RYEY – Chapter 4 Taking Action

Everyone gathered in the kitchen and looked at Xu Laidi’s grain sack. There was only half a sack of sorghum flour—no fine grains at all. Xu Laidi secretly rejoiced. She had already taken the fine grains Cheng Qiao gave her to the black market and exchanged them for money.

Jiang Guangrong picked up paper and pen to calculate. According to the records in Cheng Qiao’s notebook, Xu Laidi owed her a total of twenty-one yuan and fifty cents. But Xu Laidi claimed she had no money and could only repay with rations.

The price of sorghum flour was only three cents per jin. Half a sack was at most fifty jin, worth about one yuan and fifty cents. In this way, Xu Laidi’s debt to Cheng Qiao increased from two hundred yuan to two hundred and twenty yuan.

Jiang Guangrong poured all the sorghum flour into Cheng Qiao’s grain sack. Seeing Xu Laidi’s sack completely emptied out, everyone felt a chill down their spines. Yet Cheng Qiao smiled, scooped out a big bowl of sorghum flour, and put it into Jiang Guangrong’s sack.

“Thank you, squad leader, for helping me get my rations back. This is my little token of gratitude.”

Jiang Guangrong didn’t know whether to refuse or accept. Glancing at his own sack, which was also nearly empty, and knowing there was still half a month before the next ration distribution, he steeled himself and silently accepted.

The other educated youths were envious, but they knew it wasn’t the right time to take advantage. The atmosphere grew tense until elder sister Han Chunmei smiled, nodded, and invited Cheng Qiao into the girls’ dormitory.

“Xu Laidi, change out of those clothes. Pay back what you owe, or else people in the village will laugh at us educated youths.”

Xu Laidi’s face turned red, then pale. Reluctantly, she changed out of the clothes and threw them onto Cheng Qiao’s bed. Cheng Qiao wrinkled her nose in disgust, then glanced at Han Chunmei and smiled.

“Sister Chunmei, how about I give you this outfit?”

“Cheng Qiao, are you serious?”

Han Chunmei had been in Xiangyang Village for five years. Her clothes were patched over and over. Everyone was the same, so it didn’t stand out much.

But she was still a young woman. Every time she saw new educated youths arrive in fresh, clean clothes, she couldn’t help feeling a little inferior. Yet money was scarce, and cloth ration tickets were even harder to come by. Eventually, she gave up hope of new clothes.

“It’s true—truer than pearls. And this quilt pad is mine too. You take it. Wash it clean, and in winter, putting it under you will keep you much warmer.”

Cheng Qiao placed the clothes directly in Han Chunmei’s hands and then pulled out the quilt pad from under Xu Laidi’s straw mat, setting it on Han Chunmei’s bedding. After that, she went outside to wash her hands—the things touched by that vile woman felt filthy.

Xu Laidi dared not protest. The quilt pad had indeed belonged to Cheng Qiao. Back then, just to get this quilt, she had even treated Cheng Qiao to a piece of fruit candy. What a loss.

Han Chunmei happily stroked the clothes. They were still eighty percent new, with no patches at all. No wonder Xu Laidi had never worn them to the fields—of course, it wasn’t her own, so she didn’t feel the pain.

The other girls looked on enviously at Han Chunmei’s clothes and bedding. They regretted not speaking up for Cheng Qiao earlier, otherwise these good things might have fallen into their own hands.

“Xu Laidi, I remember you’ve got about a hundred yuan stashed in your cupboard. Why are you saying you have no money to pay back?”

Zhang Yuefang’s eyes rolled as she saw Cheng Qiao finish washing her hands and about to come in.

“Zhang Yuefang, what do you mean by that?”

Xu Laidi glared at her viciously, gritting her teeth.

“What do I mean? I just don’t understand—you’re so close to Cheng Qiao. You clearly have money, so why borrow from her? You clearly have money to repay, so why keep dragging it out?”

Xu Laidi opened her mouth but closed it again. She hated women who were prettier or better off than her—especially Cheng Qiao, who was so fair-skinned and wealthier too. She always wanted to ruin her.

Cheng Qiao entered just in time to hear Zhang Yuefang’s words. She stood directly before Xu Laidi, staring straight into her eyes, making Xu Laidi feel uneasy.

“Cheng Qiao, if it weren’t for Zhang Yuefang’s reminder, I’d have forgotten. Wait a moment, I’ll give you the money.”

Zhang Yuefang sneered. Forgotten? Someone who fussed over even a single cent could never forget a hundred yuan. She simply hadn’t wanted to pay.

Under Cheng Qiao’s watchful eyes, Xu Laidi opened her cupboard and took out a pink tin pencil case. Seeing it, Cheng Qiao’s gaze tightened—that had been hers back in primary school, a gift to Xu Laidi. How stupid she’d been.

Xu Laidi opened the case. Inside was indeed a roll of big black bills. She counted out exactly one hundred yuan. Cheng Qiao slipped it straight into her pocket. She also saw a few food ration tickets, oil tickets, and other coupons in the case—and she took those without hesitation.

Xu Laidi panicked. Without those tickets, how could she exchange for food? In the scuffle, the pencil case was knocked over, spilling its contents onto the bedding. A white jade pendant landed right beside Cheng Qiao’s hand.

She quickly picked it up. Wasn’t this the pendant she had lost? Back in primary school, she hadn’t even known when it disappeared. She only remembered that Xu Laidi often came to her house to do homework.

“No wonder I searched everywhere but couldn’t find it. So you stole it.”

“Cheng Qiao, who are you calling a thief? I warn you not to spout nonsense—it was you who gave it to me!”

Slap!

Cheng Qiao raised her hand and gave Xu Laidi a hard slap.

“You—you dare hit me? I’ll fight you!”

Slap!

Cheng Qiao slapped her again.

“I’ve already hit you—what’s there to dare or not? Because of this pendant, my mother beat me badly. Giving you two slaps is still light. And you dare warn me? What a joke.”

Xu Laidi was on the verge of collapse. Her eyes were venomous as she lunged at Cheng Qiao. But Cheng Qiao dodged—and forgot about her sprained ankle. Losing her balance, she fell heavily to the ground.

Instinctively, she caught herself with her hand. The pendant in her grip cut her palm, and the blood that flowed was instantly absorbed by the jade.

Xu Laidi, missing her target, also tumbled off the shared bed platform. She fell face down just twenty centimeters away from Cheng Qiao. One of her front teeth broke, and the fragment flew off who-knows-where.

Han Chunmei, Zhang Yuefang, and the other girls were stunned by the sudden fight. When both fell, they rushed over to help Cheng Qiao up.

Xu Laidi saw them all helping Cheng Qiao while the others stood frozen like fools. Enraged, she burst into sobs, her cries so loud they startled the boys in the neighboring dormitory.