Hearing this, Wen Jiaojiao opened the envelope and took a look. Sure enough, her name was written on it.
Her heart was filled with even more turmoil. It was obvious that this had been prepared specifically for her!
But why hadn’t she known about it in her previous life?
Liu Lan was still earnestly advising her. “Jiaojiao, you must make something of yourself. Your aunt hopes that both you and Xiaocui can have a bright future…”
Wen Jiaojiao temporarily pushed her doubts aside. She had spent half her life drifting from place to place, with her life filled with schemes, hardship, and bitterness. She never expected that immediately after being reborn, she would receive such a huge surprise.
Her eyes reddened with emotion. “Thank you, Aunt Liu. I’ll definitely repay you in the future!”
Liu Lan smiled and gently touched her braided hair. “Good. Your aunt will be waiting. When you start earning a salary someday, come back and buy your aunt some new clothes.”
With tears in her eyes, Wen Jiaojiao nodded. “I will! I’ll buy you as many as you want!”
This introduction letter was far too important to her!
Joining the military meant the beginning of an entirely new life. This was the first step toward escaping the tragedy she had suffered in her previous life!
Liu Lan smiled in relief. “All right. You must keep this safe and don’t let anyone see it. Don’t even tell your parents. I’m afraid they might object.”
At those words, Wen Jiaojiao’s expression became complicated.
Was Aunt Liu reminding her to be wary of Li Chunhua and the others? Did she know something?
She composed herself and said, “Aunt Liu, I’ll listen to you. Should I wait for you at the train station three days from now?”
Liu Lan touched her forehead again. “Yes. Go before dawn and wait for me at the train station. I still have something to tell you.”
Wen Jiaojiao nodded. “Okay, I’ll remember. Thank you, Aunt Liu.”
Liu Lan teased her with a smile. “If you’re going to call me Aunt, then just call me Aunt. Adding ‘Liu’ makes it sound so formal!”
Wen Jiaojiao immediately smiled sheepishly. “It’s my fault for not knowing how to address you. Thank you, Aunt, for giving me such a precious gift.”
Aunt Liu was even closer to her than her biological aunt.
She did have a biological aunt, but they weren’t close. If her aunt had an introduction letter, she would certainly have given it to her own daughter rather than Wen Jiaojiao. In her previous life, her second uncle’s daughter, Wen Lili, had joined the military, and Wen Jiaojiao had been extremely envious of her.
Later, because Wen Jiaojiao had run away from an arranged marriage, she hid outside for several years. When she finally returned, she learned that her cousin seemed to have committed some kind of offense and had been discharged from the military.
Liu Lan glanced at the sky. “I won’t stay any longer. Hurry home, and remember to hide the letter well!”
Wen Jiaojiao nodded firmly. “Don’t worry, Aunt. I’ll keep it hidden.”
After Liu Lan left, Wen Jiaojiao tucked the letter securely into the inner pocket of her clothes and then headed home.
The moment she stepped through the door, she was greeted by a barrage of curses.
Li Chunhua grabbed her ear. “You good-for-nothing girl! I told you to go up the mountain and gather pigweed. I waited for you for so long that I ended up coming home myself! Where the hell did you go?”
Pain shot through Wen Jiaojiao’s ear, and a cold glint flashed across her eyes.
“Mom, I went up the mountain. I just couldn’t find you.”
“You little brat, and you still dare argue! You couldn’t find me, a perfectly living person? Are you blind?!”
“Go boil some water and cook! What family has a daughter as lazy as you?”
As she spoke, she struck Wen Jiaojiao hard on the back.
Wen Jiaojiao let out a muffled groan of pain. The moment Li Chunhua loosened her grip, she slipped away and ran back to her room.
Li Chunhua had worked as a farmer for years, and the strength in her hands was no less than a man’s.
Wen Jiaojiao glanced toward her younger brother Wen Shi’s room, a cold smile curling at the corners of her lips, before entering her own room.
She was wearing the only decent piece of clothing she owned. Her other clothes were covered with patches and looked gray and worn.
She needed to save this outfit for when she reported to the military, so she absolutely couldn’t let it get dirty.
She didn’t take out the introduction letter. It was still tucked inside her inner pocket.
She folded the clothes neatly and placed them in the wardrobe, then changed into the clothes she usually wore for farm work and went to cook.
