After Su Yun reminded him like that, a faint blush slowly spread across Gu Hai's face.
Thinking of what Xia Ying had said yesterday, Gu Hai unconsciously licked his lips, coughed twice, and nodded vaguely.
"Right."
Su Yun immediately felt pleased.
She then handed him the bag of apples she had already placed under the counter.
"Comrade Gu Hai, these are the apples you wanted. If you want to exchange for anything else next time, just let me know in advance!"
Gu Hai carried the apples, kept his head lowered, casually greeted Su Yun, and left.
---
In the small courtyard of the Gu family, seven or eight young men were already waiting.
Some were chopping firewood, some were sweeping the courtyard, and Gouzi was helping Gu Jun sort through scrap materials under the eaves.
When Gu Hai returned, the young men immediately surrounded him and began asking questions all at once.
"Brother Hai! Brother Hai! How much grain did you exchange this time?"
"Did you get two hundred jin?"
Gouzi rolled his eyes at the boy who asked.
"What kind of dream are you having? How could there be two hundred jin every time? I think getting one hundred jin this time would already be good!"
Someone noticed the bag of apples in Gu Hai's hand and exaggeratedly shouted,
"Whoa! Such big apples—so red and round!"
Gu Hai simply handed the apples over to them.
The young men immediately rushed forward like a pack of hungry wolves. Each of them grabbed one apple, and the remaining apples—along with the mesh bag—were given to the youngest, Gu Jun.
Holding his apple, Gouzi stared intently at Gu Hai.
Suddenly, as if he had discovered a new continent, he widened his eyes and shouted,
"Brother Hai, your face is red!"
The other boys immediately looked at Gu Hai.
"Hey, it's true! Brother Hai's face is even redder than the apples! Could he have a fever?"
Gu Hai felt a little embarrassed. He raised his hand and touched his face—it was indeed very hot, but it definitely wasn't a fever.
He cleared his throat, lowered his hand, and spoke in a serious tone to Gouzi and the others.
"This time I didn't exchange for grain. I asked for a batch of cotton cloth. Tonight, when you have time, come with me to the recycling station to bring it back. Then we'll first make each of you a new set of clothes. Just look at all the patches on what you're wearing—it's really unsightly. You're all at an age where you could start looking for partners. You should pay attention to your appearance. Otherwise, which female comrade would take a liking to you?"
When the boys heard this, they cheered. At the same time, they all lowered their heads to look at their patched-up clothes.
Gouzi said in confusion,
"My clothes only have two patches. I can wear them for several more years. There's no need to make new ones. Wouldn't it be better to spend that money on grain?"
Gu Hai gave him a meaningful look.
"You'll understand in the future."
Two days later, early in the morning after the rooster crowed, He Hua was once again pushed out of the house by Widow He.
At the entrance of the public toilet, He Hua held a broken broom, pinched her nose, and walked inside.
Su Baoguo, who had been waiting nearby for a long time, immediately took out a string of firecrackers, lit them, and threw them into the toilet.
Bang! Crack! Pop!
He Hua screamed as she ran out, looking utterly miserable and filthy.
"Su Baoguo! You little brat—it's you again! Stop right there!"
Once He Hua spotted him, Su Baoguo made a funny face at her and ran away with his friends.
A group of primary school students ran while shouting,
"He Hua fell into the latrine! He Hua fell into the latrine!"
Today was the weekend, which should have been everyone's day off. But in this era, labor was considered the greatest virtue, and people generally didn't take weekends off.
In the main room of the Su family home, Su Baoguo had just returned to eat breakfast when Xia Xingguo arrived right afterward carrying a bag of fried dough sticks.
"Old Su, sister-in-law, having breakfast? Perfect timing—this bag of youtiao will give the kids a little extra nutrition."
Wearing gray work clothes, Xia Xingguo walked in and placed the bag of fried dough sticks directly on the Su family's dining table.
Su Wenshan immediately stood up and asked,
"Old Xia, you came here so early and even brought us youtiao. Is something the matter?"
Chen Xiue quickly asked Su Baoguo to bring a stool for Xia Xingguo.
Xia Xingguo didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down and said,
"Old Su, just talking about this still gives me chills. Do you remember that out-of-town manufacturer who came a few days ago? Last night I heard that the company was actually a scam. They cheated several purchasing departments of large factories around here and ran off with the money. No one can find them now!"
"If it hadn't been for Su Yun introducing me to another contact, I would definitely have been one of the victims!"
"Thinking about it now still scares me. At the time they asked me to pay a deposit first—two or three thousand yuan! I almost lost it. Fortunately, your Su Yun was there. Otherwise I wouldn't even have a place to cry!"
Su Wenshan and Chen Xiue were clearly shocked when they heard this.
Su Yun also pretended to be surprised and asked,
"Uncle Xia, what about the people who were cheated? Can those scammers be found?"
Xia Xingguo sighed.
"I'm afraid it won't be easy."
In reality, the police eventually caught the scammers and recovered most of the stolen money, but the consequences of the incident could never be fully undone.
Su Yun's abilities were limited. All she could do was save Xia Xingguo as best she could. Fortunately, Xia Xingguo trusted her father enough, which allowed them to avoid the tragedy that had occurred in her previous life.
Having escaped disaster, Xia Xingguo was clearly in a good mood. He urged the Su family to eat the youtiao while they were still hot.
The fried dough sticks made by the state-run restaurant's chef were fragrant and crispy—crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Su Yun didn't hold back and ate two in one go, while Su Baoguo devoured five!
After breakfast, Su Wenshan left riding Xia Xingguo's bicycle. Chen Xiue followed soon after, hurrying to take over a shift at the textile factory.
Su Yun washed the dishes, gave the holidaying Su Baoguo fifty cents as pocket money, then slung her bag over her shoulder and slowly headed toward the recycling station.
Unexpectedly, the moment she stepped out of the courtyard house, she saw Jiang Guangzong waiting at the gate with his bicycle.
Su Yun immediately felt annoyed. With an expressionless face, she walked down the steps, ignored him completely, and continued on her way.
Jiang Guangzong quickly pushed his bicycle after her.
"Su Yun, stop! I have something to say to you!"
Su Yun didn't slow down and didn't even look at him.
"Sorry. I'm a person who keeps my word. I said we would never meet again, and I meant it. Please stop bothering me."
Hearing this, Jiang Guangzong's expression darkened slightly. He immediately questioned her.
"Su Yun, I never expected you to be this kind of person! I heard you've been targeting Comrade He Hua recently. I want to tell you—stop this behavior immediately. I have no feelings for Comrade He Hua. You shouldn't deliberately make things difficult for her just because you're jealous."
"…"
Su Yun was utterly speechless.
She stopped walking, turned around, raised an eyebrow at Jiang Guangzong, and laughed.
"Comrade Jiang, first of all, I will never be jealous of you in this lifetime. Secondly, do you even know what He Hua did?"
Jiang Guangzong looked unconcerned.
"Didn't she just report you? What's the big deal? Nothing even happened to you. Why keep holding a grudge?"
"Su Yun, my mother said that women must be generous. For such a small matter, your whole family is acting as if you want to beat her to death. I even heard you smashed her kitchen? Your family's behavior is really petty. No wonder my mother looks down on you!"
These words successfully made Su Yun laugh in anger.
She glanced at the courtyard behind him and said politely,
"Please wait a moment."
Then she turned around, walked into the courtyard, came back with a basin of cold water, and without warning splashed it directly onto Jiang Guangzong—soaking him completely from head to toe.