Jiang Lai returned to the bedroom and locked the door behind her.
She shared the room with Jiang Bao’er, separated only by a hanging curtain.
It wasn’t safe to keep her household registration booklet and money in a shoulder bag on the train. Jiang Lai dug out a sewing kit, folded a handkerchief into a square, and stitched it onto her underwear as a hidden pocket.
She had never touched a needle in either of her two lives; the stitches were crooked and messy, and she pricked her fingers so many times they bled.
When she tried it on, though, the result wasn’t bad.
By the time she finished, the clock on the table was nearing half past nine. Jiang Lai yawned, closed the door, and went to sleep.
As she lay down, she heard Jiang Bao’er tossing and turning behind the curtain.
After a while, Jiang Bao’er couldn’t hold it in any longer. “My mom won’t harm you.”
Jiang Lai had been thinking of how to get rid of her. Her voice sounded lazy as she replied, “Then let’s make a deal. Tomorrow, you can’t tell anyone. You’ll go out yourself and ask around about the Liu family. If their conditions are good and I misunderstood your mom, then I’ll marry. I’ll even give you my job so you don’t have to go to the countryside. Deal?”
Jiang Bao’er’s breathing suddenly grew heavy. After a moment of silence, she said, “Let me make this clear first—I’m not doing it for the job. I just want to prove my mom is innocent.”
Jiang Lai let out a snort and turned over, closing her eyes.
She didn’t sleep well at all.
The mattress was stuffed with straw and old cotton, stiff and lumpy, and Jiang Lai, new to this place, couldn’t get used to it.
When she got up the next morning, her face was pale and sour-looking.
Her fingers, especially the ones she’d used sewing the pocket last night, were a mess—blue, purple, and bruised.
Director Gao was startled at the sight. “Girl, did your stepmother mess with you again?”
Jiang Lai’s eyes reddened. She didn’t explain—she let Director Gao imagine the rest.
“That damned Zhou Chuanfang! One face in public, another at home. Her own daughter is a treasure, but her husband’s first wife’s child is just something to grind under her heel. Her heart is pitch-black!”
Director Gao cursed furiously, looking at Jiang Lai with love and pity. “Girl, you’ve suffered all these years, haven’t you?”
Jiang Lai forced a brave smile.
If Zhou Chuanfang hadn’t schemed over the original Jiang Lai’s marriage, the original wouldn’t have died from domestic violence. Digging a trap in return—wasn’t that fair?
“Little sister.” Director Gao’s older sister finally arrived.
It wasn’t convenient to speak outside, so the three of them moved into a small side room.
After some polite small talk, Director Gao got to the point. “Lai Lai, the going price for selling a job slot is around six hundred yuan. The meat processing factory has good benefits, so my sister will add two hundred more. We can’t gather that much cash all at once, but we have various ration and supply coupons. Would that be alright?”
Jiang Lai nodded readily. “That’s fine.”
Last night she’d counted the original owner’s belongings—there wasn’t even a single dime.
The original was lazy and spoiled, living off her family after graduation, dreaming day and night about becoming an official’s wife. Her biggest worries were getting pocket money, buying pretty dresses, drinking soda, and watching movies.
Now Jiang Lai only had the meat ration tickets Jiang Jianjun had given her the previous night. Director Gao’s offer was exactly what she needed.
The HR department at the meat factory had already been greased. The paperwork went incredibly smoothly.
When it was done, Director Gao stuffed a thick envelope into Jiang Lai’s hands, along with an introductory letter from the neighborhood committee.
“Lai Lai, did you bring your household registration booklet?”
Jiang Lai behaved perfectly obedient. “I did.”
Director Gao patted her shoulder appreciatively. “Good. Go buy your train ticket now. There’s a train to Shenzhou at eleven-thirty. Once you arrive, remember to call Auntie and tell me you got there safely.”
She rattled off a long list of instructions. Jiang Lai listened sweetly, nodding like she didn’t quite understand. Dimples appeared on her cheeks from time to time, and her smile was so sugary sweet that she looked like a pretty kitten about to wander off into the world—adorable and utterly unprepared.
Director Gao escorted her all the way to the bus and still couldn’t relax. She walked back to work with her heart hanging high, unaware that not far away, a man was watching intently.
The train station was packed.
Jiang Lai had good luck—someone ahead returned a ticket, and she snagged the very last hard-seat ticket.
As for a sleeper berth? Impossible. In this era, such tickets were practically an administrative privilege, out of reach for ordinary people.
It meant she would be sitting for two days and a night before reaching Shenzhou City.
There was still more than an hour until departure. Without wasting time, Jiang Lai went to the state-run restaurant to eat.
It was summer; food spoiled easily.
And in 1973, long-distance trains sold boxed meals, so she didn’t plan on bringing much food. She ordered braised fish with rice and ate her fill, then bought two large meat buns for dinner.
Before leaving, she caught sight of herself reflected in the restaurant’s glass door and paused.
The original owner’s looks were far too eye-catching.
Fair skin, beautiful face, a dress hugging her slim waist—she attracted attention wherever she stood.
Just by lingering at the doorway for half a minute, she had people staring left and right.
A young, pretty, delicate woman traveling alone on a train wasn’t safe. She’d be an easy target for thieves or human traffickers.
Her apricot eyes flickered as she turned to the waitress.
“Comrade, I’d like to make a deal with you…”
Ten minutes later, Jiang Lai had changed into patched clothes. Her thick, glossy braids were coiled up and wrapped under an indigo headscarf, her face smeared with soot from the bottom of a pot.
The original owner had such good features that even with a darker complexion she was still a beauty—but no longer so conspicuous.
Checking the time, she hurried back to the station. It was already eleven, and the loudspeakers blared:
“Attention, passengers. Train K389 to Shencheng is now boarding…”
It wasn’t the departing station, so it would only stop for fifteen minutes. Crowds surged to board.
The conductor yelled, “Don’t push! Line up! If you bought a seat, you’ll have a seat!”
Jiang Lai had only a shoulder bag, nothing else. She hung back a step, planning to board after the crowd thinned.
Just then, several familiar figures rushed past her, scrambling to peer through the train windows.
Her scumbag father and his family!
Jiang Lai’s brows twitched slightly.
What was happening?
They shouldn’t have realized she left so soon—unless…
Unless Jiang Bao’er had spilled everything, making Zhou Chuanfang suspicious enough to investigate and discover she’d run.
“Comrade, I think my eldest daughter is on this train. Please, let me go up and find her.”
There were too many people to see clearly through the windows, so Jiang Jianjun had no choice but to beg the conductor.
Zhou Chuanfang chimed in, “Yes, yes! My stepdaughter is supposed to get engaged this afternoon, but she took the household registration and ran away!”
“Comrade, just five minutes. We’ll find her and get off, we won’t cause any trouble.”