Chapter 25: A Collision with the Original Protagonist

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“My daughter is amazing,” Su Dawei praised as well.

“Tonight, the two of us should have a good drink.”

“Chuchu is only fifteen. You want her to drink? Are you still half-asleep?”

Qin Jiuhong shot Su Dawei an exasperated look.

“It’s such a happy occasion. A small cup won’t hurt,” Su Dawei said.

“Dad, I’ll drink with you.” Su Yanchu was in high spirits today too.

“Good.” Su Dawei immediately went to fetch the liquor.

“You two should still drink less,” Qin Jiuhong reminded them, not entirely at ease.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Su Dawei assured her.

“By the way, the thermos factory will be holding a recruitment examination in a couple of days.”

Qin Jiuhong worked at the subdistrict office, so she would certainly be the first to hear about any hiring news from the factories in the surrounding area.

Her usual duties at the office consisted mostly of writing documents and the like.

“I can go and give it a try.” Su Yanchu had thought of a business that could bring in money quickly. If she passed the examination, she could transfer the position to her maternal uncle.

In any case, it was summer vacation, and it was not yet time for her to enroll in school.

“Yes, it’s in two days.” Qin Jiuhong had thought of the same thing.

“I’ll issue you a recommendation letter from the subdistrict office.”

“Okay.” If she could obtain a job, it would be extremely useful.

Having a mother who worked at the subdistrict office really was convenient. In those days, everything could be arranged much more quickly.

…

“Qiqi, I heard from someone in the city that the thermos factory where your younger aunt works is hiring,” Song Qiao said. It had taken her considerable effort to find out the news.

“I don’t have a recommendation letter, let alone a high school education, and I’m not even a city resident,” Su Qiqi replied listlessly.

How could an internal recruitment examination like this ever be open to someone like her?

“I managed to scrape together some money for you. You can try buying a position from one of the workers who gets hired.”

Song Qiao pulled five hundred yuan from her pocket.

“Mom, where did you get that money?” Su Qiqi asked in surprise.

By now, Su Yanchu’s entire family had moved into the city, and both Su Dawei and Qin Jiuhong had jobs.

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Even if Su Yanchu failed to get into secondary vocational school, she could simply start working instead.

Unlike her. She still had to endure the old hag at home tormenting her every day.

“Shh. You have to hide this money carefully.”

Song Qiao pressed the money into Su Qiqi’s hand. “I borrowed it from your younger uncle.”

“Didn’t Uncle cut off contact with us a long time ago?”

Su Qiqi remembered that her younger uncle had been a soldier. Later, for some reason, he had severed ties with her maternal grandfather’s family, and they had not been in touch ever since.

“I’ve been trying to contact him over the past few years. I raised him myself,” Song Qiao explained. “He never replied before, but he got back in touch two months ago, so I asked him for some money.”

“So that’s how it is.” Su Qiqi said, “Thank you, Mom.”

“You’re my daughter. If I don’t help you, who will?”

Song Qiao pulled Su Qiqi into her arms.

There was nothing she could do about Old Madam Su’s favoritism, but she could help Su Qiqi break away from the Su family and move to the city, just as Su Dawei’s family had done.

“We’re still a little short, though. You’ll have to find a way to make up the difference yourself, Qiqi.”

“Mom, I have money.”

Su Qiqi told her about selling the small gold bars she had found in the mountains.

“That’s good.” Song Qiao finally relaxed.

…

On the day of the thermos factory’s recruitment examination, Su Qiqi left before dawn.

She was afraid that if she went out too late, Old Madam Su would catch her and make her prepare breakfast.

Since she had walked there, by the time Su Qiqi reached the entrance of the thermos factory, seventy or eighty people were already gathered outside.

In those days, every job had only one opening, and countless people wanted it.

To Su Qiqi’s surprise, she spotted Su Yanchu among the crowd.

After moving to the city, Su Yanchu’s complexion had clearly grown fairer. She was also dressed differently from the people around her, whose clothes were covered in several patches.

Su Yanchu saw Su Qiqi as well, but ignored her and was about to go inside when Su Qiqi rushed forward, seized her hand, and demanded, “Su Yanchu, why are you following me?”

“You’re awfully confident. Why would you think I’m following you?” Su Yanchu was utterly speechless.

“Stop trying to fool me. Why are you here?”

In any case, if Su Yanchu did not explain herself, Su Qiqi had no intention of letting go. Last time, Su Yanchu had followed her and found that box of gold bars.

If Su Yanchu had not interfered, she would have already gone to the city to work.

“You came here following me, didn’t you?”

“Su Qiqi, get this straight. I live in the city, while you live in the countryside. We came from completely different directions, and our paths don’t overlap in the slightest. What makes you think I’m following you? I could just as easily say that you’re following me!”

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Su Yanchu was so exasperated by Su Qiqi that she nearly laughed.

However, the conversation between a pair of sisters nearby caught her attention.

“Qingqing, how long have you been preparing for this examination?”

“About two months,” Cheng Qingqing replied.

“You’re incredible. I’ve only been preparing for half a month.”

If they had been preparing for that long, they must have learned about the examination very early.

Su Yanchu felt that these people were exceptionally well prepared. She was not certain she could outperform them.

Then she glanced at Su Qiqi beside her. The girl’s eyes were darting about, and no one knew what scheme she was plotting.

Still, Su Qiqi probably had not come to take the examination this time, so Su Yanchu stopped paying attention to her and went straight inside.

Once everyone had entered, the staff took down the recruitment notice as well.

After entering, Su Yanchu discovered that only about thirty people were actually taking the examination.

The others had probably come to buy job positions.

When Su Yanchu received her examination paper, she found the questions fairly simple and immediately began writing.

She handed in her paper twenty minutes later.

The list of successful candidates would be posted on the noticeboard two hours afterward.

Su Yanchu went out to eat first, then returned home and read for a while. When the time was nearly up, she rode her bicycle back to the thermos factory.

To her surprise, Su Qiqi had not left yet.

When Su Qiqi saw her return, she hurried over and grabbed her by the arm.

“Su Yanchu, have you eaten?”

“What do you want?”

Su Yanchu did not believe that Su Qiqi was kindhearted, much less that she would show concern for no reason.

“Let’s make peace. I won’t hold it against you anymore that you stole that box from me.”

Su Qiqi continued, “From beginning to end, I was the one who suffered the losses. You gained even more than I did.”

“Did that box belong to you?”

Those gold bars had originally been hidden by the former landlord in their village. If anyone was a thief, it was Su Qiqi too.

Besides, in the original story, the original owner had never done anything particularly vicious to her, yet Su Qiqi had still managed to drive her to her death.

“…”

Su Qiqi fell silent for a while before saying, “Su Yanchu, I urgently need a job. I’m not asking you to give it to me for free. I’ll pay you.”

“If you sell the position to me, we’ll leave each other alone from now on. And I won’t forget that you helped me today.”

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