Chapter 12: Trouble is Coming
In this era of strict rationing, coupons were distributed based purely on the number of people in a household. Sheng Wanyan was more than satisfied to secure a one-pound meat coupon alongside her monthly grain allowance.
“Just sign right here,” the logistics officer instructed, tapping the form. “Make sure you arrive by eight o’clock the day after tomorrow.”
Sheng Wanyan neatly signed her name, a profound sense of relief washing over her.
Beside her, Mother Sheng let out a long, heavy breath. The crisis she had been running ragged to resolve for weeks was finally settled. As the tension left her body, she suddenly realized she was ravenously hungry.
Once the paperwork was finalized, Sheng Wanyan and Sister Wu parted ways outside the factory gates. It was a clean, one-time transaction; neither side would ever have a reason to bring it up again.
However, the moment Sister Wu arrived back at her residential compound, the mother and son who had been vacillating over the position the previous day came sprinting toward her, drenched in sweat.
“Sister Wu! Sister Wu! We want that job!” the woman wheezed, wiping her forehead. She had just caught wind of a rumor that someone else had swooped in and bought the position right out from under her son’s nose.
How could she sit still after hearing that? She had originally intended to drag out the negotiations for another day or two to drive down the price, but someone had snatched it without a single word of warning.
Sister Wu looked at them coolly. “I already sold the job this morning. You can go on home.”
The announcement hit the mother and son like a thunderbolt, instantly flushing their faces with a mix of shock and humiliation. That was supposed to be her son’s ticket out of grueling farm labor! Without it, he would be forced onto the next transport to the countryside.
“Who did you sell it to?!” the woman shrieked, her voice cracking. “I never said I wasn’t going to buy it!”
“You’re the ones who spent days ‘considering’ it,” Sister Wu retorted dryly, turning on her heel and heading inside. She left the pair stamping their feet in a furious panic out in the courtyard.
“This is all your fault!” the young man barked, turning on his mother with venom. “If you had just given me the money yesterday, that job would be mine right now! Now I’m going to get sent down to the countryside!”
The youth ranted continuously, his anxiety peaking as he calculated that they had less than ten days before the official departure deadline. Finding another vacant city position in that timeframe was virtually impossible.
“Hush, son!” the woman hissed, her eyes narrowing with malicious intent. “Tomorrow, I’ll sniff around and find out exactly which little bitch stole what was yours. I’ll drag her out and force her to give your job back.”
The young man stopped his pacing, looking at her with a glimmer of desperate hope. “Is that true? Can you really do it?”
“Since when has your mother ever lied to you?” she sneered.
Sheng Wanyan had absolutely no idea that a shameless, entitled pair had already locked her in their sights. Even if she had known, she would have simply ignored them. With less than ten days remaining before the sent-down youth departed, she wasn’t about to waste precious energy on desperate fools. If she had free time, she would rather focus on generating more capital to secure her family’s future.
Later that afternoon, Sheng Wanyan and her mother marched over to the neighborhood committee office to officially update her status. Backed by a valid state employment certificate, the officials had no legal ground to force her onto the rural lists.
When Grandpa and Grandma Sheng learned the news at home, the last remnants of the dark cloud vanished from the household. To celebrate, the family poured a few small glasses of medicinal liquor that evening, the atmosphere lighter than it had been in months.
“Tomorrow, let’s get a few new sets of clothes ready for Yan’er,” Grandpa Sheng noted, setting down his glass. “We can’t have our girl looking shabby on her first day of work.”
Mother Sheng nodded in agreement. Though she possessed a fierce, explosive temper, she never withheld resources from her own flesh and blood. She knew all too well that in this harsh era, if she didn’t stand tall and play the enforcer, their household would be chewed up alive. Her mother-in-law was a gentle, cultured intellectual; if Mother Sheng didn’t act as the shield, who would? If life were smooth and gentle, no one would choose to be a shrew every single day. At the end of the day, preserving one’s polite reputation wasn’t nearly as vital as absolute survival.
“And make sure to write that letter to Xiaoze tomorrow,” Grandpa Sheng added, shifting his focus. “Now that Yan’er’s situation is resolved, we can put her marriage prospects on the back burner. Tell that boy that the next time he takes leave, he either better bring home a granddaughter-in-law for us, or prepare himself for an endless gauntlet of blind dates.”
Sheng Wanze was already twenty-five. In this day and age, men his age were already chasing two toddlers around the yard, yet he hadn’t so much as held a girl’s hand. He wasn’t in a hurry, but the elders were sick with worry. He was the only male heir of his generation; the family line rested squarely on his shoulders.
