Chapter 44: A Big Deal is Coming
She was no fool who regarded money as dirt; even a child knew that money was a precious thing.
Sheng Wanyan was incredibly driven, but she also understood the importance of balancing work with rest. After efficiently translating six articles in her bamboo cabin, she decided to reward herself by cooking a steaming bowl of snail noodles.
She had always possessed a weakness for bold, pungent comfort foods—stinky tofu, snail noodles, instant ramen, and spicy hot pot were her absolute favorites. When cooking snail noodles, she knew from experience that the noodles had to be boiled in cold water first, with a splash of black vinegar added near the end, to achieve that perfectly springy, chewy texture.
Sheng Wanyan happily finished the last drop of broth, let out a satisfied burp, washed her dishes, and thoroughly brushed her teeth before leaving her dimension to get some sleep.
On her next day off, Wu Jiaxiu invited her to go out and collect firewood. Although the residents of the tube-shaped building used communal coal stoves rather than traditional wood-burning hearths, keeping a steady supply of kindling was still essential. By chopping the branches down into smaller, narrow pieces, they could burn the wood quickly to start the coal briquettes, which were both expensive and strictly rationed.
Sheng Wanyan grabbed a thick coil of hemp rope and headed out to meet her friend. Living in this era, she was always terrified of being careless with daily necessities; if you failed to stockpile essential supplies before a shortage hit, you’d be left with nowhere to go but to sit at home and cry.
When her family learned she was heading to the hills for kindling, they immediately wanted to join her. However, knowing she had already made plans with her colleague, they decided not to intrude. Chengdu was a sprawling place, and plenty of urban residents were out scavenging for wood at this time of year, all desperate to prepare their households for the harsh winter ahead. In less than three months, the bitter cold would arrive, and lacking sufficient fuel to heat the home could be fatal.
Working together, Sheng Wanyan managed to gather five neat bundles, tying them securely with her rope before stacking them to the side. Her father had promised to swing by later to help haul them back.
With their work done, the two young women sat down on a smooth boulder to rest, their foreheads glistening with sweat. Sheng Wanyan unhitched her green military canteen and took a few long, refreshing gulps of water.
This particular canteen had been a gift from Sheng Wanze two years ago. Back then, when Sheng Xiuying noticed that Wanyan owned a genuine military canteen, she had tried every manipulative trick in the book to cajole her into giving it away. Fortunately, even back then, the original owner hadn’t been completely foolish; she maintained a strict bottom line and refused to part with valuable items gifted by her immediate family—especially anything from Sheng Wanze. She had always been close to her older brother, harboring a deep sense of childhood admiration for him.
Wu Jiaxiu pulled out her own water bottle, took a few sips, and wiped the sweat from her brow.
Sheng Wanyan’s face was flushed a pretty pink from the exertion, her lips moist from the water, and her large eyes shone with a vibrant, intelligent spirit. Watching her, Wu Jiaxiu momentarily dazed. She had always known Sheng Wanyan was exceptionally pretty, but looking closely at her now, the girl was a breathtaking beauty. Her skin looked as soft and juicy as a ripe peach.
With a face like that, Wu Jiaxiu thought, whatever man marries her will surely spoil her to the high heavens. If she were a man, she would marry Sheng Wanyan in a heartbeat and treat her like a precious queen, shielding her from every hardship. It felt like an absolute sin to make such a delicate woman do heavy physical labor.
Yet, in this volatile era, being too beautiful carried its own distinct dangers; it was entirely too easy to provoke envy and resentment. Other women would look at a stunning face and immediately panic, terrified you were planning to seduce their husbands. With the political landscape so tense, if a jealous neighbor slapped a malicious accusation on you, you’d find yourself in catastrophic trouble. Fortunately, Sheng Wanyan was exceptionally sharp and knew exactly how to carry herself to avoid trouble.
“Wanyan,” Wu Jiaxiu whispered, leaning in closer, “is there any possible way your classmate at the slaughterhouse could help me source a large order of meat?”
She looked at her friend anxiously. “My younger brother is getting married in two months, and our family is desperately short on pork for the wedding banquet.”
Sheng Wanyan pondered the request for a moment. “I’ll have to ask for you,” she replied quietly. “But since the quantity you’re asking for is so large, we’ll need to reserve it well in advance. And just so you know, for an order this size, the price will have to match the black market rate.”
In this era, it was a common, open secret for master butchers at state slaughterhouses to secretly set aside choice cuts of meat for private buyers, turning a handsome profit on the price difference. As long as the transactions were handled with absolute discretion and left no paper trail, everyone silently respected the rules of the trade.
“Could you help me lock down half a pig?” Wu Jiaxiu asked, her voice trembling slightly. In the countryside, being able to serve half a pig at a wedding feast was an immensely prestigious achievement, ensuring a presentable, hearty meat dish would grace the tables.
“I can certainly ask,” Wanyan nodded.
“Oh, thank you so much, Wanyan!”
