Hearing Zhao Ziming’s words, Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei stared at him with wide eyes.
Once they realized he wasn’t joking, panic immediately set in.
“But no matter how you put it, that’s still illegal speculation and profiteering! If someone reports you, we’ll all be dragged out for criticism and labeled as criminals!”
The two of them had spent half their lives as law-abiding, ordinary people.
They couldn’t even imagine being publicly denounced.
“Third Brother, you’re already a village schoolteacher. It’s respectable work with a future ahead of it. You can’t do this kind of thing—”
Before they could finish, Zhao Ziming interrupted.
“Dad, Mom, just tell me one thing. Do you want a better life or not?”
The two fell silent.
How could they not want one?
Unable to explain that government policies would be relaxed the following year, Zhao Ziming could only say,
“I’ve already spent the money from your bankbook. If you stop me now and make me quit, that’s when we’ll really lose out. Is that what you want?”
“Besides, I’m not saying I’ll keep doing this forever. Just tomorrow night. One more trip. After that, I’ll stop for a while. As long as I don’t tell anyone and you don’t tell anyone, nobody will know. Nothing will happen.”
Hearing that, the couple hesitated.
Their eyes repeatedly drifted toward the money and coupons on the table.
Finally, Zhao Changdong gritted his teeth.
“Just tomorrow night?”
“Of course,” Zhao Ziming replied. “I’ve already arranged everything. Tomorrow night I’ll pick up the goods, sell them, and come right back.”
“Fine.”
Zhao Changdong nodded.
“Old man! What if something goes wrong?” Wang Hongmei protested, unwilling to see her son take such risks.
Zhao Changdong glanced at the money on the table and swallowed hard.
“Just tomorrow night. As long as he’s careful, nothing will happen. Let’s trust Third Brother.”
Zhao Ziming immediately said,
“Dad, Mom, take this money and these coupons and start preparing the bride price. The day after tomorrow, come with me to Rulan’s house to discuss the wedding banquet. I’m going back to sleep.”
Zhao Changdong waved him away.
Holding the money in his hands, a smile finally appeared on his face.
Looking at the cash and coupons, even Wang Hongmei stopped complaining.
After all, nothing gave people confidence quite like real money.
Zhao Ziming turned and left.
Outside, Zhou Yu had already slipped over to the kitchen and was pretending to scoop water with a ladle.
As soon as she heard the door open, she turned around as though casually asking,
“Zhao Ziming, why did you take Mom and Dad’s bankbook? You didn’t do anything bad, did you? They’re getting older. Stop making them worry all the time.”
There was no way Zhao Ziming would tell her about his black-market dealings.
Annoyed, he replied,
“Just take care of my brother. Everything else in the Zhao family is none of your business.”
Then he returned to his room.
Seeing that he didn’t suspect she had been eavesdropping, Zhou Yu relaxed and went back to her own room.
As she thought about Zhao Ziming’s plan to make quick money through black-market trading, a smile curled across her lips.
He thinks it’s going to be that easy?
Dream on.
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
An idea.
The next morning, Zhou Yu got up early.
She heard Zhao Ziming leave early as well.
This time, however, he wasn’t heading to the county town but to the village elementary school.
After taking several days off, he could no longer justify staying away.
Still, Zhou Yu remembered that he only had one class in the afternoon.
That meant he would probably head to the county town’s black market immediately afterward.
Her eyes flickered thoughtfully.
Leaving her room, she found Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei still at home and spoke up.
“Dad, Mom, I don’t have much to do this afternoon. I’d like to go to the county supply store and buy some large soup bones for Brother Zhao. A good broth might help him recover.”
The couple instinctively wanted to ask where she would get the money.
Then they remembered it was money they had given her.
The realization left them speechless.
No matter how painful it felt, they couldn’t very well ask for it back.
Suddenly thinking of something, Wang Hongmei quickly said,
“Then buy some extra meat while you’re there so the whole family can eat together!”
If the food ended up in their mouths, it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much.
Zhao Changdong gave Wang Hongmei an approving look.
Zhou Yu only wanted a reasonable excuse to leave the house.
She wasn’t interested in arguing over such a small matter.
So she nodded.
That afternoon, once Zhou Yu judged the timing to be right, she prepared to leave.
As she headed out, Wang Hongmei immediately called after her.
“Don’t forget to buy more things! We’re almost out of eggs, so buy a few jin of those too. And salt! And sugar! If you see any available, bring some back!”
Inwardly, Zhou Yu cursed the stingy old woman.
Happy to take advantage of her, yet unwilling to give her any money.
Pretending not to hear, she left the village and found Uncle Li’s ox cart heading into the county town.
After arriving, Zhou Yu first bought some paper and a pen.
Then she found a place to sit and wrote an anonymous report.
Afterward, she headed toward the Public Security Bureau.
No.
She couldn’t deliver it herself.
If the officers remembered her face and accidentally mentioned her later, the Zhao family might discover that she had reported Zhao Ziming.
After thinking for a moment, she stopped a middle-aged woman nearby and asked her to deliver the report instead.
The letter stated that someone would be engaging in illegal black-market trading that night.
The woman immediately recoiled as though avoiding a plague.
“Profiteering? I want nothing to do with that! What if I get dragged into it?”
Zhou Yu took out three yuan.
“If you deliver the letter, this money is yours.”
The woman’s attitude changed instantly.
She nodded repeatedly.
Zhou Yu pulled the money back for a moment.
“But one thing first. If the police ask who gave you the letter, tell them it was a young man. He was probably afraid of getting involved, so he left before entering the station and accidentally dropped the letter.”
“Then you noticed the word ‘report’ on the envelope. Being such a responsible citizen, you were worried the criminal might escape, so you brought it in yourself.”
The woman beamed.
She was delighted by the praise.
Taking both the money and the letter, she headed off.
Zhou Yu followed from a distance.
She watched the woman enter the Public Security Bureau and speak with someone.
The officer opened the letter, read it, and immediately looked serious.
He called several colleagues over.
The woman wasn’t detained and was allowed to leave.
Only then did Zhou Yu finally relax.
She turned around and went to the supply store, buying some food to serve as a cover story.
However, she didn’t immediately return to the village.
Instead, she wandered around town until dusk before meeting Uncle Li’s cart for the ride home.
“Yunzheng’s wife, these are for Yunzheng again, aren’t they?” Uncle Li asked casually.
Zhou Yu sighed.
“Yes. My brother-in-law seems to be busy with who knows what, and my parents-in-law aren’t around much. I’m the only one taking care of Brother Zhao. I just want him to eat a little better. I don’t have much money, but I’m willing to spend it on him.”
“Yunzheng really is lucky,” Uncle Li said indignantly. “As for the Zhao family… they’ve really lost their conscience. I never knew they were this kind of people.”
Zhou Yu merely smiled bitterly and agreed.
When she returned to the village and headed home, she discovered that Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei had been waiting all day for the meat she promised to bring back.
They hadn’t even started cooking dinner.
“You dead girl!” Wang Hongmei complained. “Why are you back so late? It’s already dark! Didn’t you realize your father and I have been hungry all this time?”
Even Zhao Changdong wore a sour expression.
“Oh,” Zhou Yu replied. “Sorry, Dad, Mom. I didn’t realize you were looking forward to it so much and would actually wait for me all this time.”
The way she said it made it sound as though they were desperately craving meat.
Both Zhao Changdong and Wang Hongmei became irritated.
But they were too hungry to argue.
Wang Hongmei even generously sent Zhou Yu back to her room while she happily carried the meat into the kitchen to start cooking dinner herself.