Chapter 30

Chapter 30

At the mention of the job quota, Liao Chengze's expression turned somewhat somber. He explained, "I had a comrade from our county. He sacrificed himself a couple of years ago, leaving behind a widow and her child. The military coordinated to arrange a job for his wife in the county town. His wife is a worrier; she overworked herself, fell ill, and her health broke down. Now she can't continue working anymore."

A widow with a young child, yet holding a job—all sorts of relatives were eyeing it covetously.

Some tried to sweet-talk and con her, while others offered a pittance trying to buy it off. When he passed through the county town on his way back to visit, he happened to run into a case of strong-arm tactics. Someone dared to claim they were offering a high price with just a hundred yuan and even threatened the widow, saying she should be careful when going out if she didn't sell. Liao Chengze caught him and gave him a sound thrashing.

At the time, Liao Chengze thought that dragging things out wasn't a solution for the widow. Since his own brothers were farming in the countryside anyway, he might as well buy this job quota himself—everyone would be happy.

So he paid three hundred yuan above the market price to buy the job.

Who would've thought he'd come home to *this*?

There was no way he would give the job quota to those heartless ingrates. Even others in the village, he didn't want to give it to. It wasn't that no one in the village knew about his daughter's situation; they just minded their own business, and not a single person informed him.

This time upon returning, he planned to sell off his things and never come back to the Fengshan Brigade again.

That being the case, this job quota in his hand became a bit of a headache.

There would certainly be people willing to pay for the quota, but Liao Chengze thought that this job was, after all, something his comrade had paid for with his life. It should be entrusted to someone with good character, someone trustworthy.

Moreover, this job cost three hundred yuan more than the market price. Even if he were willing to take a loss, it might be a hard sell.

After all, many people wanted to buy job quotas, but not many could come up with that much money.

The other day, when he heard that Shen Guoqing seemed interested in the nurse position at the commune clinic, an idea began to form in his mind. Over the past couple of days of interaction, he could also see that the Shen mother and son were good people. The only issue was that the asking price for this job wasn't low, and he didn't know if they would be willing.

Nowadays, a job typically cost around five or six hundred yuan. The job he had was priced at eight hundred.

"It's a job at the county machinery factory. Originally, the military leadership wanted to arrange a logistics position for the widow, but she was stubborn and insisted on entering the workshop. If you want to buy it, after taking over, you would naturally also enter the workshop," Liao Chengze said. "As for the money, a little less is also fine. Mine is indeed a bit higher than others..."

Wang Guizhi interrupted him, waving her hand. "We can't have you taking a loss. Besides, without connections, even if we had the money, we wouldn't know where to spend it. We're already so grateful that you're willing to give us this opportunity."

She thought for a moment and said, "It's just that we don't have enough money on hand right now. Could we wait a few days? I'll give my second son a call and borrow some from him first."

That was naturally no problem.

Liao Chengze smiled. "No rush. We can handle the job formalities first, and you can send me the money later."

Although he said that, Wang Guizhi naturally wouldn't actually do it that way. Not to mention they weren't relatives or close friends; even with the closest relatives or friends, one shouldn't act like that.

Buying and selling is one thing; borrowing money is another—they are two separate matters.

Liao Chengze sat for a little while longer before getting up to say goodbye, riding off on his big old bicycle.

Before leaving, both sides agreed that Liao Chengze would go through the formalities next Friday before returning to the military.

Long after he had left, Shen Guoqing still sat there dazedly, seeming unable to snap out of it.

"Uncle?"

Xiao Dizi came back from the outhouse, pattering over to him. She tilted her head and looked at him for a while, then turned her head questioningly toward Wang Guizhi.

Wang Guizhi twitched the corner of her mouth. "'Uncle' is probably so happy he's gone silly."

Xiao Dizi let out a long sigh. "Uncle, silly."

How worrying.

