Chapter 99 The Visitor is Not Friendly
Seeing the group of women at the door, led by Li Dazui's wife, Shu Ran knew they were up to no good.
The warmth that had appeared on her face because of Chen Yuanjiang's visit quickly faded, replaced by a polite but distant smile.
"Oh, it's Sister Honghua, and these two sisters-in-law too. Please come in and sit down." Shu Ran stepped aside to make way for the doorway, her tone neither humble nor arrogant. "We just moved in, and it's quite a mess. There's not even a place to sit. Please excuse us."
Li Dazui, whose real name is Wang Honghua, scanned the room with her triangular eyes, lingering for a moment on the reinforced bed, desk, and the dark blue curtains that Shu Ran hadn't had time to hang up yet. She curled her lip and said, "Wow, Teacher Shu is really efficient. You just got it, and you've already tidied it up so well. You couldn't have done it all by yourself, could you? You're definitely a cultured person from the city; you know how to invite people."
Her words sounded like a compliment, but they subtly implied that Shu Ran had been prepared or had received some special help. The two women beside her echoed her sentiments, their eyes filled with envy.
Shu Ran seemed oblivious, simply smiling as she said, "It's all thanks to everyone's help. Sister Wang, Xiulan, and even Sanitary Worker Xu all lent a hand. The leaders assigned me this house because they trust me, so I can't be too sloppy and embarrass the organization, can I?" She didn't mention Chen Yuanjiang.
Wang Honghua was taken aback, then snorted. Her gaze fell on the conspicuous camphor wood chest in the corner, and her tone became even more sarcastic: "Teacher Shu's family is really well-off. Look at this big chest. All of us combined don't even have this chest worth as much as we do, do we?"
This is going to be about class background again. Shu Ran knew exactly what was going on, but she still smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, you're joking. These are all old things that the elders in the family prepared for us. They're not worth much money, just something to remember us by. In our production and construction corps, what matters is the contribution of labor, not who has the biggest trunk." She steered the conversation back to the main point.
Wang Honghua's attempts to confront Shu Ran were all easily thwarted, fueling her anger. She leaned forward, lowering her voice, but loud enough for everyone inside and outside the room to hear: "Teacher Shu, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but you're an unmarried young woman, living alone in a room like this... this is really bad. What if something happens at night? You'll be all alone. What if there's gossip? What will your reputation be like?"
These words were extremely malicious, directly attacking Shu Ran's gender and reputation.
Shu Ran's eyes instantly turned cold, but before she could speak, a loud voice came from outside the door: "Wang Honghua! What nonsense are you spouting!"
Before the words were even finished, Sister Wang rushed in. She had obviously heard something and rushed back. Now the company's official women's representative, in charge of family affairs and women's thoughts, her voice carried considerable authority.
Upon seeing Sister Wang, Wang Honghua's imposing manner immediately diminished, and she said awkwardly, "Sister Wang, I... I was only doing this for Teacher Shu's own good..."
"For her own good?" Sister Wang stood in front of Shu Ran with her hands on her hips. "I think you're just jealous! The organization allocated housing to Teacher Shu for the sake of her work! For the sake of the children in our company! What are you talking about regarding the reputation of young women? According to your logic, all the single female employees in our corps should give up their personal space and just squeeze into communal dormitories? Your ideological awareness needs improvement!"
Sister Wang speaks very eloquently these days, directly labeling someone as having "high ideological awareness."
Wang Honghua's face flushed red and then turned pale as she mumbled, "I...I didn't mean that..."
"Shut up if that's not what you meant!" Sister Wang said bluntly. "Teacher Shu is an advanced worker in our company, someone who brings honor to all of us! Secretary Liu and Company Commander Ma both spoke about the importance of her work at the meeting! You lot, instead of thinking about how to support the school's work, you're just gossiping and holding everyone back! If I hear anyone spreading rumors about Teacher Shu behind her back again, don't blame me for reporting it to the company and dealing with it as a case of disrupting unity!"
Sister Wang is now a women's representative, so her words carry some weight. Seeing this, the other two women quickly pulled Wang Honghua away, saying, "Come on, come on, Honghua, say less..."
"Representative Wang, we just came to take a look, that's all..."
The three of them slunk away.
Shu Ran felt a warm glow in her heart as she watched Sister Wang's retreating figure as she stood up for her. "Sister Wang, thank you."
Sister Wang turned around and patted her hand: "No need to thank me! You're the apple of our company's eye now. If anyone dares to bully you, I'll be the first to object!"
She looked at Shu Ran's little house and sighed, "You're lacking everything here. Tomorrow I'll get a few grown men to help you build a stove, so at least you can boil some water."
"No need to trouble yourself, I can manage on my own..."
"What trouble is this! You've done so much for the company, what's a little help like this?" Sister Wang said without waiting for a reply, then suddenly seemed to remember something and smiled teasingly, "Oh! I'm really being redundant, Special Commissioner Chen must have thought of that already!"
Sister Wang's teasing remark made Shu Ran's face flush slightly, and she subconsciously touched the thick, windproof, dark blue curtains.
