They still had quite a few meat coupons and grain coupons on hand. They weren’t short on food, so it made sense to exchange them for steamed buns and stuffed buns.
Deng Minghao nodded. “Then we should also store some of the braised pork, spare ribs, and other meat dishes from lunch in the Dimensional Space.”
Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao both loved meat—they were practically carnivores. Once they went down to the countryside, the two of them would definitely have to eat with the other educated youths. From reading the novel, they knew the educated youths’ meals weren’t very good, so buying some of this would let them enjoy private meals on the side.
Over the next few days, Deng Minghao and Li Ruolan went every day to a state-run restaurant far from home, little by little moving things into the Dimensional Space.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was the seventh day. That day, Li Ruolan went to the tailor shop and picked up their padded jackets and shoes, then continued on to the state-run restaurant to buy stuffed buns, flatbread, and steamed buns.
Two more days passed like this, and they finally used up all their grain and meat coupons. The warehouse in the Dimensional Space was now filled with steaming-hot steamed buns, stuffed buns, and baked flatbreads.
There were also many portions of braised pork, braised spare ribs, beef stew with potatoes, chicken stir-fried with mushrooms, and many other meat dishes.
These dishes were all the head chef’s specialties and smelled wonderful, so Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao bought them separately—the two of them could buy five or six portions a day.
At nine o’clock tomorrow morning, they would take the train and leave this place.
That evening, in the Dimensional Space, Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao made dumplings and boiled tea eggs to eat on the train.
The night passed without dreams. Li Ruolan got up and washed only after Li Hongjun and the others had left. She left a letter on the table, and then left the house without any lingering attachments.
Only after walking out of the tube-shaped apartment building did Li Ruolan take out the bundles she had packed the night before.
The two large burlap sacks were stuffed full. They looked big, but they actually weighed almost nothing—they were just for show, meant to fool other people’s eyes.
Carrying the two large sacks over her shoulders, with a crossbody bag and a canteen, the bag held ten tea eggs and a lunchbox of dumplings, while the canteen was filled with spiritual spring water.
When Li Ruolan reached the bus stop, she saw Deng Minghao, who looked much the same as her. The two exchanged a smile, squeezed onto the bus, and headed toward the train station.
They had been drinking spiritual spring water all this time, and their physical fitness and strength had improved tremendously.
Li Ruolan was still a bit tired, but Deng Minghao was bursting with energy. By the time the two of them squeezed onto the train and settled into their seats, he hadn’t shed a single drop of sweat.
After they boarded, they waited another half hour before the train finally started moving.
Deng Minghao reached out his hand and took Li Ruolan’s. The two smiled at each other—they were finally about to embrace a new life.
People boarded at every station, and soon Li Ruolan’s car was packed with people.
The people sitting around Li Ruolan were all roughly her own age, and one look was enough to tell they were all educated youths heading down to the countryside.
Li Ruolan and Deng Minghao sat together, and next to Deng Minghao sat a male educated youth named Liu Kunming.
Across from them sat three girls.
When those three girls had first sat down, Li Ruolan had stared at them for quite a while, but she couldn’t tell which one of them was the female lead.
Li Ruolan sat in the window seat, and the girl across from her was named Li Yingying.
Ever since this educated youth had taken her seat, her eyes had been fixed on Deng Minghao and Liu Kunming—winking at one, smiling at the other, keeping herself very 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, also wearing a watch.
Perhaps that was exactly why Li Yingying kept throwing flirtatious glances at the two of them.
The two girls sitting beside Li Yingying were named Zhou Shengnan and Zheng Fanghua.
Li Ruolan had a rather good impression of these two girls—at the very least, neither of them was as frivolous as Li Yingying.
“Zheng Fanghua and I are both going to the Northeast, to be educated youths at Shengli Brigade in Qianjin Village. What about you? Are you going there too?” Zhou Shengnan asked Li Ruolan.
Li Ruolan nodded with a smile. “Yes, I’m also going to Shengli Brigade. This is my fiancé—we’re traveling together.”
Deng Minghao nodded to Zhou Shengnan and Zheng Fanghua, then unscrewed his canteen and handed it to Li Ruolan. “Have some water.”
The other four people in the seating area watched the two of them.
Zhou Shengnan said with a smile, “You two really are close.”
Li Ruolan smiled at her.
Li Yingying pursed her lips, stopped looking at Deng Minghao, and directed all her attention to Liu Kunming instead. But Liu Kunming seemed rather dull by nature and never paid her any attention.
Just as things quieted down on their side, Li Ruolan heard the six people sitting across the aisle begin introducing themselves to one another.
And then Li Ruolan heard two names: Qin Wan and Xu Tao.
Li Ruolan was instantly excited. Weren’t those the names of the male and female leads from the book?
She looked over and sure enough, saw the beautiful female lead from the novel. She was truly gorgeous, with skin like snow, fresh and lovely.
The male lead was no less impressive. Though he didn’t yet look like a business tycoon, there was an extraordinary air about him—you could tell at a glance that he was no ordinary person.
But as Li Ruolan kept watching, she suddenly felt something was off.
Xu Tao was sitting in the middle seat, and by the window next to him sat another girl. That girl wore a blue Russian-style dress, her hair in a long braid, her hands clutching tightly onto Xu Tao’s arm.
And it was the girl sitting by the window across from Xu Tao who was the female lead, Qin Wan.
What was going on here? Was the male lead two-timing?
Just as Li Ruolan was wondering, she suddenly heard the girl speak up and introduce herself. Clinging tightly to Xu Tao’s arm, she stared at Qin Wan across from her with an unfriendly look.
“I’m Guo Xiaoya, also an educated youth going to Shengli Brigade. I’m Xu Tao’s fiancée.” As Guo Xiaoya said this, she fixed her gaze firmly on Qin Wan, a hint of hostility in her eyes.
Qin Wan, who possessed a wood-element ability, sensed it and frowned, feeling utterly wronged. She hadn’t provoked Guo Xiaoya at all, had she?
And the moment Li Ruolan heard the name Guo Xiaoya, she already felt that something was very, very wrong.
Guo Xiaoya was a cannon-fodder supporting female character who didn’t appear until fairly late in the story. She had originally been Xu Tao’s fiancée.
But when Xu Tao’s whole family was sent down to the countryside, Guo Xiaoya, afraid of being implicated, broke off the engagement with him. Later, Guo Xiaoya made a poor choice in men and married a scoundrel.
The two of them were entangled for many years, and it all ended in divorce.
Only after her divorce did Guo Xiaoya learn that Xu Tao, the fiancé she had once abandoned, had gone to university, founded several factories, and become a famous businessman in the commercial world.
The Xu family elders were also unharmed, and after the turmoil ended, they were restored to their official positions.
It was only then that Guo Xiaoya realized what she had missed, so she shamelessly clung to Xu Tao, and in her growing malice, she even harmed Qin Wan and Xu Tao’s child. In the end, she was killed by Qin Wan.
But in the original book, hadn’t Guo Xiaoya and Xu Tao broken off their engagement? So why, now, had Guo Xiaoya not only failed to break off the engagement, but had even followed Xu Tao to the countryside?
Could it be… Guo Xiaoya had been reborn?