After Su Yun finished speaking, Su Baoguo quickly added, "And me! Me too! I won't let you suffer either!"
Just hearing those words brought tears to Chen Xiue's eyes. She instinctively exchanged a glance with Su Wenshan, and in that instant, a thousand unspoken thoughts passed between them.
It was a deeply emotional moment.
With tears in her eyes, Chen Xiue smiled comfortingly and put the chicken drumstick back into Su Yun's bowl. "Mom doesn't like drumsticks…"
Su Wenshan followed suit and placed his drumstick into Su Baoguo's bowl. "Dad doesn't like them either."
Su Baoguo puffed out his cheeks and pouted. "That's a lie. Who doesn't like drumsticks?"
Su Yun burst out laughing. "Hear that? Even a child doesn't believe you."
With that, she placed the drumstick back into Chen Xiue's bowl, while Su Baoguo returned his to Su Wenshan.
Seeing that her parents still wanted to decline, Su Yun quickly said, "Dad, Mom, let's stop passing them back and forth and just eat. Otherwise, when He Hua's family finishes dinner, people will start smelling the chicken from our house."
Her words successfully stopped them. After a few seconds of hesitation, and seeing Su Yun and Su Baoguo eating with their heads down, the couple finally gave up insisting. Still, they only ate the drumsticks in their bowls and did not touch anything else.
In the end, nearly half a pot of black chicken soup remained, along with a little rice.
Holding his empty bowl with satisfaction, Su Baoguo sighed longingly. "Second Sister's stewed chicken tastes ten times better than Widow He's. If only we could eat meat and white rice every day!"
Chen Xiue rolled her eyes at him. "Eat meat every day? Do you know how many meat ration coupons that would take?"
After speaking, she efficiently cleared the table, locked the remaining chicken soup and rice in the cabinet, then turned to Su Wenshan, who was sitting on the heated kang rolling tobacco leaves.
"Tomorrow, write a letter to the older boys. Tell them about Xiaoyun staying in the city. And let them know that for the next few months, we won't be sending money home. We need to save up to pay for Xiaoyun's job transfer first."
Su Wenshan nodded without stopping his work. "Alright. I'll write it tomorrow."
In the courtyard, children from other households were still clamoring to eat stewed chicken.
After helping her mother clean up the kitchen, Su Yun took a quick wash and returned to the west side room to continue studying. She finished half of a first-year high school math textbook, writing down all the problems she couldn't solve, planning to visit her teacher later to ask about them.
The night passed quickly.
After the rooster crowed three times, the sun rose.
Morning in the courtyard was usually the same day after day. Rarely, however, Widow He's scolding voice was absent that morning.
As Su Yun left after breakfast, she saw Widow He standing at the entrance of the courtyard, glowing with pride and loudly boasting to the neighbors about He Hua's boyfriend.
Seeing this, Su Yun quickened her pace, walked straight out of the gate, and crossed the alley without looking back.
It was rush hour. The streets were filled with people either riding bicycles or walking to work and school. Everyone wore similar gray, blue, or black work uniforms, and bright colors were hard to spot.
Without stopping, Su Yun headed straight to the recycling station.
The gate was open. The same auntie from yesterday sat lazily behind the counter in her blue work uniform, knitting.
When she saw Su Yun enter, she raised her eyebrows slightly and stared at her without speaking.
Understanding her meaning, Su Yun quickly pulled out the bundle of money wrapped in a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it over.
The auntie set down her knitting, took the handkerchief, unfolded it, and carefully counted the thick stack of brand-new ten-yuan notes three times before finally looking up at Su Yun with satisfaction.
"You're a capable girl. Not a single cent short. Alright, let's not waste time. We'll go to the subdistrict office now and get this done."
"Oh, and one more thing," she added. "From now on, you're my goddaughter. You have to call me Godmother. That way, when we transfer the job, it'll be legitimate. Understand?"
Su Yun nodded firmly. "Yes, I understand, Godmother."
The auntie gave her an approving look, hid the money away, locked the recycling station, and took Su Yun to the subdistrict office.
The office was bustling. Many people who were about to be sent to the countryside were using their connections to apply for job transfers. The hall was noisy and chaotic.
Clearly familiar with the staff, the auntie exchanged a few words and soon led Su Yun into a small office.
The door closed, shutting out the commotion.
The office belonged to a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length hair, black-framed glasses, and a gray double-breasted coat. As soon as they entered, the auntie warmly greeted her.
"Director Yuan."
Director Yuan sat down with a porcelain cup in her hands and gestured for them to sit across the desk.
"Auntie Xu, this isn't easy," she said. "You saw the people outside just now. They're all here to transfer jobs. Right now is a critical period for the 'Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside' movement. The review process is strict. Our office can't approve these casually—it involves political considerations…"
Her words made Su Yun's heart leap into her throat.
But Auntie Xu remained relaxed and smiling. "Director Yuan, for others it might be difficult, but not for me. I've reached retirement age and will be retiring soon. I want to go home and take care of my grandchildren. Transferring my job is reasonable. No one can fault that. And if I retire early, someone has to take over my position. I've never had a daughter, but I like this goddaughter of mine. I want to transfer the job to her. If you ask me to give it to someone else, I won't agree."
After listening, Director Yuan looked at Su Yun thoughtfully over her cup. "She's really your goddaughter?"
Su Yun smiled obediently.
Auntie Xu nodded firmly. "Yes."
Director Yuan lowered her head, took two sips of hot water, and set down her cup. "Alright then. Since you insist and it follows regulations, I'll process the transfer."
"Did you bring all the documents?"
Auntie Xu nodded again. Su Yun quickly took out her household registration certificate.
Director Yuan worked efficiently. After they filled out forms, signed, and stamped everything, she took Su Yun's household registration to another office and completed all the procedures for the job transfer and uniform application.
The entire process took nearly an hour.
Finally, holding her employment certificate, grain ration registration document, and a loose-fitting blue work uniform, Su Yun nearly burst into tears.
At last, she could stay in the city. She had taken the first step toward changing her destiny.
As they were leaving, while Auntie Xu was saying goodbye to Director Yuan, Su Yun quietly bought an apple from the system store and slipped it into her pocket. After Auntie Xu stepped out of the office, Su Yun quickly handed the bright red apple to Director Yuan and said softly:
"Director Yuan, thank you for your hard work today. I promise I'll work diligently and won't cause any trouble for the subdistrict office."
After speaking, she left without hesitation.
Holding the red apple, Director Yuan smiled in satisfaction after a long moment, thinking to herself that the girl truly knew how to handle things. Helping her this time had not been in vain.