“Gu Chunmiao, speak up!”
Suddenly, an unfamiliar, powerful, and resonant voice came from the phone—
“Blah blah blah! What are you rambling about? My Miaomiao is very well-behaved. The day after she reported to the Agricultural Technology Station, she went to the countryside and has been there ever since. She hasn't even been to the post office. You're saying she's writing letters everywhere, speaking ill of your biological daughter? Where's the proof?”
Li Xiulan chimed in, “Exactly! Where’s the proof? My sister said your man is a Leader. How could you do something like this? Even the police need evidence to arrest someone. You claim Miaomiao harmed someone, so show us the evidence!”
Li Xiufen went straight for the kill, “Cut the nonsense! You say my Miaomiao deliberately wrote letters to harm someone? Fine! If you have the guts, bring those letters to our Commune. I’ll bring Miaomiao, and we’ll go directly to the post office! Let the post office staff identify her in person and see if those damn letters were really sent by my Miaomiao?”
“What? You say there are so many people at the post office every day, they won’t remember?”
“Don’t worry, Mother-in-law. Our Hongwan Commune is very poor, and not many people come to the post office to mail letters each day.”
“Besides, Miaomiao is such a rare city girl. If she really went to the post office to mail a letter, the staff would definitely remember her.”
“Or are you scared and don’t dare to come?”
On the other end of the line, Jiang Hongying trembled with anger, “You, you’re simply unreasonable!”
Li Xiulan retorted, “What carp? You’re bullying us, and you still want to come to our house to eat carp? Eat shit!”
Li Xiufen gave a cold smile, “In short, I’ve said my piece. You claim my Miaomiao wrote letters to bully your daughter? Words are not evidence! Bring the letters, and bring your precious daughter, and we’ll settle this face-to-face, right here and now!”
“And what did you say? Asking Miaomiao to go back and apologize to your daughter? Apologize for what! If Miaomiao really committed a crime, then have your daughter call the police! Let the police station arrest her?”
She had seen this kind of framing and slander play out countless times on the opera stage during her childhood.
She never expected that a Leader’s family member like Jiang Hongying would be fooled by such tactics.
Suspecting that Gu Chunmiao wrote the letter? That’s easy to solve. Check the postmark, see the date, and then ask someone to inquire at the post office about who sent that letter.
Otherwise, they could check the envelope, the stamp, and the stationery!
There are no places to buy stationery in the countryside. When people write letters, they tear a page from their children’s notebooks to make do. The envelopes and stamps for mailing letters are also accounted for. They keep records of how many are sold each month. If you want to find evidence, there are plenty of clues.
Without even investigating, they immediately blamed the adopted daughter and blindly protected their biological daughter… Li Xiufen truly suspected that if the biological daughter returned to the Gu family, she would eventually be spoiled by Commander Gu and his wife.
However, what does it have to do with her if other people’s children are spoiled? As long as her Zhanjun and Miaomiao aren’t bullied!
After fiercely defending her daughter-in-law, Li Xiufen hung up the phone, feeling satisfied.
“Long-distance call, one minute, nine mao! Receiving the call, one mao. A total of one yuan!” The post office clerk tore off a slip.
Gu Chunmiao took out a one-yuan bill and handed it over.
Li Xiulan watched, her heart aching: Just this short while, and it costs one yuan? If I had known, I wouldn’t have made the call. I could have bought half a jin of meat with that, it’s so expensive!”
Gu Chunmiao smiled and explained, “It’s good that receiving a long-distance call only costs a one-mao handling fee. The call from the Gu family was charged as a long-distance call based on the distance, costing nine mao per minute.”
Jiang Hongying had called earlier and argued with her mother-in-law for a long time. The phone bill was equivalent to half a month’s salary for an ordinary person.
Gu Chunmiao felt like she had “learned bad things” from her mother-in-law and had started to gloat.
Li Xiufen and Li Xiulan had no such reservations. Hearing Gu Chunmiao say that the call cost Jiang Hongying half a month’s salary, they burst into laughter.
Losing one yuan herself was certainly painful.
But their “enemy” losing twenty or thirty yuan made them even happier!