Shen Guoqing suddenly stood up, scooped up Xiao Dizi in one arm, and grabbed Shen Banyue, who had just walked over, with the other. Excitedly, he spun them both around in a circle. "Ahhh, I'm going to have a job! You two little girls are my little lucky stars!"

Anyone with eyes could see that Liao Chengze came to Xiaodun Brigade because he was fond of these two little girls.

If it weren't for these two girls, would Liao Chengze even know who Shen Guoqing was?

Eight hundred yuan was indeed a lot, but as long as he worked hard, he could save it back in a few years.

These days, although some people secretly sold jobs and there was a market price, it was truly a case of having a price but no market. If there really were one or two jobs being transferred, relatives and friends around would have taken them over long ago.

So, those who thought that just because his older brother worked in a factory in Jiangcheng, he could also find a job for him were dreaming. His older brother and sister-in-law naturally cared, but over all these years, they simply hadn't come across any suitable opportunities.

The family certainly didn't have that much money, but they could borrow some from his older brother and sister-in-law. If that wasn't enough, they could borrow a bit more from relatives and friends in the village. In any case, they should be able to scrape together the money.

After his "ahhh," Shen Guoqing burst out laughing.

Shen Banyue helplessly rolled her eyes. She really had to stop herself from kicking him.

However, it was really great that Comrade Shen Guoqing could get a job.

While Shen Guoqing was making a ruckus with the little girls, Shen Dechang, who had been sitting there without a word, silently got up and walked out of the courtyard.

The third son was also about to become a factory worker. Now only the eldest son remained stuck in the village.

And to make matters worse, the eldest son's family bore the heaviest burden. Aimin had married a wife and would have children in the next couple of years. Aihua was also coming up on marrying age. The two younger ones below still needed to go to school... Shen Dechang let out a long sigh.

Auntie Qin came out carrying a basket and happened to run into Shen Dechang sighing outside the courtyard. She couldn't help but find it strange. "Old Chang, didn't your family get several dozen jin of meat? What are you sighing about when you have meat to eat?"

Shen Dechang shook his head and headed toward the east end of the village.

Auntie Qin watched him walk away and shook her head. "Ah, the worries of a parent."

By this time, most households in the village had long since finished eating. Over at the Shen family's old house, however, Hu Huaihua was still banging around cooking. Shen Ailin sat on a small stool by the door, holding a piece of walnut cake in each hand, eating with great relish.

Seeing Shen Dechang walk over, Shen Ailin remained seated and asked, "Grandpa, Mom said your family has lots and lots of meat. Why didn't you bring some over?"

Shen Dechang paused in his steps and shook his head. "That meat was obtained by the little girls. It has nothing to do with our family."

Hu Huaihua stuck her head out from the kitchen. "How is it not related? Living in a brick-tile house, being provided with good food and drink—do we still need to separate what's yours and mine? Truly, from ancient times to the present, there's never been such a thing: letting one's own family live in a broken-down house while letting wild children from who-knows-where live in a tile-roofed house. With a stepmother comes a stepfather, and with a stepfather comes a step-grandfather."

Shen Dechang's expression grew even more sorrowful.

He reached into his pocket, fumbled for a long time, pulled out a dime, stuffed it into Shen Ailin's hand, didn't enter the house, and just hunched his back and walked away.

—

Over the next few days, Shen Guoqing was like a man possessed, going out early and coming back late every day—picking mushrooms, digging bamboo shoots, catching fish, gathering firewood... He sold the mushrooms and bamboo shoots at the commune purchasing station for money, exchanged the fish he caught at the commune canteen for money, and traded the firewood he gathered with the educated youth at the educated youth point for money. In short, he didn't let slip any opportunity to earn money, acting utterly maniacal.

Shen Wenyi suspected he had gone mad.

Originally, they were all good brothers just muddling along earning work points to get by. Who knew this guy would suddenly defect from the ranks of the "poor masses" and dive headfirst into the pursuit of money?

"Hey, have you taken a fancy to some girl whose bride price is exceptionally high?"

