Chapter 9, Chapter 009...
009
"Pfft..." Jiang Lai couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, I don't usually do this unless I can't help it. Please continue," Jiang Lai said to Wu Chunzhu with a smile.
Jiang Lai's reaction made it impossible for Wu Chunzhu to continue. She wanted to say something more, but Jiang Lai wasn't the only one who was amused. There was also the original owner's classmate whose fiancé had been stolen by Wu Chunzhu, and they just happened to run into each other.
"Jiang Lai, what a coincidence!" Kang Xiaoxiao greeted Jiang Lai without any embarrassment when she saw that Jiang Lai had spotted her. "Oh, Comrade Wu is here too. Why don't you have to accompany my ex-fiancé today? I heard you're getting married. Congratulations!"
Although Jiang Lai and Kang Xiaoxiao were classmates but not particularly close, Jiang Lai naturally sided with Kang Xiaoxiao over Wu Chunzhu, her colleague.
"Xiaoxiao, you'd better give Comrade Wu a big red envelope when she gets married, to thank your ex-fiancé for not marrying you, and also to thank Comrade Wu for taking her away beforehand. Although she's not a good person, you still owe her a lot. But if it weren't for her, you wouldn't have known beforehand whether she was a human or a dog." Jiang Lai said with a smile, her sweet expression unchanged, but her words were quite sarcastic.
"Of course, I'll definitely give you a big red envelope later. Comrade Wu has been incredibly kind to me, otherwise it would be too tragic to find out after the wedding that I married a dog instead of a human. Thank you so much, Comrade Wu." Kang Xiaoxiao looked at Wu Chunzhu with tears of gratitude on her face.
Wu Chunzhu was no match for Jiang Lai and Kang Xiaoxiao. As a low-level green tea, she was ridiculed by Jiang Lai and Kang Xiaoxiao and fled in disgrace.
"Jiang Lai, who is this?" With Wu Chunzhu gone, Kang Xiaoxiao also had time to notice Ye Anguo.
"This is my boyfriend, Ye Anguo, and this is my classmate, Kang Xiaoxiao." Because of Ye Anguo's behavior earlier, Jiang Lai's impression of him had improved significantly, so she introduced Kang Xiaoxiao with more sincerity.
"Hello." Ye Anguo simply greeted her, and Kang Xiaoxiao did the same, saying "Hello" before going to talk to Jiang Lai. She herself had her boyfriend stolen by Wu Chunzhu, so she paid extra attention to such matters and didn't even glance at Ye Anguo.
"Jiang Lai, what are you buying?" Kang Xiaoxiao asked curiously, "Are you getting married soon and preparing things?"
"No, I'm planning to buy some fabric to make a few outfits, but I haven't seen any suitable ones here," Jiang Lai said, revealing her plan without mentioning that they originally intended to make clothes for Ye Anguo's adopted son.
Hearing this, Kang Xiaoxiao whispered in Jiang Lai's ear, "My uncle works here. I heard there's a batch of flawed fabric that wasn't dyed properly. I'm planning to get some flawed fabric. Anyway, new clothes need to be patched up now, and flawed fabric won't be noticeable. It's cheap and doesn't require coupons. Do you want to come with me to take a look?"
"Of course I want to, but won't it be awkward if you suddenly take me to your uncle's place?" Jiang Lai asked.
“It’s alright, there are quite a few defective fabrics in this batch, don’t worry. By the way, there are some other defective items, do you want them?” Kang Xiaoxiao asked, “I think your boyfriend is not young, right? When are you getting married? You can ask my uncle to help with the things you need to buy for the wedding.”
Jiang Lai was a little speechless because Kang Xiaoxiao was too outspoken. Ye Anguo did look quite old, at twenty-eight years old, and spent all his time training on the training field. He had even been to the battlefield before. Although he was quite handsome, his appearance was very much in line with his age; he looked to be around thirty years old.
However, Jiang Lai knew that she meant no harm. Kang Xiaoxiao had always been like this; otherwise, with her attractive appearance, she wouldn't have had her boyfriend stolen by Wu Chunzhu.
Jiang Lai figured Ye Anguo's identity would be exposed soon, so she didn't mind saying a few words to Kang Xiaoxiao: "He's quite old, 28. As for wedding items..." Jiang Lai originally wanted to say that she wouldn't buy them so soon, but remembering Liu Aihua's personality, if she knew that there were cheap and useful defective items and she didn't buy them, she would definitely keep nagging her. So, Jiang Lai changed her tone before she could finish her sentence: "Then I'll thank you in advance. Thank you for remembering me when something good happened."
