Inside the bundle was an old, worn copy of Red Flag magazine.
Tucked between its pages was a photograph.
It was an ordinary family portrait featuring a middle-aged couple, an elderly woman, and a teenage boy.
On the back of the photograph, a short line had been written in fountain pen ink.
“Spring 1970, Family Portrait.”
There was nothing else inside.
“That’s all?” Lin Wanqiu asked.
“That’s all,” Gu Qingshan replied. “Just a magazine and a photograph.”
Lin Wanqiu carefully wrapped the bundle again.
“Then why…”
Gu Qingshan interrupted her.
“All you need to do is deliver it and leave. Auntie Zhou will give you a reply, and I need you to bring it back to me.”
He paused before adding, “Of course, you’re free to refuse. I’m not forcing you.”
Lin Wanqiu fell silent.
She looked down at the cloth bundle in her hands, then back at Gu Qingshan.
She had already planned to leave this place anyway.
Guangzhou was merely a destination she had mentioned on impulse. She had no intention of traveling that far south just yet.
But the provincial capital was different.
Going there would allow her to put some distance between herself and her family while earning a little extra money along the way.
It seemed like a reasonable arrangement.
“How much will you pay me?” she asked.
Gu Qingshan reached inside his clothes again and took out six ten-yuan banknotes.
He handed them to her.
“Sixty yuan in total. Thirty yuan will cover your transportation, meals, and accommodation. The other thirty is payment for your trouble.”
Lin Wanqiu was startled.
Sixty yuan!
That was almost equivalent to more than two months of her former wages.
And all she had to do was deliver a photograph?
She studied Gu Qingshan carefully.
“Aren’t you worried I’ll take the money and disappear? After all, we were complete strangers until yesterday.”
Gu Qingshan looked at her.
For the first time, something other than his usual sharp scrutiny appeared in his eyes.
It was something remarkably close to trust.
“I believe you won’t,” he answered.
“Why?” Lin Wanqiu pressed.
“Because of your eyes.”
Gu Qingshan’s voice remained calm.
“When you looked at me in the courtyard yesterday, there was no greed in your eyes. You were cautious, but you were also clearheaded.”
He paused briefly.
“A person who thinks clearly knows which money is worth taking and which money should be left alone.”
Lin Wanqiu froze.
She hadn’t expected such an answer.
A gentle breeze swept past, stirring the leaves of the plane tree overhead.
In the distance, the factory bell rang, signaling the beginning of another work shift.
Lin Wanqiu lowered her gaze to the money and cloth bundle in her hands.
Then she looked up again, meeting Gu Qingshan’s trusting eyes.
“All right. I’ll do it.”
She carefully put away the money and the bundle.
“But can I ask you one last question?”
“Go ahead.”
“What’s your relationship with this Auntie Zhou?”
Gu Qingshan’s expression softened.
“She’s my grandmother.”
“I understand.”
Lin Wanqiu nodded seriously.
“I’ll make sure she receives it.”
A trace of relief flashed through Gu Qingshan’s eyes.
“The sooner you can leave, the better.”
“Understood. I’ll set off first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Be careful on the road.”
Gu Qingshan hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“And if… if you run into any trouble, don’t try to handle everything on your own. Your safety comes first.”
Lin Wanqiu nodded.
Then she turned and walked away.
When Lin Wanqiu returned to the textile factory dormitory, the other female workers had already gone to their shifts.
The room was completely empty.
She closed the door behind her, leaned against it, and took a deep breath.
She was finally leaving.
Lin Wanqiu walked over to her bed and began packing.
Her bedding was old, but she had always kept it clean.
She rolled it up neatly and, with a single thought, stored it inside her spiritual space.
Next came her toothbrush, enamel mug, towel, and two changes of clothes.
One by one, she gathered everything that belonged to her and placed it inside the space.
The once-empty area within her space was no longer so bare.
Her bamboo baskets now contained the medicinal herbs she had collected from the mountains.
Some had already been processed according to the methods recorded in the Compendium of a Hundred Herbs, then carefully sorted and stored by type.
Her personal belongings were arranged neatly in another section of the open ground.
Everything had its proper place.
After finishing her packing, Lin Wanqiu sat on the edge of the bed and quietly looked around the room where she had lived for four years.
A faded propaganda poster hung on the wall.
The female factory worker depicted in it wore a bright, cheerful smile as she held a bundle of cotton yarn in her hands.
On the windowsill stood an old glass bottle containing a few wildflowers Lin Wanqiu had picked in the mountains.
She gazed at the familiar surroundings for a long moment.
Goodbye.
She repeated the word silently to herself.
But she wasn’t merely saying farewell to this room.
She was saying goodbye to the Lin Wanqiu of the past.
The timid, submissive girl who had always lowered her head.
The girl who had allowed others to trample over her dignity, exploit her kindness, and decide her future without ever asking what she wanted.
That Lin Wanqiu was gone.
She stood, gave the dormitory one final glance, and walked out.
However, she didn’t head straight to the bus station.
Instead, she went to a state-run restaurant and ordered a serving of chicken soup to take away.
Before leaving town, there was one final matter she intended to settle.
It was time to collect an old debt.
The chicken soup came in an aluminum lunch container.
Steam curled from beneath its lid, carrying a rich, mouthwatering aroma.
