The reason bad people seem to live well is that they know how to play the game and have little sense of shame. In adversity, they’ll kowtow and beg, but once the trouble is resolved, they won’t hesitate to stab you in the back. Liu Meili’s little tricks now were just leftovers from her past—Sang Zhi didn’t even raise an eyelid.
She lazily yawned, “Tomorrow morning I want to eat stuffed pancakes. I’ve put the ingredients in the kitchen, but let me warn you: whoever dares to steal them, I won’t be polite.”
She hoped Liu Meili would recognize the situation and not cause any trouble; otherwise, where would she find a free nanny? Liu Meili cursed a few harsh words and took her son to beg for help. Unfortunately for them, bad news spreads faster than good, and her family now resembled rats in the street—if people didn’t kick them while they were down, it was already lucky. Liu Meili got turned away all night.
The small courtyard didn’t have a private toilet, so anyone needing to go had to use the public latrine in the yard. But kids had no such concerns. Many little ones not yet in school would just relieve themselves wherever, holding onto the little birds.
When Sang Zhi returned from using the toilet, she saw Grandma Zhao’s grandson peeing at the door. The boy, embarrassed when he saw her, tried to run back, but his pants weren’t pulled up, and he fell on some suspiciously wet ground. Grandma Zhao, frustrated at his stupidity, gave him two slaps. The scene was so comical that Sang Zhi couldn’t help laughing.
“Beep—Karma points minus ten…”
Sang Zhi’s smile froze.
“Host, please establish the correct values: schadenfreude is not allowed. Also, please start the newbie task as soon as possible: assist a patient within one week. Completing the task rewards a newbie gift pack of 200 karma points. Friendly reminder: once karma points reset to zero, the karma system will enter sleep mode.”
The system panel of the Karma Shop flickered dimly, showing only sixty karma points. Sang Zhi drew a sharp breath. She hadn’t realized that laughing could deduct karma points, or that there was a newbie task. The golden finger was great, but it came with a binding curse like Sun Wukong’s headband. Still, she secretly thought: when she levels up, she’ll laugh as much as she wants—she won’t fear losing points.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Liu Meili’s eyes were red and swollen, looking exhausted as she made stuffed pancakes. Even though they had escaped the rural household registration and had access to commercial grain, urban grain rations were limited. Residents got 23 jin (≈11.5 kg) per month, cadres 26 jin, and special workers, like steelworkers, 45 jin.
And the ration wasn’t all refined flour—half was coarse corn flour, two-fifths regular flour, and one-tenth rice. Her family of five, including three grown men, barely had enough per month, let alone refined flour. Knowing that the fine flour was being saved for her but couldn’t be eaten made her furious. She wanted to quit but couldn’t resist Sang Zhi’s threat of a slap.
The aroma of meat pancakes filled the air. Sang Weiguo squatted nearby, “Mom, give me some, I want some!”
The pancakes were only enough for one, but Liu Meili, cunning as ever, managed to make four small ones, sneaking one to her son. Sang Weiguo took a bite, then saw the “big demon” leaning against the door, arms crossed, smirking. Fearing his pancake would be snatched, he stuffed the hot food into his mouth recklessly, choking and rolling his eyes. Liu Meili hurriedly gave him cold water.
Sang Zhi ignored them, taking both the meat pancakes and the coarse breakfast cakes meant for the mother and son. “Meat pancakes for coarse ones. No objections?”
Early in the morning, she didn’t want to fight, but she also wouldn’t let them eat her food for free.
“No… no…” Liu Meili dared not object when she saw Sang Zhi brandishing a rolling pin.
After leaving, Sang Zhi handed the choking coarse pancakes to Grandma Zhao. In times of food shortage, everyone lived by tightening their belts. Knowing she had humiliated her grandson, the family even granted her thirty karma points.
Sang Zhi had work to handle today. Yesterday’s incident had caused quite a stir, and the factory had sent an investigation team. When she arrived, she was just able to provide some “testimony.”
After going out, she was stopped by the ward director, who also worked at the pharmacy and was the son of her grandmother’s servant. He had grown up with her father as a senior apprentice. The pharmacy vacancy had been arranged for her, but the original protagonist hadn’t been able to seize it. Seeing Sang Zhi, the old man’s eyes lit up, and he gave her a lecture in his office:
“You’re lucky to have escaped the educated youth’s relocation this year, but next year looks unavoidable.”
Avoiding the relocation meant either working or marrying. But good jobs were hard to find. The original protagonist hadn’t even kept the lucrative job she got. Seeing her lower her head in silence, the old man thought she was reflecting and softened his tone:
“All right, I don’t blame you. Your uncle is cunning—when trouble arose, he abandoned your brother and left himself clean. But once your brother leaves, the post will be vacant, and you can take it. This requires swift action. Come, let’s handle the paperwork.”
Sang Zhi had mentally prepared. After all, in the recording, only Sang Jian was present. Now, with no cameras or fingerprints, as long as her uncle claimed ignorance, the leaders had no recourse.
As for the job… the pharmacy position was fine, but without medical qualifications, she wasn’t interested. She told the old man her intentions. The young man, bright-eyed and spirited, reminiscent of his apprentice days, knew she shared her father’s ideals and held back his advice. He said he’d keep an eye out for hospital department vacancies.
The post was technically under her control, but with her unscrupulous uncle and aunt around, she preferred to secure it early to prevent any schemes.
Aunt Su Xia’s youngest son had also reached the age for rural assignment. If he didn’t find a job this year, he would have to respond to the call and go to the countryside next year. She was so worried that she could barely speak properly.
When Sang Zhi returned, she directly told Aunt Su Xia her intentions. Su Xia shook her head—she didn’t want to take Sang Zhi’s spot.
“Aunt Su, I want to become a doctor. Besides, you forgot, I still have an uncle I can rely on. Even if I can’t be a doctor, he can arrange a good job for me.”
After some negotiation, Su Xia finally agreed. But Sang Zhi insisted on paying and not taking it for free—she had to pay 800 yuan. At the current rate, an apprentice earned 400, and a regular worker 800. Since Su Xia was genuinely helping her, Sang Zhi agreed.
Su Xia gathered her youngest son, brought the documents, and hurried off to handle the handover.
On the Sang family side, Sang Yun and her mother also received the news. Even though their son had caused trouble, the job was originally compensation from the hospital to the Sang family. Pride aside, they thought it was worth causing a scene so their daughter could benefit, even if she got another scolding from Sang Zhi afterward.
Their plan was well thought out, but at the hospital, as soon as they mentioned their purpose, they were interrupted. The staff handling the handover smirked and said the vacancy had already been filled.
“Impossible!” Liu Meili shouted. Just last night there was an incident, the factory’s ruling hadn’t even been finalized, and now the job was gone?
At that moment, Su Xia and her son also came out of the office with Sang Zhi. Seeing them, Liu Meili realized she was too late. She grabbed her disappointed and yelling daughter. Liu Meili felt as if she had aged several years.
“Once things are settled, stop dwelling on it. The priority now is to maintain a good relationship with that retired senior leader. Then getting him to help find a good job is easy. His residence is full of influential people—you just need to marry someone capable.”
Sang Yun thought of the man at the station and blushed. Liu Meili didn’t notice her daughter’s expression; she told her to go back while she handled some matters herself. Today was payday, and she needed to get money to buy some grain on the black market.
But when she arrived at the accountant’s office, she was hit with a bolt from the blue.
“What did you say?!”