That day, Yun Su and her mother were at home making clothes. The main worker was Comrade Ma Ailan, Yun Su’s mother, while Yun Su was just helping out.
The family didn’t have a sewing machine, so making clothes meant sewing stitch by stitch with needle and thread. Honestly, watching this, Yun Su found it exhausting.
But compared to other families in the village, hers was actually doing pretty well.
The main thing was that her family lacked for nothing. Things like fabric, kerosene, and brown sugar—which normally had to be bought from the town supply and marketing cooperative—her family had in sufficient supply for the time being, thanks to Ji Xiangtian.
That was right. Ever since the incident at the town cooperative a few days ago, everyone had to go to the more distant commune cooperative to buy things. The village had organized a large group purchasing trip in the past few days, sending someone to the commune cooperative on behalf of everyone.
The reason for this group purchasing was that going to the commune cooperative required taking the bus. A bus ticket cost twenty cents, so a round trip would cost forty cents—enough to buy half a catty of meat. No one wanted to spend that money.
Yun Su’s family didn’t have this problem.
“Oh, I really envy your family. Now that Xiao Su has found such a good boyfriend, at least your family can live comfortably. Unlike our families—it’s inconvenient to buy anything. We can’t rely on others for everything.”
Aunt Lin, the neighbor, came over to visit and saw the mother and daughter making clothes. She couldn’t help but sigh.
Yun Su’s mother happily engaged in some low-key bragging. “What’s so special about that? It’s just the child being filial. Sometimes a future son-in-law can be even more thoughtful than a real son…”
Ji Xiangtian had been busy getting used to his new unit these past few days. But he had also heard about the problems the Yunjia’ao Production Brigade was facing. Unable to make time himself, he had sent someone to deliver a good amount of supplies to Yun Su.
The supplies had arrived yesterday. Every neighbor who saw them was envious.
Of course, there was one other person who also received this treatment—Yun Su’s older cousin, Yun Feng.
The person who delivered the supplies yesterday was none other than Gu Zhengrong, who had just returned from his mission. Ji Xiangtian had asked him to help bring things to Yun Su’s family.
Thus, both families had someone delivering supplies.
Yun Su’s family earned everyone’s envy. Yun Feng’s family, on the other hand, earned more of the villagers’ resentment.
They resented that Yun Feng could still have everything she needed after offending the cooperative, and that after promising to solve the problem quickly, she had done nothing.
In short, everyone was feeling very unhappy.
——
Listening to her mother go on and on, subtly showing off Ji Xiangtian, Yun Su found it quite amusing. Of course, most of the visiting neighbors spent their time grumbling about how unreliable Yun Feng was—not only had she offended people, but she had made no progress in solving the problem.
One woman, unable to contain her anger, went over to the house across the way to confront Yun Feng.
Soon enough, she came back fuming, clearly having gotten nowhere.
Yun Su sighed. She didn’t know how to comfort these people.
Just then, the ringing of a bicycle bell sounded on the main road outside the gate. Yun Su had a sudden flash of insight. She did some mental calculations—the timing was about right.
Sure enough, a mail carrier in a green army uniform soon appeared on an old bicycle, calling out at the fence gate, “Is this Comrade Yun Su’s home?”
Yun Su immediately jumped up. “Yes, I’m Yun Su. Just a moment.”
“Is Xiao Su’s boyfriend sending her something?”
Aunt Lin watched the scene at the fence gate curiously. The mail carrier pulled a rather thick envelope from his bag. Yun Su had just graduated from high school and hadn’t found a job yet. The only person who would send her a letter was her boyfriend.
Yun Su’s mother was also curious. But in response to the neighbors’ questions, she just smiled and said nothing.
Seeing this, the neighbors knew better than to pry.
——
Yun Su squeezed the thick envelope in her hand, knowing that the plan to solve the supply and marketing cooperative problem was now half successful.
She hurried back to her room with the envelope. Opening it, a newspaper fell out.
The newspaper was marked “sample copy,” but the date on it was the day before yesterday—clearly, the paper had already been published.
Yun Su opened the newspaper and soon found her article on the second page.
That was right—she had sent an article to the island’s only newspaper office. She had also sent the same article to major newspapers like the Yangcheng Daily and the Guangdong Provincial Daily. The island’s newspaper office, being closest, had been the first to respond.
The content of the article was actually very simple. It praised the town supply and marketing cooperative for strictly following regulations by checking letters of introduction, holding the cooperative up high. Then it described the various difficulties villagers in the surrounding areas faced when trying to buy things at the cooperative.
The article ended with a suggestion: to set up some distribution points in different villages to facilitate villagers’ shopping needs.
It was a very simple, unadorned article, written entirely in language appropriate to the current social environment. Yun Su was confident it would be published.
The villagers were fixated on getting the town cooperative to change its ways. But in Yun Su’s view, setting up a distribution point for their own village was the fundamental solution to the problem.
Because they had no power to expel troublemakers like Chen Xiangye from the supply and marketing system—at least not for now. So finding a new path was the most appropriate solution at present.
——
And of course, this article was seen by everyone at the town supply and marketing cooperative.
Because of it, the town cooperative’s director even received a commendatory phone call from the provincial supply and marketing corporation.
This made him feel a bit guilty.
The difficulties villagers faced in buying things, which the article mentioned, had actually been artificially created by them. But the article didn’t reveal any of that information, which reassured the director. He thought the country bumpkins must have been intimidated, afraid to file a complaint, so they had written an article praising them instead.
Thinking this way, the director felt quite pleased. Feeling pleased, he proposed to the corporation that, as suggested in the article, they should set up distribution points in the surrounding rural villages as soon as possible.
Yun Su didn’t know about this decision yet. At that moment, her mother had just shooed away the neighbors and came inside to ask who had sent the letter.
