“Regardless of whether she’s heard anything or not, the decision has already been made. It’s her. No changing the candidate.”
At the same private restaurant, in the same private room, Section Head Xu looked out at the streetlights and spoke decisively.
Section Head Lu and Supervisor Liu, however, were feeling conflicted. Section Head Xu hadn’t been there in the afternoon and didn’t know the full story. But based on what the two of them had found out, Tian Tian and that electrical shop employee were from the same village. And they seemed to be on very good terms. Both worried that Tian Tian might already know that someone at the cooperative was secretly selling off goods.
“Old Xu, what if they’ve already compared notes?”
Section Head Xu was a ruthless man—otherwise, he wouldn’t have become the head of the Purchasing Department in his early thirties. Seeing the hesitation of Section Head Lu and Supervisor Liu, he immediately made a decision. “Those who achieve great things don’t get bogged down by trivial matters. Since you’re afraid this Tian Tian will find out, we’ll just take care of her directly.”
“Hiss…”
“Old Xu…”
Section Head Lu and Supervisor Liu spoke in unison, staring at Section Head Xu in shock.
Xu, in response, made a throat-slitting gesture toward them.
“You two probably haven’t heard yet, but a few days ago, they caught quite a few smugglers down at the docks. Those people have been spilling all sorts of information since they were arrested. The route we use to move goods out is the same channel the smugglers use to move their merchandise. This isn’t exactly a secret.”
“With so many people arrested, there’s bound to be some rat who sells us out. While things haven’t come to light yet, our top priority is to destroy the evidence.”
Section Head Xu thought about what he’d heard over the past few days. Previously, he’d felt they didn’t need to be so extreme. But now, it seemed better to be ruthless. A man had to be ruthless to get things done. Without ruthlessness, it’s hard to get rich.
As for this Tian Tian, let’s just say she was unlucky.
“Hey, Old Xu. That… surely we don’t need to kill anyone, right?” Section Head Lu only wanted to make money. He had no desire to be involved in murder. Besides, Tian Tian was still his subordinate. Making her take the fall and ruining her future was one thing. But actually killing her? That was going too far.
Supervisor Liu nodded along too. Getting involved in a murder case would complicate things far too much.
“What are you afraid of? We’ll just make it look like an accident. Perfect timing—we can destroy the account books, the incoming/outgoing records, everything together.”
Section Head Lu tried to resist. “Old Xu, why don’t we just destroy all the account books and records ourselves? We don’t need to drag Xiao Tian into this.”
Section Head Xu sneered. “If it were that simple, would we be having this conversation? What’s this? You felt fine taking the money, and now you’re getting cold feet? This needs a scapegoat. Forget having her lose the account books. Now let’s just go straight for the kill. Find an opportunity to burn her along with all the account books, records, and the safe. But remember to take the money out of the safe first…”
“Th-this…”
Section Head Lu immediately understood what Xu meant. Supervisor Liu, seeing this, also caught on. His heart turned cold. He thought Old Xu was truly ruthless. Collaborating with someone like that felt anything but safe.
“Alright, you two don’t need to get involved. I’ll make the arrangements.”
Section Head Xu could tell that Section Head Lu and Supervisor Liu both wanted to back out. In this state, they wouldn’t get anything done properly. Fortunately, he had other people he could assign.
Relieved that they didn’t have to do it themselves, Section Head Lu and Supervisor Liu both exhaled in unison.
——
Far away at home, Tian Tian had no idea that danger was approaching. At the moment, she felt like the God of Wealth had been far too good to her today.
She pulled up to her house with a truckload of supplies and found a crowd of villagers standing in her yard.
They saw Tian Tian, and they also saw the tractor trailer piled high with goods. Someone immediately exclaimed:
“Tian Tian, where did you get all that stuff?”
“What’s with the way you’re talking? Obviously she bought it with money!” Tian Tian’s father came running out of the crowd, rolling his eyes at the person who had spoken.
The man, embarrassed by Father Tian’s attitude, looked a bit awkward.
Tian Tian jumped down from the tractor and called over a few familiar young men to help unload. She didn’t forget to ask her dad why so many people were in the yard.
Father Tian chuckled with delight. “A big truck showed up around dusk. Two out-of-towners got out. Said they came to buy seafood. I knew right away they’d taken a wrong turn. When they realized they were lost, they were about to leave, but I hurried up and pulled them into our place. We’ve got a thousand jin of salted fish!”
When Tian Tian heard this, she gave her dad a big thumbs up.
Smart indeed. That’s her dad for you.