Shen Wenyi turned the soil half-heartedly, sneaking a glance at the work-point recorder not far away with his back to them. He simply stopped moving, turned his head, and glared at Shen Guoqing, who was sweating profusely in the cold weather. "Listen to your brother's advice: if the bride price is too high, just forget it. With the abilities the two of us have, even if we married her, we couldn't afford to support her!"

Shen Guoqing ignored him, continuing to turn the soil with vigorous swishes. He soon finished turning the plot, placed his hoe on the ridge, then stepped over to the neighboring field, bending down to pull weeds from the rapeseed field.

Shen Wenyi: "..."

Just as he was about to say something, his father approached from the other side and shouted loudly, "Work point recorder, dock Shen Wenyi a work point."

Shen Wenyi protested, "But, Dad, why?"

Shen Zhenxing pointed at Shen Guoqing. "What are you staring at him for? Instead of watching him, why don’t you learn from him? He's working his tail off, while you’re just standing around slacking off. How dare you ask me why?"

Shen Wenyi quickly relented, "Fine, fine, I get it. Just dock it, get on with it."

The old man's lectures never end.

Doesn't Dad realize that since Shen Wenyi wasn’t married yet, the points docked still come out of the family pot? Might as well be docking his own points!

Shen Zhenxing glared at him before turning and walking away with his hands behind his back.

Just then, a young man around his age sidled over and whispered, "Hey, Wenyi, are you really in the dark or just playing dumb?"

Shen Wenyi was baffled. "What do you mean? What am I supposed to know?"

The young man gave a knowing wink. "It’s about Shen Guoqing. He went on a blind date a few days ago, and it didn’t work out. The girl turned her nose up at him because he’s not a factory worker."

Shen Wenyi genuinely hadn’t heard about this. He frowned. "What kind of logic is that? If that girl wants a factory worker, she should go look in the city. Why even bother setting Guoqing up? What a waste of time. What kind of family raises a daughter that unreasonable? And who told you this? Sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me."

The young man glanced furtively at Shen Guoqing in the neighboring field. "Auntie Liu introduced them. The girl is the daughter of the accountant in her home village's production brigade. I heard she’s really pretty."

Shen Wenyi scoffed. "What good are pretty looks? Do they fill your belly?"

He thought for a moment and felt something was off. "Auntie Liu is the most seasoned matchmaker for miles around. Why would she set up such a mismatched pair?"

The young man chuckled. "Who knows? Anyway, everyone’s saying that Shen Guoqing was so stung by the rejection that he’s now driving himself to earn more."

"Cut that nonsense. I know my buddy—he’s not that kind of person," Shen Wenyi retorted, frowning. "Besides, how did you all find out about his blind date?" And why was "everyone" talking about it, yet he was left out?

The young man blinked. "It started from his own family's old place in the east end of the village."

Shen Wenyi's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out for a long while.

If it were anyone else, he would’ve immediately grabbed the guy and given him a thrashing. But it was Shen Guoxing’s family. Both sides were relatives, and his father often warned him not to get involved in disputes between brothers.

After some thought, Shen Wenyi hoisted his hoe, jumped onto the ridge, and ran off.

The work point recorder immediately grew angry. "Shen Wenyi, where are you going? You’ll lose all your morning's work points!"

"Fine, dock them! Go ahead!"

Shen Wenyi waved dismissively and dashed away in a cloud of dust.

Shen Guoqing was so lost in his work that he didn’t even notice Shen Wenyi’s departure. By the time he finished weeding the entire rapeseed field, it was exactly quitting time.

He washed his hands in the ditchwater by the ridge, shouldered his hoe, and started heading back.

At a fork in the road, someone suddenly called out to him from the side. "Comrade Guoqing."

Shen Guoqing stopped in his tracks and turned to look. The moment he recognized the person, he instinctively stumbled back a couple steps.

Hu Caidie was speechless.

Why did this man act like a mouse seeing a cat every time he laid eyes on her?

