In 1969, Haishi.
Inside a luxurious villa.
“Miss Cheng, first of all, please accept my condolences.”
A woman in her fifties looked sorrowfully at Cheng Junyi, who was sitting upright on the sofa.
Seeing that she showed no reaction, the woman continued, “Miss Cheng, I’m here to inform you that you’ve been assigned to work in the countryside.”
Cheng Junyi lifted her eyelids slightly before lowering them again. In a gentle voice, she asked, “I’m the only person left in my family, and I never signed up to go to the countryside. So why have you come to inform me about this?”
Hearing this, the woman looked troubled. She sincerely advised Cheng Junyi, “Miss Cheng, I know this isn’t in accordance with the rules, but… you should still go to the countryside!”
“Give me a reason.”
Cheng Junyi looked at the woman curiously. She found the situation rather strange. The woman didn’t seem to harbor any ill will toward her. On the contrary, she appeared to be acting out of kindness.
The woman sighed. “I’ll be honest with you. I was the one who secretly put your name on the list.”
Cheng Junyi was surprised. She certainly hadn’t expected that.
She didn’t seem to know this woman very well, and they had no grievances between them. Why would she do such a thing?
Cheng Junyi remained silent, simply watching the woman and waiting for her to explain further.
The woman’s expression grew distant. She stared in one direction, her eyes unfocused, as though she had remembered something from the past.
“I’ve lived here since I was a child. When I was young, my family fell on hard times. Your grandfather was the one who continually helped us. He even arranged jobs for my parents.”
She turned to look at Cheng Junyi.
“So, I can’t stand by and watch something happen to you!”
Cheng Junyi asked in surprise, “What could possibly happen to me?”
The woman shot her an exasperated look.
“Don’t you have any idea how strikingly beautiful you are? And what about this house? Do you know how many people have their eyes on it?”
After hearing this, Cheng Junyi thought about it seriously. Given the circumstances of the current era, living alone in such a large villa would indeed attract unwanted attention.
“Is someone trying to take my house?”
“It’s not just your house they’re after. They’re also interested in you.”
“Me? Is someone trying to force me into marriage? I can report that to the Public Security Bureau. As for this house, the state has already agreed that it belongs to our family. Are you saying someone wants to seize it by force?”
Seeing how clueless Cheng Junyi was, the woman grew increasingly worried.
Although government policies had changed, many people still clung to old-fashioned attitudes.
There were especially many petty, gossipy people who couldn’t stand seeing others doing well.
More importantly, the current political situation was extremely unfavorable.
“It’s true that they can’t force you into marriage outright. But what if someone keeps pestering you and resorts to underhanded methods? Even if you report them to the Public Security Bureau, your reputation could still be ruined.”
“As for the house, there’s a housing shortage right now. Most villas like yours are occupied by government officials and their entire extended families. You’re living alone in such a huge villa, which makes you an obvious target.”
The most important thing was that Cheng Junyi was now alone, with no one to protect her!
“I suspect someone from the subdistrict office will come to see you soon and demand that you rent out your extra rooms. When that happens, you’ll have to live with all those people. Would you be willing to do that?”
“Besides, even if you refuse, they’ll eventually force you to rent the rooms out anyway. Although your grandfather donated a great deal of property, the rest of your family secretly fled overseas. That’s considered treason a grave stain on your family’s reputation.”
“Many people are deliberately plotting against you. Do you really think you can live peacefully in the city? Especially now that your grandfather is gone, you’re far too vulnerable living here alone.”
Cheng Junyi frowned. The situation really was troublesome.
“Is going to the countryside my only option?”
The woman nodded.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already made the necessary arrangements. You’ll be sent to Baoshan Commune in Jilin Province. It’s not a poor area, and the climate is quite pleasant.”
“Also, you don’t need to worry about living expenses. After you leave, I’ll rent out this villa and send you the rent every month. That money will be enough to support you. You won’t need to exhaust yourself earning work points in the countryside, either. Just find something relatively easy to do.”
Cheng Junyi considered it for a moment. That would work. She would simply be moving somewhere else to live.
As for money, she was even less concerned. She knew exactly where the Cheng family’s treasure vault was.
What surprised her more was that she would be going to Jilin Province. According to her memories, one of the treasure vaults was located there.