“Your mom’s letting them inspect the goods batch by batch right now. The price is just like you said earlier—selling for 1.5 yuan per jin.”
So the price really could sell for that much.
The retail price of salted fish was usually 1.5 yuan per jin. With the Spring Festival approaching, prices had gone up a bit. Some vendors at the market were even selling for 1.8 yuan per jin.
These buyers were from out of town, in a hurry to load up and get back to sell before the holiday. So selling to them at 1.5 yuan per jin really wasn’t expensive. It saved them the time of having to find a source themselves.
“By the way, sweetie. Why did you bring back so much stuff?”
Father Tian grunted as he carried down a bolt of wool fabric and asked casually.
Before Tian Tian could explain, she was already surrounded by the villagers.
They had all come to watch the salted fish sale and hadn’t expected Tian Tian to come back with so many supplies. They weren’t about to leave without getting a clear answer.
Tian Tian didn’t disappoint them.
After all the goods were unloaded in a corner of the yard, she stood on a bamboo chair and called out to the crowd, “Everyone, quiet down please. Most of the things I brought back are for sale. If you want to buy something, please line up. No line, no sale!”
The crowd, which had been noisy and chaotic, immediately started shoving each other, everyone wanting to be first.
Seeing this, Tian Tian wasn’t angry. That’s just how villagers were—they all thought the first buyer would get the best items.
“No need to fight. These are all daily necessities, and there’s plenty of stock. They’re all defective goods, but the quality is fine.”
“None of them require ration tickets. Prices are the same as at the supply and marketing cooperative.”
Hearing this, the people who had been fighting got even more excited.
But Tian Tian added one last thing: “It’s dark out now, and our yard only has this one light bulb. If you crowd in and end up buying the wrong thing because you can’t see clearly, I’m not giving refunds. Don’t come trying to buy soap and leave with a towel.”
That last sentence was obviously meant as a joke. Everyone laughed, the mood lightened, and people stopped fighting over their place in line. Instead, they started discussing in small groups what they wanted to buy.
Seeing this, Tian Tian wiped her forehead in relief. She quickly called over Niu Zai to help. That kid had been the most helpful today—arranging the tractor, helping bring the goods back. Such a useful pair of hands naturally had to help sell things too.
She also called over Feng Mei, who had been watching from the sidelines, to help.
Tian Tian emphasized the prices to everyone, asked her dad to keep an eye on things, and headed over to the pile of salted fish.
Earlier, quite a few people had been gathered there, but now most had run off to buy things next door. So Tian Tian easily spotted the two merchants inspecting the goods.
They were tall and sturdy, and their Mandarin clearly marked them as being from the Central Plains region.
“Mom, how’s it going?”
Mother Tian replied, “You’re back? Are you hungry? After we sell these salted fish, I’ll make you something to eat.”
Tian Tian said, “No hurry. Before I came back, Niu Zai and I each had a bowl of stir-fried noodles.”
Besides checking if her help was needed, she had come over to get to know the two merchants. There might be a chance to work with them in the future.
They already knew Tian Tian was the real owner of the salted fish, so they didn’t look down on her because of her youth. After exchanging contact information, Tian Tian saw that her mother had things under control and headed back to the sales area.
She was surprised to see that a quarter of the mountain of goods had already sold.
That was incredibly fast. Fortunately, when they unloaded, the items meant for their own family had already been moved inside. Otherwise, they probably would have been bought up too.
She could already see people coming down the village road from time to time. Clearly, those who had bought things had gone back and spread the word. When these newcomers saw her, they’d start singing her praises—calling her amazing, capable, and so on. And it wasn’t just one person. Tian Tian spent almost the whole night hardly selling anything herself, instead dealing with all the compliments and probing questions.
In contrast to the lively scene at her place, the house next door—her uncle’s—was dark and quiet, with doors and windows shut tight.
In between selling, Feng Mei found time to gossip to Tian Tian. “When your parents brought the merchants over, Tian Xin was standing right in the doorway watching. She only shut the door when she saw you come back.”
Tian Tian followed Feng Mei’s gaze. Sure enough, her uncle’s house was all closed up. But wasn’t that figure watching from the window none other than Tian Xin? It seemed the girl truly hated her. Tian Tian thought the hatred was really quite ridiculous.
She guessed Tian Xin was probably planning something again.
But if she calculated the timing, the dozen or so letters she had sent should be showing their effects soon. When that happened, Tian Xin wouldn’t have the energy to keep staring at her.
That night, they were busy until past 11 p.m. By the end, people from two neighboring villages had even come with flashlights to buy things. After all, no ration tickets were required, the prices were low, and the goods were practical.
