“Wen Nianxin, come to the office immediately to answer a phone call!”
Hearing her name being called over the Production Team’s broadcast while jogging around the Zhou family’s house to lose weight, Wen Nianxin turned around and trotted toward the Production Team office.
It seemed someone had received the letter she sent but wasn’t being honest, trying to renege on the debt they owed her.
She wanted to see which bastard thought they could borrow money without repaying!
Arriving at the office, Wang Duizhang sat behind the desk and pointed to the chair opposite, signaling for her to sit down.
“The caller is Zhiqing He. Wait a moment.”
He Chunyan? Exactly as she had guessed.
Right on time, the phone rang. After letting it ring seven or eight times, Wen Nianxin finally picked up the receiver.
“Hello, Nian Xin, it’s me, Chunyan.”
“I know.”
He Chunyan on the other end didn’t expect Wen Nianxin to be so cold and twitched her lips.
“Nian Xin, I received the letter you wrote. Did you send it to the wrong person?”
“Don’t worry, I double-checked the address twice before mailing it. It’s not wrong.”
“Then what did you mean by the content? I don’t quite understand.”
“It means exactly what it says. You’re a college student after all, so don’t play dumb. I know you understood it perfectly.”
“But I don’t owe you any money. Those cash and coupons were all voluntarily given by you.”
Wen Nianxin scoffed. This He Chunyan really had thick skin.
“If you think I gave them voluntarily, why did you sign an IOU back then?
The IOU is still in my hands, clearly written in black and white with your name and red thumbprint. If you want to avoid repayment, you’ll have to ask for my permission first.
I’m giving you one week. By this time next week, I must receive the money order and the coupons you borrowed from me.
Don’t even think about stalling, or I can’t guarantee whether the teachers at your Forestry University’s academic affairs office might receive a complaint letter from me!
Oh, and I believe your classmates would be very interested to hear about how you slipped someone laxatives before the college entrance exams.”
“How do you know?!”
He Chunyan’s voice on the other end clearly panicked.
She had been extremely careful when administering the laxatives, repeatedly confirming no one was around before acting. How did Wen Nianxin know?
“None of your business how I know. I just know it was you.”
“Don’t do anything rash.”
“Whether I act rashly depends on whether you cooperate. Remember, I must see the money and coupons by this time next week, or I’ll make good on my word.”
After speaking, without waiting for He Chunyan’s response, Wen Nianxin directly hung up the phone.
Wang Yongshun, sitting across from her, felt he had just heard some major gossip.
“Was what you just said true?
Was it really Zhiqing He who prevented Zhiqing Zhang and Zhiqing Liu from taking the college entrance exams?
Since you knew it was her, why didn’t you testify when the team investigated back then?”
“I didn’t know. I was bluffing.”
The original host truly didn’t know—after all, she had heard it from an audiobook.
But given the original host’s personality, even if she had known, she wouldn’t have testified, since it wasn’t any of her business.
After returning home from answering the phone at the office, Zhou Mu immediately came forward to inquire.
“Nian Xin, who called? Was it Third Son?”
“No, it was Zhiqing He.”
Why would Zhou Zhan call her? Even if he did call, he would be looking for other members of the Zhou family.
“I won’t chat with you anymore, I’m going to take a shower first.”
While showering, she could clearly feel she had lost some weight when touching her body. The clothes that originally belonged to the body’s previous owner were now slightly loose on her.
“Sister-in-law, may I borrow your sewing machine?”
“You know how to make clothes?”
Since Wen Nianxin’s personality changed, Li Xiaofen discovered she wasn’t incompetent at all. It seemed she could do many things, but had simply been too lazy to do them before.
“I know a little.”
“Then go ahead and use it, it’s in the room.”
It had been nearly seven or eight years since she last used a sewing machine. After familiarizing herself with it, she began to regain the feel, though her proficiency was nowhere near what it used to be.
