In her previous life, Su Yun had lived with the Jiang family for more than twenty years. She knew Jiang Yaozu's childish personality better than anyone. Although he usually acted arrogant and domineering, he was actually the type who bullied the weak but feared the strong. Whenever he encountered someone tougher than himself, even if he got beaten, he wouldn't dare go home and complain.
In the past, Su Yun had suffered quite a lot at Jiang Yaozu's hands. Today, she had decided to act tough and settle both old and new scores with him.
Before long, the school gates opened. Junior high school students carrying backpacks and shoulder bags came out in groups of three or five. The street outside the school quickly became lively, filled with chattering voices.
Su Yun waited at the corner, carefully watching the school gate.
Soon, Jiang Yaozu appeared. His fat body was nearly twice the size of the surrounding students. Lazily carrying a brand-new army-green satchel, he held a lollipop in his hand and kept licking it, squinting his small eyes in obvious enjoyment.
Su Yun sneered. Just as she was planning how she would deal with him later, she saw two young men who looked like street toughs suddenly walk up to Jiang Yaozu. They said something to him, and the three of them slung their arms over each other's shoulders and walked into another alley.
Su Yun frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, she quickly followed them.
After passing through the alley, the surroundings became much quieter.
Keeping a distance of more than ten meters behind them, Su Yun heard Jiang Yaozu's dull voice from ahead.
"Big brother, how much farther is it? Is there really something delicious to eat?"
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the young men kicked him straight into a corner.
While kicking him, the man cursed, "You're still thinking about food? Go eat shit!"
Jiang Yaozu cried out in pain. "Ah! That hurts!"
The other young man laughed. "This little fatty really can't take a beating. We only kicked him twice and he's already screaming. Lao Liu, let's take good care of him and show him what real pain feels like."
The one doing the kicking responded briskly, "Alright!"
What followed were Jiang Yaozu's loud cries for help.
Hiding behind them, Su Yun watched with wide eyes. She had never expected that there could be so many different ways to beat someone.
Very humbly, she stayed there and "studied" the scene for more than ten minutes. Only when the two thugs stopped did she quickly retreat and return to the street corner where she had been waiting before.
After waiting for quite a while, she finally saw Jiang Yaozu limping out.
At that moment, Jiang Yaozu could only be described with one word—miserable.
He wailed loudly, shouting repeatedly, "Mom! Waaah… Mom!"
There were no obvious marks of beating on his face, but it was covered with tears and snot, filthy and clearly showing his suffering.
His clothes and satchel were completely dirty. His pants were visibly wet—anyone could tell he had wet himself.
His raised backside had clearly taken the worst of the beating, and the posture made him look rather ridiculous.
Seeing Jiang Yaozu in such a pitiful state, Su Yun—who had originally planned to beat him up again—suddenly decided to forget it. She would wait until he had cleaned himself up first.
Without hesitation, Su Yun turned around and left.
On the way back from the Steel Factory Affiliated Middle School to Su Yun's home, she happened to pass by the steel factory where her father, Su Wenshan, worked.
It was also the time when shifts were changing at the factory. Workers wearing gray uniforms were constantly coming in and out.
When Su Yun passed the factory, she couldn't help stopping and glancing toward the security office.
In her previous life, after Su Wenshan was falsely accused of stealing from the warehouse he supervised, many people in the steel factory still believed in his innocence. Therefore, this time, she already had a plan in mind—she was simply waiting for the right moment.
There were still fifteen days before the incident would happen. She had time to prepare.
Su Yun withdrew her gaze and was about to head home when she suddenly saw Xia Xingguo, the head of the purchasing department, rushing out of the factory gate on his bicycle.
With a screech, Xia Xingguo braked with his foot and stopped right beside her.
"Hey, Su Yun?" he asked curiously. "Did you come to see your father? He's still in the warehouse checking inventory right now. He'll probably go home later."
Xia Xingguo had a good relationship with Su Wenshan. Aunt Xia—the woman who had given Chen Xiue a piece of tofu last time—was Xia Xingguo's wife, and his daughter Xia Ying was Su Yun's former classmate. Their families often visited each other during holidays, so his tone toward Su Yun was very friendly.
He seemed a bit hurried though.
"Su Yun, I heard you found a job. Congratulations! My Yingzi has been talking about you these past two days. She said that once the department store closes for a holiday, she'll come look for you to play. Your father is really stingy—such a big happy occasion, yet he won't even hand out some candy!"
"Alright, I have something urgent to deal with, so I won't chat any longer. I'll get going. You should head home too!"
With that, he got back on his bicycle and rode off.
At that moment, Su Yun suddenly remembered something.
Before her father's accident in her previous life, a major incident had occurred in the steel factory: the purchasing department chief had been scammed out of more than three thousand yuan in payment for goods.
Three thousand yuan in that era was enough to completely destroy a department chief's future.
Xia Xingguo had actually been taken away by the police before Su Wenshan. Only after the truth was uncovered—confirming that he had indeed been deceived—was he released.
However, because of his mistake, the steel factory had suffered losses. In the end, Xia Xingguo was dismissed from his job. Xia Ying also lost her position as a sales clerk, and the Xia family fell into desperate circumstances. Originally, Su Wenshan had planned to help them, but before long, he himself fell into trouble.
Thinking about this, Su Yun felt that instead of letting Xia Xingguo be cheated by scammers, she might as well earn that three thousand yuan herself.
After all, her system supermarket contained so much food. Why would she worry about satisfying the needs of a steel factory purchasing department?
With that thought, Su Yun immediately decided to go home and persuade Su Wenshan, hoping to secure this business and earn the money.
Before going home, Su Yun found a quiet corner, opened the system supermarket, and spent two yuan to buy ten oranges. She then took out a mesh bag from her satchel, deliberately placed the oranges inside it, and carried them home openly.
When she returned to the courtyard house, every household was cooking dinner, and the sound of a radio drifted out from the front rooms by the entrance.
Aunt Gao had just extinguished her stove. When she looked up and saw the bag of oranges Su Yun was carrying, her eyes immediately lit up.
"Oh my, Su Yun, those oranges look so fresh! Where did you buy them? Are there oranges at the supply and marketing cooperative today? I didn't see any!"
In this era, supplies were still very scarce. Even staple foods and side dishes were not sufficiently available. Canned fruit was rarely seen in the market, let alone fresh fruit.
Uncle Gao was a key technical worker at the steel factory and earned a high monthly salary of eighty-nine yuan. Aunt Gao was also an official in the Women's Federation, which was why she had the confidence to ask such a question.
Su Yun smiled and replied, "Aunt Gao, I exchanged these oranges with a villager. I was lucky today—I happened to meet someone bringing oranges into the city. I begged him for a long time before he agreed to trade with me."
As she spoke, she quickly took out one orange and slipped it into Aunt Gao's hand, lowering her voice.
"Give this orange to Tianci. If that villager comes again next time, I'll let you know."
Aunt Gao didn't refuse. She quickly wrapped the orange in her apron and said warmly to Su Yun, "That's wonderful. Then I won't stand on ceremony. If there's another chance next time, you must tell me."