Old Meng looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he lowered his voice and said, “He’s no ordinary person. He marched on the Long March, went to Korea, and originally held a leadership position at the central level. A few years ago, he was targeted and ended up coming here to serve as factory director. Back then, the machinery factory wasn’t doing very well. After he arrived, he introduced two tractor production lines from abroad, and only then did the factory gradually improve. Those few apartment blocks next to your place were all built after he came.”
“So he’s an old hero,” Jiang Lianyue said, nodding with admiration.
Old Meng continued, “Exactly. Even though he’s retired now, his prestige is still there. Whenever the new factory director has issues, he still comes to consult him. Even the county head and the county party secretary have to get out of their cars to greet him when they see him.”
Jiang Lianyue nodded in realization. No wonder so many people had been asking about his schedule today. They were trying to seek his help.
“Uncle Meng, you seem pretty close to him,” Jiang Lianyue said with a smile.
Old Meng replied, “After he retired, he often comes to play chess with me. We’re chess buddies.”
There was a hint of pride in his tone. Jiang Lianyue followed up smoothly, praising him, “Being chess buddies with such an old hero means Uncle Meng is quite a figure himself.”
Wrinkles crisscrossed Old Meng’s face as he waved it off. “Oh no, not at all. It’s just that the old director doesn’t mind that I’m only a gatekeeper.”
“Without you, we wouldn’t dare sit at home so peacefully,” Jiang Lianyue said seriously. “You’re the one protecting our safety.”
“Hehe, you really know how to talk,” Old Meng said, smiling from ear to ear.
Jiang Lianyue glanced at the sun. It was already getting late, so she bid Old Meng farewell and went home.
After returning, she ate an apple and rested for a bit, then started soaking soybeans and washing the dishes and pots.
For lunch, she cooked plain white rice and reheated the leftover minced meat with stir-fried green beans from the morning, keeping the meal simple.
After eating and finally having some free time, Jiang Lianyue went back to her room and took out the money and ration coupons she had received that morning, placing them on the desk to count.
She put the ration coupons in one pile and the cash in another, counted the coupons first, then moved on to the money.
“One, two, three…”
Holding the money, Jiang Lianyue could not stop the smile creeping onto her face.
In just one morning, she had earned 5 yuan, 6 mao, and 9 fen.
Based on today’s turnover, she could earn over 150 yuan a month. At present, a worker’s monthly wage was only about 36 yuan. She was making nearly three times that amount.
Starting tomorrow, she will also add soy milk to her offerings. Even if she only earned one or two yuan a day, she would still have close to 200 yuan in monthly income.
As she calculated, she could not help laughing out loud.
After selling rolled rice noodles for a month, she would be a small rich woman.
“Knock, knock, knock, ”
Someone suddenly knocked on the door. Jiang Lianyue quickly reined in her smile and raised her voice. “Zhou Jiajing, is that you?”
She had not heard the sound of the front door opening.
“It’s me,” Zhou Jiajing’s slightly cool voice sounded from outside.
Jiang Lianyue opened the door. “What is it?”
Zhou Jiajing handed her an envelope. “The betrothal gifts my family sent. The wedding was rushed, so they mailed it late.”
Jiang Lianyue glanced down at the bulging envelope, then looked back at his face. “We’re not really married. You should keep it.”
This scene had also appeared in the book. When the original owner received the envelope, she felt the in-laws had neglected her because it arrived late. She had a huge argument with Zhou Jiajing, angering him so much that he moved into the study, and their relationship deteriorated further.
Zhou Jiajing’s hand holding the envelope froze midair.
He had not expected Jiang Lianyue to refuse even the betrothal gifts. When he had said earlier that they would arrive late, she had clearly been unhappy.
Jiang Lianyue pushed the envelope back. “I’m not your wife. I can’t take this.”
If she accepted his betrothal gifts, it would only lead to more entanglements during the divorce later. Too much trouble.
Zhou Jiajing stared at her steadily. “There are coupons for ‘three turns and one sound’ inside.”
That was exactly the betrothal gift Jiang Lianyue had specified back then.
