When they finally arrived at the agreed meeting place in town, “Fu Shimo” still hadn’t arrived.
A glint flashed through Su Wanyin’s eyes as she suggested going to buy a few things.
Fu Shimo happened to need to visit the post and telecommunications office as well, so he said nothing more.
Su Wanyin took back the bundle of old clothes Su Baoli had returned from his hands and headed toward the secondhand market.
Although the clothes were old, the styles were fashionable and the fabric quality wasn’t bad.
She sold them cheaply, and they were quickly bought up.
Afterward, Su Wanyin found a hidden spot and changed into an older, more mature outfit. Wrapping a headscarf around her head so that only her eyes showed, she headed toward the black market according to memories from her previous life.
The bundle of clothes hadn’t sold for much, but she still made fifty yuan. Adding the twenty-five yuan she had previously saved from mending clothes for others, she now had seventy-five yuan in total.
Su Wanyin kept fifty yuan on hand and stored the remaining twenty-five in her space temporarily.
After entering the black market, she scanned the area before heading directly to an elderly man’s stall.
She pointed at his goods.
“I’ll take all of it.”
The old man looked at the woman dressed like a married woman, unable to see her face clearly, and was astonished that the wild vegetables he casually dug up from the mountains had actually found a buyer.
He immediately sat up straighter and asked in a low voice, barely suppressing his excitement,
“Three mao per jin. There are ten jin here. You really want all of it?”
Su Wanyin nodded, then her gaze landed on a bundle of weeds casually tossed at the old man’s feet.
Suppressing her excitement, she asked,
“Grandpa, are these for sale too?”
The old man looked down at the weeds he had gathered for feeding rabbits and waved his hand cheerfully.
“If you want them, I’ll just give them to you.”
“Thank you.”
Joy filled Su Wanyin’s eyes as she accepted the bundles he tied up with hemp rope and quietly thanked him.
She quickly walked into a deserted alley she had deliberately noticed earlier. There, she stored the wild vegetables in the room inside her space and hurriedly planted the gifted weeds into the black soil.
These were priceless healing herbs for stopping bleeding and treating injuries. In the future, they would sell for at least hundreds of yuan, yet she had gotten them for free.
Back on the ox cart, she had already discovered that the space could accelerate plant growth. It even preserved harvested medicinal herbs.
After finishing everything, she returned to the market and simply bought some daily necessities and food for the journey.
She also bought snow cream and clam oil for skincare.
After all, a woman’s face was important.
She didn’t have much money, so she didn’t buy too much.
But in the eyes of several stall owners, she was already spending lavishly, and they eagerly tried to sell her more things.
Among all the items, Su Wanyin only spent heavily on a self-defense dagger before politely declining the other enthusiastic vendors.
The feeling of being held at gunpoint earlier, completely unable to resist, had been far too awful.
When Su Wanyin returned with her purchases, “Fu Shimo” had already bought the tickets.
“We’ll go straight to the station and meet my colleague there.”
Huo Wei didn’t look at her. He simply handed her a card-like train ticket and turned to leave.
Following behind him, Su Wanyin stared at his tall, imposing back with confusion in her eyes.
Why did this “fiancé” suddenly seem so much colder toward her after merely buying tickets?
She quickened her pace and asked curiously,
“Comrade Fu, did something unpleasant happen on the way?”
Huo Wei’s steps paused slightly. He accidentally met her bright and beautiful little face from the corner of his eye, then quickly looked away.
“No.”
His voice remained cold as he sped up again.
Su Wanyin frowned at the way he looked like he was being chased by ghosts and gave up trying to catch up.
Instead, she slowed down and leisurely followed behind.
Huo Wei quickly arrived at the station and met up with Fu Shimo.
“Why are you walking so fast?” Fu Shimo frowned and looked behind him. “Where is she?”
Huo Wei’s square face froze. Turning around and realizing she wasn’t there, he scratched his head in annoyance.
“I think I walked too fast and lost her!”
“That’s how you escort someone?” Fu Shimo’s expression darkened.
Huo Wei looked at him委屈edly.
“But didn’t you say she might be a spy, so I should stay alert and keep my distance from her?”
“…”
Fu Shimo rubbed his forehead speechlessly and let out an irritated breath.
“Keeping your distance doesn’t mean letting her run off. What if she went to meet enemy contacts?”
Huo Wei’s expression immediately turned serious.
“T-Then what do we do? Should I go back and look for her now?”
Fu Shimo’s eyes darkened, his brows knotting tightly together.
Earlier, he had called his father from the telecommunications office to explain his suspicions about Su Wanyin, only to be harshly scolded.
But Su Wanyin had suddenly appeared right after his secret mission ended, precisely when he had just shaken off those troublesome pursuers. She even knew he was injured and recognized the herbs he had just changed at his hidden recovery location.
Matters concerning national security forced him to remain cautious.
Suddenly, Huo Wei’s tiger-like eyes lit up.
“Commander, she’s back!”
Fu Shimo snapped out of his thoughts and looked in the direction Huo Wei pointed.
Su Wanyin leisurely walked over while drinking a bottle of soda. Her red lips were stained with droplets of liquid, glistening temptingly.
Meeting Fu Shimo’s dark, complicated gaze and then Huo Wei’s eager expression, her hand holding the soda paused slightly.
After hesitating, she took out two bottles from her plastic bag and handed them over.
“Would you like some too?” Su Wanyin asked politely with a flawless smile.
“We don’t need it. You can keep—”
Huo Wei had just coldly waved his hand to refuse when the man beside him suddenly reached out and took one.
His words got stuck in his throat.
Fu Shimo calmly twisted open the cap and took a slow sip.
“Thank you.”
Huo Wei: ???
“You’re welcome.”
The smile on Su Wanyin’s face remained perfect, though her back teeth nearly ground together audibly.
He really had the nerve to drink it. She shouldn’t have offered.
Fu Shimo glanced at her impeccable smile before raising the bottle and draining the soda in one go.
Su Wanyin secretly curled her lips.
What a water buffalo.
A fifty-cent soda treated like plain water.
The three of them boarded the green train together.
The station was packed with people carrying large bags and bundles. As Su Wanyin squeezed into the carriage, her thin body was shoved around violently.
Suddenly, someone stepped hard on her foot.
“Hiss—”
She sucked in a breath of pain.
The person who stepped on her was a fat middle-aged woman wearing a floral blouse. After seeing that Su Wanyin was only a young girl, the woman not only failed to apologize but shoved her even farther back before striding arrogantly into the carriage.
Su Wanyin staggered from being squeezed by the woman’s bulky body.
Just as she began falling backward, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and steadied her.
“Be careful.”
Fu Shimo released her after helping her regain balance and reminded her in a deep voice.
After standing upright again, Su Wanyin glared hatefully at the fat woman who had already forced her way into the carriage and couldn’t help saying,
“She was the rude one pushing me.”
The sharp-eared woman immediately turned around angrily.
“You little brat, who are you calling rude?”
“Whoever answered me.”
Su Wanyin coldly swept her gaze over the woman without backing down.
“You little bitch!”
Noticing the surrounding crowd watching the spectacle, the middle-aged woman cursed loudly.
“Whose child is this? Aren’t her parents going to control her?”
Su Wanyin hadn’t expected to be mistaken for a child.
Looking down at her own thin little body, she felt somewhat helpless.
All the good food at home had always gone to Su Baoli. It was already fortunate she hadn’t starved to death.
Seeing that no adult came forward for her, the middle-aged woman rolled up her sleeves and became even more arrogant.
“You little wild child with no parents to teach you! If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll discipline you for your family next time!”