Chapter 2: Twenty Li to Settle the Accounts

On the night of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Qiaoyun left after dropping off some brown sugar. Su Wan bolted the courtyard gate and returned to the kang, leaving the lamp unlit.

Su Nian leaned in close. "Sis, can we mix that brown sugar Lin Qiaoyun brought for a drink tomorrow?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Su Wan picked up the bag of sugar and placed it on top of the cabinet. "Remember this: from now on, don't accept anything she brings."

Su Nian pouted. "But Sister Qiaoyun is nice. She even helped me catch grasshoppers last time."

"Catching grasshoppers is one thing; giving gifts is another." Su Wan tucked the corner of the quilt around him. "Go to sleep."

Su Nian turned over and was fast asleep in no time. Su Wan stared at the rafters, mentally retracing the plot of the Original Book.

The fifteenth: borrowing shoes. The sixteenth: the corn goes missing. The seventeenth: she dies in the ice hole. Three days, three steps. The first step was already at her doorstep—Lin Qiaoyun had come tonight, ostensibly to gift sugar, but really to test the waters. In the Original Book, the original owner took that bag of sugar, and when they came to borrow shoes on the fifteenth, she couldn't refuse. Once the shoes were lent out, the footprints were set.

Su Wan rolled over. She couldn't wait until the fifteenth.

The next morning, she dropped Su Nian off at Auntie Zhao’s place.

"Auntie, I’m heading to the threshing floor to help out for a couple of days. Could you keep an eye on Niannian for the day?"

Auntie Zhao was in the yard feeding chickens and didn't even look up. "Go on, go on. Niannian can play with my boy."

Su Nian wasn't happy. "Sis, I can work too."

"Learn to read all your characters first." Su Wan gave him a gentle shove into Auntie Zhao’s yard. "Don't be a nuisance."

The threshing floor was piled high with corn stalks, and seven or eight women sat in a circle shucking corn. Su Wan found an empty spot and sat down, her hands moving along with the rest. Second Sister Liu was sitting next to her, her mouth never stopping.

"Wan’er, are you fully recovered?"

"Fully recovered."

"You’re lucky to be alive." Second Sister Liu lowered her voice. "The daughter-in-law of the Zhou family on the front street had a fever just like you, and she was bedridden for half a month."

Su Wan kept shucking corn. "Second Sister, I heard the lock on our brigade’s warehouse isn't very reliable?"

Second Sister Liu paused. "Who told you that?"

"Just heard it somewhere."

"Don't even get me started." Second Sister Liu glanced left and right. "That warehouse lock is just for show. Old Li, the warehouse keeper, leaves the key hanging on the door frame. Anyone walking by could grab it. The captain has scolded him a few times, but Old Li just turns a deaf ear."

Su Wan had her answer. A lock anyone could open, a warehouse anyone could enter, and if the corn went missing, they’d pin it on her—in the Original Book, the case was solved in a muddled mess, Su Wan died, and the corn incident was swept under the rug.

"Second Sister, how old is Wang Guixiang’s daughter?"

"Fifteen." Second Sister Liu’s eyes darted around. "Why do you ask?"

"Qiaoyun came by yesterday and said her mom made a new pair of shoes that didn't fit, so I was thinking of asking for them to alter."

"Don't you dare." Second Sister Liu curled her lip. "Wang Guixiang is the type who, if you take a single thread from her, will demand a whole bolt of cloth in return. Her daughter borrowed half a bowl of salt from me last time, and she still hasn't paid it back."

Su Wan smiled and didn't ask any more.

On the afternoon of the tenth, she circled around to the back of the warehouse. The footprints in the snow were messy; some led toward the threshing floor, some toward the village, and one set headed north—toward the Reservoir.

Su Wan followed the tracks for a few steps and crouched down to look. The prints were deep at the toes and shallow at the heels, with long strides—someone had been running. She looked north; the dam of the Reservoir was a vast, white expanse, with a few haystacks piled at the base.

