Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

Three days later, Lin Xiuhe boarded an early train to Jizhou.

As soon as it was light, she went around to Xinghe.

The doors to both rooms were already open.

He Qiuyan squatted by the door, carrying the samples delivered yesterday one by one onto the wooden rack. She didn't even turn her head when she heard the bicycle.

"You actually came."

"Let me take a look."

"What are you looking at?"

He Qiuyan got up and brushed the dust off her trouser legs.

"Watch for a little longer, the car has already driven off."

"Goods have been delivered to Linzhou today."

"Director Ye mentioned it yesterday."

"What if someone comes from Ningzhou—"

He Qiuyan turned around, her expression helpless.

"Lin Xiuhe, you're only going for two or three days."

"Xinghe isn't made of paper."

She walked over and shoved the bag that Lin Xiuhe had been putting on the handlebars back into her arms.

"If I really encounter a situation I can't make a decision about, I'll save it for you."

"What can be done?"

"I'll handle it."

After saying that, she glanced at Lin Xiuhe again.

"You're paying me by the day, you can't expect me to just sit here and watch the door, can you?"

Lin Xiuhe smiled.

"OK."

She rode her bicycle out of the courtyard gate.

He Qiuyan was still standing behind, shouting.

"Don't skimp on meals when you're out."

"If you save those two cents and come back starving, I won't make you any better off."

Lin Xiuhe didn't turn around, she just raised her hand and waved.

She had traveled for work before.

The school has a project, and the research institute has assignments. The letter of introduction, train tickets, and accommodation all have their sources; once I return, I'll hand in the receipts, and that's the end of the trip.

There was also a letter of introduction in my bag today.

However, the stamp on it was from Xinghe Business Department.

She bought two steamed buns and a packet of pickled vegetables on the platform, glancing at the change in her hand as she paid.

All the food and lodging for this trip had to be paid for by Xinghe's own funds.

But when she put the change back in her pocket, she felt a sense of relief.

If they really forge a path, it will belong to Xinghe in the future.

When the train arrived in Jizhou, it was already past noon.

The mining area was larger than she had imagined.

Several tall chimneys stood in the distance, and coal trucks passed by the roadside, their wheels rolling over the ground, raising clouds of black ash.

The living area is built up the hillside.

Gray brick houses stand side by side, clothes hang outside the windows, and clotheslines are strung between the branches of trees.

The contact person Fang Qicheng left for her was surnamed Xu.

Lin Xiuhe went to the mining bureau first.

The gatekeeper took the letter of introduction and looked at it for a long time.

"From Beijing?"

"Um."

"Nanhua?"

"Xinghe".

The old man looked down and glanced at it again.

"Xinghe Business Department?"

"right."

"How many people came?"

"Me."

This time, the old man finally raised his head and looked her over carefully for a while.

A girl in her early twenties.

A person.

He came all the way from Beijing to discuss business.

It doesn't look like one of those large organizations that usually have three or four people showing up all the time.

"Officer Xu went down to the mining area this morning."

The old man returned the letter of introduction to her.

"What time will you be back?"

"That's hard to say."

"Go wait at the guesthouse. If he comes back, I'll have someone send you a message."

"Okay, thank you."

Lin Xiuhe went out the door.

When she reached the fork in the road, she didn't go to the guesthouse.

The person has already arrived; we can't just wait inside all afternoon.

She walked along the road behind the mining bureau to the staff living area.

The afternoon is when family members are doing laundry.

Enameled basins and iron buckets were scattered on the ground in front of the water room. Several women sat under the shade of a tree picking vegetables, while children chased after them.

As Lin Xiuhe walked to the first row of dormitory buildings, a woman carrying two thermos flasks called out to her.

"Young lady, who are you looking for?"

"I want to ask you something."

Which company is it?

"Neither."

Lin Xiuhe took out the letter of introduction.

"The mining bureau recently wanted to purchase some dormitory supplies, so I came from Beijing to take a look."

The woman was initially quite enthusiastic, but upon hearing "from Beijing," her lips twitched downwards.

"He's from Beijing again."

Lin Xiuhe sensed something was wrong.

"Have you been here before?"

"Why haven't you been here before?"

The woman placed the thermos against the wall.

"A group came two years ago, saying they wanted to equip the dorm with some kind of iron frame to make life easier and look nicer."

"And now?"

The woman shouted directly upstairs.

"Sister-in-law, drag that thing out from behind your door!"

Someone upstairs responded.

Not long after, an old iron frame was indeed dragged down.

The paint is still there.

One of his legs is crooked.

A piece of wire was tied to the side.

The woman pointed at it.

"This is it."

"It looked quite decent when it was first issued; even the enamel mug could be displayed."

"There are four people in the family, where do we put the washbasin? Where do we put the coal briquettes? Where do we put the children's schoolbags?"

Hearing this, the people washing clothes nearby also gathered around.

"And that one for hanging clothes."

"If you hang your cotton-padded coat up in winter, it won't be long before it's askew."

"We ended up hammering nails into the wall ourselves."

"What's the use of doing it beautifully?"

Everyone was talking at once, offering their own opinions.

Lin Xiuhe did not rush to take out the price inquiry form.

She was listening right next to her.

A young woman holding her child suddenly asked her, "Are you doing it again this time?"

