Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s
Chapter 75 - 074 Rescue

Chapter 75: 074 Rescue

As soon as she showed up, Tian Sisi immediately became a stunning sight in the classroom. Not only did her own classmates come to see her, but many boys and girls from other classes also came over to gawk and chat:

"Tian Sisi’s sweater is so pretty!"

"The red leather shoes she’s wearing are really cute, especially with those white socks – so beautiful!"

"I think her red hair clip is the best. My sister who studies in the town told me that the Supply and Marketing Cooperative sells them for fifty cents each!"

"Fifty cents? That’s expensive, fifty cents can buy several pounds of salt. The Tian Family must be really wealthy."

"That’s nothing, the leather shoes she’s wearing are even more expensive. My sister said they cost 15 yuan a pair!"

"15 yuan? Tian Sisi is so lucky, she gets new clothes and shoes every day, I think she has several pairs of leather shoes alone!"

"Is there anything Tian Sisi wears that isn’t valuable? Anything she wears would be something we can’t afford."

...

Obviously, Tian Sisi in the classroom didn’t hear the outside gossip, she was lost in thought. However, Gao Hongmei did hear it. She was playing a game of toss with several other girls and hearing those envious tones made her blood boil. Of course, she had also seen Tian Sisi’s outfit, and to be honest, she was envious, although her family was not poor, they still couldn’t compare to the Tian Family.

Not having a generous uncle who doted on his niece made Gao Hongmei’s rivalry with Tian Sisi also tinged with envy and jealousy. The more she heard, the angrier Gao Hongmei got, and in a huff, she threw the sandbag and stormed back to the classroom. The other girls smirked; Gao Hongmei’s intentions at Luoling Primary School were as clear as Sima Zhao’s, everyone knew.

Most people enjoyed the joke at Gao Hongmei’s expense. Don’t they see what they themselves are? They think they can compare to Tian Sisi with their pig-like figures? That’s just ludicrous. Last summer, Tian Sisi wore a green floral dress made by Zhu Aiqing to school, stunning everyone. Throughout the day, students from other classes flocked to see her. Gao Hongmei was unhappy and went home nagging Tian Chunfang to make her a similar dress.

Unable to withstand her daughter’s insistence, Tian Chunfang bought some green floral fabric from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and had someone make a similar dress. The next day, Gao Hongmei wore it happily to school. To draw attention, she made frequent trips in and out of the classroom, just so all the students could notice her new dress.

However, being overweight and dark-skinned, Gao Hongmei really wasn’t suited for the green floral dress. It made her look like a giant cabbage, ruining good fabric - this was everyone’s impression who saw Gao Hongmei in that dress, although nobody would say it outright. Instead, they would insincerely compliment her, leading her to delightedly wear the dress for several days and amusing her classmates for just as long.

Tian Sisi was idly staring out of the window, bored. He Chengsi had originally planned to go outside to play, but seeing Tian Sisi didn’t go, he stayed beside her instead. Daddy had told him to take good care of his sister at school. If anyone dared to bother her, he was to fiercely fend them off.

Jin Duofu and Zhong Juying also didn’t go out to play. Jin Duofu, munching on the fruity candy given by Tian Sisi, tore a couple of sheets from his notebook and started folding something. He had just learned how to fold a telephone from his third sister who’s in high school in town. With nothing else to do, it was the perfect time to practice making a paper phone.

"Jin Duofu, what are you folding?" Seeing Tian Sisi gazing off into space, He Chengsi looked back and, noticing Jin Duofu busily folding something, he couldn’t help but ask curiously.

"I’m folding a telephone. My third sister taught me how to make it. It’s said that this thing can make calls and send voices really far away, it’s quite magical," Jin Duofu answered while continuing to fold.

"A telephone?" Tian Sisi immediately snapped back to reality, suddenly stood up, and turned around just in time to see Jin Duofu folding a receiver, blowing hard into it with his mouth, soon turning it into a plump handset.

That unlucky fellow really was Jin Duofu! Tian Sisi immediately became alert, scanning the classroom, just as Gao Hongmei walked in, staring fixedly at Tian Sisi from her seat. Tian Sisi shuddered. Could it be that in her previous life, Gao Hongmei had targeted the original owner because of this stare, eventually leading to her overhearing Jin Duofu’s joke call? (In fact, that had indeed been the case in her previous life. Jealous, Gao Hongmei had always been watching the original owner, coincidentally hearing Jin Duofu making the call and, feeling upset, immediately found a target to vent her frustration.)

