Chapter 231: Neither Coaxed nor Coerced

The letter made its rounds and eventually landed on Shen Zhenwu’s desk.

Shen Zhenwu immediately had someone contact the local commune and also sent people to talk with the Qi Family’s elders.

But they refused to yield to either persuasion or pressure, trying everything from pleading poverty to playing dirty.

The official Shen Zhenwu sent over presented them with two packets of malted milk powder, only to see them thrown into a dung heap at the village entrance the next day.

After all, they were the parents of a martyr. The organization couldn’t put too much pressure on them, and the commune couldn’t force the issue either.

In the end, all they could do was scrape together some consolation funds to help the mother and son get through the most difficult period.

As for Shen Zhenwu, he never stopped sending money to Yu Nana.

In the first few years, it was five yuan a month, which later increased to eight.

Then, for the last three years, it had been a fixed amount of fifteen yuan per month.

He had been sending it for over a decade, without fail.

Without that money to support her, a widow like Yu Nana in the countryside…

Relying solely on farming and doing odd sewing jobs for others, she never would have been able to afford her son’s education.

That was why she had always cherished this kindness in her heart, hoping for a day when she could thank him in person.

This time, after her son finished his college entrance exams and she had sorted things out at home,

she finally found the time to bring Xiao Xi all the way to Beijing by train, specifically to meet her benefactor.

As she spoke of the years after her husband passed away, Yu Nana’s voice trembled slightly.

“If Mr. Shen hadn’t lent us a hand, my son and I would have been crushed by life long ago. I wouldn’t have even dared to dream of sending Xiao Xi to school.”

Yang Wanqing quickly grasped her hand, patting it gently.

“The worst is over! You two made it through. From now on, it’s all good days ahead.”

She wrapped Yu Nana’s hand in her own.

“Feel this. You have fewer calluses now, and your complexion is much healthier than before.”

Yu Nana nodded.

“That’s what I was thinking, too. Now that we’re here, once we’re settled, we’re not going back.”

She paused, her gaze drifting to the shadows of the plane trees outside the window.

“Xiao Xi said he wants to find a temporary job at the subdistrict office, and I was thinking I could start with a community cleaning job and learn some Mandarin on the side.”

Yang Wanqing slapped her thigh.

“Exactly! Why would you go back? Only a fool would go back!”

She thumped her teacup on the table, sloshing a little tea out.

“Think about it, what would you even be going back for? Your son is promising now. The moment you show your face again, those people will be burning with jealousy. They’re sure to try and sabotage you or sling mud behind your back.”

She lowered her voice and glanced toward the door.

“Just the other day, I heard that Old Li’s daughter from the east end of the village got into a technical school, but someone tampered with her records. Her acceptance letter was held back at the commune and never delivered.”

Wei Guilan chimed in from the side.

“A person moves to live, but a tree moves to die.”

She took a sip of tea from her enamel mug.

“My cousin on my mother’s side didn’t move to the city with her husband until she was forty. She started out tending the boiler at a factory, and now she’s been promoted to workshop supervisor.”

“Things are different now; there are opportunities everywhere. Look at Song Yao, setting up a stall outside…”

She trailed off mid-sentence, realizing she’d let it slip, and immediately shrank back.

Song Yao, however, didn’t seem to mind and picked up with a smile.

“My mother-in-law is right! The policies have loosened up, so my mom and I set up a little stall at the entrance to the scenic area. We sell things like earrings, hair clips, and small trinkets. What we make in a day is as much as someone else’s monthly salary.”

She took a small flannel box from her cloth bag. Opening the lid, she revealed over a dozen pairs of silver butterfly earrings, all neatly arranged inside.

“I designed these myself. The tourists love them, and people often ask if they can order more.”

She then casually picked up the embroidered insoles Yu Nana had brought, and her eyes lit up as she examined them.

“Aunt Yu, your needlework is incredible! These would sell like hotcakes at a stall. Foreigners especially love buying this kind of thing.”

Yu Nana rubbed her hands together shyly.

“Oh, this… I was just embroidering randomly. It’s fine for our own use, but to sell? Who would buy something like this…?”

