◎(First Update) Have I Become a Wild Man Too?◎
Jiang Ping had been working at the electronics factory in Changping City for over a month. He smoothly integrated into the massive factory and received plenty of care from his coworkers. Not long ago, he received his first paycheck. The generous salary filled him with gratitude and excitement. After sending most of it home, he expressed his thanks to Brother Lang, who had introduced him to the job.
He poured his gratitude into a letter and packed a parcel full of food and daily necessities as a small token of appreciation. He sent both to the Liberation Mine District in Ink River City, and they eventually reached Cheng Lang’s hands.
With Feng Man’s sincere sigh in his ears, Cheng Lang ignored the unexpected bond with Jiang Ping for the moment and carried the parcel into the main room. “He sent some things. I’ll sort them out.”
“Mm, go ahead with your work.” Those were gifts for Cheng Lang, so Feng Man did not join in.
The parcel contained plenty of local specialties like dried meat and dried vegetables, a stack of three-piece Pu’er tea cakes, and finally, a carton of cigarettes.
Hongta Mountain cigarettes cost four yuan per pack, and this was a carton of ten packs. Jiang Ping’s gift was quite substantial. He truly was an honest man full of gratitude.
“Why did he send cigarettes?” Feng Man was leading Xiaoshan to wipe down tables, chairs, and cabinets everywhere. She caught a glimpse from afar of the carton of cigarettes in Cheng Lang’s hand, and her willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly.
“Jiang Ping didn’t know I’ve quit smoking. He figured this was a solid gift, hard currency.” Cheng Lang opened the carton, took out five packs to give to his cousin Fan Zhenghua, and kept the remaining five for himself. “They’re still useful for asking favors.”
Feng Man nodded reassuringly. “Comrade Cheng Lang, good awareness.”
Cheng Lang put away the items. He handed the dried meat and vegetables to Feng Man to handle and took the letter back to the inner room.
Jiang Ping’s specialties were all good stuff. Feng Man examined them closely and figured they were dried by his family. They had been stored for a while, so they could serve as emergency rations when she was too lazy to cook.
She sorted the items into categories and stored them in the kitchen. As she turned around, she saw Cheng Lang hunched over the desk in the inner room, writing.
This was rare. She had seldom seen him writing anything. “What are you writing?”
Footsteps sounded behind her along with her question. Cheng Lang turned back, his thin lips curving with a hint of a smile. “Jiang Ping mentioned in his letter that after starting at the factory, his coworkers and their families have been enthusiastic—one after another trying to introduce him to someone. Jiang Ping’s not getting any younger. In my reply, I’m telling him to seize the opportunity. A real man shouldn’t fall behind on marriage and kids.”
This was the first time Feng Man had seen Cheng Lang so concerned about someone else’s personal affairs. This man usually turned a deaf ear to such gossip. She could not help but sigh. “You two are really close! If he actually goes through with matchmaking and it works out, do we send a gift?”
Cheng Lang finished writing his encouragement for Jiang Ping’s matchmaking and, upon hearing this, hooked his lips. “Sure. When the time comes, you can help pick something. I don’t know about these things.”
“Good.” For such a small matter, Feng Man naturally agreed happily.
Cousin and his wife moved into the spacious house with their family of three. The place, which had previously housed only two people, suddenly brimmed with vitality.
Xiaoshan ran all over the yard. The first chore his aunt took over for him was watering the grapevines and peach trees every day. While watering, he squatted and chatted with the fruit trees. “Grow faster, you guys. Grow taller, so Aunt and I can eat grapes and peaches.”
Feng Man and Dong Xiaojuan burst out laughing at his words. Dong Xiaojuan teased her son. “You’re not shy about it, huh? All you think about is eating.”
Xiaoshan puffed out his chest proudly. “Mom, I’ll share half with you then!”
“Pretty filial.” Feng Man remarked and then went back inside for a nap.
Around three in the afternoon, Yuan Qiumei hurried into the yard and deftly prepared the evening’s food.
Feng Man woke from her nap and peered through the window to see the busy figure in the yard. Yuan Qiumei worked hard and attentively, saving Feng Man and Dong Xiaojuan a lot of trouble. Hiring her had been the right call.
She cleaned the pork offal over and over, blanched it, then braised it in a pot with a spice packet. The braising aroma wafted everywhere, filling the entire yard.
