Chapter 3: Watch Out or I’ll Squeeze You for Every Cent!
Huang Guixiang quickly opened the door.
Lin Wan didn’t even have the time to check the Newbie Gift Pack and followed her right out.
Auntie Qin and Auntie Yang from the neighborhood subdistrict committee were standing at the doorway, blocked outside by a wide-armed Zhang Hongqiang.
The two middle-aged women looked thoroughly exasperated.
There was also a trace of undisguised disdain hidden in their eyes.
The Zhang family was notorious in the machinery factory family compound area. Old Zhang was famous for being a spineless coward; Huang Guixiang was famous for being sharp-tongued, mean, and utterly unreasonable; and Lin Wan was famous for being both wicked and stupid, always fighting and snatching things.
As for Zhang Hongqiang, he was a mischievous troublemaker detested by both cats and dogs alike.
Just like right now.
“Hongqiang’s mom, don’t listen to Hongqiang’s blind shouting. We just came to inform you that there’s only one week left before the deadline for your family’s two girls to sign up for the countryside!”
Lin Wan rolled her eyes. “What do you mean ‘Hongqiang’s mom’? Doesn’t my mom have a name? Is this a feudal society? Married women don’t deserve to have names? My word, the two of you work for the neighborhood committee, so how can you take the lead in restoring feudalism?”
What’s the deal? Is Huang Guixiang’s only value that she gave birth to a Zhang Hongqiang?!
The moment she said this, the two women’s faces turned green.
They wouldn’t dare wear the hat of “restoring feudalism”!
See!
Lin Wan was just plain obnoxious—a born rotten seed!
Opening her mouth, she immediately tried to make them lose their jobs and get criticized at a public rally!
People like her ought to be shipped off to the countryside as soon as possible, rather than staying in their neighborhood to plague everyone!
Taking deep breaths, the two women hurriedly apologized, “It was just a slip of the tongue. Everyone around here calls you that.”
Lin Wan continued to roll her eyes. “Other people are grass-roots citizens, so I can understand if their political awareness isn’t high enough. But you two are neighborhood committee cadres who serve the people. Is this how you serve the people?”
Don’t think she missed the blatant disdain in their eyes.
The two women: “!!!!”
They practically wanted to slap their own mouths. Stupid mouths, why bother arguing with her!
Hurry up and get to the point!
“Well, Comrade Huang Guixiang, regarding the matter of going down to the countryside, we still hope you can respond to the national policy!”
“One week from now, if they still don’t have jobs… their names will be submitted directly!”
“If you ask me, it’s better for you to take the initiative and sign up early. If you sign up voluntarily, we can still think of a way to allocate them to a closer, better place.”
“Otherwise, once everything is arranged by the higher-ups, you won’t be able to change it even if you want to!”
Huang Guixiang didn’t take it to heart at all. Whether it was Guo Xuyang or the regiment commander her daughter had just mentioned, her daughter was destined to become a military dependent anyway, so what the hell was she afraid of!
Brushing non-existent dust off herself with a smile, she arrogantly told the two women, “I can’t control what others do, but it’s impossible for my Huang Guixiang’s daughter to go to the countryside! She is about to marry a military officer and become a glorious military dependent. We are supporting the army, which is also responding to the national policy.”
Lin Wan: “!!!!”
No way!
How could Comrade Huang Guixiang have such a loose tongue? Nothing is set in stone yet, and she’s already broadcasting it everywhere!
I was lying to her!!!!
Where on earth am I going to find a regiment commander to marry!!!
She pressed a hand to her forehead!
As for that Guo Xuyang, she wouldn’t marry him even if it killed her.
Forget it!
Whatever!
Let the world burn!
The two women froze upon hearing this. They forced out a couple of insincere compliments toward Lin Wan and left.
As they walked away, they muttered to each other about which military officer must have been blind to take a liking to a home-wrecking troublemaker like Lin Wan!
What did Lin Wan have?
Aside from being pretty, she was absolutely useless—lazy, gluttonous, and sharp-tongued… For everyday domestic life, beauty couldn’t put food on the table!
Someone hardworking and virtuous like Zhang Qin was the right choice for a housewife!
Inside the house, Zhang Qin, who was buried in her chores, turned pale. She thought with a mix of sorrow, resentment, and indignation: As expected… as expected, Lin Wan went back on her word again!
She still wants to steal her boyfriend.
Zhang Qin didn’t believe Lin Wan could find a regiment commander in such a short period of time. The only military officer Lin Wan could possibly have contact with was her own boyfriend, Guo Xuyang.
