In the end, Wu Cuihua bought Song Jinyue’s job for 1,200 yuan.
The position in the factory’s publicity department was easy work and, more importantly, a secure lifelong job. With a monthly salary of thirty yuan, spending 1,200 yuan on it was absolutely worth it!
Song Jinyue and Wu Cuihua agreed to keep the matter secret for the time being. After a few days, Wu Cuihua’s daughter would come to the factory and take over the position.
With Director Liu helping cover things up, no one would know that Song Jinyue had sold her job to Wu Cuihua’s daughter.
As soon as Song Jinyue came out, Shen Yurou and Lu Manman eagerly rushed over to her.
“Jinyue, how did it go? Did you transfer the job to Manman’s name?”
Song Jinyue answered without changing her expression, “Mm. The factory director said she can start working at the factory after I leave.”
“That’s great! Mom, I have a job now! I don’t have to go to the countryside!”
Lu Manman was so excited she nearly jumped for joy.
They had booked tickets for a ship to Hong Kong departing ten days from now. They had originally thought everything was foolproof, but unexpectedly, a new policy had suddenly been issued. Shanghai was required to select a group of unmarried, educated youths without jobs and send them to the countryside.
As a high school graduate without a job, Lu Manman happened to meet all the requirements.
If they couldn’t resolve the issue of her employment before the departure date, she would inevitably be assigned to the countryside.
It would have been fine if the list were announced after they had already left for Hong Kong.
Unfortunately, it was going to be released before then.
Lu Weiguo had gone to great lengths and spent a considerable amount of money to obtain those four ship tickets. If they wanted to leave ahead of schedule by secretly crossing into Hong Kong, it would cost them another huge sum.
Given his miserly personality, there was no way he would willingly waste that much money.
Besides, he had only transferred part of the Song family’s assets to Qingcheng so far. Before all the family wealth had been moved, he simply couldn’t bear to leave.
In the end, it all came down to greed.
Since leaving early wasn’t an option, their only choice was to find a job for Lu Manman.
But at a time like this, jobs couldn’t be bought even if they had the money.
That was why they had turned their attention to Song Jinyue, forcing her to hand over her job and go to the countryside to suffer in Lu Manman’s place.
From the very beginning, Song Jinyue had always been the one they intended to abandon.
Even when Lu Weiguo first heard the rumors and decided that they would flee to Hong Kong, he had bought only four ship tickets.
Song Jinyue had never been part of his plans.
“Mom, let’s hurry home and tell Dad the good news.”
Shen Yurou nodded. “Your dad should be home soon. Let’s go back now.”
With that, the mother and daughter linked arms and walked away without even sparing Song Jinyue a glance.
They had already achieved their goal.
As far as they were concerned, Song Jinyue no longer had any value to them, so there was no reason to continue flattering or pleasing her.
Watching their retreating backs, Song Jinyue curled her lips into a faint smile.
She had indeed told Uncle Liu to let the person replacing her start working at the factory after she left.
But she had never said who her replacement would be.
If they only listened to half of what she said, then they couldn’t blame her for misunderstanding, could they?
Song Jinyue didn’t follow them home. Instead, she turned around and headed toward the department store.
Many of the ration coupons her scumbag father had given her were local coupons that could only be used in Shanghai. Before leaving the city, she needed to spend them all.
“Comrade, I’d like fifty jin of white flour, fifty jin of rice, and twenty jin each of chicken, duck, fish, and pork. Also, twenty jin of salt, twenty jin of sugar, and twenty jin of White Rabbit milk candies.”
“I’ll also take two containers of cooking oil, some of every seasoning used for cooking, five tins of malted milk powder, and a complete set of pots, bowls, and kitchen utensils. Oh, and thirty chi of fabric.”
“Give me your best skincare products and cosmetics. Right, do you have Shanghai-brand watches? I’d like one.”
Song Jinyue rattled off a long list, using up all the local ration coupons her scumbag father had given her while also picking out several other things she needed.
She already had five or six watches at home, but they were imported luxury brands such as Rolex and Cartier.
Wearing something like that in the current climate would practically be asking for trouble.
She had no choice but to keep a low profile and buy herself a Shanghai-brand watch instead.
“That’ll be all for now. Just have someone deliver everything to the entrance of the alley on the east side.”
Song Jinyue couldn’t think of anything else she needed at the moment, so she decided to stop there. She could always come back later if she remembered something else.
The sales clerk beside her was completely dumbfounded.
Her mouth hung open wide enough to fit half a fist.
“Miss, y-you really want that much?”
Song Jinyue nodded firmly. “You have everything I asked for, right?”
