The next day
Fu Wenwen's sale of clothes spread throughout the village. Many said Fu Wenwen was a spendthrift woman, as these clothes were worth a "Da Tuanjie" (a unit of currency) at the supply and marketing cooperative, yet she sold them for only four yuan each.
The aunts who bought the clothes paraded through the village with their daughters in their new outfits, looking as proud as peacocks.
Seeing their once drab and dull childhood friends now radiant and beautiful, many girls felt a mix of envy and jealousy.
The sudden appearance of so many vibrant and pretty young women in the village attracted the attention of many young men, and even those from neighboring villages made special trips to Honghe Village.
Everyone was happy, except for Su Xiaoxiao, who gnashed her teeth in hatred as she looked at the clothes on these girls.
These clothes were originally hers, and now others were wearing them. Su Xiaoxiao found this unbearable. Fu Wenwen had taken the clothes back only yesterday and then immediately sold them.
And so cheaply! These clothes were made of "Daqilin" (a type of fabric) and had cost over ten yuan to buy.
Su Xiaoxiao felt both angry and wronged. Fu Wenwen would rather give the clothes to these people than to her.
"What are you being wronged about here! Who are you crying for?" Su Xiaoxiao, weeping miserably, had run back to the educated youth point from the fields as soon as she heard the news. The other two female educated youths were annoyed by her tears.
It wasn't that important of a matter, was it? Besides, they weren't her clothes; they belonged to Fu Wenwen. Su Xiaoxiao was acting as if they were hers.
The two standing at the doorway couldn't help but roll their eyes.
"Can't I be upset about the clothes! She's gone too far!" Su Xiaoxiao sobbed into her quilt. Fu Wenwen's actions were no different from slapping her in the face.
"She's dealing with her own clothes; how is that going too far? If anyone's being excessive, it's you. You've kept someone else's belongings for so long and still have the nerve to cry." The female educated youth sneered. "Stop putting on a show here and slacking off. The work in the fields isn't finished yet! If you don't complete your work points today, you won't be having dinner tonight."
Every time, Su Xiaoxiao would use excuses like feeling unwell to shirk work, leaving the two of them to finish everything. They had long been fed up.
In the past, with Fu Zhiqing helping her, she wouldn't go hungry even without work points. Now that Fu Zhiqing ignored her, she thought she could still slack off and expect to eat. What a pipe dream!
Su Xiaoxiao stiffened and could only wipe her tears and follow them back to the fields to continue working.
After finishing the work, Su Xiaoxiao secretly wrote a letter to the village party secretary, reporting Fu Wenwen for speculation and profiteering.
Fu Wenwen was summoned by the village head to the brigade, still looking bewildered. The village party secretary and the village head exchanged glances and placed the letter in front of Fu Wenwen, letting her read it herself.
Fu Wenwen saw the deliberately distorted handwriting on the letter, accusing her of speculation and profiteering by selling clothes in the village. Fu Wenwen looked up at the village head.
"Village head, this is not what the letter says. Those clothes were ones I no longer wanted and intended to discard. The aunts saw that the clothes were still new and took some home. They also saw that I had nothing at home, so they felt bad and later brought some grain to help me and the child. This isn't speculation and profiteering, is it?"
The village head took a long puff of his pipe, glanced at Fu Wenwen, and said to the village party secretary, "Perhaps we should let this matter go? She's alone with a two-year-old child. Trading some clothes for food shouldn't warrant such a severe crime."