She knew how to make clothes because her grandmother, when she was still alive, particularly enjoyed hand-making dresses for her, and she had learned some skills along the way.
Zhou Mu came in from outside and, hearing that Wen Nianxin was in the room altering clothes, became extremely curious.
Without bothering with anything else, she directly pushed the door open and walked in.
“Nian Xin, your skills are quite good. Since you know how to make clothes, why did you always insist on buying expensive ready-made ones from stores before?”
“Laziness.”
“And now?”
“Poverty.”
Zhou Mu calculated the time: it was the 20th, and the money their third son usually sent would arrive by the end of the month. Indeed, his wife should be out of money by now.
No, she needed to keep a close watch during this period to prevent her from going out to swindle people again.
If Wen Nianxin knew what her mother-in-law was thinking, she would only say: You’re overthinking it.
She was a law-abiding citizen and wouldn’t do anything immoral.
……
Over the following week, Wen Nianxin gradually received money and coupons from the Zhiqing.
Sure enough, threats worked—He Chunyan honestly returned every cent she owed.
With the money returned by four people, plus the twelve yuan left by the original owner, and the compensation from the Liu family that hadn’t been paid yet, her total assets now amounted to two hundred eighty-seven yuan and sixty-five cents.
For what she wanted to do, this amount was still too little. She needed to continue making money.
After some thought, she decided to return to Mingzhao City. It was time to meet the original owner’s maternal family.
“Mom, I’m going to the city tomorrow to check if there are any tickets available for Mingzhao City recently.”
“You’re going back to your maternal home?”
Zhou Mu was somewhat surprised.
She didn’t know about her third son’s wife when she was still a Zhiqing, but since marrying into their Zhou family, she had never once contacted her maternal family, let alone returned.
She didn’t even know if she had informed her maternal family when she married their third son.
“It’s been a long time since I went back. I’m going to check on them.”
“Do you still remember your maternal family? Do you remember where your home is?”
“I remember some of it. Don’t worry, I can find it.”
She didn’t know what her scumbag father and stepmother looked like, but she could always find someone who knew them to take her there. There were plenty of ways.
……
Wu Cheng City.
Zhou Zhan returned to the team after carrying out a mission for over a month.
“Regiment Commander Zhou, you’re finally back.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Auntie called over a month ago, saying your father is seriously ill and you need to go back immediately.”
“Okay, I understand. Thank you.”
Zhou Zhan, who had originally planned to take a shower, threw down his clothes and hurried toward the communications room.
He dialed the number and waited for about ten minutes before Zhou Mu’s voice came through from the other end.
“Hello, third son.”
“Mom, how is Dad’s condition now?”
“Your father hasn’t… oh, your father, he’s fallen ill. He’s been bedridden for over a month without getting up.”
Zhou Father, who was waiting nearby to take his son’s call, stared at his wife in shock.
When did he get sick?
And being bedridden for over a month without getting up? How come he didn’t know about it himself?
“Why is he resting at home instead of being sent to the hospital?”
“We did go to see the doctor. The doctor said he needs to recuperate at home. When do you have time? You should try to come back for a visit. It’s been three years since you last returned.”
“I understand, Mom. I’ll go apply for family leave right away.”
Suddenly, Zhou Zhan thought of something and asked, “Mom, you’re not lying to me, are you?”
Zhou Zhan suddenly felt something was off.
Although his mother often complained about his father and found fault with many things, whenever something actually happened to his father, she would be the most anxious one.
If Dad were truly seriously ill, how could her tone be so relaxed?
“How could I? Even if I were to lie to you, I wouldn’t curse your father with illness. Isn’t that right?”
Afraid that saying more would give her away, Zhou Mu ended the call after a few more instructions.
“I haven’t spoken to our third son yet.”
“When he comes back, you two can talk as much as you want.”
“Wife, how come I didn’t know I have a serious illness?”
“I just wanted him to come back quickly.”
“But you shouldn’t curse me like that.”
“Oh, that’s not important. What matters is getting our son to come home.”
