After hearing Su Qiao’s situation, the teachers at school were extremely upset! In the end, it was only after Su Qiao’s comforting words that they gradually calmed down.
The teachers all knew about Su Qiao’s family circumstances.
At this point, no one could tell her to take the exam and ignore taking care of her younger siblings at home.
All they could do was repeatedly urge her to settle things at home as soon as possible and promised that she must return to school to repeat a year when the new term started.
Her homeroom teacher, Mr. Chen, held back his own sadness and comforted Su Qiao again and again: “It’s fine to take the exam next year. Studying an extra year will give you a better chance.”
But the more he said it, the more he felt upset himself.
Since Su Qiao had already decided to move to the county town with her younger siblings, she hadn’t brought any bedding from home at all.
After packing up her dorm belongings, she simply left them in Mr. Chen’s office for safekeeping until she could move and unpack them later.
After leaving school, Su Qiao went to Xiaobei Camp, the industrial area of Jiao County. The county’s largest chemical plant, tire factory, and a canning factory were all nearby.
Together, the three factories employed over a thousand workers. Adding in the surrounding residential compounds, the affiliated elementary school, and middle school, the population numbered in the tens of thousands.
To promote industrial development, the county had built many convenient facilities near the factories and residential areas:
supply and marketing cooperatives, coal yards, state-run restaurants, grain stores, vegetable shops… even a small park, fully equipped.
Xiaobei Market was, without a doubt, the busiest and wealthiest part of the entire county.
Su Qiao planned to rent a future home nearby.
She knew that it wouldn’t be long before people quietly started small businesses in the area.
For food and daily necessities, of course, but also, on the sidewalks in front of the chemical plant residential compounds, within half a year, someone would place a sewing machine by the roadside, offering to repair clothes.
This was a factory area, full of young workers.
Especially the single men from the chemical and tire factories, most of whom lived in communal dormitories.
A small tear in a shirt, worn-out pants needing patching, these were minor issues, but if they sought someone’s help repeatedly, they’d inevitably owe favors.
Now, they could simply bring damaged clothes to a tailor at the residential compound entrance while going to work, pay a few coins per repair, and have them fixed by the end of the day.
They could afford it and didn’t have to owe anyone a favor, everyone was happy.
Thus, even a simple, makeshift tailoring stall could quickly establish itself and thrive.
These things tend to snowball, when one person sets up a stall, others naturally follow.
Before long, the sidewalks in front of the chemical plant residential compound were nearly completely taken over by various tailoring stalls.
Soon after, a few tailors from the south gradually joined in. With careful work, a good eye for design, and excellent craftsmanship, they slowly built a reputation in the area.
It wasn’t just Xiaobei Camp, people from all over Jiao County would habitually come to the chemical plant residential compound whenever they needed clothes made or altered.
In less than a year, what had started as a single person pushing a sewing machine to take jobs had grown into a whole street of tailors.
Later on, this street even became Jiao County’s first open market specializing in clothing and related goods.
It was on this tailor street that Su Qiao’s business journey began.
At that time, she worked odd jobs here while secretly learning the trade.
Once she had mastered enough skills, she set up her own stall.
After saving enough money, she took her younger brother and ventured to the provincial capital…
Step by step, she went from a girl who knew nothing to running her own clothing factory.
The path was difficult, but it was solid and thorough.
Of course, in this life, Su Qiao wouldn’t be retracing that old route exactly, but she still decided to start here.
When she first arrived in the provincial capital, she again followed the route of working while studying.
Whenever she had free time, she audited classes at the provincial textile institute, learning a lot about textiles, materials, and design.
Later, she joined a trading company and went to the capital with her brother.
By then, Su Qiao had built a certain financial foundation. She enrolled in an advanced course at the capital’s fashion academy at her own expense, systematically studying professional knowledge…
With years of study and practical experience, Su Qiao was confident that her skills in both cutting and sewing were solid, at least as good as those southern tailors.
Her initial plan was to first establish herself in the county town, ideally getting a sewing machine to start taking jobs right away.
That way, she could repeat a year at school while ensuring her family’s basic living needs and saving some money to prepare for taking her younger siblings to study in other cities.
But now, without access to her father’s pension, the situation had become a bit difficult.
For one thing, she couldn’t afford a sewing machine.
Nowadays, a new sewing machine cost around 160 yuan, and on top of that, a sewing machine permit was also required.
Su Qiao could barely scrape together the 160 yuan, but she didn’t have a sewing machine permit.
In her previous life, as more and more people wanted to do business here, the demand for sewing machines grew rapidly.
Some people began privately trading various permits and coupons.
Since Su Qiao had been here at the time, she knew exactly where to get one, and she clearly remembered that in less than a year, due to scarcity, the price of a sewing machine permit could easily be speculated up to over 200 yuan!
According to her memory, she now only needed about 100 yuan to get one.
If she could get her father’s money, Su Qiao would immediately buy the permit.
After all, sewing machines would remain in high demand in Jiao County for the next ten years, or even longer.
Even if she didn’t use it, she could always sell it later, potentially at a higher price than she bought it for. It was absolutely a sure-profit investment.
The problem was, she didn’t have that kind of money now.
Fortunately, it was still early, long before Tailor Street fully formed, and Officer Xu had promised to help her get the money back. So Su Qiao wasn’t worried.
Compared to a sewing machine, she was more concerned with finding a suitable place to live.
Su Qiao wandered around the residential compounds near the chemical plant for almost an hour, checking every nook and cranny, but still couldn’t find a place to stay.
It left her feeling a little frustrated.
