Chapter 37: Niu Fangli’s Suspicion
Sheng Wanyan picked up her pen and paper. Anything that required writing and thinking was incredibly easy for her.
She quickly drafted her propaganda slogans. In this era, no matter what you wrote, you could never forget to honor the great leaders.
There is only one road that cannot be chosen: the road of giving up.
There is only one path that cannot be refused: the path of growth.
If every individual sweats a little more, thousands of families will sleep a little safer.
If you want to fly, you must chase the wind; if you want to succeed, you must work hard!
Dedicate your contributions to our great motherland!
Once she finished writing, she tucked the sheet into her backpack. Director Li didn’t ask to collect them before the end of the shift, so it was best to keep them safe in her own possession.
When the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, Sheng Wanyan wheeled her bicycle out to the gates. Just as she was about to mount the seat, she saw Niu Fangli running toward her in a frantic hurry.
“Wanyan!”
Niu Fangli arrived completely out of breath, panting heavily as she tried to catch her wind.
“Sister Fangli, what’s wrong?”
Niu Fangli patted her chest, swallowed hard, and darted her eyes nervously toward the surrounding crowd. It was rush hour, and with so many workers coming and going, it was a terrible place to speak privately.
“Sister Fangli, hop on.”
Niu Fangli had never ridden on such a brand-new bicycle in her life, and she was terrified she might scratch it. But looking at the sea of people around them, she knew that lingering any longer would definitely draw unwanted attention. Shaking off her hesitation, she quickly clambered onto the rear rack.
Sheng Wanyan pedaled them away from the factory gates. Once they reached the quieter expanse of the main road, she pulled over, and the two began pushing the bicycle along the sidewalk.
“Sister Fangli, what did you want to discuss?”
Niu Fangli rubbed her hands together nervously, clearly unsure of how to broach the subject. After all, she wasn’t particularly close to Sheng Wanyan; their only real interaction had been the single transaction involving the White Rabbit creamy candy. Usually, their interactions were limited to casual office gossip. Niu Fangli was older, her days entirely consumed by the endless demands of her husband, her children, and her factory shift. The moment her shift ended, she had to rush straight home to cook. She didn’t have the luxury of time or flexibility to browse the Supply and Marketing Cooperative after work like Sheng Wanyan and Wu Jiaxiu did.
Furthermore, shopping at the cooperative required an endless supply of both cash and ration coupons. With so many mouths to feed at home, Niu Fangli had to pinch every single penny.
“Wanyan,” Niu Fangli began, her voice dropping to a low whisper. “Is there any way you can help me source some meat?”
Sheng Wanyan looked at her, completely bewildered. Why was she suddenly trying to buy meat from her?
“You know how expensive and scarce food is right now,” Niu Fangli pressed, misinterpreting her silence. “But I have so many children at home, and they’re all growing. I just figured… your family is quite well-off, so you must have some special channels…” She leaned in closer. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you the exact official price set by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.”
Sheng Wanyan was utterly speechless. Niu Fangli wanted to buy meat at the strict, low state-controlled price, yet expected Wanyan to risk her own safety and use her personal connections to procure it for her. How could someone expect such a one-sided deal?
Even though Sheng Wanyan possessed an infinite supply of meat in her space and didn’t need to pull any strings, Niu Fangli’s blatant attempt to take advantage of her left a bad taste in her mouth. However, she couldn’t risk a direct confrontation in the office, so she had to manufacture a polite excuse to decline. While Wanyan was perfectly willing to make a profit, she had to be highly selective about who she did business with. Everyone was struggling to get by these days, but that gave no one the right to demand free labor and immense risk from others. She refused to jeopardize her safety for someone who might turn around and stab her in the back the moment things went south.
“Sister Fangli, you know the state strictly distributes meat coupons based on household population,” Sheng Wanyan said, her tone perfectly polite but firm. “Besides, my family members are all ordinary factory workers. We don’t have any connections with the state butchers.”
“Oh? Really?” Niu Fangli frowned, clearly unconvinced. “But I thought you and Wu Jiaxiu had some sort of arrangement going on… I saw her buy you that sweet mung bean soup today.”
Sheng Wanyan’s expression darkened instantly. It turned out Niu Fangli had been secretly spying on them, tracking their every move in the office. No one liked realizing they were being watched by a calculating pair of eyes.
“Sister Fangli, I gave her the money to buy that soup for me,” Sheng Wanyan replied coldly. “The weather has been incredibly stifling lately, and I felt completely drained. Since the cafeteria happened to be serving mung bean soup today, I simply asked her to grab a bowl for me to help beat the heat.”
