“It comes to a total of 36 yuan and 92 cents. You’ll also need twelve feet of cloth coupons and three jin of sugar coupons.”
At the counter of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, the saleswoman in a blue uniform didn’t even bother to look up. Her abacus beads clicked rapidly beneath her fingers, while her face was filled with impatience.
Su Man stood outside the counter, holding several pieces of dacron fabric, along with two cartons of Daqian men cigarettes and two bottles of Moutai liquor.
The aunties and older women shopping nearby stretched their necks to watch the spectacle, their whispers buzzing like flies.
“Whose daughter-in-law is that? What a spendthrift! Buying such expensive cigarettes and liquor?”
“Looking at the way she’s dressed, she doesn’t look rich. Maybe she’s just trying to show off despite being broke.”
“That man is quite handsome, though. His eyes are frightening—he looks like he could eat someone alive.”
Lu Zhan stood half a step behind Su Man, his tall, straight figure like a pine tree. The military uniform, washed so many times that it had faded, somehow gave him an intimidating, chilling air.
Hearing the surrounding comments, he frowned slightly and was just about to take out his money.
But Su Man suddenly stretched out a fair, delicate hand and pressed it against the fabric on the counter.
“Comrade, you calculated it wrong.”
Her voice was clear and crisp. It wasn’t loud, but it carried absolute certainty.
The saleswoman’s hands stopped.
She rolled her eyes, slammed the abacus onto the counter, and snapped, “What’s wrong with you, Comrade? If you can’t afford to buy it, just say so. Don’t come here looking for trouble!”
“I’ve been using an abacus for more than ten years. You think I could possibly miscalculate such a small amount?”
“Go on, go on! Don’t hold up the people behind you!”
The saleswoman waved her hand dismissively, her expression full of contempt, as though she were looking at a beggar who had come in to cause trouble.
Lu Zhan’s expression immediately darkened.
He was just about to step forward and stand up for his wife.
But Su Man turned around and gave him a reassuring look, the corners of her lips curling into a faintly mocking smile.
“Dacron is 1.30 yuan per foot. I’m buying twelve feet, so that’s 15 yuan and 60 cents.”
“Daqian men cigarettes are 3.50 yuan a carton. Two cartons make 7 yuan.”
“Moutai is 8 yuan a bottle. Two bottles make 16 yuan.”
“And then there are the three pounds of brown sugar. It’s 78 cents per pound, so three pounds comes to 2 yuan and 34 cents.”
Su Man spoke incredibly quickly. She didn’t need an abacus at all. The numbers simply flowed from her mouth one after another.
“That makes the total 40 yuan, 9 jiao, and 4 fen.”
“Comrade, you undercharged me by more than four yuan.”
“Sure, I would benefit if I paid only 36 yuan. But this is public money. If I really paid you 36 yuan, when the accounts are checked later, you’d have to make up the difference yourself and could even be punished for dereliction of duty.”
“So tell me—aren’t I actually helping you?”
The entire shop fell silent.
The saleswoman froze, the abacus still suspended in her hand.
The aunties who had been watching were equally stunned, staring at the young woman in disbelief.
In an era like this, someone who could calculate an account so precisely without even using an abacus was a rare talent indeed!
“You… You’re talking nonsense!”
The saleswoman’s face flushed bright red. She was clearly unable to save face.
“You’re just saying whatever you want! How do I know your numbers are right?”
“I don’t believe you!”
Determined to prove Su Man wrong, she gritted her teeth and recalculated everything on the abacus.
This time, she moved the beads slowly and carefully.
“Fifteen yuan sixty… plus seven yuan… plus sixteen…”
As the final abacus bead clicked into place, the saleswoman’s face instantly turned pale.
40 yuan, 9 jiao, and 4 fen.
Not a single digit off.
“Good heavens! This girl is incredible!”
“Her brain is faster than an abacus!”
“Which family managed to marry a daughter-in-law like this? She’s so sharp. Their life is definitely going to prosper!”
The attitude of everyone around them changed in an instant.
