Chen Guixiang was just about to put her hands on her hips and snap back when a series of loud, banging thuds echoed from her direction, each strike louder than the last.
"Gao Huizhi, open this door, you shameless trollop!" A woman's shrill voice cut through the air, thick with sobs.
Chen Guixiang recognized it immediately as her younger sister Chen Meina's. Her face drained of color in an instant, and she no longer cared about the argument she had been about to have. Hurrying as fast as her heavily pregnant belly would let her, she rushed back toward her home.
The gawking neighbors, eager for a new spectacle, swarmed after her in a chaotic crowd.
Over on the other side, the group of working villagers moved quickly. The entire cart of firewood was unloaded in no time at all, stacked neatly against the backyard wall.
Xiao Mandong called everyone inside to have a drink of water. The village party chief brushed the wood shavings off his clothes, then pulled a letter of introduction out from his chest pocket.
"I just went to the commune to get this stamped for you," he said. "You can go straight to the Revolutionary Committee to ask about your matter. If they give you any trouble, I'll go with you."
"No need, I can handle it on my own," Xiao Mandong replied as she took the letter of introduction. She went back inside for a moment and returned with a newspaper-wrapped parcel, which she handed to the village chief. "Uncle, there's two thousand yuan in here. Count it, please."
The village chief's hands trembled as he took the package. He had never laid eyes on that much money in his entire life. Halfway through counting, he lost track, so he dabbed his fingertips in a little saliva and counted twice more. Only then did he carefully wrap the money back up, and pull the agreement document out of the bag Shunzi handed over.
"Take a look and see if there's anything here that doesn't suit you."
Xiao Mandong skimmed through the document, found no issues, put the agreement safely in her pocket, then pulled out six ten-yuan banknotes and pressed them into the village chief's hand.
"Uncle, this is the payment for the firewood. The extra is for everyone to split among themselves."
A full cart of firewood was normally worth about twenty-five yuan, but the villagers had taken the time to chop it properly and deliver it right to her door, so she could not let them work for nothing.
"This is far too much..." The village chief tried to hand two of the notes back, but Xiao Mandong pushed his hand away.
The village chief smiled sheepishly. "All right then, we'll be on our way."
He tucked the money away securely and led the others off in a hurry. The heavy weight of so much cash in his pocket made him uneasy, and he was anxious to get back to the village right away to arrange the grain purchase and put the money to use quickly.
After seeing the village chief off, Xiao Mandong changed into a clean set of clothes, picked up her letter of introduction, hopped on her bicycle, and headed straight for the Housing Administration Section.
She rode for twenty minutes, hurrying as fast as she could, and made it just before the office closed for the day.
The office door was ajar. Section Chief Song, a man in his forties wearing a pair of glasses, was looking down at a newspaper. When Xiao Mandong knocked, he looked up and sized her up, his tone dismissive.
"What do you want?"
"Hello, Section Chief Song. I'm from Hongqi Production Brigade. Our brigade wants to set up a material transfer station in the city," Xiao Mandong said as she handed over her letter of introduction, and slipped two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes into his palm at the same time.
Section Chief Song opened his desk drawer and slid the cigarettes right inside. He gave a soft cough, and his attitude warmed noticeably. He pulled a registration log out of the drawer.
"We do have several public housing units available. What kind of space are you looking for?"
Xiao Mandong glanced at the log and said directly, "I passed by the old house in Locust Tree Lane on the south side of the city. It has a seal pasted on the door, looks like it was left behind by a family that was sent to the countryside for reeducation. Can that house be rented? The doorway there is wide enough for our village's tractor to pull right up to it."
The staff member looked up at her, a troubled expression on his face. "The houses belonging to people sent for reeducation are all under unified management. Those families could come back to the city at any time. In principle, we don't rent those properties out, the risk is too high."
Xiao Mandong lowered her voice. "Our production brigade is in urgent need of a warehouse. We're willing to pay a higher rent. Could you please see if there's any way to make an exception? We won't cause you any trouble at all..."
Song Qiming rubbed the rim of his teacup with his fingertips, silently weighing the situation. The end of the year was approaching, and this year's rental housing quota still hadn't been met. That old house was huge, and the rent would be high too. If he could get it rented out smoothly, he would definitely get a bigger year-end bonus. Last year, when they hit their quota, everyone got an extra two catties of cooking oil.
