Those who could get up this early were all busy people. They only glanced at Cheng Junyi a few extra times before hurrying past.
By 5:30, the sky was fully bright and the sun had risen. She could now clearly see this simple, unadorned city.
The reason she found it plain was because her mother had shown her TV dramas from before the apocalypse—all filled with towering skyscrapers, completely different from the dilapidated scene before her.
“Hey! Comrade Cheng, what are you doing here?”
Cheng Junyi, walking along the roadside, heard the voice and looked toward the alley on her right. She saw a woman around twenty years old running over.
Cheng Junyi looked at the woman in surprise and asked politely, “May I ask who you are…”
“I’m Wang An’an, Liu Datao’s daughter-in-law. By the way, why are you here?”
Cheng Junyi smiled warmly. “I’m about to be sent to the countryside, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back. I thought I’d take one more look at this city before I leave.”
Wang An’an felt a pang of sadness. Indeed—once you went to the countryside, it was incredibly hard to return. She’d heard that many people simply ended up marrying and settling down in the villages.
This was an intersection with quite a few passersby, and many overheard her words.
Those with kind hearts looked at Cheng Junyi with pity. Such a fair-skinned girl—she’d suffer terribly in the countryside.
Though they thought this, no one said it out loud, because in this era, going to the countryside was contributing to national construction—it was a glorious thing.
But those who were envious felt differently. Their lips curled with heavy sarcasm. So what if she had money? So what if she was pretty? Once she got to the countryside, she’d just be another mud-legged peasant.
Wang An’an was about to comfort Cheng Junyi when she heard a hostile voice.
“Oh, isn’t this my classmate, Miss Cheng the capitalist?” A woman with twin braids walked up to Cheng Junyi, looking down at her with mockery.
Capitalist?
The people standing nearby quickly backed away, afraid of being associated with a capitalist.
Cheng Junyi took a step back and looked at the girl who was a head taller than her.
She recognized this person—she was Wei Jing, a high school classmate of the original owner. She had always been at odds with her, constantly calling her “Miss Capitalist.”
“Do you need something?” she said flatly.
Wei Jing smiled smugly. “Tsk tsk! I never would’ve thought! You, the young lady who’s never lifted a finger in her life, would also have a day of being sent to the countryside!”
Cheng Junyi kept a faint smile on her face. “Going to the countryside is contributing to national construction. The way you say it, it sounds like I’m going to suffer. Your… thinking isn’t quite right!”
She mimicked the speech patterns of this era, though she still wasn’t used to it.
When she said this, some people nearby chimed in agreement, pointing and whispering about Wei Jing.
Wei Jing’s smug smile froze.
“Comrade Cheng, you’ve misunderstood Jingjing. You two are classmates—she was only worried about you. After all, you’ve never done farm work before.”
A girl wearing a white dacron shirt spoke up.
Cheng Junyi looked at her. The girl had thick bangs and big, sparkling eyes that were quite lively.
She stepped forward and asked, “Is there something wrong with your ears?”
The girl froze, forcing a smile. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. Which of her words just now showed any concern? All I heard was schadenfreude.” Cheng Junyi pointed at Wei Jing.
The girl clenched her fists. That was just a peacemaking remark—did she have to take it so seriously?
Seeing her friend’s face turn sour, Wei Jing wasn’t having it. She snapped at Cheng Junyi, “So what if I’m gloating? A capitalist miss like you deserves to go to the countryside and taste the hardships of the working class.”
Oh, that did it! Those words struck a chord with the passersby.
“Exactly! Look at this comrade’s clothes and that fair, delicate skin—clearly she’s lived a life of comfort. Poor us, working from dawn till dusk and still can’t even afford a pair of shoes like hers.” A dark-skinned auntie eyed Cheng Junyi with obvious ill intent.
“Tell me about it. My kid’s clothes are nothing but patch upon patch.”
“Patches are still better than what we’ve got—my family only eats until we’re a third full every meal.”
“You all…”
Wang An’an watched anxiously from the side. She opened her mouth to explain, but Cheng Junyi shook her head at her.
She didn’t want to explain anything, because she couldn’t explain it clearly. This family was indeed capitalist—though red at heart. But aside from her grandfather and herself, the rest of the Cheng family had gone to Hong Kong, casting a shadow of black over that red.
It was only because Old Master Cheng had donated so generously that people overlooked that dark spot. But if someone deliberately brought it up, it would be a disaster.
