Inside the master bedroom, Zhao Jianguo snored like thunder, while Wang Cuihua occasionally muttered in her sleep. Zhao Xiaojun’s room, on the other hand, was completely silent.
Pei Nian emerged from her space and landed lightly inside Zhao Jianguo and Wang Cuihua’s bedroom.
Her primary target was the household registration booklet.
Since she and her dear little brother were supposedly so close, if she had to go to the countryside, Zhao Xiaojun naturally had to go as well.
Carefully avoiding the two deeply sleeping figures on the bed, Pei Nian relied on memory and experience. Inside the lining of a worn padded jacket at the bottom of the wardrobe, she found a small cloth bundle with something hard inside.
Opening it, she found the Zhao family’s remaining savings—roughly 920 yuan in cash along with some local ration coupons.
Without the slightest hesitation, she took everything.
Just as she turned to inspect the chest of drawers, the tip of her shoe accidentally nudged something beneath the bed, producing a faint knock.
She crouched down and reached inside, pulling out a small wooden box.
Inside were an old notebook and several bundles of ten-yuan notes tied together with rubber bands.
She casually flipped through the notebook under the dim light.
Her expression instantly turned cold.
The pages were densely filled with incomprehensible code names, steel model numbers, quantities, repeated mentions of “Director Li,” and various amounts of money.
It was clearly an account book documenting Zhao Jianguo and Logistics Director Li Fugui’s partnership in illegally selling factory materials.
Talk about perfect timing.
Pei Nian immediately changed her plans.
She swiftly stored both the ledger and the dirty money away.
Then she continued searching, eventually finding several hidden gold and silver jewelry pieces concealed in a secret compartment inside the chest of drawers.
She gladly accepted those as well.
After locating the household registration booklet, she tore out Zhao Xiaojun’s page and stored it inside her space.
Next, she moved her space into the kitchen.
Looking at the kitchen knives, the cast-iron wok, and all the other cooking utensils, she figured they were difficult to buy these days.
She collected every last one of them.
The grain, cooking oil, rice, flour, cured meat, eggs, pots, bowls, ladles, even the coal briquettes stacked in the corner—
She took everything.
She considered it tuition that her scumbag father still owed her grandfather.
After all, when Zhao Jianguo had married into the Pei family, he’d been penniless.
His skills, his livelihood, and even the family’s initial possessions had all been provided by her grandfather and mother.
Thinking about it that way…
She was still being far too kind.
She had even left them their clothes, bedding, and furniture.
As for Zhao Xiaojun’s room, she didn’t bother going in.
It was filthy, smelly, and poor.
Nothing worth seeing.
Looking one last time at the now-empty kitchen, Pei Nian didn’t linger.
With a thought, she directed her space to instantly move near the home of Logistics Director Li Fugui.
Using the same method she had employed at the Zhao residence, she slipped inside with ease.
Li Fugui’s family fortune was obviously much greater.
After carefully observing the room, she accurately located a hidden compartment beneath the bedroom floor.
Inside was a small wooden chest containing another ledger and a thick stack of cash—at least 3,000 yuan at a glance.
The old leather suitcase on top of the wardrobe didn’t disappoint either.
It held more than 1,700 yuan in cash, various coupons, nationwide grain coupons, two Shanghai-brand wristwatches, a radio, and three cartons of Daqianmen cigarettes.
The biggest surprise, however, was hidden inside a cavity behind the bookshelf.
Ten gold bars.
Working swiftly, Pei Nian stored every bit of the money and valuables into her space.
Naturally, she also emptied out Li Fugui’s kitchen.
Carrying her spoils and the crucial evidence, she silently returned above her grandfather’s old house, disappearing into the night as though she had never left.
Early the next morning, the entrance to the Educated Youth Office was bustling with people.
Pei Nian squeezed up to the registration window and calmly reported,
“Zhao Xiaojun. Seventeen years old. Lives in the Hongxing Machinery Factory residential compound. Junior high school graduate. Voluntarily responds to the nation’s call to help build the countryside.”
The staff member glanced up at her.
When checking the household registration page, the clerk looked slightly puzzled, but ultimately asked no questions.
In those days, every family had its own complicated circumstances.