“We do, but… you’re buying so much at once. Can your family finish all of it? The weather is hot right now, and meat won’t keep for long. If it spoils, eating it could make you sick.”
Worried that Song Jinyue had bought far more meat than she could possibly finish, the clerk kindly reminded her.
“It’s fine. I have a big family. We’ll finish it in a few meals.”
Song Jinyue lied with a perfectly serious expression.
The reason she dared to stockpile so many ingredients and so much meat at once was because her storage space had a preservation function.
No matter how long something was stored inside, it would never spoil and would remain as fresh as the moment she bought it.
“All right. Please wait a moment. I’ll go prepare and count your items now.”
After receiving her confirmation again, the sales clerk, Xiao Li, went off to prepare the goods.
While waiting, Song Jinyue wandered around the department store.
That turned out to be a mistake.
The moment she started browsing, she ended up buying even more things.
More than ten minutes later, Xiao Li hurried back with the inventory slip in hand.
“Miss, everything you asked for has been prepared. I’m terribly sorry, but all of today’s meat has already sold out. If you still want some, you’ll have to come back in a couple of days.”
Xiao Li looked apologetic. After glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention, she leaned closer to Song Jinyue and whispered, “If your family urgently needs meat, you can try the black market. It’s a little more expensive there than at the department store, but you won’t need ration coupons.”
Song Jinyue smiled at her.
“Thank you for telling me.”
In the end, Xiao Li called over several workers and had them transport everything to the alley entrance Song Jinyue had specified.
There were very few people around.
After the workers left, Song Jinyue carefully checked her surroundings. Once she confirmed that no one was watching, she stored everything inside her space.
After taking care of that, she headed to the black market, intending to stockpile some meat as well.
Once she arrived, another shopping spree began.
Chicken, duck, fish, prawns, crabs—she bought twenty jin of each.
Her space was enormous anyway. No matter how much she bought, there would always be room for more.
Besides meat, Song Jinyue also bought more than a dozen live animals, including poultry, chicks, and rabbits.
Finally, after some enthusiastic persuasion from one of the sellers, she even bought two adorable piglets.
She had to admit, the seller was surprisingly generous. He even gave her two packets of boar-breeding medicine for free.
Thinking about the little fenced courtyard inside her space that she was extremely satisfied with, Song Jinyue bought some flowers, plants, and fruit and vegetable seeds as well.
It seemed the farming instinct buried deep within her bones had finally awakened.
After storing everything inside her space, she hummed happily as she headed home.
Sure enough, shopping really did make people happy.
Song Jinyue was certainly happy after spending all that money.
Lu Guangzong, on the other hand, couldn’t even force a smile as he was cornered in a secluded alley by a group of men demanding repayment.
“Brother Biao, please! Just give me a few more days! I swear I’ll pay back everything I owe in a few days!”
Lu Guangzong cowered in the corner, desperately begging the heavily tattooed, overweight man standing before him for more time.
“You little brat, how many times have you already said that? You think I’m still going to believe you? Out of respect for the Song family, I’ve already given you several extra days. If you don’t pay up today, don’t blame me for getting rough!”
Brother Biao snorted coldly.
One of his lackeys immediately pulled a knife from his pocket.
The sight of the gleaming blade in the yellow-haired man’s hand made Lu Guangzong tremble violently.
“B-Brother Biao, we can talk this out! I really don’t have any money on me. J-Just give me a few more days. I-I-I swear I’ll pay everything back!”
“If you don’t have the money, then there’s no point wasting any more time talking to him. Follow the casino rules. Take three of his fingers.”
At Brother Biao’s command, the yellow-haired man gave a sinister smile and slowly approached Lu Guangzong with the knife.
“D-Don’t come any closer! Please, don’t come over here!”
Cold sweat covered Lu Guangzong’s forehead.
He shook his head frantically and desperately tried to retreat, only to find himself backed against the wall with nowhere left to escape.
“Go. Hold him down.”
At the yellow-haired man’s order, several lackeys immediately rushed forward and pinned Lu Guangzong by the shoulders. They grabbed one of his arms and pressed his hand firmly against the wall.
“Bah! You expect us to believe Lu Weiguo’s son has no money? Who are you trying to fool? Since you clearly don’t respect Brother Biao, you can leave three fingers behind!”
With that, the yellow-haired man raised the knife and swung it toward Lu Guangzong’s hand.
“No!”
A sudden warmth spread through Lu Guangzong’s crotch.
He had wet himself in terror.
Seeing the knife about to come down on his hand, he desperately shouted, “Brother Biao, weren’t you looking for a beautiful woman? I know one! I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”