As soon as the people at the supply and marketing cooperative saw Yun Su, someone immediately recognized her.
That someone was none other than Hong Li from the cookie counter.
“Oh my, sister, you’re here! Do you know someone from your village named Yun Su? Lately, Comrade Yun Su wrote an article praising our cooperative. We’ve all been very curious about which comrade it is. Unfortunately, no one from your village has come to shop here recently, so we haven’t been able to ask around.”
Hong Li rattled off a bunch of words and winked at Yun Su.
Yun Su held back a laugh and didn’t say anything. Hong Li knew perfectly well that Yun Su was Yun Su. Now she was putting on this act. Yun Su wasn’t sure what game she was playing.
But Yun Su was happy to play along.
Hong Li belonged to the faction in the town cooperative that opposed the director and Chen Xiangye.
A small township supply and marketing cooperative with just a handful of staff, yet they had two opposing factions. Yun Su found it rather surreal when she first learned about it.
But the more surreal it was, the more it benefited their village. She was happy to watch the drama unfold.
Yun Su cleared her throat and said:
“Sister Hong, I am Yun Su. I wrote that article. During my previous visits to your cooperative, I personally witnessed your sales clerks strictly following all the rules and regulations. Even though we had traveled all the way from the countryside, you remained impartial and insisted on checking letters of introduction before selling anything. Even though you often said things were sold out, the rigorous spirit of the cooperative’s sales clerks deeply moved us villagers…”
Hearing Yun Su’s words, Hong Li’s eyes grew even brighter. She quickly added:
“Oh, we don’t want to make things difficult for the villagers. But the regulations are the regulations, and as sales clerks, we can only follow them. I know it’s wasted a lot of your time—standing in line only to leave empty-handed…”
——
“And why couldn’t you buy anything?” An authoritative voice interrupted Hong Li.
Immediately after, Yun Su saw Hong Li purse her lips in a certain direction. Yun Su narrowed her eyes slightly and looked toward the source of the voice. Sure enough, the newcomer had the unmistakable air of a leader.
He wore the popular cadre-style clothing, with a pen clipped to his pocket. He carried a briefcase and had a very serious expression.
At that moment, Hong Li turned slightly toward him and bowed her head. “Director Xu, the reasons behind this are rather complicated…”
The town cooperative’s Director Liu, who was standing beside Director Xu, immediately explained, “Director Xu, it’s like this. Supplies are sometimes tight, and it’s easy for the villagers coming from outlying villages to miss out. We are also working to improve this situation. That’s why we applied to set up distribution points in the villages—to solve this problem.”
Yun Su had been observing everyone’s positions and the content of their remarks. She was fairly certain that Director Xu was a leader who had come for an inspection. She just didn’t know which organization he was the director of. From his tone, it seemed he was a leader who genuinely cared about the people’s conditions.
“Alright, you don’t need to explain. Comrade, I just heard your conversation. So you’re the one who wrote that article praising the cooperative, correct?”
Yun Su thought to herself, so he’s come to ask me about it.
Maintaining her composure, she nodded. “Yes, I wrote it.”
“The article mentioned the difficulties the villagers face when buying things. Were those descriptions true and not exaggerated?”
Yun Su nodded decisively. “Completely true, not a single exaggeration. This is the situation for all the surrounding fishing villages. Of course, our village has been particularly unlucky. Even when we bring our letters of introduction, the goods are either sold out or just happen to have been reserved for someone else.”
Behind her, Director Liu was as agitated as an ant on a hot pan at Yun Su’s words. He tried to interrupt her, but clearly, he wasn’t successful.
Yun Su didn’t expose everything all at once. This was an internal problem within the supply and marketing system. From just a few short exchanges, Yun Su could already tell that Director Xu was likely the “sword of justice” brought in by Hong Li’s faction.
——
In fact, the truth was more or less what Yun Su had guessed.
Director Liu had been commended by the provincial supply and marketing corporation because of Yun Su’s article. This had certainly drawn the envy of some people. Coincidentally, the backers behind Hong Li were at odds with Director Liu. So through a chain of connections, they had invited Director Xu, from the provincial corporation’s propaganda department, to come and inspect the work.
They had brought him in because he was known for being impartial and strict.
At the heart of this whole affair was a farce started by Chen Xiangye’s desire for revenge against some girl from Yunjia’ao. Director Xu would be able to get to the bottom of it quickly. Then Director Liu would be in trouble, and Chen Xiangye would be in trouble too.
Although these events wouldn’t unfold until a week later, Yun Su could already sense something unusual from the interactions between these people.
She didn’t linger. After saying goodbye, with all the documents in hand, she went straight to the cooperative’s accountant, paid the money, and, using the purchase order issued earlier, picked up the goods directly from the warehouse and headed home.
On the way, Yun Huaimin could finally talk to his sister.
“Little Sister, that cooperative business is pretty complicated, isn’t it!” He might not have fully grasped the ins and outs, but he could sense the underlying dynamics.
Yun Su nodded. “Yes, but it doesn’t have much to do with us country folk. Anyway, the distribution point is set up now, and we’ve got the goods. We can open the store as soon as we get back. Too bad we couldn’t buy you that fabric, Brother.”
Given the tense atmosphere, Yun Su had naturally wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
Yun Huaimin waved his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. A grown man doesn’t need to worry too much about appearances.”
Yun Su looked at this twenty-year-old “grown man” and couldn’t help but smile.
Today was truly a good day!
