Su Jinle ran all the way home in one breath, just in time to meet Su Weihua, who was about to go out to look for her.
Seeing his daughter return, he let out a long sigh of relief: “Why are you back so late? Your mother was just worrying about you.”
Su Jinle caught her breath: “Selling skirts took too long.”
Although she had only sold one skirt today, almost all the small accessories were sold out, and she had even taken a pre-order for a set of skirts. For her, this was already a great success. The scattered money in her cloth bag hadn’t even been counted yet!
Dinner was already prepared at home—just simple rice porridge and cold cucumber salad.
Lin Yun asked, “How did it go today?”
Only after speaking did she notice the new clothes her daughter was wearing, and she immediately smiled: “Oh, our Lele looks so beautiful in this dress! Did you make it yourself? There’s even a bow on the back!”
She didn’t ask why her daughter was wearing the clothes that were originally meant to be sold.
Su Weihua also took a closer look and smiled warmly: “I remember Lele hasn’t worn new clothes in a long time. She always used to alter your brother’s and mother’s old clothes. At your age, you should wear more pretty dresses. My performance bonus has been paid, so you don’t have to work so hard selling skirts anymore.”
They both thought she was wearing the skirt herself because it hadn’t sold, and instead of blaming her, they blamed themselves.
Su Yi’an remained silent. He looked at his injured leg and sighed inwardly. A sense of helplessness slowly welled up in him. He wasn’t as calm as he appeared on the surface, but he knew that if he lost control of his emotions, his family would only feel worse.
So he pretended to be calm and composed, comforting his parents and sister, yet every night, he lay awake, unable to sleep.
A soldier who was once the pride of his family had now become a cripple…
Su Jinle pursed her lips and didn’t explain. Instead, she directly took out her cloth bag and poured all the money inside onto the table—coins of ten cents and twenty cents, one-yuan notes, and five-yuan notes, covering the entire table.
She pushed the money forward: “Count it!”
Lin Yun was stunned, and Su Weihua was stunned too…
Only Su Yi’an, after a moment of surprise, slowly laughed: “My sister is really amazing.”
The family decided to skip dinner for the moment and sat there counting the money. Today, she had sold seven hairbands, twelve keychains, four small cloth bags, and one set of skirts, and had also collected two deposits.
The total amount was: thirty-seven yuan.
Without calculating, it was fine, but once they did the math, even Su Jinle was shocked. She realized that hairbands and keychains were so profitable! Not to mention the hairbands, today the keychains were completely sold out. Several girls hadn’t managed to get one and urged her to come back and sell them tomorrow.
Lin Yun’s voice trembled: “How… how did you earn so much money again?”
This was too much. When she worked part-time at a small restaurant, she only earned one yuan for a whole morning!
Su Jinle counted on her fingers for a long time and finally concluded that, after deducting the costs, she had earned about twenty-seven yuan today. Even if she kept the skirt she was wearing, after deducting the five yuan for the fabric, she still had twenty-two yuan left!
At this rate, she could almost save enough money to treat her brother’s leg in about two months!
But the speed was still a bit too slow. It was true that small accessories sold well, but those little lamb and rabbit keychains had to be cut out first, then decorated and outlined with thread, and finally stuffed with cotton and wrapped with wire. The process was quite tedious.
With her brother’s help over the past two days, she had only made twelve. But she couldn’t just focus on this—she still had to design dresses!
Lin Yun was overjoyed. She usually didn’t eat dinner, but today she downed two bowls of rice in one go: “I’ll be getting my salary soon too. I only took one day off this month, so I can get twenty-nine yuan! Plus your dad’s and Lele’s money, we can save over a hundred yuan. Then we can take Yi’an to the military district hospital for a check-up!”
Su Yi’an smiled: “Mom, don’t waste the money.”
Before Lin Yun could say anything, Su Jinle got angry. She slammed her bowl down heavily: “Brother, I earn money to pay for your treatment. If you don’t go, what’s the point? You have to go!”
It was rare for her gentle little sister to lose her temper, so Su Yi’an had no choice but to reluctantly agree: “Alright, alright. We’ll go when Lele earns big money.”
That night, Su Yi’an sat on his bed and hammered his leg—there was no sensation at all. He smiled self-deprecatingly and tossed his crutches aside.
The window rattled, and a nimble, tall figure leaped inside.
Song Shixu tossed him a piece of paper: “Found the list. The organization is preparing to close in.”
Su Yi’an scanned the list: “It really is these people. All our tracking wasn’t in vain.”
“After this mission ends, what are your plans?” Song Shixu pulled up a chair and sat down, his expression grave. “If your leg doesn’t heal properly, you’ll have to apply for discharge. Even if they arrange a job for you…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but Su Yi’an understood what he meant.
Even if they arranged a job, it would likely be something like “gatekeeping”—and at a very unimportant unit at that. Usually, such jobs were given to older people. Not only was the pay low, but it also came with ridicule.
Su Yi’an had once been the elite of the elite in the military. After this mission succeeded, he was originally slated for promotion to deputy chief of staff. But now, he might end up as a gatekeeper. The contrast was just too stark.
Not just Su Yi’an—even his close friend found it hard to accept.
After a long silence, Su Yi’an slowly spoke up: “Shi Xu, I only ask one thing of you. Please put in a good word for me with the organization and arrange for my job to be far away from Jingbei.”
Song Shixu frowned deeply: “What do you mean?”
Su Yi’an smiled gently: “Lele is still at home, and she’s not married yet. Having a disabled older brother around will only make her a laughingstock.”
Unexpectedly, Song Shixu’s frown deepened: “Your sister is too delicate. You can’t protect her forever.”
Su Yi’an disagreed: “Lele isn’t delicate at all. She deserves to be protected by anyone.”
Song Shixu’s mind flashed to Su Jinle’s soft, doughy face. He didn’t quite agree—he certainly wouldn’t marry such a delicate woman who cried so easily…
A woman’s tears only gave him a headache.
By then, Su Yi’an had already shifted the topic away from Su Jinle: “Is there anything else you came for today?”
Song Shixu’s expression turned stern: “The operation is about to begin. Your identity might be compromised. During this time, I’ll do my best to protect you and your family from the shadows. Tell them not to go out alone.”
Su Yi’an’s heart tightened: “Is there any danger?”