She noted the location and headed home.

On the twelfth, the brigade held a meeting. Old Zhao stood in the middle of the threshing floor, his face dark. "A bag of corn is missing from the warehouse. Whoever took it, speak up now and I won't pursue it. If we find out later, half your year-end bonus points will be docked."

No one made a sound.

Su Wan stood at the back of the crowd, scanning the area. Wang Guixiang was standing diagonally in front of her, her hands tucked into her sleeves, her knuckles white from gripping them. Lin Qiaoyun stood next to her mother, head bowed, her braids swaying in the wind.

After the meeting, Su Wan deliberately lagged behind. Sure enough, Wang Guixiang approached her.

"Wan’er, someone saw you walking behind the warehouse the other day."

Su Wan stopped. "Which day?"

"Just two days ago." Wang Guixiang’s eyes were shifty. "Tell the captain you didn't take it, that you were just passing by."

"I didn't take it in the first place."

"Then make that clear!" Wang Guixiang wrung her hands anxiously. "If you don't explain, people will think it was you."

Su Wan looked at her. In the Original Book, it was this very woman who whispered the fatal words in the original owner's ear: *If they catch you, you’ll be paraded through the streets, and your brother won't be able to run either.* The original owner, terrified of being paraded and worried for her brother, ran away that night, headed for the Reservoir, and fell into the ice hole.

"Auntie," Su Wan said slowly, "how do you know that people think it was me?"

Wang Guixiang choked on her words. "I... I’m just worried for you."

"Then don't be." Su Wan smiled. "I’ll clear it up with the captain tomorrow."

"What were you doing there?"

"I went to look at the footprints." Su Wan leaned in close, her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear. "There are footprints in the snow, heading toward the Reservoir. You think the person who stole the corn hid it there?"

Wang Guixiang took a step back, her face turning pale.

"I don't know." She waved her hands, already backing away. "I don't know anything."

She turned and left, walking so fast it looked like she was running for her life.

Su Wan watched her go, the tension in her chest tightening. Wang Guixiang knew the truth, and she was scared. Fear was good—fear meant she would move, and moving meant she would leave a trail.

On the night of the fourteenth, Lin Qiaoyun came again. This time, she brought a bowl of braised pork, glistening with oil and steaming hot.

"Sister Wan, my mom stewed this. Have some with Niannian."

Su Nian swallowed hard, his eyes glued to the bowl. Su Wan took it and said with a smile, "Thank your mother for me."

Lin Qiaoyun didn't leave right away. She sat on the edge of the kang, making small talk, before finally saying, "Sister Wan, there’s work at the Reservoir tomorrow, breaking ice to catch fish. The captain said anyone who goes gets double Work Points."

The fifteenth. The Reservoir. Double Work Points.

Su Wan sneered internally. In the Original Book, the original owner was lured by those double points—she went to catch fish on the fifteenth and borrowed the shoes from Wang Guixiang’s daughter while she was at it. The next day, the corn went missing, and the footprints pointed to Su Wan. On the third day, she died in the ice hole.

"Tomorrow?" Su Wan put on a troubled expression. "I haven't been feeling well these last two days, I don't think I can make it."

A flash of urgency crossed Lin Qiaoyun’s face, but she quickly suppressed it. "It’s double points, it’d be a shame to miss it."

"It’s not a shame." Su Wan waved her hand. "My brother has a bit of a cough, I need to stay home and look after him."

Lin Qiaoyun tried to persuade her a couple more times, but seeing Su Wan wouldn't budge, she got up to leave. Before heading out, she looked back and said, "Alright, Sister Wan, get some rest. I’ll tell the captain for you tomorrow."

As soon as she left, Su Wan took the bowl of meat outside and dumped it into the slop bucket.

Su Nian stomped his feet in frustration. "Sis! That was meat!"

"It’s good meat," Su Wan said, scrubbing the bowl clean, "but the person who brought it doesn't necessarily have good intentions. Remember, no matter who asks you to go out tomorrow, don't say yes."