When Auntie Liu had come to notify her about going to the countryside yesterday, she hadn’t fully grasped the order of this world. After a night of reflection, she’d seen things more clearly—going to the countryside was indeed the best option for now.
Cheng Junyi looked at Wei Jing, looking too lazy to argue with her. “If you say it’s suffering, then sure, it’s suffering!”
With that, she nodded to Wang An’an and tried to push through the crowd to leave.
But the dark-skinned auntie blocked her way. “I say, why hasn’t this capitalist been arrested? Could she be a fish that slipped through the net?”
A shifty-eyed man chimed in, “She must be one that slipped through! Let’s grab her.”
With that, he stepped forward to seize Cheng Junyi, his gaze lecherous and vile. Cheng Junyi silently extended her index and middle fingers, ready to gouge out both his eyes the moment he came close.
She had no intention of enduring such disgusting looks.
“What do you think you’re doing?! What ‘slipped through the net’? Her family is red—red, understand?” Wei Jing planted her hands on her hips and blocked the man.
The man’s face twisted in frustration. Of course he knew she must be red—otherwise, how could she be strolling the streets so leisurely?
He was just pretending not to know. A woman like that—he couldn’t marry her, but couldn’t he at least cop a feel?
Now that he’d been exposed, he didn’t dare make a move. What a shame.
“Hey, so she’s red after all! Why didn’t you say so earlier? I didn’t know!”
Cheng Junyi was rather surprised that Wei Jing had actually stood up for her. Just moments ago, she’d seemed set on picking a fight. She really couldn’t figure out what was going on in that girl’s head.
The dark-skinned auntie also pursed her lips and stepped aside. Cheng Junyi didn’t thank Wei Jing and simply left.
Wei Jing had started the whole mess in the first place, so Cheng Junyi owed her no thanks.
With Cheng Junyi gone, the crowd dispersed, and Wei Jing and Zhao Ling left too. Wei Jing chattered nonstop at Zhao Ling the whole way, all about Cheng Junyi—mostly complaining about how pampered she was, how she used only the finest of everything.
Zhao Ling listened quietly, a glimmer of light flickering in her eyes. “Her family’s just her alone now. That’s rather pitiful.”
Wei Jing rolled her eyes. Pitiful, her foot! Hadn’t she seen how well the girl dressed? And she had that whole villa to herself—living far better than everyone else.
“She’s not pitiful at all—you should save your pity for yourself! I heard you’re going to the countryside too!”
At that, Zhao Ling sighed. “Yeah, there are four siblings in my family. My eldest sister is married, my second brother has a job, and my fourth brother is still young. Plus, my mother can’t bear to send my little brother down, so it has to be me.”
“Ah! Your family has it tough too,” Wei Jing remarked sympathetically.
“By the way, do you know where that Miss Cheng is being sent?” Zhao Ling steered the conversation back to Cheng Junyi.
Wei Jing shook her head. “How would I know? I only just heard from her herself that she’s going to the countryside.”
Zhao Ling: “…” She’d forgotten—she’d only just heard it from her own mouth too.
A calculating glint flickered in her eyes. That Miss Cheng was clearly pampered and spoiled; she must have some unavoidable reason for going to the countryside, and surely she didn’t want to go herself.
With her conditions being so good, it was a real shame for her to go down. If her second brother could marry her, then he’d have both a wife and money, and Miss Cheng wouldn’t have to go to the countryside—wasn’t that a win-win?
“Jingjing, you said earlier she has a villa. Where is it?”
Wei Jing stopped and looked at Zhao Ling appraisingly. “Why do you keep asking about Cheng Junyi? You don’t even know her.”
Seeing her suspicion, Zhao Ling gave an embarrassed smile and confessed honestly, “I think she’s pretty, and I want to set her up with my second brother.”
Wei Jing said bluntly, “You want your brother to be a toad lusting after a swan?”
Zhao Ling: … That was too harsh!
“I know my brother isn’t good enough for her, but compared to going to the countryside, isn’t marrying my brother better? At least if she marries, she won’t have to suffer down there.”
Wei Jing shook her head speechlessly and continued walking. “You think no one would marry her? If she didn’t want to go to the countryside, with her conditions, she could find someone better than your brother with ease.”
Zhao Ling gave an awkward laugh… Yeah, that was probably true.