Zhou Juanjuan’s husband, although the militia captain of Dahe Brigade, had two children at home, and their lives were tight.
Seeing Su Yunyi grab a few and stuff them into her own mouth, Zhou Juanjuan quickly reached out to stop her, how could she accept such precious things from Su Yunyi.
“Sister-in-law, take them back for my nephews to try. What’s the difference between the fruit candies from the commune and the ones sold at the village entrance?”
Thinking of how happy her two children at home would be when they saw the candy.
She was also reluctant to return them, so she took out a dime from her bag and handed it to Su Yunyi: “Then sister-in-law will give you the money.”
Most people in this era were truly simple and never took advantage of others.
“Sister-in-law, if you say that, I’ll be angry. Aren’t our revolutionary friendships that we rehearse together every day worth these few candies?”
The children, eating the candy, finally stopped crying, sniffling as they watched the two aunts push the money back and forth.
In the end, Su Yunyi won.
Zhou Juanjuan remembered the news she heard last night. She was supposed to tell Su Yunyi this morning but forgot due to the distraction. Now that she wanted to repay her, she pulled Su Yunyi aside and told her in great detail.
“Ding Ding Dang Dang’s father, that is, Accountant Wang, is being transferred to the commune. The brigade is currently looking for a candidate for the accountant position. Not many people know about this. You are literate and capable. Yesterday, when I went to report the rehearsal situation to the brigade leader, the leader had a good impression of you. You should go and try for it.”
“I’m just literate, I’m afraid I can’t be an accountant, right?”
Su Yunyi remembered that accountants in her previous life needed qualifications, not just literacy.
Seeing that Su Yunyi was completely unaware of the brigade’s affairs and didn’t realize that the brigade accountant was a good position, Zhou Juanjuan lightly pinched her.
“Accountant Wang only has a junior high school education, which is very impressive in the entire brigade. Most people are illiterate or can only write their own names. You are a high school student, and no one is more qualified than you to try for it. Being able to do arithmetic and write is enough.”
Su Yunyi noticed that Zhou Juanjuan was looking at her with an expression of disappointment that she wasn’t living up to her potential. Only then did she realize that the brigade accountant position likely had very good benefits.
She quickly and affectionately apologized to Zhou Juanjuan: “My good sister, I just came from the city and don’t understand anything. I’ll have to rely on you to teach me more.”
Zhou Juanjuan looked at her, soft and cute as she spoke, and playfully tapped her nose, continuing to explain in a low voice.
“Although the brigade accountant is considered non-full-time, because they have to do bookkeeping and reconciliation, and go to the county town to handle settlements for the production team’s public grain and live pigs with the commune’s grain station, food station, and supply and marketing cooperative, they also often have to attend commune accounting training and inspections. Their working hours are much less.”
No need to do farm work?
Su Yunyi finally grasped the key point.
Seeing her eyes suddenly light up, Zhou Juanjuan knew she understood.
Actually, there were still some benefits she couldn’t tell her now. If she really became the accountant, she would naturally find out.
As they chatted, they soon returned to the assembly hall.
After comforting the little ones a few more times, Su Yunyi and Zhou Juanjuan walked towards their rehearsal room.
In the afternoon, the sunlight outside was beautiful, and a gentle breeze blew, carrying the scent of osmanthus into the rehearsal room.
The girls who had been badmouthing her in the cafeteria turned and fled from Su Yunyi’s sight as soon as they saw them enter.
As long as they didn’t actively cause trouble, Su Yunyi wouldn’t dwell on them.
Zhu Xiaomei might have heard about Su Yunyi’s feat at noon and didn’t make things difficult for her, but another possibility was that Commander Zhang had returned.
Commander Zhang heard several versions of rumors about the quarrel in their performance team after returning from the meeting. Even the secretary called her, asking her to manage the team members’ ideological work, not to form cliques, and not to affect unity. She was warned to deal with it severely if it happened again.
Now, as she observed, Su Yunyi and Zhou Juanjuan were calm and composed, while the other three girls were timid and hesitant, clearly showing the difference.
With a clear understanding, she didn’t immediately react but casually led them through the dance movements.
However, the intensity was much higher than yesterday. Su Yunyi’s stamina was poor, and she could only grit her teeth and persevere until her vision went blurry before Commander Zhang announced the end.
She then added a cryptic remark: “Tomorrow morning, you will perform individually. After the performance, roles and positions will be decided. Those who don’t dance well might even be sent back.”
Su Yunyi pressed her forehead, wondering why there was a mini-exam.
She glanced at the others out of the corner of her eye. Some were eager to try, while others, like her, looked troubled.
Although dancing was tiring, she preferred rehearsing for the show to doing manual labor. Moreover, if she were sent back, the Xiao family would become a laughingstock in Dahe Brigade.
Considering how image-conscious Mother Xiao was, Su Yunyi shivered just thinking about it.
After picking up the three little ones, they were walking out of the commune when Su Yunyi spotted a familiar figure waving at them from a distance. “Comrade! Comrade Su!”
Su Yunyi’s heart leaped with joy. Could it be that the thief had been caught!
She hurried forward with the children, and as soon as they reached her.
The elder sister from the bank was already exclaiming: “Comrade Su, I’ve been waiting for you here for half a day. This afternoon, someone indeed came with those five yuan to exchange them, saying he accidentally tore them and couldn’t find the other half. I recognized it as the money you brought at noon. I stalled him and had my colleague report it to the police. The thief has already been taken to the police station by the public security comrades. The public security comrades even said we acted bravely.”
The elder sister’s face shone with pride.
Su Yunyi stepped forward and tightly clasped the kind elder sister’s hand, thanking her sincerely.
“Comrade, thank you. Otherwise, these two children would have definitely been scolded when they got home.”
People in this era were truly warm-hearted. Su Yunyi’s eyes welled up with emotion.
The elder sister, seeing her sincere gratitude, said cheerfully: “What’s there to thank? This is what we should do. Such bad elements should be arrested and interrogated thoroughly by the public security comrades to see if they have robbed anyone else. You two hurry back with me to complete the procedures. There are a few places where you need to sign and leave your fingerprints.”
……
After completing the procedures, it was also the bank’s closing time.
The few people from Dahe Brigade, with their money recovered and the bad guy caught, were in high spirits on their way home, filled with laughter and joy.
Ding Ding Dang Dang, upon returning home, could no longer hold back and, with red eyes, told their parents about what happened today.
Accountant Wang heard this and thought that Xiao Lao San’s city wife was quite capable. He heard she was a high school student. He was about to be transferred, and the brigade couldn’t find a suitable replacement.
He couldn’t leave as long as there was no one to take over the job for a day.
The people in the brigade were either illiterate or semi-literate, and no one could take over this job. The educated youths who had come to the countryside were mostly literate, but they were not locals, and their backgrounds were unknown, making them unsuitable.
However, Xiao Lao San’s newly married wife was very suitable.
Although Xiao Lao San was a bit of a troublemaker, the Xiao family had lived in Dahe Brigade for so many years, and the other members of the Xiao family were all decent.
After making up his mind, Accountant Wang immediately finished his porridge and went to the brigade leader’s house with his hands behind his back.