At the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, Shen Zhiqing carried a bucket of sorghum wine. “Auntie, why not get sweet potato wine instead? It’s thirty cents cheaper than sorghum wine.”
Sweet potato wine was one yuan per jin, and sorghum wine was one yuan and thirty cents per jin. Auntie Guifen bought three jin of sorghum wine—if she’d gone with the sweet potato wine, she would have saved ninety cents.
“Tomorrow is a good day, so it’s not worth worrying about a bit of money.” Wang Guifen called from inside, then turned to pick up the other items. “Young comrade, cut a pound of that meat, pack half a pound of sunflower seeds, half a pound of peanuts. Don’t bother with vegetables—the garden has plenty.”
The young man behind the counter didn’t even raise his eyelids. He casually grabbed a knife, sized up a piece of meat, and was about to cut.
Wang Guifen saw this and quickly said, “Comrade, could you cut some fatty meat? Look, this is too lean.”
If it were just for her family, lean meat would be better. But today, she was entertaining respected people from the brigade. Fat meat had oil and could stave off hunger. Once they ate at her house, they wouldn’t go back home to eat again—villagers would talk behind your back if you were stingy during meals for big events.
The young man, however, bristled. Impatiently, he tossed the knife aside. “This piece is it—take it or leave it. So many fusses.”
Earlier, he had seen the girl he liked flirting with someone else, and his mood had been sour all day. This afternoon, Wang Guifen happened to come along.
Wang Guifen grew angry.
She wasn’t there to snatch meat without paying.
She usually gave fatty meat to other women—why not now? “How can you speak like that? I’m buying this with a meat coupon, not stealing. Young comrade, what’s wrong with your words?”
The young man straightened his neck. “With this attitude, don’t buy it. Plenty of people are waiting.”
This made Wang Guifen even angrier. “Who do you think you’re talking to? We’re buying things properly. There must be a proper explanation for today’s incident!”
The surrounding customers started pointing and whispering. Some criticized the clerk’s bad attitude, while others advised Auntie Guifen not to worry.
Su Yi stepped forward. “The cooperative belongs to the state. You serve the people. Call your director out—we want a proper resolution.”
At that moment, the cooperative director, hearing the commotion, came out. “What’s going on here?”
The once‑arrogant clerk immediately lowered his head.
Su Yi explained the situation in full.
The director frowned, first criticizing the meat seller. “Your attitude is unacceptable. We serve the people. How can you treat a customer like this?”
Then he smiled at Auntie Guifen. “Auntie, calm down. This was our mistake. We’ll get you a good piece of meat immediately.”
Meanwhile, the young clerk muttered quietly, “Always taking the side of outsiders…”
Wang Guifen’s sharp ears caught this immediately. “How can you still not know your mistake? The director already criticized you.”
The director quickly smoothed things over, personally picking a piece of meat with a proper mix of fat and lean. He also had the dry goods clerk pack half a pound of sunflower seeds and half a pound of peanuts for Auntie Guifen. This finally settled the little commotion.
“Mom, don’t get angry. It’s not worth damaging your health. Today, we didn’t lose anything. Look, this pound of meat is perfectly marbled,” Su Yi said.
Wang Guifen smiled as they walked out. “A good piece of meat.”
Outside, Shen Wangchun, having witnessed the situation, wanted to intervene further, but Wang Guifen stopped him. “No need. I’m not one to be taken advantage of. The director has already handled it. Let’s go home.”
Shen Wangchun finally relented.
By the time they returned, the meat distribution had ended. Shen Wangchun put the wine away and left. Su Yi washed the dishes, Wang Guifen marinated the meat for tomorrow, and then went out to the yard to cut vegetables and pull radishes. She sat on a small stool, picking vegetables.
Auntie Zhang carried spinach from her own plot into the yard. “Guifen, I brought some vegetables for you.”
Wang Guifen looked up and saw the basket. “Why did you pick so much? You have vegetables at home—keep them for your own family.”
“They’re already picked—they won’t grow back. You should’ve said so earlier,” Auntie Zhang said with a playful complaint. She took a small stool from the doorway and sat beside Wang Guifen to help pick vegetables. “About your adopted godson—did you tell Zhijun yet?”
Wang Guifen realized she hadn’t told her son yet.
“You haven’t told Zhijun, have you?”
Wang Guifen, still picking vegetables, said, “I adopted a godson—it’s not like he adopted him. I’ll tell him when I have time.”
She had been reborn suddenly and didn’t even know whether Zhang Qian had succeeded in the previous life. If she had, she would have thrown up.
..
Northeast Military District
A wave of yellow sand swept across the plain. A heavy Type 69 main battle tank charged through the dust, crushing the sand beneath its tracks, and screeched to a halt.
The hatch clanged open. A tall, upright figure emerged, silhouetted against the light.
Dressed in olive‑green combat uniform, his frame looked exceptionally tall.
Shoulder boards gleamed with cold, hard gold. A weapons belt cinched his lean waist, and his pants were tucked neatly into combat boots. He was sharp, efficient, and austere.
He jumped down from the tank track. High cheekbones, deep eyes standing out in the sandstorm. He wiped his face with one hand, fingertips tracing the jawline, the tight muscles exuding a cold aura of warning to strangers.
“The sudden turn just now, the tracks made three abnormal sounds,” he said, voice low but piercing, sweeping across the new recruits standing at attention. “Do you know what went wrong?”
The new recruit blushed red, hands shaking around his tools. “R‑report, sir… maybe the track tension isn’t right?”
The officer didn’t respond immediately. He bent and tapped the connecting axle of the tank track, the sound of his knuckles on metal crisp and clear.
“It’s not the tension. It’s the gap in the drive sprocket teeth. When crossing the obstacle, the load wheel shifted and sand got jammed—” He paused, noticing the nervous recruit had a small cut on his hand and was trying to hide it behind him.
Next, he pulled a neatly folded blue cloth from his pocket and tossed it over with a touch of impatience. “Wipe it.” The cloth landed in the recruit’s hand, still warm.
“This small injury you can’t handle—how do you expect to deal with a tank?” His tone was stern, but he crouched and carefully picked sand out of the track gap with his own tools.
“Look closely. The drive sprocket is here. The engagement gap should be three millimeters. Too wide, sand gets stuck; too narrow, teeth wear. Don’t remember? Go back and copy the equipment manual until you do.”
“Yes, sir!” the recruit saluted and shouted.
After finishing, the officer dusted off his hands, left a parting instruction: “Try again. This time, watch the pressure gauge carefully,” then turned and walked toward the command platform.
The recruit exhaled. “Commander Wang isn’t scary, but talking to him sends chills down my spine.”
“You should be grateful. Commander Wang used to be a top tank driver, rising through merit and skill. You’re lucky—he just happened to inspect this tank and gave you a word of advice. Your ancestors are smoking incense in heaven.” An older soldier whispered, envious.
He added quietly, “He married young, too—a wealthy capitalist’s daughter. She’s raised in the countryside, and all the matrons in the compound are hoping they divorce so their daughters can marry in.”