Gu Hai reached out and touched the rice and flour. To him, the grains in front of him were the most lovable things he had ever seen in his life.
After feeling them for a moment, he thought about it, then grabbed two eggs from the nearby bag and stuffed them into Su Yun's hands. He said sincerely,
"Comrade Xiao Su, thank you for your hard work. Please also thank your friend who likes collecting things for me. I'm very satisfied with these items!"
Holding the two eggs, Su Yun blinked her big innocent eyes.
She had never expected that she would end up receiving a commission.
Not wanting to make a fuss about it, Su Yun casually placed the eggs in the drawer of the counter. Then she took out the set of clothes and shoes she had just bought and said to Gu Hai,
"Comrade Gu, as we agreed yesterday, you'll help me with something and I'll pay you wages. You can start working today."
"These are the clothes you'll wear for the act. Take them. In a moment we'll rehearse a little. You absolutely cannot mess up at the critical moment, understand?"
Gu Hai accepted the clothes and shoes. He hadn't expected that acting in a play would even come with brand-new clothes.
Patting his chest, he promised confidently,
"Comrade Xiao Su, don't worry. When I handle something, I always get the job done!"
After Gu Hai changed into the new clothes and came out, Su Yun immediately cleared her throat and quickly looked away, forcing herself not to stare at his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs.
Especially not that area.
She was a respectable person!
With a serious expression, Su Yun began instructing Gu Hai on how he should act.
After some basic training from Su Yun, Gu Hai proudly began his "job."
---
At the steel factory, shortly after the workers finished their noon shift, Su Wenshan received a message from the gatekeeper saying that his daughter had just called and asked him to stop by when he had time.
As soon as he heard this, Su Wenshan understood what it meant and immediately went to find Xia Xingguo.
Outside the recycling station, Su Wenshan jumped down from the back seat of his bicycle. Xia Xingguo parked his bicycle neatly, and the two hurried inside.
At that moment, Su Yun had just finished lunch. When she saw them enter, she stood up to greet them with a bright smile.
"Dad, Uncle Xia, you're here."
Xia Xingguo responded immediately, but Su Wenshan first looked around the place, examining Su Yun's working environment. Seeing that it was spacious and clean, with the scrap neatly stacked, he nodded in satisfaction.
Xia Xingguo couldn't help asking,
"Su Yun, where is the person you mentioned?"
Su Yun glanced toward the gate. "He should be arriving about now."
As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Hai's tall, refreshed figure walked in through the door. He was carrying a black briefcase in his hand and looked exactly like someone handling serious business.
Su Yun's eyes lit up.
"Dad, Uncle Xia—he's here!"
Su Wenshan and Xia Xingguo turned around at the same time.
Gu Hai walked up to them and spoke in a professional tone, very proactive in his manner.
"Comrades, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Gu Hai."
Xia Xingguo quickly shook his hand.
"Comrade Gu, I'm Xia Xingguo, the head of the Procurement Department at the Steel Factory."
Gu Hai replied smoothly, "Section Chief Xia, pleased to meet you."
Xia Xingguo then introduced Su Wenshan.
"This is Su Wenshan, the warehouse director of our steel factory. He's Su Yun's father."
Su Wenshan wasn't as enthusiastic as Xia Xingguo. Being an honest man, he mechanically shook Gu Hai's hand and nodded.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Gu Hai went straight to the point.
"Since we're all here for the same purpose today, let's skip the small talk and look at the goods first. How about that?"
This was exactly what Xia Xingguo wanted.
"Alright, alright!"
The goods had been placed by Su Yun in the inner courtyard. Gu Hai led Xia Xingguo and Su Wenshan inside. When they reached the corner, he lifted the old newspapers covering the items and said,
"Section Chief Xia, these are samples. Take a look first. If you're satisfied, we can continue discussing the deal."
When Xia Xingguo saw the rice, flour, oil, eggs, meat, and vegetables, his eyes nearly popped out.
Su Wenshan was even more shocked, almost dropping his jaw.
Xia Xingguo immediately picked up the five-jin slab of fatty pork and weighed it in his hand. Suppressing the urge to bite into it right away, he said to Gu Hai,
"Comrade Gu, with goods like these, who needs to inspect anything? Just name your price!"
Gu Hai did exactly that.
"Rice and flour are seventy cents per jin, eggs are six cents each, rapeseed oil is one yuan twenty per jin, vegetables are fifteen cents per jin… And for all of these items, no ration coupons are required."
No coupons required!
Both Xia Xingguo and Su Wenshan were shocked.
This was still the era of the planned economy, when resources were scarce. Most goods required ration coupons, and sometimes even with coupons you couldn't buy them.
The words "no coupons required" were extremely tempting.
Xia Xingguo didn't hesitate long before placing an order.
"Comrade Gu, for rice and flour of this quality, I want two thousand jin each. For rapeseed oil, one thousand jin. Eggs, two thousand. Pork, five hundred jin. Chickens and ducks, two hundred each. Vegetables, one thousand jin each."
Altogether, the order came to nearly five thousand yuan.
Xia Xingguo had truly made a huge commitment.
Gu Hai listened calmly and casually took out paper and a pen from his briefcase to write everything down.
"Alright, that's the order. I'll have someone deliver it to the steel factory tomorrow. You can inspect the goods first and pay afterward."
"Tomorrow? You can deliver tomorrow?"
Xia Xingguo was shocked again.
Such a large batch of supplies could be delivered immediately. This young man truly was a hidden expert!
Suppressing his excitement, Xia Xingguo soon signed a contract with Gu Hai. They agreed to receive the goods at the steel factory gate the next morning, where payment would be settled upon delivery.
In less than fifteen minutes, Xia Xingguo had already begun calling Gu Hai "brother."
The two reluctantly said goodbye at the entrance of the recycling station.
"Brother Gu, then it's settled! When I have time, I must treat you to a meal!"
"See you later!"
After waving farewell and watching Gu Hai walk away, Xia Xingguo turned to Su Wenshan with a grateful expression.
"Old Su, I really have to thank you today. If your daughter Su Yun hadn't introduced Brother Gu to me, how could I have solved such a big supply problem so quickly?"
Su Wenshan also felt very pleased. Today's events proved that everything Su Yun had said earlier was true.
Just as he had always believed—the world still had more good people than swindlers.
---
After Xia Xingguo and Su Wenshan left, Gu Hai wandered around outside for a while before returning to the recycling station.
At that moment, Su Yun was holding a pen, having just finished calculating how much profit she would make from the order. The sly smile on her face hadn't even faded yet when she saw Gu Hai standing in front of her.
Without saying a word, he started taking off his clothes.
Su Yun: "!!!"
"Wait! W-where is your briefcase?"
Gu Hai unbuttoned a few buttons of his white shirt, revealing the torn undershirt underneath, and replied casually,
"I returned it to the person I borrowed it from."
Then he swiftly removed his shirt, revealing a torso covered in clearly defined muscles.
Su Yun covered her face, unable to bear the sight. She felt quite conflicted, never expecting this boy to be so direct.
After all, she was a proper person!
With a mixture of hesitation and curiosity, she asked,
"Then… why are you taking off your clothes?"
Gu Hai handed the shirt to her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"To give it back to you."
Su Yun: "… "