Early in the morning, the Bai Family had just finished eating.
Bai Duoduo had two older brothers and three older sisters; she was the youngest in the family.
She was also an unexpected pregnancy of Zhu Xiawei and her husband.
Even after taking medicine to terminate it, she was not aborted, so they named her Bai Duoduo.
Bai Duoduo led Zeng Shuyi inside, while her brothers were heading out.
As they entered the house, her sisters were clearing the dining table in the living room.
Her father, Bai Changsong, was preparing to go to work.
Upon learning this, Zeng Shuyi got straight to the point.
“I got a small grocery business license and found that sugar sells especially well. Now, the supply and marketing cooperative requires ration coupons to buy sugar. I heard from Duoduo that your family makes maltose candy, so I wanted to ask if it’s possible to supply me some to sell,” Zeng Shuyi said.
Bai Duoduo instinctively said yes, then turned to look at her father.
“Dad, what do you say?”
Bai Changsong frowned and replied, “Making maltose candy is quite simple. Our family also makes brown sugar and cane sugar; it’s a craft passed down from our ancestors. The difficult part is the grain. These days, all grain requires ration tickets. Our family is so big that the monthly allotment isn’t even enough to eat, let alone save some to make Fu Ling Yu.”
He paused and added, “If you can solve the grain problem, no matter how much sugar you want, I can make it for you.”
After saying that, Bai Changsong hurried off to work.
Bai Duoduo said from the side, “Making maltose requires wheat and glutinous rice. Our family only makes a little each time, just enough to give Fu Ling Yu a sweet flavor. We don’t have extra grain to spare. Maltose candy isn’t hard to make. If you ask a few elderly folks, they might all know—it’s something you can make at home.”
Zeng Shuyi really didn’t know that maltose candy also required glutinous rice.
Hearing the Bai family’s explanation, it all made sense.
So the reason people didn’t make maltose candy was due to raw material shortages.
But the Bai family’s Fu Ling Gao was also made from rice.
The family’s grain quota was just enough—where did they get so much rice from in Yunli?
As her thoughts shifted, Zeng Shuyi roughly figured out where the Bai family’s rice came from.
She was familiar with Bai Duoduo, but the rest of the Bai family might not trust her, so naturally, they wouldn’t risk telling her how to buy rice on the black market.
After leaving the Bai family, Zeng Shuyi rode her bike to find her younger brother, Zeng Xiangmin.
There were some things Zeng Xiangmin knew much better than her.
On his first day as an apprentice, when he saw his senior sister, his eyes lit up.
“Third sister! Did you come to pick me up?”
“You wish,” Zeng Shuyi gave her brother a knowing look, took him under the shade of a tree, and handed him a meat bun.
“How’s it going?”
“Just so-so. Apprentices all get scolded. The master scolds us, senior brothers scold the newcomers. I’m at the very bottom—anyone can scold me.”
Zeng Xiangmin devoured the meat bun, nearly moved to tears from how delicious it was.
The corners of his mouth were greasy.
“But you don’t have to worry. I’m not a pushover. It’s better to sell goods with you, third sister—free and easy, and there’s hope.”
Zeng Shuyi smiled.
“Third sister wants to ask you something.”
She leaned in and whispered, “So, do you know?”
“I know! Who doesn’t know? I was expelled for black market trading. There’s plenty of stuff like that here. Third sister, if you want to buy grain, take me with you. I know a few brothers who work on the black market,” Zeng Xiangmin eagerly pulled Third Sister along.
Zeng Shuyi said no, “I’ll be running away with you soon; Dad would really beat me to death. You just quietly resist on your own. This is a favor Third Sister is doing just for you. Once I earn some money, I’ll buy you…”
She looked down at her brother’s worn-out sandals, patted his arm.
“I’ll buy you new shoes.”
“Waaah, I don’t want new shoes. I want to do business with you,” Zeng Xiangmin said.
He had no desire to be an apprentice.
Watching his third sister leave, he grumbled and returned to the workshop.
“Where have you been? I’m telling you, slacking off on the first day won’t do. If you don’t want to work, tell the master; we don’t tolerate freeloaders!” a chubby senior brother grumbled at Xiangmin.