"How could he have imagined so much..." Shu Ran muttered to herself, as if refuting Sister Wang, or perhaps reminding herself.
She shook her head, clearing her mind of these chaotic thoughts; now was not the time to dwell on them. The most important thing was to make her little nest look presentable.
After seeing Sister Wang off, the small house was empty, with almost nothing except for the camphor wood chest, the reinforced bed board, and the desk. The floor was compacted dirt, and Shu Ran rolled up her sleeves, found a broom, and carefully swept it inside and out.
After finishing all that, it was already evening. Shu Ran straightened her slightly sore back and looked around the newly renovated little house, a sense of peace and belonging welling up inside her.
This will be her base of operations, where she can settle down and realize her ambitions.
She took out a jar of face cream from the bottom of the camphor wood box and carefully applied it to her hands.
"Knock knock knock—" A soft knocking sound rang out on the door.
"Who?" Shu Ran asked warily. Having just gone through the room allocation turmoil, she had to be even more cautious.
"Teacher Shu, it's me, Xiulan." It was Li Xiulan's hushed voice outside the door.
Shu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door. Li Xiulan darted in carrying a rough earthenware bowl, which contained steaming cornmeal porridge, topped with a few shredded pickled vegetables.
"I know you just moved in and haven't cooked yet, so I brought you some food." Li Xiulan shoved the bowl into Shu Ran's hands, curiously looking at the walls covered with newspaper and the curtains hanging up. "Wow, you tidied up really fast! The curtains are quite thick and will block the wind well."
Shu Ran took the bowl, feeling warm inside: "Thank you, Xiu Lan. Please sit down." There were no chairs in the room, so the two sat side by side on the bed.
Li Xiulan sniffed, then suddenly lowered her voice, a hint of mystery and excitement in it: "Teacher Shu, today at the sideline production team, I saw the residue from rendering mutton fat. It smelled a bit muttony, but it was oily. Do you think this stuff can be used to make a moisturizing cream?"
Shu Ran's eyes lit up: "Lamb fat residue? Maybe it will work! The key is to remove the odor and purify it. Junjun has glycerin, we can try mixing the filtered lamb fat with glycerin, maybe we can add something fragrant, like... dried jujube flowers?"
She recalled the inconspicuous yet tenacious jujube trees on the Gobi Desert, which emitted a rich fragrance during their flowering season.
"Oxalis flowers? They're easy to find! We'll go pick them when spring comes!" Li Xiulan became even more excited. "By the way, Sister Wang just ran into me and said she remembered about the stove renovation and will look for Master Sun tomorrow."
"Yes, my sister is so kind. I don't know how to thank her." Shu Ran scooped a spoonful of warm paste into her mouth, feeling much more at ease in both her stomach and heart.
"No need to thank me, it's you who are thinking of things for us women!" Li Xiulan said, glancing at Shu Ran's camphor wood chest. After hesitating for a moment, she still reminded her, "Teacher Shu, there are some things in your room... you should put them away. There are people watching you, both openly and secretly."
Shu Ran knew that Li Xiulan meant that the incident of Zhou Qiaozhen opening the box for inspection should not be repeated.
Shu Ran nodded: "I understand, Xiulan." She knew that Li Xiulan's reminder was well-intentioned. This independent little house, while giving her freedom and space, also exposed her more directly to the gaze of others, especially those who were not so friendly.
After seeing Li Xiulan off, Shu Ran washed the bowls and placed them on the remaining spot on the new stove.
Night fell, and a wind picked up outside. Shu Ran lit a kerosene lamp; the flickering flame cast her long shadow onto the wall covered with newspaper.
Alone at night, the excitement and busyness of the day faded, and a sense of loneliness crept in. Having lived in a communal setting for so long, she felt very uncomfortable.
She spread out the paper, and by the light of the lamp, began to plan for the future. She wrote and drew, her eyes focused.
Outside the window, the wind seemed to have subsided a bit. She heard the faint sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar, then receding again.
"I don't want to think about it anymore, I'm going to sleep." Shu Ran put down her pen, stretched her arms, and blew out the kerosene lamp.
The next day, Shu Ran went to wash clothes by the ditch and noticed something was amiss. Several women who had been chatting and laughing while washing clothes suddenly fell silent and avoided her gaze when they saw her approaching. After she walked away, she could still faintly hear their murmurs.
"...Look at her hands, so tender and white, they don't look like hands used for manual labor..."
“He’s a teacher, a cultured person, of course he’s different from us…”
"You used face cream, didn't you? It smells nice..."
"Tsk tsk, the manners of a capitalist's daughter..."
These voices weren't loud, but they were very unsettling. Shu Ran knew that suppression alone wasn't enough; she had to fundamentally change these women's views, or at least divide them and win over the majority.
As she washed the clothes, she calmly pondered. These women weren't inherently evil; they were simply worn down by the hardships of life and blinded by ingrained prejudices and narrow-minded jealousy. They rejected her partly because she had obtained scarce resources, and partly because her "difference" touched upon many things they had been forced to give up due to their toil.
With this in mind, Shu Ran had an idea.
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