Yang Yuan sprinted back toward the office, taking the stairs two at a time.
Bundled up in a thick cotton-padded jacket and trousers, she lumbered along like a little bear.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“Look at you—you’re drenched in sweat.”
“Slow down.”
She nearly collided with Sister Dang from the Business Office, who reached out to steady her.
Panting heavily, Yang Yuan said in a hoarse voice,
“Sister Dang, my brother has to leave town immediately.”
“He’s rushing to catch a train and doesn’t have time to come home.”
“How much money do you have on you?”
“Could you lend it to me? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”
“Oh my, it’s that urgent?”
“Wait here.”
“I’ve got ten yuan.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
Sister Dang immediately put down the broom she’d been holding and hurried back into the office.
Yang Yuan already had ten yuan herself.
In those days, ten yuan was the largest banknote in circulation.
She always carried one.
It was an old habit.
Even back when mobile payments had made cash almost unnecessary, she’d still kept a hundred-yuan bill tucked inside her bag for emergencies.
The other two people in the office were also present.
Officer Wei Junliang lent her one yuan.
Director Luo handed her two yuan along with half a jin worth of grain coupons.
When Sister Dang returned, she gave Yang Yuan ten yuan and a full jin of military grain coupons.
After thanking everyone in a hurry, Yang Yuan counted everything.
Twenty-three yuan.
One and a half jin of grain coupons.
Enough for about a week’s travel.
She stuffed the money into Yang Wenping’s hands.
Then she pressed another ten-cent coin into his palm.
As he hurried away, she shouted after him,
“Take the bus to the train station!”
“Don’t run around and get yourself sick!”
She had no idea whether he’d actually listen.
When Yang Yuan got home and explained everything, both her parents were alarmed.
“Could something have happened to his records again?”
Yang Wenping had graduated the previous year.
He’d been waiting ever since for a government job assignment.
Every time he went to the Personnel Bureau to ask, they gave him the same answer:
“Just keep waiting.”
But how could a grown man simply sit at home forever?
Eventually, through friends and classmates, he learned the truth.
The Personnel Bureau had never received his student records.
From beginning to end…
There had never been anyone named Yang Wenping in their files.
Standing there in the bureau that day…
His face had turned completely white.
He knew exactly what it meant.
His academic file had disappeared.
His two years of college had effectively vanished.
He refused to give up.
He personally returned to his school.
He begged.
Pleaded.
Said every polite word imaginable.
It didn’t help.
Even if the school could issue replacement certificates…
Many official procedures simply couldn’t be recreated.
At the time, the country was in turmoil.
Those working in education feared for their own safety.
Everyone was struggling merely to protect themselves.
Who had the courage to get involved in someone else’s problems?
Besides…
The local education department had already been stripped of its authority.
Official seals had been seized.
Offices had been ransacked.
Nothing could be processed anymore.
Yang Wenping had broken down crying outside the school gates.
Finally…
Swallowing every last bit of his pride…
He went to the post office.
He practically clung to the managers there, begging them to search the mailing records from when the school had originally sent out his file.
He traced the route station by station.
Eventually…
The paper trail ended at a small distribution center.
That winter…
Heavy snow had collapsed the building.
One person had even been killed.
Many parcels buried beneath the rubble had never been recovered.
In the light snowfall of early winter…
Yang Wenping dug through the wreckage with his own hands.
One hand grasped bricks.
The other scooped mud.
From morning until evening…
He searched for nothing except one student’s academic file.
When he finally returned home…
He was covered in snow.
His beard had grown unkempt.
His hands were raw and bleeding.
Yang Father and Yang Mother were heartbroken.
But Yang Wenping smiled.
From inside his coat…
He carefully pulled out an intact document envelope.
“I found it.”
“Everything was worth it.”
As Yang Yuan served dinner that evening, she noticed the heavy expressions on her parents’ faces.
She guessed they had remembered that painful episode again.
So much time had passed since the file had finally been resubmitted.
Yet there was still no word about a job assignment.
Whatever information Yang Wenping had uncovered this time…
It had been important enough for him to return to the school once again.
Yang Yuan sighed inwardly.
This era was simply too uncertain.
Sometimes…
Hard work alone wasn’t enough.
Society itself was unstable.
People’s lives were often beyond their own control.
She could only hope…
That Fourth Brother’s trip would go smoothly.
That he’d return safely.
And that his long-overdue job assignment would finally arrive.
The next morning, Yang Yuan brought the borrowed money and coupons back.
She also gave Director Luo and Wei Junliang each a generous handful of White Rabbit milk candies.
Both men smiled broadly.
“Oh, Xiao Yang, you’re too polite.”
