They still had quite a few meat coupons and grain coupons left. They were not short on grain, so it was better to exchange them for steamed buns and stuffed buns.
Deng Minghao nodded. “Then let’s also store some meat dishes like braised pork and ribs for lunch and put them into the space.”
Both Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao loved meat and could be considered true carnivores. Once they went down to the countryside, they would definitely be eating together with the educated youths. From reading novels, Li Ruolan already knew that the food for educated youths was not very good. Buying these in advance would allow them to cook special meals for themselves.
Over the next few days, Deng Minghao and Li Ruolan went every day to state-run restaurants that were farther from home, slowly moving food into the space bit by bit.
Time quickly came to the seventh day. That day, Li Ruolan went to the tailor shop to pick up the padded clothes and shoes, then continued on to the state-run restaurants to buy buns, flatbreads, and steamed buns.
After another two days like this, they finally used up all the grain and meat coupons in their hands. Meanwhile, the warehouse in the space was filled with many steaming hot steamed buns, stuffed buns, and baked flatbreads.
There were also many portions of braised pork, braised ribs, beef stewed with potatoes, chicken stewed with mushrooms, and other meat dishes.
These dishes were all specialties of the head chefs and smelled incredibly good. Because of that, Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao went separately to buy them. Together, they could buy five or six portions a day.
At nine o’clock tomorrow morning, they would be taking the train and leaving this place.
That evening in the space, Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao made dumplings and also boiled tea eggs, preparing food to eat on the train.
They slept through the night without dreams. Li Ruolan only got up to wash and freshen up after Li Hongjun and the others had left. She left a letter on the table, then departed this home without any lingering attachments.
After walking out of the apartment building, Li Ruolan finally took out the packages she had packed the night before.
Two large burlap sacks, filled to the brim. They looked bulky, but in reality they weighed almost nothing. They were only taken out as a cover to fool others.
She carried the two large sacks, slung a crossbody bag and a canteen over her shoulder. Inside the bag were ten tea eggs and one lunchbox of dumplings. The canteen was filled with spirit spring water.
When Li Ruolan reached the bus stop, she also saw Deng Minghao, who was similarly loaded down. The two exchanged smiles, squeezed onto the bus, and headed toward the train station.
During this period, they had been drinking spirit spring water continuously. Their physical condition and strength had improved greatly.
Li Ruolan felt a bit tired, but Deng Minghao was full of energy. After squeezing onto the train and sitting down, he was not even sweating.
After boarding, they waited another half an hour before the train finally started moving.
Deng Minghao reached out and held Li Ruolan’s hand. They looked at each other and smiled. At last, they were about to welcome a new life.
People boarded the train at every stop. Before long, their carriage was packed full.
The people sitting in front of, behind, and around Li Ruolan were all about their age. One glance was enough to tell they were all educated youths going down to the countryside.
Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao were seated together. Next to Deng Minghao sat a male educated youth named Liu Kunming.
Across from them sat three girls.
When those three girls had just sat down, Li Ruolan had stared at them for quite a while but still could not tell which one was the female lead.
Li Ruolan was sitting by the window. The girl across from her was named Li Yingying.
Ever since this educated youth took her seat, her eyes had been glued to Deng Minghao and Liu Kunming. One moment she was blinking at one, the next she was smiling at the other, constantly busy.
Today, Deng Minghao was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, with a Rolex on his wrist. Liu Kunming was dressed the same way and was also wearing a watch.
It was probably because of this that Li Yingying kept batting her eyelashes at the two of them.
Sitting beside Li Yingying were two other girls. One was named Zhou Shengnan, and the other was Zheng Fanghua.
Li Ruolan’s impression of these two girls was quite good. At the very least, they were not as frivolous as Li Yingying.
“Zheng Fanghua and I are both going to the Northeast, to Qianjin Village, Shengli Brigade, as educated youths. How about you? Are you going there too?” Zhou Shengnan asked Li Ruolan.
Li Ruolan smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m also going to the Shengli Brigade. This is my partner. We’re going together.”
Deng Minghao nodded to Zhou Shengnan and Zheng Fanghua, then twisted open the canteen and handed it to Li Ruolan. “Have some water.”
The other four people at this set of seats all watched their movements.
Zhou Shengnan smiled and said, “You two really have a good relationship.”
Li Ruolan smiled back at her.
Li Yingying curled her lips, stopped looking at Deng Minghao, and instead focused all her attention on Liu Kunming. However, Liu Kunming seemed rather dull in personality and did not respond to her at all.
Just as it quieted down on their side, Li Ruolan heard the six people seated across the aisle begin introducing themselves.
Then she heard the names Qin Wan and Xu Tao.
Li Ruolan immediately felt excited. Weren’t these the names of the male and female leads from the book?
She looked over and indeed saw the beautiful female lead from the novel. She was truly pretty, with skin as white as snow and a fresh, delicate appearance.
The male lead was no less impressive. Although he did not yet look like a future business tycoon, his overall bearing was extraordinary. At a glance, one could tell he was not a simple person.
As Li Ruolan kept watching, she suddenly felt that something was off.
Xu Tao was sitting in the middle seat. Beside him, in the window seat, sat another girl wearing a blue dress with a long braid. She was clinging tightly to Xu Tao’s arm with both hands.
Across from Xu Tao, by the window, was the female lead, Qin Wan.
What was going on here? Had the male lead cheated?
As Li Ruolan was thinking this, she suddenly heard the girl speak up and introduce herself. She clutched Xu Tao’s arm tightly and cast an unfriendly look at Qin Wan sitting across from her.
“My name is Guo Xiaoya. I’m also an educated youth going to Shengli Brigade. I’m Xu Tao’s fiancée.” As Guo Xiaoya said this, she stared hard at Qin Wan, hostility evident in her eyes.
Qin Wan possessed a wood-type ability. Sensing this, she frowned, feeling completely innocent. She did not think she had provoked Guo Xiaoya at all.
As for Li Ruolan, the moment she heard the name Guo Xiaoya, she already felt that something was very, very wrong.
Guo Xiaoya was a cannon-fodder female supporting character who only appeared relatively late in the original story. She had originally been Xu Tao’s fiancée.
But when Xu Tao’s entire family was sent down, Guo Xiaoya feared being implicated and broke off the engagement. Later, she married the wrong person and ended up with a scumbag.
The two became entangled for many years and eventually divorced.
After the divorce, Guo Xiaoya learned that the fiancé she had once abandoned, Xu Tao, had gone to university, opened several factories, and become a famous businessman.
The elders of the Xu family were also fine. After the turmoil, they all returned to their original posts.
Only then did Guo Xiaoya realize what she had missed. She shamelessly pestered Xu Tao again and even, driven by malice, harmed the child of Qin Wan and Xu Tao. In the end, she was killed by Qin Wan.
In the original book, didn’t it say that Guo Xiaoya and Xu Tao had already broken off their engagement? So why had Guo Xiaoya not only failed to break it off, but even followed Xu Tao down to the countryside?
Could it be that Guo Xiaoya had been reborn?