"Hey, it's nothing. It was just a coincidence. Besides, you helped me out a few times when we were in school," Kang said with a smile.
Jiang Lai couldn't answer this question because she had no recollection of the original owner helping Kang Xiaoxiao: "I don't remember at all, it must have been a small matter."
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Come on, let's go see my uncle." Kang Xiaoxiao changed the subject and naturally wouldn't press Jiang Lai any further.
Jiang Lai followed Kang Xiaoxiao, and Ye Anguo followed behind her without any objection. Jiang Lai was thinking to herself, "In Su Erniu's book, Ye Anguo seemed quite old-fashioned. I wonder if he would think they were not enlightened enough now that they were using connections."
Then Jiang Lai thought of an even bigger problem: what if Ye Anguo thought they had ideological problems and reported them? After all, defective products weren't consumed internally by the supply and marketing cooperative. Outsiders couldn't get their hands on them without connections. Kang Xiaoxiao meant well, but it wouldn't be good if it implicated her uncle.
Jiang Lai stopped halfway through her journey when she thought of this question. She wanted to ask Ye Anguo what he thought, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She didn't know how to start the conversation. She couldn't very well just say, "If we go to buy defective products, you won't turn around and report us, will you?"
"What's wrong?" Ye Anguo asked, noticing Jiang Lai's gaze.
"It's nothing. You're too conspicuous in that military uniform. I'm afraid it will scare people. Why don't you wait for me outside?" Jiang Lai said after thinking for a moment. In these special times, it's best to be careful.
"Why?" Ye Anguo was a little confused, not understanding what was so shameful about his identity.
Jiang Lai thought that although she had been speaking very softly to Kang Xiaoxiao, Ye Anguo must have heard her standing so close. Jiang Lai didn't want to take him with her for fear that something might happen and implicate Ye Anguo. She was also afraid that Ye Anguo's old-fashioned nature might harm Kang Xiaoxiao's uncle.
But Jiang Lai was more curious about Ye Anguo's opinion on this matter, because she knew from reading the book that Ye Anguo was an upright and incorruptible person with a very rigid personality who would not allow Su Erniu to do anything illegal or disorderly. Otherwise, Su Erniu wouldn't have been so eager to change husbands as soon as she was reborn.
So Jiang Lai realized this was a perfect opportunity to find out what kind of personality Ye Anguo had. If Ye Anguo was so rigid that he couldn't even accept buying defective fabric through the black market or back channels, then it was better to say goodbye as soon as possible and not waste any more time.
Jiang Lai moved closer to Ye Anguo, gesturing for him to lower his head slightly, and whispered, "Did you hear what I was saying to my classmate just now?"
Ye Anguo was puzzled as to why Jiang Lai made him lower his head and asked such a mysterious question: "I heard you, Jiang Lai, I don't need to buy defective cloth, I need cloth coupons."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Lai's expression softened: "Are you silly? Flawed fabric is cheap and doesn't require coupons. Besides, it's a rare find. You can buy it to make everyday clothes. In addition, these days we value thrift and simplicity. Who doesn't have a few patches on their new clothes? This flawed fabric is perfect."
Upon hearing Jiang Lai's words, Ye Anguo shut up and stopped talking about the topic: "Then you guys go ahead, I'll wait for you outside."
By this time, Ye Anguo understood the meaning behind Jiang Lai's words earlier, and indeed, it was inappropriate for him to wear that outfit.
Jiang Lai nodded secretly. It seemed that Ye Anguo was not the kind of person who was so rigid that he couldn't even stand this kind of thing. Otherwise, no matter how much he looked to her, Jiang Lai would have said goodbye to him immediately.
What happened next was easy. Jiang Lai went to her uncle's place with Kang Xiaoxiao and bought a bunch of things. The flawed cloth had quite a few flaws. After all, the flawed products had already been sorted out by the internal staff when they first came out, so if they were asked to sort them out again, it would definitely be the leftovers.
Jiang Lai picked out a piece of blue fabric that was unevenly dyed and had some tears. Because it was poorly dyed and looked bad, a large piece of blue fabric was piled up in a corner and no one paid attention to it. Along with the blue fabric, there was also a small bundle of white-gray fabric. Jiang Lai picked out these two pieces of fabric and bought them.
After buying the items, Ye Anguo took everything from Jiang Lai's hands and then silently followed behind Jiang Lai and Kang Xiaoxiao, acting as an honest and quiet porter.
Just as Jiang Lai was thinking that Ye Anguo was a typical straight man, she received a box of face cream from him as they parted.
A note from the author:
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