After a moment of consideration, he snuffed out his cigarette and stood up. "Wait here, I'll go ask the leader for approval." With that, Section Chief Song walked out of the office.
Xiao Mandong sat on the sofa waiting. Before long, Section Chief Song came back in with a young man. He put the log down and looked at Xiao Mandong.
"That house can be rented, but the rent is a bit steep. Twelve yuan a month. Can your production brigade afford that? Maybe you should go back and discuss it with your people first?"
"No need to discuss it, I can make that call," Xiao Mandong said quickly. She had to get this sorted out as soon as possible, so she could go find Xiao Ailin sooner.
Section Chief Song didn't say any more. He pulled a form out of his desk drawer and handed it to her.
"Fill this out. You need to pay six months' rent up front, plus one month's rent as a deposit. That comes to eighty-four yuan total."
Xiao Mandong paid the fee, Section Chief Song wrote out the receipt and collected the money, then fished the key out of the cabinet behind him and handed it to the young man who had come in with him.
"Little Li, take this comrade over to see the house, check all the items inside, and make a proper record of everything."
"Got it, Section Chief Song," Little Li replied. He took the key and walked out of the office first, with Xiao Mandong thanking Section Chief Song before hurrying after him.
The two of them rode their bicycles over to the old house. Little Li tore the seal off the door and pushed the courtyard gate open. The yard was overgrown with wild grass, a total mess. Several of the doors and windows were broken, and the Huanghuali wood furniture inside the house had been smashed to pieces, a sight that made anyone wince at the waste.
Little Li frowned. The place was in such disarray that there was no way to check every single item one by one, so he simply noted on the record that the house and all its furniture were in severe disrepair, and a full item-by-item inventory was impossible.
Xiao Mandong checked the record and signed her name, then Little Li left. She did a quick tidy up of the space, clearing a spot where she could put rice and flour the next day. She planned to find a handcart tomorrow and ask Bowen to help her transport the grain over to Dong Feng's warehouse.
When she left the old house, she decided to stop by the hospital to visit Aunt Gao first. Taking the back lane from the old house led straight to the hospital's back entrance, which almost no one used because the back door was right next to the morgue, only for hearses to come and go.
Just before she reached the gate, she found a deserted spot and put her bicycle into her personal spatial storage. The second she stepped out from the spot, she spotted a familiar figure: it was Gao Huizhi's older brother Gao Wu.
Gao Wu was acting furtively, looking over his shoulder every few steps. Curious, Xiao Mandong followed him.
He slipped right into the duty room next to the morgue.
"Chen Meili, what on earth do you think you're doing?" Gao Wu hissed, his forehead veins bulging with suppressed rage.
Chen Meili did not answer him. She kept her head lowered, and after a few seconds, she lifted her face, her eyes all red and puffy.
"What am I doing? I just want to keep my job. I've been married for years and only had one daughter. My mother-in-law has never approved of me. If I lose this job, she'll kick me right out of the house. Your sister brought all her relatives over today. Your second aunt and third aunt are testifying for her, saying that your mother's last wish was for your sister to take over this job. Now the hospital is launching an investigation into the formalities I used to get this position. What am I supposed to do?"
"This is all your sister's fault," Gao Wu said, slumping down onto a wooden stool and wiping his face in frustration. "I already feel bad enough about her. I've been having your sister send her money every month. If she wasn't so greedy, she never would have run all the way back from the Great Northwest."
He glanced at Chen Meili, and his tone softened.
"Meili, why don't you just give the job back to her? She's as stubborn as a mule, she'll never stop until she gets what she wants."
Gao Wu noticed that ever since his sister came back this time, she had changed completely — the way she looked at him was filled with nothing but hatred.
"No, I won't give up this job. It pays really well. If I quit and stay home all day, my mother-in-law will definitely make me do endless housework. Brother-in-law, you wouldn't have forgotten what you did back then..." Chen Meili looked at Gao Wu, her words heavy with hidden meaning.
Gao Wu shot to his feet, his face turning livid in an instant, panic flashing in his eyes.
"Chen Meili, you take that matter and bury it deep in your stomach. You are never allowed to mention it again."