If that was the case, then she should save Jin Duofu even more. However, she couldn’t directly ask Jin Duofu to stop folding the telephone. Helpless, Tian Sisi could only keep a close watch on Jin Duofu, planning to interrupt him the moment he was about to say the word "Tai." It was the only thing she could do to avoid suspicion that she knew in advance what Jin Duofu was going to say.

"Sisi, I have cookies in my bag, do you want some?" He Chengsi said pleasingly to Tian Sisi, reaching into his bag for the cookies, which Daddy had bought to serve as a snack whenever his sister felt hungry.

"No thanks, Brother He. You eat them, I’m not hungry." Tian Sisi shook her head. She didn’t have time for snacks right now; saving someone was more urgent!

Hearing Tian Sisi didn’t want the cookies, He Chengsi also paused. Cookies were more of a girl’s snack, anyway. Being a man, he should rather eat meat and drink in large bowls like the hero Wu Song! (Wu Song, the tiger-slayer, was He Chengsi’s most admired hero.)

By this time, Jin Duofu had already finished blowing two handsets and folding a handle. Inserting the handle between the two handsets, a strikingly realistic telephone was crafted. Pleased, Jin Duofu smiled, positioning the makeshift phone by his ear. Tian Sisi nervously tensed up, the critical moment had arrived, and she involuntarily stiffened, lips tightly pressed.

Beside her, He Chengsi couldn’t understand why Tian Sisi was so tense. Just as he was about to ask, that unlucky kid Jin Duofu loudly said: "Hello, where are you? Is it Tai..."

"Jin Duofu, does your family have relatives in Taizhou?" Tian Sisi had already thought of a strategy. In the Sui City dialect, the ’Tai’ in Taizhou and the ’Tai’ in Taiwan are both pronounced in the second tone, so she just made everyone think Jin Duofu was talking about Taizhou.

Caught off-guard by Tian Sisi’s question, Jin Duofu completely forgot the words "Taiwan" he was about to say. Led by Tian Sisi’s train of thought, he subconsciously replied: "No, Taizhou is so far from here, how could I have relatives there?"

"Then why are you calling Taizhou? I thought you had relatives there!" Successfully saving a national treasure, Tian Sisi felt greatly relieved and sat down, asking He Chengsi for some cookies.

Although He Chengsi couldn’t understand why Sisi suddenly wanted cookies again, he happily took them out of his bag and handed them to Tian Sisi. She weighed a round cookie, breaking off a small piece and nibbling on it slowly.

Jin Duofu originally wanted to say, "I wasn’t trying to call Taizhou, I wanted to call Taiwan," but after thinking it through carefully, he broke into a cold sweat. Glancing across at Gao Hongmei, who was glaring his way, he was overwhelmed by fear. Luckily, Tian Sisi had interrupted him in time, otherwise, the consequences, which he could guess even with his toes, would have been unimaginable.

In their village, an old man who sold tofu bought a statue of Chairman Mao, intending to take it home to display. However, he was carrying tofu poles at the time, so the old man hung the statue on the tofu pole with a rope. A member of the Rebel Faction saw this and accused him of trying to strangle the great Chairman Mao. The faction tormented the old man so much that even now, he is occasionally dragged out for public humiliation.

Jin Duofu, his body covered in cold sweat, glanced gratefully at Tian Sisi. She was elegantly eating her cookie, occasionally brushing crumbs off her clothes. The slanting afternoon sun shone on her beautifully curved profile, even illuminating the fine hairs on her face – she looked so wonderfully beautiful!

Many years later, Jin Duofu would still recall the afternoon of that spring in 1972. At that time, he couldn’t find any words to describe the beauty of Tian Sisi, but later on, he knew one word that was most fitting — ’Angel.’ No other word was more appropriate. Back then, Tian Sisi was like a beautiful angel descending from the sky, saving him and his family.

ps: Special thanks to Fat Girl 0915! Thanks also to pen pals 150707086753665, Dancing Grace of The Nation, Amethyst Moon, and Maple Frost Distance for their support!

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