Xu Duoduo and Xu Ting arrived beneath the bus stop sign just as the countryside bus pulled in.
Since this was the starting station, there weren’t many passengers yet.
“The five of us should sit in the last row together,” Zhou Rong arranged immediately. “We’ll leave one seat open for the luggage.
“The bags go by the window. Duoduo, you sit beside the luggage. I’ll sit next to you, so you can lean on me if you want to sleep.
“Xiaoting gets the other window seat because she gets carsick. Xiaobu, sit beside her and take care of your little sister.
“Ergen, you sit in the middle.”
Not long after everyone boarded, the bus started moving.
As the vehicle turned a corner, Xu Duoduo casually lifted her head—
—and spotted the girl in the plaid dress who had just brushed past her earlier.
The girl was standing where Xu Ting had been waiting moments ago, anxiously looking around as though expecting someone.
Not far down the road, Xu Duoduo also noticed those Red Armband people gathered in a circle discussing something.
Though the distance was great, her crystal-enhanced senses allowed her to hear clearly.
“How did he get hit by a vehicle? We still need to take him to the hospital. Where did the bag he was carrying go? Hurry and search along the road…”
The bus rattled onward.
The rocking motion made Xu Duoduo close her eyes.
She remembered the original novel.
The main reason the heroine Lin Weiwei agreed to date Xu Dahai was because she had spent too much time at home trying on outfit after outfit before going out to meet someone.
As a result, she arrived several minutes late and missed the person her father had arranged to deliver her living expenses for the next half-year.
Without money, and already accustomed to spending freely, Lin Weiwei soon had nothing to eat.
On top of that, she feared being coerced by the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee.
So she accepted Xu Dahai’s pursuit.
Mm. Excellent.
Thanks to Xu Duoduo’s rebirth and the tiny butterfly effect she created, the things Lin Weiwei’s father had sent had now conveniently fallen into her own hands.
She had accidentally stolen the heroine’s opportunity.
The living expenses of a capitalist young miss for half a year!
Tonight, when she had time, she’d definitely check how much there was.
Hehehe.
With a cheerful smile at the corners of her mouth, Xu Duoduo leaned against the luggage and fell fast asleep.
“We’re almost at the edge of town. Lots of villagers will be boarding soon. Wake up and hold onto your belongings!”
The conductor’s shouting woke Xu Duoduo.
Opening her eyes, she looked out the window.
Good lord.
At least forty or fifty people crowded outside, running after the slowly moving bus.
“Don’t push! Don’t push! If you can’t get on this one, another bus comes in half an hour!” the conductor shouted loudly.
People squeezed against one another.
Xu Duoduo watched with fascination as an auntie who had already gotten one foot onto the bus was suddenly yanked back down by someone behind her.
“Ahhh! Who’s so shameless? I already got on!” the woman screeched.
Luckily she didn’t fall.
There were simply too many people.
In the next moment, countless hands shoved her right back onto the bus anyway.
Amazing.
Xu Duoduo watched the chaos with interest.
“Little girl, could you move your bag a bit so I can get in?”
A young man wearing the era’s popular green military uniform leaned through the bus window while speaking.
“Oh. Sure.”
Xu Duoduo moved the family’s luggage toward Zhou Rong’s side.
Then—
Before she could react, the young man directly climbed through the window and dropped into the seat where the luggage had been.
What kind of bizarre boarding method was this? There was a door, but he insisted on climbing through the window.
“Auntie, let me help put your luggage on the rack.”
The young man in green suddenly sprang up again and hopped over to Zhou Rong.
Was this guy part monkey?
How had he jumped all the way there again?
“Move inward a little. There are too many people now. Someone might squeeze into you later.” Zhou Rong nudged Xu Duoduo closer to the window before squeezing beside her herself.
With so many passengers boarding now, leaving luggage on a seat would definitely annoy people.
