Zhou Yu’s days of peace didn’t last long.
After eating, Zhao Yunzheng wasn’t able to stay conscious for very long before losing awareness again.
Once she had cleaned everything up, Zhou Yu climbed into bed for an afternoon nap.
Outside, Wang Hongmei seemed to be making noise on purpose to disturb her. Every chore she did was accompanied by exaggerated clattering and banging.
Zhou Yu stuffed a bit of cloth into her ears, rolled over, and continued sleeping comfortably.
By evening, Zhao Changdong and Zhao Ziming both returned home early.
The moment Wang Hongmei saw them, she wanted to complain about how lazy Zhou Yu had been all day.
But before she could say anything, Zhou Yu came out and asked whether dinner was ready. She even thoughtfully offered to help Wang Hongmei cook.
With the person in question standing right there, it was hard to badmouth her openly.
Wang Hongmei could only swallow her complaints.
Zhou Yu leisurely followed her into the kitchen.
Whatever task Wang Hongmei assigned her, she deliberately did it clumsily and incorrectly.
Watching her make mistake after mistake, Wang Hongmei grew increasingly furious but couldn’t find a proper excuse to scold her.
In the end, she simply chased Zhou Yu out of the kitchen.
Zhou Yu returned to Zhao Yunzheng’s room with complete confidence and spent her time there.
When it was time for dinner, she didn’t even go outside to eat.
Using the excuse of feeding Zhao Yunzheng, she ate her meal in the room instead.
At the same time, she kept her ears perked up, listening to the conversation outside.
She heard Zhao Ziming mention that he would be off work tomorrow and wouldn’t be going to school.
So tomorrow really was the day the remittance slip would arrive!
Zhou Yu became even more certain.
The next morning, she deliberately got up early.
Sure enough, Zhao Ziming was already sitting in the courtyard, occasionally glancing toward the front gate.
The production team had already sounded the gong for everyone to head to the fields, yet Zhao Changdong still hadn’t left either.
He remained near the entrance.
Wang Hongmei apparently knew exactly what Zhao Ziming was waiting for.
She was so excited that she didn’t even bother trying to order Zhou Yu around.
Seeing this, Zhou Yu concluded that the package would likely arrive that very morning.
This wouldn’t do.
Wang Hongmei was easy enough to fool, but Zhao Ziming had to be distracted somehow.
Why hadn’t Meng Jiaru figured out a way to lure him away yet?
Zhou Yu considered leaving first and waiting somewhere along the road for the mail carrier.
But that was too risky.
If Zhao Ziming failed to get the remittance slip, he’d immediately ask the mailman about it.
And if the mailman mentioned Zhou Yu, Zhao Ziming would realize she had been reborn too.
That would put her at a disadvantage.
Just as Zhou Yu was wondering what to do, a hurried female voice suddenly came from outside.
“Teacher Zhao! Are you home?”
It was Meng Jiaru!
Zhou Yu instantly jumped to her feet and headed for the doorway.
Sure enough, it was Meng Jiaru rushing toward the house.
Zhao Ziming looked surprised.
“Comrade Meng, what brings you here?”
He frowned.
Hadn’t he already made things clear yesterday?
A flicker passed through Meng Jiaru’s eyes.
With an anxious expression, she said,
“Teacher Zhao, the old radio my family sent me has broken. The other educated youths and I have been using it to listen to broadcasts. There might be important policy news on it. I heard you’re good at repairing things. Could you help us fix it?”
“Well…”
Zhao Ziming hesitated.
He was still waiting for the remittance slip.
Before he could answer, Wang Hongmei hurried over and enthusiastically replied,
“Of course he can! My third son is free right now.”
“Mom!”
Zhao Ziming turned to look at her.
Wang Hongmei immediately shot him a meaningful glance.
She had heard that among all the educated youths, Meng Jiaru came from the wealthiest family.
Maintaining a good relationship with her could only benefit them.
Understanding immediately, Zhao Ziming hesitated.
He remembered certain things from his previous life.
Eventually, he nodded.
Fine. He could finish the repair quickly and come back.
The remittance slip wasn’t going anywhere.
So he left with Meng Jiaru.
A flash of delight appeared in Meng Jiaru’s eyes.
