“Your brother is here…”
“My brother is also an educated youth. We only just got back in contact.”
Oh.
Jiang Tao understood.
Then, as if remembering something, he subconsciously rubbed his hands.
“Sister, about that…”
The little girl frowned at him.
“Were the clothes not enough?”
She couldn’t think of any other issue. Besides, if it were another problem, he wouldn’t be looking for her.
Jiang Tao nodded, then shook his head.
What did that mean?
“No. The town has enough, but the factories in the province found out and have been calling every day… asking us to help them find a way…”
He didn’t finish the rest.
Their factory director had been as happy as if it were New Year’s a few days ago.
Now look what happened.
Joy had turned into trouble.
Served him right for showing off.
Seeing that the little girl seemed hesitant, Jiang Tao glanced at her brother standing beside her. His complexion looked poor, and his life likely wasn’t easy either.
Jiang Tao quickly leaned closer.
“Sister, factories in the provincial capital have better benefits. Do you really want your brother to stay stuck here forever?”
He whispered the last sentence very quietly.
Eh?
That was right.
This could work!
“What else do you want to exchange for? I’ll ask for you. I definitely won’t let you suffer losses.”
Tang Tang wasn’t worried about that.
This older brother Jiang Tao was a reliable business partner.
The little girl relaxed and began discussing business.
“How many do they want this time?”
Jiang Tao hesitantly held up three fingers.
There weren’t many factories in the provincial capital, but each one had several times more workers than the town factories.
“I see.”
After thinking about it, she decided it wasn’t a problem.
“Then when can my brother start working?”
“Do you have anything to do right now? If not, let’s go to town together. I’ll make a phone call and have the provincial side send the things over.”
“We’re not in that much of a hurry.”
Jiang Tao shook his head.
“They’re the ones in a hurry. They’ll definitely be afraid someone might intercept the goods halfway. Just watch—they might rush over tonight.”
They had known each other for so many years. Who didn’t understand who?
Yuan Hongwei followed his younger sister into the truck’s passenger seat with a completely confused expression.
He watched as his sister placed the basket she never let leave her side near her feet.
He still hadn’t reacted.
Who was this person?
What had they just talked about?
How did only a few sentences suddenly turn into talking about work?
Seeing her brother’s rare dumbfounded look, the little girl introduced the two men to each other.
Now they knew one another.
Once familiar, they could talk easily in the future.
Connecting everything to their previous conversation, Yuan Hongwei’s heart surged like stormy waves.
When had his sister gotten to know such a powerful person?
Even their production team captain probably didn’t know someone like this.
He had heard the captain was trying to find connections to get his son into a factory in town as a worker, but after more than half a year, there still wasn’t any news.
Yet his sister said just a few casual words, and someone was taking the initiative to deliver work to her.
And it was even an official worker position in the provincial capital?
Why did this feel like a dream?
They soon arrived in town and found the post and telecommunications office.
Once the call connected, Jiang Tao spoke, and the person on the other end immediately exploded.
No one knew what happened, but a series of clattering sounds rang out for a long while.
It sounded like tables, chairs, and benches had fallen over.
Jiang Tao thought:
Mm, definitely.
That man had a fiery temper.
Just as he was thinking this, a loud voice came through the leaking phone receiver.
Jiang Tao held the receiver far away to protect his ears.
“You brat! I knew you were full of tricks!”
Then came loud laughter.
“You must keep the person there for me. Watch the goods carefully. Don’t let anyone snatch them away! I’ll have someone drive over soon. No—I’ll personally come with the truck.
Also, ask about the price. How much money should I bring? What tickets do they want? Bicycle coupons? Radio coupons? What else? Right, I have a few official worker quotas here. Ask if they want them…”
In his heart, he was thinking that anyone with this kind of connection had to be brought into his factory.
If they became one of his own, asking for help later would be much easier.
Yuan Hongwei took his younger sister for a walk nearby.
Before long, Jiang Tao came out beaming with joy.
“Sister, they’re coming over now. They probably won’t arrive later than evening. What do you think…”
“Is there a forest nearby?”