On the fifteenth, before the sky was even fully light, Su Wan was awake. She bolted the courtyard gate tight and stayed home with Su Nian all day. At noon, Second Sister Liu knocked on the door, saying they were short-handed at the Reservoir and asking if Su Wan wanted to go.

"Not today, my brother has a cough."

Second Sister Liu left. Su Wan sat on the kang, sewing the sole of a shoe, stitch by stitch. Su Nian sat beside her, practicing his characters by scratching in the dirt with a twig.

When dusk fell, shouting erupted outside. Su Wan peeked through a crack in the door. A crowd had gathered at the threshing floor, and flashlight beams were darting back and forth.

She didn't move.

Half an hour later, Auntie Zhao pounded on the door. "Wan’er! Something’s happened!"

Su Wan opened the door a crack. "What is it?"

"Something happened at the Reservoir! Qiaoyun fell into an ice hole, and by the time they pulled her out, she was already stiff!"

Su Wan’s heart sank.

"How did she fall in?"

"They said she went to catch fish, the ice wasn't solid, and it gave way." Auntie Zhao clutched her chest. "That poor girl, she was such a nice kid..."

Su Wan closed the door and sat back down in the room. Lin Qiaoyun was dead. In the Original Book, it was supposed to be her falling into that hole.

"Sis," Su Nian whispered from under the covers, "why did Sister Qiaoyun die?"

Su Wan didn't answer. She stared at the flames in the stove, her mind racing—Lin Qiaoyun was dead, but what about the corn? What about Wang Guixiang?

On the sixteenth, people from the Commune arrived. Old Zhao called the whole brigade to the threshing floor. A public security officer from the Commune stood at the front, holding a notebook.

"The bag of corn missing on the twelfth was found in a haystack by the Reservoir," the officer said, opening his notebook. "Underneath the bag was a pair of shoes. They belong to Wang Guixiang’s daughter. Wang Guixiang, explain how your daughter’s shoes ended up at the Reservoir."

Wang Guixiang stood in the crowd, her legs giving out, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

"I... I don't know..."

"You don't know?" The officer closed the book. "Your daughter said you lent the shoes to Lin Qiaoyun on the fifteenth. Lin Qiaoyun then borrowed Su Wan’s shoes. They swapped shoes, which mixed up the footprints. Wang Guixiang, if you keep saying you don't know, you can come to the Commune and explain it there."

Wang Guixiang burst into tears. "It was Qiaoyun who made me do it! She said to steal the corn and hide it at the Reservoir, and when they found out, we’d say Su Wan stole it! She said if Su Wan died, no one would ever know!"

The threshing floor was deathly silent.

Su Wan stood in the crowd, watching Wang Guixiang wailing on the ground, watching the officer take notes, and watching Old Zhao smoking with a dark expression.

Lin Qiaoyun was dead, and Wang Guixiang had confessed. She had bypassed the dead end from the Original Book.

But Su Wan didn't let her guard down. She remembered another detail from the Original Book—Lin Qiaoyun was dead, but she had an uncle who was a cadre at the Commune. In the book, that uncle had helped Lin Qiaoyun get a position at the Commune, and she had lived a life of luxury. Now that Lin Qiaoyun was dead, would that uncle just let it go?

Sure enough, after the meeting, Old Zhao pulled Su Wan aside.

"Wan’er, the Commune says they’re coming to investigate Qiaoyun’s death," Old Zhao said, rubbing his hands. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

"The night of the fourteenth. She came to bring me meat and asked me to go to the Reservoir on the fifteenth to catch fish."

Old Zhao’s face changed. "Did you go?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Su Wan smiled. "My brother had a cough, so I stayed home to watch him."

Old Zhao stared at her for a long time, then tapped his pipe against his heel. "Alright, I see."

As Su Wan walked home, the sky turned overcast again. The wind blew from the direction of the Reservoir, carrying the scent of ice.

