Unexpectedly encountering someone who knew their stuff, Jin Yue didn't know whether to feel pleased or frustrated.
"But you, young comrade, with your slick tongue—what's a northeasterner like you doing all the way out here?"
Jin Yue breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, my dad works here. I came with my mom to visit family, and we'll be heading back soon. This genuine wild ginseng was dug up by my grandpa on Changbai Mountain—ordinary folks can't find this stuff. If it weren't for needing money for my brother's wedding, our family would never part with it."
She added just enough details, mainly because the northeastern accent she'd picked up from the big brother at the Educated Youth Spot was quite authentic. The man didn't seem suspicious. When she quoted a price of one hundred yuan, he spent twenty minutes haggling it down to seventy-five. Finally, Jin Yue put on a pained expression of reluctant acceptance and closed the deal.
If she'd agreed too readily, the buyer would think they'd overpaid.
But the man didn't carry that much cash on him. They agreed she'd wait right there while he went home to fetch the money. Jin Yue's heart started pounding again.
What if he changed his mind after getting home and never returned? Was this a trap she'd walked into? Could she get robbed? What if…
No use overthinking—she had to see this through. She'd wait.
She found a small mound where she could stay out of sight while keeping watch in all directions. Tucking her hands into her sleeves and pulling her hat down until only her eyes were visible, she crouched low and observed.
The ginseng had sold for more than she'd expected, mainly because she'd met someone who recognized its value. If she'd taken it to the Medicinal Materials Company, she'd have been lucky to get twenty yuan—naturally, she couldn't bear to sell it that cheap.
Even so, combined with the clothing money her parents had given her, she could scrape together about 120 yuan at most. Nowhere near enough to buy a job. Yesterday, she'd heard Aunt Zhao in the compound say that even a Drill Operator position at the Machinery Factory cost six hundred yuan these days. For easier jobs—like in the Office, Logistics, or Packaging Workshop—they were even more sought after and could sell for as much as eight hundred!
And that was just at the demanding Machinery Factory. If you wanted a cushy, respectable position elsewhere, the price would be even higher.
While worrying, Jin Yue kept her eyes and ears open. Finally, after half an hour, the middle-aged man returned with the money—no one followed him.
They exchanged cash and goods, then went their separate ways.
But Shu Jin Yue didn't go far. She circled around and returned under the bridge, hands tucked in her sleeves as she continued browsing. She still needed to figure out how to turn this 120 yuan in capital into at least 800 within a week—a challenge akin to winning the lottery.
By this time, most vendors had packed up, leaving only a few still negotiating prices. Jin Yue wandered around but found no viable money-making opportunities. She headed back toward the entrance she'd come from, planning to loop through other areas before returning home.
Just as she reached the riverside, she suddenly heard someone shout. Though she didn't catch the words, everyone's legs reacted faster than their ears—grabbing their goods off the ground and fleeing for dear life!
Jin Yue was also badly startled. After running a few steps, she remembered: she wasn't carrying anything now. Even if the enforcement squad or public security team showed up, they couldn't catch her "red-handed." Why run?
With that thought, she slowed her pace and finally heard what sounded like splashing coming from the river.
At first, she paid it no mind. But the more she listened, the more it sounded like something—or someone—thrashing in the water.
The river surface had frozen over this season. During the day, children would skate on it, carefully avoiding the occasional ice holes made by eager youngsters trying to fish. When she had scouted the area a few days earlier, she had noticed these holes and repeatedly reminded herself not to get too close.
Now, following her memory of their locations, she spotted a dark mass and a patch of crimson in the poor light. Unsure at first, she focused her gaze and realized—
It was a person!
Someone gradually sinking into an ice hole!
The sound she had heard earlier must have come from this person. Instead of attracting help, it had scared away anyone nearby. How unlucky… Jin Yue thought as she picked up a branch from the bank and cautiously moved closer, testing the ice as she went.
The person’s clothes were soaked with icy water, weighing them down as if a hundred strong hands were dragging them under. Their stomach was filled with freezing water, and their chest felt crushed, aching unbearably as if about to burst.
Their eyes were too weak to open, and they flailed blindly, somehow managing to grab the branch that had been extended toward them… But they had no strength left. Their consciousness drifted, and aside from clutching the branch tightly, they felt death drawing nearer.
Jin Yue was too thin and could only stabilize the person while shouting for help, "Someone's fallen in the water!"
Two profiteers who hadn’t run far heard her. Seeing no one chasing them, they observed the situation, gritted their teeth, and turned back to help.
But they didn’t dare stay long. After pulling the person ashore, they immediately fled, wrapped in their thick army coats, afraid that any commotion would prevent their escape.
Jin Yue, however, couldn’t just run away. The person was on the bank but wasn’t breathing. She quickly checked the carotid pulse—it was gone—so she began CPR immediately.
She had performed this emergency procedure seven or eight times a year in the countryside: for young women and brides who had jumped into the river, young laborers overcome by heatstroke, and elderly folks suffering heart attacks. Whenever a commune member called, she rushed to the front lines, so she carried out the steps swiftly and methodically without panic.
"Whoosh—"
"Cough, cough—"
The drowning person suddenly coughed up a mouthful of water.
Jin Yue watched for chest movement, checked the pulse, and confirmed they were alive before collapsing trembling onto the ground. Her own slight frame, weighing less than eighty jin, had been pushed to its limits—fear and anxiety had plagued her from morning till night.
The rescued woman, in her early twenties, had dark braids plastered wetly to her face. Her red sweater was soaked, making her look like a drowned rat. She stared blankly at the night sky, gasping for air.
"You really… on such a dark night, why wander on the ice? If no one had heard you, you’d have…" Jin Yue really wanted to scold her.