She gave an “oh.” “If you can use them, use them. If not, sell them.”
They were not especially valuable anyway. She could buy them herself after selling rolled rice noodles for a few months. Taking someone else’s gifts for no reason felt strange.
Zhou Jiajing studied her, that strange feeling rising again in his heart. She was different from before.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “Do you want to buy the industrial coupon from me?”
Jiang Lianyue froze, suddenly remembering that she really did need a bicycle. “I want the bicycle coupon. How much are you selling it for?”
“Ten yuan,” Zhou Jiajing said.
Jiang Lianyue nodded, turned around, took five yuan from the desk, then fished another five yuan out of her money pouch and handed them to him.
Zhou Jiajing accepted the money in surprise, opened the envelope, and took out the bicycle coupon for her.
Payment and goods exchanged, Jiang Lianyue yawned and asked, “Anything else?”
“No!”
“Then I’ll take a nap,” Jiang Lianyue said.
Zhou Jiajing closed the door for her.
She walked back to the bed and sat down, lowering her head to examine the bicycle coupon in her hand. A bicycle was printed on it, which looked quite novel.
Thinking that before long she would have her own means of transportation, the corners of her mouth lifted unconsciously.
With a bicycle, she could roam around freely.
Zhou Jiajing returned to the study and lay down for his midday rest as well. But unlike usual, he did not fall asleep quickly. The cloud of doubt that had surfaced on the wedding night grew thicker. He vaguely felt that this Jiang Lianyue was not the same Jiang Lianyue as before.
Yet she was still the same person, with identical looks and figure. He had never heard of the Jiang family having twins either. How could this be?
The same person, but a different personality.
Zhou Jiajing went over Jiang Lianyue’s behavior since arriving in Hengzhou County. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that the Jiang Lianyue before his eyes was not the junior-high-graduate, infatuation-prone Jiang Lianyue from before.
She had secrets.
Unable to help himself, Zhou Jiajing turned his head toward the left, as if he could see the person next door through the wall.
…
After waking from her nap, Jiang Lianyue first went to the mill to arrange with the owner to change the time for grinding rice pulp and soy milk to five in the morning. Soy milk could not be left overnight, and as the weather grew warmer, rice pulp would not be fresh if kept overnight either.
Then she went to the market to buy vegetables. Passing by the department store, she happened to see a bicycle ride past. Her heart stirred, and she stepped into the store.
This was the only department store in Hengzhou County. It was not large, just one floor, but there were quite a few people. Most were concentrated in the clothing and food sections. The home appliance and outdoor sections were cold and quiet, with more sales clerks than customers.
Jiang Lianyue had been here for a month already, and this was her first time visiting the department store. She found it quite interesting.
Supplies were scarce now, and there were not many goods in the store. Items were not displayed for close customer access like in later times. Almost everything was placed behind wooden counters, and clerks would take items out upon request.
Old-fashioned black-and-white televisions, toolbox-like radios, foot-pedal sewing machines, Jiang Lianyue looked on with great interest.
Such a complete exhibition of period items was something later generations would never get to see.
At the very back, she spotted her purpose for coming in, the bicycles.
Probably because bicycles were large, they were not placed behind counters like other items, but displayed directly.
The 28-inch and 26-inch bicycles were set apart. Jiang Lianyue compared their load-bearing capacity in her mind and felt the 28-inch model was more suitable.
“Buying a bicycle? Do you have a coupon?” a sales clerk with permed hair asked.
“Yes,” Jiang Lianyue nodded and pointed at a 28-inch Phoenix bicycle. “How much is this one?”
“150 yuan.”
The 28-inch bicycle looked very solid. Jiang Lianyue reached out and touched the handlebar. It felt sturdy and well-made.
“Are you buying it or not?” the permed clerk said impatiently. “If you’re not buying, don’t touch it.”
Jiang Lianyue nodded. “I’m not buying.”
The permed clerk immediately showed an expression of understanding.
She had noticed Jiang Lianyue shortly after she came in. There was no other reason, she was just too fair-skinned and pretty. Seeing her look around without asking prices or buying anything, the clerk had assumed she had no money.