Huang Guixiang pulled Lin Wan back into the room, closed the door, and asked in a low whisper, “Tell Mom all about that regiment commander!”
“How did you two meet?”
“Bring him over so Mom can get a look at him.”
“What are his family’s conditions like? If there are too many dependents to drag along and he has to take care of a massive household by himself, we can’t accept him even if he is a regiment commander!”
“If all else fails, we still have to consider Guo Xuyang!”
“Sigh, this marriage matter has to be rushed. Those people from the neighborhood committee are hounding us every single day… If they’re so good at hounding people, why don’t they go down and serve as the Black and White Impermanence messengers of death!”
Huang Guixiang was deeply worried.
Jobs in the city were hard to come by nowadays. She had used many connections but still couldn’t buy one.
She had even been scammed because she was too anxious to buy a job for Lin Wan!
As for taking an exam, that was even more out of the question. Recruitment information for various units was basically handled internally and never leaked out to the public.
Right now, marriage was the only way out.
“Alright, alright, alright. I’ll rest for today, look for him tomorrow, and bring him to meet you,” Lin Wan said perfunctorily.
But Huang Guixiang wouldn’t let her off the hook, insisting on badgering her for specific details about the regiment commander she spoke of.
“He… his name is Huo Xiao. His family lives in the military compound. His father is a high-ranking official, his mother is a doctor, and his brothers are all in the military. The oldest brother is in the Army, the second brother is in the Navy, and he is in the Air Force.”
In the original book, the male lead Guo Xuyang had a white lotus, and the female lead Xu Hui also had a white lotus.
The white lotus whom Xu Hui pined for but could never have was Huo Xiao!
This white lotus spent almost all his time with the troops and had absolutely nothing to do with them, making him perfect for putting Huang Guixiang off.
Aside from him, she couldn’t think of anyone else with better conditions than Guo Xuyang at the moment. Furthermore, when it came to military men, the only one she knew of was the Air Force guy who liked to go fishing!!!
Lin Wan talked absolute nonsense with a straight face: “It was love at first sight.”
“He won’t marry anyone but me, and I won’t marry anyone but him. He’s currently out on a mission. Once he returns, he’ll come find me! Mom, even if you want to see him now, you can’t, so just wait!”
“Anyway, Mom, my head hurts and I want to sleep for a bit. Please go out first!”
Hearing this kind of family background, Huang Guixiang’s eyes instantly crinkled with smiles, and she walked out humming a tune.
Lin Wan let out a sigh of relief and locked the bedroom door from the inside before finally daring to inspect the Newbie Gift Pack provided by the system.
Clicking it open, the unpretentious gift pack didn’t even have a flashing light effect. A recruitment plan for the provincial postal system floated right into her hand.
Looking at the recruitment plan in her hand, Lin Wan felt an intense wave of excitement and emotion surge through her heart.
Talk about a pillow being delivered just as one was nodding off!
Just when she was worrying over how to solve the countryside issue, a recruitment notice arrived!
With this job in hand, why would she even need to get married?
“System, you’re so thoughtful!”
System: If you don’t go to work and complete missions, how am I supposed to accumulate energy to escape this lower-level world?
Lin Wan’s finger slid across the addresses on the form, finally landing on the Huacheng Post Office.
The registration deadline was August 28, 1968, at 5:00 PM!
Holy crap!
Isn’t that today?
Lin Wan hurriedly changed her clothes, washed up, grabbed her documents, and blew out of the house like a gust of wind. “Mom, I have some business to take care of out there!”
Huang Guixiang only saw a shadow flash before her eyes, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
She chased outside but couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her. “That wretched girl, she still has a concussion, yet she runs so fast!”
Heading back inside, she saw a bunch of scallions sitting on the neighbor’s stove and casually swiped a few stalks.
This drew a swift scolding from the old lady next door.
Huang Guixiang rolled her eyes. “It’s just a few stalks of scallion. You stingy old hag, it’s a wonder you don’t die of cheapness!”
She left the old lady next door thoroughly infuriated.
Leaving the family compound, Lin Wan looked at the streets and houses that were vastly different from modern times, finding it truly hard to describe the feeling in her heart.
Following the original host’s memory to squeeze onto the public bus, tears practically streamed down her face. Ugh, I miss modern ride-hailing apps so much!
After transferring twice.
Lin Wan arrived at the Huacheng Post Office administration building.
The security guard asked her, “Young lady, who are you looking for, and what brings you here?”
