On the train heading to the northwest, Yao Zheng’s expression was extremely grim. He couldn’t understand how someone had suddenly reported him. He had also suspected Qin Ziqi, but after having someone investigate, he learned that during the time the report letters had been delivered, Qin Ziqi had remained at the guesthouse and never gone out.
Since it wasn’t her, it was most likely the Zheng family. They were the only ones who might have had something against him. But if the Zheng family had reported him, there was no reason for them to drag the Lu family into it. Yao Zheng’s brows furrowed tightly. Could there be someone else who disliked both families?
Yao Zhenzhen was furious as well. She had finally managed to marry into the Lu family, so what had gone wrong? Why had she been sent down to the countryside? If she had known this would happen, she would have been better off simply going to the countryside as a young intellectual!
Yao Zhenzhen looked at Lu Chenghua without the gentle affection she used to show him. Her eyes were practically shooting daggers. It was all this useless man’s fault. He had been involved in reselling supplies and had even kept evidence of his crimes at home.
“Zhenzhen, do you want some water?” Lu Chenghua asked dejectedly. But he was a man, after all, and now that he and Yao Zhenzhen had already slept together and she was officially his wife, he still took out his water bottle and handed it to her.
“I don’t want it. Take it away.” Yao Zhenzhen’s tone was openly hostile.
Lu Dingbang, who had originally been thinking just like Yao Zheng about who could have done this and had even asked people to investigate without finding anything, saw the attitude of his newly married daughter-in-law toward his son, and his expression became even uglier.
Tao Juxiang immediately cursed, “Yao Zhenzhen, what kind of attitude is that toward your husband? I knew it. Ever since my family married a jinx like you, we’ve had nothing but bad luck. A bastard daughter like you is nothing but an embarrassment.”
Hearing that, Yao Zheng glared fiercely at her. “In-law, watch what you say.”
“You think you’re still the high-and-mighty director of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative? What gives you the right to insult my daughter?” Zhao Xinhua was furious. Not only had someone reported her family, but all the family’s money had disappeared as well.
It was only when they were packing their belongings that she discovered Yao Zheng had secretly hidden quite a bit of money from her. But now all of it was gone. She only had the seven or eight hundred yuan she had managed to save herself. How could that possibly be enough to survive ten years of being sent to the northwest?
When people being sent down to the countryside packed their belongings, they were watched from beginning to end, and many things weren’t allowed to be taken. Once they arrived there, they didn’t even know whether they would be able to buy anything.
Now that her own daughter was being insulted by her mother-in-law, Zhao Xinhua’s anger naturally spilled over onto Tao Juxiang.
“You’re just a person being sent down now yourself, yet you still look down on my daughter? If you’re so capable, tell your son not to marry her! Your son was the one who seduced my daughter. Who are you blaming?”
Tao Juxiang completely forgot about the people watching them nearby. She shot to her feet and reached out to slap Zhao Xinhua.
“Your daughter is nothing but a shameless slut! My son only had to crook his little finger, and she threw herself at him without any dignity! I’ve never seen a girl this shameless. She doesn’t have the slightest bit of modesty. Well, I suppose whatever kind of mother raises whatever kind of daughter!”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Zhao Xinhua slapped Tao Juxiang’s hand away.
“Did I say anything wrong? Yao Zhenzhen is an illegitimate daughter. And what does ‘illegitimate daughter’ mean? It means she was born because her parents had a child without getting married. You weren’t even married, yet you let a man sleep with you. If that isn’t being shameless, then what is?”
Inside the cramped train compartment, the two in-laws who had still been chatting and laughing together just a few days ago began fighting outright.
Watching this scene, Yao Zhenzhen couldn’t help feeling resentment.
Why had her parents slept together without getting married and given birth to her, forcing her to endure such a humiliating situation now?
She conveniently forgot how proud she had been before when she learned that Yao Zheng was her biological father.
She also hated the Lu family. She had only been married for two days, hadn’t even enjoyed any of the good life she had dreamed of, and had already been sent down to the countryside with them. Yet they still had the nerve to insult her.