After sending off the people who had come to help, the family finally sat down to count the money.
Yes, the money from the salted fish sales that night was manageable—neat stacks of bills. But the money from the daily goods filled an entire woven basket. Much of it was small change, which was a pain to count. But the smile never left Tian Tian’s face.
By around one o’clock, the accounts were tallied.
The salted fish brought in a total of 1,500 yuan.
The daily goods brought in 2,103.8 yuan. After deducting costs, the profit was 583.8 yuan.
In just half a day, they’d made over five hundred yuan. If she told anyone, they wouldn’t believe her. But that was the reality. This was a seller’s market—almost nothing was unsellable. The demand for goods was enormous, far outstripping supply.
She placed 300 yuan in front of each of her parents, saying it was for their hard work making peanut candy and selling goods over that period.
Both tried to refuse. Mainly because the profit margin felt too high. Though they knew their daughter could make money—they’d seen it with the peanut candy hustle—earning in one night what most people made in a year was pretty frightening.
“If I give it to you, just take it. Right now I’m giving you 300 each. Give it some time, and I might be giving you 3,000 each!”
Hearing that, Father and Mother Tian both felt happy. But after the happiness came worry.
“Sweetie, all these goods—is it really okay to bring them back and sell them like this?” Father and Mother Tian were still uneasy. Their daughter had worked at the cooperative for over a year, and every time she’d brought back just a little bit of defective goods. This time the quantity was so large, it was just too strange.
Tian Tian didn’t hide anything. She roughly explained what had happened at the warehouse that day and the situation she was currently in.
“This is too dangerous. Since you’ve already sold the job, why don’t you just pretend to be sick tomorrow and not go in?” Father Tian said immediately after hearing her out.
Tian Tian shook her head. If only pretending to be sick could get her out of this. If she really didn’t go to work, she might as well hang a sign on her back saying “frame me.” By going to work, she wasn’t afraid of being set up. But if she didn’t go, she’d be fish on a chopping block.
So she had to resolve this quickly. The key question was whether Niu Zai’s appearance today would act as a catalyst.
——
The next day, Tian Tian found out that Niu Zai really had been a catalyst.
Because as soon as she arrived at work, Section Head Lu’s attitude became very courteous. He then pointed to a pile of ledgers and told her she didn’t need to go to the warehouse today. Later, Xu Lifen would bring the warehouse’s incoming/outgoing records, and they could go over them together.
This was already a bit strange. Yesterday she’d gone to the warehouse. Today, Xu Lifen was coming to her.
And what happened next made Tian Tian certain she was really in danger.
Because every other employee in the finance department except her had been called by Section Head Lu to go help out at the warehouse.
What made Tian Tian 100% certain of the danger was the discovery that the ledgers in her hands and the warehouse records Xu Lifen brought over were actually real.
Under what circumstances would criminals hand the evidence right to their victim?
When they were about to destroy both the evidence and the witness.
She knew it sounded crazy, but with ten years of future experience, Tian Tian quickly thought of some news stories from later eras.
“Fire at XX Unit’s Warehouse Destroys All Inventory.”
“Fire at XX Finance Office Destroys All Accounting Records.”
See? Simple.
One fire, and all the evidence is gone.
As for why they’d given her the real ledgers in the morning—they probably thought she was just a rookie who only knew how to paste receipts and wouldn’t understand the general ledger.
Too bad for them. She was a seasoned veteran with ten years of work experience. Reading a general ledger was no problem at all.
“Tian Tian, why are you staring at those ledgers so intently? Don’t your eyes get tired? Section Head Lu said the main thing is to compare the incoming/outgoing quantities with the totals in the ledgers to see if they match. Are you having trouble finding something? Do you need me to help?”
Xu Lifen spoke slowly and deliberately, without her usual soft, delicate manner.
Tian Tian looked up and saw that the woman’s eyes were filled with a kind of condescending pity.
Got it. This one probably knew about Section Head Lu and the others’ plan. Hell, she might even be in on the action.
“We’ll probably have to work overtime today. Luckily, someone’s bringing us our meals. After we tough it out today, we should be almost done tomorrow.”
Xu Lifen was still chattering away, and Tian Tian extracted their action time from her words.
During overtime tonight.
A dark, windy night perfect for murder.
With death closing in, Tian Tian felt a bit nervous. Her scalp tingled, goosebumps rose on her back. She even felt a sudden urge to use the bathroom.
Of course, all those feelings passed in an instant.
This era was one where even pigs could fly. But it was also the craziest of times.
Tian Tian took a few deep breaths and forced herself to calm down.
She had to save herself.
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