Seeing that the last bus was about to depart, she hurried to the nearest state-run restaurant, bought ten steamed buns, and ran toward the bus station.
Rushing as fast as she could, Su Qiao managed to catch the bus at the very last minute.
By the time the bus had been on the road for a while, she still hadn’t caught her breath.
“If only I had a bicycle, then I could manage my time freely,” she thought to herself while standing on the bus.
So she added buying a bicycle to her next-step plans.
The last bus left the county town at 4:30 p.m., arriving at their small town around 6:00.
In May, it was still daylight at that hour, but Su Qiao instinctively quickened her pace.
From the town to their Xiaojin Village, it would take more than forty minutes on foot, meaning by the time she got home, it would almost be completely dark.
What Su Qiao didn’t expect was that the moment she stepped out of the bus station, she saw a familiar figure right at the entrance.
Xiao Qifeng was pushing a “28” bicycle, standing directly opposite the station gate, seemingly waiting for someone.
Today, he wasn’t wearing his military uniform, just a pair of military trousers and a white shirt.
The hem of the shirt was tucked into his trousers with a wide brown military belt. Combined with his height of over 1.8 meters, it made his waist look narrow and his legs long.
His body proportions were no worse than those of modern runway models.
Su Qiao couldn’t help but click her tongue in admiration.
Xiao Qifeng wasn’t wearing a hat today, so Su Qiao could finally see his face clearly.
Perhaps because he had been hospitalized for a long time, his complexion wasn’t the dark tone she had imagined. On the contrary, his skin was unusually fair for a man of this era.
Not only that, he was also very handsome.
A high, straight nose, sharp eyebrows, and bright eyes, he had that kind of look that would make anyone glance at him and mutter, “What a striking young man.”
Even now, in simple clothing and standing still at the roadside, he looked so striking amid the bustle of people at the station entrance.
Su Qiao hadn’t planned to greet him, but almost instantly, Xiao Qifeng saw her as well.
When their eyes met, she knew there was no avoiding it and had to walk over.
“Comrade Xiao, what a coincidence to meet again. Are you here to pick someone up?” she said politely, with a slight hint of distance.
Xiao Qifeng didn’t seem to notice her politeness.
He hummed once, glanced at the backpack on her shoulders, then at her empty hands and empty sides, and finally couldn’t help but ask in a slightly surprised tone, “You’re only bringing this little?”
Su Qiao, who was about to leave, didn’t understand why he asked that.
Confused, she replied defensively, “If not this… then what else should I bring?”
“Didn’t you say you were going back to school today to handle your paperwork? And you didn’t bring any luggage?” Xiao Qifeng explained.
Before she could answer, he turned the bicycle around and gestured toward her. “Let’s go back first. We’ll talk on the way. Your brothers and sister must be waiting anxiously.”
It was only then that Su Qiao realized, this man had actually come to pick her up!
A wave of unease rose in her chest.
“Comrade Xiao…”
Xiao Qifeng raised a hand and cut her off. “I went to your village today to ask whether the human traffickers had been caught. On the way, I stopped by your place to take a look.
I came to pick you up because your younger siblings said you were going back to school today to sort out your things, and I happened to be riding a bike.
You don’t need to think too much about it. If you really must, just take it as me serving the people.”
“…”
Realizing that this man had gone out of his way to come all this distance just to pick her up, Su Qiao did feel a bit uncomfortable, and words of refusal were already on the tip of her tongue.
But Xiao Qifeng’s explanation instantly turned all that discomfort into embarrassment.
Right, how could she forget? He was a People’s Liberation Army soldier.
The People’s Liberation Army serves the people.
After being so bluntly rejected by her face-to-face when it came to marriage, hadn’t he held no grudge at all?
Not only had he not held a grudge, he had even enthusiastically helped her look for her little sister. In the end, in front of the village party secretary and the villagers, he had spoken up repeatedly on behalf of her family.
This time, he must have heard what her younger siblings said and once again embodied the spirit of [1]Lei Feng (雷锋) was a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army of China, celebrated as a model of selflessness, dedication, and helping others. He became a national symbol of altruism and moral … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1729859_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1729859_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Lei Feng.
Thinking of this, the last trace of wariness in Su Qiao’s heart melted away, replaced by deep respect for the man in front of her.
“Thank you, Comrade Xiao,” Su Qiao said with a grateful expression.
Hearing her even use honorifics, Xiao Qifeng’s brow twitched.
“We’re from the same generation, no need to be so formal,” he replied lightly.
Then he swung a leg over the bike, one foot on the ground and the other on the pedal, and said to Su Qiao, “Get on.”
Xiao Qifeng rode very steadily.
Sitting on the back seat, Su Qiao felt the gentle early-summer evening breeze brush against her cheeks, and a faint sense of ease came over her.
To keep the atmosphere from becoming too awkward, she took the initiative to start a conversation. “Have the traffickers been caught?”
She had left early that morning and really didn’t know the situation.
“They’ve been caught and sent to the township police station.”
“Who were they?”
“Local thugs from the neighboring town. Supposedly a whole gang. Secretary Jin said that man confessed to a lot. The police are taking it very seriously and have already set up a special task force for this case. They should be able to wipe them out completely soon.”
“That’s great. People like that deserve to die! Anyone who traffics women and children deserves to die!”
Thinking of what her family had gone through in her previous life, Su Qiao clenched her fists and spoke with fury.
“Don’t worry. They’ll all get the punishment they deserve.”
Xiao Qifeng’s tone was calm, yet for some reason, his words carried a reassuring power that soothed the heart.
References[+]