She stopped in her tracks and looked pitiful. "Comrade Guoqing, I’ve heard about what happened to you. Ah, this world is just like that—things that come easily are never truly cherished. Yet, what she rejects and looks down upon might be something others desperately long for but cannot obtain."

After saying this, she gazed at him affectionately.

A string of question marks flew through Shen Guoqing’s mind. What on earth was this girl talking about?

He glanced at her feet—good, they seemed perfectly fine—and quickly said, "If that's all, I'll be going now."

Even though his mother always said there were no ghosts in this world, only people scarier than ghosts, he still found this Educated Youth Hu rather strange. It was better to keep his distance.

"Wait."

Hu Caidie had never met a man so dense before. She couldn’t tell if he genuinely didn’t understand or was pretending not to, waiting for her to spell it out...

Gritting her teeth, she said, "Comrade Guoqing, to be honest, I’ve noticed you for a long time. I think you’re a wonderful person, better than all the other men in the brigade. You’re down-to-earth, kind, capable, and have many shining qualities. I... I’d like to build a revolutionary bond with you..."

At first, Shen Guoqing didn’t catch her drift. When it finally clicked, he was so startled that he instinctively took several more steps back.

His face flushed bright red, and he stammered for a while before blurting out, "I-I’m sorry, I don’t have such thoughts."

With that, he hoisted his hoe and fled as if his life depended on it.

Hu Caidie was left speechless.

Wasn’t he supposed to be down in the dumps after being rejected on a blind date? Wasn’t he supposed to be throwing himself into his work to earn money? At a time like this, when a pretty young thing like her suddenly confessed her admiration, shouldn’t he have been overjoyed?

Why did he react like that?

Ahhh, this is so embarrassing.

She was actually rejected by a country bumpkin!

If she weren’t afraid someone might pass by, Hu Caidie would have screamed in frustration.

Damn it.

Fuming, Hu Caidie turned and headed toward the bamboo grove.

As soon as she entered the grove, a young man who had been waiting there approached her. "How did it go?"

Hu Caidie’s expression darkened. "He ran away."

The young man frowned deeply. "Ran away?" A flicker of disgust passed through his eyes. *She can’t even handle such a simple task. What an idiot.*

But out loud, he said, "It’s not your fault. He’s just a blockhead. However, with the weather getting colder, if we don’t come up with a plan, this winter will be tough. Especially at the educated youth point—it’s drafty and leaky. I’m always worried your health won’t hold up."

He paused, observing Hu Caidie’s expression, then added, "Actually, Shen Wenyi isn’t a bad choice either. His family’s conditions are slightly worse than Shen Guoqing’s, but his father is the brigade leader, so he holds some authority."

He sighed. "Talking about this feels like a knife twisting in my heart. I hate myself for being so useless, unable to provide better conditions for you. I really..." He covered his eyes with his hand, as if unable to continue.

Seeing him like this, Hu Caidie’s expression softened. She hurriedly said, "I know, I understand your feelings. I know you don’t want this either, and neither do I. It’s all because of this damned place—so poor... It’s too hard. We’re really having a tough time..."

Just as the two were lost in their tender exchange, a faint *crack* sound came from the edge of the bamboo grove. The young man reacted quickly, signaling Hu Caidie to run in the opposite direction while he followed the sound to investigate.

There was nothing outside the bamboo grove, but a figure flashed by the stream and quickly disappeared.

A shadow of malice flickered in the young man’s eyes. He stood there for a moment before turning and walking toward the educated youth point.

—

Shen Wenyi, having openly skipped work, ran all the way to the brigade elementary school with his hoe on his shoulder. He arrived just as the lower grades were dismissed. After waiting at the gate for a while, he saw Shen Banyue walk out, surrounded by a crowd of children.

What a send-off.

Shen Wenyi thought to himself, since the founding of Xiaodun Village School, no one had probably ever enjoyed such treatment. Truly worthy of our Xiao Yue the Hero, who can save people and hunt game.

