5
The Boss Smiled at the Woman
Zhou Xiye was taken aback, not expecting to encounter the girl from last night again so early in the morning.
Jiang Zhizhi, using the original host’s memories, couldn’t calculate how many Food Stamps twenty dumplings would require, so she simply asked directly.
She planned to eat dumplings for today and tomorrow, then check if there were any drier, harder pancakes sold nearby—something less likely to spoil in the heat.
The attendant told her she needed one jin and two liang of Food Stamps. Jiang Zhizhi still had no clear concept of the amount. Setting her bag on the ground, she pulled out the Food Stamps with one hand, placed them on the counter, clumsily picked out one one-jin note and one two-liang note to hand to the attendant, then tried to gather the remaining stamps together.
The Food Stamps were made of kraft paper, reused many times, and had become frayed at the edges. Gathering them was tricky, and with a slight mishandling, two notes flew out and landed on the floor.
Jiang Zhizhi cursed inwardly. Glancing at the Food Stamps on the counter, she was about to bend down and pick them up when a bronzed, slender, and strong hand beat her to it, retrieving them for her.
“Thank you…”
Jiang Zhizhi nearly choked on her words, utterly surprised to see it was Zhou Xiye again.
Zhou Xiye, afraid of startling her, softened his expression as much as possible. “You’re welcome. Shall I help you organize them?”
Without waiting for her consent, he began gathering the Food Stamps on the counter, sorting them by denomination and weight from largest to smallest before handing them back to Jiang Zhizhi.
All Jiang Zhizhi could manage was another stiff, “Thank you.”
Zhang Zhao and Wang Changkun watched in stunned silence. Was that man with the slightly unsettling smile really their boss?
Since when had their boss ever been so gentle with anyone? Especially toward a woman—he’d never even initiated a greeting before!
Could it be he was interested?
Exchanging a knowing glance, the two grinned at each other.
When Zhou Xiye returned, he found them smirking mischievously. Guessing what they were thinking, he gave each a light tap on the head. “Hurry up and eat. We need to catch the bus soon.”
Zhang Zhao, fearless, leaned in and whispered, “Boss, boss, did you take a liking to that girl?”
Zhou Xiye frowned. “Nonsense! I just think she has the makings of a good soldier. The army needs women with such solid qualities.”
And he truly meant it—talent like hers was rare!
…
Jiang Zhizhi found a seat far from Zhou Xiye and waited for the attendant to bring over two large plates of dumplings. Once again, she was dumbfounded.
She never expected the dumplings to be so unappealing in appearance—the dough somewhat dark—yet each was enormous, significantly larger than her fist.
She had originally wondered how she could eat three or four dumplings in one meal, but after seeing their size, she’d be lucky to finish two!
People around her stared—no one would splurge on twenty dumplings at once, let alone a single person.
Embarrassed, Jiang Zhizhi scratched her head. She’d worry about it after eating.
Grabbing a dumpling, she took a bite. The wrapper wasn’t particularly soft and had a slight sourness, but the flour’s aroma was rich. Moreover, this first bite hadn’t even reached the filling.
Puzzled, Jiang Zhizhi took another bite and confirmed it was indeed a napa cabbage and dried shrimp dumpling. The filling contained no added spices, yet it was fresh and fragrant.
The pure, healthy, and delicious dumplings delighted Jiang Zhizhi, and before she knew it, she had eaten four!
…
Zhang Zhao and Wang Changkun had been keeping an eye on Jiang Zhizhi. When they saw the two large plates of steamed buns on her table, they were already stunned, both thinking to themselves, damn, this girl can really eat!
Watching Jiang Zhizhi finish four steamed buns only deepened their shock.
The buns here were sizable—they themselves could only manage three or four, yet this young woman had already eaten four and was now reaching for a fifth!
Zhang Zhao turned back in astonishment, leaning toward Zhou Xiye: “Boss, that girl has quite an appetite. Your monthly twenty jin of Food Stamps won’t be enough to feed her.”
Zhou Xiye, however, wasn’t particularly surprised. He glanced at Zhang Zhao: “Since you have so much to say, how about you teach the political class when we get back?”
Zhang Zhao immediately shut his mouth. With his limited education, he stumbled even when reading the newspaper. Teaching a political class would be the death of him.
After finishing five steamed buns and a bowl of soy milk, Jiang Zhizhi finally felt full. But she quite liked this stuffed feeling—it brought her a sense of happiness.
When Zhou Xiye looked over again, he saw Jiang Zhizhi sitting there with her eyes slightly closed, a faint smile on her lips. The morning light streamed through the window lattice, casting golden flecks across her face—warm and utterly content.
In that moment, four words surfaced in Zhou Xiye’s mind: peaceful and serene times.
…
Zhang Zhao and Wang Changkun told Zhou Xiye to stay seated while they went to buy some steamed buns and mantou for the road. As they waited for the buns to steam, they chatted idly, standing right behind Jiang Zhizhi. Their conversation reached her ears clearly.
Zhang Zhao sighed: “I wonder if the captain managed to explain things clearly to his family last night? How could such a good man like our captain be set up with a wife who’s dark, fat, and ugly—and vicious-hearted to boot?”
Wang Changkun was surprised: “Who told you that?”
Zhang Zhao sounded mysterious: “Let’s just say I know. Our boss has someone he likes. It’s a shame he has to marry that ugly woman. The marriage application has already been approved—his father had the leadership sign off on it directly… Ah.”
Wang Changkun muttered: “No wonder the boss has been in a bad mood lately. The old saying is right—a good man often ends up with a bad wife…”
The two continued to chatter on.
As Jiang Zhizhi packed steamed buns into a clean cloth bag with one hand, she listened to their conversation.
Dark, fat, and ugly? Vicious-hearted?
Jiang Zhizhi glanced at her hand holding the bun—slender and fair. The Jiang family had treated the original host quite well. With Jiang Zhenhua holding a decent position and benefits, even during the famine years, the original host never went hungry.
The original host did hold hostility toward Sun Xiaoyue, but each time, it was Sun Xiaoyue who set traps and framed her, leaving the original host with a reputation for being vicious-hearted.
Jiang Zhizhi raised an eyebrow. Since Zhou Xiye wasn’t satisfied with this marriage either, that worked out perfectly—they could each go their own way.
Packing with one hand was slow. By the time she finished putting the buns away and stuffed them into her carry bag, Zhou Xiye and the others had already left without her noticing.
She glanced at the wall clock—there were still two hours until departure. Jiang Zhizhi carried her bag and first wandered into the waiting room. Unexpectedly, even though travel was inconvenient at this time, the waiting room was packed with people—not even standing room was left. She carried her bag back outside and found a less crowded corner to squat in.
Looking around, she noticed an elderly person sitting on the ground beside her, reading a thick book and making notes with a pen wrapped in tape.
Jiang Zhizhi couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the elderly man. He was lean and dark-skinned, with disheveled gray hair, wearing glasses as thick as the bottom of a wine bottle, one lens crisscrossed with cracks.
Moving closer, she looked at the book in the old man’s hands—it was an original English edition. The old man had marked some Chinese translations in it, clearly struggling with the task, and there were many errors.
Jiang Zhizhi couldn’t hold back any longer. She reached out, pointing at the old man’s book, and was just about to speak when three or four men rushed over, pinning the elderly man to the ground…