Chapter 39: I Have Never Seen Such a Shameless Person
That night, Sheng Wanyan finished translating the front page of the latest newspaper, carefully slid the manuscript into an envelope, and sealed it.
The next day during her lunch break, she made a quick trip to the post office to mail it out. At that time, sending a letter within the city cost four cents, while long-distance mail cost eight cents, with additional fees applied if the envelope exceeded the standard weight limit.
Sheng Wanyan counted out eight cents, handed it over to the clerk, and hurried back to the factory.
When she got back, she folded her arms on her desk and took a quick nap. Some of the factory workers lived in the employee dormitories on campus and could go back to their rooms to rest properly. However, the clerks in the Propaganda Department were all locals who lived in the city. Since going all the way home and back during the noon break was too much of a hassle, they usually just leaned over their desks for a bit, or sat staring blankly into space while cracking roasted melon seeds to pass the time.
A week passed, but Sheng Wanyan received no word from the newspaper. Communications were slow and underdeveloped in this era; it typically took at least half a month for a submission to arrive, undergo assessment, and have the results mailed back.
Sheng Wanyan wasn’t in a hurry, though. She spent her days comfortably knitting sweaters and occasionally taking a few items from her space to sell on the black market. She only went out twice and kept her transactions modest, bringing in about thirty yuan each time.
In total, she earned seventy yuan from those two trips, along with a handful of ration coupons. Aside from the national food coupons, which she kept, she used the rest of the local tickets to supplement her family’s pantry.
In just under a month, Sheng Wanyan completed two full sets of sweaters and trousers for Grandma Sheng. On her way home from work one evening, she stopped by the post office to check for mail, and sure enough, a letter was waiting for her.
Along with the envelope was a thick bundle wrapped neatly in old newspaper and tied tightly with thin linen twine. Judging by the weight, it contained the source texts she would be translating next.
Excited, Sheng Wanyan carried everything straight home and immediately handed the new sweater and trousers to Grandma Sheng to try on.
Once she had them on, Grandma Sheng raised her arms, twisting left and right, and found that the fit was perfect and completely unrestricted.
“Your craftsmanship has really improved, Yan’er,” the old woman praised, smoothing down the fabric. “The stitches are much evener than they used to be.”
Sheng Wanyan just smiled. The original owner’s needlework had indeed been quite poor, to say nothing of her own past life, where she had lived in absolute luxury since childhood and never had to touch a needle. Fortunately, she possessed the original owner’s muscle memory. By taking her time and following the steps carefully, the results were bound to turn out well.
The more Grandma Sheng looked at the clothes, the more she loved them. She kept running her hands over the knit fabric, deeply touched by her granddaughter’s thoughtful gift.
“When your mother gets her next allocation, I’ll have her give you the wool coupons,” Grandma Sheng said with a smile. “When you find some free time, you can knit two sets for your grandfather as well.” She glanced toward the door and shook her head knowingly.
Sheng Wanyan looked over and caught Grandpa Sheng peeking into the room.
“Don’t worry, everyone in the family will get a set,” Sheng Wanyan promised warmly. “I’ll make sure everyone has new clothes before winter sets in.”
“Good, good!” Grandma Sheng clapped her hands happily.
Caught in the act, Grandpa Sheng quickly retreated to the living room and turned up the volume on the radio.
Sheng Wanyan exchanged a look with her grandmother, amused by her grandfather’s quick escape.
Grandma Sheng smiled and shook her head. “Your grandfather is just a childish old man. The older he gets, the more petty thoughts he has, just like a little boy.”
After dinner, Sheng Wanyan went back to her bedroom and tore open the envelope from the capital. The official letter stated that her sample translation was exceptionally accurate, captured the proper nuance, and had successfully passed the newspaper’s rigorous assessment.
To start, they were assigning her short articles. Once she proved her consistency, they would graduate her to full-length books.
The pay rate was set at one cent per word. Since a standard article ran between 500 to 1,000 words, she would earn at least five to ten yuan per piece. Because she was located all the way in Chengdu, the editorial office would mail her a large batch of documents at once. She would translate them in bulk and mail the manuscripts back. Once the editors verified the quality, they would wire her the translation fees along with the next batch of source texts.
Sheng Wanyan calculated the numbers in her head, a bright smile spreading across her face. If she kept up a steady pace, earning a cool hundred yuan a month would be a breeze.
She unwrapped the newspaper bundle to examine the articles. They were all foreign texts that the national agency needed translated into Chinese. Sheng Wanyan immediately transferred the entire bundle into her hidden space. Even though these documents were legitimately sent by a state-owned newspaper and she had the paperwork to prove it, having a massive pile of foreign literature sitting around her bedroom was an unnecessary risk. If a nosy neighbor or a political patrol happened to spot them, the consequences could be disastrous.