They each pretended to decline once or twice…
Before happily accepting.
Yang Yuan simply smiled.
Well…
That’s just how Chinese people are.
A little politeness before accepting is practically tradition.
She then went to find Sister Dang.
Since Sister Dang had lent her the most money, Yang Yuan naturally prepared a slightly larger thank-you gift.
In addition to returning the cash…
She included a two-liang pastry coupon.
Instead of accepting it and letting her leave…
Sister Dang grabbed Yang Yuan’s hand.
“We’re practically family.”
Then she shoved a handful of sunflower seeds into her hands.
“You’ve got to stay.”
“Come warm yourself by the stove.”
Before Yang Yuan realized what was happening…
She’d already sat down.
Practice soon proved…
She was still far too inexperienced.
She hadn’t even finished cracking one handful of sunflower seeds…
When she suddenly realized she’d already revealed where she lived, how many people were in her family, and all sorts of other personal details.
Spitting out a sunflower seed shell…
She wanted to cry.
Chinese aunties really are the world’s greatest intelligence network.
Seeing that Sister Dang was practically about to trace her entire family tree…
Yang Yuan hurriedly changed the subject.
“Sister Dang…”
“About the warehouse incident…”
“The factory director was furious after finished products were classified as defective.”
“What do you think will happen in the end?”
She bit neatly through another sunflower seed.
“Oh…”
“It’ll be handled however it’s handled.”
Sister Dang didn’t seem concerned at all.
“Xiao Yang…”
“You’re still young.”
“You haven’t seen enough.”
“Our printing and dyeing factory has only been operating for a year.”
“Even if the director has strict standards…”
“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”
“It’s only the first time it’s become public.”
She continued,
“If this had happened back when we were still part of the Textile Mill—what’s now Cotton Mill No. 1—”
“Nobody would’ve thought twice about it.”
“Take quality control.”
“So what if we’ve got inspectors?”
“Can anyone clearly define where ‘qualified’ ends and ‘defective’ begins?”
“Back when the Soviets were here…”
“They established standards.”
“But higher authorities later said we couldn’t keep letting others dictate our rules.”
“We needed our own national standards.”
“They also admitted our machinery is outdated and our production capacity is lower.”
“So quality requirements can be relaxed somewhat.”
She spoke with complete confidence.
“So tell me…”
“What exactly is a finished product?”
“And what exactly counts as defective?”
“If the temperature’s wrong and red flowers come out pink…”
“You’d call it defective.”
“But if I simply say the design was meant to have pink flowers…”
“Then suddenly it’s a premium product.”
“So…”
“What is it?”
“You think about that.”
She smiled knowingly.
Yang Yuan was genuinely impressed.
Her horizons had expanded considerably.
“So…”
“You mean the warehouse incident will probably end with a lot of noise…”
“…but not much actual punishment?”
Sister Dang shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
“You know about the rivalry between our factory director and Director Ma, don’t you?”
“Especially Director Ma.”
“He finally found something to use against our director.”
“Do you think he’ll let this go easily?”
“With that big mouth of his…”
“I guarantee all the directors and Party secretaries over at Cotton Mills No. 1 and No. 2 already know what happened.”
She lowered her voice.
“With all the senior leadership watching…”
“Do you think our director can simply ignore it?”
“Just wait.”
“The person who never came to work but still received awards…”
“They definitely won’t be staying.”
“The employee who misfiled finished cloth into the defective inventory…”
“They’ll probably receive disciplinary punishment.”
“As for the person who wandered into the printing and dyeing factory without authorization…”
“Smoked inside the warehouse…”
“And tried to steal state-owned fabric…”
“Hmph.”
“I’d bet they’re already being handed over to the Public Security Bureau by the Security Department.”
Yang Yuan thought about it.
That really was the best solution.
Now that the incident had been exposed publicly…
The factory could finally get rid of the ghost employee who’d been collecting wages without working.
With so many people watching…
Whoever had been protecting that person behind the scenes wouldn’t dare object openly.
It would also reinforce the factory director’s authority.
As for someone bold enough to stroll into a state-owned factory—and into the warehouse no less—right when the ghost employee investigation was unfolding…
Yang Yuan had a strong suspicion.
There was a very good chance that person was connected to the ghost employee.
Perhaps…
They were the ghost employee themselves.
Charging them with damaging state property and attempting to illegally sell government-owned cloth would be perfectly justified.
And if…
By some chance…
The person caught stealing fabric turned out to be the same individual who’d been fraudulently receiving wages and awards…
Yang Yuan couldn’t help smiling.
In that case…
Those powerful people behind the scenes probably wouldn’t be demanding favors anymore.
They’d likely be lining up to apologize to the factory director instead.