Based on what she’d seen today, it seemed she wouldn’t need to write another article. That Director Liu and Chen Xiangye were both in for it!
——
A week later, the village distribution point was running smoothly.
Yun Su sat in a cool spot in the shop reading a book. From time to time, village children would stand at the door and peer inside. After a couple of curious glances, they would run off giggling.
The distribution point wasn’t large—about thirty square meters. There was no glass counter, just a long wooden table. There were no goods on the table; Yun Su sat at the table reading.
All the goods were placed on the shelves behind her.
This arrangement made Yun Su’s job much easier. At the very least, she didn’t have to worry about the risk of things being stolen. The long wooden table created a barrier between the shelves and the customers.
Most of the goods sold here were daily necessities—needles and thread, matches, kerosene, brown sugar, soy sauce, toilet paper, and the like. Items that required industrial ration coupons—thermos bottles, enamel mugs, enamel basins—were nowhere to be found.
But even so, the distribution point filled the villagers with pride.
People came by to shop almost every day—if not to buy a couple of ounces of soy sauce, then to buy a box of matches.
Yun Su didn’t water anything down. The soy sauce and kerosene were of excellent quality.
Just as Yun Su was engrossed in her book, a shadow fell over her. She looked up and broke into a radiant smile.
“You’re here so early!”
It was a little past ten in the morning. The distribution point didn’t have a clock, but Yun Su carried the ruby pocket watch Ji Xiangtian had given her. With it, she never worried about getting the closing time wrong.
“A car came by today, so I hitched a ride.”
Looking at Yun Su—her hair in two neat braids, her lips red and teeth white, her smile bright—Ji Xiangtian felt the weariness from a week’s work instantly lift. Every time he saw Yun Su, he felt the same comfort as soaking in warm water.
It made him wish, every time he had a day off, that he could just stay by Yun Su’s side and never leave.
——
“The town cooperative is in trouble.”
Ji Xiangtian, familiar with the place, took out an oil-paper package and unwrapped it, gesturing for Yun Su to eat quickly.
From the smell, Yun Su knew it was cold-mixed pig ear. This dish was only available at state-run restaurants. Unfortunately, Yun Su didn’t have meat ration coupons and couldn’t buy from them. But Ji Xiangtian knew Yun Su loved pig ear, so he brought her some every time he came. So, munching on the refreshing cold-mixed pig ear, Yun Su listened to Ji Xiangtian tell her about the town cooperative’s situation.
“I had asked someone to look into Chen Xiangye’s background. Then my classmate came back and told me that the provincial supply and marketing corporation had already issued a document criticizing some of the town cooperative’s employees by name. Among them were Director Liu and Chen Xiangye.”
Hearing that these two had been publicly criticized, Yun Su was delighted.
“So where have they been transferred?”
Being fired was out of the question. State-run enterprises in those days never fired anyone. Not unless they had committed murder or arson, or had problematic ideologies.
Ji Xiangtian added some warm water to Yun Su’s cup before continuing. “I heard they were transferred to a small town north of the island.”
North of the island, there were a few mountains, and transportation there was very inconvenient—even less convenient than getting around in Yunjia’ao. Near their brigade, there was a large pier where passenger ships to Yangcheng would stop.
This outcome was quite good for those two.
Ji Xiangtian noticed that Yun Su had a smudge of soy sauce from the cold-mixed pig ear at the corner of her mouth. He took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and carefully brought it up to Yun Su’s face.
Seeing this, Yun Su leaned her head toward him, indicating that he should wipe it for her.
Ji Xiangtian felt a little embarrassed, but his hand moved on its own, wiping Yun Su’s mouth clean. As he pulled his hand away, he accidentally brushed against her bright red lips.
Yun Su felt a tingle run down her back at his touch. She was a little flustered at first, but when she saw that the man’s ears had turned red again, she suddenly felt she could handle it.
——
Ji Xiangtian cleared his throat twice, put away his handkerchief, and continued, “I also found out about Chen Xiangye’s background. Her family has many people in Yangcheng’s supply and marketing system. They’re locals with a lot of relatives, but none with any real influence. The most influential one is a distant uncle who works as a purchaser at the Yangcheng Friendship Store. That Director Liu is connected to this distant uncle through a roundabout family relationship.”
That was quite a distant connection.
A family like that could still be so arrogant, bullying villagers from their little fishing village as they pleased.
“Anyway, after Chen Xiangye got into trouble, this distant uncle from the Friendship Store didn’t step in to help.”
Of course he didn’t step in. The connection was too distant. It wasn’t worth the effort to get involved for someone like that.
Yun Su nodded with great satisfaction, feeling that this matter had finally come to a good resolution.
Ji Xiangtian was also very pleased. Even though he could protect Yun Su, having the troublemakers meet their downfall meant Yun Su wouldn’t have any trouble at all.
“By the way, that male comrade who had the blind date with your cousin—the one who’s Chen Xiangye’s nephew—I heard he’s still going on blind dates everywhere. After Chen Xiangye fell from grace, his family hasn’t stepped forward to say anything either.”
Yun Su thought of that Comrade Chen Pingshun—1.55 meters tall, his face covered in pockmarks. He hadn’t seemed like someone who would easily find a match in the city. But almost a month had passed, and he apparently hadn’t found a match in the countryside either.
How strange!
After saying all this, the two changed the subject and began discussing their plans for going to Yangcheng the next day. Just then, someone walked in through the door.
Yun Su turned her head and was very surprised.
When had this person been released?
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