Unable to contain herself, Su Yun pulled the money out of her storage grid. So this was the legendary “Great Unity” note!
She looked at it over and over, counted it again and again — just five ten-yuan notes in total, yet she fondled them for ages.
Not that she was overreacting — it was just that the original owner had been so broke she hadn’t left a single cent behind!
Even Su’s little brother had money to buy soda, while Su Yun had spent the past two days staring longingly at everything she saw.
Actually, Su’s second sister did occasionally give the original owner pocket money — though not much, just five or ten cents at a time, since she only had three yuan left for herself each month.
Sometimes she had to eat at the canteen when working overtime, and she also saved up to buy flawed fabric for clothes. Even after working all this time, she still wore rags full of patches — at nineteen, a young woman couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed about that.
Every time she gave the original owner money, the original owner would spend it right away — buying snacks or hair ties with her schoolmates.
The drawer had several hair ties in different colors, all looking brand new.
As for Su’s little brother — he was something else entirely. He was probably the cleverest kid in the Su family — not just clever, but shameless too!
He never asked Su’s second sister for money — he only went straight to Su’s father and mother.
He knew that asking at home would only get him a beating, so he’d always run over to the cannery, swagger up to the gate, and tell the old guard to let him in to see his parents.
Then, right in front of all his parents’ colleagues, he’d hold out his hand and ask for money — never too much, just ten or twenty cents at a time.
With the kid having walked all that way and everyone watching, the face-conscious Su’s father had no choice but to hand it over.
And every time Su’s little brother got the money, he’d spend it all on his way home. By the time Su’s father got back, all he’d see were empty soda bottles and glass marbles.
Plus, Su’s little brother was as slippery as a loach — even when Su’s father wanted to hit him, it wasn’t easy to catch him.
Occasionally, when he did get caught and beaten, Su’s little brother would yell and scream, claiming he definitely wasn’t his father’s child — and would even ask Su’s mother, right in front of the neighbors, who his real father was!
After he pulled that stunt a couple of times, the whole street was buzzing with gossip. Su’s father had no choice — he didn’t dare beat him outside anymore, for fear of what he might blurt out.
Now he’d just glare darkly at Su’s little brother and, when the opportunity arose, lock him inside and give him a beating.
But he didn’t dare hit him as hard as he’d hit the eldest brother, because if he did, the kid would walk down the street with his shirt lifted, asking everyone he met if they’d seen his real father!
What a tough guy — bound to go far!
Su Yun felt a grudging admiration. If it were her, she never would have thought of that!
Back when Su’s eldest brother first joined the military, he’d sent money to his younger siblings. At the time, Su’s second sister hadn’t found work yet, and the three kids together didn’t have a single cent between them.
As a new recruit, his stipend was very low, but he still sent five yuan home every month, addressed to Su’s second sister.
But within two months, Su’s father found out. He wrote a threatening letter to the eldest brother’s address, demanding that he send ten yuan home every month — or else he’d write a letter reporting him for unfilial conduct!
In that era, being unfilial was a serious matter. If Su’s father really told the military leadership that his son was unfilial, the eldest brother could forget about any future promotions.
But the eldest brother wasn’t dumb either. He had the army accountant help him out — every month when his salary was issued, ten yuan would be automatically remitted directly to the family.
That way, even if Su’s father tried to use that excuse to manipulate him again, no one would believe him.
Su’s second sister also wrote to him, telling him not to send money to the three younger siblings anymore. Su’s father knew people at the post office — anything sent would never reach them and would just end up in Su’s father’s pocket.
And it was around this time that Su’s little brother, who was very close to the eldest brother, turned “dark” and started finding all sorts of ways to mess with his father.
He even took on a “master” — actually, it was his classmate’s father, a retired soldier.
He’d run over to his classmate’s house all the time, working out with his friend and learning military boxing and grappling techniques from the classmate’s dad.
Su Yun reasonably suspected he was planning to fight violence with violence!
Pulling her thoughts back, Su Yun glanced at the items in her storage grid and started planning where to use her check-in attempts over the next few days.
She had four more days here — on the fifth day, she’d be heading to the countryside.
With one check-in attempt added per day, that meant she’d have four more attempts before leaving. She wanted to save the one on departure day for the train.
Su Yun did the math carefully.
The cannery was out — it was too far, she had no transportation and had to walk, and the items she’d get weren’t necessities right now.
She had no place to cook the pork, and as for canned goods — well, she had money now, so she could buy them herself if she wanted.
The food factory was also off the list. Although fruit was hard to come by, she’d asked around on her way back and learned that the food factory only had dates — used for making jujube cakes.
Next time, she might not get dates again — she might end up with fried twists instead, and that would be a loss!
After all, she had money now, and those bulk snacks didn’t require ration coupons. A single ten-yuan “Great Unity” note could buy a huge pile of them.
No need for the supply cooperative either — she already had most of what she needed from there, thanks to the Educated Youth Office’s going-to-the-countryside gift pack!
The textile factory was worth visiting — fabric coupons were hard to come by. In this era, both cloth and cloth ration coupons were hard currency that could be directly traded for other goods, and they made great gifts too.
She planned to hit the department store again — the items there were high-value, so pretty much anything she got would be worth dozens of yuan.
The state-run restaurant was a must — after going to the countryside, she’d definitely be eating communal meals, so having some ready-made food on hand would be a huge improvement.
And the bank was absolutely essential — without money, nothing was possible!
She didn’t want to be like those novel heroines who take things to the black market to exchange for cash — that was way too dangerous!
She didn’t have great fighting skills, nor did she have a protagonist’s plot armor. Going there occasionally to buy a few things might be fine, but going regularly was just asking for trouble.
She’d either get caught by the police and sent to a labor camp, or get swindled by shady characters.
And she was too pretty — the risk was way too high!
Su Yun touched her soft little face and thought smugly.
This face bore some resemblance to her original one in her past life — except back then, she’d had a pure, girl-next-door look and had been one of the school beauties for two years running.
Now, she leaned more toward cute and delicate — at sixteen, she looked like she was fourteen, very young-looking.
This era didn’t have surveillance systems, and crime-solving didn’t rely on much technology — many cases just went cold.
And in these chaotic times, she was a young girl about to go to the countryside, making her even more vulnerable to all kinds of dangers. She had to stay vigilant and protect herself!