Chapter 32: The Ungrateful Wolf Raised by My Own Hands

Tu Shan ate an orange while accelerating the growth of the radishes.

Since she had already sown the seeds, she might as well grow a bit more to send to the cafeteria for a change of pace.

She only grew about ten jin of sesame seeds to send to Old Master Zongzheng and the others; selling them wasn't worth it, as such a niche item was hard to move.

She grew a bit more sweet potatoes and corn to sell to the cafeteria tomorrow. Although it wasn't what they had agreed upon, Lu Hongtao would be happy.

Five hundred jin each of corn on the cob and sweet potatoes, plus the rice they had agreed on.

The space was too small and the progress was slow; by 9:30, she had barely finished less than half.

Tu Shan grabbed her meal, took two oranges and half a jin of peanuts, and headed out.

General Yang had also provided her with a lock to bolt the kitchen door from the inside, while the bedroom door could simply be locked from the outside.

At the East District shanties, Tu Shan knocked on the roof as usual.

Soon, Father Tu came out and took the items inside.

Voices of the two elders could be heard from the room. Judging by Mother Tu’s voice, she had much more energy; her illness must have improved. Feeling much more at ease, Tu Shan turned and left.

She didn't see that there was a hole in the shanty roof, and at that hole was Father Tu’s gaze.

Father Tu clenched his fists. Tu Sanmei, it was actually Tu Sanmei. Why?

"Old man, what are you looking at?"

Father Tu snapped back to reality: "Nothing. You were saying you were craving oranges yesterday, so eat up. You can tell they’re good just by looking at their size. Once you're done, I’ll go take care of the peels."

Mother Tu nodded in agreement. The couple ate one bite after another, finishing everything Tu Shan had brought without leaving a single thing behind.

The dangerous idea of saving some for tomorrow was something the couple no longer dared to entertain.

When Tu Shan arrived at the park, the others had already gathered.

Besides He Jiahuan, there were Li Hao and three other teammates. Xu Zhi hadn't come; perhaps his skills were too poor, or maybe he was currently staking out Zhang Limei.

"Everyone is here. Listen to my instructions. You four, go and stake out the four confirmed entrances and exits. Record everyone who passes by. Whether it’s an old person or a child, don't let your guard down. Be careful to disguise yourselves well; don't get discovered and alert the enemy."

"Little Tu, come with me to look around and see if there are any other entrances or exits."

"Yes."

Tu Shan followed He Jiahuan as they wandered around the area. All the units and departments in this sector had already finished their shifts, and except for those on duty, everyone had gone home.

At this hour, even those on duty should have been asleep.

"Little Tu, isn't your hearing sharp? Listen and see if there’s anyone in those duty rooms."

Tu Shan nodded and pricked up her ears.

Many people breathed heavily while sleeping and even snored, so it was easy to hear movement.

After a full circle, she could hear something in almost all of them.

"There are only five units with no sound. I don't know if they didn't leave anyone on night watch or if there’s another reason."

He Jiahuan nodded: "I’ll have someone verify it tomorrow."

The two walked around twice more and checked in with the other four, but they didn't find any other entrances or exits.

That was normal; too many entrances would be hard to control.

Around twelve o'clock, Tu Shan saw an acquaintance coming out of the public rental courtyard, cursing under his breath.

"Him?"

"Who?" He Jiahuan asked.

Tu Shan’s expression gradually turned gloomy: "Qiu Yuan, Tu Daya’s eldest son."

Tu Daya, Tu Shan’s former sister-in-law, was a self-righteous, pretentious, and supposedly clever fool.

Not long after she married into the Tu family, the Tu family cried poverty in front of her and made snide remarks, saying that because of her, Tu Liang had injured his body and spent all their money on medical treatment.

Tu Shan couldn't stand the humiliation and took the initiative to earn money.

She was good at her studies and had decent writing skills. When she was penniless and refused to ask her parents for help, she submitted manuscripts to a newspaper.

In total, she wrote ten short stories and earned over five hundred yuan in royalties—her first pot of gold.

The Mapo Brigade, where the Tu family lived, was rich in various types of hemp. Every household in the brigade knew how to make hemp thread and weave hemp cloth.

Because the tools were old and the techniques backward, the finished products were rough and very few in number, only enough for their own use.

She saw a business opportunity. With her first pot of gold, she bought relevant books, sought out master craftsmen for instruction, improved the tools and techniques, increased the output of hemp cloth, improved its quality, and proposed establishing a village factory.

After the Tu family found out, they used both soft and hard tactics to claim the skills and the credit for Tu Daya.