Wu Jiaxiu genuinely felt that crossing paths with Sheng Wanyan was the greatest stroke of luck in her life. Every time she ran into a major domestic crisis, Wanyan was always there, quietly solving her problems. Because of this, she vowed to maintain an ironclad relationship with her, resolving never to act entitled or take her generosity for granted.
“My husband is coming down the trail soon to help carry my wood,” Wu Jiaxiu added firmly. “Once he gets here, we’re taking you out for a proper meal at the State-Owned Restaurant.”
Seeing Wanyan open her mouth to protest, Wu Jiaxiu cut her off. “No excuses! You’ve helped my family immensely, and we need to thank you properly.” Wanyan had quietly sourced rare goods for her multiple times now, and a formal meal was the bare minimum courtesy required.
“Let’s wait until the meat is successfully delivered first,” Sheng Wanyan countered with a smooth smile. “I promise I won’t turn down your invitation then. Besides, my dad will be here any minute to help move my kindling, and I really need to head straight home to help Mom with dinner.”
Sheng Wanyan wasn’t one to act falsely modest. Wu Jiaxiu was an ideal, long-term business client; it only made sense to nurture their professional rapport over a friendly meal down the line.
“Alright, it’s a deal,” Wu Jiaxiu agreed immediately, satisfied as long as Wanyan promised to attend eventually.
Just as they finished speaking, Father Sheng emerged from the mountain path. At the same time, Wu Jiaxiu’s husband arrived—a tall, powerfully built man who easily hoisted several massive bundles of firewood onto his back. He enthusiastically offered to help Father Sheng move his pile, but Father Sheng was a heavyweight laborer himself. Working in the high-intensity environment of the steel mill every day had left his frame packed with raw strength.
With a robust grin, Father Sheng balance-loaded four heavy bundles onto his shoulder carrying pole and casually swung the fifth bundle into his free hand.
Sheng Wanyan couldn’t help but give her father a silent thumbs-up. In this era where physical labor was celebrated above all else, the men truly possessed impressive, unyielding constitution.
After bidding Wu Jiaxiu goodbye, Wanyan walked back to the compound alongside her father. The moment they stepped through the front door, she washed her hands and immediately joined her mother in the kitchen. Following a long, exhausting day of physical labor, the family quietly ate their dinner and turned in uncharacteristically early.
Once the apartment fell completely silent, Sheng Wanyan slipped into her space to tackle her translation work.
When she completed her nightly quota, she strolled over to her warehouse, selected a clean, dressed half-pig from her inventory, and hoisted it onto the heavy hook scale. The livestock raised inside her dimension grew exceptionally plump and healthy, but she didn’t dare bring out an overly massive animal out of fear of drawing suspicion. In the mid-1970s, a well-fed farm pig typically topped out between 200 to 300 pounds. She carefully selected a leaner, average carcass that perfectly matched the standards of the era.
The chosen half-pig weighed in at exactly 115 pounds. Calculated at the standard black market rate of 1.50 yuan per pound, the total came out to 172.50 yuan.
A few days later at the factory, Sheng Wanyan quietly relayed the figures to Wu Jiaxiu. Hearing that Wanyan had actually managed to lock down half a pig for her family, Wu Jiaxiu’s hands began to shake with pure, unadulterated excitement. With that massive hurdle cleared, her brother’s wedding feast was officially saved.
The moment her shift ended, Wu Jiaxiu ran all the way back to her parents’ home to deliver the miraculous news. Her family was ecstatic. Understanding the volatile nature of such trades, they immediately pooled the cash and handed it to her. They knew it was safer to settle the payment as quickly as possible; after all, if they delayed, what was to stop the master butcher at the slaughterhouse from selling the carcass to a higher bidder?
Armed with the funds, Wu Jiaxiu coordinated the logistics with Wanyan the following morning. Since her parents’ wedding banquet was scheduled for the following month, she agreed to meet Wanyan at 4:00 AM on the 30th of the month, right at the deserted base of the mountain where they had previously gathered firewood.
Wu Jiaxiu nodded firmly, completely content with the arrangement, and dragged Wanyan out to the State-Owned Restaurant that very afternoon to treat her to a celebratory feast.
Late that evening, locked safely inside her bedroom, Sheng Wanyan brought out her hidden ledger and cash box to count her personal savings. To her astonishment, her total liquid capital had officially reached 1,182.20 yuan.
In this era, accumulating over a thousand yuan made a household an elite “Ten-Thousand Yuan Clan” in the eyes of ordinary citizens—and she had passed that milestone completely on her own!
To put it in perspective, a pound of premium pork at the state cooperative cost a mere eighty cents; the sheer volume of provisions this money could buy was astronomical. In the countryside, constructing a brand-new, sturdy brick house cost just over a hundred yuan—meaning her personal savings were enough to build an entire ten-room estate.
Sheng Wanyan smiled quietly, locking the cash box away. If the eligible bachelors in the city ever caught a single whisper of her massive, independent wealth, the matchmaking aunties would be breaking down the Sheng family’s front door by sunrise.
