"Su Yun! Have you gone crazy? How dare you splash water on me? Have you lost your mind?"
Jiang Guangzong shouted while shaking the water from his head.
Su Yun held the basin and stood at a safe distance, speaking in a sarcastic tone.
"Comrade Jiang, I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person! I only splashed a little water on you. What's the big deal? Yet you're shouting and cursing—how petty. The most important thing in life is generosity. You should really work on improving your character."
Jiang Guangzong could clearly hear the mockery in her words. Furious, he pointed at her.
"Su Yun, just you wait! I won't let this go so easily!"
"Oh no, please don't! Just disappear quickly. Every time I see you, I feel so sick I could vomit up yesterday's dinner. Please show some mercy and stop coming to see me. Otherwise, not only will I splash water on you again, I'll also expose all your secrets and make sure you can't show your face in public!"
---
After dealing with Jiang Guangzong, Su Yun arrived at the recycling station just as someone pushed in a tricycle loaded with scrap.
She took a closer look and was immediately delighted.
"Sir, these are brand-new high school reference books and exam papers. Isn't it a pity to sell them as scrap?"
The old man curled his lips.
"What's there to pity? These days, very few people bother studying seriously. Who would want this useless stuff? It's better to sell it as scrap and at least get a little money."
Hearing that, Su Yun's eyes lit up.
"How about this—you sell them all to me instead. I'll give you five yuan for the whole lot. What do you say?"
"What's there to hesitate about? Five yuan is much better than selling them as scrap! Young lady, are you sure you want to buy them? You won't regret it?"
Su Yun immediately took out five yuan and handed it to him.
The old man happily rode away on his tricycle.
After he left, Su Yun carried the stack of reference books behind the counter in several trips.
When she bent down to pick up the last stack, a pair of large hands lifted it before she could.
Su Yun looked up and instantly brightened.
"Comrade Gu Hai!"
"Oh! You're finally wearing new clothes!" she said. "But not the set I gave you… Did you make them from that batch of cotton cloth?"
Gu Hai nodded and deliberately added, "I made them myself."
As expected, Su Yun looked amazed. She circled around him twice and even glanced briefly at his crotch area. After confirming nothing unusual was showing, she raised her thumb.
"Amazing! Comrade Gu Hai, I never would've guessed you had this kind of talent. Unlike me—I can't even sew clothes!"
Gu Hai felt a little flattered by her praise. He looked shy, and his face reddened slightly.
Afraid she might notice, he quickly lowered his head and glanced at the stack of books in his hands.
"Comrade Xiao Su, are you studying high school material?"
His question reminded Su Yun that Gu Hai had been among the first group of university students after the college entrance examination resumed. That meant he must have had some way of knowing it would be restored.
So she didn't hide it. She gestured for him to place the books on the counter.
"Comrade Gu Hai, a friend told me that our country might soon restore the college entrance examination. So I plan to pick up my studies again and follow national policy. If I can get into a good university, that would be even better."
Gu Hai suddenly understood.
"No wonder every time I come here, I see you solving problems. But…"
"But what?" Su Yun urged him to continue.
"But I noticed you got several questions wrong. Especially that propositional logic problem—you missed two steps."
Su Yun was shocked.
"What?"
In front of someone more capable, Su Yun was very humble. She quickly took out her notebook and placed it in front of him.
"Comrade Gu Hai, please help me take a look. What else did I get wrong?"
Gu Hai carefully reviewed her notebook and used a pen to circle more than ten mistakes.
"These are all wrong. This question should be solved starting from this approach…"
Gu Hai patiently explained, and Su Yun listened attentively.
After a while, Su Yun made up her mind—she wanted to hire Gu Hai as her tutor.
"Comrade Gu Hai, considering our friendship, how about you tutor me from now on? I'll pay you fifty cents a day. What do you think?"
Gu Hai opened his mouth slightly. Looking at Su Yun's hopeful face, he finally nodded.
"Alright."
Originally, he had intended to say he wouldn't charge anything.
Su Yun cheered and immediately stuffed fifty cents into his hand.
"This is today's pay. From now on we'll settle it daily—no delays."
What a bargain!
A future big shot tutoring her for only fifty cents—it was practically a steal!
No, this won't do. Next time she should bring Xia Ying along for tutoring too. When a big shot offers such a good deal, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it!
---
After a day of tutoring and work, Su Yun finished her shift. Before leaving, she opened the system store again and spent one yuan to buy a sugarcane. She skillfully chopped it into small sections, wrapped them in newspaper, and carried them home.
As soon as she entered the courtyard house, He Hua—who had disappeared for a few days—was standing smugly at the gate, clearly waiting for her.
"Oh! The recycling station worker is back!"
When He Hua saw Su Yun, she deliberately raised her voice and shouted.
Su Yun rolled her eyes and ignored her.
But He Hua had no intention of letting her go.
Like a spinning top, He Hua deliberately moved back and forth in front of Su Yun, blocking the entrance and refusing to let her pass.
Su Yun snorted and looked at her with amusement.
"Is it really necessary? You're just showing off because you're wearing a new outfit today, afraid I might not notice?"
Now that her intention had been exposed, He Hua looked even more pleased and shouted exaggeratedly.
"So what if I am? Doesn't my new outfit look beautiful? My boyfriend specially brought it back for me from Haicheng. There's only one like it in the entire capital city, and I'm the one wearing it!"
"Su Yun, you're jealous, aren't you? Envious? But you don't have one! Hahaha…"
Looking at He Hua's gaudy floral clothes, Su Yun could only think that in the future even rags wouldn't be made with such an ugly style.
She rolled her eyes again.
"What exactly am I supposed to envy? Envy your washboard figure? Envy the fact that you smell like the public toilet you clean every day? Or envy the new rural life you'll soon enjoy when you're sent down to the countryside?"
He Hua was instantly speechless with anger.
"Su Yun, you—!"
Before she could finish, Aunt Gao's voice sounded from behind her.
"He Hua, Comrade Qin just came looking for you. In our courtyard, you're the only one who meets the criteria to be sent down to the countryside. What exactly is your family planning? Do you really have a boyfriend, or did you make it up to fool us?"
Hearing this, He Hua immediately forgot about arguing with Su Yun and quickly turned to Aunt Gao.
"Aunt Gao, look carefully! This new outfit I'm wearing was given to me by my boyfriend. We're about to get married, so I'm not going to the countryside!"
Aunt Gao replied,
"You keep saying you have a boyfriend, but no one has ever seen him. Who knows if he's real?"
"How could he be fake? My boyfriend even brought me roast chicken and braised meat before—you all saw it!"
While He Hua was busy explaining, Su Yun carried the sugarcane and walked back to the inner courtyard.
As soon as she entered the house, Su Baoguo jumped up excitedly, his little face grinning so widely that only his teeth were visible.
Su Yun set the sugarcane down and asked curiously,
"Xiao Wu, what's got you so happy?"