He waved at Shen Banyue, signaling that he had something to say.

Shen Banyue scooped up Xiao Dizi and quickly walked up to him. "What is it?"

Shen Wenyi first shooed away the curious little brats. After a while, the other children, including Xiao Jie, Xiao Wei, Xiao Zhuzi, and Little Stone, all left. However, Lin Mian refused to go, standing firmly beside Shen Banyue with a solemn face, his clear, black-and-white eyes glaring sharply at Shen Wenyi.

Shen Wenyi: "..."

Forget it, this kid's a clam—he can stay.

He summed up the village rumors: "The story came from the old house on the east side of the village. Regardless of whether it’s true or not, spreading it like this is just not right."

Shen Banyue stared at him in disbelief and reminded him, "I’m just a kid."

She was genuinely curious about Shen Wenyi’s thought process. With something like this, he didn’t go to Wang Guizhi or Shen Guoqing—instead, he came to her, a nine-year-old child?

Shen Wenyi waved his hand. "I know you’re a child, but you’re not an ordinary child."

He explained, "Look, Guoqing and I are as close as brothers, but Guoxing and I are also like brothers, right? When it comes to matters between blood brothers, it’s not appropriate for me, as a cousin, to interfere. Taking sides would hurt feelings, and later, someone might even think I’m stirring up trouble or sowing discord."

Shen Banyue stared at him expressionlessly.

"Besides, if Guoqing ends up fighting with Guoxing over this, wouldn’t the villagers gossip about him even more? He’s already upset about being rejected during the matchmaking. If he hears people talking behind his back, wouldn’t he feel even worse? So I figured we shouldn’t tell him."

Shen Banyue twitched the corner of her mouth, thinking to herself, You have no idea—your brother isn’t upset; he’s so happy he’s practically floating.

"Auntie of course can’t be told either. Telling her would be the same as telling Guoqing, right? After thinking it over, I decided this matter should be handled quietly by us."

Shen Banyue finally couldn’t help but point a finger at him, then at herself. "You mean, us?!"

"Yes, exactly—us!" Shen Wenyi didn’t see anything wrong with it. "If adults got involved, there’d be no solution. We can’t just stuff Shen Guoxing into a sack and beat him up, right? So I thought this should be settled kid-to-kid. You go beat up Shen Ailin, make his parents hurry up and clarify the rumor. Otherwise, we’ll beat him up every time we catch him. Those two dote on their little boy like a treasure—they’ll definitely obey and do as told."

Shen Banyue: "………………"

Suddenly, she understood why Shen Guoqing and Shen Wenyi were such close brothers.

They were clearly a pair of geniuses—each with their own special brand of logic!

If either of them were even slightly more normal, they wouldn’t come up with such a crooked plan.

Moreover, she could tell that Shen Wenyi had probably wanted to beat up that brat Shen Ailin for a long time. Now, with the slightest excuse, he quickly seized it.

Yet Shen Wenyi still wore a proud expression. "So, what do you think? My idea’s pretty good, right?"

Shen Banyue didn’t spare him any face. "It’s a terrible idea. Really terrible."

How was this related to Shen Ailin at all? He was just a little kid—what did he know about matchmaking? Beating up a child for no reason—was she a total bully?

She couldn’t help but ask, "Did Shen Ailin offend you?"

Shen Wenyi scratched his head. "Haha, not really. But for a while, that little brat kept bullying my nephew every day. My dad couldn’t bring himself to talk to Uncle Dechang, and Wendong wouldn’t do it either—he refused to beat up Shen Ailin."

"..."

Understood. He’d wanted to beat up Shen Ailin for a long time.

Shen Banyue thought for a moment, then beckoned for Shen Wenyi to bend down. Shen Wenyi simply squatted and leaned in.

Shen Banyue: "First, go find out about... then do this... and then we’ll do this."

Shen Wenyi thought it over and gave Shen Banyue a thumbs-up. "You got it."