Hearing this explanation, Niu Fangli paused, looking up at the heavy, humid sky. The weather truly had been oppressive lately.
“Oh, I see…” Niu Fangli muttered, a wave of intense discomfort washing over her. She realized she had entirely misread the situation and letting her suspicions slip so bluntly was a massive blunder.
Worse, she had just openly cleared both Sheng Wanyan and Wu Jiaxiu of any wrongdoing, while simultaneously exposing her own willingness to engage in illicit black-market transactions. Hadn’t she just handed Wanyan a massive piece of leverage against her? How could she have been so incredibly careless?
“Wanyan, I was just speaking off the cuff,” Niu Fangli stammered, trying desperately to smooth things over. “Please don’t take it to heart.”
“Of course not,” Sheng Wanyan smiled warmly, her mask of politeness firmly back in place. “I know Sister Fangli is just anxious to feed her children.”
Seeing the gentle smile on the younger girl’s face, Niu Fangli let out a massive sigh of relief. Thank goodness Comrade Sheng Wanyan was a sensible, good-natured girl. If she had approached anyone else with such an illegal request, they would have used it as a trap to destroy her.
“It’s completely fine, Sister Fangli. I’ll head out first,” Sheng Wanyan said smoothly. “I need to get home and help cook dinner.”
Still slightly rattled by her own carelessness, Niu Fangli nodded quickly. “Yes, of course. Go on ahead.”
But as she stood on the sidewalk watching Sheng Wanyan pedal gracefully away, Niu Fangli suddenly blinked, realization striking her.
Wait… why did she just ride off? She had assumed the polite girl would offer to bicycle her all the way home!
By the time Sheng Wanyan reached the apartment, her mother was already bustling about the kitchen. Wanyan quickly washed her hands and stepped in to help.
The evening meal was as simple as the night before, with one non-negotiable addition: before they could even sit down, Mother Sheng forced her to drink a large glass of warm malted milk. Mother Sheng had spent the last month painstakingly nursing her daughter back to a healthy weight. If Wanyan lost a single pound now, Mother Sheng would feel like all that premium food had been entirely wasted.
Sheng Wanyan could only gulp down the thick milk in silent resignation.
The next day at the factory, Sheng Wanyan found a quiet moment to pull Wu Jiaxiu aside, warning her to be exceptionally cautious moving forward.
“Did Niu Fangli corner you yesterday?” Wu Jiaxiu asked, her expression instantly turning knowing.
Sheng Wanyan nodded.
“I figured as much,” Wu Jiaxiu sighed. “She approached me first thing this morning, trying to pry into our business and asking what we were whispering about. I just gave her a vague, dismissive answer and brushed her off.”
Sheng Wanyan felt a wave of helplessness. She hadn’t realized Niu Fangli was the type to relentlessly poke her nose into other people’s affairs. Now it was blindingly obvious that the woman was highly suspicious and deeply envious.
“Sister Fangli is really quite…” Wanyan trailed off.
Wu Jiaxiu checked their surroundings, lowering her voice to a bare whisper as she shared the neighborhood gossip. “I heard from people who live in her building that Sister Fangli gave birth to two boys and two girls, and her favoritism is disgusting. She beats and scolds her daughters constantly; the poor girls’ crying can be heard throughout the entire hallway. Her eldest daughter is already twelve years old, but she refuses to let her step foot in a school. The poor girl is trapped at home all day, doing heavy chores and raising her two younger brothers. Her second daughter is ten, and she’s already forced to wash the dishes and scrub the floors. Niu Fangli barely gives them enough scraps to keep them from starving to death. They say the two daughters are so emaciated they barely look human, while her two sons are stuffed until they’re round and fat.”
Sheng Wanyan nodded silently. The cruel reality matched Niu Fangli’s pinched, mean-spirited appearance perfectly. Still, as a relative newcomer to the factory, Wanyan had no intention of entangling herself in someone else’s domestic drama; one wrong move around a desperate woman could bring ruin.
“From now on, we should strictly limit our conversations inside the factory to work matters,” Sheng Wanyan suggested quietly. “If we need to discuss anything else, we wait until we’re off the clock and clear of the gates.”
Wu Jiaxiu nodded in firm agreement. Getting caught engaging in private trade inside a state enterprise meant an instant loss of their coveted jobs.
When they returned to the main office, they found Director Li requesting everyone’s drafted slogans. He sat at his desk, meticulously reviewing the submissions, ultimately selecting the top ten entries to represent the department.
To the envy of the office, all four of Sheng Wanyan’s slogans were chosen. Director Li personally pinned her clean, bold handwriting onto the factory’s main propaganda board for all the workers to see.