Yun Su didn’t hide anything. In a few words, she explained the whole situation.
“Oh my, are you crazy? How could you write an article praising that heartless supply and marketing cooperative?”
Seeing her mother get anxious, Yun Su immediately explained, “The praise is meant to help get the distribution point established. Given the current situation, the director of the town cooperative will want to save face and set up our village’s distribution point as soon as possible. Then it will be convenient for everyone in the village to buy things.”
Hearing this explanation, Yun Su’s mother fell silent. But she still felt uncomfortable. Why should someone who did bad things end up being praised?
Yun Su chuckled. “Mom, I can write an article praising him now. But after the distribution point is set up, I can write an article to bring him down.”
She had only been to the town cooperative twice, but she was already certain there were two factions there. When the time came, she could put in a little effort and send a few more articles to the newspaper. Once the director in power was removed, someone else would immediately take his place.
In any case, no matter what happened there, it wouldn’t have much to do with a fishing village girl like her.
After hearing her daughter’s explanation, Yun Su’s mother was astonished.
“Since when did you become so calculating? I was a little worried before that if you and Xiao Ji had a conflict, you might get the short end of the stick. But now I see I don’t need to worry. That’s good—a girl should have her own ideas, so she can live a good life.”
Yun Su’s mother suddenly felt many emotions. It seemed her daughter had grown up overnight. She felt a faint sense of loss.
“Mom, I know. By the way, where were we with the clothes? I don’t know how to make clothes, so I’ll have to trouble you in the future…”
Yun Su sensed her mother’s disappointment and quickly found other things to cheer her up. She didn’t want to be a strong, independent woman. In this life, she wanted to be a mama’s girl and a daddy’s girl.
——
Things proceeded just as Yun Su had anticipated.
Three days after the article was published, Yun Su received responses from the Yangcheng Daily and the Guangdong Provincial Daily. Without exception, both newspapers had published Yun Su’s article. At the same time, all three newspapers sent her a writer’s fee.
An article praising a supply and marketing cooperative, published successively in three major newspapers. The provincial supply and marketing corporation again called the town cooperative to commend them. Shortly thereafter, the village received a notice that a distribution point would be established there.
It was only at this point that the villagers learned Yun Su had quietly done this behind the scenes.
Although writing an article praising the town cooperative didn’t make everyone happy, no one opposed having a distribution point in the village.
How convenient it would be! They could just walk over to buy whatever they needed. Moreover, the village distribution point would have lower requirements for ration tickets. After all, the distribution point’s purpose was to serve the villagers.
“Ailan, how do you raise your children? To produce such a capable girl as Xiao Su?”
Li Pandi, the woman who had called Yun Su lazy and good-for-nothing the other day at the private plot, came to Yun Su’s house and opened with this line.
Yun Su was surrounded by relatives being praised. Hearing this, she almost spit out the water in her mouth.
Sure enough, once a person becomes famous, everything they do is right. She was still the same person, but Li Pandi’s words had completely changed.
“Exactly. Yun Su really put her heart into this. Quietly working behind the scenes to win honor for our village. Now, wherever we go, people say how impressive the Yunjia’ao Production Brigade is, raising such an educated and capable girl. They actually got distribution points set up in these fishing villages.”
The distribution point setup wasn’t limited to Yun Su’s village—several nearby fishing villages also got them. In a way, they had all benefited from Yun Su. So, unbeknownst to Yun Su, she had become quite famous in the area.
Because of her newfound fame, when the village needed someone to mind the store after the distribution point was established, Yun Su was the one put forward.
——
“This isn’t a supply and marketing cooperative job. It’s just an ordinary village position. But you can get a 10-yuan monthly subsidy from the cooperative, plus some ration tickets. Additionally, the village will give you full work points.”
Yun Su really hadn’t seen this coming.
She had just wanted to help the villagers. She hadn’t expected this follow-up.
By this time, a month had passed since the town cooperative incident. It was now late July, the height of summer.
Yun Su was at home eating watermelon with Ji Xiangtian. He was on leave and had brought two large watermelons. They had just finished eating when the brigade leader, Uncle Shu, came to the door.
“Don’t overthink it. Quite a few people in the village recommended you for this job. This distribution point exists because of your article.”
Yun Su looked at Ji Xiangtian. He looked back at her with sparkling eyes, his meaning clear—if you like it, do it.
She looked at her parents, who were chatting with Uncle Shu, and saw that they both looked very proud.
So Yun Su stopped hesitating. “Alright, Uncle Shu. I’ll do my best at this job.”
The brigade leader nodded happily. “Good. Then come to the brigade headquarters first thing tomorrow morning for a meeting. Once the distribution point is set up, you’ll need to go to the cooperative to buy inventory. The village accountant will handle the accounts. You just need to be responsible for selling the goods.”
After seeing off the brigade leader, the family was overjoyed.
“I never expected this opportunity. If Su Su does well at this job, do you think she might have a chance to be transferred to the town cooperative?”
Yun Su’s mother was overjoyed. Who else had a daughter as capable as hers? Writing one article had earned her not only over ten yuan in writer’s fees but also a job. Although it wasn’t a formal state worker position, she would still get a monthly salary, ration tickets, and work points. All that together—not even a strong male laborer could compare!
Yun Su’s father was also very excited, but he was more reserved, just saying “good, good, good” over and over. The arm that had healed and had its bandages removed was being waved around freely.
Her elder brother and younger brother were even more expressive, already shouting and cheering in the house.
Yun Su was infected by their joy. Her previously calm demeanor also became excited.
Word quickly spread to the neighbors, who came to offer their congratulations.
After greeting a few people, Yun Su pulled Ji Xiangtian to the backyard.
…
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