Chapter 15: Making Him Wash His Boxers Again That Morning

The next day, before dawn, Su Heng knocked on his sister’s door. “Sis, get up quickly. We need to set off early to the city.”

Su Wanwan awoke groggily. Knowing she had an exam in the county seat today, she didn’t dare delay. She washed her face, changed her clothes, and headed to the kitchen.

Their mother saw her daughter rise. “Hurry up and eat. I’ve already set everything on the table.”

“All right.” Su Wanwan recalled the food she had stashed away last night and said, “Mom, I hid the grain and the chickens. There’s only one left in the coop now. We’ll slaughter it tonight; Grandpa and Grandma will come over.”

Their mother glanced around. “Where did you hide them? If your grandparents find out, there’ll be no end to their scolding.”

Su Wanwan sat down to eat her coarse grain porridge. “Don’t worry about it. They won’t find them.”

Her mother nodded and reminded her, “Don’t rush during the exam. Take your time writing. It’s okay if you don’t do well. Your parents won’t blame you.”

Su Wanwan smiled faintly. “Mom, I’ll bring back first place for you. I didn’t want to study before, but now that I’ve awakened, learning is actually quite easy.”

Her mother thought she was joking. First place was hardly that simple. “Eat quickly. Your second brother will take you.”

When Su Wanwan climbed onto the back of her second brother’s bicycle, she asked, “Second brother, if I get first in the grade, will you reward me?”

Su Heng was surprised. “What? You’ll get first?” Then he chuckled. “You just need to get your diploma. Whatever you want, I’ll find a way to get it for you.”

That was exactly what Su Wanwan wanted to hear. “I don’t want anything else, just for you and me to take the university entrance exam together. Can we do that?”

“Sure.” Su Heng smiled mischievously. University entrance exams had been canceled and it wasn’t easy to reinstate them. If his sister could just get her diploma, he’d be grateful.

At school, Su Heng reminded her, “I’ll pick you up at four in the afternoon. Have lunch at the state-run restaurant across the street. Don’t be stingy.” He pulled out ten yuan and some ration tickets from his pocket and placed them in her hand.

“Okay.”

Su Heng rode his bicycle back to the village, the freshly bought pork belly hanging from the handlebars. Just then, Liu Caixia, who had just started work, saw it.

In that era, few families even owned bicycles, especially in the village. Seeing the pork hanging there, Liu Caixia swallowed hard.

She thought about how Su Heng was quite good-looking, no worse than Ma Zhiming. How had she never noticed him before?

Meanwhile,

Lin Yu and Xie Beishen carried woven baskets on their backs as they headed to the cornfield. Ahead of them were Aunt Liu from the Su family’s neighboring household and several other village women.

One of the women asked, “Sister Liu, I heard your little Feng also took the day off today?”

Aunt Liu said, “Yes, I’m following the team leader’s family’s example. Their daughter’s been pampered at home for half a month, looking so fresh and fair. They’re clearly trying to find a wealthy city match. I want to raise my little Feng well too, let her meet some matches after half a month.”

Another woman said, “No wonder the other day when Zhao Hefen and I tried to set my son up with her daughter, she flat-out refused. She’s aiming high.”

Aunt Liu sneered, “Of course. The team leader’s smart. Think about it: marrying your daughter to a wealthy family means a smaller dowry? The team leader’s different. He’s first to get the good things for his daughter. He wants to find someone rich, and they have to treat her well. We all need to change our mindset. The team leader’s got brains.”

The other women nodded vigorously.

“Well, you can’t be team leader without brains!”

“No education, no job—how could city folks look at that?” one woman added.

Aunt Liu glanced at the speaker. “She’s good-looking, has a nice figure. The rich like that. I saw the team leader go to the city recently. He must’ve been looking for a match for his daughter.”

A few days ago, she also saw the team leader carrying gifts, probably to grease some wheels for this.

There was only one small path to the cornfield, so Xie Beishen and Lin Yu heard the women’s conversation clearly.

Arriving at the cornfield, Lin Yu couldn’t help but gossip. “Brother Shen, no wonder we didn’t see any young girls at work today. I never thought the team leader’s family was like that. I heard Su Wanwan was seeing Ma Zhiqing, but now she’s going to meet city folks? I thought she was innocent yesterday, but turns out she’s quite scheming.”

Xie Beishen shot him a sideways glare, cold and silent, exuding an icy aura.

He was inexplicably angry, especially since he’d dreamed again last night about that woman who kissed him—forcing him to wash his large underpants again this morning.

He never imagined he had such energy.

No wonder all his peers in the courtyard were already married; he’d experienced it firsthand these past two weeks.

He cracked a corn cob harder than intended.

In the afternoon, Su Wanwan finished her last exam early. Junior high exams were easy for her; she only made a few mistakes in politics and Chinese.

Looking at the time on the school wall, she had over an hour before her brother came to pick her up. She decided to stroll around and buy some things for her family.

The department store was right in the county center.

She entered and was immediately drawn to the slogan on the wall: “Serve the People, Ensure Supply.”

Long glass cases displayed daily necessities neatly.

She had originally planned to buy ready-made clothes for her father, but after looking around, she didn’t find anything suitable. Even if she bought some, they might not fit well.

Her mother made all their clothes. She could buy fabric and have her mother sew it.

So she went to the counter and bought the most popular navy blue and small floral patterned polyester-cotton fabric, enough to make a set each for her father and mother.

She learned that a Zhongshan suit required about 16 yards of fabric and 11 yards of ration tickets.

The two pieces cost her 15 yuan and 20 yards of ration tickets.

She also spotted white cotton shirts at the counter. Her second brother didn’t have a decent shirt; all his clothes were shabby and patched. She bought him one for seven yuan and seven yards of ration tickets, using up all her tickets.

Seeing the watches behind the counter, she wanted to buy one badly. It was inconvenient to keep checking time without a watch.

After eating at the state-run restaurant and spending money, she had only 23 yuan and some change left.

It made her feel disheartened. She’d never worried about money growing up in modern times, but now she couldn’t even afford a watch.

It seemed urgent to earn money; otherwise, where would the university fees come from next year?

Unfortunately, individual business was not allowed in this era, so she had to find another way.

After asking the store clerk for the time, she headed back toward the school gate just as her brother’s arrival time approached.

When Su Heng arrived, he brought his sister a straw hat since it was still very sunny.

Seeing the bag in her hand, he curiously asked, “What did you buy? And why didn’t I see the fish or other grain and chickens at home? Mom said you hid them. Where did you hide them?”

Su Wanwan took the straw hat and put it on. “I bought fabric for Mom and Dad. Don’t worry about where I hid the things. No one will find them.”

She climbed onto her brother’s bike but didn’t give him the clothes. “Second brother, hurry home. It’s too sunny.”

She had worked hard to lighten her skin and didn’t want to get tanned again.

Once Su Wanwan was seated, Su Heng pedaled home.

By the time Su Wanwan felt numb from the ride, they had arrived. She sighed at how inconvenient transportation was.

Back home, Su Heng took the meat hanging by the well and handed it to his sister. “Since you’re good at hiding things, hide this meat too. We’ll make a special meal for Dad tonight.”

Su Wanwan smiled and took the meat. It was good quality; it would make delicious braised pork. “Then go help slaughter the chicken.”

Su Heng knew his sister wouldn’t let him in on the hiding places, so he headed toward the chicken coop.