Yuan Juan couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth as she thought about it.
She was so happy that she didn’t even notice what Sister Chunmei said afterward. By the time she came to her senses, Sister Chunmei had already stood up and was heading out.
“Leaving already, Sister?”
“Yes, my son came home from school yesterday and said his teacher asked me to come to the school today. I have to go now.” As she spoke, she walked out the door, then turned back to add, “You know where I live. If anything comes up, come find me at home. You can also drop by to visit when you’re free. Once Jiang Zhou returns, you two can come over for a meal together.”
Yuan Juan naturally agreed. After seeing her guest off, she closed the door and eagerly took out the new set of clothes from her luggage bag, carefully smoothing them with her hands.
After touching them, she couldn’t help but hug the clothes and roll around on the bed, her heart brimming with joy.
She would never have imagined that, at this very moment, her true identity had already been exposed.
“Commissar, so Jiang Zhou’s wife—no, the woman staying at the guesthouse—is an imposter?” Li Shan followed behind his superior, still unable to believe what he had just heard.
He had seen the photo—they looked so alike. How could she be an imposter?
Political Commissar Wang nodded. “That’s what the phone call said. I still need to contact Xiangyang Commune to verify the specifics. By the way, hasn’t your wife been spending time with her lately? Didn’t she notice anything unusual?”
“She didn’t notice anything. My wife just said the girl seems nice-tempered, gentle and mild, always smiling.”
“Didn’t she hear anything about her family?”
“No. Since her parents are no longer around, how could my wife bring that up in front of her?”
Growing up without parents, what kind of good life could she have had?
Political Commissar Wang nodded. “We’ll wait until Jiang Zhou returns. Keep your mouth shut these next few days—don’t let any information slip. This is the military, after all. I’m worried it might not just be a case of impersonation. I also need to check if she has any other background.”
Li Shan quickly nodded. “Don’t worry, Commissar. I’ll have someone keep an eye on her.”
“Don’t make it too obvious.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
That would be even more obvious.
…
That evening, Sister Chunmei dragged her son home by the ear all the way from school. As soon as she stepped through the door, she let go of her son and went to grab the broom leaning against the wall, scaring the boy into hiding behind his father, who had just emerged from the inner room.
“What happened now?”
Only then did Sister Chunmei realize her husband was home. Fuming, she said, “What else? Your son caused trouble at school again! This kid is up to no good—he dug up earthworms and put them in a female classmate’s pencil case, scaring her to tears! When the teacher told me, I wanted to dig a hole and disappear into the ground.”
After hearing this, Li Shan pulled his son out from behind him, yanked down his pants, laid him across his lap, and gave his bare bottom two sharp smacks.
The two smacks immediately turned the fair, tender buttocks red. “What’s the big deal? What’s the big deal? She said her family raises chickens! Was I wrong to dig up earthworms for her?”
Sister Chunmei scolded, “You still think you’re in the right? If you were digging earthworms, why did you put them in her pencil case?”
“There’s nowhere else to put it.” The child, only seven or eight years old, had a ready excuse for everything. Even when spanked, he wouldn’t cry. Mischievous and unruly, he had often been subjected to the combined discipline of both parents.
“Li Tiejun, if you keep causing trouble, I’ll send you back to the countryside to live with your grandparents.”
At the mention of going back to the countryside, Li Tiejun immediately behaved.
After scolding his son, Li Shan turned to his wife: “So, how is that girl, Xiao Jiang’s girlfriend?”
“She’s quite nice. I went to see her this morning and told her Jiang Zhou would be back the day after tomorrow. She seemed very happy.”
“And?”
“That’s it. Your son got called to the principal’s office, so I had to rush to the school and didn’t have time to chat with her longer.”
“What about before? Did she ask you about anything related to the military?”
“No, at most she just asked about Jiang Zhou. But I didn’t wait for her to ask—I told her all about him, praising him to the skies. I bet as soon as Jiang Zhou returns, we’ll be attending their wedding.”
Li Shan glared fiercely: “You foolish woman, why did you blabber everything!”
Sister Chunmei was baffled: “What’s wrong? Didn’t you tell me to praise Jiang Zhou in front of the girl? If it weren’t for you, why would I have gone out of my way to do that?”
Li Shan slapped his own mouth—serves you right for talking too much!
…
Yuan Xiu boarded the train that afternoon and spent two days and two nights sitting on a hard seat.
When she was hungry, she would ask the train attendant for a cup of hot water to soak her flatbread and eggs.
When she was cold, she would wrap herself tightly in a blanket and sleep in her seat.
Ensuring that even a thief would find no opportunity to strike.
On the morning of the third day, she arrived at her destination city.
Following the crowd out of the train station, Yuan Xiu exhaled a puff of white breath—it was much colder here than back home.
Back home, it was autumn, but here it felt like winter had already arrived.
A few pedicabs for passengers and goods were parked by the roadside near the station, their drivers shouting energetically to attract customers.
Yuan Xiu looked at the address in her hand and walked toward an elderly man. “Uncle, do you know this place?”
The old man was a bit farsighted and squinted to read it. “Yes, yes. Young lady, this place is quite far—it’s on the outskirts, almost across the entire city. You’d better take Bus No. 7 first, and when you get to the Liulichang stop, hire a pedicab. That would be more economical.”
Yuan Xiu smiled. “Will you take me there, Uncle? How much would it cost?”
The old man was willing, of course, but seeing that Yuan Xiu was young, seemed to be from out of town, and didn’t look well-off, he had suggested the bus, which cost only a few cents to cross most of the city.
After settling on a price with the old man, Yuan Xiu got into the pedicab and slowly ate the last piece of flatbread from her bag.
The bread was a bit hard, so she nibbled at it bit by bit, soothing her growling stomach.
The eggs were gone—not because she had eaten them all herself. On the train, someone had noticed she had many eggs, all boiled, and asked to buy them.
In those days, city dwellers needed ration tickets to buy eggs, with monthly quotas per person. Yuan Xiu’s eggs required no tickets and could be eaten immediately, so they were sold out on the first day of the journey.
The old man pedaled slowly, and Yuan Xiu didn’t rush him. Sitting in the pedicab, she leisurely admired the city’s scenery.
She wondered what she would do if Jiang Zhou and Yuan Juan were already married.
Or perhaps, Jiang Zhou had taken a liking to Yuan Juan and wanted to marry her.
If that were truly the case, she would demand compensation from Yuan Juan. After all, she couldn’t just let her take over her marriage for nothing. Even if she and Jiang Zhou ended up married, she wouldn’t let her have an easy life.
If they didn’t get married…
She recalled what Yuan Juan had said—that Jiang Zhou was cold and couldn’t have children.
He might be incapable.
If Jiang Zhou was willing to continue this engagement with her, she didn’t mind that. Her expectations for marriage had long been worn away by the more than twenty years of life in her Previous Life.
If Jiang Zhou wanted a divorce three years later, she would be fine with that too.
In three years, she was certain she could firmly establish herself in this place and secure a job that would allow her to support herself.
Yuan Xiu drifted into deep thought…