The food in the supply and marketing cooperative was mostly transported from the food factory.
Because the cooperative required such a large volume of goods, the factory workers sometimes couldn't deliver them or couldn't make it in time, so the cooperative's fleet would come to pick up the goods themselves.
Besides, it was close by, which was always faster than going to the village to haul cabbage like they used to.
After all, when they went to the village for vegetables, they sometimes had to help twist off cabbages and pull radishes, which was no easy work.
The salesman handed three pickup slips to Qiao Lanshu and said, We've all signed, now we just need your signature.
Qiao Lanshu took the slips, signed them, pulled out one copy of each for her records, and handed the rest back to the salesman.
The salesman took the slips, chatted with the cooperative's fleet crew for a moment, and waited for Qiao Lanshu to open the door.
Qiao Lanshu didn't dare look their way. Her face was a bit pale, and the hand holding the keys was trembling slightly.
She forced herself to stay calm. Perhaps the events of her past life were just a dream. Now she was standing right here, and the other party was merely a temporary worker at the cooperative. They didn't know each other.
She had to pretend not to care about him.
Moreover, she needed to figure out a countermeasure. Even if he hadn't done anything to her in this life, she still had to get her revenge.
Otherwise, she would never be able to swallow this resentment.
Qiao Lanshu aimed the key at the keyhole several times but failed to insert it.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself again. This time, the key finally slid in, and she opened the door.
On the other side, the cooperative's driver stood with the salesman. Sniffling and blowing out a puff of cold air, he asked the salesman, Where's that heavily pregnant woman from before? Did she go on maternity leave?
The salesman nodded. Yeah, she left a while ago. She probably won't be back until after the New Year.
The driver continued, Aren't warehouse keeper jobs usually assigned to pregnant women and the elderly? Why did they assign such a young girl this time, short and stout like a little water vat? She's quite pretty, though.
The salesman: ...
Sighing, the salesman lowered his voice and said, Haven't you heard about the huge incident that happened at our food factory?
The matter of Wei Zhengye and others reselling fried dough twists had already been criticized in a factory-wide notice.
It seemed the news hadn't spread outside yet.
The salesman told the driver about it and then summarized, So, our warehouse keeper position is now a key inspection post. We have to find someone young, smart, educated, and good at accounting. Otherwise, if they can't even figure out the incoming and outgoing inventory, how can they manage the warehouse? Don't you agree?
The driver nodded in deep agreement. It should have been like this long ago. Food is so scarce nowadays. The workers building roads over at the mining area are eating vegetable substitutes every day, suffering from cold and hunger. Yet these people stole from their own factory! They really deserve to die!
The coal mine planned to build two highways to transport coal out. It was a key project and had recruited many migrant workers.
Almost every family in the surrounding area had someone working on the road construction. Watching their family members go hungry while the food factory's grain was being stolen made everyone feel terrible.
Therefore, the driver stood there and cursed Wei Zhengye for quite a while.
While they were chatting, Qiao Lanshu had already opened the warehouse door. Holding her slips, she stood at the entrance, about to head back to her little booth.
Just then, a temporary worker from the cooperative walked over. Staring at Qiao Lanshu's face, he smiled and asked, Comrade, where are our goods?
Qiao Lanshu's face darkened slightly. She turned to look and saw the man in front of her staring intently at her face, speaking to her with a cheeky smile: Little comrade, what's your name? How long have you been working here? Are you a temp?
Qiao Lanshu saw the scar on his face. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her padded jacket, afraid he would see her trembling hands.
Her whole body tensed up. For a moment, she was terrified and flustered. She stood rooted to the spot, head bowed, unable to react.
Seeing that Qiao Lanshu ignored him, Liangzi's expression instantly turned a bit gloomy.
He stared at Qiao Lanshu's face. The warehouse keeper in front of him had fair skin and a small face. She looked young, but very beautiful.
He had indeed never seen this type before. Liangzi didn't know what was wrong with him; it was as if he were bewitched. He just felt he couldn't take his eyes off the warehouse keeper.
The driver, who had been chatting with the salesman, noticed this and walked over. He slapped the slips in his hand against Liangzi's chest and said loudly, Liangzi, wake up! Have you gone dumb staring at the girl? How long has it been since you saw a woman? Hahahaha.
Liangzi: ...
The driver added, Hurry up and load the goods. We've wasted a lot of time. If we get back late, the boss is going to nag again.
With that, the driver led them inside, and the salesman held the slips to tally the goods for them.
Liangzi didn't follow them in. He remained standing at the door, staring at Qiao Lanshu and asking, Comrade, my name is Chu Liangjun. What's your name?
Qiao Lanshu kept her head lowered in silence for a long time. Finally, she looked up, gave Liangzi a small smile, and said softly, I'm not telling you.
Saying that, she didn't wait for Liangzi to speak again. With a toss of her braids, she turned and walked away.
She quickly returned to the warehouse keeper's duty room on the side of the warehouse.
Closing the door of the small room, she slid the inner bolt shut with trembling hands.
Liangzi had just been dazzled by her smile. His expression shifted, and his heartbeat quickened a little.
He immediately followed her, leaning on the windowsill. Just as he was about to speak, with a bang, the window shutters were pulled shut right in front of his eyes.
Liangzi: ...
Qiao Lanshu turned her back to him, ignoring him.
Liangzi knocked on the window. Hey, little comrade, you still haven't told me your name. Open the door.
Liangzi knocked on the window for a long time. Seeing that Qiao Lanshu still ignored him, he stood there with a dark look in his eyes.
Just then, the driver carrying goods out of the warehouse saw him and called out to him again, Liangzi, stop flirting with the young lady. We have a lot of goods today, hurry over and help load them.
The driver was truly at his wit's end with this Liangzi.
If it weren't for the fact that Liangzi's cousin-uncle was the director of the cooperative, and that Liangzi himself had a bad temper and was basically a hooligan, the driver would have gotten rid of him long ago.
Dragging around a lazy hooligan all day meant the driver had to do much more work than usual.
Getting stuck with someone like him was truly terrible luck.
Liangzi didn't dare genuinely anger the driver. Anyway, the warehouse keeper worked here; she couldn't run away.
At worst, he could just come back another day.
So Liangzi went to the warehouse to help move the goods.
Another porter who had come with him helped move the goods and asked with a smile, What's up, Liangzi? Do you know that warehouse keeper?
Liangzi gave a crooked smile and said, We'll know each other after a little chat, won't we?
The porter added, If you ask me, you'd better give up early. Most female comrades who can work here are probably already married. Even if they aren't, their family conditions are definitely not bad. They certainly wouldn't look twice at guys like us. We all have rural registrations, and doing temporary manual labor—who would fancy us, right?
Hearing this, Liangzi's face darkened.
It was precisely because his family's financial situation was poor and he couldn't find a wife back home that he had come to the city, hoping to try his luck and find a bride.
So what if they looked down on him? Wouldn't everything be settled once the deed was done?