Sheng Wanyan quietly offered a silent prayer for her older brother. As long as the terrifying blind-date spotlight wasn’t trained on her, she didn’t care which unfortunate soul had to take the heat.
With the massive employment crisis officially crossed off their list, the family was entirely unified in their mission to aggressively tackle the remaining bachelor problem next.
Following dinner, Sheng Wanyan retreated to her tiny bedroom. Listening closely to the apartment, she noted how quickly the nightly sounds faded. Her family had drained every ounce of their emotional reserves over the past few weeks, and now that the pressure had snapped, exhaustion had claimed them early.
Once the flat fell completely silent, Sheng Wanyan slipped into her space to luxuriate in a long, hot shower. The apartment’s washroom was tiny, requiring a tedious process of boiling water on the stove just to wipe down. Furthermore, city living didn’t afford the luxury of a rural courtyard where one could stockpile massive cords of winter firewood.
Urban residents relied tightly on carefully rationed coal briquettes or whatever kindling they could secretly scavenge from the nearby hills. If you gathered too much, the small flat couldn’t store it; if you gathered too little, you froze. Because of this logistical nightmare, city folk typically only took a proper bath once a week during winter, relying on sponge baths in between.
For Sheng Wanyan, who felt physically uncomfortable if she couldn’t wash away the day’s grime, the space’s modern amenities were an absolute godsend. Without it, she was certain her mental state would have collapsed within days.
The following morning, Sheng Wanyan chose to stay indoors to keep her grandparents company, eager to catch up on the household chores she had neglected during her daily excursions. If she didn’t handle them, Grandma Sheng would simply push her elderly joints to do them anyway. Knowing she would be clocking into the factory the next morning, this was her last real opportunity to ease their burdens.
Grandma Sheng sat at the sewing machine, her foot pumping the pedal rhythmically as she altered a piece of fabric for Sheng Wanyan. It was already April, and the spring air was shifting toward summer; her granddaughter needed appropriate, breathable attire for the office.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A series of aggressive, heavy blows rattled the front door.
Sheng Wanyan exchanged a look with her grandfather. Who could possibly be knocking with that much violence at this hour?
“Could your parents be back early to retrieve something?” Grandpa Sheng muttered, his brow furrowing.
Sheng Wanyan shook her head. Her father carried his own set of keys; he would never kick up such a fuss. The sheer force rattling the wooden frame felt entirely laced with malice. A sudden realization flashed through her mind, and she leaned down to whisper in Grandma Sheng’s ear.
“Grandma, do you think it could be the mother and son who were trying to buy that factory job?”
Grandma Sheng’s expression hardened as the pieces clicked together. “It’s highly likely.” She patted Wanyan’s hand reassuringly. “Your parents’ shift ends in ten minutes. Let’s wait. When dealing with completely unreasonable hoodlums, there’s no point trying to speak sense. Let your mother handle it.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded, wholly agreeing with the strategy. If she opened the door now, a physical altercation might erupt, and she couldn’t risk her elderly grandparents getting caught in the crossfire.
“Open this door right now!” a woman’s shrill voice screeched from the corridor. Receiving no response, she threw a heavy kick against the wood.
The commotion instantly drew the neighbors out like moths to a flame. Heads poked out from every doorway along the tube building, fingers pointing and voices murmuring as a crowd formed around the Sheng family’s entrance.
Just as the tension outside reached a boiling point, Father and Mother Sheng walked down the communal hall, returning from their shifts. Seeing their doorway besieged by a mocking crowd, Father Sheng’s face darkened instantly as he pushed his way through.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, his voice dropping into a low, menacing register as he confronted the raucous mother and son.
Mother Sheng’s sharp eyes immediately recognized the pair from the factory quarters.
The visiting woman whirled around, her face contorted with rage as she glared at Father Sheng. “Are you the head of this household?”
“I am,” Father Sheng barked.
In the very next second, the woman pointed a crooked finger at his face and began to screech at the top of her lungs, “Your shameless daughter stole my son’s job! Give it back to him right now, or I’ll tear this whole place down!”
Hearing the hysterical accusation, Father Sheng instantly understood the situation. The position had been legally purchased by his family through a fair, immediate transaction. This woman had been too stingy to pay the asking price, and now she expected the world to bend to her whims? Did she truly not comprehend the basic concept of first come, first served?
