
If it hadn’t been for Tu Zhi, he wouldn’t have…
It hurt. Just thinking about it hurt.
…
Civil Servants’ Residential Compound.
Jiang Yan got up at four thirty and left two yuan on the table.
A bowl of hot dry noodles cost thirty cents, and a bowl of egg stirred into rice wine cost twenty. That made fifty cents, enough for Wang Xiaoya and Su Mei to have breakfast together.
With the remaining yuan, they could buy some side dishes and make do for lunch, too.
Jiang Yan had earned five yuan and twenty cents yesterday. After deducting the cost of the paper, she’d made just under four yuan.
Selling only maps and directions at the market couldn’t guarantee a steady income every day.
So she had to find something else to sell.
What kind of business could she start with two yuan?
Jiang Yan caught the first bus of the day and headed to the wholesale market in the early morning.
It was already five or six in the morning, the market’s busiest time of day.
At that hour, the people there were usually regular customers who came to buy stock. They knew exactly what they wanted and had already made arrangements with the wholesalers; they only had to come and collect their goods.
At a time like this, there wouldn’t be any casual shoppers, and nobody would be asking for directions.
Jiang Yan didn’t set up a stall. Instead, she went into a shop that sold hygiene products wholesale.
“Old Wang, did your wife play mahjong all night again and sleep in?”
She walked into the shop like an old acquaintance and casually rummaged through the goods.
The owner looked puzzled. He didn’t recognize her, but the way she spoke made it sound as if they knew each other well.
His first instinct was that she knew him, but he’d forgotten who she was.
Embarrassed to ask, “Who are you?” he could only follow Jiang Yan’s lead, answering warmly:
“Don’t even ask. We had a little argument, and she got so mad she went back to her parents’ place. Now I’m stuck running the shop alone again.”
“You’re running the shop? You’re not as good at it as your wife!”
Jiang Yan pointed to a box of sanitary pads.
“Look at this—you’ve put them in the wrong place, haven’t you? That spot used to be for Wang Baldy’s loose stock. You’ve put the imported ones there. If you sell them like that, you’ll lose a lot of money!”
“Oh!”
The owner hurried over to check. Sure enough, she was right.
“Good thing you noticed! Thanks. If I’d sold them, that woman would’ve made a scene when she got back!”
Jiang Yan smiled casually, but inside she let out a huge sigh of relief.
She was actually terrified. This was her first time trying something like this.
“Wang Baldy’s goods are still forty cents, right?”
The owner immediately grew wary.
“How could they be forty? Fifty!”
“See? If your wife were here, she’d definitely give them to me for forty!”
“Come on, don’t joke. At forty, we’d lose our shirts. Since we’re old friends, how about forty-five?”
“Tsk! You really are something. So sharp—if you don’t make money, who will?”
Jiang Yan smiled.
“Then I’ll just take one box for now, to tide me over. When your wife gets back, I’ll buy them from her for forty!”
She spoke so earnestly that the owner was completely thrown.
What was this woman’s relationship with his wife, that she’d sell her goods at a loss?
Had he got the wholesale price wrong?
The owner was full of questions, but didn’t want to show it. He hurriedly brought Jiang Yan a box.
“Even at forty-five, we’re not making a cent. We’d lose money on the transport. Your wife must’ve got it wrong!”
“You can be wrong. She can’t.”
Jiang Yan pretended to pat her pockets, then gave an exaggerated start.
“Oh no! I can’t tell if I forgot my bag or someone picked it, but I didn’t bring any money. What am I going to do?”
At that, the owner’s expression changed. He looked at her as if he were waiting for the performance to start, having taken her for a con artist trying to get something for nothing.
Jiang Yan quickly patted herself down again and finally pulled out two yuan.
“Oh dear, what am I going to do? They’re in a hurry for these!”
She looked anxious and glanced at the owner, but he just stood there smiling, not taking the bait.
“How about this? Give me two yuan’s worth of goods now. I’ll come back later and pay the rest, then take the box. How does that sound?”
A full box had one price, while individual packs were sold at another. Once the box was opened, the price changed.
Before the owner could respond, Jiang Yan opened the box and took out five packs of sanitary pads.
“Hey! Hey!”
The owner couldn’t stop her in time.
Jiang Yan tossed the money toward him, grabbed the pads, and ran.
“Sorry! Emergency! I’ll be back in a bit. I’m not running off without paying!”
The owner was alone in the enormous shop. He couldn’t very well chase after her over five packs of sanitary pads.
But then he thought about it:
“Wait a minute. We agreed on forty-five cents, and she took five packs!”
But Jiang Yan was already far away, disappearing into an alley.
With five packs of loose sanitary pads, she was now going to start an ancient trade.
In front of a breakfast stall in the alley, a row of men with shoulder poles sat eating breakfast.
Early in the morning, they had their upper bodies bare, their trousers rolled above the knees, and liberation shoes on their feet.
The uppers were brand-new, but the soles were already badly worn.