While she was tending the fire and making soup, Li Chunhua never stopped talking.
She called Wen Jiaojiao lazy, accused her of having a young lady’s body but a servant’s fate, and complained that she spent all day showing her face around the village and seducing men.
Just listen to that—this was how a mother described her own daughter.
The fist Wen Jiaojiao held around the firewood poker tightened and tightened. A murderous anger rose in her eyes. She had to exert every ounce of self-control to keep herself from shoving the fire poker straight into Li Chunhua’s mouth!
Just endure it for a few more days.
Once she joined the military, she would never come back.
It wasn’t until breakfast was ready that Li Chunhua finally stopped talking.
Wen Jiaojiao served everyone their porridge, and only then did Li Chunhua go wake up her precious son.
In the past, Wen Jiaojiao had always waited until the entire family was seated before eating. During meals, Li Chunhua would constantly order her to fetch this or bring that. By the time she finished running around, there was hardly any good food left.
Today, she didn’t wait for anyone.
She ate an egg, drank a bowl of porridge, and took a broom outside to sweep the courtyard.
When Li Chunhua came out after helping her son get dressed, she immediately noticed that one egg was missing.
Another round of furious cursing erupted.
Wen Jiaojiao treated it as nothing more than a dog barking. She had long since become numb to it.
“All right, enough!” In the end, Wen Laosan couldn’t stand listening anymore and stopped his wife.
“It’s only an egg. Let our daughter eat it if she wants.”
After all, he was still counting on her to bring in a generous betrothal gift for their son.
Normally, Li Chunhua was only willing to boil two eggs—one for her son and one for the child’s father.
Fortunately, Wen Jiaojiao had only eaten one. If she had eaten her brother’s share too, Li Chunhua would probably have grabbed the broom and fought her to the death.
Wen Shi peeled his egg while gleefully watching his sister get scolded.
Whenever this happened, he felt a sense of superiority.
He was the family’s precious son. No matter how beautiful his sister was, she still had to step aside for him.
“Jiaojiao, you’re sweeping the floor?”
After breakfast, Wen Lili came over for a visit.
“Mm.” Wen Jiaojiao answered coldly.
Wen Lili was the youngest daughter of Wen Laosan’s second older brother.
Wen Laosan had two older brothers and one younger sister. Among the younger generation of the Wen family, there were only two granddaughters—Wen Lili and Wen Jiaojiao.
In families with few granddaughters, girls were often treated almost the same as boys when it came to food and daily life, even if they weren’t spoiled.
But the Wen family was different.
Everyone in the village knew how biased Wen Laosan’s mother was.
She went so far as to make sure everyone knew that one of the two granddaughters was her biological granddaughter while the other had been adopted.
No matter how well Wen Lili was fed, she simply wasn’t as pretty as Wen Jiaojiao. She had a broad, round face, a flat nose, and dark skin inherited from her mother.
Her figure, however, had also taken after her mother. At eighteen, she was more voluptuous than girls her age.
Wen Lili had come specifically to find Wen Jiaojiao.
“Jiaojiao, my cousin is here. He wants to talk to you.”
“I’m not going. I’m busy.”
After sweeping the courtyard, Wen Jiaojiao went to feed the chickens.
In her previous life, she hadn’t been able to resist Wen Lili’s persuasion and had gone to meet her cousin.
Wen Lili’s cousin was twenty years old that year. He was a local village thug. Although he had a decent-looking face, he was idle and irresponsible, and he particularly liked harassing young, pretty women.
His purpose in coming today was to court Wen Jiaojiao.
As long as she agreed, the two families would discuss the marriage.
But Wen Jiaojiao had been extremely proud in her previous life. She wouldn’t even consider the town chief’s son, let alone a village thug.
Unfortunately, after she rejected him, the man became furious from embarrassment and nearly assaulted her.
She had run home that very day with her clothes in disarray.
The news spread throughout the village like wildfire.
People said she had been defiled, that she was a ruined woman and no longer worthy of respect.
Rural society in the 1980s was deeply conservative.
Being cursed at whenever she went outside was the least of it. Some people even threw stones at her.
No one cared to ask whether the girl was innocent.
They simply believed that the truth had to be exactly what they imagined it was.