It was mid-August, and the weather in Beijing was hot and humid. Chen Shuning was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt made of polyester and black trousers. She walked for more than half an hour with her mother to reach the entrance of the state-run restaurant.
Seeing the long lines of people in the restaurant, Chen Shuning immediately lost his appetite.
He turned to look at Chen Ma and smiled wryly, "Mom, how about we eat something else? There are just too many people here."
Qin Yalan only took one day off. Thinking that her daughter would need to buy a lot of things when she went to the countryside, she did not insist. Instead, she took Chen Shuning to the West District Supply and Marketing Cooperative where she worked, thinking that she could buy some chicken cakes for her daughter to eat when they arrived at the cooperative.
So the mother and daughter walked for another ten minutes to the Xicheng District Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Looking at the crowd of people inside, Chen Shuning really had a headache.
Fortunately, Chen's mother was an employee of the supply and marketing cooperative, so she didn't need to queue. Instead, she led Chen Shuning directly to the back office area and found Zhao Hongmin, the director of the supply and marketing cooperative.
"Hello, Aunt Zhao." Chen Shuning greeted her politely.
“Okay, Xiao Ning is getting prettier and prettier as she grows up. I heard from your mother that you are going to work in the countryside in Heilongjiang Province. The winters there are especially cold. Listen to Aunt Zhao, when you get there, don’t think about looking pretty. You need to choose thick and warm clothes. The supply and marketing cooperative just got a new batch of cotton. I’ll give my mother my internal quota for this month so she can buy more and make you a thick cotton-padded coat and pants.”
Zhao Hongmin's husband and Chen's father were comrades-in-arms, both serving in Jilin Province. Therefore, they had some understanding of the winters in Northeast China. Moreover, Chen's mother and Zhao Hongmin had been neighbors in the same military compound for several years. After returning to Beijing, they were assigned to work together, so their relationship had always been good.
The requirement for educated youth to go to the countryside was issued in a hurry. Zhao Hongmin had to pull a lot of strings to get her daughter a temporary job at a cotton mill so that she could avoid going to the countryside. So Zhao Hongmin was really heartbroken to see her daughter, whom she had watched grow up, have to go to the countryside to suffer.
The employees of the supply and marketing cooperative could buy some special-supply goods without coupons every month. In this era of extreme scarcity of goods, it was no ordinary favor to give up one's share.
So although Chen Shuning didn't really care about these things, she still sincerely thanked her: "Thank you, Aunt Zhao. I'll send you some mountain products when I get to Heilongjiang Province. My mom said there are lots of good things in the mountains there, like hazelnuts, walnuts, and chestnuts, they're everywhere."
Looking at her daughter's silly antics, Qin Yalan felt a pang of jealousy. She lightly slapped Chen Shuning on the back and scolded, "You little rascal, when did I ever say anything like that? But you better remember this: the mountains over in Heilongjiang Province aren't just full of wild game; there are also plenty of wild boars and bears. I heard that a few years ago there were even packs of wolves coming down from the mountains. You better stay quiet for now. Those mountains aren't for a little girl like you, you know?"
Chen Shuning, who had just been slapped, pouted and muttered under her breath, "It's either what you said or what my dad said. Either way, it's the two of you."
Qin Yalan was so angry she laughed. She reached out to poke her daughter's forehead, but then remembered her daughter's head injury. So she awkwardly lowered her hand and ignored her, turning to Zhao Hongmin: "Sister Zhao, I want to buy a lot of things today. If I don't have enough tickets, could you pay me back on credit? I'll pay you back next month when Jianjun sends the money and tickets. Is that okay?"
"No problem at all. I've already prepared everything for you. I'll take you there right away."
Qin Yalan knew that Zhao Hongmin was taking her to the warehouse, and it wouldn't be appropriate for Chen Shuning to come along. So she gave Chen Shuning a dollar and a pastry coupon, telling her to go ahead and buy something to eat, while she hurriedly followed Zhao Hongmin to the warehouse at the back.
After watching the two leave, Chen Shuning strolled out of the office area with the money and tickets in his pocket. Looking at the crowd of people in front of him, which looked like dumplings being boiled in water, Chen Shuning couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. Just as he was wondering if he could endure the hunger for a little longer, someone patted him on the shoulder.
Turning around, he saw a beautiful girl smiling at him. Chen Shuning had seen many beautiful women in his previous life, but he was still amazed by the girl in front of him.
She has an oval face, a high nose bridge, fair skin, a slender figure, and a tall, curvaceous body with prominent breasts and buttocks.
His clothes were a bit shabby; he wore a faded blue cotton shirt with a patch on the hem, and black pants with two patches on the knees.
He frantically searched through the original owner's memories for information about the beautiful woman in front of him. Yang Wanqiu was the original owner's classmate and best friend.
Yang Wanqiu was indeed unfortunate. Her maternal grandfather, Sun Xingguo, was a well-known capitalist in the area. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, his family owned not only a textile factory and a dyeing factory in Beijing, but also two factories in Shanghai. They also owned countless properties and shops in these two cities.
Although he donated his factory and most of his shops to the state free of charge after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and could be considered a "red capitalist," his family was still persecuted when the incident began a couple of years ago. The elderly couple did not survive and died in the cowshed.
As the only daughter in the family, Yang Wanqiu's mother, Sun Linna, was forced by her husband, Yang Manfu, to sever ties with her parents by publishing a notice in the newspaper immediately after the incident. However, she was still implicated and lost her job.
Because she only had one daughter, she lost her job and was constantly tormented by her mother-in-law at home. She also unexpectedly discovered that her husband had been having an affair with Cao Wenfang, the factory accountant and her longtime friend. Cao Wenfang's two children were not her husband's posthumous children, but her husband's.
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