Collecting the remittance

Yang Rui enjoyed a hearty meal in the shade of a tree, then ambled down the mountain to the town post office to collect his remittance.

The post office was one of the town's newer buildings, two stories high, with a gray exterior and double wooden doors to welcome customers. Business was conducted downstairs, while the offices were upstairs.

The public area was also divided into three sections. In the middle was the counter for sending letters and parcels, where payments were taken and receipts issued. On either side were the telephone booth and the area for storing letters and parcels, each staffed by one clerk.

Compared with the post office in Xizhaizi Township, the one in Xibao Town was positively grand. This was also because several small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises were based locally. Most of the bicycles parked outside and the people queuing at the telephone booth belonged to or came from the nearby state-owned enterprises.

The moment Yang Rui walked in, Sister Li spotted him from behind the counter. She stopped what she was doing, greeted him, then raised her voice and called, "Little Wu, your Brother Yang is here!"

"What are you shouting that for? It's just Yang Rui, not Brother Yang." A girl who looked eighteen or nineteen came in from the back courtyard and chided her. Her bright, lovely eyes turned to Yang Rui, and she smiled. "Yang Rui, here to collect another manuscript payment?"

"Yes. I'm almost out of money." Yang Rui nodded honestly.

"And my mother says I spend too freely. You must have spent dozens of yuan this month already." Little Wu's name was Wu Qian. She had grown up in the same residential compound as Yang Rui and was two years younger than him. After graduating from junior high, she had taken over her mother's job at the post office. Pretty and young, she had a mischievous air about her. Ever since she had first run into Yang Rui collecting a remittance, she had teased him a little every time. Sister Li, the post office's most senior employee, always cooperated, calling Wu Qian out on every visit.

"I'm still growing. I eat a lot," Yang Rui said helplessly.

"I'm still growing too, but I only get ten yuan a month for food. My mother confiscates all the rest." As she complained, Wu Qian deftly tore off two forms and laid them on the counter for Yang Rui to fill out.

Yang Rui glanced at Wu Qian's full breasts beneath her tracksuit and thought, If you grow any more, your clothes won't fit.

Wu Qian seemed to notice something. She shifted sideways almost imperceptibly, though she did not turn away completely, and kept chattering about the town's little bits of gossip.

Yang Rui listened quietly while carefully filling out the forms, checking them against the remittance slip.

He rather liked listening to Wu Qian talk. Her voice was both crisp and soft, the crispness coming from her pace and the softness from her intonation. It gave the impression of something crisp outside and tender within, like light music playing around his ears. When he did not think about the content, it was relaxing.

Besides, Wu Qian was a little beauty, with exceptionally fair, delicate skin. Her small, oval face seemed capable of expressing a thousand emotions and was constantly changing. As the saying went, no girl was ugly at eighteen, let alone a girl of sixteen.

Though she was a little young, she still counted as a treat for the eyes.

"All done." Yang Rui pushed the forms and remittance slip over.

"Let me have a look." Wu Qian pressed her rosy lips together and checked them carefully.

Sister Li had also finished serving the customer beside them. Smiling, she said, "Make sure you check carefully. It'll make it easier to inspect his private accounts later."

"Auntie Li, if you keep that up, I won't talk to you anymore." Wu Qian pouted and tossed her braid coquettishly.

"All right, all right. I'll go make tea. You two youngsters chat." Sister Li had been a good friend of Wu Qian's mother to begin with. At Wu Qian's fussing, she smiled, patted her on the back, and carried her teacup into the back room.

Wu Qian twisted at the waist like a cat, her breasts quivering slightly, and the sight made Yang Rui cough repeatedly.

"Look where you shouldn't again, and I'll gouge your eyes out." Wu Qian leaned her little head over the counter and threatened Yang Rui "fiercely."

"I didn't mean to," Yang Rui said sheepishly.

"If you'd meant to, I'd gouge them out right now." To demonstrate her fighting prowess, Wu Qian made a cat's-claw gesture in the air with her right hand.

Yang Rui had seen that same gesture in plenty of young girls' dances, though Wu Qian presumably had not. It made him pause involuntarily.

"Hey, you filled this part in wrong... Fill out another one." Having finished checking, Wu Qian drew a line through the amount with her fingernail and tore off another form for him.

Yang Rui paused again. "I didn't fill it in wrong."

"And you're still saying it isn't wrong. You wrote two thousand and thirty-seven yuan on the form, but your remittance slip should say... Huh?"

Her eyes widened as she counted twice. Before Yang Rui could react, she suddenly called out, "Sister Li! Sister Li!"

