Chapter 28: The Unit Grocery Store

The energetic girl came to look after the new colleague: "Third Sister, it's lunchtime. Come on, I'll take you to the canteen."

"Eat at the canteen?" Tu Shan's eyes lit up.

She pulled out her newly bought large earthenware jar: "Wait, I need to go tell the captain."

"Hey, no, the canteen doesn't allow takeout..." The girl scratched her head as she watched Tu Shan run off, only to come running back excitedly.

"Third Sister, did you forget your lunchbox? The canteen has bowls. Since it's your first day, you can borrow one for now, just remember to bring your own tomorrow."

Tu Shan leaned in and asked, "Is the canteen portion-limited?"

The girl shook her head: "No limit, all you can eat, but..." Her eyes flicked to the earthenware jar, which was bigger than Tu Shan's head: "They don't allow takeout. You take what you can eat; if you leave food behind, you get fined. It's very expensive."

Tu Shan grinned so wide her face almost split: "As long as it's not limited, I'm not doing takeout. Let's go."

The girl wanted to say something but held back, following along by Tu Shan's side.

The canteen was across the street, located in a residential house down a hundred-meter alley.

Tu Shan asked, "Little sister, what's your name?"

The energetic girl forgot her previous concern and perked up: "Third Sister, my name is Chang Kaixin. You can just call me Kaixin. I'm eighteen this year, a high school graduate. My dad pulled some strings to get me in; I only started a month before you."

Tu Shan chuckled. No need to be so detailed; she didn't want to know about the dark side of society.

The unit's location was actually a bit remote, belonging to the outer edge of the North District. To the left was an emergency grain warehouse, and to the right was a livestock station.

Directly opposite was a row of former commercial-residential buildings. After private business was banned, they were requisitioned for various administrative offices—handling permits, mediation, inspections, street sanitation management, and so on.

The residential house used as the canteen had once been a large mess hall. It was spacious and open to all unit staff, who used meal tickets issued by their units to eat directly.

Other units usually had quotas: a few taels of rice, a few side dishes, and a few taels of meat.

Only their unit was generous, using unlimited meal tickets.

They met many people on the way to the canteen. Kaixin was a social butterfly; she could chat with anyone and introduced Tu Shan to everyone.

Tu Shan kept a polite smile, nodding along the way, and managed to become a familiar face.

After walking into the alley, her ears twitched. She leaned against a wall, her brow slightly furrowed.

"Third Sister, what's wrong?" Kaixin curiously leaned in.

Tu Shan looked puzzled: "Why would the captain and the others allow a gambling den to operate right under their noses?"

"Huh?" Kaixin was shocked and suspicious: "What do you mean?"

Tu Shan pointed at the wall: "Three doors down, there's an underground gambling den. You guys didn't know? It's right under your noses."

Kaixin:???

Kaixin turned around and ran back toward the unit.

***

Inside the gambling den.

"Stop hitting me, Brother Xiao, please, stop hitting me! If you hit me again, I'll really be beaten to death. I really don't know, I don't know anything!

That bitch is just a lunatic—dirty, smelly, lazy, and greedy. She only knows how to beg for food; she has no skills. If she has any skill at all, it's just that she married a decent man.

I really didn't know she could fight like that. Brother Xiao, let me go, let me go this once.

I'll go back and get the money, I'll sell the house, I'll definitely pay you back."

The kid was still a bit cunning; he didn't dare mention that he had been kicked into a wall by someone.

He had long since witnessed Tu Shan's ferocity, but he didn't say it—he didn't dare.

The man called Brother Xiao was an elite-looking man in his forties, wearing a crisp suit with his hair slicked back.

He held a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Continue."

The two cold words made Wang Fugui's heart turn icy.

He broke free from his captors, lunged at Brother Xiao, and hugged his leg tightly: "Brother Xiao, I was wrong, I'll definitely pay you back, double! Please, spare my dog life, I beg you."

Wang Fugui was a mess of snot and tears mixed with blood—truly pathetic.

Brother Xiao bent down, grabbed Wang Fugui's hair, and yanked it back, forcing him to look up.

He said unhurriedly: "My people getting beaten up isn't something that can be solved with money."

