An Unexpected Task

Gu Si fell silent, turned back to his small room, and took out a cloth bag to hand to her.

"This is all of our family's savings, eight hundred yuan. Take it and buy whatever you need."

Du Yue Rao looked at the thick stack of money in her hand.

In an era where the average urban salary was only thirty to forty yuan a month, this was clearly a large sum of money, yet he handed it to her without hesitation.

"And these are various coupons—grain coupons, meat coupons, cloth coupons. Take them too."

Gu Si took out various coupons from another box and handed them to her.

Du Yue Rao did not stand on ceremony. She accepted them and flashed a sweet smile at him.

"I also have quite a bit of money. Let's pool it together, and I will manage our expenses well."

Gu Si's heart skipped a beat; he only wanted to earn even more money to give to her.

After Gu Si left, Du Yue Rao stayed home to take inventory of their supplies to see what else they needed to buy.

Aside from essential rice, flour, and cooking oil, the weather was turning cold, so the two children should also have a few more sets of clothes.

She also needed to buy seasonings, soap, pork, fabric...

Before she knew it, Du Yue Rao had filled half a sheet of paper.

As she was listing the items, a knock sounded on the door.

"Comrade Xiao Du, are you home?"

It was the voice of the village secretary. Du Yue Rao put down her pencil.

"I'm home." She quickly ran to open the door, invited the secretary inside, and poured him a glass of water.

"Is there something I can help you with, Secretary?"

The secretary wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"The village needs to send a young educated youth to the commune to report on grain yields. Currently, there are five educated youths in the village. The village chief said to have everyone gather at the cultural center to discuss who to send."

Du Yue Rao felt that since she had never worked in the fields, there was no reason for her to be chosen as the representative to report to the commune.

Just as she was about to decline the secretary's kindness, he leaned in closer and whispered seriously, "This report is just an excuse. In reality, the higher-ups want you to present the process of discovering the spy."

"The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. To avoid suspicion, there must be a plausible reason for you to go in and out of the commune."

"Once this matter is thoroughly investigated, it will be of great benefit to the national anti-espionage policy."

The secretary explained.

The matter of the spy could not be made public, so they could only use this method to arrange for Du Yue Rao to meet with the leadership.

Hearing this, Du Yue Rao nodded. As long as it was beneficial to the country, she would not hesitate to do it.

However...

"Secretary, if I am suddenly chosen like this, won't people find it suspicious?" She also understood that given the original host's previous "reputation," everyone would think there was some inside favoritism if she were chosen.

"Not at all. We notified those educated youths about this a few days ago, saying there would be a vote, but we've already arranged everything. It's just a formality."

And just like that, the matter that Du Yue Rao thought had nothing to do with her was now specifically assigned to her.

She followed behind the village secretary to the cultural center.

Upon arrival, the secretary was immediately called away, telling her to wait there for a moment.

Because Du Yue Rao arrived early, the cultural center was empty, so no one saw her entering with the secretary.

Not long after, Li Fei Fei and three other female educated youths walked to the cultural center hand in hand.

Qingyuan Village had a total of five educated youths. Four of them were around twenty-four years old, while only the baby-faced girl was two years younger.

It was clear that the baby-faced girl did not get along well with them. Although she walked with them, she kept a certain distance from Li Fei Fei and the other three. When they stopped, she stood to the side with her arms crossed, a look of displeasure on her face.

The other three were chatting happily, but the moment they saw Du Yue Rao, they fell silent.

Given the situation, it was highly likely they had just been gossiping about her.

Du Yue Rao remembered that in the novel, Li Fei Fei had two "lackeys" following her in the countryside. These must be the two before her.

Du Yue Rao maintained a calm expression as she watched them approach. The curly-haired female youth standing closest to Li Fei Fei walked straight up to Du Yue Rao.

"Oh my, look who we have here. We never see you when it's time to work, yet you show up now. Do you even know what reporting yields is about?"

Du Yue Rao looked at the boasting woman before her, her eyes as calm as still water.