If Qin Ziqi knew about this, she would probably only say that Yao Zhenzhen had brought it upon herself.
Although Yao Zhenzhen and Lu Chenghua had registered their marriage, they hadn’t held the wedding yet, so the Lu family hadn’t let Yao Zhenzhen move in. But Yao Zhenzhen had been afraid that Qin Ziqi might be around and that Lu Chenghua might change his mind, so she had seduced him and slept with him during the day. Now it was too late for regrets.
Meanwhile, Qin Ziqi, the person they were all thinking about, was also on a train heading to Harbin in the northeast.
The train tickets purchased by the Youth League office for the young intellectuals were all hard-seat tickets. Qin Ziqi was sitting in a row of three seats.
She was by the window, next to a pretty young woman. She had an oval face, round eyes, a straight nose, and slightly upturned lips. Her individual features weren’t particularly striking, but together they gave her a pleasant, comforting appearance. She wore a light-yellow floral dress and looked rather sweet and charming.
The person sitting in the aisle seat was the last person Qin Ziqi wanted to see—Lu Chengxiu, Lu Chenghua’s younger sister.
Qin Ziqi hadn’t expected Lu Chengxiu to be sent down to the countryside either, much less to the same destination as her. At this point, she could only pray that heaven wouldn’t let them be assigned to the same village.
Across from them sat three young men.
The one by the window wore a white shirt and black trousers. He looked refined and scholarly, if one ignored the calculating glint in his eyes.
The young man in the middle was obviously acquainted with the one by the window. The two had been chatting ever since they boarded the train. He had an ordinary appearance, with reasonably well-proportioned features. His military-green shirt had been washed so many times that it had faded. His phoenix-shaped eyes, hidden behind his glasses, occasionally swept over the people around them. Clearly, he wasn’t someone to underestimate either.
The young man in the aisle seat looked honest and straightforward, but as soon as he sat down, he began trying to curry favor with Qin Ziqi and the girl beside her, occasionally probing them about their family backgrounds.
Sure enough, he started again.
“Everyone, we’re all young intellectuals being sent down to the countryside. Since fate has put us in the same train compartment, why don’t we introduce ourselves? My name is Zheng Hongjun. I’m from Gui City, and I’m nineteen.”
The young man beside Zheng Hongjun picked up the conversation. “My name is Shen Changzheng. I’m from Beijing, and I’m twenty.”
“My name is Shen Xingheng. I’m from Beijing, eighteen years old. Shen Changzheng and I are cousins.”
“My name is Lu Chengxiu. I’m from Shanghai, and I’m seventeen. It’s nice to meet everyone.”
Lu Chengxiu wore a polite, graceful smile. Before she left, Tao Juxiang had told her to look around while she was in the countryside and see if there were any people with extraordinary identities or family backgrounds. If she could catch one and marry him, perhaps she could find a way to save the Lu family.
After all, not every young intellectual sent to the countryside was there because they couldn’t find a job. Some came from prominent families and were sent down to avoid the political turmoil. There were quite a few such people.
That was why, from the moment she boarded the train, Lu Chengxiu had deliberately displayed an elegant and well-mannered side of herself while subtly probing the backgrounds of the young men traveling with her.
“My name is Zhou Xue. I’m from Beijing, and I’m eighteen. My father works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He sent me to the countryside to gain some experience.”
Well, of course.
Every train in a transmigration novel had to have some bizarre character. This was practically a mandatory scene whenever the protagonist was sent down to the countryside.
Qin Ziqi rolled her eyes inwardly.
Was this girl afraid people wouldn’t target her? She had practically announced her family background to everyone herself.
“Qin Ziqi. I’m from Shanghai, seventeen.”
Qin Ziqi had no intention of becoming close to these fellow young intellectuals, each of whom clearly had their own agenda. So after briefly introducing herself, she fell silent.
However, the train journey would take three days. It had only been a few hours, yet Qin Ziqi already felt as if her waist and back were breaking.
Could she spend some money and find a way to exchange her ticket for a sleeper berth?