Ever since the original Cheng Junyi turned ten, her grandfather had taken her to three different treasure locations.
He had also instructed her, “All of these treasures belong to you. Don’t give them to those unworthy descendants of the family.”
Since the treasures had been left to the original owner, and Cheng Junyi had now taken over her body, they naturally belonged to her.
Collecting the treasures would be especially convenient for the transmigrated Cheng Junyi because she possessed a spatial dimension.
She looked at the woman.
“Fine. I agree to go to the countryside. When will I be leaving?”
Upon hearing her agreement, the woman smiled with relief.
“In seven days. Use this time to sort out your belongings so that the people renting the house won’t damage them.”
Cheng Junyi nodded. As she walked the woman to the door, she asked, “May I ask your surname, Auntie?”
The woman smiled and playfully corrected her. “You should call me Auntie, not Big Sister. My name is Liu Datao.”
Cheng Junyi smiled gently.
“Auntie Liu, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of the house rental arrangements from now on.”
Liu Datao waved her hand casually.
“It’s no trouble. It’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Indeed, it was her duty. She was a household servant whom the old master had specifically left behind to look after Cheng Junyi.
However, the old master had forbidden her from revealing her identity or interfering too much in Cheng Junyi’s affairs. He had only instructed her to arrange for Cheng Junyi to go to the countryside and secretly help her whenever necessary.
After seeing Liu Datao off, Cheng Junyi returned to her room and threw herself onto the bed.
She missed her parents.
She wasn’t originally from this world. She had come from another world that had been ravaged by the apocalypse. After the apocalypse ended, spiritual energy returned, transforming it into a vibrant, entirely new world.
She had been born after the apocalypse ended.
Her parents were survivors who had endured twenty years of the apocalypse. They were among the strongest people in their world. In the second year after spiritual energy returned, they gave birth to her. At that time, they were both already in their forties.
With spiritual energy restored, everyone began cultivating, and naturally, she could cultivate as well.
Fortunately, she possessed excellent talent. By the age of eighteen, she had already surpassed her parents. She reached Foundation Establishment at thirty and formed her Golden Core at fifty-six. Her path to immortality had been exceptionally promising.
Who could have imagined that an expedition into a secret realm would transport her to this world without the slightest warning?
At the time, she had been fifty-nine years old.
She didn’t mind living in a different environment. What troubled her was being separated from her parents. She missed them terribly.
Getting up, she sat down at her desk and twirled a pen between her fingers, beginning to organize the memories she had received.
The Cheng family was an influential clan with a history spanning more than three hundred years. The wealth they had accumulated over that time was beyond measure.
During the years of war and turmoil, the old master had donated a great deal of the family’s property to support the resistance against the invading forces. As a result, the family’s assets had shrunk considerably, leaving many relatives dissatisfied. However, no one could do anything about it because the old master had the final say.
After the founding of the People’s Republic, government policies toward capitalists and wealthy peasants were far from favorable.
The Cheng family’s descendants grew increasingly anxious and urged the old master to move to Hong Kong, but he refused.
Eventually, they secretly took a vast amount of wealth and fled overseas without informing him.
Only the two-year-old Cheng Junyi and the old master remained behind.
The original Cheng Junyi was an illegitimate child, born from a one-night affair between the old master’s second son, Cheng Bowen, and a woman outside his marriage.
Her mother, Bai Ling, was an ordinary university student. She was young and inexperienced, and she dreamed of finding a Prince Charming.
Cheng Bowen’s name contained the character for wen, which was associated with literary refinement. However, his appearance and temperament were anything but scholarly. He was handsome and rugged, with a strong, masculine presence and not the slightest hint of weakness.
A few sweet words were all it took for him to win Bai Ling over.
But after she became pregnant, she panicked and finally woke up from the sweet promises Cheng Bowen had fed her.
She went to the Cheng family, not because she wanted anything from them, but because a new law establishing monogamy had just been promulgated that year.
She approached the Cheng family simply because she wanted to terminate the pregnancy quietly, without attracting attention.
Cheng Bowen had a long history of romantic affairs. When his wife, Jiang Man, learned that Bai Ling had come to their door, she wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
She merely asked calmly what Bai Ling wanted.
After learning about Bai Ling’s intentions, Jiang Man thought more highly of her and agreed to help her deal with the pregnancy.