Chapter 9: Buying a Bicycle

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Ye Simin abruptly brushed off Yu Lu’s hand, not sparing her a single glance, and linked arms with Su Yao as they headed to the supply and marketing cooperative.

“Yu Lu really has a thick skin; even a blind person could see through her scheming. Does she think I’m easy to deal with or easy to fool?” Ye Simin grumbled as they walked away.

“No, it’s because you’re clearly richer when we’re together,” Su Yao replied.

“Forget it, I’m not bothering with people like her. What do you want to buy?” Ye Simin asked.

“I want to buy a bicycle—makes it easier to get around—and some miscellaneous things,” Su Yao said.

Ye Simin fixed her gaze on Su Yao. “What do you mean I’m the rich one? You’re the real wealthy lady here. If Yu Lu knew you were buying a bike, she’d probably cling to you like a leech.”

“Thanks, but I really can’t afford that,” Su Yao replied lightly.

They chatted as they entered the cooperative. Ye Simin didn’t accompany Su Yao inside; they agreed to meet later at the state-run restaurant and parted ways.

Su Yao approached the counter clerk. “Hello, sister, do you sell bicycles here?”

A woman in her forties, taken aback by being called “sister” by Su Yao, instantly smiled broadly. “Sister? At my age, I’m more an auntie. You’re just a sweet-talking little girl.”

That sweet talk made her instantly likable. Su Yao stepped back a few paces and teased, “Don’t lie to me, sister. At your age, you don’t look like an auntie at all. Don’t fool me.”

“Hahaha, I like girls like you. You want a bike, right? We do have some, but you’ll need a ticket,” she explained.

Su Yao nodded and pulled a bicycle purchase ticket from her pocket, along with a few fruit candies, which she handed over to the clerk.

“You’re quite savvy, little one. My surname’s Ma. Just call me Sister Ma. I’ll take you to see the bikes now.” Ma Chunyu pocketed the candies and glanced at Su Yao, sensing she came from a decent background—good prospects for future business.

In this small town, bicycles were naturally scarce. The warehouse held only two basic men’s bikes and one women’s bike.

Su Yao saw there wasn’t much choice and picked the women’s bicycle.

After paying and obtaining the receipt, Su Yao didn’t rush off. “Sister Ma, I want to buy some other things too. I’ll come back to wheel the bike later.”

Sister Ma glanced around and lowered her voice. “We do have some hard-to-get items here. If you want anything else in the future, just tell me. I’ll pick it out for you at a special price.”

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Su Yao gladly accepted the offer. “Thank you, Sister Ma. My name is Su Yao, but you can just call me Yao Yao.”

She picked out quite a few items and even bought some fabric to make curtains. After finishing her shopping, she wheeled the bicycle out and asked for directions to the police station to get the bike’s steel stamp.

When she arrived at the state-run restaurant, the others were already there. Ye Simin waved at her, and she walked over.

Noticing Ye Simin hadn’t ordered yet, Su Yao asked, “Why haven’t you ordered?”

“I’m waiting for you. What do you want to eat? We’ll order together,” Ye Simin said, pointing to the menu board.

Su Yao glanced at the menu, which listed braised pork, cabbage and vermicelli stew with meat, steamed eggs, braised fish, stir-fried greens, and staple foods like rice, buns, steamed bread, and dumplings.

Su Yao stepped up to the ordering window. “Hello, comrade. I’d like four taels of rice packed separately, one serving of cabbage and vermicelli stew with meat, one serving of stir-fried greens, and one serving of braised pork.”

The server looked at her and said, “That’s a lot of food. Can you finish it? Don’t waste food.”

Su Yao pointed at Ye Simin. “The two of us will eat it all.”

The server glanced at Ye Simin, took the payment and receipt, and said no more.

After sitting down, Ye Simin stood up. “What did you order? I’ll get something else so we can share.”

Su Yao stopped her. “No need. I ordered plenty. We’ll share.”

“That won’t do. Look at the price. I’ll pay you,” Ye Simin insisted, unwilling to take advantage of anyone since times were tight for everyone.

“No, this time I’ll treat you. Next time you can treat me,” Su Yao said.

Ye Simin thought that was reasonable and dropped the idea of paying again. When the food was ready, Ye Simin eagerly went to fetch the dishes.

Meanwhile, Yu Lu sat at a table with Zeng Yue and Tian Zhixue. Yu Lu steeled herself and bought a meat bun, while Zeng Yue and Tian Zhixue ordered braised pork, steamed eggs, and three steamed buns.

Yu Lu ate her bun but kept staring at Zeng Yue’s braised pork, waiting for her to offer some. But even as Yu Lu finished her bun, neither Zeng Yue nor Tian Zhixue spoke up.

She gave Tian Zhixue a disdainful glance. She had thought he was decent, but now saw he wasn’t worth anything—just someone living off women’s support. She needed a wealthy man to support her.

Tian Zhixue had tried to flirt with her earlier, but she had firmly resisted, not wanting to spend her own money.

Unaware of Yu Lu’s thoughts, Tian Zhixue felt repulsed. If he knew, he’d want to spit out what he had just eaten. Walking beside her for a while didn’t mean he was hitting on her—besides, he didn’t look good enough; Zeng Yue was much better.

Seeing no good food to eat there, Yu Lu took the last bit of bun crust and moved it over to Su Yao’s table. Seeing the spread there, she swallowed hard. “Comrade Su, Comrade Ye, you’re eating so well. Can you really finish all that? Don’t waste food.”

If they couldn’t finish, she could help eat it.

Su Yao’s lips twitched but ignored her, and Ye Simin didn’t even look her way.

Seeing they both ignored her, Yu Lu slowly reached out her hand, intending to grab food directly.

Su Yao’s reflex was quick; she jabbed a chopstick at Yu Lu’s hand. “What are you doing? Trying to snatch our food?”

Yu Lu’s hand turned red where she was hit, but she didn’t waste the last bit of bun crust and quickly swallowed it. Standing up, she indignantly demanded, “Comrade Su, why did you hit me? Look, my hand is red because of you. You owe me!”

Ye Simin slapped her across the face. “Pfft, what kind of person are you? You didn’t even pay for your own food, and you try to snatch ours? It’s lucky I didn’t break your hand. And now you want us to compensate you?”

“Of course you do! Look at my hand—and now you’ve hit my face too. You should compensate me with your braised pork!” Yu Lu pointed at the dish on the table.

Bystanders shook their heads in disbelief. How could such a girl exist in this world?

Ye Simin wanted to strike again but was held back by Su Yao. It was mealtime, and with many people around, fighting would look bad.

Their meal was almost finished, with only a few tender vegetables left. Su Yao poured all the dishes into their two bowls and urged Ye Simin to eat quickly.

By the time Yu Lu realized, there was nothing left in the bowl.