Chapter 6: Settling Scores and the Original Owner’s “Best Friend”
“Well, well~ If it isn’t the Sheng family’s precious girl. You’re not trying to dodge going to the countryside, are you?”
Sheng Wanyan was still processing the neighborhood dynamics when a harsh, grating female voice cut through the air.
“Physical labor is the ultimate glory these days. You aren’t thinking of slacking off and running away from your duty, are you?”
The speaker was Mother Li. The feud between the Li family and the Sheng family went way back, starting from the very day their housing units were allocated.
The Li family had a house full of children but only one income—Father Li’s—which meant they were allocated a tiny apartment of only thirty square meters. Squeezing five or six people into that cramped space was bad enough, and it would only get worse once their grandson married and brought home a wife.
Driven by envy, Mother Li had once cornered Mother Sheng, crying poverty and demanding that the Sheng family swap their spacious fifty-square-meter apartment with them. Naturally, Mother Sheng had refused. Who in their right mind would give up a larger apartment in this day and age? Besides, Father Sheng held a higher technical rank than Father Li, so he was legally entitled to the bigger unit. There was absolutely no reason to yield just because the Li family couldn’t control their household size.
Ever since that rejection, Mother Li made it her life’s mission to throw petty, passive-aggressive shade at the Sheng family whenever she could.
Sheng Wanyan turned her sharp gaze on the woman. She wasn’t the timid original owner who could be pushed around at will. She didn’t care how much the previous girl had endured; she personally had zero tolerance for it.
“Aunt Li, your granddaughter is barely eight years old, yet she’s the one doing all the laundry and cooking for your household,” Sheng Wanyan replied smoothly, her voice carrying down the hall. “You aren’t trying to play the part of a wealthy, slave-driving landlord’s wife, are you?”
Mother Li’s face turned white, and she instinctively stepped forward, wanting nothing more than to slap her hand over the girl’s mouth. If that capitalist label stuck, she would be dragged off by the revolutionary committee for re-education!
Since when did this quiet brat have such a sharp tongue? Usually, the girl just kept her head down and endured it, or her eyes would turn red with anxious tears.
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you miserable girl?!” Mother Li shrieked, her voice cracking. “I never did any such thing!”
Sheng Wanyan found her sheer panic amusing. In this volatile era, a single well-placed rumor could completely ruin a person. If she didn’t teach this old woman a lesson now, the neighbor would keep thinking she was an easy target.
“Aunt Li, everyone in this building has seen your eight-year-old granddaughter hauling heavy laundry tubs and cooking over the stove. Who are you trying to fool?”
“Exactly,” another neighbor chimed in from down the hall. “We’ve all seen it.”
Hearing the crowd side with Sheng Wanyan, Mother Li realized she wasn’t going to win this round. Flushing with anger, she shot back, “Oh, and you dare to claim your own families don’t make your girls work?”
The surrounding neighbors looked a little guilty at that. In this era, which household didn’t make their daughters work? Girls were usually given just enough food to keep them breathing.
Sheng Wanyan had no interest in getting bogged down in neighborhood gossip, so she stepped past them and let them squabble among themselves. The combat skills of these building matrons were top-tier anyway; it would take them a while to declare a winner.
This was Sheng Wanyan’s first time seeing the streets of this era in the flesh. Everything was bathed in a monotonous gray. The brick walls were heavily painted with slogans like “Down with Capitalism” and “Contribute Wholeheartedly to the Motherland.”
The atmosphere felt incredibly stifling. Almost every pedestrian she passed wore clothes with at least one or two crude patches. The women’s faces were universally sallow—a testament to how deeply women suffered during this difficult decade. She even passed a few emaciated, elderly folks huddled in the shadows of an alley, weak from hunger.
In a time of severe food shortages, these grim sights were the norm. Sheng Wanyan forced herself to look away, reminding herself not to let a bleeding heart cloud her judgment. She had survived a cutthroat corporate world built on deception; she knew all too well how quickly people would exploit a display of weakness.
She kept walking. Red brick buildings dominated the city center, with the local Supply and Marketing Cooperative and the State-Owned Restaurant being the grandest structures around.
Sheng Wanyan navigated toward the industrial sector. She visited every prominent factory in Chengdu, but to her disappointment, not a single recruitment notice was posted. Finding a secluded, empty alley, she briefly ducked into her space to eat a quiet lunch before spending the afternoon scouting the local schools.
