Hu Yongcai didn’t say he would buy Xia Xiaolan’s eggs.

It wasn’t that he was being stingy. The guesthouse used eels daily without guaranteeing the weight, and eggs were always kept in stock. After all, the guesthouse was a state-owned institution, unlike ordinary citizens who had to buy expensive eggs.

If Hu Yongcai were to buy Xia Xiaolan’s eggs, it wouldn’t help her make money – it would cause her to lose money!

The twenty-some catfish could be lifted with one hand by Hu Yongcai, but he didn’t want to get himself wet and smelling of fish. He called a young man from the kitchen to help, which also served to document the eel purchase officially.

The young colleague didn’t dare look much at Xia Xiaolan. When weighing the eels, Xia Xiaolan had brought 24 jin, and Hu Yongcai calculated it at 1.2 yuan per jin, the same as Xia Xiaolan’s retail price – this was the power of a pack of Damenwai cigarettes… With just these 24 jin of eels, Xia Xiaolan could earn at least 9 yuan, more than enough to buy cigarettes. In these times, resourceful people were rare, which allowed Xia Xiaolan to do business. Otherwise, how could she have managed to establish a connection with Hu Yongcai?

“Alright, be careful on your way home. Bring another 20 jin of eels the day after tomorrow. I’ll let you know if we need more or less.”

It seemed Hu Yongcai had set the procurement frequency at 20 jin every two days, averaging 10 jin per day, making it 300 jin per month. If this amount could be guaranteed, just selling eels to the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse would earn Xia Xiaolan a steady income of nearly 100 yuan per month.

Her smile grew warmer, “I understand, Brother Hu. Goodbye.”

As she rode away on her bicycle, Hu Yongcai’s young helper stood holding the eels, lost in thought:

“Brother Hu, is she your relative?”

Hu Yongcai gave him a sideways glance, “You think my Hu family’s ancestral graves are sprouting green smoke that we’d have such a beautiful relative? This is proper procurement, don’t spread nonsense.”

The young colleague laughed awkwardly: “Brother Hu, that’s not what I meant. I just think this female comrade is too beautiful, even our guesthouse servers can’t compare to her.”

Hu Yongcai thought, what do you know?

The female servers at the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse were all carefully selected beauties, but theirs was a dignified, proper kind of beauty, the mainstream aesthetic. From a man’s perspective, women like Xia Xiaolan were truly captivating, but who would dare hire someone like her as a server at the guesthouse?

Being too attractive wasn’t good – it would practically be setting up the leaders for misconduct!

For women, being beautiful wasn’t enough; it depended on whether they could seize their two chances at rebirth. One was actual birth, and the other was marriage. Take Xia Xiaolan, for instance – she didn’t seem to have been born into good circumstances. Parents who truly cared for their daughters would have secured them decent, comfortable jobs. The fact that such a beautiful young woman was working as a private vendor showed her family lacked the connections to arrange proper employment. With her looks, even without much education, as long as she could read, she could have been placed as a sales clerk in a department store!

This likely meant she had a rural household registration and wasn’t even eligible for formal employment.

Hu Yongcai, being a seasoned logistics worker, had figured out most of Xia Xiaolan’s background.

He wasn’t looking down on her though – she was simply too beautiful. Perhaps she would use her second chance at rebirth to turn her life around. Hu Yongcai thought this girl was calculating – Shangdu City was so big, yet she chose to sell her goods at the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse. Those who frequently appeared around the guesthouse were various officials and cadres.

Tsk tsk, who knows, she might become a phoenix perching on a noble branch one day.

Xia Xiaolan was unaware of Hu Yongcai’s assessment of her, and it didn’t matter how he viewed her as long as there was business to be done.

She quietly hawked her wares along the way, actively approaching potential customers asking if they needed eggs. After circling Shangdu City, she finally sold all her remaining hundred-plus eggs. No matter how careful she was, a dozen or so eggs would break without foam or plastic egg trays, even with Xia Xiaolan’s best protection. However, she wasn’t planning to continue reselling eggs anyway, or rather, eggs had become a secondary product, which made things much easier!

At home, they still had many loaches and crucian carp, and Li Fengmei had grown plenty of radishes and vegetables in their private plot. After making her rounds, Xia Xiaolan didn’t know what vegetables to buy besides pork. So she decided to just buy more meat. The afternoon meat stalls had no fatty cuts left, only lean meat. Lean meat was quite good too. Xia Xiaolan had only eaten sweet potatoes for a couple of meals when she first arrived, but after moving in with the Liu family, she happened to arrive during the busy farming season when their meals were quite good, so she wasn’t lacking in nutrition anymore.

Xia Xiaolan bought two jin of meat and several seasonings.

Aunt Li Fengmei’s cooking was decent, but at home, they only used salt and soy sauce, at most adding home-grown green onions, ginger, and garlic. They didn’t have any star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, bay leaves, or similar spices, so Xia Xiaolan bought some while she was out. Once people have enough to eat, they start pursuing better taste. Within their means, making life a bit better-provided motivation to continue earning money.

Making trips to Shangdu City every other day was the right decision.

The sun was strong today, and the Liu family’s rice was almost dry enough to be stored.

Xia Xiaolan had earned over 20 yuan that day and was in high spirits when returning to Qijing Village. Just as she parked her bicycle after arriving home, Liu Yong brought her good news:

“Zhang Erlai from Shipozu Village has been detained and will likely receive a heavy sentence!”

While Xia Xiaolan was selling goods in Shangdu, Liu Yong had made another trip to Anqing County during the day – he wouldn’t rest easy unless those three thugs were imprisoned. As it happened, Anqing County was conducting a “Strike Hard” campaign parade that day, parading various criminals who had been arrested recently. They were loaded onto trucks wearing placards, while loudspeakers announced their crimes as they circled the streets of Anqing County over and over.

Liu Yong happened to witness this campaign. Though he didn’t recognize Zhang Erlai, the placard hanging on the man’s chest showed his name and village – Shipozu Village – and only Zhang Erlai fit the description. Liu Yong had wanted to deal with Zhang Erlai, but with the recent intensity of the “Strike Hard” campaign, he didn’t want to involve his friends. Unexpectedly, before he could act, Zhang Erlai had been caught in the campaign!

How could Xia Xiaolan not be happy about this?

That dog had twice attempted to take advantage of “Xia Xiaolan” – the first time, the original owner was saved by Wang Jianhua, and the second time became the catalyst for the rumors just before the original owner’s fatal collision with the pillar… While “Xia Xiaolan’s” suicide had other contributing factors, Zhang Erlai was a major cause.

She had never had any improper relations with Zhang Erlai, but who would believe her?

Those people spoke with such certainty as if they had personally witnessed her rolling in the hay with Zhang Erlai. Xia Xiaolan had been wondering how to get revenge, but unexpectedly, Zhang Erlai had already been arrested!

“What was he arrested for?”

Xia Xiaolan felt anxious – if it was for moral misconduct, what if Zhang Erlai tried to drag her down with him? The 1983 “Strike Hard” campaign didn’t just target men for sexual misconduct – some young women had even been executed for it!

She couldn’t possibly go to the hospital for a physical examination to prove her innocence.

Liu Yong’s dark, thin features relaxed as he explained, “He was arrested for burglary. The police said the amount was substantial – he’ll get a heavy sentence this time!”