Han Lin’s sudden action caught Yang Dai completely off guard, startling her so much that she almost cried out. But before she could, Han Lin quickly covered her mouth.
Yang Dai blinked, waved her hand slightly to signal that she understood, and asked him to let go.
Han Lin turned sideways and pointed in another direction.
Yang Dai leaned out to look and found a familiar face—it was the accountant of Huangzhuang Brigade.
As for the man walking beside him, Yang Dai had never seen him before.
But seeing how the accountant wore a fawning smile and spoke so carefully, it was clear this was someone he needed to curry favor with.
The accountant smiled broadly, while the other man didn’t appear entirely cold, but he showed very little expression.
“What are those two talking about?” Yang Dai couldn’t help but ask curiously as she watched them leave in another direction.
Neither she nor Han Lin were familiar with the accountant. If it was just a chance encounter, Han Lin wouldn’t have felt the need to hide with her.
“It seems to have something to do with the brigade’s accounts.” The distance was a bit far, so Han Lin hadn’t heard clearly, but he could faintly guess the content from the movement of the accountant’s lips.
“Didn’t Big Brother say something about the books not matching up when he did the accounting half a year ago?” That was the real reason Han Lin had hidden them away.
The accountant hadn’t noticed them, but Han Lin had recognized him from the start.
Yang Dai glanced in the direction the two men had gone, but they had already disappeared from sight.
“Let’s go too.” The manuscript had been sent, and Yang Dai was still thinking about another matter—she had prepared golden melon seeds to exchange for rice and flour at the black market.
The rice and flour she had previously taken from the storeroom were nearly gone. If she couldn’t get more from the black market this time, she and Han Lin would have to keep eating sweet potatoes and sorghum flour, which Yang Dai really disliked.
“You go to the supply and marketing cooperative. I’ll go check over there first. I heard the commune recently got a new leader—things might not be stable.” Han Lin pulled two industrial coupons from his pocket and stuffed them into Yang Dai’s hand.
He didn’t want Yang Dai going to the black market. When things were calm, the place was indeed calm, with more goods than the supply cooperative—anything could be bought there as long as one had money.
But when it wasn’t calm, it was dangerous. Especially now—the commune black market had split into two since the leadership change. Though Han Lin had memories of the past, this divided black market was new even to him, and he didn’t want Yang Dai getting involved.
“Where did you get these?” Yang Dai turned the two industrial coupons over and over curiously.
“Left over from before,” Han Lin explained vaguely, leading Yang Dai toward the supply cooperative.
He was too embarrassed to reveal the truth.
He had found them in the bedding of his original body.
When he and Yang Dai married, she had brought new bedding as part of her dowry. After they split from the family, they only took the new bedding, leaving the old ones in his previous room.
Recently, his two sisters-in-law and his mother had been discussing how to rearrange the rooms, since Han Lin had his own house now and there was no need to keep his room.
His mother had packed up his old belongings and sent them over.
Han Lin hadn’t cared for them at all and wanted to throw them out, but with his mother watching, waiting to scold him as wasteful, he relented.
Thinking about his situation, he decided to keep those odds and ends—not that they had much value, but they did belong to his original self, and he might as well hold on to them as mementos.
While moving the bedding, he felt something inside and opened it to find a messy stash of ration coupons.
Most had expired, but two industrial coupons had no expiration date.
Now was the perfect time to use them—he would send Yang Dai to the supply cooperative, while he went to the black market alone.
This wasn’t the first time Han Lin had shown reluctance about letting her go to the black market. Looking at the two coupons in her hand, Yang Dai didn’t refuse.
She really did want to buy something.
“Fine. But leave the bicycle for me,” Yang Dai agreed reluctantly, setting her sights on the bicycle instead.
She had never seen such a thing before and was quite curious.
On their way to the commune, Han Lin had ridden with her, but now she wanted to try pedaling on her own.
Han Lin didn’t refuse this time, but his expression was full of doubt, which only made Yang Dai angry.
“I know how to ride,” she snapped, snatching the bicycle and demonstrating on the spot.
She wobbled at first, unsteady on the bike, but quickly got the hang of it and left Han Lin far behind.
Watching her ride away, Han Lin thought of something else he wanted to buy.
Yang Dai was thinking the same.
Her family owned one bicycle, bought by her father for commuting to the brick kiln.
