“I will definitely resign from my job at the seed station, study hard, and be a proper department chief’s wife, taking care of everything at home inside and out.”
The man was so angry he almost coughed up blood.
But the arrow was already on the string—he couldn’t slap his own face now.
He calculated inwardly: first coax her, and once he secured the job at the seed station—
by then, Jiang Li would have no income and would have to rely on him to live. Wouldn’t he be able to do whatever he wanted?
Thinking of this,
he endured the pain in his heart and went to the side bedroom, taking out all the money he had saved for a long time.
Seeing his unwilling, pained expression as he gritted his teeth, Jiang Li found it rather amusing and snatched the iron box away.
She even patted his shoulder attentively.
“Weiguo, wait for me. I’ll go buy fish and meat now. I’ll wash the clothes when I come back.”
After saying that, she stuffed the box into her cloth bag and walked out, carrying it with her.
Still thinking about eating meat and drinking wine—
what a beautiful dream!
Not only would there be no good wine or fine dishes, her job—
he shouldn’t even think about getting it.
Jiang Li turned through two streets and went to the home of the workshop director of the cotton spinning factory.
His daughter was just looking for work.
Upon hearing that Jiang Li wanted to sell her position at the seed station, she was overjoyed.
She immediately paid the money and went with Jiang Li to the seed station to complete the transfer procedures.
Including what she had taken from Song Weiguo, Jiang Li now had a full two thousand yuan in her hands.
In this era, that was definitely a huge sum.
After all, the monthly salary at the seed station was only twenty-three yuan.
Jiang Li went to the post office to deposit the money. After thinking for a moment, she asked the counter for paper and pen, wrote an anonymous letter, and dropped it into the mailbox outside.
Next Monday would be the department chief election and appointment meeting.
As long as the fake marriage was exposed,
Song Weiguo could forget about getting promoted.
The new season of seedling cultivation was also about to begin.
Without her updated data, if anything went wrong, even Song Weiguo’s current position as a clerk would be hard to keep.
This big “gift”
would be enough for that scumbag to enjoy for quite a while.
After finishing all this,
she took a vehicle to Xiaoxi Village, where the Jiang family was located.
Father and Mother Lü were not reasonable people.
Once they learned the truth, they would surely make things difficult for her.
In this life, she didn’t want to get entangled with that group of scum again.
Going to the Northeast to fulfill Lü Xiaoxiao’s broken engagement was the best choice for now.
In her previous life, she hadn’t heard much about the man, only that before she died, she learned that after he was injured, he hadn’t forced Lü Xiaoxiao to fulfill the engagement. Instead, he had taken the initiative to send a letter to cancel it, fearing he would delay the girl’s future.
On that point alone, he was better than Song Weiguo.
Presumably, if she served him well and later explained the situation, he would understand.
As long as she obtained the status of a military wife, with money in hand, she would have plenty of ways to start a new life in the Northeast.
…
Xiaoxi Village was extremely poor.
After transferring to an ox cart and walking another half hour along mountain roads, she finally arrived.
Jiang Li did not hurry to go to the Jiang family. Carrying two bottles of malted milk essence she had bought on the way, she went to the village secretary’s house.
Secretary Li was in his forties.
He sat at the bedside smoking a pipe, looking her up and down in surprise.
“You say you’re the Jiang family’s biological daughter? You want a letter of introduction to go to the Northeast to marry as part of the military? But I heard you’re already married, aren’t you?”
When Lü Xiaoxiao had returned to her biological family and transferred her household registration,
he had known some of the situation.
Jiang Li quickly explained,
“Secretary Li, you can call the county household registration office to verify. The one who got married was Lü Xiaoxiao, not me.”
“Huh?”
Secretary Li was confused.
He hadn’t heard of this before.
Half believing, half doubting, he hurriedly made a call to verify.
To his surprise, it was true!
