Yang Fangyun couldn't accept that things had turned out this way, and complained with dissatisfaction:
"You just listen to whatever she says? If she wants meat buns and braised pork today, are you going to buy her a Manchu-Han banquet tomorrow if she asks for it? I think—"
"A Manchu-Han banquet?"
Shen Man's eyes lit up, and she cut her off directly.
"Alright, that's a great idea, it's settled! No need to wait for tomorrow, let's do it tonight. Tonight, buy me one of every single dish available at the state-run restaurant!"
"You little prodigal! I'll beat you to death!"
Yang Fangyun never expected that Shen Man would actually dare to ask for such a thing!
She picked up a stinking shoe and wanted to rush over, but Shen Jianye let out a loud roar.
"Enough! There are only two days left, just agree to whatever demands she has. Do you really want Shen Ling and the others to go make a scene outside?!"
"But!"
Yang Fangyun still wanted to throw a tantrum, but Shen Jianye yanked her out the door.
Shen Zhiyong originally wanted to follow them out, but for the sake of the money in her hands, he took two steps and retreated back inside.
"Shen Man..."
Seeing him hesitate with unsaid words, Shen Man raised her hand to make a pause gesture.
"Alright, stop right there! If you want me to take the money out, you write me an IOU and borrow it, otherwise get the hell out and stop talking nonsense. Otherwise, I won't get married and you won't get a single cent."
With that, she smiled faintly, her fists cracking as she clenched them.
Seeing her smile so gently and sweetly yet act so tough, Shen Zhiyong felt extremely unhappy.
But he couldn't care about all that; he just wanted to get the money as soon as possible, so he forced a smile and said:
"Hey, what's the point of writing a thing like that? It makes the family feel distant. I'm your own brother after all, and I'll definitely pay that money back after I get married. You can rest easy a hundred times over."
The original owner used to believe them so easily, and the result was that not a single cent of the money she handed over was ever recovered.
Shen Man remained completely impervious. "Even true brothers settle accounts clearly. That's my only condition—are you borrowing it or not? If not, I might as well keep it for myself."
Knowing he couldn't get around it, Shen Zhiyong had no choice but to agree.
"Fine, then give me the money first, and I'll go get some paper and a pen."
He held out his hand, but Shen Man didn't even spare him a glance. "Write the IOU first."
Soon, a formal and legally binding IOU was signed and completed, clearly stating the date of the loan and the final repayment deadline.
Shen Zhiyong pressed his fingerprint with extreme reluctance, but the moment he got the money, his heart instantly blossomed with joy.
Great! Five hundred yuan was in his hands. Tomorrow, he would just secretly take the IOU and burn it, and there would be no dead men tell no tales; he wouldn't have to pay back a single cent!
Heh, what use was a little girl even if she grew a bit of a brain? Fighting with him, she was still too green!
After Shen Zhiyong went out, Shen Zhijun, who had been out running errands, returned.
Regarding his and their old man's jobs, he had figured out their old man's intentions all the way home.
It was nothing more than coaxing Shen Man with good food and drink for two days. Once the paperwork was done and she was married off, whenever she visited her maiden home in the future, she would still have to work like an ox and a horse for them.
Besides, the money for buying these things wasn't coming out of his pocket anyway.
Thinking of this, the last bit of reluctance in Shen Zhijun's heart vanished.
"Here, the meat buns and braised pork you wanted."
Shen Man took the paper bag and opened it. Inside were large meat buns with thin skins, generous fillings, and a fluffy, soft texture.
She hadn't eaten this kind of additive-free food in a very long time. Seeing these meat buns looking so delightful, she didn't say another word, picked one up, and took a huge bite.
In just an instant, the savory meat juices filled her entire mouth, and the aroma was overpowering to the extreme.
Shen Man had a big appetite; she finished a large meat bun in three bites and quickly picked up the second one.
The Shen family was relatively well-off, but Yang Fangyun was only willing to buy meat buns once a month, and only bought a catty and a half at that—it wasn't nearly enough for three grown men to eat.
Now, watching Shen Man eat such big bites with such relish, Shen Zhijun drooped in a frenzy of swallowed saliva, just waiting to eat whatever she left behind.
Yet he waited for a long time, but Shen Man not only ate all three catties of meat buns, she also stuffed the entire portion of braised pork into her stomach.
Even with that, she still wasn't quite satisfied, and had him pour her a cup of warm water to wash it down before she let out a satisfied belch.