Once the rest of the household had washed up and gone to sleep, Sheng Wanyan took a quick shower, locked her bedroom door, and slipped into her space.
Inside her dimension, the livestock—the cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese—had been breeding rapidly. Sheng Wanyan first gathered the newly laid chicken, duck, and goose eggs and stacked them neatly in her warehouse. As for the rest of the animals, she was too lazy to manage them individually; she decided to wait until the population grew larger and do a massive sweep all at once.
She felt incredibly fortunate to have this space. Without it, she likely would have struggled to adapt to the harsh realities of this rigid era. More importantly, it allowed her to secretly harvest premium ingredients to nourish her family’s bodies. Otherwise, given the current scarcity, her elderly grandparents’ health would have drastically failed in a few years.
Sheng Wanyan strolled over to her orchard, picked a bowl of fresh strawberries and blueberries, and washed them at the outdoor sink. She had used bamboo to build herself a cozy cabin inside the space, adding a practical brick stove and a functional sink to make the layout feel grounded and homey.
With a freshly ground cup of hot coffee in hand, she walked into her bamboo cabin, sat down at her desk, and began translating.
Sheng Wanyan worked with incredible speed, fluidly processing an article in about half an hour. The academic knowledge she had acquired in her past life remained deeply etched in her mind. In the cutthroat corporate environments of her future, her sharp intellect had always been her greatest weapon. Relying on oneself was far more dependable than counting on others; that had been her golden rule for survival for as long as she could remember.
The newspaper had sent her a total of thirty articles of varying lengths. Sheng Wanyan translated five of them in one sitting before deciding to call it a night. Even though time flowed differently inside her space, turning in the completed work too quickly would arouse suspicion. It was safer to work at a measured pace and mail the finished manuscripts back in half a month.
Over the next few days, Sheng Wanyan settled into a quiet, comfortable routine. She coasted through her easy shifts at the factory, knitting her sweaters during the day, and returned home at night to translate an article before bed.
However, her peace was interrupted when Sheng Xiuying tracked her down at the factory gates.
This time, Sheng Xiuying arrived with her chin held high, boastfully announcing that she was officially engaged to a prominent salesperson working for the local commune. The underlying meaning behind her arrogant display was entirely obvious: she was giving Sheng Wanyan a chance to be sensible, swallow her pride, and beg for a reconciliation.
Sheng Wanyan was thoroughly huffed. She couldn’t understand how someone could be so utterly delusional. Where on earth did Sheng Xiuying find the nerve to believe that Wanyan was desperate to be her friend?
“Yan’er, I’m giving you one final chance,” Sheng Xiuying said, crossing her arms. “When I get married, if you gift me a premium bolt of red cloth as a wedding present, I’ll agree to let us be good sisters again.”
Sheng Wanyan was so astounded by the sheer audacity that she actually laughed out loud. Was there a structural defect in this girl’s brain?
“Did you hear what I said?” Sheng Xiuying snapped, her temper flaring at Wanyan’s amused silence.
In truth, Sheng Xiuying was entirely desperate. Her wedding was fast approaching, and her family was missing a bolt of vibrant red cloth to sew her traditional bridal outfit. Having no other options, she had swallowed her pride to corner Sheng Wanyan, fully expecting her former pushover friend to comply. In her mind, she had already condescended to speak to her; Wanyan should stop throwing a tantrum and count her blessings.
Furthermore, she had seen that Sheng Wanyan had recently purchased a brand-new bicycle. If she could borrow that gleaming bike to use as part of her bridal procession, it would bring immense face to her and her groom’s family on her wedding day.
“If you agree to lend me your new bicycle for my wedding procession, I’ll generously overlook our previous argument,” Sheng Xiuying added grandly.
Sheng Wanyan’s expression turned utterly cold. Did this idiot truly believe she was dealing with the weak, easily manipulated girl of the past?
Watching the girl shamelessly demand her hard-earned property, Sheng Wanyan fixed her with a dark, piercing glare.
“I remember telling you very clearly last time: never show your face in front of me again,” Sheng Wanyan said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Since you refuse to take my warnings seriously, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Without waiting for a reply, Sheng Wanyan kicked off her kickstand, mounted her bicycle, and pedaled away. She had a thousand different ways to deal with a pest like Sheng Xiuying.
“What do you mean by that?!” Sheng Xiuying screamed after her, her face twisting into a hideous scowl. “Sheng Wanyan!!!”
An icy wave of unease washed over Sheng Xiuying as she watched her ride away. What exactly did Wanyan mean by those words? But as she began the long walk back to her village, she shook the feeling off, reassuring herself that a spineless girl like Sheng Wanyan couldn’t possibly possess the power to do anything to her.