Li Xiufen waved her hand grandly, “Let’s go! We’ll go to the food store to buy things. For lunch, we’ll make the lamb noodles that Miaomiao loves!”
Thinking of the already slaughtered lamb in her space, Gu Chunmiao paused and quietly pulled her mother-in-law aside.
“Mom, you and Second Great Aunt go to the food store first and buy some side dishes, cigarettes, and alcohol. I’ll go to ‘that place’ to buy some flour and see if there’s any lamb. I want to eat lamb noodles…”
As she spoke, she pointed in the direction of the black market.
Li Xiufen nodded, “Remember to find a headscarf and cover your head and face tightly. Buy what you need and leave quickly. Don’t wander around; it’s chaotic in there.”
Gu Chunmiao nodded, took out the floral headscarf her mother-in-law had given her that morning, wrapped her head so only her eyes were visible, and quickly ducked into the black market.
Li Xiulan gasped from behind, “Miaomiao looks like such a well-behaved girl, how does she know the way to the black market so well?”
Li Xiufen sighed, “Don’t you understand? A child without a mother is like a blade of grass! This child, most likely, left the Gu family with nothing. If she’s short on money, how can she survive as a girl if she doesn’t sell something in the black market?”
Li Xiulan suddenly realized, “No wonder! That Old Gu family is really something… sigh!”
…
Gu Chunmiao, who was being silently pitied by her mother-in-law and Second Great Aunt, entered the black market, turned around, and slipped into an empty corner.
When she emerged again, she was holding two waist-high wicker baskets, with a small wooden board hanging in front, on which prices were written in charcoal—
Southern Province Bananas, 6 mao per jin.
Dashuhe Apples, 3 mao per jin.
Rice, 5 mao per jin; Soybean Oil, 3 yuan per jin.
Gu Chunmiao didn’t take out the special local fruits and vegetables from her space. She only brought out some items that were also available at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and the food store but required ration coupons.
Grains, oils, rice, and flour are always bestsellers in the black market. Apples and bananas also had many buyers. Within 20 minutes of Gu Chunmiao putting her goods out, they were all sold.
After collecting the money, Gu Chunmiao carried the two wicker baskets to the riverbank, found a spot hidden by reeds, washed the baskets clean, and when she emerged again, they contained a large pig head, a piece of pork with ribs, a large slab of lard, and half a sheep.
As she neared the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Gu Chunmiao found a corner and stood there, using the two wicker baskets to shield herself. While no one was nearby, she took out a bag of rice and a bag of flour from her space.
Seeing her mother-in-law and Second Great Aunt coming over after finishing their shopping from a distance, Gu Chunmiao quickly stood up and waved to Li Xiufen.
“Mom! I’m here!”
Li Xiufen was stunned to see so many things.
“Miaomiao, why did you buy so much? How much did it cost?”
Gu Chunmiao smiled with pursed lips, “It wasn’t much. It was just my manuscript fees from last month. Since the family is building a house and Mom didn’t want me to contribute money, I could only buy some food and daily necessities for the family.”
Li Xiulan gasped, “This is just a little? Add some wedding candy and pastries, and it would be enough to marry a wife and host several banquets.”
Seeing a large, snow-white slab of lard on top of the wicker basket, Li Xiufen’s expression instantly changed. She rushed over and covered it with the sack she was holding.
“We’re doomed! Such a large piece of lard, it’s obvious it was bought on the black market. Who has that many meat coupons?”
Li Xiulan also felt a sense of dread, “This isn’t just about meat coupons. Those people at the food store hoard any good items they get and save them for their own relatives. I haven’t seen such good lard at the food store for many years.”
Before the era of the communal mess hall, they could wake up early and, with luck, grab some lard from the pork stall.
Now, everything requires coupons to buy at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative or the food store. Forget lard; that year, when her Jianjun was anemic and wanted to buy some pork liver, she had to use connections to get a small piece. Sigh!
Speaking of which, the cousin’s daughter-in-law is indeed from the Military Compound. Her connections are surprisingly extensive… such a good, whole piece of lard, she probably got it directly from the meat processing plant or the slaughterhouse, right?
Thinking that the director of the Commune’s slaughterhouse was a veteran who had transferred from the military, Li Xiulan suddenly felt she had figured it out!
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