She shook her head as she spoke.

“Why wouldn’t they?”

Song Yao said immediately.

“The patterns are exquisite and the colors are so bright! A lot of middle-aged and older tourists are looking for exactly this kind of thing. They specifically seek out traditional handicrafts like these to take home as souvenirs or for their own collections.”

Yang Wanqing nodded in agreement.

“Isn’t that the truth! With your skills, back in the old days, you’d be the kind of master embroiderer only the wealthiest families could afford to hire. Just give it a try, you’ve got nothing to lose! Put a few out for a couple of days to see how people react. If they don’t sell, we can pack up immediately. There’s no shame in it.”

Speaking of the stall, Yang Wanqing suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, dear, that reminds me. How come you haven’t been over to see me lately? Are you tired? Are you eating on time? Are you getting to bed early?”

Song Yao broke into a wide grin.

“Not tired at all! I’m having a great time. The first thing I do when I get home is—count the money!”

As she spoke, she pulled a few bills out of her pocket.

Yang Wanqing roared with laughter.

“Oh, you silly girl, just how much are you earning?”

She reached out to pinch Song Yao’s cheek, but Song Yao dodged her with a laugh.

Song Yao held up two fingers.

“Earning this much in a day. Wouldn’t you say I’ve struck it rich?”

Yang Wanqing blurted out.

“Twenty yuan?”

In the old woman’s eyes, twenty yuan a day was no small sum.

After all, most people’s monthly salary was only thirty or forty yuan at the time.

Those who could make over a hundred were few and far between.

A net profit of seven or eight yuan a day would add up to over two hundred a month.

That was even higher than most people’s entire monthly wages!

But Song Yao just waved her hand.

“Nope.”

Yang Wanqing stared at those two fingers, her heart pounding with uncertainty.

‘Could it be two yuan?’

‘No, that doesn’t feel right.’

Her granddaughter may have had a rough life in her early years, but whenever she went shopping, she never hesitated to spend money.

‘It’s not two, and it’s not twenty…’

The old woman was stumped. She really didn’t dare to guess any further.

Even at her age, the thought of two hundred yuan a day was enough to make her scalp tingle.

“Two hundred?!”

The word was shouted by Yu Nana, her voice cracking from the shock.

Song Yao snapped her fingers with a sharp CRACK.

“Bingo!”

“Oh, my goodness…”

Yu Nana’s mouth hung open, and she couldn’t close it for a long moment.

Yang Wanqing’s eyes went wide as well.

“Good heavens, can you even handle all that by yourself?”

She leaned forward half a step and lowered her voice.

“Are there a lot of people? Are the lines long? Do you get a break for lunch?”

“I’m coming to help you tomorrow!” she declared, making the decision on the spot.

“No, no, it’s really easy!”

Song Yao waved her hand.

“I basically just sit there and count the money. My mom does all the work—picking out the goods, setting up the display, and bagging everything.”

She pointed a hand toward Wei Guilan.

Yang Wanqing immediately started singing her praises.

“Guilan is so capable! She’s young, quick on her feet, and so reliable!”

She turned to Yu Nana and said, “You should see the way she cleans the stall. She’ll wash the rag three times and wring it bone-dry before she’ll even use it.”

Wei Guilan, however, blushed and waved her hands dismissively.

“Oh, I’m not that great… I can barely read and can’t do any of the delicate work. I just do some heavy lifting and run errands. Song Yao, on the other hand, is so good to me. She buys me meat every day, so we have it with every meal. Look at my arm.”

She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a firm forearm.

“It’s filled out. I’ve gained weight!”

She looked down at her arm, then touched her cheek.

“I weighed myself the day before yesterday and I’m nearly five pounds heavier. I had to let out my waistband a notch.”

“I haven’t done any real work since I got here, just eating all this wonderful food.”

She chuckled, then turned to praise Song Yao again.

“Our Song Yao is warm-hearted, sweet-tongued, and so generous!”

The laughter in the room had yet to fade when an auntie leaned out from the kitchen, her apron dotted with a few specks of oil.

“Dinner’s ready! Come and eat!”