Chapter 4

Even after things had been made this clear, Shen Jianguo still refused to give up. Rubbing his hands together, he leaned forward and said, "It's not easy to make such a long trip. Why don't I, as her father, collect everything and bring it home for her? It's basically the same thing. Come on, do me a favor and make an exception." Officer Liu glanced at him from beneath his eyelids, then lifted his enamel mug and took a sip of tea. "The rules are the rules. The subsidies are issued directly to the educated youths who are being sent to the countryside. Their grain rations and labor protection supplies are allocated according to each person's registration." "If someone else collects them on their behalf and the authorities discover it later, everything will have to be returned. If you want to get yourself into trouble, I have no objections." Shen Jianguo still refused to give up. "How about this? I'll send the child's mother instead. Surely her mother can..." "Nobody except the person herself is allowed to collect them!" Officer Liu interrupted impatiently, glaring at Shen Jianguo. "She must come and collect them within three days. Any unclaimed subsidies after the deadline will be confiscated!" The corners of Shen Jianguo's mouth twitched, but he didn't dare argue any further. As soon as he stepped out of the Educated Youth Office, he spat on the ground. "Damn it! They insist on making her come in person." He had already made inquiries. The standard subsidy for going to the countryside was twenty-two yuan, with an additional three-yuan cold-weather allowance for those assigned to the Northeast, bringing the total to twenty-five yuan. Educated youths heading to the Northeast were also issued padded coats, cotton quilts, and thick cotton boots. Those were genuinely valuable supplies. If he brought them home and altered them for Jiabao, his son could wear them for several years. He had to get everything settled while that wretched girl’s adoptive parents were away. With this plan in mind, he went straight to the neighborhood committee and ordered Wang Guilan to hurry up and bring Shen Queying over. The moment Wang Guilan heard that there was money and useful supplies to collect, she rushed off to find Shen Queying. Standing at the gate of the Shen family courtyard, she shouted, "Queying! Go to the Educated Youth Office and collect your subsidy! They said you must go in person. If you delay, the government will fine you! Hurry up! I still have to get back to work!" Shen Queying was inside sorting through her belongings. The original owner had been wealthier than she had imagined and had managed to save more than thirty yuan. Hearing the commotion, she deliberately took her time before finally going outside. Wang Guilan stamped her feet impatiently. "Would you hurry up already? Your father is waiting for you!" Shen Queying ignored her, slowly locked the door, and walked toward the end of the alley. Sure enough, Shen Jianguo was squatting outside the Educated Youth Office waiting for her. When he saw her arrive, he immediately stood up. "Come on, come on! Just sign your name and collect everything quickly." As soon as the supplies were issued, Shen Queying slipped the paper envelope containing the money into an inner pocket close to her body. Seeing this, Shen Jianguo couldn't very well reach out and snatch it from her. Instead, he hurriedly tried to grab the large, bulging bundle of supplies. "Give it to me. You're just a young girl. How could you possibly carry all this? I'll take it home for now so you don't..." Shen Queying quickly stepped aside and hugged the bundle tightly against her chest. Shen Jianguo's expression immediately darkened. "What? Are you treating your own father like a thief? Do you think I'd covet these few things of yours?" Shen Queying took a step backward and blinked a couple of times. Soon, her eyes began to redden. "This is the only padded coat I'm getting. I've heard that winters in the Northeast are so cold they can freeze a person to death! If I die out there at the forest farm, wouldn't that bring shame upon you, too?" Her voice wasn't loud, but the Educated Youth Office wasn't a particularly large place. It was crowded with people handling their paperwork, and others were standing outside. The moment she mentioned dying, she could feel the curious gazes of the onlookers drifting toward them. Shen Jianguo panicked. "You wretched girl! What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean, freezing to death? Do you think your professor father and doctor mother would stand by and watch you freeze to death?!" The moment he said those words, Shen Queying thought to herself, Got you. She hugged the bundle and began trembling her shoulders as if she were sobbing, looking utterly pitiful. "They're sending me to the countryside because I signed up. They scolded me, saying that after acknowledging my biological family, I'd grown arrogant and ungrateful. They said they wouldn't take care of me anymore!" Her voice grew louder as she continued. "You said Jiabao couldn't endure the hardships of going to the countryside, so you asked me to go instead. I listened to you!" "This coat and quilt are the only things I have to keep myself alive. Please, just let me keep them. I'm begging you..." As she spoke, she hugged the bundle, bent deeply at the waist, and began bowing repeatedly to Shen Jianguo. The entire Educated Youth Office fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop. The people who had come to handle their paperwork gathered around the doorway. They looked at Shen Jianguo as though he were some kind of beast. "How can he even steal his own daughter's clothes?" "Tsk, tsk. I heard she's the biological daughter he only recently found. And the moment he gets her back, he sends her to the countryside. Unbelievable..." "He sees that the girl is honest and filial, so he just bullies her relentlessly. What a rotten person." Shen Jianguo's face turned liver-red, and tiny beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. If this matter escalated, he wouldn't be able to show his face at the factory anymore. The Educated Youth Office might even summon him for questioning. He glared at Shen Queying, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly creaked. He wanted nothing more than to slap her across the face. But there were too many people watching. All he could do was lower his voice and bark, "Fine, fine! Keep your things and get out of here!" Shen Queying acted as though she had just been granted a new lease on life. Clutching the bundle, she timidly squeezed her way through the crowd and left. After walking a considerable distance, she glanced back. Shen Jianguo had already stormed off with a dark expression. She turned her gaze forward, and her steps immediately became lighter. When she pushed open the courtyard gate, Shen Yunqi was lying over the stone table in the yard, doing his homework. Hearing the gate open, he looked up. He had just started to smile when his gaze fell on the bundle in her arms. His expression froze halfway between a smile and a frown. He recognized that kind of bundle. It was made of military-green canvas, and only people being sent to the countryside received one. A few days earlier, the second son of the Sun family at the entrance of their alley had brought home exactly the same kind of bundle from the Educated Youth Office. "Sis..." His throat tightened. "Are you... going to the countryside?" Shen Queying knew she could no longer hide it. She answered softly, "Mm. I'm going to a forest farm in the Northeast. I'll leave at the end of the month." Shen Yunqi shot to his feet. His chair crashed to the ground with a loud bang. "Did Shen Jianguo force you? Or was it that Wang Guilan? I'll go find them!" He took off running before she could stop him. Shen Queying tried to reach out and grab him, but with the bundle in her arms, she couldn't catch him. The half-grown boy ran like the wind, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Afraid that something might happen, Shen Queying quickly put down the bundle and chased after him. Shen Yunqi ran at full speed all the way to Shen Jianguo's house. When he arrived, he raised his foot and kicked the courtyard gate open. "Shen Jianguo! Wang Guilan! Get out here!"