“To be completely honest with you, Director Cao, my fiancé is a soldier, and I’ll be moving to accompany the troops after we marry. I have no use for this job anymore, and since I don’t want to transfer it over to Su Yinyin, I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in taking it off my hands.”
Hearing this, Director Cao understood the situation immediately. As the office director of the textile factory, what kind of gossip had she not heard?
She had long known about Jiang Tang finding her biological parents, and she had also heard rumors about the Su family pressuring Jiang Tang to yield her job to their adopted daughter.
Director Cao nodded on the spot: “Deal! I’ll take this job. Xiaotang, rest assured, I won’t let you suffer a loss—I’ll offer eight hundred yuan, plus twenty jin of food coupons and five jin of meat coupons. Xiaotang, what do you think?”
Jiang Tang was genuinely surprised by Director Cao’s response. She had initially assumed the job would only fetch around five hundred yuan; she never expected Director Cao would not only be willing to offer eight hundred yuan, but also throw in food and meat coupons on top of it.
Seeing Jiang Tang remain silent, Director Cao assumed she was hesitating and hastily bumped her offer up to one thousand yuan.
“Xiaotang, you likely know as well that my daughter was raised in the city. She’s always had a frail constitution, falling sick often since childhood, and she simply cannot endure the harsh hardship of going down to the countryside. I’ve been worrying myself sick over this lately, unable to secure a suitable job for her. If you think this works, I’ll hand over the money and coupons right away.”
Jiang Tang could see that Director Cao truly doted on her daughter with all her heart.
Thus, she agreed with utter promptness.
Without another word, Director Cao handed one thousand yuan and the ration coupons over to Jiang Tang, then immediately processed the job transfer paperwork.
Jiang Tang couldn’t help recalling her past life, where this very job had been traded for a paltry twenty yuan and two jin of food coupons, ultimately costing her life in the bargain.
Looking back at it now, it was truly laughable.
Before leaving, Jiang Tang asked Director Cao to help keep things under wraps—asking her not to mention that she had sold the job, but merely to say that Jiang Tang had come to see her today about transferring the position out.
Director Cao nodded in tacit understanding: “Xiaotang, set your mind at ease. I understand completely.”
After bidding her colleagues farewell, Jiang Tang went home to pack her belongings.
The Su family seemed convinced that Jiang Tang wouldn’t dare to disobey them. Thus, Wei Cuiying merely dropped by to ask a single question, and upon learning that Jiang Tang had already transferred the job out, she didn’t press any further.
On the very day scheduled for the educated youth to go down to the countryside, Jiang Tang arrived at the train station alongside Fu Wenci.
At the train station, Jiang Tang happened to run into the group of educated youth heading down to the countryside, but Su Yinyin was nowhere to be seen among them.
As it happened, one of the people heading to the countryside was a neighbor of the Su family. Inquiring with him, Jiang Tang learned that when the street committee came to their door earlier today, Su Yinyin claimed to be feeling unwell and needed to go to the hospital for an examination.
Jiang Tang let out a cold snicker. It seemed that after realizing she hadn’t transferred the job over, the Su family tried to let Su Yinyin forge a medical record as a ploy to evade being sent down to the countryside.
What a pity that Jiang Tang didn’t have the time to witness with her own eyes the furious, exasperated expressions on the Su family’s faces when they discovered she had sold the job.
Jiang Tang had already instructed her parents that if the Su family ever came looking to cause trouble, they should simply ignore them completely.
Besides, Su Jiyong and Wei Cuiying likely wouldn’t have the face to publicize this matter anyway, nor would they dare to make a scene for everyone to see.
Jiang Minghong and Sang Suxiang saw their daughter off at the train station in person, persistently reminding her to take care on the journey, never to wrong herself after arriving at the military post, and never to forget that her family back home would always have her back if she ran into trouble.
Suppressing her tears with all her strength, Jiang Tang waved goodbye to her parents.
“Dad, Mom, please rest assured. I will take good care of myself. You both need to take care of your health too, and don’t be overly frugal.”
