The next morning, just as the chickens in the courtyard crowed for the first time, Widow He pushed He Hua out of the house. She handed her a battered broom and warned her that if she didn't finish the work, she shouldn't bother coming back home.
The public toilet was located at the very end of the alley. Early in the morning, the first thing everyone did after getting up was take their chamber pots there to empty them.
Standing outside the toilet, He Hua hesitated again and again. Several times she almost turned around and ran away. In the end, she forced herself to gather courage and rushed inside with the broom—
Meanwhile, at the recycling station, Su Yun took advantage of the empty surroundings to eat a banana. Then she leaned over the counter and began writing a report letter.
Halfway through writing, she heard someone calling loudly and clearly outside the door.
"Su Yun! Su Yun!"
She looked up at the visitor. It took her quite a while to react before she finally remembered.
"Yingzi?"
Xia Ying stood in front of her wearing a bright floral shirt and a neat short haircut. She carried a jar of canned yellow peaches in her hand and casually placed it on the counter.
"Su Yun, what's wrong with you? The way you looked at me just now—it's like we haven't seen each other for decades! I've only been a sales clerk for about ten days. As soon as I had a day off, I came to visit you!"
As she spoke, Xia Ying looked around curiously, clearly fascinated by the recycling station.
After looking around, she turned back to Su Yun.
"Oh right—I heard that girl He Hua from your courtyard reported you yesterday. Did you deal with her?"
Only then did Su Yun finally come back to her senses. She thought to herself: Well, it really has been decades since we last met.
In her previous life, after she got married, Jiang's mother had guarded her like a prisoner. Over time, she had become a loner and gradually lost contact with all her old friends.
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years had passed.
Now that she suddenly saw Xia Ying again, Su Yun felt as if she had been transported to another lifetime.
After quietly sighing for a moment, Su Yun didn't bring up those unpleasant memories. Instead, she smiled and looked at the jar of canned yellow peaches.
"Where did this come from?"
Xia Ying looked extremely proud.
"This was a reward given out by our department store yesterday. We each got two jars, and I specially brought this one for you."
"Wow… looks like your sales performance is pretty good."
"Of course! I've been working at the watch counter for half a month now, and I've already sold more than fifty watches!"
Xia Ying's happiness instantly infected Su Yun. She laughed cheerfully and casually put the jar of canned peaches into the drawer under the counter.
By accident, Xia Ying noticed the unfinished report letter lying on the counter.
"Su Yun, are you reporting that He Hua? Nicely done! I'm telling you, this is exactly how you should handle it. Don't let people think you're easy to bully! If someone like He Hua had tried this while I was there, I would've dealt with her on the spot!"
After Xia Ying finished speaking, Su Yun explained,
"This letter isn't about He Hua. She's annoying, but there's someone even worse. I need to bring him down as soon as possible, otherwise I won't even be able to sleep peacefully."
Xia Ying asked curiously, "Who?"
Su Yun briefly explained how Captain Liu had tried to harm her.
Xia Ying became furious as she listened.
"This Captain Liu is truly despicable! Write it! I'll help you write too! Let's write several letters and expose his true face to everyone. Let's see how arrogant he can still be!"
"This makes me so angry!"
As she spoke, Xia Ying walked around the counter and stood beside Su Yun. The two of them leaned over the counter together, each holding a pen and writing report letters.
While writing, Xia Ying asked,
"Su Yun, after you finish writing these letters, have you decided where to send them?"
"The neighborhood office, the inspection bureau, and the police station. I'll send them to all three places. I refuse to believe we can't bring down Captain Liu!"
Just as Su Yun finished speaking, a voice suddenly responded from above her head.
"That won't work. If you want to bring down Liu Blackhand, you need precise targeting. Casting a wide net like this will be too slow."
Hearing this, Su Yun looked up with a bright smile.
"Comrade Gu Hai, you're here!"
Today, Gu Hai had once again brought a large bag of scrap items. Standing in front of the counter, he carefully read the report letter Su Yun had written and shook his head.
"The content isn't good enough. You should write about Liu Blackhand accepting bribes, embezzling funds, and betraying the trust of the state—things like that."
Without hesitation, Su Yun immediately lowered her head and rewrote the letter, this time in a passionate and strongly worded tone. She handed it to Gu Hai.
"Is this better?"
Gu Hai nodded.
"Yes, this works. Write several more copies. I'll help you deliver them later and make sure Liu Blackhand gets the punishment he deserves."
Since Gu Hai had offered to help, Su Yun naturally didn't refuse. She immediately pulled Xia Ying along, and the two of them wrote several more letters each.
Xia Ying secretly glanced at Gu Hai and gave Su Yun a curious look full of gossip.
"Who is he?"
Su Yun introduced him seriously.
"This is Comrade Gu Hai. He's an extremely warm-hearted and loyal person. Just like you, he's also my good friend now."
Xia Ying didn't quite believe it, but seeing how serious both Su Yun and Gu Hai looked, she suppressed her doubts and obediently continued helping.
After checking the letters Su Yun had written, Gu Hai left the bag of scrap items behind and departed with the report letters.
Xia Ying watched his tall, straight figure as he walked away. She seemed a little distracted and couldn't help nudging Su Yun with her elbow.
"Hey, you trust him that much? Aren't you afraid he'll betray you with those letters?"
"No way. Comrade Gu Hai has helped me several times already. I trust him at least that much."
"Then hurry up and tell me—how did you meet Comrade Gu Hai? What's his family situation? Does he have a girlfriend?"
Su Yun lazily rolled her neck.
"I don't feel like talking about it."
Xia Ying raised her voice dramatically, sounding even more curious.
"See! I knew something was going on between you two! Did you secretly get together with him behind my back?"
"No wonder you smiled like a blooming flower the moment he arrived. And now you won't even tell me about him. You must like him yourself and don't want me getting any ideas, right?"
Su Yun: "…"
The reason she didn't want to say anything was because—even in the future, when Gu Hai became the richest man, he would still remain single.
Asking whether a future lifelong bachelor had a girlfriend… was that polite?
Just as Su Yun was about to explain, she suddenly saw Gu Hai return. His ears were slightly red, and his tone sounded a little awkward.
"Well… Comrade Xiao Su, don't forget to tell your friend that this time I want only cotton cloth. But if your friend also has apples, you can save a few extra for me."
After saying that, he turned around and hurried away without waiting for Su Yun to respond.
He had clearly overheard what Xia Ying said earlier.
Su Yun frowned slightly, feeling a bit worried. If Gu Hai became embarrassed and angry and refused to cooperate with her in the future, where would she find such a useful "actor" again?
Xia Ying stared at Su Yun teasingly.
"Be honest—where did this mysterious and powerful friend of yours come from? He seems to have all kinds of rare goods."
Su Yun felt slightly annoyed but skillfully made up an explanation.
"He's a somewhat eccentric collector. The items in Gu Hai's bag were prepared for him. This person is very strange—he only appears when he wants to. When he doesn't want to show himself, no one can find him."
"A remarkable person…" Xia Ying sighed.
"So people like the ones in television dramas really exist. Maybe they can leap across rooftops, steal treasures with ease, rob the rich, and help the poor…"
As the conversation shifted, Xia Ying began talking about the currently popular television dramas.
Since she worked as a sales clerk in the department store and the counter next to hers sold televisions, she got to watch a couple of episodes every day. Once she started talking about it, she simply couldn't stop.