Xiangmin was already unhappy and glared back indignantly.
“Then go tell on me! I’m begging you—hurry up! If you don’t, you’re just a damn bastard, a womanly man. No wonder you’re sixteen and still single!”
He was desperate for the carpenter, Master Feng, to kick him out.
Two years of apprenticeship with no pay meant he was just working for free.
Mainly, he had no passion for this.
The man Xiangmin insulted got angry and charged at him, but others held him back.
Xiangmin’s troubles were nothing compared to what Zeng Shuyi was about to do.
She rode her bike to the black market and, following her brother’s directions, went to buy grain.
When they heard she was Xiangmin’s sister, they immediately greeted her as “Sister.”
“Xiangmin is my brother. His sister is my sister. Usually, when we sell to others, the price is higher than the supply and marketing cooperative, but we’ll sell to you at the same price,” a young man named Zhao Fu said.
He was dark and chubby, and had been Xiangmin’s middle school classmate.
Like Xiangmin, he had been expelled and now worked with his older brother selling grain.
“Evil never wins; you also have to scrimp and save,” Zeng Shuyi had heard from her brother that Zhao Fu’s prices were still higher than the grain station’s.
Otherwise, why would farmers risk selling grain to them?
“I’m buying to make money. In the future, if I need to supply more, I can’t keep letting you lose out,” Zeng Shuyi smiled brightly.
She was already pretty, and her smile made Zhao Fu’s dark face flush a little.
Zhao Fu scratched his head awkwardly.
“Alright, I won’t give you such a big discount, but it’ll definitely be cheaper than what others pay.”
At first, he thought the Zeng family lacked grain and figured a few pounds at a small loss for his brother was fine.
Since the Zengs were doing business, he could focus on making money in peace.
The supply and marketing cooperative sold glutinous rice at 0.18 yuan per jin; Zhao Fu sold it to Zeng Shuyi for 0.21 yuan per jin.
She bought ten jin of glutinous rice and ten jin of wheat.
Back home, she handed the wheat and rice to her second sister.
After hearing about the black market from her brother, she recalled her eldest sister bringing maltose candy back from the city.
“Shuyi, what’s this…” Zeng Shuyue looked at her younger sister puzzled.
“Second sister, don’t you know how to make maltose candy?” Zeng Shuyi said.
“Sugar sells best in my little grocery store. I ran around all morning to buy this grain. You make the maltose candy. When I sell it, I’ll pay you wages.”
Her second sister was currently unemployed, and since they were family, doing business together was legitimate.
Zeng Shuyue asked, “But where did you get the grain?”
“Of course I bought it. Where else would it come from?” Zeng Shuyi laughed. “Don’t worry. The regulations say no hired labor, but you and I are sisters. What I give you is profit sharing, not wages.”
“Oh, and don’t tell the eldest sister about this. Wait until she goes to work before starting, okay?”
Zeng Shuyue said it was fine.
“I’ll help you. I’m just at home doing nothing anyway, so I don’t need wages.”
She tried her best but couldn’t find a job.
Staying home made her anxious, but having something to do made her feel more at ease.
“The money definitely has to be paid. I can’t let you work for nothing. I have to go sell goods now.” She checked her purse; she had spent most of her money and was left with just over one yuan.
If she didn’t go sell now, she wouldn’t have next month’s living expenses.
She put the basket on the back of her bike, got on, and shouted as she rode through the streets, “Selling needles and thread, buttons, shoe soles!”
Now she even exchanged goods for grain, using ration tickets and soap coupons, which she could directly trade for corresponding items.
Riding through the big and small alleys of Rongcheng, Zeng Shuyi grew more and more familiar with the streets in the following days.
After autumn arrived, Rongcheng’s weather was comfortable, with a cool breeze.
Her second sister said in two days they could start making sugar candy.
Zeng Shuyi calculated the money she had and bought a few more jin of grain.
Along with the grain she exchanged recently, she would continue making maltose candy with her second sister.
She herself continued riding her bike to sell goods.
One day, shortly after she left, she was suddenly stopped by Wang Jie.
She braked sharply and nearly fell off her bike.
“Are you crazy?”
