CHAPTER 32: CHAPTER 32: A MAJOR MISTAKE ON RECORD

"Tang Yue, just tell the truth about what really happened," Zhang Minmin hurriedly spoke up: "Even if you and Xu Zhenzhen come from the same place, Xu Zhenzhen did not help you yesterday."

The Director of Discipline swept a glance over, and Zhang Minmin immediately shut up, but after pondering, she added another sentence: "I just fear that Tang Yue won’t dare to tell the truth because they come from the same village."

"Student Tang Yue, this is a very serious matter, you must tell the truth," the Director of Discipline urged repeatedly.

Tang Yue waited a moment before repeating the dialogue they had just had without missing a single detail.

Xu Zhenzhen wanted to retort, but she had no grounds to do so; although she could not clearly remember what was said before, those were indeed her words.

"I didn’t, I didn’t steal the money," Xu Zhenzhen was terrified of being expelled and kept repeating this sentence.

...

The aftermath of the incident, at Xu Zhenzhen’s earnest request—and she emphasized repeatedly—was because of a family emergency that she thought of borrowing Zhang Minmin’s money first.

Originally, Xu Zhenzhen was to be expelled, but in the end, Xu Zhenzhen stayed, receiving only a major demerit on her record.

When the punishment was announced, everyone found it a bit strange, but they didn’t think much of it.

After that incident, Xu Zhenzhen became someone whom everyone at school was afraid to get close to—who would want to approach a thief?

Tang Yue was somewhat shocked when she heard the news, but thinking about a vague rumor she heard about in her past life, she couldn’t help feeling that this was just as it should be.

Xu Zhenzhen must truly have had an unspeakable relationship with the Director of Discipline; otherwise, in her past life, Xu Zhenzhen would have been expelled many times over.

Since that incident, Xu Zhenzhen had become invisible at school.

Tang Yue didn’t want to bother with Xu Zhenzhen’s affairs anymore. She wouldn’t allow Xu Zhenzhen to bully her ever again, and of course, in this life, she wouldn’t be so foolish.

"Tang Yue, I didn’t expect Xu Zhenzhen to be such a person," Yang Qingqing exclaimed with sighs. She had only been suspicious before, but now the evidence was conclusive, with Xu Zhenzhen’s own admission. Looking back at the incident that day, Yang Qingqing felt Xu Zhenzhen’s character was too poor.

Had it not been for everyone’s belief in Tang Yue that day, it would’ve been Tang Yue receiving the major demerit.

"You can’t judge a person by their appearance; it’s impossible to know what’s in their heart," Tang Yue muttered to herself. It had taken her a lifetime to understand this phrase so deeply.

*

September 30, 1986, a Tuesday, and the day before the National Day holiday, Tang Yue told Tang Mingli she would go home for one day and come back to help in the afternoon of the National Day.

Tang Mingli also knew that Tang Yue had not been home for nearly a month, so he did not stop her.

Having received a large shipment last time, Tang Mingli planned to go to the Provincial City for another supply run after Tang Yue returned.

Outside the bus station, Tang Yue bought a set of military chess for Tang Jun, a pair of cloth shoes for Zhang Hualian, and a pair of army-green liberation shoes for Tang Zhengde. The last time she was home, she saw Tang Zhengde’s liberation shoes had been patched so many times they were barely holding.

And Zhang Hualian’s shoes were even worse, with soles worn through; Tang Yue couldn’t imagine how she walked from the village to the county.

Just these three items had almost emptied Tang Yue’s wallet, making her lament how quickly money can be spent, and at the same time, her desire to earn money had grown even stronger.

Sitting in the shuttle bus, the jostling nearly made Tang Yue nauseated. She pondered how others did business in clothing during this era, her brain was filled with many clothing design sketches, but how could she turn them into money?

She wanted to approach some companies, but many of the companies she remembered either hadn’t been established yet, or she didn’t know how to contact them. In this era, communication relied on letters or sending telegrams.

She wondered if mobile phones had been invented yet.

Tang Yue mused to herself. As for the cell phone she longed for, the earliest appearance seems to have been in 1987, not to mention the prohibitively expensive cost, which she couldn’t afford right now.

Tang Yue thought all the way, arrived in town, and then walked back to the village. She first visited Tang Mingli’s place; because she came back by bus, she arrived much later and didn’t come back with Zou Xia and the others.

Since school started, she hadn’t returned home. On the way back, she encountered quite a few people. Tang Yue greeted them with a smile and when she saw Tang Jun catching fish by the river, she had just called out when he ran over with excitement.

"Sis, you’ve finally come back." Tang Jun said happily, taking the backpack from Tang Yue, he proudly boasted, "Our school had an exam, and I scored eighty-two!"

"Not bad." Tang Yue praised. Previously, Tang Jun’s scores were always in the twenties or thirties. After tutoring, he sometimes reached eighty. This time, for the first-year middle school exam to score eighty-two showed that he wasn’t just playing at school.

"That’s right." Tang Jun immediately became smug, his pride blooming as if he had a tail that would wag into the sky.

"By the way, Sis, I’ve already finished reading the comic books you bought me," Tang Jun said looking forward to Tang Yue, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"I didn’t buy you any comic books this time." As soon as Tang Yue’s words fell, Tang Jun’s young face instantly fell.

The corners of Tang Yue’s mouth curled upwards slightly, she paused, then said, "But, I bought you something else."

"What did you buy?" Tang Jun’s previously disappointed expression instantly brightened again, his eyes shining with excitement.

"It’s a secret, I’ll tell you when we get home," Tang Yue stopped him from opening the backpack and said: "Tang Jun, if you peek now, I won’t give it to you."

"Sis, just let me have a look, please tell me what you bought me." Tang Jun’s hand reaching for the backpack halted, he kept pestering Tang Yue asking what she bought the whole way, but Tang Yue refused to answer.

The siblings thus made their way home.

Just as they reached the doorstep, they heard the voice of their aunt Wang Aihua scolding: "Mom, I collect eggs at this time every day, there are always eggs, how come there are none today? It must be Zhang Hualian who took them, today is the day Tang Jun and Tang Yue are coming back."

"I didn’t take them," Zhang Hualian had just returned home to cook and heard the voices of her mother-in-law and Wang Aihua.

As the argument continued, Wang Aihua accused her of taking the eggs, so Zhang Hualian brought out the eggs from home and said, "There’s only one hen that lays eggs in our home, laying one egg every day, I haven’t even had the heart to eat them, all of them are right here."

"Who knows if you’ve taken more from us," Wang Aihua said grumpily.

"Aunt, my mom definitely wouldn’t take your family’s eggs," Tang Yue stepped forward assertively, shielding Zhang Hualian in front of her, and she felt relieved when she saw it was just a verbal argument.