Chapter 4 Chapter 4 How dare you go to the black market to buy food at this time...
Su Yan's math teacher was a spirited old man. After a few drinks at the graduation party, he said to Su Yan, "You really do look like that female classmate."
Su Yan deliberately asked in surprise: "Teacher, when you were young, you didn't like this female classmate?"
He waved his hand: "Back then, we had our likes and dislikes, and we were all very simple..."
Su Yan clasped her hands together in her heart and said, "Senior Lu Yingzi, I really have no choice. I came to the 1960s inexplicably. I am so confused that I dare not tell the truth. Now I am using your identity. I hope you will not blame me. I will find the murderer and seek justice for you."
Su Yan absentmindedly went over all the previous and subsequent explanations. She wasn't too worried. Lu Yingzi was probably alone at home with her elderly mother, whose eyesight wasn't very good, almost completely blind. She also remembered her teacher saying that everyone's family was struggling back then, with most of the class staying home. Lu Yingzi, in particular, hadn't been home in four years. At eight o'clock that evening, Mrs. Song finally returned home. Seeing the children still awake, she lost her temper, "What are you all doing here? Aren't you going to class tomorrow?"
The other children said nothing, but the third child was the most favored: "Mom, I'm hungry, shall we cook some noodles?"
Mrs. Song raised her hand and knocked him on the head: "Starving ghost, are you eating noodles for every meal? Hurry up and wash your face and feet, and go to bed."
The third brother covered his head and said, "If you don't want to eat, then don't eat. Why hit me?"
Mrs. Song took out a quilt from the closet and said to Su Yan, "Sister, there are no extra beds at home. You will have to sleep with our eldest daughter tonight. But she doesn't sleep well, so please bear with her."
Su Yan smiled and helped spread the quilt: "That's not true, sister-in-law. You are a living Lei Feng, doing good things. If I find fault with you, I will repay your kindness with enmity."
Mrs. Song laughed: "No way!"
Su Yan washed her face. She couldn't use other people's towels. At that time, every family was in financial difficulty and had no new towels. She tilted her head to hang them out to dry. The eldest of the family saw her and laughed, "Why don't you use towels? Are you hanging clothes out to dry?"
Su Yan smiled, didn't answer, and got on the bed. The older girl curled her lips and said, "Boring!"
After a while, she lay on the bed and asked, "Where did you buy this shirt? How much did it cost?" Su Yan didn't answer. Then she heard her mutter, "The handkerchief you use to tie your hair is pretty. Why don't you sell it to me?"
Su Yan pulled the handkerchief off her head and said, "Here, I bought it for one dollar and used it for three months. I'll give it to you for seventy cents. Do you want it?"
The eldest girl was shocked: "Your handkerchief is made of gold, and it costs 70 cents? My pair of leather shoes is only five yuan."
Su Yan took the handkerchief and twirled it in her hand: "I bought this in Jiangzhou. If you take a bus to Jiangzhou, the fare won't be more than one yuan, right?"
The eldest girl curled her lips and said, "Isn't it just Jiangzhou? Who doesn't think they've been there? From our Qingyuan Railway Station, with a direct ticket, it only takes eight hours to get there, and the train ticket is three yuan and twenty cents."
Su Yan withdrew her hand, too lazy to talk nonsense: "Forget it, go to sleep, don't talk anymore."
The eldest girl snorted, "Isn't it just a handkerchief? Who cares?" She turned around angrily and carried Su Yan on her back. After a while, she could hear a slight snoring sound.
Su Yan sighed, her mind still tense. She kept her eyes closed for most of the day, but couldn't fall asleep. She had no ID, no letter of introduction, and only a few dollars in those days. She couldn't go back to Jiangzhou. She thought about it and decided to go to the police station tomorrow. She told them that her belongings had been stolen on the train and she couldn't go home. She went over the details of Lu Yingzi's family in her mind. She also thought about what questions the police would ask tomorrow and prepared her answers.
Su Yan thought about this for most of the night. She finally fell asleep. She didn't know how long she had slept when she heard the door open. Mrs. Song turned on the light and asked, "Why are you back so late?"
Hearing a man's voice, Su Yan immediately became alert and sobered up: "Are you investigating the case?"
Mrs. Song asked, "Are you hungry? I met a girl selling noodles on the road today, and I left a bowl of noodles for you."
Then I heard the man slamming his hands on the table: "Nonsense, you are so brave! You dare to go to the black market to buy food at this time? If people find out, will I still be able to wear this police uniform?"
