Chapter 074 Chapter 74 Encounter

Lin Yue had never expected Zhang Yuandong to buy her a watch. After coming here for a few years, she had almost gotten used to looking at the sky to tell time, and there was already a wall clock at home, so she had neglected the matter of the watch. Unexpectedly, Zhang Yuandong still remembered it.

Previously, Zhang Yuandong wanted to buy her a bicycle, and asked someone to exchange a lot of industrial coupons for her. Now that the plan to buy a bicycle has been shelved, the saved industrial coupons can be used to buy a watch for Lin Yue.

Watches are in high demand, but there are quite a few on display in the counter, both domestic and imported.

They had bought a lot of things, which had been seen by many people. The watch clerk did not dare to look down on them. He took out the watches promptly and was very easy to talk to.

The watch Zhang Yuandong was wearing was donated to the army by the Haishi Watch Factory and then distributed uniformly by the army. He has been wearing it for many years. Lin Yue saw Haishi watches on the counter, which were also very nice, so he decided to buy one of this brand.

Liu Fang followed the family of four and joined in the fun, whispering, "Brother Zhang, you have a radio and a watch, you have half of the three-turn and one-ring, are you trying to give your sister-in-law a dowry?"

Zhang Yuandong was immune to being teased, and pretended to be calm as he paid the bill. As a result, he accidentally bumped into a gay man next to him. He quickly apologized to the man, but was glared at by him with contempt.

He was a young man in his twenties, wearing a thin windbreaker and a pair of shiny leather shoes. Although he didn't have a greasy haircut, Lin Yue could tell that his hairstyle was carefully groomed.

This guy is good-looking and well-dressed. At first glance, he is not much worse than the actors in the movies. Lin Yue and his group also wore new clothes today for shopping, but they are no match for this guy, so it is normal for them to be despised.

Lin Yue kept looking at the young man and always felt that he gave her a bit of a strange feeling, until she saw him walk up to a lady who looked to be in her forties and was clearly well-maintained, tugged at the lady's sleeve, and whispered something.

The lady glanced over here casually, raised her hand and patted the young man's arm twice, then turned around and walked out.

Lin Yue and her group followed the two men out of the door almost at the same time. She watched the two get into a small car parked on the side of the road, and instantly remembered who this woman was. She had met this comrade years ago. At that time, she was wearing a plain suit, the same style as the T-shirt Zhang Yuandong bought for her. It was too long ago, and Lin Yue was far away at the time, so she didn't remember it for a while, but now she remembered it when she saw the car.

The young man carefully protected Miss Zhou's head to prevent her from being hit by the car door, and his other hand inadvertently supported her waist.

Watching the interaction between the two, Lin Yue suddenly understood.

Zhang Yuandong frowned and looked at the man, with a thoughtful expression on his face. When he came to his senses, he found that Lin Yue had also been secretly looking at the man. He walked over calmly, blocked Lin Yue's inquiring gaze, and asked indifferently, "What's wrong? Do you know them?"

Lin Yue shook his head and laughed, "I just think that couple is pretty good-looking."

"That couple?" Zhang Yuandong frowned again. "They are not a couple. Everyone calls that woman Miss Zhou. Her husband is the second in command in the county, and she herself is a famous reporter for a newspaper."

What Zhang Yuandong did not say was that Miss Zhou’s father had once worked as a long-term worker in the home of an enemy spy. After liberation, he stood on the standpoint of the exploited class and exposed the identity of his master. He stood out at the grievance meeting, and his whole family was taken to the county and became glorious working class.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, their former boss and his whole family fled to Chang Kaishen, but no one was actually caught. Therefore, in this operation to capture enemy spies, their whole family was the key surveillance target, and the surveillance on them was only recently cancelled.

Lin Yue didn't expect this lesbian to have such a high status, and was even more surprised: "Oh, then she is quite brave to openly bring her lover out shopping!"

In her previous life, the female leader had never been married and had several such "good brothers" around her. Many of them had caused trouble in the company, which made her fully realize the palace intrigues between men, which are much more exciting than those between women.

Zhang Yuandong's heart was slightly moved when he heard her say this. He knew that Lin Yue was not a person who would do something without a purpose. Maybe she would relax a little in front of him, but she would never make a joke about such a thing.

After the car drove away, he hurriedly said a few words, got on his tricycle and followed it from a distance. Finally, he saw with his own eyes that the two of them walked into the alley of the county hospital, pulling each other.

Zhang Yuandong looked worried after he came back.

He had always felt that the alley was not as simple as it seemed, but the last time he followed Zhang Xiaohui in, he found nothing except a black market. This time, he did not dare to go in rashly and had to go back. But he was unwilling to give up and kept thinking about it.