Nothing was surprising anymore.
Besides, one more volunteer meant one less person they had to persuade.
“Comrade,” Pei Nian added at just the right moment, “my younger brother is hardworking, willing to endure hardship, and has always wanted to contribute to the border regions in Yunnan Province.”
The clerk looked at her again.
Instantly understanding her meaning, the clerk promptly assigned Zhao Xiaojun to Yunnan.
Very few people were willing to go there.
Anyone who “volunteered” was more than welcome.
Watching Zhao Xiaojun’s name officially entered into the records, Pei Nian smiled inwardly.
She hoped her dear little brother would be deeply touched when he received his assignment notice.
Yunnan had beautiful mountains, clear rivers, and abundant resources.
This little gift of hers was certainly no small gesture.
Just as she was about to leave, she spotted Director Wang of the Educated Youth Office.
She was the mother of her classmate Zhang Wei.
Pei Nian hurried over and lowered her voice.
“Auntie Wang, I’m Zhang Wei’s classmate, Pei Nian. I have something important to discuss with you about a job. Could we speak somewhere private?”
Director Wang’s sharp eyes rested on her for a moment before she nodded.
“Come to my office.”
After closing the office door and shutting out the noise outside, Pei Nian got straight to the point.
“Auntie Wang, I’m about to leave for the countryside. The job my mother left me would go to waste if I keep it. Would your family be interested in taking it over?”
Director Wang’s breathing paused almost imperceptibly.
“Young lady… are you certain you want to transfer it?”
“Eight hundred yuan,” Pei Nian replied, “plus some nationwide grain coupons.”
It was a substantial amount—almost two years’ wages for an ordinary worker.
However, a Publicity Department position could fetch as much as 900 yuan on the black market and still attract eager buyers.
This price was her way of repaying Zhang Wei for warning her in advance that she’d been secretly registered to go to the countryside.
Otherwise, she would never have had enough time to prepare or take revenge on her scumbag father’s family.
Director Wang’s pupils contracted slightly.
“Alright. Let me know when you’re available, and we’ll complete the transfer.”
“We can do it now. Please go get Zhang Wei. I’ll wait for you outside the steel factory.”
By the time Pei Nian arrived outside the steel factory, she overheard people discussing the thefts that had occurred in the residential compound.
The police had already visited several times.
However, there were no signs of forced entry, broken locks, or opened windows.
It was as though a ghost had committed the crimes.
The investigation had reached a dead end.
The two families had suffered enormous financial losses.
But what terrified them even more wasn’t the missing money.
It was the missing ledgers.
They desperately wanted their property back, yet at the same time feared those account books would expose everything.
Their days had become sheer torment.
Listening nearby, Pei Nian found the whole thing immensely entertaining.
The more miserable the Zhao family became, the happier she was.
Fortunately, they had enough sense not to come accusing her after the robbery.
When Director Wang finally arrived with Zhang Wei, the three of them went somewhere secluded and signed the transfer agreement.
After carefully counting the money and ration coupons, Pei Nian led them straight to the factory committee office.
Inside the office, she presented her documents.
“Hello, Comrade. I’m here to process a job transfer.”
Officer Sun looked back and forth between the three of them before recognizing Pei Nian.
Sympathy immediately filled his eyes.
So this was the first wife’s daughter whom Engineer Zhao had tricked into going to the countryside.
He had heard she had left home carrying nothing but some clothes and bedding, crying bitterly.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
Fortunately, she’d already left.
Otherwise, all the belongings she’d prepared for the countryside would have been stolen as well.
That very morning, Engineer Zhao had even come to request an advance on his salary.
Officer Sun asked no unnecessary questions.
He efficiently completed all the transfer procedures.
With everything finalized, both Director Wang and Zhang Wei let out sighs of relief.
Now her daughter—now she—wouldn’t have to go to the countryside.
After leaving the steel factory, Zhang Wei looked at her classmate, whom she hadn’t been particularly close to before.
She took two ration coupons from her pocket.
“Pei Nian, thank you for being willing to transfer the job to me. These are my candy coupons. Please take them.”
Pei Nian didn’t refuse.
She accepted them openly.
“Zhang Wei, I wish you every success in your new job as well.”