The train didn’t arrive at the station until the next morning. Everyone lined up and filed toward the exit.
Shen Xunbao carried the luggage with both hands, while Su Qianqian and Zhou Wenfang stuck close to him on his left and right.
Yuan Guang supported the injured Pei Huaiye as they squeezed through the crowd. About ten meters behind them was Su Qingyue, who had fallen behind on her own, her head lowered as she moved forward step by step.
Suddenly, she spotted a black wallet on the ground. Bending down with some difficulty, Su Qingyue picked it up and tapped the man in front of her who was wearing a hat.
“Comrade, did you lose your wallet?”
Qiao Wang turned around and saw it was Su Qingyue. He immediately turned back and pulled his hat lower.
“It’s not mine.”
Su Qingyue blinked. If he hadn’t been wearing a hat, she might have mistaken him for Shen Xunbao.
When people heard that a girl had picked up a wallet, many were startled and hurriedly checked their belongings. After confirming they hadn’t lost anything, the message was passed forward, asking whose wallet it was.
When the word reached Yuan Guang, he checked his own wallet. “Pei-ge, is yours still there?”
Pei Huaiye reached into his pocket and frowned instantly. “It’s gone! I’ll go back and look for it.”
“Someone behind picked it up. Let’s move to the side—I’ll pass the message.”
Yuan Guang passed the word back that a wallet had been lost. Su Qingyue squeezed forward and asked through the crowd,
“Comrade, please prove first that this wallet is yours.”
Yuan Guang shouted on Pei Huaiye’s behalf, “Miss, could you check whether there’s a ‘Pei’ character on the wallet?”
Su Qingyue took a look. “There is. Then let it be returned to its owner.”
She stretched out her hand to pass the wallet over. Pei Huaiye, with his long arms, reached out as well.
An elderly man carrying bedding squeezed in between them, blocking their view.
A slender, fair hand brushed against a large, well-defined hand as the wallet changed hands.
They each turned away and continued moving forward with the crowd.
Pei Huaiye immediately checked that the note inside the wallet was still there and felt relieved.
Yuan Guang joked, “That girl’s hand was pretty fair. Wonder if she’s good-looking?”
Pei Huaiye raised an eyebrow. “Even if she were a fairy, it’d have nothing to do with me.”
“Oh? Something going on?”
Pei Huaiye thought of the girl he had stood up. Joy flashed across his face, only to dim again in an instant.
No matter what, he had to find her—and take responsibility.
“Let’s go back to the base to file a report first, then head to Shuangqiao Commune.”
……
After exiting the station, Shen Xunbao and the others saw a man in his forties or fifties holding a sign for Shuangqiao Commune, standing beside a tractor.
Su Qianqian ran over enthusiastically. “Captain Xiang, you came to pick us up?”
“Oh my! Isn’t this Su Qianqian? You’ve gotten prettier. Your parents were willing to let you go to the countryside?”
Su Qianqian quickly delivered the lines she had prepared long ago.
“Of course my parents were reluctant, but Su Qingyue just returned to the countryside and probably isn’t used to it. I wanted to accompany her, so I volunteered to go down to the countryside.”
“Living in a big city really changes a person—you never would’ve said that before,” Xiang Jianming teased cheerfully, greeting the other educated youths as well.
He glanced at Shen Xunbao and Su Qingyue. “This year’s educated youths are all good-looking!”
“One group already left. Now that everyone’s here, let’s head back to the commune!”
Zhou Wenfang was extremely reluctant to ride the tractor. It was deafeningly loud—you had to shout just to talk.
Su Qingyue was choked by the dust kicked up along the way and coughed nonstop, but seeing the green mountains, clear waters, and wildflowers lifted her spirits considerably.
The mountain roads twisted and turned. Shuangqiao Commune was a large village nestled at the foot of the mountains, right beside a big river and not far from the county town.
Fields of wheat shimmered gold, and farmers were everywhere. One look at their darkened skin and stooped backs made it clear how hard farming was.
Thinking of how her biological parents labored day after day like this, Su Qingyue suddenly felt her nose sting.
Her biological mother had passed away earlier that year. At the time, Su Qianqian hadn’t yet been taken back, and Su Qingyue herself didn’t know her true identity—she had missed seeing her mother for the last time.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too late now to fulfill her filial duties to her father.
The tractor passed through stretches of wheat fields and streams, finally arriving at Shuangqiao Commune.