Wang Fugui's scalp burned with pain, but he didn't dare resist, keeping his head tilted back obediently.

"You say it, you say it! As long as you spare my dog life, I'll do anything you want. Brother Xiao, have mercy, I can do anything."

Brother Xiao let go of his hair and kicked him away.

He took a handkerchief from his subordinate and wiped his hands carefully, one stroke at a time.

"Bring that woman here."

"Yes, yes, yes," Wang Fugui agreed immediately, without a moment's hesitation, fearing that if he were too slow, Brother Xiao would change his mind.

Little did he know, by agreeing to this, his miserable days were just beginning.

***

Tu Shan pulled her ears back. Very good, Wang Fugui, you have successfully caught my attention.

"What's going on?" He Jiahuan, having heard Kaixin's report, hurried over with his team.

"Three doors down, there's an underground gambling den. Guaranteed."

Xu Zhi said: "Three doors down? If I remember correctly, that's a miscellaneous warehouse. Usually, things that units don't need are stored there. Nobody goes there much; there's only an old man in his sixties guarding it. Wait, Third Sister, you can hear that far?"

Tu Shan looked at him with disdain: "Ignorant."

Xu Zhi:...

He Jiahuan said in a deep voice: "Xu Zhi, take Little Tu. Use the excuse of being a new employee looking for useful items to go to the warehouse. Everyone else, go back and stand by."

Tu Shan and Xu Zhi went to the warehouse.

Just as they reached the door, the old man guarding it saw them.

Tu Shan raised an eyebrow slightly, following the grinning Xu Zhi inside.

"Grandpa, have you eaten?"

The old man laughed: "Eaten, eaten. Little comrade, what brings you here?"

"We have a new colleague in the team. I brought her over to see if there's any equipment she likes."

The old man looked at Tu Shan: "Oh, a female comrade? It's not easy for your team to get a female comrade."

"That's for sure, so we have to spoil her. She said the tables and chairs in the team are all peeling paint, so she wants to find some nice ones. Female comrades like nice things."

The old man laughed heartily: "Well, she's a female comrade, I understand. Although the things in the warehouse are all leftovers, there are plenty of good items. Go in and take your time picking."

"Alright, Grandpa, you go ahead with your work, we'll go in and look."

The two entered the warehouse. Tu Shan calmly glanced at the rope by the door and followed Xu Zhi inside.

The warehouse was truly huge. It was said to have been a large general store, with the storefront and warehouse covering nearly a thousand square meters.

It was piled with all sorts of things, but it didn't look cluttered at all. Everything was neatly categorized; you could see at a glance what was there and what was missing.

That was why all the units liked this hardworking, responsible old man who didn't steal from the inventory, and they were very comfortable with him being the warehouse manager.

He had been in the position for over twenty years, and no one had ever been able to push him out.

The two wandered around inside. To be fair, Tu Shan actually found some things she liked.

"This kettle is good." It was aluminum, could hold ten pounds of water, and was super large—you couldn't find one like it in stores anymore. It would be perfect for heating on the stove in winter.

Xu Zhi said: "This is extra from the canteen. If Third Sister needs it, take it. I'll have the captain file a report later."

"Alright." Tu Shan didn't stand on ceremony and grabbed it. She also took a liking to a military canteen, a pair of military boots that were the right size, a perfect full-length mirror, a cypress wood lounge chair, a jewelry box, and a clay stove.

These were items discarded by various units, as well as things left over from the old shop.

The smile on Xu Zhi's face gradually froze.

When he saw Tu Shan's "claws" reaching for a large wardrobe, he panicked: "That's enough, Third Sister, that's enough! The captain won't be able to process any more than this. All these things require the unit to pay."

In reality, it was just a general store serving the various units.

Tu Shan waved her hand dismissively: "I'll pay for it myself."

"That won't work, everyone has a quota, you can't exceed it," otherwise the warehouse would have been emptied long ago.

Tu Shan felt annoyed—why were there so many rules everywhere?

"Fine, fine, I'll just take a few hangers and that's it." These hangers were left over from an old clothing store.

Xu Zhi was timid; he didn't dare stop her and could only resign himself to his fate.