When Wu Meili saw Qiao Baozhu asking about her husband, she didn't think too much about it. She thought that the topic just now turned to the Jiang family's relatives, and Qiao Baozhu was just asking.
With her head bowed and her thimble on, she casually said, "I was sent by Captain Shen to repair the dam. It's freezing now and I can't work for a few days. I'll be back soon."
Wu Meili is not someone who can hide her emotions. Seeing that she looked normal, Qiao Baozhu guessed that Wu Meili knew nothing.
Ever since Zhang Cuilian told her that Bai Hongmei received a subsidy of 10 yuan from Jiang Sen every month. Qiao Baozhu was angry at Bai Hongmei's greed and even more angry at Jiang Sen for not caring about his wife.
He has to use his monthly allowance not only to raise his children but also to support his relatives. Wu Meili spent eight petals on one cent and was reluctant to even make a pair of cotton trousers for herself. In order to make more pairs of soles, my fingers were pierced through.
Jiang Sen pretended not to see it and even gave subsidies to Bai Hongmei.
Qiao Baozhu was afraid that Wu Meili would be sad if she knew about it, so she revealed this to Shen Xiao. At that time, Shen Xiao told Qiao Baozhu not to worry about it and just pretend she knew nothing.
Qiao Baozhu has been too busy these days and has not asked Shen Xiao how to deal with it. Unexpectedly, Shen Xiao directly transferred Jiang Sen to repair the dam. It was simple, crude and effective.
"Alas, Shen Xiao is the same. There are so many people who can be transferred, but you have to transfer Captain Jiang. He is on a business trip, and you are the only one left to work at home."
Wu Meili smiled disapprovingly: "Old Jiang doesn't do any work at home, it doesn't matter whether he's at home or not."
After saying that, Wu Meili thought of something, tilted her head and smiled at Qiao Baozhu: "It's better to go to my hometown to repair the dam, where I don't have to spend money for food. When the day came to pay the allowance, Shen Xiao brought the money back to me."
With fourteen more dollars, Wu Meili felt like she had picked up a golden egg and had a smile on her face the whole time.
Seeing how happy she was, Qiao Baozhu pointed at the shoe soles she had brought from the kang and said, "Including these pairs of soles, you have delivered more than 30 pairs this month. You have earned more than 30 yuan, but I haven't seen you so happy."
Wu Meili forgot her husband's instructions and blurted out, "I don't have time to sew so many pairs of soles. Most of the ones I had before belonged to other people."
It turned out to be Wu Meili!
Qiao Baozhu looked at Wu Meili in disbelief, and her sharp eyes made Wu Meili tremble with fear.
"What, what's the matter? Did I do something wrong?"
Wu Meili looked at Qiao Baozhu cautiously, with a hint of fear in her clear and blank eyes.
Her frightened expression made Qiao Baozhu sober up all of a sudden. If Wu Meili really had the brains to make a profit by patching together things, she wouldn't have ended up like this.
"Oh, your relatives are well-informed. The stitches are dense and done in one go. You can tell at a glance that they are not made by a young person."
Qiao Baozhu secretly inquired, trying to get more clues from Wu Meili.
"I don't know if they are young or not, but they were all brought back by my husband, Lao Jiang, who said that they were paid by the family of a comrade-in-arms. The family was shy and embarrassed to ask us, so they asked Lao Jiang for help."
"Since Lao Jiang went out to repair the dam, the matter has been quiet. I don't know which courtyard the family member lives in, but I guess she will come to our door in a few days."
Jiang Sen?
It’s Jiang Sen?
Qiao Baozhu was horrified. Could it be that after Jiang Sen subsidized Bai Hongmei's food allowance, he came up with this way to make money because he was short of money?
"What about the money? How did you give it to them? Did you pay it yourself first?"
Wu Meili looked amused: "Sometimes Lao Jiang brings home five or six pairs of shoes. I think they are of good quality, but what if you find something wrong with them? If I pay for them, who can I turn to when I want to return them?"