Just as Jiang Tang picked up her luggage and prepared to board the train, she heard someone calling her name.
Stopping in her tracks to look, she saw Su Jianye running onto the platform out of breath, shoving a small handbag into Jiang Tang’s hands.
“Xiaotang, I listened to what you said and followed a master repairman to learn how to fix things. These are old watches, old flashlights, and old radios I gathered; I’ve repaired them all, so take them with you to use!”
Looking at the smile on Su Jianye’s face, Jiang Tang seemed to glimpse the possibility of a completely different life for this cousin of hers.
“Alright, thank you, Cousin. I’ll be waiting for you to accomplish great things in the future.”
Embarrassed, Su Jianye let out a foolish laugh and scratched his head: “Can I really make it?”
“You can. As long as you’re willing to put in the work, you will always reap rewards.”
Encouraged by his cousin, Su Jianye was instantly filled with boundless confidence: “Xiaotang, don’t worry, I’ll work really hard!”
Over the past few days, learning to repair things had allowed Su Jianye to successfully rediscover the joy he used to find in fixing items for others, effectively shaking off his former idle habits.
If he hadn’t overheard by chance that Jiang Tang was leaving to accompany the troops, he would still be buried deep in his research on repair work.
In his hurry to come, Su Jianye hadn’t known what kind of gift to bring his cousin, so he had thought of the items he had just finished fixing.
After bidding Su Jianye farewell, Jiang Tang boarded the green-skinned train alongside Fu Wenci.
Once the two of them sat down in adjacent seats, Fu Wenci briefed Jiang Tang on the train’s layout and setup.
“You can place your luggage on the overhead rack. There are washbasins and hot water boilers at both ends of the carriage. Getting to the military post requires a two-day train journey, but I can only keep you company for one day. Once we reach Beijing, I’ll see you off to make your transfer. You’ll need to take good care of yourself after getting on the second train. When the train reaches its destination station, someone from the military post will be there to pick you up—just make sure they belong to the Production and Construction Corps, Second Division, Twenty-First Regiment.”
Jiang Tang nodded with a smile. In her past life, she had taken a train once when she was sent down to the countryside; after Su Jiyong and Wei Cuiying shoved her onto the train, they washed their hands of her entirely.
Back then, her heart had been filled with fear and trepidation, but clutching the bundle in her arms, she had forced herself to summon the courage to face what lay ahead.
Compared to her past life, she already considered herself immensely fortunate now.
Having Fu Wenci board with her and keep her company on the train for a whole day gave her a profound sense of peace.
“Alright, set your mind at ease, Auntie Fu. I’ve remembered it all.”
Sitting by the window, Jiang Tang watched the scenery gradually receding outside, along with the waving figures saying their goodbyes.
Whether her parents could see her or not, Jiang Tang lifted her hand and waved back to the people on the platform.
This time, she was going to walk a completely different path and protect her family well.
The first day of travel went smoothly. Fu Wenci constantly pulled out snacks to feed Jiang Tang, terrified she might go hungry.
Bystanders nearby even mistook them for mother and daughter, and Fu Wenci merely smiled without correcting them.
A day passed quickly. Only after seeing Jiang Tang safely onto her transfer train did Fu Wenci take her leave with peace of mind.
Carrying her luggage, Jiang Tang located her seat and sat down.
The female comrade sitting beside her was wearing a plaid short-sleeved shirt, polyester trousers, and black leather shoes on her feet. After lifting her leather suitcase onto the overhead rack and taking a seat, she pinched her nose in visible disgust.
Jiang Tang averted her gaze. Hard-seat carriages like this were packed with people, making unpleasant odors inevitable. Unable to bathe on the train, she could only wait until she reached the military post.
Just as she closed her eyes, a sharp argument erupted right beside her ear.
“Who says this seat belongs to you just because you say so? This is my seat! Don’t rely on carrying a child to make me yield my seat to you! Who isn’t tired taking a train? I’m not giving it up!”