After not seeing her for some time, Wang Jie looked haggard. He spread his arms, blocking her path.
“Is that you?”
“What are you talking about?” Zeng Shuyi stopped her bike and took down a wooden rod.
She carried it for self-defense.
Doing business, especially as a young girl, she had to be able to protect herself in case she met troublemakers.
“Don’t play dumb. Did you drag someone to the Zhang family?” Wang Jie’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Zeng Shuyi fiercely.
When the Zhang family came to scold her before, he sensed something was off.
After spending days finding out, he heard a young girl had dragged Zhang Wenjing and accused him of talking badly about him.
Wang Jie rested one hand on the bike’s handle.
“No evidence. Don’t spread rumors,” Zeng Shuyi refused to admit it.
“You should think about what you did to make others hate you. I don’t even know the Zhang or Li families. How could I go around badmouthing you?”
She curled her lips mockingly.
“Wang Jie, you must have done something shameful for people to have this kind of leverage over you.”
“Let go! I didn’t kill anyone before. Are you holding a grudge against me?” Wang Jie suddenly stopped.
“What have you been up to?” Zeng Shuyi raised an eyebrow.
This time she wasn’t afraid. Last time she sold ice pops without a license, so she didn’t dare call the police.
This time she was operating legally—she wasn’t afraid to go to the police station.
Wang Jie gritted his teeth, took a deep breath to regain composure.
“I didn’t do anything, but you owe me an explanation about the Zhang family, or you won’t leave today!”
“And that rumor has spread to my workplace. Zeng Shuyi, people should have morals. What you’re doing will bring retribution!”
Recently, Wang Jie had only been on two blind dates.
When he learned the women he met had gone to drag Zhang Wenjing, he immediately thought of Zeng Shuyi.
Because he had just reported Zeng Shuyi for speculative trading, he instinctively told himself it was her.
Zeng Shuyi lowered her face.
“Wang Jie, speak carefully and provide real evidence. You say I spread rumors—where’s your proof? Whether it’s a rumor or not, you know it yourself. And your words just now—don’t tell me you were behind the last report against me?”
“I…” Wang Jie suddenly realized Zeng Shuyi was slippery.
Before coming to see her, he had already gone to the speculative trading office.
They were already on their way.
This time, he was waiting to see Zeng Shuyi get arrested.
“You’ll regret this, Zeng Shuyi!”
“If you don’t let go, I’ll make you regret it!” Zeng Shuyi warned.
Wang Jie wasn’t about to let go.
Although it was just a rumor, the factory leaders had already talked to him, hinting that he needed to handle his relationships well.
With rumors like this, there was no chance for him to be promoted to team leader.
The opportunity he had fought so hard for was about to be ruined by Zeng Shuyi.
A venomous woman! Wang Jie thought bitterly.
Seeing Wang Jie unwilling to release her, Zeng Shuyi shouted loudly, “Stop! Someone’s harassing me!”
It was noon, and there were few pedestrians on the street, but Zeng Shuyi’s shout drew attention.
Wang Jie panicked and said he wasn’t harassing her.
But she held onto her bike with one hand and tried to cover Wang Jie’s mouth with the other.
To others, it looked no different than harassment.
“Don’t be shameless! Don’t you know what shame is?” Wang Jie yelled.
“Who’s shameless? You’re blocking a young girl in the street. You’re the shameless one!” Zeng Shuyi shouted.
“Someone, help! This man is harassing me…”
Before she could finish, a man ran out of an alley on the right and kicked Wang Jie flying.
Keep in mind, Wang Jie was overweight, at least 180 jin, but the man kicked him two or three meters away.
Zeng Shuyi was stunned.
Looking closer, she found the man somewhat familiar: thick eyebrows, a high nose bridge, handsome features, with a sharp short haircut.
Wang Jie lay on the ground, struggling to get up while holding his waist and cursing, “Who is that? So blind to not watch where you’re going. It’s her who’s the speculator, not me harassing her!”
Wang Jie still wouldn’t behave, and Zeng Shuyi almost wanted to get off and kick him again.
But she recognized the man helping her—he was the same man from the photos Lin had shown her before.
He was truly handsome.