Those who had mocked Su Man for being wasteful were now giving her approving thumbs-up.
Lu Zhan stood to the side, looking at Su Man’s confident, triumphant little expression. A flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes.
He knew that Su Man could cook well and that she was bold.
But he had never expected this woman to have such a talent for mental arithmetic.
With calculation skills like these, she would have been among the best even in the army’s staff department.
“Brother Zhan, pay.”
Su Man turned around and blinked at Lu Zhan, looking like a little peacock that had just won a battle.
Lu Zhan came back to his senses, the corners of his lips lifting almost imperceptibly.
He pulled a stack of ten-yuan notes and a colorful assortment of ration coupons from his pocket and slapped them onto the counter.
“No need for change.”
That air of sheer extravagance once again stunned everyone around them.
After they finished shopping, they walked out of the store.
Lu Zhan was carrying bags of all sizes, looking almost like a hired porter.
“Why did you buy so many cigarettes and bottles of liquor?”
He tossed the packages into the back seat of the jeep and asked in confusion.
“That stepmother of yours isn’t exactly a good person. Giving her all this would be like throwing meat buns to a dog.”
He didn’t care about the money, but he hated being treated like a fool.
Su Man sat in the passenger seat. Through the rearview mirror, she looked at the pile of expensive gifts, her eyes as cold as ice.
“Who said these are for her?”
“These are my weapons.”
“Tomorrow, when I return to my parents’ home, I want everyone in the village to see that I, Su Man, am not some pitiful girl who was sold off to a fool.”
“I am the wife of a military commander, married with honor and dignity.”
“These things are the bricks I’m going to use to smash those ugly faces of theirs.”
Su Man turned toward Lu Zhan, ambition flickering in her eyes.
“And besides, I’m going to take back what my mother left me.”
“Unless I give those two bloodsuckers a little sweetness, how else will they lower their guard?”
Lu Zhan looked at her.
At that moment, Su Man was no longer the delicate little wife he had seen before.
She was more like a little wolf baring its fangs.
Ruthless.
Absolutely ruthless.
But he liked it.
“Good.”
Lu Zhan started the engine. The military-green jeep rumbled to life.
“I’ll go back with you tomorrow.”
“Smash whatever you want.”
“If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”
Warmth spread through Su Man’s heart.
Looking at the man’s rugged, resolute profile, she couldn’t resist leaning over and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you, Brother Zhan!”
Lu Zhan’s hand jerked.
The jeep immediately swerved into an S-shaped path on the road.
He darkened his expression as he steadied the steering wheel, but the tips of his ears had already turned completely red.
“Sit properly!”
“I’m driving! Watch yourself!”
Su Man shrank back into her seat, laughing so hard that her whole body trembled.
Who would have thought this fearsome “Living Yama” was actually so innocent?
The next morning.
Just as dawn was beginning to break, the roar of a car engine echoed through the military compound.
A brand-new military jeep stopped outside the small Lu family courtyard.
Lu Zhan had deliberately changed into a crisp four-pocket military uniform that morning, and his leather shoes had been polished until they gleamed.
He loaded the last gift into the vehicle, then opened the passenger-side door.
“Get in.”
Su Man had dressed up especially carefully as well.
She wore the new dacron dress they had bought yesterday—a pale blue dress patterned with tiny flowers that made her fair skin seem to glow.
Her hair was braided into two long, glossy black braids, with red ribbons tied at the ends.
She looked both fashionable and full of energy.
She stepped into the jeep and watched the scenery outside gradually slide backward, her expression slowly growing deeper.
Qianshan Village.
That place where people devoured one another without leaving even the bones behind.
In her previous life, she had suffered humiliation there and eventually died a miserable death.
But in this life, she had returned.
Carrying the hatred of her previous life.
And armed with the power of this one.
Zhao Guihua. Su Laosan.
Are you ready?
The jeep drove out of the compound and headed north, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust behind it.
Like a sharp sword, it plunged straight toward that abyss of sin.