She pushed open the courtyard gate, and Su Nian ran up to her. "Sis, is the corn thing cleared up?"

"It’s cleared up."

"So we’re safe now?"

Su Wan didn't answer. She looked at the road leading to the Commune outside the gate, knowing full well—Lin Qiaoyun was dead, but the people behind her were not.

On the eighteenth, Su Wan woke up early, left Su Nian with Auntie Zhao, and walked the twenty miles to the Commune. She didn't go to the main office, but circled around to the back of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and peeked through the warehouse window. In the corner, there were a dozen bags of fertilizer, stamped with "Commune Exclusive Supply."

The Original Book had mentioned it—Lin Qiaoyun’s uncle, Zhou Hailong, managed the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and was later fired for black-market fertilizer sales. That was supposed to happen in the spring of the following year. Now that Lin Qiaoyun was dead, if Zhou Hailong decided to settle the score with her, she had to strike first.

Su Wan noted the warehouse location and turned to leave. Halfway back, someone called out to her.

"Su Wan!"

She turned. A man in his forties was chasing her on a bicycle, a briefcase hanging from the handlebars.

"Are you Su Wan?" The man got off his bike and looked her over. "I’m Zhou Hailong from the Commune Supply and Marketing Cooperative. I heard you met with Qiaoyun the day she died?"

Su Wan stopped. Zhou Hailong. Lin Qiaoyun’s uncle.

"I did. She came to bring me meat."

"What kind of meat?"

"Braised pork."

Zhou Hailong narrowed his eyes. "Did you eat it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Su Wan looked at him and smiled. "I don't like meat."

Zhou Hailong stared at her for a long moment, propped up his bike, and took a step closer. "Su Wan, Qiaoyun is dead, and this can't just be brushed aside. She was a young girl, going to the Reservoir to catch fish in the freezing cold—who told her to go?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Zhou Hailong’s voice dropped. "You were the last person to see her."

Su Wan didn't back down. She looked him in the eye and said slowly, "Comrade Zhou, Qiaoyun came to my house on the night of the fourteenth and told me there was work at the Reservoir with double points. I didn't go because my brother had a cough. If you want to know who told her to go, you should ask Wang Guixiang—she confessed to the brigade yesterday that Qiaoyun made her steal the corn to frame me."

Zhou Hailong’s face changed.

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Whether it’s nonsense or not, you can ask the public security officer at the Commune." Su Wan took a step back. "By the way, Comrade Zhou, are those dozen bags of fertilizer behind your warehouse obtained through proper channels?"

Zhou Hailong’s face flushed red.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing at all." Su Wan smiled and turned to walk away. "Just a casual question."

She had walked a dozen steps when she heard Zhou Hailong shouting behind her: "Su Wan! You stop right there!"

Su Wan didn't stop. She picked up her pace, heading back toward the brigade. The wind blew from behind, carrying Zhou Hailong’s furious curses. She didn't look back.

On the twentieth, the brigade distributed New Year’s supplies. Su Wan received half a bag of white flour, two pounds of pork, and a bag of brown sugar. Second Sister Liu leaned in. "Wan’er, I heard you stood up to Zhou Hailong at the Commune?"

"Who told you that?"

"It’s all over the place." Second Sister Liu lowered her voice. "Zhou Hailong is a petty man. Be careful he doesn't try to sabotage you."

Su Wan hoisted the white flour onto her shoulder. "Second Sister, if he could sabotage me, he would have done it already."

On the twenty-second, a notice came from the Commune—year-end accounts were being settled, and each brigade needed to send someone to reconcile the books. Su Wan said to Old Zhao, "Uncle Zhao, I’ll go. I can read."

Old Zhao looked at her. "You? Zhou Hailong is at the Commune."

"I’m just going to reconcile the books, not to see him."

Old Zhao puffed on his pipe, thinking it over. "Alright, you go. Take Second Sister Liu with you, so you two can look out for each other."