Chapter Thirty-Three: Distributed Separately

“What exactly is going on?” Du Man looked at Xu Fei with worry.

“It’s nothing.” Xu Fei handed the remaining money to Du Man.

“This money?”

“I was going to give it to Sun Xing, but there’s no need now.”

“What happened?” Xu Fei glanced at Du Man and said, “It’s nothing, you don’t need to worry.”

“If you’re unhappy working at the sugar factory, then just quit…”

But Xu Fei sat up. The towel Du Man had just warmed for him was still there—he took it off and reached for Du Man’s hand.

“I have to think about this family.”

“But… I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t worry.” Du Man’s worry was also Xu Fei’s. Sun Xing was like a time bomb—he was the boss at Donghai Sugar Factory. Xu Fei was just a lowly worker. The weak cannot fight the strong.

At that moment, Xu Yun returned with Xu Qing.

“Sister-in-law, today I…” Xu Qing stepped into the room, about to speak, but her gaze landed on the bruises mottling Xu Fei’s abdomen. She paused, then snorted coldly, “What now, Xu Fei, gotten into trouble again? Who did you provoke this time to get beaten up like this?”

“Xu Qing, your brother…”

Xu Fei stopped Du Man. “It’s fine, Xu Qing, what did you want to say?”

“Nothing much. I ranked ninth in the entire grade on this mock exam.”

Du Man stood up, delighted. “My Xu Qing is impressive. Sister-in-law will buy some meat and we’ll make dumplings tonight.”

From outside, Xu Yun’s voice rang out, bouncing with excitement, “Great, dumplings!”

But Xu Qing only shot Xu Fei a cold glare. “When will you ever bring good news to this family?” With that, she turned and walked out.

“Xu Qing, your brother…” Du Man watched her leave, wanting so much to tell her all that Xu Fei had quietly done for this family these past weeks.

“Let it go.” Xu Fei stopped her again.

“Why won’t you let me say something?”

“No matter what I do, if she knows, she’ll still look down on me.”

Du Man had to admit it was true—Xu Qing despised Xu Fei’s gambling above all else. No matter how much money he brought home, in Xu Qing’s eyes, none of it was clean.

She nodded. She knew her sister-in-law’s temperament well—Xu Qing would never compromise her principles. But Xu Qing was still so young. Life would never be as she imagined. Without money, how would this family eat and drink? Without money, how would she continue her studies?

Xu Fei waved a hand. “It’s for the best. Xu Qing is a scholar—she’ll have a bright future ahead, and her character must remain spotless.” He shook his head, helplessly. “Not like me… a spent man.”

Du Man gave him a look. Once, she too had thought Xu Fei a hopeless case. But after these past weeks, after all that had happened, Xu Fei’s image in her heart had transformed completely.

“Why say that about yourself?”

Xu Fei smiled. “No matter what kind of man I am, there’s only one person I want to be now—a man worthy of this family.”

He reached his hand out to her. “Wife, give me some money. I’ll buy meat and we’ll make dumplings.”

Du Man laughed and took two yuan from the cupboard. “And get some soy sauce too.”

Xu Fei nodded, fetched the soy sauce bottle from the kitchen, and headed for the groceries shop nearby.

The shop was right at the street corner. Before he even reached it, he saw more than a dozen people crowded at the door. As he drew closer, he saw Aunt Wang. Xu Fei approached her, “Aunt Wang, what are you all queuing up for?”

Aunt Wang recognized Xu Fei—he’d helped her cousin buy sugar and given her a little extra. She was now all smiles. “Xu Fei, the shop just got a batch of millet. We’re all lining up for millet.”

Millet? Xu Fei glanced inside. Most of the millet was already gone from the storage bins, and the line outside was only growing.

“How much is the millet?”

“Sixty-five cents. That’s today’s price—they say it’ll go up tomorrow.”

Sixty-five cents! Xu Fei immediately thought of the day he visited Little Zhang’s house, where he’d seen millet drying in the yard. In the countryside, every household had so much of it, they couldn’t finish it all and sometimes even fed it to livestock. Yet in the city, it was a hot commodity, something people scrambled to buy. If he could buy it cheap in the countryside and sell it here, the profit would be substantial.

After chatting a bit more with Aunt Wang, Xu Fei headed inside. The rice counter was busy, but the meat counter was completely deserted.

Xu Fei walked to the meat counter.

“Well, if it isn’t Xu Fei?”

“Aunt Zhang.” Aunt Zhang was an old neighbor—her family had worked at the steel mill. She’d known Xu Fei’s family for years.

On this street, everyone knew Xu Fei. As soon as he stood at the meat counter, the people in the rice line began to whisper.

“He’s got money for meat?”

“Him? Ha, just putting on airs. After Ma San chased him for debts and he had to use his wife as collateral—he’s got the nerve for meat?”

“Xu Fei, are you lost? Soy sauce is over there.”

Aunt Zhang clearly didn’t think much of him either—she shot him a scornful look and turned away to resume chatting with her colleague behind the counter.

“Aunt Zhang, I’d like to buy some meat.”

“What?!” Aunt Zhang stood up straight behind the counter. “You want to buy meat? Don’t make me laugh.”

Xu Fei felt a flash of anger. “Aunt Zhang, is the shop’s meat only for certain people?”

“No, but can you afford it? It’s ninety cents a jin these days. How much do you make in a month? You’ve a family to feed and debts to pay. Take my advice, buy something else. Meat isn’t for you.”

She waved him off, full of disdain, and sat down again.

“He wants to buy meat? Does he think it’s pickles?”

Xu Fei replied calmly, “Give me five jin of meat.”

“Five… five jin!?” Aunt Zhang shot to her feet.

The crowd in line, many of whom looked down on Xu Fei, all turned in shock.

Xu Fei laid five yuan on the counter.

Aunt Zhang stared at the money, stunned. Her colleague nudged her, “Old Zhang, what’s the matter? Serve the customer.”

“Huh?” Aunt Zhang finally came to herself. She glanced at Xu Fei. “Where did you get money for meat?”

“Aunt Zhang, is this money fake?”

“No, no, it’s not.” Aunt Zhang took the money and examined it. Though her eyes were full of doubt, the five yuan were real enough.

“Then please give me one jin of fatty meat and one jin of lean, but don’t mix them—keep them separate.”

“You—”