RYEY – Chapter 79 Meeting an Acquaintance at the Brick Kiln

“Qiu Min, you didn’t even ask how much cloth I’d give you before agreeing so quickly. You’ll suffer a loss like this.”

Qiu Min froze for a moment, then looked at Cui Jiemin for a long while before smiling and shaking her head. She always remembered what Cheng Qiao had told her: if you use someone, don’t doubt them; if you doubt them, don’t use them. Once trust was lost, it would be hard to meet again in the future.

Cui Jiemin was very experienced in dealing with people. With just one glance, she saw through Qiu Min’s thoughts. Exhaling lightly, she smiled and said, “I’m short of all sorts of things here. Whatever is scarce on the market, I want it.”

Qiu Min’s eyes lit up. She knew Cui Jiemin was extending an olive branch to her. She quickly nodded and agreed. Cheng Qiao had already told her that she would sell to her at a ten percent discount compared to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Skinny Monkey had been waiting outside the textile factory for news. Once he learned that goods could be delivered today, he rushed over to the hideout. Qiu Min hopped onto the back rack of his bicycle—she wanted to bring some goods from Cheng Qiao to show Cui Jiemin.

“Qiu Min, by you jumping on like this, it means our relationship is settled.”

Skinny Monkey propped one foot on the ground and spoke coldly, though the tremor in his voice betrayed him. Qiu Min laughed, nodding firmly. But she realized Skinny Monkey couldn’t even turn his head around—ah, that nod was wasted.

“I know. I’m sure about it.”

“Qiu Min, once I earn some money, I’ll get us a small house. Then I’ll be able to marry you.”

Finally, after waiting so long, Skinny Monkey’s joy burst out like flowers blooming under the moonlight. He couldn’t help but voice his heartfelt wish. Hearing the words “house” and “marry,” Qiu Min’s face flushed crimson.

Skinny Monkey’s real name was Hou Fabao. His family lived in a shantytown, owning a small three-room house. His parents had six children in total. His three older sisters were already married, and his two older brothers had families of their own.

The two brothers occupied two rooms, while Skinny Monkey lived with his parents in the largest room. But even “large” was only about thirteen or fourteen square meters. That single room had to serve as their sleeping place, dining area, storage space, and sitting room.

So, Skinny Monkey had no fixed bed. At night, he laid two benches side by side, placed a door panel on top, and that became his bed. Come morning, it all had to be dismantled again—otherwise, there wouldn’t even be space to walk.

The two quickly arrived at the rundown house. Qiu Min had never been there before, but she knew this was where Skinny Monkey and the others hid their goods. She cautiously looked around, making sure no one was nearby before getting off the bike.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw an ox cart loaded with several large sacks. Opening them revealed bars upon bars of soap.

“Sister Qiu Min, there are two thousand bars of soap here. I’ll let you take them at four cents profit. If you’ve got ration tickets, just give me half. The rest you keep.”

“That won’t do. Director Cui said she has eight hundred soap coupons. If that’s not enough, she’ll give me defective cloth. I must at least give you half the defective cloth.”

“We’ll talk later. Does Director Cui want anything else?”

“She does. She said she wants all kinds of scarce goods.”

Qiu Min’s cheeks flushed red, excitement written all over her face. Cheng Qiao smiled and pulled out a small basket. Inside were a slab of pork, a jin of milk powder, and a handful of chemical combs.

The moment Qiu Min saw these items, she knew they would sell effortlessly. Her excitement grew as she nodded vigorously. Skinny Monkey glanced at Li Huan. Seeing him nod in approval lifted his spirits instantly. At last, he could make money through hard work.

The two of them drove the ox cart to the textile factory. Cui Jiemin only had to take one look at the soap before she was utterly satisfied. She immediately ordered someone from the finance office to fetch money and coupons to hand to Qiu Min.

Then she led them to the warehouse, where they pulled out bolts of fabric with blurry patterns and defective edges. She handed them over at the market price, giving Qiu Min the full amount.

“Brother Monkey, I have to go home now, or else my family will grow suspicious. You take the money, tickets, and cloth to Cheng Qiao and the others.”

“You trust me that much?”

“If you use someone, don’t doubt them.”

Qiu Min smiled and turned away. In her mind, though, she was already calculating today’s earnings. Good heavens—it’s eighty yuan! Plus all these tickets and cloth. At this rate, I’ll soon be able to pay off my debts.

Cheng Qiao held seven hundred and twenty yuan, four hundred soap coupons, and a huge stack of cloth in her hands. Her heart surged with excitement. This was the first time she had used the space to make money—why did it feel so exhilarating?

Skinny Monkey was grinning from ear to ear. He was eager to handle the tickets and cloth quickly, hoping to exchange them for money soon to give to Qiu Min.

Li Huan and the others also drove the ox cart back. What they didn’t know was that at noon, a tractor loaded with bricks rolled into Xiangyang Village.

That was when the villagers realized Li Huan had actually bought bricks to build a wall. They all shook their heads in secret—a wastrel is still a wastrel, spending a woman’s money without a second thought.

Chen Weimin was so angry he gnashed his teeth. Since their daughter married, she hadn’t returned home once. Zhaodi, worried about her only daughter, bought some pastries and went to visit at Wang Tuozi’s house.

While eating the pastries they brought, Wang Tuozi smugly told them that he had already found Chen Chunhua a “decent job.” So apart from holidays, she wouldn’t have time to return to her parents’ home.

Satisfied, Zhaodi went back home and boasted everywhere about her capable son-in-law who had found Chunhua a respectable job. Many young women and wives in the village grew envious.

If not for a dog from Xiangqian Village who spotted Chen Chunhua at the brick kiln, they would still be kept in the dark. Once Zhaodi got the news, she dragged Chen Weimin to the brick kiln to see with their own eyes. That one glance broke their hearts.

The daughter they had cherished since childhood no longer looked like the delicate, pretty girl she once was. Her head was wrapped in a faded cloth, her body covered in heavy work clothes stained with dust.

Her once lovely face was smeared with streaks of mud, her eyes swollen, lips cracked. The sight made their hearts ache unbearably.

It turned out Wang Tuozi did have some connections. The brick kiln, while profitable, was all grueling physical labor—not at all suitable for women.

So Chen Chunhua was placed in the “embryo-dragging” team, which was considered the lightest work there and mostly filled with women. But naturally, the pay was lower than in other departments.

She and another woman had to drag a flatbed cart loaded with bricks—eight to nine hundred jin in weight—from the production machine to the drying yard. One trip covered more than half a li. From six in the morning until midnight, this was her daily grind.

The brick kiln paid wages on a ten-day cycle. From 6 a.m. to midnight every day, ten days of work earned fifteen yuan. If you couldn’t endure it, you could leave after collecting your ten-day pay.

But Wang Tuozi had already advanced a month’s salary for Chen Chunhua. Even if she couldn’t handle the work, she had to stick it out for the whole month—or else cough up the money.

Chen Chunhua agreed without hesitation. She had already been completely cowed—or perhaps terrified—by Wang Tuozi’s endless cruelties. She would rather endure back-breaking labor at the kiln every day than stay at home and eat in vain.