After finishing the call and returning home, Zhou Mu didn’t see Wen Nianxin and quickly turned to Li Xiaofen, who was pasting matchboxes. “Where’s Nian Xin?”
“She went to the city. Didn’t she tell you yesterday?”
“Oh, this girl, why has she become so impatient lately?
She left just like that after one phone call. I was hoping she could delay buying the ticket so that when our third son returns, he could go back to her parents’ home with her.”
Half an hour later, Wen Nianxin boarded the bus to the city.
The journey from Batiao Town to Donglin City took two hours by bus, and these two hours completely overwhelmed her, someone who had traveled from the future.
She had never gotten carsick before, but today she vomited twice on the bus.
If it weren’t for a kind passenger beside her who gave her a bag, she would probably have been left behind by the driver to clean up the vomit on the bus.
When she arrived at the train station, she ran into the same male comrade who had given her the bag earlier.
“What a coincidence. If I had known you were also going to the train station, I would have waited for you.”
“It is quite a coincidence.”
“I’m going to Tongjia City. Where are you headed?”
“Mingzhao.”
While waiting in line to buy tickets, Wen Nianxin learned from their conversation that his name was Kang Yutang and he was a technician at the Batiao Town Coal Factory. This immediately gave her the idea of building a good relationship with him.
“Comrade Kang, do the employees at your coal factory have any additional employee benefits?”
She asked quietly to avoid being overheard by others.
“You want to buy coal briquettes?”
As soon as she asked, Kang Yutang understood what she meant.
Wen Nianxin nodded. “If it’s possible, I would like to buy some. I’m just not sure about the price.”
“If sold privately, the price would be a bit higher—six cents each.”
Seeing that he could clearly get them, Wen Nianxin became interested.
“Roughly how many can be made from one ton?”
“About seventeen or eighteen hundred. If made smaller, it could reach two thousand.”
“Can the price be lower if I buy in bulk?”
“How much do you want?”
“If the price could be a bit lower, I’d like to buy one ton for now. If we end up using more later, I might need to increase the amount.”
“What do you need so much for?”
Kang Yutang was somewhat surprised. Ordinary households would already consider buying five hundred at once to be a lot.
“I want to start a small business with low capital, but if the coal briquettes are too expensive, I might have to reconsider. Otherwise, I can’t afford it.”
“The minimum has to be five cents. Anything lower than that, I really can’t get.”
“Could I have your contact information? I’ll reach out to you when I’m ready to purchase.”
“If you need anything, just go to the Family Compound at the coal factory and ask for Auntie Pang. Everyone knows her there. Tell them you’re her niece coming to visit.”
“Alright, understood.”
Unexpectedly, this trip out had solved such an important matter. Wen Nianxin was in high spirits.
After buying the ticket and parting ways with Kang Yutang, she took advantage of the early hour to browse around the department store.
She was merely checking out the prices in this era. With her limited funds, she didn’t dare buy anything. She’d wait until she had earned more money.
……
Returning home from the city, she took a quick bath and went to bed without even eating dinner.
“Has Nian Xin fallen ill?”
“Probably carsick. Let’s leave some food warm on the stove for her. If she wakes up tonight, she can have something to eat.”
“Alright.”
The next day, when Wen Nianxin got up, Zhou Mu asked her about the train ticket.
“Did you manage to buy it?”
“Yes, it’s for the afternoon the day after tomorrow.”
“Will you be alright going back alone? On the phone yesterday, Lao San said he would take leave to come back. Why don’t you wait for him so he can go back to your parents’ place with you? After all, you’ve been married for a while now. As a son-in-law, he should visit his parents-in-law.”
“It’s fine, I can go back by myself. The train ticket cost me six and a half yuan, and it’s non-refundable. If I don’t use it, the money would be wasted. As for visiting my parents, there will be other opportunities.”
This was just to reassure Zhou Mu. She had never even considered going back with Zhou Zhan.