This supporting female character, Feng Jiaojiao, was a girl from the city with a fairly good family background. Otherwise, how could she have such rosy lips and fair skin and look so delicate and pampered?
A few years ago, however, her mother had fallen ill and passed away.
Originally, Feng Jiaojiao and her father had depended on each other, and their lives had been quite good.
Her father was a workshop supervisor at a cotton textile factory and earned a decent salary.
But everything changed after someone introduced him to a divorced widow who already had a daughter a few years older than Feng Jiaojiao.
Her father remarried and later had another son.
With a stepmother, stepsister, and younger half-brother all entering the picture, anyone could imagine how lively that family became.
The original Feng Jiaojiao went from being a cherished little girl to becoming increasingly spoiled and willful.
From Feng Jiaojiao’s perspective, she could understand why.
Anyone whose home was taken over by another woman and her children, while the only father she had was no longer the same father he used to be, would have a hard time accepting it.
Even her trip to the countryside had been the result of being deceived by her stepmother and stepsister.
By the time she realized what had happened, it was already too late.
Still, if Feng Jiaojiao got the chance in the future, she would help her settle the score.
Fortunately, the girl wasn’t completely foolish.
She had brought practically everything the family owned that belonged to her.
She had packed everything she could find.
An eight-kilogram quilt, clothes and shoes for every season, all kinds of daily necessities, candies, white sugar, brown sugar, various ration coupons…
She had taken quite a lot.
Her stepmother had been absolutely heartbroken over it.
But when she thought that she would probably never see this stepdaughter again, she didn’t stop her.
After all, this was probably the last time.
Once Feng Jiaojiao was far away in the countryside, who would care about her anymore?
Her stepsister had thought that once Feng Jiaojiao left, all those belongings would become hers, and the room would be hers too.
They were all such good things, and she had been coveting them for a long time.
But Feng Jiaojiao didn’t give her the chance.
She packed everything up and mailed it away, leaving behind not even a single button.
She even locked the door to her room and put a seal on it with a notice that read:
No one is allowed to enter. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences.
She locked all of her mother’s belongings inside.
She had even cried to her father, saying that this was the only place she had left to remember her mother, and no one was allowed to destroy it.
She even moved the large bed that her parents had originally shared into her own room.
Feng’s father didn’t say anything. He simply went out and found an iron-frame bed to put in the room instead.
Her stepmother was so furious that her eyes turned red.
The original Feng Jiaojiao’s luggage alone filled five large trunks, not counting the two packages she had brought with her.
Her father felt guilty toward her.
Before she left, he secretly gave her 300 yuan behind her stepmother’s back and quietly told her that if she ever ran short of money, she could ask him for more.
The young woman was something of a little rich girl herself.
Over the years, she had saved all her New Year’s money, along with a passbook her biological mother had secretly slipped to her before she died.
Both were tucked away in her luggage.
She had more than 300 yuan in New Year’s money alone.
And the passbook contained a whopping 5,000 yuan.
Feng’s father probably didn’t know about that money. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have felt so guilty and given her money before she left.
Her stepmother had also put on an act before Feng Jiaojiao departed.
She didn’t want people accusing her of mistreating her stepdaughter, especially since she still had two children of her own.
So she gave Feng Jiaojiao 50 yuan and some ration coupons.
The young woman had more than 5,600 yuan in her hands.
With that kind of money, why would she want to suffer?
“This…”
Mother An hesitated.
She didn’t have only one daughter-in-law. She had three others as well.
If she made an exception for Feng Jiaojiao, what would she do about the others?
“Mom, just let her have it her way. I’ll give you another ten yuan every month. Once I get suitable housing over there, I’ll have her join me at my station.”
An Jianjun had already called his military unit.
He had even been granted a few extra days of leave so he could finish arranging the wedding before returning.
There wasn’t a suitable house available for military families to move into yet, though, so they would have to wait for a while.
When he returned, he happened to hear Feng Jiaojiao saying that she didn’t want to work in the fields.
There was no need to say anything.
Just looking at her, it was obvious she wasn’t the type who could handle farm work.
As long as she stayed home obediently, that was enough.
He would send his allowance home every month, and it would be more than enough for her expenses.
Mother An looked at her son, then at that pampered little princess, and sighed.
