Before Han Rui and Su Wan arrived at the train station, a train carrying educated youths sent to the countryside slowly pulled into the station.
As the educated youths poured out of the train, among the crowd was a young woman wearing a cotton blouse, black pants, and a large red flower pinned to her chest. She walked out with the others.
However, her eyes were dull and unfocused at first, but as she moved with the crowd, clarity gradually returned to them.
“My god! I really transmigrated into a novel!” Liu Rongrong thought in shock.
As memories gradually surfaced in her mind, the expression on Liu Rongrong’s face changed from shock to delight. Wonderful! She had actually transmigrated into the novel she herself had written.
Liu Rongrong had been an unknown small-time author in the 21st century. She had written a wish-fulfillment novel with herself as the heroine, blessed with incredible luck. In the story, everything went exactly as she wished. She dominated everywhere she went, disasters turned into blessings, good fortune constantly found her, and even bad luck would avoid her entirely.
However, whether intentionally or unintentionally, whenever Liu Rongrong encountered good fortune or escaped disaster, someone else would inevitably suffer misfortune or lose their own opportunity because of it. As a result, although the novel became popular in the end, it became infamous rather than genuinely praised.
“Hey, comrade over there, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and move!” the person in charge shouted when he noticed Liu Rongrong standing there motionless.
Liu Rongrong was immersed in fantasies about her wonderful future life and heard nothing at all.
Seeing that she still had not moved, the person in charge walked over impatiently and said, “What’s wrong with you, comrade? Are you going or not?”
Only then did Liu Rongrong snap back to reality. Seeing the dark expression on the man’s face, she hurriedly said, “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
Of course she had to go. After all, the male lead in the novel would soon be sent to the countryside too. Liu Rongrong was planning to marry him and use him to return to the city and live the life she wanted. In the novel, she had arranged for the male lead to come from a wealthy and powerful family in the capital, with status, influence, and money.
Combined with her own lucky-koi destiny, she firmly believed that in this life she would soar to great heights and live a life others would envy and resent.
Thinking of this, Liu Rongrong unconsciously tightened her grip on the jade hanging around her neck.
The place Liu Rongrong was assigned to was Dahe Village in Qingshan Commune, where Su Wan lived.
By the time they arrived at Qingshan Commune, Father Su and the other production team leaders were already waiting at the commune entrance.
“Song Weiguo, Liu Rongrong, Li Jun, Zhou Fangfang — assigned to Dahe Village…”
The person in charge of the educated youths read names from the list one by one.
Father Su led the two men and two women to the ox cart. After making sure they were seated properly, he sat at the front as well.
Old Uncle Li, who was driving the cart, cracked his whip, and the ox cart slowly clattered forward.
Sitting on the ox cart, Liu Rongrong was jolted so badly she had to tightly grip the edge. Combined with the faint smell of cow dung, she felt like vomiting.
Zhou Fangfang felt the same way, though the two male educated youths handled it a bit better.
At that moment, Su Wan rode up from behind on her bicycle.
When she got closer, Su Wan called out to Father Su, who was sitting in front, “Dad!”
Father Su turned around, saw it was Su Wan, and smiled. “Su Wan, you saw Han Rui off?”
“Mhm, I already saw him off.” Looking at the people seated behind him, she asked, “Dad, did you go pick up the educated youths?”
“That’s right. We only received the notice yesterday. Four people came to our village.” Seeing her deliberately riding slowly, Father Su felt tired just watching her and said, “Go on ahead. The ox cart moves too slowly.”
Su Wan nodded. “Alright, I’ll head back first. Dad, don’t come home too late at noon.” After speaking, she sped away on her bicycle.
Watching Su Wan’s departing figure, Old Uncle Li said while driving the ox cart, “Dazhuang, you really are blessed. Look how well you raised those two children. Lei is working as a driver in the county town, and Su Wan is a teacher in the production team.”
Then he sighed emotionally. “Who says studying is useless? Looks like people really do need more education.”