When it comes to money, Wu Meili is still very smart.
"You pay the wages during the day, and I give the money to Lao Jiang at night. The next day, Lao Jiang gives the money to his comrades. It's not a lot of trouble."
After all this talk, Wu Meili is just the person in charge. Jiang Sen took advantage of his wife's good popularity to make money. If the matter was exposed, he would put all the blame on Wu Meili and put all the money into his own pocket.
No wonder Shen Xiao sent him to dig ditches and build dams, and gave all his allowance to Wu Meili.
When a man has evil intentions, the first person he will harm is the person next to him.
Qiao Baozhu looked at Wu Meili, who was completely unaware of the situation, and felt deeply moved. When the truth came out that day, the only person injured was Wu Meili. She wholeheartedly cared about everyone in the Jiang family, but did not get the same return.
"There are steamed potatoes in the pot, let's eat them with some sugar~"
Qiao Baozhu tilted her head and smiled to seduce Wu Meili.
Wu Meili's eyes were as big as light bulbs, and she nodded repeatedly, showing her teeth with joy.
"Sister Baozhu, you really know how to eat. It's useless to dip it in sugar, just eat it plain."
Qiao Baozhu ignored Wu Meili's false politeness and went to the kitchen in her slippers. She picked out a few freshly steamed potatoes from the pot and poured half a bowl of white sugar from the sugar jar.
When Wu Meili saw that Qiao Baozhu really brought half a bowl of sugar, she felt happy, surprised and touched.
"Sister, you are so kind to me. I am so blessed to be with you."
Wu Meili looked at the steaming potatoes and was afraid of scalding Qiao Baozhu's fingers, so she took a potato and slowly peeled off the skin.
While peeling potatoes, she expressed her gratitude: "I have lived with Lao Jiang for so many years and have had many children. Even when I was in confinement, he never let me eat potatoes dipped in sugar."
Qiao Baozhu felt sad when she heard this and she hated Jiang Sen more and more. In order to prevent Wu Meili from noticing, Qiao Baozhu went to the cabinet to pour water.
Seeing the small reddish-brown radio on the cabinet, Qiao Baozhu took it and placed it on the kang cabinet.
I turned on the radio, and the popular song "Ninety-nine Sunny Days" was playing.
"The east wind makes the windmill turn."
“The broad bean flowers are fragrant and the wheat seedlings are fresh”
"Windmill, windmill, that ah-ah singing"
"Why don't you speak, little brother?"
"Come on that sunny day of September 9th"
Wu Meili pointed excitedly at the radio in Qiao Baozhu's hand, with a hint of disbelief and nervousness.
"How can you keep this thing in your house?"
Qiao Baozhu looked at Wu Meili in confusion. She was just listening to the radio, why was her reaction so... strange?
"It's almost closed, it's almost closed."
Wu Meili excitedly climbed to the window and stretched her neck to look out. Fortunately, the plastic sheeting that Qiao Baozhu bought was new and very transparent, so she could see the scenery outside clearly.
After making sure that there was no one outside, Wu Meili was still a little nervous and kept urging Qiao Baozhu to turn off the radio.
"My husband said that we can't have radios in the family compound. Enemy agents will eavesdrop on our conversations through the radio. If any secrets are exposed, it will be a capital crime!"
Wu Meili's serious look made Qiao Baozhu couldn't help laughing.
"Did your old Jiang tell you that? You must have heard it wrong."
Qiao Baozhu was amused by Wu Meili's nervous look and burst into laughter.
"This is a wireless radio, not a wireless transmitter. We are just listening to the news to learn about national affairs. It won't leak any secrets."
"That's because your radio won't leak secrets. My radio is really powerful. Lao Jiang handed it over to the company."
Submit to the unit?
Qiao Baozhu's smile froze on her face. How could an ordinary civilian radio leak secrets?
I'm afraid Jiang Sen didn't hand it over to the unit, but gave it to someone...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