"You child. It's Sister Li when you need me and Auntie Li when you don't. Coming, coming." Sister Li filled her enamel mug with water and came over to the counter. "What is it?"

"There seems to be a mistake on the remittance slip." Wu Qian had only just started working, and her wages and bonus came to just forty-two yuan. Her first reaction to seeing a manuscript payment of two thousand yuan was that there had been a mistake. So was her second.

Sister Li came over with a smile, saying as she walked, "How could there be a mistake on a remittance slip? Let me see..."

She took a sip of tea, scanned Yang Rui's remittance slip from left to right and top to bottom, then looked it over again.

"Pfft..." Sister Li sprayed out the tea she had half swallowed.

"So it is wrong? These people are so careless, making a mistake on something as important as a remittance slip." Muttering, Wu Qian pushed the new form a little farther toward Yang Rui.

Sister Li gave her a light pat, pulled the new form back, and said quietly, "There's nothing wrong with the remittance slip."

Then she began looking Yang Rui over as though he were a giant panda.

Unlike Wu Qian, Sister Li had seen some large remittances before. There were train drivers working transport routes, university graduates who had settled in the special economic zones, and money sent by relatives overseas. Amounts in the thousands did turn up.

But nine times out of ten, the money other people sent had been saved up, and some of it was even borrowed.

Yang Rui's remittance slip, however, clearly stated that this was a manuscript payment.

In other words, he had earned over two thousand yuan in one go!

"How is that possible?" Wu Qian also asked in astonishment.

Knowing he had to explain, Yang Rui cleared his throat lightly. "I had a popular science article published in a magazine. It was long, so they paid more."

"But it couldn't be this much. Don't try to fool me. The Hedong Daily only pays fifteen yuan per thousand characters. Two thousand yuan would mean well over a hundred thousand characters. What kind of popular science article did you write that was that long?" Wu Qian challenged him in her clear voice.

"The magazine I published in pays a higher rate."

"How high?" Sister Li pressed.

Yang Rui hesitated, then told the truth. "Sixty-five yuan per thousand characters."

Wu Qian's eyes widened as she calculated in her head. Her monthly wages and bonus came to forty-two yuan. A month and a half only made sixty-three, not even as much as Yang Rui earned for a thousand characters...

Sister Li, however, could not help thinking of the "three famouses and three highs" from the political campaigns: famous directors, famous screenwriters, and famous actors; high salaries, high manuscript payments, and high bonuses. Those had all been targets to be brought down back then... Judging by Yang Rui, these manuscript payments really were high.

"Well, can I collect the money today?" Yang Rui interrupted their wandering thoughts.

Sister Li started. "We don't have that much money here. You'll have to arrange it in advance."

"Then let's arrange it."

"No." Sister Li lowered her voice. "It's over two thousand yuan. What if it gets lost on the way here? What if someone steals it or robs the courier? It's difficult to collect it here. Go to the county town to collect it. Better yet, go to the city."

Wu Qian tugged at Sister Li. "If Yang Rui collects it in the city, he'll still have to come back. What if someone steals it or robs him on the way?"

"You little minx." Sister Li huffed and pushed the remittance slip back. "I can't handle this. Go talk to the postmaster and see whether he'll let you collect it."

"I'll go with you." Rather than use the door, Wu Qian vaulted over the counter.

With no other choice, Yang Rui went upstairs to find the postmaster.

The postmaster of Xibao Town was Wang Guohua's father. It was only because they knew each other that he called the county office and arranged for the money to be collected the next day.

Yang Rui left an unopened pack of Daqianmen Cigarettes he had been carrying on the desk as a token of thanks.

In those days, when IOUs were rampant, even being given an IOU for a postal remittance was hardly news. Being able to get the money quickly and smoothly counted as a favor.

Yang Rui returned to school. Wu Qian took her place at the counter and began rummaging around. Before long, she found paper and a pen and started carefully writing out characters, stroke by stroke.

When Sister Li asked, Wu Qian said, "I'm going to write an article too and get it published in a magazine."

"Silly girl." Sister Li laughed heartily, held down Wu Qian's pen, and whispered in her ear, "If you have time to write articles, you'd be better off finding yourself a good husband. Understand?"

Wu Qian's face flushed scarlet with embarrassment. She shook her off. "Auntie Li, you're teasing me again."

"I'm not teasing you. Take young Yang Rui. He's a fine-looking lad, and capable too. His father is the Party secretary of Xizhaizi Township, isn't he? Once he starts working in a couple of years, he won't be so easy to catch. If you're too embarrassed to say anything, I'll talk to your mother."

"Sister Li, no." Wu Qian caught her sleeve and would not let go.