Xu Duoduo and Zhou Rong shifted over, freeing Zhou Rong’s original seat.
Zhou Rong nodded gratefully toward the green-uniformed young man after he placed their luggage onto the overhead rack.
“Young man, sit here.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
The young man grinned and plopped directly into Zhou Rong’s former seat.
The seats occupied by the young man and Xu Ergen were basically the legendary “left and right ministers of the imperial court.”
In other words—the worst seats on the bus.
One sudden brake and they’d go flying headfirst because there were no seats ahead to block them.
Anyone sitting there had to hold tightly onto the seat backs in front.
Still, having a seat at all was better than standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the crowd.
“Hey, little girl, move over a bit. That child is so tiny—you can just hold her. Why does she need a whole seat? Where are the rest of us supposed to sit?”
The bus was now completely packed.
A woman in her thirties squeezed near the back pointed at Xu Ting while complaining.
Xu Ting was so thin and small that occupying a seat had begun irritating people.
“No. We got here first.” Xu Bu refused immediately.
“Alright, everyone at the back who hasn’t bought tickets yet, buy your tickets now!” the conductor suddenly shouted.
The complaining auntie instantly crouched down and stopped making noise.
After the late passengers finished buying tickets and the conductor checked earlier tickets, he squeezed back toward the front.
The bus slowly lurched forward again.
“Hey! Stop shoving! I can’t even stand properly anymore!”
Then she pointed again.
“You there. Hurry up and give up the seat.”
The moment the bus started moving again, the auntie who had successfully avoided ticket inspection reached for Xu Bu’s arm.
Xu Ergen immediately slapped her hand away.
“Don’t bully the child.”
Damn it.
Xu Duoduo was just about to stand up—
“Conductor! Someone here evaded the fare!”
The green-uniformed young man suddenly shouted loudly, his voice incredibly penetrating.
“Who evaded the fare? Who’s undermining socialism?” the conductor roared.
Incredibly, despite how tightly packed the bus already was, the crowd somehow created enough space for the conductor to charge over.
“Her! That auntie right there! Exploiting socialist public transportation and bullying the flowers of the motherland!” the green-uniformed youth declared righteously.
The auntie froze mid-motion while grabbing Xu Bu.
“Ticket money. Full-route fare, fifty cents. Pay up,” the conductor barked.
“I only got on recently! It should be thirty cents! Why should I pay fifty?” the auntie protested.
“If you board without buying a ticket and get caught, you pay the full-route fare. Don’t know the rules?”
The conductor clearly dealt with this sort often.
“You little conductor sure are fierce. What, trying to squeeze extra money out of me? Planning to pocket it yourself?” the woman shouted loudly.
“This person is exploiting socialism and freeloading off the socialist bus system while slandering our hardworking comrade conductor. Should we let someone like this ride?”
The conductor turned toward the other passengers.
The crowd immediately ignited with righteous enthusiasm.
“Throw her off!”
“Don’t let her freeload!”
“Yeah! Kick her out!”
The auntie tried arguing again—
—but before she could finish, the furious passengers literally grabbed and kicked her off the bus together.
The countryside bus slowly continued onward.
Meanwhile, Xu Duoduo kept watching the young man in green as the bus swayed.
He seemed to sense her gaze.
Turning around, he glanced at her and gave a small nod.
Earlier, when he had jumped past her, Xu Duoduo had caught a faint trace of blood in the air.
And when he helped store the luggage, from her seated angle she had clearly spotted white bandages hidden beneath the hem of his uniform jacket.
During the chaos of throwing the fare-dodging woman off the bus, the young man had remained sitting sideways, deliberately placing his back between Zhou Rong and Xu Duoduo in a protective posture while gripping the front seat with one hand.
As long as he meant no harm to her family, Xu Duoduo decided not to pry further.
After all—
everyone had their own little secrets.
Feeling reassured, she relaxed once more and drifted back to sleep with the rocking motion of the bus.