"Mmm… mmm…"
The woman's mouth was stuffed with a coal briquette, so her words were muffled, but the fear in her eyes was unmistakable.
Taking advantage of the moment, Su Yun used Gouzi's signature pinching trick and viciously pinched the woman's waist. The pain made the woman's voice change pitch!
The two coal briquettes were quickly used up.
Still not satisfied, Su Yun stood up and ran to the corner. Just as she grabbed two new briquettes, the woman scrambled to her feet in panic, spat out the coal from her mouth, and bolted out of the recycling station as if something were chasing her!
Su Yun ran to the doorway with the briquettes in hand, craning her neck to look outside. Only after the woman disappeared from sight did she calm down, then let out a long sigh.
Once she settled down, she looked at her soot-blackened hands and shook her head in regret.
"Tsk… look at what I've done. I only meant to scare her so she wouldn't come back to cause trouble. Why did I end up stuffing coal into her mouth? What if she really reports this to the police? Wouldn't that leave a record on me?"
"I'm planning to go to college. Even being criticized and educated could affect the political review!"
"Seriously, why couldn't you control yourself?"
As she spoke, Su Yun slapped the back of her hand a few times, feeling uneasy. "Sigh… do you think she'll really go report this to the police?"
Then she shook her head firmly. "I scared her that badly—she probably won't!"
"…But who can say for sure?"
As Su Yun struggled with her thoughts, another question surfaced: what did that woman mean when she said Su Yun had street toughs backing her?
Just as she was wondering, a strong, aged voice sounded:
"Young comrade, why are you standing at the door? Did you see me coming and want to give me a hand? No need, no need—this little bit of scrap, I can handle myself!"
She snapped back to reality and saw the old man who had come to sell scrap last time standing outside, carrying a woven sack and looking quite relaxed.
Su Yun immediately smiled and greeted him. "Uncle Zhou, you're here to sell scrap again?"
Zhou Jinwen walked in with big strides, chuckling. "At my age, I don't have a proper job, and I can't sit still at home, so I just wander around. A few days ago, I was taking a walk near the old city wall and saw people throwing away these broken bottles and wastepaper baskets. It seemed like a pity, so I picked them up…"
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Su Yun's hands, and he asked curiously, "Young comrade, why are you holding coal briquettes?"
Su Yun felt a bit embarrassed. She quickly put the briquettes back, wiped her hands, and changed the subject. "Uncle Zhou, let me take a look at your scrap first. If there's anything valuable, we'll handle it the same way as last time. How about that?"
At the mention of the last transaction, Zhou Jinwen beamed with delight. "You have no idea—those old books I brought last time got me 100 yuan! My wife was overjoyed! She always said those books were useless, but this time she finally admitted I was right. Lately, she's been treating me much better—it's all thanks to you!"
As he spoke, he set down the sack and took out a small bag of red dates and dried longan from his pocket, stuffing it into Su Yun's hands.
"Young comrade, this is just a small token of appreciation. You must accept it."
Su Yun quickly tried to refuse. "Uncle Zhou, I can't accept gifts. Our transactions are fair exchanges—I'm not at a loss, so how can I take anything extra? Besides, red dates and longan are good for nourishing the blood. You need them more than I do…"
"Oh, I'm not lacking! My grandson brought me plenty of red dates and longan a few days ago. I can eat them every day. I picked these especially for you—just take them!"
He shoved the bag into her arms, clearly unwilling to take no for an answer.
Left with no choice, Su Yun accepted it. But when she looked closely, she noticed that the red dates on top looked extremely familiar—large, plump, and a vibrant red.
There was no doubt—these were the same red dates from her system store!
Su Yun froze for a moment, then a thought struck her. She carefully looked at Zhou Jinwen and asked, "Uncle Zhou, your grandson… could he be Comrade Zhou Ziyang?"
"Huh? How did you know?" Zhou Jinwen was surprised.
Su Yun was just as surprised. She hadn't expected the red dates and longan she sold to Zhou Ziyang to make a full circle back to her.
She smiled. "What a coincidence, Uncle Zhou. My cousin happens to be a colleague of Officer Zhou, so I know him too."
"Your cousin works with my grandson?"
At that, Zhou Jinwen's cloudy old eyes lit up!
He eagerly asked, "Young comrade, does your cousin have a partner?"
Su Yun shook her head. "No, she—"
"No partner? That's wonderful!"
Zhou Jinwen's eyes sparkled, and his enthusiasm grew. "Young comrade, how old is your cousin? Are her parents in good health?"
Hearing these questions, Su Yun immediately understood his intentions. Since she could also tell that Zhou Ziyang had a good impression of Su Xiu, she thought for a moment and answered carefully:
"My cousin is twenty-two this year and is an only child. My second uncle works at a coal factory delivering briquettes, and my second aunt takes on handicraft work in her spare time. They're all hardworking people."
Hearing this, Zhou Jinwen's face wrinkled with a broad smile. "An only child? That's rare! Twenty-two is just right—my grandson just turned twenty-five. He's still happily living in the bachelor dorm at the station and doesn't care about his future at all. His grandmother and I are so anxious…"
Then he looked at Su Yun expectantly. "Young comrade, my grandson is a proper police officer, and he's a good match for your cousin in age. Could you help introduce them and let them get to know each other better?"
Su Yun shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't help with that. You should talk to Officer Zhou directly. You don't know this, but my second uncle was recently injured and is hospitalized at the People's Hospital. Officer Zhou has been visiting every day."
"What? Really?"
The moment he heard that, Zhou Jinwen's face bloomed with joy!
For a brief moment, he seemed to see Zhou Ziyang with a wife and child waving at him.
Lost in his imagination, he could only grin foolishly and say, "Good, good!"
After coming back to reality, he looked at Su Yun with even greater warmth. "Young comrade, who would've thought we might even become relatives someday! Haha! In that case, I won't weigh this bag of scrap—just leave it here and deal with it however you like."
"That won't do!" Su Yun refused immediately. "Uncle Zhou, family is family, but business is business. Our recycling station is state-owned—we won't take even a needle or a thread from the people."
As she spoke, she skillfully lifted the sack, felt around inside to make sure there was nothing valuable, then weighed it and calculated the price.
She quickly wrote out the receipt and handed him twelve cents.
Zhou Jinwen happily took the money, asked a few more questions about Su Xiu, and then left satisfied.
After he left, more people came to sell scrap. Once Su Yun finished her work and washed her hands, she was about to light the stove to cook lunch when she noticed two familiar lunchboxes on the counter.
Gu Hai was here?