“All right. She’s your wife. You handle it yourself.”
With that, she left.
Only the two of them remained in the room.
“I’ll take you back first. Otherwise…”
An Jianjun was worried that if Feng Jiaojiao didn’t return, people would start gossiping.
In another two days, they would be married anyway, and then she could stay here openly and legitimately.
Feng Jiaojiao knew she couldn’t stay here any longer either.
It was time to go back and face the female lead.
“Let’s go.”
The reason she asked An Jianjun to escort her back was also so that their relationship would be made public.
The two of them walked along the road toward the educated youth compound, and quite a few people saw them.
This gave everyone something juicy to gossip about.
“Oh my, when did those two get together?”
“Good heavens, I finally understand what happened! Didn’t Educated Youth Qin run out of Old An’s house crying earlier? She must have seen the two of them being all lovey-dovey. Otherwise, why would two people go to the An family together, only for one to come back crying while the other was escorted home?”
“This is quite a show! I thought Educated Youth Qin got along so well with Li Guiying. How did the other girl end up becoming her daughter-in-law instead?”
“Wait, that’s not right. I heard Li Guiying had taken a liking to that girl from the Wang family. What’s going on?”
“This is going to be interesting!”
Ever since Qin Siyu returned from the An family, she had been crying nonstop.
Whenever anyone asked her what had happened, she wouldn’t say a word. She simply kept crying.
“Waaah…”
“Siyu, what… what exactly happened? Tell us. You’re crying so much that we don’t even know what happened or how to help you.”
Wang Yan was the oldest among the female educated youths and tended to take care of the others.
Seeing Qin Siyu crying nonstop, she became anxious.
“Exactly! Did someone bully you? Tell us, and I’ll go get revenge for you. We educated youths have to stick together. We can’t let anyone bully us!”
Zhao Meili had a fiery temper.
She assumed someone had bullied one of the female educated youths, and that was something she couldn’t tolerate.
They had to stand together.
Song Laidi had been wondering about the situation the entire time.
Qin Siyu and Feng Jiaojiao normally went everywhere together.
How had the two of them left together, only for one person to return alone—and crying at that?
“Where’s Feng Jiaojiao? Didn’t she go with you?”
She couldn’t help asking.
“Waaah!”
Qin Siyu cried even harder.
She… she had never expected something like this to happen.
How could the two of them have done such a thing?
She had treated Feng Jiaojiao like her own sister.
Feng Jiaojiao knew perfectly well that she liked An Jianjun.
How could she have done something like that with him?
The other female educated youths exchanged glances.
The moment Feng Jiaojiao was mentioned, Qin Siyu’s crying became even more intense.
Had she gotten into a fight with Feng Jiaojiao?
“You two have always been so close. Whatever happened, it can’t be something you can’t work out. When Feng Jiaojiao comes back, the two of you can sit down and talk it through. Once you get everything out in the open, it’ll be fine.”
Wang Yan assumed the two girls had simply had a childish argument.
“Educated Youth Feng, you’re back?”
The male educated youths in the courtyard were stunned when they saw Feng Jiaojiao being escorted back by An Jianjun.
What… what was going on?
An Jianjun nodded at the male educated youths as a greeting.
“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow and take you to the county town to have our wedding photos taken. We’ll also buy some things for the wedding. Go back and get some rest.”
Feng Jiaojiao stood there without looking at An Jianjun.
The two of them faced each other, but she kept her eyes lowered, sliding the tip of her foot back and forth across the ground.
Her clean little leather shoes quickly became covered in dust.
After hearing An Jianjun’s words, she nodded and went inside.
An Jianjun watched Feng Jiaojiao’s retreating figure.
The short distance seemed to take him forever to walk.
He deliberately slowed his pace, taking only small steps.
He figured she probably wasn’t going to speak to him for quite some time.
“Feng Jiaojiao, you’re back!”
When Wang Yan saw Feng Jiaojiao return, she immediately went over and pulled her toward them.
Qin Siyu looked up and saw Feng Jiaojiao’s delicate, pampered appearance.
Her teeth practically ached with resentment.
“Why?”
“Why did you do this?”
Maybe other people didn’t know.
But Feng Jiaojiao couldn’t possibly have been unaware that Qin Siyu liked An Jianjun.
How could she have done something like this?