“If you can’t afford it, don’t touch things casually. What if you break it?” The permed clerk rolled her eyes almost to the sky. “If you’re poor, don’t come shopping here!”
Jiang Lianyue smiled brightly. “I’m not buying today. I’ll buy it another day.”
The permed clerk froze, then raised her voice. “Are you messing with me?”
Her shrill voice drew many people to look over.
Jiang Lianyue had originally come on a whim to buy a bicycle. But the clerk’s attitude after she merely touched the handlebar made her uncomfortable, so she no longer felt like buying it.
“Little sister, don’t be so hot-tempered. You’ll get wrinkles easily. I just said I’m not buying right now. When did I mess with you?”
The permed clerk looked at Jiang Lianyue’s fair, delicate face, then touched her own sallow face coated in cold cream, and scowled. “I asked if you had a coupon. You said you did. I asked if you were buying. You said no, then said you’d buy later. If you’re not messing with me, what are you doing?”
Jiang Lianyue raised her brows slightly and said calmly, “I’ll buy it whenever I want.”
The permed clerk fell silent.
She wanted to snap at Jiang Lianyue, but seeing her composed demeanor and refined air, she worried her background might not be simple. If she treated her badly and got reported instead, it would backfire. She huffed angrily and turned away, ignoring Jiang Lianyue.
A middle-aged person came over from the food section and criticized, “Sales clerks are supposed to serve people. You shouldn’t treat customers so unfriendly.”
“What’s it got to do with you?” the permed clerk rolled her eyes and snorted.
The middle-aged person stiffened. “Where’s your manager? Call your manager out!”
The permed clerk turned, looked the person up and down, saw their plain clothing, lifted her chin arrogantly, and said, “You think you can see our manager just because you want to?”
The middle-aged person replied firmly, “If I want to see him, I certainly can.”
“Oh, really, ” Before the permed clerk could finish, a middle-aged man jogging over in a hurry cut her off sharply. “Huang Qi! Say less!”
“Brother-in-law, these two are picking a fight!” Seeing the man, Huang Qi looked as if she had found reinforcements and complained with a pout.
The man shot her a hard look, then plastered on a smile and said to the middle-aged person, “Deputy County Head Liang, welcome to our department store. If you have any instructions, you can tell me directly. She’s still young and doesn’t understand.”
The one addressed as Deputy County Head Liang swept a glance at Huang Qi, then at Jiang Lianyue, and said sternly, “She’s not young anymore, at least older than this customer. Since she’s already working, she’s an adult. Adults should be responsible for their actions.”
Huang Qi stood there dumbstruck.
Who would have thought that this ordinary-looking middle-aged person was actually the deputy county head?
The man glared fiercely at Huang Qi. “Deputy County Head Liang is right. Why aren’t you apologizing to the customer?”
Huang Qi’s face flushed, then paled, then flushed again. After a long moment, she muttered, “S-sorry.”
Liang Zhenhua said gravely, “We are public servants of the people, not lofty capitalists. We must treat the masses like a spring breeze, not with cold indifference.”
The man nodded repeatedly. “Yes, our work hasn’t been good enough. Thank you, County Head Liang, for your guidance.”
As he spoke, he turned to Huang Qi. “Go back tonight and write a self-criticism. Hand it in tomorrow. Half your salary for this month will be deducted.”
Liang Zhenhua was not finished and said to the man, “Come to my office tomorrow.”
The man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied respectfully, “Yes, I’ll come early tomorrow.”
After reprimanding the man, Liang Zhenhua turned to Jiang Lianyue and said kindly, “Comrade, feel free to look around. Looking doesn’t mean you have to buy. Their attitude was wrong.”
Jiang Lianyue nodded and was about to speak when another middle-aged person with short, ear-length hair walked over from the food section and said to Liang Zhenhua, “Big brother, what happened? Weren’t you here to buy milk powder? How did you end up at the bicycle section?”
Liang Zhenhua said, “Handling a bit of public business. It’s done now, let’s go.”
The short-haired middle-aged person turned and, upon seeing Jiang Lianyue, said in surprise, “Sister Jiang, what are you doing here too?”