Lin Wanqiu found a secluded corner where no one was watching.
Then she reached into her spiritual space and took out a small bottle filled with green liquid.
It was an extract she had prepared from a plant called Suoyang herb, which she had gathered in the mountains several days earlier.
Following the instructions in the Compendium of a Hundred Herbs, she had carefully extracted its juice.
The herb had a sweet taste and cooling properties. At first glance, it appeared completely ordinary.
But according to the compendium, it possessed one particularly unusual effect.
Anyone who consumed it would permanently lose the ability to perform sexually.
Lin Wanqiu removed the bottle’s stopper.
Without hesitation, she poured the entire contents into the chicken soup.
The green liquid quickly blended into the broth, disappearing without a trace.
The soup retained its rich, appetizing aroma.
Nothing about its appearance suggested that anything had been added.
Lin Wanqiu secured the lid.
A cold smile slowly curved her lips.
Chen Zhigang, consider this my gift to you.
Chen Zhigang worked as a work-points recorder in the neighboring village.
It was a relatively comfortable and respectable position, especially compared to the exhausting labor performed by ordinary commune members.
At that moment, he was standing on a raised path between the fields near the village entrance.
Holding a notebook, he was busy recording the work points earned by the commune members.
“Recorder Chen!”
Someone called out to him.
Chen Zhigang raised his head.
At the far end of the path stood Lin Wanqiu, carrying an aluminum lunch container.
Sunlight fell gently across her figure.
She wore a faded floral blouse that had been washed so many times its original colors had softened.
Two long braids rested neatly against her chest.
Her appearance was simple, fresh, and remarkably pleasing to the eye.
Chen Zhigang’s eyes immediately brightened.
He had thought Lin Wanqiu was attractive from the first moment he saw her.
But today, she seemed especially lovely.
And when he remembered that she would become his wife next month, his heart filled with smug satisfaction.
“Wanqiu!”
He waved enthusiastically and hurried toward her.
“What brings you here? Did you come to see me?”
Lin Wanqiu gave him a perfectly measured smile.
“My mother said you spent so much money on the bride price that she felt bad about the burden it must have placed on you.”
She lifted the lunch container slightly.
“So she specially asked me to prepare some chicken soup and bring it over for you.”
“Really?”
Chen Zhigang was both surprised and delighted.
“I never expected my future mother-in-law to be so thoughtful! I thought…”
“You thought my mother only cared about money, didn’t you?”
Lin Wanqiu smiled as she asked.
Her smile was as gentle as a spring breeze.
For a moment, Chen Zhigang was so captivated that he could only stare.
He nodded foolishly before quickly shaking his head.
“No, no! That’s not what I meant! I misunderstood her. Your mother really is… she’s truly a wonderful mother!”
“Hurry and drink it before it gets cold.”
Lin Wanqiu handed him the lunch container.
Chen Zhigang eagerly accepted it and opened the lid.
A rich fragrance immediately rose from the soup.
The broth was a beautiful golden color, clear and inviting, with a thin layer of oil shimmering on its surface.
A few goji berries and slices of shiitake mushroom floated in the soup.
“This… this is too much trouble!”
Chen Zhigang was so touched that he hardly knew what to say.
He genuinely hadn’t expected such treatment.
When he had visited the Lin family to propose marriage, he had seen perfectly well how Wang Guihua’s eyes lit up at the sight of money.
At the time, he had assumed that the only thing she cared about was collecting a generous bride price.
Yet here she was, sending her daughter all the way to the fields with freshly prepared chicken soup.
Clearly, she had already begun treating him like a proper son-in-law!
Chen Zhigang felt thoroughly pleased with himself.
He raised the lunch container to his lips and began drinking in large gulps.
The chicken soup was delicious.
Warm, savory broth slid down his throat and settled comfortably in his stomach.
He drank eagerly, barely stopping to breathe.
In no time at all, he had finished the entire container.
“That was delicious! It even had a lovely sweetness to it!”
He wiped his mouth and let out a satisfied burp.
“Make sure you thank our mom for me! Once I get paid this month, I’ll buy her something nice and pay her a visit!”
Lin Wanqiu sneered inwardly.
Go on. Drink every last drop.
Now that you’ve finished that soup, you can forget about cheating on anyone for the rest of your life.
In her previous life, Chen Zhigang had deceived her with sweet words and empty promises.
Before their marriage, he had repeatedly assured her that he would treat her well once she became his wife.
And what had happened afterward?
He had left her in the countryside to care for his paralyzed mother for five entire years.
While Lin Wanqiu exhausted herself tending to his bedridden mother, he had been living comfortably in the city.
Worse still, he had secretly become involved with another woman.
In the end, he had abandoned his wife and married someone else.
Five years of sacrifice.
Five years of hardship.
And all she had received in return was betrayal.
But this life would be different.
This time, Lin Wanqiu intended to make sure Chen Zhigang would never be able to touch another woman again.
Didn’t he love fooling around with other women?
Didn’t he enjoy betraying his wife?
Then she would like to see just how many women would still want him once he could no longer perform as a man!
“Was it good?” Lin Wanqiu asked, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips.
“Good? It was wonderful!”
Chen Zhigang nodded repeatedly, completely unaware of the thoughts running through her mind.
“Your mother’s cooking is really excellent!”