Seeing Shen Zhijun standing in front of her in a daze, Shen Man glanced at him sideways.
"Why are you still standing there like a post? Keep buying more tonight. Make sure I eat to my heart's content today, and tomorrow I'll go transfer the job to you."
As soon as these words were spoken, Shen Zhijun, who had just been complaining that she didn't share a single bite with him, immediately broke into a wide smile.
"Deal! It's a deal then! We're definitely going to handle the paperwork tomorrow!"
Shen Man gave a noncommittal hum.
Watching Shen Zhijun's smug back as he left, the corners of her lips curved slightly upward.
That's right, she had agreed to transfer the job to him, but if there weren't even any identification documents, how exactly were they going to process the paperwork?
That evening, Shen Man happily devoured a large table of dishes bought from the state-run restaurant.
The others had wanted to join in and eat as well, but not a single person could manage to stick their chopsticks in. Truth be told, Shen Man's appetite was too huge and her eating speed was too fast—a bowl of rice in three bites, and a plate of dish would be scraped bottom-clean in less than half a minute.
With no other choice, Yang Fangyun had to suppress her burning anger and cook a fresh meal, and the three of them made do with a modest dinner.
In this era, there wasn't much entertainment, and after finishing dinner, every household liked to stroll around and chat.
Recently, a family in the bay area had bought a television set. Every day as soon as dinner hour passed, that family would string wires and carry the television out. Both Yang Fangyun and Shen Jianye loved to join the bustling crowd, so after finishing their meals, they grabbed two handfuls of melon seeds and went over together.
Shen Zhiyong went out on a date, and Shen Zhijun also went out to explore and brag with his street-smart buddies.
In less than half an hour, Shen Man was left all alone in the house.
Without panicking or rushing, Shen Man searched the rooms one by one.
First was the master bedroom.
Yang Fangyun didn't have a job, but Shen Jianye had been the director of the toy factory for several years. Aside from bribes and skimmed profits, his savings were quite substantial.
Based on what she saw in the original owner's memories, Shen Man quickly found the place where Yang Fangyun hid her money.
The money and ration coupons the original owner earned from her work over the past few years had all been used for household expenses, yet they had saved a huge box full of money and coupons. A rough count came to nearly two thousand yuan. At a glance, it was obvious they had deliberately saved this for their two sons to take wives.
Without any mercy, Shen Man put all the money and coupons into her spatial dimension, but still felt it wasn't enough to vent her anger.
Because many of the large and small items in this house had been bought with the original owner's money; the original owner didn't mind being sucked dry like a leech, but she did.
So in the next second, she deployed her space and sucked everything movable in the entire room into it. At a quick glance, the entire room was left with practically only bare concrete walls and a few worthless newspaper cut-outs pasted on the wall.
Her room and Shen Zhiyong and his brother's rooms were much easier to pack up. The rooms were small and there weren't many things; she finished clearing them out in under a minute.
Looking at the neat-as-new bare concrete rooms, Shen Man took out a hammer and smashed the door locks into absolute smithereens, threw them on the floor, and then happily ran off to join the lively crowd as well.
Not gonna lie, black-and-white televisions were really boring, but the melon seeds and peanuts handed out by the neighbor aunties were quite delicious.
She ate and chatted at the same time, unknowingly watching for two hours along with everyone else.
Finally, the host family put away the television and the gathering was about to break up, but Shen Man still felt a bit unsatisfied with gossiping.
She chatted all the way back while walking with several aunties from next door, and even when they reached her doorstep, she was still reluctant to part ways.
Seeing this, Yang Fangyun rolled her eyes with utter contempt.
"Hmph, acting like she's someone else's daughter, linking arms with other people's mothers—truly shameless, ungrateful wolf!"
She let out a huff, and just as she was about to take out her keys to open the door, she saw that their front gate was wide open, and a smashed lock was lying on the ground.
"What's going on? Is there a thief?"
Yang Fangyun and Shen Jianye exchanged a glance and hurriedly ran into the house.
The next second, Yang Fangyun's piercing screams echoed through the night sky.
"Oh heavens! Which god-forsaken wretch pried open the lock to my house?!"
"Ah—my money! My sofa cabinet! My bed!"
"Ahhhhh! How come even the pots and pans are gone?! Exactly which heartless bastard stole my entire house clean?! I'm going to report this to the police! Report it to the police!"