Lin Wan slipped him a pack of white cigarettes without any trademark logo. These were unbranded cigarettes she had specifically sought out to buy in bulk in the modern era, explicitly meant to be handed out as gifts to smooth things over in this time period.
“Uncle, these have filter tips—special internal supply cigarettes! Anyway, my aunt told me your post office is recruiting, so I’m here to sign up!”
She looked exactly like someone who had found her way here through inside information; otherwise, she would surely have an acquaintance leading her inside to register instead of needing to ask the security guard uncle.
The old uncle was absolutely ecstatic to receive her cigarettes. He inspected them, and they indeed had filter tips!
They were cadre cigarettes!
These cigarettes were both expensive and hard to come by!
Having taken her gift, the old uncle’s attitude softened completely, and he happily escorted her straight to the personnel department, providing top-tier customer service.
Seeing that she was brought in by the gatekeeper uncle, the personnel department staff assumed she had been sent by some leader. After all, though the recruitment news was technically open to the public, not a single word had actually been broadcast externally.
Their attitude toward Lin Wan wasn’t bad, and they pulled out a registration form for her to fill.
“Young lady, who sent you here?” While she was buried in filling out the form, Big Sister Gao, who was in charge of registration in the personnel department, stared at her and asked.
Lin Wan put on an awkward expression, lowering her voice to say mysteriously, “My aunt told me to test in based on my own abilities. She wants fairness and justice, so she won’t let me mention her! Mostly, I’m not from our post office’s own system anyway, so I really can’t cause trouble for my aunt!”
Well, she wouldn’t be causing any trouble either. Her aunt—Huang Guixiang’s biological younger sister—was currently feeding pigs down in the countryside!
A classic blind spot!
She used to pull this trick all the time in her past life when pitching proposals to clients.
Sure enough, Big Sister Gao assumed she had pulled strings with some incredible leader. She gave her an “I get it” look, and her attitude became even warmer.
Once Lin Wan finished filling out the form, she fished White Rabbit creamy candies out of her canvas military satchel and handed them to the comrades in the personnel department, grabbing a large handful for each person. The personnel department staff were stunned by her sheer generosity.
These were White Rabbit creamy candies!
If it were them, they wouldn’t even be willing to hand out fruit candies so freely!
In an instant, they automatically assumed her family background must be exceptionally wealthy; otherwise, she wouldn’t be handing out these White Rabbit candies as if they cost no money at all!
Look at that—the girl didn’t even blink or show the slightest hint of reluctance when handing out the candies.
After distributing the candy.
Lin Wan asked Big Sister Gao, “Big Sister, is our section chief in?”
Big Sister Gao immediately and enthusiastically led her to find the chief of the personnel department. “Section Chief Tang, this is Little Lin, she just came to register!”
Seeing Big Sister Gao winking and gesturing at him, Section Chief Tang was bewildered. Was it really necessary to bring a young girl who was just registering right in front of him?
Once the woman left.
Lin Wan pulled a carton of cigarettes from her canvas satchel. “Section Chief Tang, my aunt asked me to bring this to you. She said that if there’s a chance, she’d like to invite you along with a few bureau chiefs and directors out for a meal! She felt rather embarrassed about squeezing me in at the last minute since we aren’t from the same system.”
“Anyway, these are internal special-supply filter tips. My aunt told me to bring them to you! Section Chief Tang, I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll be leaving now!”
With that, she bowed to the utterly dumbfounded Section Chief Tang.
Without waiting for his response, she turned and bolted out.
Section Chief Tang: “…”
No, wait! Young lady, at least tell me who your aunt is!
Young people are just too rash and unsteady!
Muttering to himself, he opened the pack of cigarettes. A look showed they indeed had filter tips, and they were completely unbranded!
Then they were definitely internal special supplies without a doubt!
Hiss…
The influence required to procure these cigarettes was no joke. Her aunt’s status couldn’t possibly be low!
“Little Gao, bring me that girl’s registration form so I can take a look!” Section Chief Tang quickly stuffed the cigarettes into his satchel before shouting at the top of his lungs.
Meanwhile, Lin Wan came out of the post office administration building. Before she could walk more than a few steps forward, she ran right into an acquaintance.
The kind where enemies meet on a narrow path!
Pointing at the man who was walking toward her with gnashed teeth, she threatened nervously, “Don’t you come over here!”
“Take one more step forward, and you see if I don’t lie down on the ground and squeeze you for every cent you’ve got!”
