It was the first time a female comrade had looked at him so boldly. Qi Xiaoyuan felt a little uncomfortable.
Thinking again about the unexpected physical contact earlier, Qi Xiaoyuan’s ears turned suspiciously red. He averted his gaze first, gave a light cough to greet them, then hurried back into his room.
Su Man withdrew her gaze and briefly explained the earlier little incident to Aunt Liu before immediately getting down to business.
“Aunt Liu, my dad always said you were warm-hearted and kind. A while ago, I was deceived by my uncle and aunt, which is why I ignored you. Please don’t take it to heart.”
After Su Dacheng passed away, the Original Owner had moved into Uncle Su Ercheng’s home. Aunt Liu had kindly warned the Original Owner not to trust Su Ercheng’s family too much, but the Original Owner had been raised by her father to be somewhat naive and simple, and she did not understand the meaning behind Aunt Liu’s words. Because of this, Aunt Liu had even been scolded by Xia Hongxia. Aunt Liu already looked down on Su Ercheng’s family, so after that she stopped interfering.
What the Original Owner could not see clearly, Su Man saw very clearly. At that moment, she held Aunt Liu’s hand as if she were her only savior, her eyes filled with tears and her gaze sincere and pleading.
Aunt Liu had watched Su Man grow up. Seeing her pitiful appearance, her heart immediately softened completely.
She had not been holding anything against Su Man to begin with. A child who had just lost her father being deceived by her uncle and aunt was normal. It was all that damned Su Ercheng family’s fault!
Now it seemed the child was facing some serious trouble. Even considering Su Dacheng’s past help to her family, she would definitely help.
Aunt Liu pulled Su Man into the house. “Good child, Auntie won’t blame you.”
After Su Man finished explaining how Su Ercheng and Xia Hongxia had deceived her into taking away her family’s assets and were now planning to marry her off to Zhang Tianci, Aunt Liu’s face was already red with anger. If her family hadn’t stopped her, she would have rushed over immediately to demand an explanation.
“Auntie, it’s not the time yet.”
Su Man then mentioned her plan to go seek refuge with her arranged fiancé, and also said she intended to sell her job and house. A lower price did not matter, as long as it was fast.
Today, she had deliberately said those things to relax Su Ercheng and Xia Hongxia’s vigilance, so that they would not come harassing her every day in the next few days and interfere with her plans.
“Going to your arranged fiancé is fine too. He is a soldier, and chosen by your father. He should be more reliable than your uncle’s family,” Aunt Liu sighed, not understanding how the girl’s life had become so miserable.
“Your job and house are easy to handle. Coincidentally, the Li Family’s daughter Li Cui has become a widow and is being bullied by her mother-in-law. The Old Li family brought her and her children back. They were planning to buy a job for their daughter and also buy a house. This works out perfectly.”
In the Original Owner’s memory, she knew the Li Family. Li Cui had five older brothers, and the entire family was famously doting on their daughter. Later, Li Cui married far away, and the Original Owner never heard much news after that.
Selling the job and house to the Li Family meant that with Li Cui’s five tall and strong brothers, Su Ercheng and Xia Hongxia would absolutely not be able to cause trouble.
Su Man was very satisfied with this outcome.
After handling the job and house, the next step was to go to the Street Office to get the introduction letter. Coincidentally, Aunt Liu worked at the Street Office and immediately agreed that Su Man could come the next day to complete the procedures, and she would definitely keep it secret until Su Man left.
After agreeing with Aunt Liu on meeting the Li Family the next day, Su Man thanked her repeatedly and then walked home with light steps.
Walking in the dark to the door, she suddenly heard footsteps in the courtyard. Su Man immediately stopped, afraid someone might wake up and discover her.
After standing quietly for a while, she vaguely recognized that it was Su Lan, who had just returned from outside.
Only then did Su Man relax. “Where did you go?”
Su Lan almost screamed in fright, then said angrily and nervously, “Su Man, why are you out in the middle of the night scaring people when you’re not sleeping!”