Xiaoshan could not resist the temptation and sneaked several pieces. As he chewed with his little mouth, he felt that moving here was the best. He was living the good life.
When the braised pork offal was fished out, drained, and sliced, Feng Man tallied the accounts in the room. Over the past half month, daily revenue had risen by fifty-two percent. Since it was the last day of the month, she settled Yuan Qiumei’s wages for ten days of work: fifty-three yuan, plus a five-yuan bonus, totaling fifty-eight yuan.
Yuan Qiumei took the wages—a crisp fifty-yuan bill and an eight-yuan note—and her eyes nearly popped out.
She had never held such a high salary in one go in her life.
Back when she farmed in the countryside, her year’s work points barely covered the village’s grain payments, with maybe twenty or thirty yuan left. But this time was different—fifty-eight yuan in ten days!
“Thank you, boss!”
“Sister Qiumei, this is what you earned with your labor. You work neatly, and customers love the sesame flatbreads you make and the braised pork offal you prepare. Great skills. My cousin’s wife and I were right to hire you.”
Joy flushed Yuan Qiumei’s wheat-colored skin, her eyes squinting into slits with laughter. Her heart burned hot, like it was pressed against a hot water bottle—warm and scorching.
The somewhat shy and embarrassed Yuan Qiumei nodded with a soft “mm” and was about to pocket the money when she bumped into Dong Xiaojuan, who was coming with a basin of cooled braising liquid to store in the house.
The fragrant braising liquid soaked through Yuan Qiumei’s floral blouse, staining it with large dark patches.
“Ouch, did it burn you?” Dong Xiaojuan quickly set down the basin and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe Yuan Qiumei’s clothes.
“Not hot. The braising liquid had cooled.” It just made her clothes smell strongly of braising aroma.
Feng Man saw this and pulled down a new shirt from yesterday’s shopping at the Department Store, hanging on the yard’s wire. She handed it directly to Yuan Qiumei. “Sister Qiumei, go change into this. It’s new, never worn.”
“No, no, no, it’s fine.” Yuan Qiumei declined a few times but could not refuse. She carefully took the shirt to change in the room. She scrubbed the old one hard with laundry powder, soaked it in water, hoping to remove the braising smell.
Fan You Shan watched from the side and shook his head, feeling it was a pity. “The clothes smell like braising—pretty good. Smell it when you’re hungry. So fragrant.”
The adults could not help but chuckle.
That day, Yuan Qiumei wore the red-and-white checkered blouse Feng Man bought. She still tied a scarf around her head as she went to the stall to sell food.
Feng Man looked at Yuan Qiumei’s outfit and felt something was off. The weather was hot, and she had never seen Yuan Qiumei allergic or uncomfortable on her face. Why did she always tie a scarf when coming to the mine district area to sell things?
Was she avoiding someone?
But Feng Man did not mention it. She worked diligently, so Feng Man did not pry for now.
It did not affect work, so better not to meddle too much in others’ private affairs.
……
The newly opened Laifeng Mountain in the Red Star Mine District encountered a tricky problem. Cheng Lang led the team and spent nearly a week avoiding the complex underground structures, finally successfully opening another mining channel.
Zhou Yuejin had been Cheng Lang’s teammate on the mining team in the Liberation Mine District. He was also a skilled worker.
At thirty years old, he was lean but strong when working—a rare technical expert. When mining issues arose, he could usually make the right judgments with his seasoned experience and precise skills.
This time, in overcoming the difficulty, Zhou Yuejin discussed with Cheng Lang and offered many valuable suggestions.
Mining operations continued. Cheng Lang and the workers ate in the break room to celebrate. There were about twenty sesame flatbreads on the table, which Song Guodong had just gone down the mountain to buy from Feng Man.
With a major issue resolved, they had to treat the workers to something good.
“The boss lady’s sesame flatbreads are the best. The flavor is amazing!”
“Her skills are top-notch. Brother Lang’s got some real luck!”
Everyone knew that Cheng Lang’s wife Feng Man’s Feng’s had great taste and booming business—a real hot item around the mine district.
Cheng Lang did not join the workers’ chatter. He just bit into his sesame flatbread, and the thin lips that usually formed a straight line curved faintly.