Hearing Old Uncle Li’s praise, Father Su unconsciously showed a proud smile. “That’s right. If us farmers want a promising future, we still have to rely on education.”
The two chatted in front.
Meanwhile, in the back, Zhou Fangfang quietly said to Liu Rongrong, “That was the production team leader’s daughter. She’s even prettier than city girls.”
Liu Rongrong was lost in her own thoughts and did not pay attention to what Zhou Fangfang said. She casually replied, “Mm-hmm.”
Seeing her absent-mindedness, Zhou Fangfang stopped trying to make conversation and could not be bothered speaking to her anymore.
For a while, only the voices from the front and the rattling sounds of the ox cart could be heard.
Liu Rongrong was thinking. The production team leader’s daughter sounded so familiar. Where had she appeared in the novel?
When she heard that Su Wan was a teacher at the village elementary school, realization suddenly struck her.
Ah! She was the production team leader’s daughter who died from a fever!
After her death, a teaching position at the village elementary school became vacant, which was why the “me” in the novel became a teacher.
At that moment, the idea Liu Rongrong had of building a good relationship with the production team leader and warning them immediately disappeared. This was her chance to avoid farm labor. As for Su Wan… that was simply her fate. There was nothing she could do about it, Liu Rongrong thought.
Of course, Su Wan knew nothing about Liu Rongrong’s thoughts, nor did she know someone was hoping for her death.
At that moment, Su Wan was thinking about what to cook for lunch. Autumn harvest season was almost here, and her parents were no longer young. They really needed to nourish their bodies well so they would not exhaust themselves.
According to Su Lei and Su Wan’s wishes, they did not want their parents working in the fields anymore. The family now had three people earning wages, and life was already quite comfortable.
But Father Su and Mother Su refused. They believed they were not that old yet and could still work for several more years, especially since both of them were still in good health.
Unable to persuade them otherwise, Su Lei and Su Wan could only agree, though they made sure their parents handled lighter tasks. So, Mother Su usually gathered pig feed or pulled weeds in the fields, while Father Su mostly handled production team matters and rarely worked in the fields himself.
However, the autumn harvest was the most important event of the year. During that time, everyone in the village, regardless of age or gender, had to help with the harvest. The wheat had to be cut, dried, and stored as quickly as possible for fear of rain ruining an entire year’s work.
Still, Father Su and Mother Su doted on their daughter and refused to let her join the harvesting labor. Instead, they only let her watch over the wheat drying grounds to keep birds from pecking at the grain.
So during harvest season, Su Wan’s work was actually quite easy. She focused on making delicious food to nourish her parents and cooking mung bean soup to prevent them from suffering heatstroke.
When she got home, she saw it was already nearly noon, so she hurried to prepare lunch.
She washed some rice to cook porridge, then steamed some buns. After that, she went to the vegetable garden behind the house to pick a few sponge gourds, sliced some pork, and made stir-fried sponge gourd with pork. She also picked some cucumbers and made smashed cucumber salad, which was especially refreshing in the summer heat.
Half of the remaining meat was used to render lard, while the other half was marinated for meals over the next few days.
Just after Su Wan finished cooking, she saw her parents returning together.
Seeing meat dishes on the table, Mother Su asked while washing her hands, “Su Wan, you bought meat again today? You must have bought quite a bit. Why did you buy meat again? Wouldn’t it be better to save the meat coupons for later? You should keep them for when you follow Han Rui to the army base. Your father and I aren’t craving meat.”
“Oh, Mom, stop being so reluctant to spend.” Su Wan smiled and acted spoiled. “I just want the two of you to eat more meat. You and Dad shouldn’t always save everything for me and my brother.”
Father Su immediately said to Mother Su, “Our daughter is showing filial respect to us. Stop acting like you’re complaining when you’re secretly delighted inside.”
Mother Su glared at Father Su and laughed as she scolded him, “Even eating can’t keep your mouth shut.”
The three of them chatted and laughed while enjoying their meal together.