Su Yan heard the bowl of noodles being slammed down on the table by Mrs. Song. "If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, who would know? A family so hungry that they're dizzy and their belts are tied two fingers long, sooner or later one of them will starve to death. Last month, the third child was so hungry at school that he couldn't even sit still. He hit his head on the stairs and almost died."
The man was silent for a while, then sighed, "Don't bring up the past. These days, no one has extra food."
Mrs. Song cried, "Yes, these days no one has extra food, and everyone is starving. Compared to the past, when people were so hungry that they had to eat Guanyin dirt, this is nothing. Right? We haven't even eaten Guanyin dirt yet."
The man stopped talking. Only Mrs. Song's crying could be heard. But she was probably afraid of waking up the children, so she held back her tears and stopped crying after a few cries.
After hearing the rest, Su Yan was confused and sighed in her heart: How miserable!
The next morning, the family got up at seven o'clock. Su Yan did not see the male host, so she said goodbye to Mrs. Song. Mrs. Song told her to be careful on the way home, but did not invite Su Yan to have breakfast. After all, no one had extra food in that era.
Su Yan arrived on the busy street. She hid in a secluded alley, and seeing no one around, she slipped into the space. She had no idea how much stuff was inside. She'd just thrown everything in there, and over time, it had everything: food, clothing, and even two silk quilts. But in this day and age, Su Yan wouldn't dare use them. The quilts were also sent by her mother, but they were only 1.8 meters long. Su Yan's bed at the primary school where she was teaching was only 1.2 meters long. She threw the two quilts into the space.
However, there were so many things and they were so diverse that she accidentally found several bottles of penicillin drips, which were prescribed for her students at the county hospital. Unexpectedly, they were also left in the space.
Rice, noodles, pork, and fruit were all bought for the school cafeteria. The school wasn't big, with only about a hundred people, so even a month's supply wasn't much. However, if Su Yan ate all of it by herself, it would last her three to five years, allowing her to comfortably survive this difficult period in history.
Su Yan's miscellaneous belongings, mostly snacks, took up the most space. She unpacked a large package and found a large box of chocolates inside. She took out one to fill her stomach, then a large bag of spicy noodles. After eating to her heart's content, she looked for water. There was no shortage of alcohol, but no mineral water, so she opened a bottle of juice to quench her thirst.
After eating and drinking, Su Yan found a pen and paper and carefully copied down the messages she had recalled from Lu Yingzi the previous night. She then took out her phone and checked her teacher's WeChat. She remembered that the teacher had sent her a photo of her and Lu Yingzi. Although her phone had no network connection, Su Yan still found the photo in her file manager. Lu Yingzi in the photo looked exactly like Su Yan. Aside from the small mole between her eyebrows, Lu Yingzi looked more gentle and reserved, her entire temperament very different from Su Yan's.
Su Yan looked at the photo and calmed down. She left the space and wandered around the streets until lunchtime. Then she asked for directions and headed to the police station. Everyone else had probably gone to the cafeteria to eat, leaving only a young police officer on duty.
Su Yan told the security guard that she had something to talk to the police about and that she wanted to report a case because her luggage and money had been stolen.
People in this era were very simple and honest. They immediately led Su Yan in. The young policeman asked, "What's missing?"
Su Yan sat down and took the enamel water cup. "Comrade police officer, I lost everything. I was taking the train back to Jiangzhou. I fell asleep for a short while on the train, and when I woke up, my luggage was gone. I saw someone getting off the train with a package similar to mine, so I hurriedly chased after him, but it turned out to be not my luggage."
The police officer frowned and said, "You're in trouble. Who knows if the person who stole your things got off the train or was still on it? Why did you chase him out when you saw him? You should have called for help."
Su Yan nodded, dejected: "Hey, I've never had anything stolen before, who knew that my entire luggage could be stolen on the train."
The policeman took out a pen and paper and took notes, sighing, "It's a bad year, so there must be more petty thefts." He then asked, "What's in your luggage?"
Su Yan thought for a moment and said, "It's nothing expensive. Just seven or eight yuan, three pounds of steamed buns, a few pieces of clothing, and a letter of introduction from the school."
The police officer heard this and said, "No wonder he stole from you. Three pounds of steamed buns, wouldn't he be jealous? And what school is this letter of introduction from?"
Su Yan replied: "Teacher's University!"
This was quite surprising. The police officer raised his head and said in a different tone, "College students!"
Su Yan nodded: "Yes, from the Russian Department of Normal University."
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