"It's not decided yet."

"Does your workplace in Beijing listen to people?"

Lin Xiuhe smiled.

"Xinghe is not a large company."

"So what do you do for a living?"

"Open a business department."

The young wife asked again, "Why would your boss let a young woman like you travel so far by yourself?"

Lin Xiuhe paused for a moment.

"I am the boss."

Several people around her looked at her.

The woman carrying the thermos looked her up and down.

"you?"

"Um."

"So young?"

"You still need to make money even when you're young."

One sentence made everyone laugh.

The woman, who had been somewhat wary, had softened her stance.

"If you're really going to do it, don't put something like this behind the door."

She kicked the old iron frame.

"We paid money to buy it back, but in the end we still have to modify it ourselves."

"OK."

"Don't make the price too high either."

"understood."

"You really remember?"

Lin Xiuhe laughed and said, "I came all the way from Beijing by train, I can't just listen for nothing."

The woman laughed too.

"Then come again tomorrow afternoon."

"There are even more people after the day shift ends."

"They'll find out what's the hardest thing to use."

Lin Xiuhe agreed.

It was almost lunchtime when we came out of the residential area.

She didn't go to the guesthouse, but went straight to the mining bureau's canteen.

Two cents and eight cents for a serving of cabbage and a spoonful of stewed tofu.

She took her lunchbox and found a corner to sit down.

Halfway through the meal, a man in his forties came across to us.

His shoes were covered in coal dust, and he took off his gloves after sitting down.

"From out of town?"

"Beijing."

"What are you doing at the mine?"

"Let's talk business."

The man laughed.

"People from Beijing are even coming here to discuss business?"

Lin Xiuhe picked up a piece of cabbage.

"Beijingers also need to make money."

The man was amused.

"That's true."

He took a couple of sips of soup and casually said, "If you want to work with mines, you'll have to get past the Red Flag Factory."

Lin Xiuhe looked up.

"Hongqi Factory?"

"Local hardware factory".

The man gestured with his chin towards the window.

"In the past, we mostly got these shelves and cabinets from them."

"Very well-known."

"If something breaks, I can just ride my bike and call someone over."

He said it very naturally.

No one was praised, and no one was belittled.

But Lin Xiuhe understood.

There are old connections here.

Fang Qicheng didn't tell her any of this.

Also normal.

Nanhua has things to discuss.

Xinghe has to walk her own path.

Around 6 p.m., Officer Xu finally returned.

The gatekeeper waved to Lin Xiuhe as soon as he saw her.

"Xu, the clerk from Xinghe in Beijing, is back."

Officer Xu was in his forties and had just come in from outside; his trousers were still covered in dust.

He took the letter of introduction and first asked, "Which mining bureau did you work for before?"

"no."

Officer Xu's expression became more cautious.

"What about the other large units?"

Lin Xiuhe listed several clients in Beijing with whom she had already cooperated.

After listening, he asked again, "How many people are in your operations department?"

"There are two permanent residents now."

"What about production?"

"There are cooperative processing sites."

Officer Xu looked up.

"What about your own factory?"

"Not now."

This time, he placed the letter of introduction on the table.

"Then I have to tell you the truth."

Lin Xiuhe waited.

"Your Xinghe is too small."

What Officer Xu said wasn't unpleasant.

"We don't buy ten or eight at a time."

"Once it's finalized, each batch will consist of several hundred units."

"If something goes wrong, where am I supposed to find you?"

"Beijing."

"You think I'd come all the way to Beijing to find you just for a few hundred shelves?"

Lin Xiuhe smiled.

"That's definitely not worth it."

Officer Xu smiled too.

"You're not arguing with me."

Your concerns are valid.

This remark made Officer Xu look at her for a while longer.

Lin Xiuhe continued, "But whether the goods can be processed or not is not the same as how many rooms the operations department has."

"I can show you the goods we've delivered before, and I can also let you visit our partner factories."

Officer Xu shook his head.

"I can watch all of those."

"But what I need is peace of mind."

He leaned back in his chair.

"The Hongqi Factory is located in Jizhou."

"If there's a real problem, I can call in the morning and they can come in the afternoon."

"I know the details about Nanhua as well."

At this point, he pointed to the letter of introduction on the table.

"Where is Xinghe?"

Lin Xiuhe did not urge him.

Officer Xu pushed the quotation form back to her.

"Take it back first."

"I'm not saying you can't do it."

"But you have to let me see first what Xinghe has that makes me feel at ease."

Lin Xiuhe put the inquiry form into her bag.

As she reached the door, Officer Xu called her back again.

"Comrade Lin."

She turned around.

Officer Xu sat behind the table, his expression still cautious.

"In business, daring to take on a project is one thing."

Whether I dare to hand over the goods to you is another matter.

Lin Xiuhe gripped the doorknob.

"clear."

She left the office.

It was completely dark.

One by one, the streetlights in the mining area lit up.

In the distance, workers were leaving get off work, their lunchboxes clinking together.

Lin Xiuhe stood at the bottom of the steps and put her bag back on.

This was the first time she had taken Xinghe out of Beijing.

The people here don't know her, and they've never seen any of the goods Xinghe delivered.

Officer Xu didn't close the door.

It was simply a problem presented to her.

What makes Xinghe so reassuring?