Han Lin’s family had two: one used by his father for trips between the county and the brigade, and the other by his eldest sister-in-law, Sun Qiaoyun, for her job.
But Han Lin and Yang Dai were dirt poor, with nothing to their name.
As she pedaled, feeling the wind brush across her cheeks, Yang Dai closed her eyes in delight.
Though she had to pedal herself, the speed wasn’t slow, and the sensation was far better than sitting in a sedan chair.
She stopped and waited for Han Lin to catch up.
“Do you think this amount of melon seeds could get us a bicycle?” she asked, already wanting one for herself.
But before Han Lin could answer, she shook her head.
“Forget it. Just get the food first—we’ll talk about bicycles later.” She cut off her own idea, urging Han Lin to hurry up.
A bicycle or a flashlight—those could wait until after their stomachs were full.
She wasn’t foolish.
Everyone in Huangzhuang Brigade knew the couple skipped work and lazed around. If they suddenly brought home a brand-new bicycle, someone might accuse them of theft and report them to the police.
At the supply cooperative, Yang Dai wandered around with the two industrial coupons.
She had everything she needed in her dowry except food, but she didn’t dare take those things out.
She and Han Lin had agreed that after splitting from the family, they would shut the door and live on their own. Outwardly everything looked shabby and broken, but inside, they would replace everything with the goods from her storeroom.
But after just two days, Yang Dai realized that wasn’t realistic.
Neither her mother nor her mother-in-law gave them peace. Both visited frequently, and Yang Dai couldn’t exactly bar them at the door.
And with visitors around, she couldn’t just use her storeroom items openly.
Only things that could exist in this era were safe to show.
She knew very well the value of her goods, but in these times, they were useless.
Everywhere, the campaign against the Four Olds was in full swing. Many of her dowry items fell under that category and could never be revealed.
In the end, she used the two industrial coupons to buy a washbasin and a bar of soap.
In truth, she had plenty of money.
Her parents had always treated her as a lucky star, never letting her suffer.
At her wedding, all the bride price from Han’s family had been given to her, and her parents had secretly added thirty yuan as a private stash.
Altogether, Yang Dai had nearly a hundred yuan.
When they were building the new house after splitting from the family, she had considered helping Han Lin financially, but no one agreed.
Han Lin had argued that since they had just married and split off, it wasn’t proper to renovate too extravagantly—otherwise gossip would never end.
Her father’s excuse was that the bricks for the house had been allocated through collective work points, and the number was limited, not enough to rebuild completely.
Her mother didn’t want her spending the money either. This was her safety net for the future, she insisted. If it all went into the house, it would leave Yang Dai vulnerable later.
Although Yang Dai had her storeroom as a fallback, she had to admit her mother was right.
After building the house, Han Lin was so broke he didn’t even have a single cent left, while Yang Dai still had a decent sum.
But unfortunately, in this era, money alone wasn’t enough.
Without coupons, she could only look longingly at the goods in the supply cooperative.
After her purchases, Yang Dai rode off again. Since her meeting time with Han Lin hadn’t arrived yet, she decided to check out the commune’s factories.
The more she understood this world, the more she realized how important coupons were.
And the most direct way to get them was to become a factory worker, with monthly coupon allocations.
She was familiar with the commune and soon found the factory district.
There weren’t many factories, and none were very large.
One was a meat processing plant. Before she even got close, the squealing of pigs reached her ears, making her instinctively shy away.
Another was a textile factory, where a crowd was gathered at the entrance. Curious, Yang Dai parked her bike and joined them.
It turned out to be a recruitment drive.
Since she was already there, she lined up as well. At least she had a high school education—maybe she could slip in.
But that thought was pure fantasy. Once they learned she had a rural household registration, she wasn’t even allowed to fill out an application.
“This recruitment is only for those with urban household registration,” the recruiter repeated firmly.
She had only been trying her luck, so she wasn’t too disappointed, but as she pedaled away, she couldn’t help glancing back wistfully at the factory.
So household registration was really that important?
No one could answer her doubts. Checking the time, she returned to the meeting spot to wait for Han Lin.
He was already there. The moment he saw her, he shoved a bundle into her hands.
Yang Dai assumed the melon seeds hadn’t fetched much food, but the package was far too light to be grain.
When she opened it, her breath caught.
Inside was a pile of colorful items.