She knew he still cared about her.
Otherwise, after meeting her yesterday, why would he agree to help today without worrying about appearances?
“Teacher Zhao, thank goodness for you. Otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do. That radio is very important to me. It’s a keepsake from my family.”
Her voice was soft and gentle.
Meng Jiaru herself was beautiful and elegant.
She was no less attractive than Zhou Rulan.
Any man faced with such a lovely young woman speaking softly with tears in her eyes would feel his heart soften.
Zhao Ziming’s tone unconsciously became gentler too.
“Don’t worry. I’ll fix it for you.”
The two walked away together, chatting.
The moment they disappeared from sight, Zhou Yu rushed outside and enthusiastically offered to help Wang Hongmei with the chores so that she could go rest.
At last Wang Hongmei had an excuse to order her around openly.
Without holding back, she assigned Zhou Yu a mountain of miscellaneous work before happily heading inside.
Of course, Zhou Yu had no intention of actually doing any of it.
She dragged her feet and worked lazily while keeping a close eye on the front gate.
Just as her anxiety was growing, she suddenly heard the distinctive ringing of a bicycle bell outside.
A mailman’s bicycle bell.
Zhou Yu’s eyes lit up.
She hurried toward the entrance.
Sure enough, a postman dressed in green had arrived.
“Is anyone from Comrade Zhao’s family here? I have his—”
“I’m his wife! We just got married. No need to call anyone else!”
Zhou Yu stepped forward immediately.
The postman stopped his bicycle.
He lifted a package weighing over ten kilograms from the rear rack.
After Zhou Yu signed for it, he rode away.
Making sure nobody was watching, Zhou Yu quickly unzipped the package.
Inside were nutritional supplements and carefully packaged medicine.
Where was the remittance slip?
She searched rapidly.
Finally, she found a hidden compartment.
Inside was an envelope.
Her hands trembled slightly as she pulled it out.
Inside was exactly what she’d been waiting for—a remittance slip.
There was also a letter written by one of Zhao Yunzheng’s comrades.
At last!
She had finally gotten the remittance slip!
Without hesitation, Zhou Yu pulled out the slip and stuffed it into her pocket.
She carefully returned the letter to the envelope, zipped the package back up, and then pretended to struggle under its weight as she carried it into the courtyard.
At the same time, she called for Wang Hongmei.
“Mom! A package arrived! Is this the nutritional stuff you mentioned for Brother Zhao?”
The moment Wang Hongmei heard her from the bed inside, she practically sprang upright.
Rushing outside and seeing the familiar package, she nodded eagerly.
“That’s right, that’s right.”
She immediately reached out to take it.
Zhou Yu put on a puzzled expression.
“Mom, why are you taking it away? Aren’t these medicines and nutritional supplements for Brother Zhao? Shouldn’t I just carry them directly into his room?”
Not wanting Zhou Yu to know about the remittance slip, Wang Hongmei vaguely replied,
“I’ll sort through it first. You go back to your chores.”
Zhou Yu obediently let go.
As soon as Wang Hongmei carried the package inside, Zhou Yu hurried to Zhao Yunzheng’s room.
She looked around, searching for somewhere to hide the remittance slip.
Until she withdrew the money in the county, the Zhao family absolutely couldn’t discover it.
Her gaze eventually landed on Zhao Yunzheng.
Walking over, she slipped the remittance slip into his clothes and carefully tucked everything back into place.
The Zhao family was too lazy to take care of him.
Most days they didn’t even check on him once.
Given how little they cared, they’d never think to search his body.
Satisfied with her hiding spot, Zhou Yu went back outside to continue feeding the chickens.
Just then, Wang Hongmei’s urgent voice rang out from the opposite room.
“Zhou Yu! Get in here right now!”
Unhurriedly, Zhou Yu walked over.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Wang Hongmei had already dumped every nutritional supplement and every packet of medicine onto the table.
She had searched the package inside and out several times.
The remittance slip her youngest son had mentioned was nowhere to be found.
That was five thousand yuan!
Wang Hongmei was frantic.
She pointed accusingly at Zhou Yu and demanded,
“After the postman delivered that package, did you rummage through it and steal a slip of paper?!”