“Yes, yes. Right near the entrance to town where we just came in. Turn outward and there’s one.”
Tang Tang pretended to enter the post and telecommunications office for a quick look around.
When she came out, she said seriously:
“It will be delivered to the small forest at three in the afternoon.”
She had just asked Jiang Tao earlier.
It took at least six hours to travel from the provincial capital to here.
It was ten-thirty now, so they would probably arrive around four-thirty.
Even if they drove fast, they couldn’t arrive before three.
After eating lunch, they could stroll over slowly.
There was no rush.
With Jiang Tao around, the siblings didn’t need to worry about anything.
He brought them straight to the state-owned restaurant and ordered several meat dishes.
Yuan Hongwei finally understood.
This person needed something from his sister.
So he stopped feeling conflicted and sat down openly.
The dishes were served quickly.
The few of them didn’t bother with anything else and focused on filling their stomachs first.
They still had things to do in the afternoon.
After the three finished eating and walked out, they met several young men and women at the entrance.
“Oh, Yuan Hongwei, you came here to eat too?”
That first sentence was still fairly normal.
“Yuan Hongwei, don’t you only have a little grain left? If you have money to eat here, why don’t you buy some grain instead? When you run out of food next month, don’t expect us to help. We don’t have extra either.”
Was this person sick?
Who had eaten their family’s grain?
“You didn’t come here to pick up other people’s leftovers, did you? Haha…”
That was clearly malicious mockery.
Yuan Hongwei’s expression remained calm.
“I brought my younger sister here to eat.”
The little girl was unhappy.
At a glance, she could tell this wasn’t the first time.
These people dared bully her brother.
Especially those two girls at the back. Their words were so vicious.
Before she could speak, Jiang Tao beside them couldn’t bear it anymore.
What kind of people were these?
He wrapped an arm around Yuan Hongwei’s shoulder while walking out and deliberately raised his voice.
“Brother Hongwei, the notification will arrive soon. Before you leave, settle whatever needs to be settled. Tomorrow, we’ll go report for work. That side needs ambitious young people like you.”
His voice wasn’t quiet at all.
Many people nearby turned to look.
Someone looked closer and called out:
“Hey, Taozi? Damn, it really is you! Why did you come here? Isn’t your factory busy?”
Jiang Tao’s head immediately hurt.
This person was also someone who had been calling him every day to ask about work uniforms.
He hadn’t even been able to avoid him, yet now he had delivered himself straight to his door.
As they spoke, the man slung an arm around Jiang Tao’s neck and dragged him aside.
The educated youths were dumbfounded.
What did that mean?
Had Yuan Hongwei found a connection and was transferring away?
Those two men clearly worked in factories.
How did Yuan Hongwei know people like that?
On the other side, Jiang Tao unintentionally helped the little girl secure another deal.
The little girl didn’t care.
She had plenty anyway.
Jiang Tao was still doing a favor for that man named Chengzi.
“It’s only you, really. Your timing is good. Today, they came here to deliver clothes to the provincial factories, and you happened to see them. The little sister is giving me face by squeezing out several thousand pieces for you. If it were anyone else, do you think she would?”
Wasn’t this exactly how brotherly relationships were meant to be used?
“Taozi, what’s the background of that little girl?”
“Don’t ask. Absolutely don’t ask. She’s our leader’s neighbor, and he values her a lot.”
The question had only been casual, but after hearing that, Chengzi immediately changed the topic.
“Our leader is back too? When do we find time to gather?”
“In a couple of days, when things settle down, you all can come to our place. The factory where our leader works was just built, so he’s busy.”
“Alright. Then we’ll get together properly!”
At two-thirty, Chengzi hauled away six thousand uniforms and gave money, a pile of ration tickets, and three town factory quotas in return.
Jiang Tao’s meaning was this:
Many people here were unfriendly to your brother, and I’m guessing you don’t like them either, so I didn’t ask for too many.
Ask your brother who treated him well in the village. Keep these three quotas and let him use them to return favors.
These words came sincerely from the heart.