But He Chunsheng was excited and smug. “Last time, You Jianyuan told the workers over there that he’d treat everyone tomorrow—come early! But the boss lady didn’t take his order at all. He lost face in front of the workers and got teased mercilessly! Hahahahaha…”
Zhou Yuejin ate a sesame flatbread beside He Chunsheng and could not help but marvel at how good it tasted. But he rarely bought food from Feng’s. He was used to scrimping and saving, seldom eating out. Plus, with his wife Yuan Qiumei handling household chores at home, even if they skipped the cafeteria, he could eat the meals she prepared in advance.
Other workers envied Cheng Lang for marrying such a capable wife, but Zhou Yuejin did not envy him much.
He had skills himself, with a decent salary that fully supported the family. Zhou Yuejin handed most of his two-to-three-hundred-yuan monthly wage to Yuan Qiumei. There was no need for her to go out and work in public.
If his wife had to work outside, that would mean the man was incompetent.
When Zhou Yuejin first brought Yuan Qiumei from her hometown, he had told her she would not suffer a bit, so naturally, there was no need for her to work.
Of course, Cheng Lang was no incompetent man either. Zhou Yuejin looked at the man five years his junior and sighed. “Ah Lang’s wife got revenge for you. You Jianyuan has his comeuppance day too.”
Mentioning You Jianyuan made many miners scoff, especially those whose credit he had stolen before—they itched with hatred.
Cheng Lang finished his sesame flatbread and spoke flatly, only reminding everyone, “Keep it in mind. There’ll come a day when You Jianyuan pays back principal and interest. Everyone, rest well. Back to work this afternoon.”
Lunch was lively, but Zhou Yuejin was somewhat distracted. He had just thought of his wife when he suddenly sensed something off. Lately, Yuan Qiumei seemed to have subtle changes.
His wife had been acting strangely, leaving early and returning late every day. The day before yesterday, he had swapped shifts with a coworker and got off early. Unexpectedly, he came home to an empty house—his wife was not there!
When she returned, he casually asked where she had gone, but she hemmed and hawed before saying she had gone to chat with a neighbor’s wife from another building whom she got along with.
Zhou Yuejin had not thought much of it at first. But that morning, he ran into that coworker and learned during casual chat that the couple had taken leave to visit family back home and had not been in Ink River at all. That was when Zhou Yuejin grew alert.
Recalling a bit, he noticed more and more oddities.
Previously, his wife managed the home meticulously. She rose earlier than him every day, prepared breakfast early, went out to buy groceries and cook. When he got off work at night, there was always a hearty dinner on the table, and the hallway clothesline always fluttered with her neatly washed clothes—men’s and women’s swaying together in the breeze.
But in the past week or so, she had changed.
Lately, she often forgot to make breakfast in the mornings. He got home early a couple of days and she still was not back. For several days straight, she had strange smells on her.
Especially last night. When Zhou Yuejin got home, he found his wife wearing different clothes from what she had on when she left that morning. When he casually asked, Yuan Qiumei looked odd and said it was a new outfit she bought while shopping.
Zhou Yuejin immediately saw through the lie. Qiumei was not one to spend lavishly. He often urged her to buy new clothes, but she was reluctant to spend. How could she go to the Department Store for something like that?
The new clothes were clearly high-end—fine fabric, stylish cut, definitely not cheap.
Even more shocking, Zhou Yuejin had accidentally seen three bills totaling sixty-five yuan in the pocket of the clothes she changed out of before bathing!
Expensive new clothes and so much cash—Zhou Yuejin’s brows furrowed, and a bad suspicion formed in his heart.
With the mine problem solved, everyone celebrated and finished lunch, but Zhou Yuejin said, “I’ll take leave. Something at home.”
Cheng Lang was stunned. Zhou Yuejin was a workaholic. In six or seven years working together, he had never seen him take leave for family matters. This man always rambled about how great his wife was at home, how as head of the household he did not need to worry about domestic affairs, allowing him to focus fully on work.
For him to request leave for the first time, Cheng Lang naturally agreed. “Go. Handle your family matters first.”
Zhou Yuejin left the mine and, unusually, headed home around two in the afternoon. The unease and suspicions in his heart erupted.
If some no-good wild man was giving money and clothes to seduce his wife, Zhou Yuejin gnashed his teeth.
Damn it. Just you wait! I’ll break that wild man’s legs!