"Wuwu… why did you save me? Why not let me die? Let me die, wuwu… I don’t want to live anymore, wuwu… it’s pointless, wuwu…"
Jin Yue rolled her eyes. She had struggled so hard to survive in the countryside, and here this girl wanted to die and nearly dragged someone down with her.
"Wuwu… my brother’s gone, I don’t want to live. Why leave me alone? I don’t want to live anymore…"
As the girl cried and lamented, Shu Jin Yue couldn’t be bothered to listen. She was exhausted to the point of collapse. "Hey, are you coming or not? If not, I’m leaving first."
The girl looked up at her. "Thank you, little brother."
"I’m a girl."
The girl paused, and thanks to the interruption, she stopped crying. She scrambled to her feet, shivering as she followed, her teeth chattering from the cold.
Jin Yue deliberately walked quickly, forcing the girl to jog to keep up. As she ran, her body gradually warmed.
"You should go home and change your clothes." Stop following me.
"I… I don’t want to go back. It’s boring being alone."
Shu Jin Yue was speechless. "Then stop following me." Ever since learning the girl had tried to take her own life, Jin Yue had little desire to engage with her.
In Jin Yue’s view, nothing in this world—not love, not dignity—was more important than life itself. As long as she could survive, she was willing to do anything. She had even resigned herself to the possibility of returning to the countryside where she’d been sent to work, if she couldn’t stay in the city. She would play along with that family, biding her time and enduring hardships—whatever it took to survive, gather evidence against them, and eventually overcome her circumstances.
"Little sister… what’s your name? I’m Yao Qingqing. I live in Jinyu Hutong. Where do you live?"
Shu Jin Yue found her annoying and didn’t respond.
"You look so young. Are you even fourteen?"
Shu Jin Yue: "…"
"I’m twenty-three. My brother would’ve been twenty-seven. If he were alive, today would’ve been his birthday… sob… He said that after this visit home, he was going to marry his fiancée, and later, I could join them where he was stationed. How could he break his promise? sob…"
Alright, alright. Jin Yue held her tongue, considering the girl had just lost a loved one.
It turned out her brother had been a soldier, killed last month while on a mission. After days of crying, Yao Qingqing had begun to calm down, but today—his birthday—his former fiancée’s family showed up at her door. They accused her of wasting their daughter’s youth and demanded compensation, threatening to take the house if she couldn’t pay. Overwhelmed, she had jumped into the river.
"Are you stupid? If you died, wouldn’t that just hand everything over to them?" According to Yao Qingqing, both their parents had passed away, and they had no close relatives. But they did own a siheyuan—a whole courtyard house—in the prime location of Jinyu Hutong.
A full siheyuan! Jin Yue screamed internally. Her own family of five was crammed into the east wing of a communal courtyard, so permeated with her second brother’s stinky feet that she could barely stand it. Yet she still fought to survive. Meanwhile, this girl didn’t know how good she had it.
Moreover, Jinyu Hutong had always been an affluent neighborhood, located near Shu City’s First Ring Road, directly opposite the Provincial Party Committee Compound, with the Provincial Hospital and several provincial-level institutions nearby. It was safe, pleasant, and destined to skyrocket in value. Jin Yue had seen on her phone that, in the future, even a small siheyuan there would sell for eight figures!
Perhaps her expression was too transparent, because Yao Qingqing looked somewhat embarrassed. "Do you think I’m being melodramatic and don’t value my life?"
"Sigh… I think so now too… Ah-choo!"
Jin Yue looked at her trembling body. "Go home and change your clothes. Live well."
"Hey, you still haven’t told me your name or where you live. Can I come visit you?"
"Liu Ye Hutong, Shu Jin Yue."
That night, Shu Jin Yue dreamed of living in a spacious, bright, and clean siheyuan. The courtyard was filled with blooming wisteria, sun-warmed bluestone slabs, a chubby tabby cat, and a large, fragrant, steaming roast duck…
However, upon waking up, what she smelled was her second brother's stinky feet, and what she heard was his teeth grinding.
Shu Jin Yue sighed. Humans are truly greedy creatures. She hadn't even secured a job yet, didn't even know if she could survive, yet here she was fantasizing about living in a big house.
But good news arrived surprisingly fast!
Just after lunch, while sunbathing in the courtyard, Xu Si Qi was brought in by Aunt Zhao's grandson. "Sister Jin Yue, this uncle said he's looking for you."
Xu Si Qi curiously surveyed the courtyard. With so many residents, every household tried to claim a bit more space, inevitably leading to haphazard constructions. Even the Shu family was no exception – they had built their kitchen under the eaves, with firewood and coal briquettes piled outside.
Xu Si Qi flashed a row of neat white teeth. "Comrade Xiao Shu, I have some good news for you."
Jin Yue's heart leaped with joy. Mindful of the many eyes and ears in the compound, she led him under the eaves. After making sure no one was paying attention to them, she asked quietly, "Brother Xu, has there been progress with my matter?"
Xu Si Qi also felt relieved. "Yes, we've picked several suitable options for you. My father thinks we should move quickly to review them and make a decision if suitable."
He somehow felt that if he could successfully handle this important matter, he would gain face in front of his uncle.
In just two short days, they had actually found "several" "suitable" jobs. Shu Jin Yue's eyes shone brilliantly.
Her eyes were actually quite beautiful – a lovely shape with slightly upturned corners, the irises a light brown that appeared youthfully clear when viewed up close.
A thought flashed through Xu Si Qi's mind: Actually, Comrade Xiao Shu will be quite beautiful when she grows up a bit more.
"Don't worry, there are six people for you to choose from. If none of them suit you, we'll help you look for more."
"Choose… people?"
"That's right. I've arranged six matchmaking meetings for you tomorrow – three in the morning and three in the afternoon."