Tu Daya became the brigade’s favorite, a benefactor; fame, status, and money all fell into her lap.

Qiu Yuan was Tu Daya’s eldest son. When Tu Shan married in, she was fifteen and Qiu Yuan was ten.

At that time, Qiu Yuan was adept at being ingratiating, calling her "Auntie" over and over.

Although she didn't like Tu Liang or the Tu family, she didn't want to take her anger out on a smiling child, so she was quite tolerant of him.

Whenever Qiu Yuan reached out for money or things, she gave them to him. Even later, when Tu Daya took credit for her work and made a fortune, Qiu Yuan still asked her for things, and she still gave them.

It was just that the look on Qiu Yuan’s face when asking for money changed from ingratiating to self-righteous, greedy, and smug.

Tu Shan would give, because of a sense of obligation; even if she wasn't happy about it, she gave.

For ten whole years, all of Qiu Yuan’s expenses for food, drink, and play were provided by her.

But this didn't earn her any gratitude from the ingrate. Instead, after she became useless, he happily found Tu Liang and said he had found an underground clinic and could send her there.

When she was lying on the operating table, she even saw his excited, thrilled smile.

Heh...

"Your nephew?" He Jiahuan was curious about Tu Shan’s reaction; it was as if she were facing a mortal enemy.

Tu Shan came back to her senses. Oh, right, she was Tu Sanmei now; by relation, she was Qiu Yuan’s aunt.

"I don't have the qualifications to claim kinship with him. In the Tu family, Tu Sanmei isn't even worth as much as a dog." Her sarcasm was at its peak.

He Jiahuan was silent; he didn't know what to say.

Tu Shan curled her lips: "Qiu Yuan is involved in a major case, Captain. We can earn merit again."

He Jiahuan raised an eyebrow.

Tu Shan said: "We can get information about the underground clinic from Qiu Yuan."

The underground clinic wasn't fixed in one place; they were a mobile group. People found them through secret codes, and then they would appear.

Only after vetting would they accept a task.

She didn't know what method Qiu Yuan had used or what he had done to find them back then.

But she was certain that someone like Qiu Yuan, who had known how to use flattery to get what he wanted since he was a child, wouldn't let such a big profit source go.

From him, they would definitely be able to find what they wanted.

He Jiahuan knew of the underground clinic’s existence, but the other party was too cautious and their operations were too mysterious; they could never catch them.

He didn't doubt Tu Shan’s words, guessing that she might have inadvertently learned about it from the Tu family.

He just didn't expect her relationship with the Tu family to be so poor that she would actually report them for the sake of justice.

He remembered that it was the Tu family who helped her scheme against Ling Yang so she could marry him.

Could there be some other hidden story behind this?

"I’ll have someone keep an eye on him first."

The time was about up, and He Jiahuan called the others back.

The men returned to the team to consolidate the information. Tu Shan had been following He Jiahuan, and she knew everything he knew. Being considerate that she was a young woman, he told Tu Shan to go back and rest first.

Tu Shan didn't ask to stay; she still had to go back and prepare the grain for the cafeteria. It was going to be another sleepless night.

If this kept up, she was truly afraid she might die of exhaustion one day.

Of course, He Jiahuan and his group were even more ruthless. At least she had her ability to regulate her body and spirit, while He Jiahuan and the others relied entirely on sheer willpower.

Tu Shan quickly went home, grabbed twenty or so oranges and ten jin of peanuts to give as a snack to the people working overtime at the team.

Afterward, she found a spacious place to accelerate the growth of the grain.

She wouldn't sell the newly acquired grain to the Yang family for now, to avoid making them suspicious.

It would be a bit strange to sell grain seeds the moment she got her hands on them.

Of course, the first time didn't count; some things, the first time you do them, usually don't raise suspicion, but you can't do it twice.

She wouldn't sell the previous grain for now either; her energy was limited.

After finishing the amount needed for the cafeteria, she realized she had been a fool.

She had been picking taro leaves to use as bowls all this time, yet she hadn't thought to dig up a few taros to use as seeds.

Taro was also a very filling food.

After tidying up the rice, Tu Shan went to the place where she had discovered the taro.

It was deep in the mountains, in a low-lying, shaded area. It was very secluded and hadn't been discovered by anyone.

The terrain was relatively wide, so Tu Shan accelerated their growth right there.

She stopped when she had about two thousand jin.

Fifteen hundred jin would be sold to the black market, five hundred jin for the cafeteria, and ten jin or so for the Zongzheng family to have a taste.

By the time she finished organizing everything, it was past four o'clock.

Tu Shan collapsed onto the bed, dozed for an hour and a half, and then set off for the black market.