By the end of the day, she had walked a marathon but hadn’t found even the ghost of a job opening.
Sheng Wanyan realized that blind searching was a waste of time. To get the real scoop on vacant positions, she needed to ingratiate herself with the ultimate information network: the middle-aged factory matrons. She decided she would pull some small supplies from her space tomorrow, loiter near the factory gates under the guise of trading, and fish for insider information.
Before heading home, she stopped by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to gauge current market prices. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pastry ticket that was on the verge of expiring. If she didn’t use it today, it would go to waste. She might as well buy some treats to sweeten her grandparents’ palates.
“What do you want?” the sales clerk asked mechanically, barely looking up from the sweater she was knitting.
“How much are the cakes?”
“Seventy cents a pound. Requires one pastry ticket or grain coupon.”
Sheng Wanyan thought the price was an absolute steal. Food in this era was unadulterated and made with genuine ingredients. In the future, seventy cents couldn’t even buy a single piece of hard candy. She handed over the cash and coupon, purchasing a pound of traditional osmanthus cakes. The clerk wrapped them neatly in simple brown paper—an ironically eco-friendly packaging method.
The moment Sheng Wanyan stepped out of the cooperative, she spotted a familiar figure walking toward her. It was Sheng Xiuying, sporting a brand-new wool sweater despite it being the dead of winter.
Sheng Wanyan had planned to track her down and settle accounts in a few days, but since the universe had delivered her today, it was the perfect opportunity to claw her belongings back.
“Oh, Yan’er! Did you just buy cakes?” Sheng Xiuying’s eyes locked onto the paper parcel. Without a shred of shame, she extended an open hand. “Our house didn’t have any sweets for the New Year. Give me one.”
In the past, whenever Sheng Xiuying pulled this routine, the original owner’s heart would soften, and she would immediately break the portion in half. In fact, Sheng Xiuying had traveled into the city today specifically to sponge off Sheng Wanyan; her family hadn’t seen a decent meal in days.
Sheng Wanyan’s eyes traveled from the girl’s greedy hand to the wool sweater she was wearing, and then to the trendy hairband on her head—both of which had been “borrowed” from the original owner’s closet.
“Yan’er, what are you just standing there for?” Sheng Xiuying snapped, her tone dripping with entitlement. “Hand it over.”
She wondered what was wrong with Sheng Wanyan today. Usually, the idiot would eagerly hand over her things before even being asked.
“If you want to eat cakes so badly, go buy them yourself,” Sheng Wanyan said coldly.
“What did you just say?” Sheng Xiuying gaped, unable to believe her ears. She racked her brain but couldn’t think of anything she had done to offend her. Could Wanyan still be petty about the new socks she had swiped last week?
“Yan’er, what’s gotten into you?” Sheng Xiuying forced a sweet, sisterly smile. “We’re best friends. We’re supposed to share all the good things in life.”
Sheng Wanyan nearly laughed out loud. Share? More like Sheng Xiuying single-handedly devoured the original owner’s food, and then packed the leftovers to bring home to her family. Who gave this girl the face to act so bold?
“Since you’re here, you can start by returning my hairband and the sweater you’re wearing,” Sheng Wanyan demanded, her voice cutting through the courtyard. “Furthermore, considering all the socks you’ve taken and the food you’ve mooched off me over the years, you owe me an additional ten yuan. Pay up.”
Sheng Xiuying’s heart skipped a beat. Panic flared in her chest. What had happened to Sheng Wanyan overnight? Why was she suddenly demanding her things back?
“Yan’er… did someone slice some nasty rumors into your ear?” Sheng Xiuying stepped forward, reaching out to grab her arm to smooth things over.
Sheng Wanyan easily sidestepped the grasp. In a swift, fluid motion, she reached out and snatched the hairband right off Sheng Xiuying’s head.
“You played me for a fool for years, but I’m finally awake!” Sheng Wanyan hissed, cornering her. “You ate my food, wore my clothes, and drained me dry. I had a guaranteed teaching position waiting for me at the school, but you constantly whispered poison in my ear until I ruined my own grades. Now I’m being forced down to the countryside, and you think I’m just going to let you walk away? You’re lucky I haven’t dragged you to the authorities to settle this properly!”
Sheng Xiuying stood frozen, completely terrified. The compliant, easily manipulated Sheng Wanyan she had controlled for years was entirely gone.