When it came to human relations, even combining both of Tang Tang’s lifetimes, she couldn’t compare to Jiang Tao at all.
But she remembered everyone who treated her well.
Before four o’clock, three large trucks came roaring in.
When the drivers got out, their legs were trembling.
One look was enough to tell they had floored the accelerator all the way here.
Jiang Tao sighed.
“I said I’d keep it for you, so I definitely would. Look how anxious you were. Were you risking your life? Look at how tired you’ve made them. How are they supposed to drive back later? Are you going to drive?”
The arriving man scratched his head sheepishly and laughed.
“Wasn’t I just anxious?”
The five or six people who came with the trucks loaded the goods with red eyes.
By the time they were sent away, it was already five-thirty.
This time, the exchange included money, ration tickets, and five official worker positions in the provincial capital.
These were quite precious, because the provincial factories hadn’t recruited new workers for several years.
Jiang Tao felt that since things had already reached this point, it was better to finish everything quickly and cleanly.
Especially since Yuan Hongwei had nothing here worth lingering over.
The group drove back to Hongxing Production Team.
With acceptance letters from provincial factories, the production team didn’t dare obstruct them at all and smoothly stamped the papers.
Anyone who could obtain a provincial capital acceptance letter definitely had someone backing them.
The production team captain had originally admired this young man quite a bit and had even thought of finding an opportunity to introduce his own daughter to him.
After returning to the educated youth station and packing his simple belongings, the three of them got into the vehicle and left the place that had felt like a nightmare to Yuan Hongwei.
Yuan Hongwei gave the three quotas to three friends who had often helped take care of him.
They were descendants of respected elders in the village.
It was also because those friends protected him that the villagers never dared to make things too difficult for him openly.
The group drove directly back to town, ate dinner, and Jiang Tao went to make a phone call.
The siblings chatted with each other about their experiences over the past few years.
When Jiang Tao returned after the call, his expression was heavy.
“Brother Jiang, what happened?”
“I’m going to the provincial capital tomorrow too…”
“What a coincidence. Is it for business?”
“No. One of our comrades had an accident. I’m going to check on him. Our leader is going too. He’ll head there directly from home.”
There was no good way to continue that topic.
Since they happened to be going the same way, and everyone was already familiar with each other, there was no need for fake refusals.
They could ride along together.
By noon the next day, they arrived in the provincial capital.
First, they sent Yuan Hongwei to report for work.
The little girl knew that her brother had suffered these past two years, so she didn’t say too much.
She left him two hundred yuan, some food, and daily necessities.
Then she sorted through the things in her hands and gave him all the provincial capital ration tickets.
The brother who had once been elegant and full of knowledge had been bent down by life.
She hoped this place would help him regain his confidence and find himself again.
The little girl had come only to send her brother to work.
Since that was done, she would leave with the others.
Once Jiang Tao and the others finished their business, they could all return together.
Otherwise, Jiang Tao truly wouldn’t feel at ease.
After meeting up with Lin Guanghui, the three of them turned through several lanes before entering an alley.
At the end of the narrow alley, there was a small courtyard on the left with its gate open.
They followed Lin Guanghui inside.
Inside the room were two men.
One sat dejectedly with his head in his hands, while the other was trying to comfort him.
When they saw the people enter, both stood up.
“Leader.”
“What exactly happened to Chuanzi?”
“His job was taken by his mother, who threatened to die unless he gave it to his younger brother. The condition was… cutting off family ties. He was driven out by his own mother.”
After a moment of silence, Lin Guanghui asked:
“What about his demobilization money?”
“Huh? His demobilization money? It’s with me. I haven’t returned it to him yet. Back when we first came back, my family had some matters, so I borrowed Chuanzi’s.”
As he spoke, he even gave Lin Guanghui a meaningful look.
What borrowing money?
He had clearly been afraid that if Chuanzi took the money home, it would disappear like water poured away.
“Mm. You handled that well.”
Although most people disapproved of cutting ties with one’s parents and considered it unfilial, continuing to be entangled with parents like this would be the truly unwise choice.