He couldn’t help but mutter to himself—were the two families switching daughters back and even switching husbands along with them?
But that was their private matter.
After confirming that Jiang Li was telling the truth, he looked at her again.
“You really are willing to go with the military?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her.
Jiang Li was simply too beautiful.
Her features were bright and striking. Even in clothes that didn’t show her figure, she still carried a charm and grace unlike others.
Moreover, she was an educated city woman—how could she accept such a marriage?
But Jiang Li nodded.
She took out her documents.
“Please issue the letter of introduction. Although I’ve never met my biological parents, since I carry the Jiang family’s bloodline, the marriage they agreed upon is a promise of the Jiang family. I accept it.”
Her tone was gentle yet firm,
earning even more favor from Secretary Li.
“You’re a good child. After Brother Jiang passed away, I mentioned this to Xiaoxiao, but she refused no matter what. I was worrying about how to reply to the army. However… you should still think it through.”
“Comrade Si Nancheng was injured during a mission and can’t have children, but I heard he has a good character.”
Jiang Li naturally knew this.
“Since it was arranged by our elders, then I will follow through, no matter what. I’ve thought it through.”
Seeing that she had her own mind made up, Secretary Li felt reassured.
He quickly issued the letter of introduction and stamped it with the official seal.
Jiang Li took it and put it away.
“Secretary, I have one more request. Please keep the news that I’m going with the military confidential for now.”
She didn’t say it explicitly,
but Secretary Li had his own understanding.
The Lü family had raised such a beautiful daughter—they probably wouldn’t be willing to give her away so easily.
This matter must not cause further trouble. He immediately nodded in agreement.
After leaving Secretary Li’s house,
Jiang Li returned to the old Jiang family home.
Looking at the dilapidated courtyard and the paper-covered, drafty windows, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.
After Lü Xiaoxiao returned to the Lü family, she had visited her parents’ graves.
She had also come here.
But after all, she had never met them.
The cold affection of the Lü family made it hard for her to feel any connection.
There were three mud houses, and not many places to hide things.
After looking around, Jiang Li dug inside the earthen kang in the main room and found a wooden box.
The box wasn’t big and was locked.
She didn’t spend much effort before opening it.
Inside were two rolls of large-denomination bills, a piece of high-quality jade pendant, a pair of jade bracelets, and three gold bars.
Clearly, when they were sent down, they couldn’t hide large items.
Not to mention the value of the gold bars,
just that pair of jade bracelets—if sold in a couple of years, it would be enough to exchange for several shops.
She stuffed the bracelets and gold bars into her cloth bag and hung the jade pendant around her neck.
She had originally planned to go back to get her luggage, but now she changed her mind.
The items were too valuable. If the Lü family or Song Weiguo discovered them, she might not be able to take them away again.
She immediately ran to the nearby train station and directly bought a ticket to the Northeast.
While waiting for the train, she bought some dry rations and a change of clothes nearby.
When the train started moving and picked up speed, the breath Jiang Li had been holding in her throat finally eased.
She looked out the window.
That city which had trapped her for a lifetime
was gradually fading farther and farther away.
She slowly curled her lips into a smile, eagerly anticipating how Song Weiguo and the Lü family would stomp and curse on Monday.
At the thought of it, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Her reflection appeared on the glass.
Her braids were somewhat messy, her face pale and worn from years of toil, her lips dry and chapped from rushing along the way.
She raised her hand to touch them, only to be pricked painfully by the rough calluses on her fingertips.
In this state, she looked truly disheveled.
She smoothed her braids and got up, going to the washroom to rebraid her hair in front of the mirror.
While tying her hair, the train jolted, and her ring finger was cut, a streak of blood forming. The droplet slid down her collar and landed right on the jade pendant.
She didn’t pay attention, rinsed it off with water, and washed her face.
At that moment, a weak cry for help suddenly sounded in her mind.
“It hurts so much… I’m about to die… can someone come save me?”