Chapter 15: Could It Be Fake?
Tap tap tap...
Amidst the cheerful piercing of the sewing machines, the Rainbow Sewing Shop reopened its doors.
Though there was still no news from Huang Silu, Wu Ya could no longer wait.
With the five machines already at hand, his mother summoned her old sisters once again.
They rushed to alter the uniforms for him, working at breakneck speed.
He watched as each Zhongshan suit swiftly transformed into student uniforms, carrying the fragrance of machine oil.
Wu Ya’s face was lit up with an irrepressible smile.
“Haha, my beginning, my glory, everything I want to change in this new life starts right here!”
“Wu Ya, I’m here.”
Before his feelings even settled, Huang Silu hurriedly ran over, breathless with urgency.
“You damn well promised to let me know yesterday afternoon—why did you drag it out until today?”
Still catching his breath, Huang Silu was met with a barrage of curses from Wu Ya.
His excitement froze instantly into disappointment.
“Well, if you think I’m late, then I might as well come even later!”
Huang Silu spun on his heel, turned without hesitation, and walked away.
Damn it.
Did you think thirty sewing machines are cabbages by the roadside, there for you to pick and toss as you please?
I spent three hundred real silver dollars, and it took all my father’s effort to get them!
Even I almost collapsed from all this!
Humph.
And now, not only do you not thank me, you complain about me being late?
Fine then, just wait.
I’ll come tomorrow... no, I’ll come the day after!
Burning with anger, Huang Silu didn’t pause for a moment.
His steps were swift, and in no time, he was at the street corner.
Wu Ya was dumbfounded.
The excitement Huang Silu displayed on arrival clearly meant the matter was settled!
Letting him leave at this moment?
His mind wasn’t rusty yet!
“Ahem, well... Liu Qian said she’s gathering some classmates for dinner tonight. Qiao Ya is among those invited.”
Qiao Ya?
With a jolt, Huang Silu’s footsteps halted, nearly tripping himself.
Who was Qiao Ya?
Their classmate.
Along with Liu Qian, she was one of the two great beauties of Suiyan Middle School.
One cold, one warm.
Yet intimately close.
Naturally, she was also the object of Huang Silu’s secret affection!
Unfortunately, the feeling was unrequited.
Despite Huang Silu’s privileged family background, his looks...
Well, they left much to be desired.
“Hehehe, I was just teasing you.”
Huang Silu returned, face stretched in a grin so wide it seemed his eyes were squeezed shut, giving anyone who saw him goosebumps.
“So, what’s the news? Is everything ready?”
Looking at the ingratiating Huang Silu, Wu Ya grew even more arrogant.
Qiao Ya, a beauty.
Naturally proud.
So strangers kept their distance.
Only Liu Qian could actually invite her.
This, of course, became the leverage Wu Ya used to show off before Huang Silu.
Your happiness hinges on my whim.
“Hehehe, since my father handled it personally, there’s no problem at all~. But, about tonight’s gathering, what do you say...”
Huang Silu licked his tongue and spoke in a Hong Kong accent, his flattery growing thicker.
“No problem at all~. Just follow me when the time comes.”
Wu Ya’s head jerked, twitching as he spoke.
Afterwards, he nearly gagged.
“Cut the nonsense—when can I pick up the goods?”
“Here’s the pickup slip. It was transferred last night from Boyuan City’s hardware company next door! Arrived early this morning.”
Huang Silu pulled a creased slip from his pocket and handed it over to Wu Ya in a hurry.
This guy held the key to his happiness tonight.
He dared not be careless.
“How did you manage to persuade your father to go to such lengths?”
Knowing well the market conditions of that era, Wu Ya couldn’t believe Huang Silu managed this just by being his father’s son.
He couldn’t have convinced his father to mobilize so many sewing machines for him.
And across cities?
There had to be more to the story.
“Well...”
Upon hearing the question, Huang Silu hesitated.
His earlier joy vanished, replaced by a flush of embarrassment.
Embarrassment?
Wu Ya nearly gagged for real this time!
“You didn’t... use some dirty trick, didn’t find your father a...”
“Shut up! What are you saying? My father is upright and honest!”
Huang Silu glared fiercely at Wu Ya.
From that dog’s mouth, nothing good could come.
“Then tell me—what did you do with the three hundred yuan I gave you? Otherwise, I’ll assume you used it to bribe your father...”
“Shut it! I used that money to make up a story for my dad. Told him someone gave me five hundred, took me to gamble, and I lost everything but three hundred! If I didn’t get thirty sewing machines, they’d come to his workplace to collect the debt!”
“Damn! You actually threatened your own father? You beast!”
Wu Ya was left with a face full of despair.
This bastard actually threatened his old man!
Was it his own fault for pushing him?
A sin!
Still, it showed that Huang Silu was a true friend.
Though it lowered his own image, the goal was achieved.
The sewing machines were back!
“Come on, let’s go pick up the goods.”
Wu Ya slapped Huang Silu’s shoulder and dragged him toward the roadside.
A flatbed tricycle, manpower transport.
Back then, they were everywhere.
Because people weren’t wealthy, living in single-story houses meant plenty of miscellaneous items.
Moving things back and forth gave rise to this trade.
“Hello, uncle, we’re here to pick up the goods.”
Soon, the hardware company’s warehouse appeared.
Wu Ya greeted the gatekeeper politely.
“I need to use the restroom—been having stomach trouble all morning, busy with your business.”
Huang Silu clutched his belly and disappeared from sight.
“Where’s the pickup slip?”
The old man lounged lazily in a wicker chair, not even batting an eyelash.
His eyes half-closed, he waved a fan in his hand.
“Uncle, please take a look.”
Wu Ya respectfully replied, hurriedly handing over the pickup slip.
He didn’t dare fuss about the attitude.
Uncles are uncles.
If you express the slightest dissatisfaction, you’ll be waiting a long time to pick up your goods.
Unless you end up thoroughly intimidated, you won’t understand the true power of an uncle.
“Hmm?”
The old man glanced at the slip, instantly energized.
He sat up abruptly, his eyes wide and round.
My goodness.
Thirty machines just arrived this morning.
He thought it was the annual allocation.
He wondered—didn’t they just transfer the machines at the beginning of the year?
Why again?
Yet the pickup slip was right here!
And.
Taking them all at once, not in batches!
In all his years, he’d never seen such a bold character!
Thirty machines!
That’s nearly the same as the yearly number shipped out!
Who was this?
As he pondered, the old man’s eyes peered over his reading glasses.
The next moment.
“This slip—does it belong to you?”
A skeptical question echoed at the gate.
The kid!
At a glance, just eighteen or nineteen.
Holding a massive pickup slip, coming here to collect?
Could this...
Be fake?