If it had been usual, Su Lan would have mocked and questioned Su Man several times in return. But now she did not even look at her, lowering her head and quickly passing by Su Man, intending to return to her room.
Su Man was standing right by the door and reached out to turn on the light. Only then did she notice that Su Lan was actually wearing her most treasured dacron shirt. It was something Su Dacheng had given her last year, and Su Lan usually could not bear to wear it.
Su Man felt both surprised and curious. Who had Su Lan gone to see so late at night?
Looking closer, she saw that the red-and-white dacron fabric had a stain on it, and Su Lan’s hair was messy.
“I warn you, you are not allowed to tell anyone that I went out tonight!” Su Lan turned back and warned Su Man fiercely.
At that moment, Su Man saw a red mark on Su Lan’s neck. “What’s that on your neck?”
Seeing Su Lan’s face turn pale, Su Man understood immediately, but she changed her tone and said instead, “It must be a mosquito bite. The mosquitoes in summer are really vicious.”
“Yes, yes, right, it’s a mosquito,” Su Lan said, covering her neck and quickly returning to her room.
Su Man closed her door, sneering coldly in her heart.
In the original book’s plot, Su Lan liked Zhang Tianci. She had even tried to fight for the marriage proposal when the Zhang family raised it, but she was rejected by the lecherous Zhang Tianci. However, after the Original Owner married Zhang Tianci, Su Lan actually got together with him and often encouraged Zhang Tianci to beat and scold the Original Owner.
As for why Zhang Tianci, who originally did not like Su Lan, later got together with her after marriage—this was not contradictory. It was just like many men in modern times whose mistresses are not necessarily better than their wives. The standards for a wife and a mistress were different. Something never eaten by a dog always smelled fresh; it was simply a matter of accepting everything without refusal.
Su Man wanted to avenge the Original Owner, so she deliberately provoked Su Lan. Unexpectedly, the affair in the book had advanced so much earlier.
She was actually quite looking forward to how Zhang Tianci would treat Su Lan after failing to marry her. Most likely, it would not end well for her.
According to the original plot, Zhang Tianci peeping at female workers in the factory while they bathed was true, but Factory Director Zhang suppressed it using his power. Moreover, in this era, reputation was extremely important, and the victims did not dare to speak out. In the end, the matter became an unfounded rumor.
Thinking of this, Su Man sat down and wrote an anonymous report letter. The original book mentioned that Zhang Tianci had once privately resold factory assets. Although Su Man had no evidence, telling the news to Factory Director Zhang’s rivals would still cause him trouble.
The next day was Saturday. In the 1970s, there was no two-day weekend system yet, so it was still a working day. However, Su Man had recently taken sick leave and did not need to go to work.
Su Man stopped Su Ercheng, who was about to go to work. “Uncle, tomorrow is the holiday. I want to go today with my cousin to handle the job transfer procedures. Please give me our household registration book.”
Su Ercheng happily agreed and told Xia Hongxia to fetch the household register. He then said to Su Man, “Factory Director Zhang’s family is very happy that you agreed to the marriage. They said they will come to propose on Monday, and the betrothal gift will be given at the engagement.”
Monday already—it seemed things had to be sped up.
Su Man nodded obediently. “Alright, then the betrothal gift the day after tomorrow will be given to Uncle and Auntie as filial respect.”
Su Ercheng was extremely satisfied and went off to work humming a tune with his hands behind his back.
This morning, Xia Hongxia had an important appointment with someone. After thinking for a moment, she pulled Su Yuan, who was still lying in bed, up and instructed, “You go with that dead girl to handle the procedures. Don’t make any mistakes, understand?”
Su Yuan yawned and agreed. After Xia Hongxia left, she threw the household register in her hand to Su Man. “You can just go handle it yourself. Do I really need to go for something this simple?”
Su Man said, “But Auntie said we have to go together. She’ll be unhappy if you don’t.”
Su Yuan had already lain back down. She said impatiently, “Just don’t tell her.”