The educated youths all lived in a large compound, divided into men’s and women’s dormitories. The first group had already put away their luggage.
Dai Xiaohong and Li Yun were currently boiling water and cooking together with the village women.
As soon as Su Qianqian entered the compound, she was surrounded by villagers.
“Isn’t that Qianqian? Why are you back?”
Su Qianqian raised her voice and repeated the same explanation she’d given Captain Xiang.
“Qianqian is so sensible—she treats her younger sister so well!”
“Which one is the younger sister?”
Linking arms with Su Qingyue, Su Qianqian introduced her. “This is my younger sister, also the biological daughter of the Su family at the end of the village—Su Qingyue!”
Gasps of amazement rippled through the crowd.
“Oh heavens! We’ve never seen such a beautiful person in all ten miles around!”
“She looks just like one of those women on movie posters—her brows and eyes really resemble Zhao Ruhua. Such a pity she passed away early and never got to see her biological daughter.”
“What’s there to pity? The biological daughter got to be a young miss for seventeen years—good food, nice clothes, grew up pretty, skin as tender as tofu. That’s a huge advantage!”
“When you put it that way, it’s Su Qianqian who really lost out.”
Su Qianqian lifted her chin. This was exactly the result she wanted—everyone needed to know the grievances she had suffered.
Smiling, she handed out a fistful of White Rabbit milk candies to each auntie and child.
“My dad said I can return to the capital after a year in the countryside. I’ll be living in the educated youth dorms, so please take care of me.”
Between the lines, she made it clear she had powerful backing and would return to the city sooner or later.
The villagers, all sharp as foxes, rushed forward with flattering words.
Dai Xiaohong’s mouth hung open. Su Qianqian hadn’t looked like this at all when she humiliated her on the train.
She had even claimed her name was Su Qingyue—it turned out she’d been lying.
Dai Xiaohong felt nervous. She’d overheard earlier that this was the biological daughter of some commander in the capital—someone she absolutely couldn’t afford to offend.
Dai Xiaohong had arrived early and already bathed, her braids undone into a ponytail. Without her glasses and with her head lowered, Su Qianqian didn’t recognize her and even placed snacks into her hands.
Smiling, Su Qianqian handed out fruit candies and biscuits to everyone in the compound.
“Share them. Please take care of me in the future.”
Relieved she hadn’t been recognized, Dai Xiaohong let out a quiet sigh.
Li Yun smiled warmly. “Su Qianqian, you’re really kind. This is corn bread my mom made—have one too.”
Looking at the coarse corn bun, Su Qianqian frowned. She’d eaten far too much of that in the past. After returning to the capital and enjoying fine rice, flour, fish, and meat every day, she could no longer stomach such food.
“Thanks, but I won’t eat it. You go ahead.”
Li Yun awkwardly withdrew her hand. Su Qingyue smiled kindly at her.
“May I try some?”
Li Yun grew shy, speaking haltingly. “S-sure… you might not be used to it.”
Su Qingyue took a bite, her eyes curving with a smile. “It’s actually quite good.”
Su Qianqian’s tone carried a hint of sarcasm. “You’ll be eating coarse grains every day from now on! Come on, I’ll show you around.”
Su Mingqiang’s family lived at the end of the village. As Su Qianqian led Su Qingyue back, they attracted plenty of attention along the way.
Su Qianqian wore a red dress and small leather shoes, her short ear-length hair glossy black. She walked with her back straight and chin slightly raised.
Whenever she met someone, she said she had volunteered to go to the countryside solely to look after Su Qingyue.
Basking in the villagers’ enthusiastic praise, she continued forward with her head held high.
Because traveling by train was inconvenient, Su Qingyue wore a white shirt and black trousers.
It was an ordinary outfit, yet on her it looked clean and refreshing—strikingly beautiful.
With red lips, white teeth, and clear, bright eyes, Su Qingyue greeted the villagers gracefully and generously.
When she smiled, she bloomed like a flower—brilliant and radiant—drawing crowds to admire her. Bold children even ran up to call her “pretty sister.”
Su Qianqian was so angry her nostrils flared.
Su Qingyue replied gently, polite and approachable.
She even shared the fruit candies from her bag with the children, winning even more affection from the villagers.
Word spread from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred: in Shuangqiao Commune, there was a beautiful and kind-hearted great beauty named Su Qingyue.
The news quickly spread throughout the village and into the surrounding countryside.