At this time, they were sitting in a movie theater. After walking around the streets for a whole morning, the two kids had already fallen asleep. Lin Yue and Liu Fang had nowhere to go, so they each carried a child into the theater, watching a movie while waiting for Zhang Yuandong.

The noise in the cinema was too loud and not suitable for children to sleep, but the two little guys still slept soundly in the adults' arms.

Lin Yue knew it was a work matter from the moment Zhang Yuandong chased her out. Fearing that there might be some secrets, she did not dare to ask.

But Liu Fang didn't have so many concerns. He knew that if it was something that was inconvenient to talk about, even if his parents asked, Zhang Yuandong would not answer. Moreover, from his observations during this period, Zhang Yuandong's relationship with his parents was not very good.

Most importantly, Liu Fang was also concerned about the case, because not only Zhang Yuandong's comrades-in-arms but also brothers who had fought side by side with him were sacrificed. He asked anxiously, "Looking at your expression, have you found anything?"

Zhang Yuandong briefly explained what had just happened, frowned, and said, "I've always felt that there was something wrong with that alley, and it's not just a black market. But I just can't find where the problem is."

His job was just to cooperate with the people in the investigation department to prepare bait and wait for the enemy's reaction. Recently, there have been constant actions there, and the investigation department has found a lot of things, but there has been no progress in the further investigation, until today when Zhang Yuandong saw the young man and Miss Zhou walking together.

The young man himself may not know that he was hit by Zhang Yuandong when he was driving Zhang Xiaohui home. He was not driving the same car as today, and he took a long detour. He probably stopped far away from Xiaotian Village because he was afraid of being discovered. But it just happened that he was hit by Zhang Yuandong.

Today, when he saw the young man standing with Miss Zhou, the clues in his mind were vaguely connected, but he couldn't grasp the clues. He knew that he was not good at analyzing these things, and he should tell the investigation department as soon as possible, but he really didn't want to give up the secret in that alley, for fear of missing the opportunity again.

Lin Yue had also heard about the black market near the hospital. Although it was not investigated as strictly as it would be a few years later, most of the speculators were working alone and quietly. It was impossible for a black market to be formed without someone behind it.

Lin Yue herself didn't dare to go to the black market, but she thought of someone who might know something.

She whispered a few words to Zhang Yuandong, and the two of them stood up, leaving Liu Fang and the two children behind, leaving Liu Fang staring at them stupidly behind, not yet understanding what was going on.

The person Lin Yue was looking for was the fat aunt who was engaged in speculation. She and Zhang Yuandong found a secluded corner, went into the space, dressed up, and when they came out, they became a middle-aged couple pushing a small cart, with hunched backs. Anyone who saw them would think they were honest farmers going to visit their in-laws.

The cart was loaded with cotton grown by Lin Yue himself. It was too troublesome to pick the cotton, so Lin Yue would always ask the fat aunt for help, or ask her to find someone to do it for him, or sell the cotton he had to the fat aunt and buy back the processed cotton.

Zhang Yuandong guessed that she must have been involved in these speculations, but he didn't say anything. It was not easy for her as a woman. She had to think of some way to live a good life with her two children. He was just a little worried when he saw so much cotton. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Do you often come here to sell cotton?"

Lin Yue knew what he was worried about as soon as he heard it, and smiled and whispered to comfort him, "I know cotton is a war reserve material, don't worry, I am not that ignorant of the importance of it, I just exchanged some for my own use at home, and I usually buy it from her, I rarely sell it to others."

It is impossible to control the private circulation of cotton. After all, where there is demand, there will be buying and selling. She can only ensure that she does not put it on the black market.

The fat lady was a little surprised to see Lin Yue coming with a man. Lin Yue was always very cautious when doing business with her, but this was the first time he brought an outsider with him.

Lin Yue noticed that her expression was not right, so he quickly introduced her, "This is my man."

After saying that, he took a step forward, pulled her and whispered for a long time, saying that he had a capable relative who had wholesale goods and wanted to trade with the black market leader. He also took out a basket of fruits from the space under the cover of the cart. The fat aunt looked at the juicy grapes, apples and pears in the basket, and her mouth was almost grinning to her ears.

Grapes and apples are common in this season, but the quality that Lin Yue got is rare. Not to mention finding a buyer to sell them for a good price, even if she keeps them for gifts, she won't be able to accomplish any of them!

She pretended to be confused for a while before she spoke reluctantly: "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, but there are big shots in that black market over there!"

Lin Yue held the fat aunt's hand affectionately and assured with a smile: "Auntie, don't worry, my relative is also a capable person, not like us who are petty. You are not afraid that I will cause trouble for you, are you? We have known each other for a long time, and you still don't trust me? If things can be accomplished, you will definitely benefit from it!"