Song Xiu Jun watched Yan Xiang'an's retreating figure and sensed that the Brigade leader's household would experience a restless night.
How she wanted to witness the spectacle…
She strolled back leisurely and spotted Zhao Shuwen, who had returned earlier, at the entrance of the Educated Youth Spot.
He smiled and greeted her: "Educated Youth Song, where have you been?"
Song Xiu Jun responded with a polite smile but didn't answer. The other party tactfully didn't press further.
Entering the courtyard, she bolted the gate, washed up, then climbed onto the Kang to rest. She pulled out the comic books she'd bought from the recycling station to pass the time before sleep.
Current entertainment options were truly scarce – even books worth reading were hard to come by. That Zhao Shuwen kept rotating through the same few books every day. One had to admire his dedication in carrying such heavy luggage with these books over such a long journey.
But when the college entrance exams resumed in 1977, he would surely thank his past hardworking self. While others struggled to find textbooks, he would already be reviewing. If these books weren't just for show but actually read during spare time, he'd be two steps ahead of everyone.
The value of university graduates from the first three graduating classes after the Cultural Revolution remained quite high.
For an ambitious and shrewd person like Zhao Shuwen, if he passed the exams, he might truly go far.
But none of this concerned her.
After reading for a while, Song Xiu Jun yawned, turned off her flashlight, and went to sleep.
Deep in the night, a dark figure vaulted over the backyard wall into the courtyard, landing with a soft thud.
Inside her room, Song Xiu Jun opened her eyes and sat up silently. She retrieved an incense stick from her space and placed it in a bronze incense burner, concealing the glowing tip.
She swallowed a pill and lay back down.
The incense burned soundlessly in the room, producing neither smoke nor scent.
With closed eyes, Song Xiu Jun heard the door latch being picked. The intruder's wall-scaling and lock-picking movements were practiced, clearly the work of an experienced hand.
Although she possessed a system with special abilities, she didn't have much combat prowess. Her previous beating of Jiang Ai Dang relied entirely on the Invigorating Pill, which had now expired.
So she prepared something different to deal with this petty thief.
The door was pried open, moonlight streaming into the room. The intruder didn't close the door, using the moonlight to rummage through the cabinet near the entrance.
But within ten seconds, she heard a "thump" – the man had collapsed unconscious.
Song Xiu Jun waited a while longer, confirming no further movement before rising.
She put on her coat, clicked on her flashlight, and swept the beam toward the doorway, revealing a slender man collapsed on the floor. Taking hemp rope from her space, she bound him securely. After searching his person, she found four yuan, six mao, and three fen.
Not much gain, but then again – who would steal if they had money?
She studied the man's face and confirmed he wasn't from Xianghong Brigade, guessing he must be from another Production Team, though probably with relatives in Xianghong Brigade.
Otherwise, how would he know about her?
Song Xiu Jun knew the Production Team had quietly acknowledged her as someone with money.
Not only did Zhao Shuwen court her favor, but during work hours, one or two local unmarried young men would occasionally offer to help with her tasks – including Old Woman Li's fourth son.
To put it plainly, Old Woman Li's words contained considerable exaggeration.
After some thought, she dragged the man out of her room. Fortunately, he was small-framed rather than burly, allowing her to move him without needing another Invigorating Pill.
During this time in the countryside, her diet had improved, and she occasionally drank nutrient solutions obtained from other small worlds.
Now she had gained a little weight, her complexion had improved, and her strength was naturally much greater than the original body's.
She rummaged through her space and pulled out an electric tricycle, dragging the person onto the back.
She couldn’t remember which previous host had left these things. Having served a thousand hosts, the items they had handled numbered in the tens of thousands.
The space issued by the Quick Transmigration Bureau to each system had no size limit, so many things were piled inside, and she herself couldn’t remember exactly what was in the space.
This vehicle was electric and couldn’t be used openly at the moment, nor was there anywhere to charge it.
She searched for a while before finding the key to this electric vehicle. Starting it up, she saw it only had three bars of battery left—probably enough to get there but not back.
But it didn’t matter; she had other means of transportation.
Song Xiu Jun rode the electric tricycle out of the Production Team in the dark. The dirt roads in the village weren’t very smooth, especially the roads near their Educated Youth Spot, which weren’t the main village roads and were full of potholes.
She couldn’t turn on the headlights and was afraid the vehicle’s jolting would be too loud and wake the person up, so she drove very carefully.
Only after putting some distance between herself and the Production Team did she speed up.
Because it was an electric vehicle, the time to reach the commune was shorter. She found a spot near the police station, stripped the person down to his underwear, tied him up again, and hung a cardboard sign on him.
It read: "I am a thief. The victim caught me. I’ve stolen from many households. Please punish me severely, Officer."
After writing it, she patted her hands in satisfaction. The effect of this Bewitching Incense was excellent—he wouldn’t wake up easily.
Then she got back on the electric tricycle and quickly left the scene. On the way back, before she had even ridden halfway, the electric vehicle ran out of battery, forcing her to take out a bicycle again and pedal back.
As she neared the Production Team, she put the bicycle away.
At this hour, some households in the Production Team might already be awake. The sky didn’t seem as dark as before.
She quietly hurried toward her own small courtyard but heard noises coming from the nearby cornfield where the stalks hadn’t been fully harvested yet, startling her.
Could it be rabbits coming down from the hills? Song Xiu Jun wondered silently. If it was wild game, that would be great. She couldn’t help rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
Just as she was about to go investigate, the noise grew louder—it was footsteps!
Song Xiu Jun nervously looked around and hid behind a tree. Fortunately, it was dark, and even though the tree wasn’t thick, no one would notice someone hiding there unless they looked closely.
Her curiosity always got the better of her, and she couldn’t resist peeking.
She saw a man and a woman emerge from the cornfield, hurriedly adjusting their clothes. Though she couldn’t see their faces clearly, she could hear their hushed and fragmented conversation: "Okay… next time…"
"Give some grain… if someone finds out…"
"Be more careful next time…"
So it was an affair!
Interesting, almost dawn, and they chose this time.
The man picked up two wooden buckets from the field. The two looked around and hurried off in different directions.
Song Xiu Jun didn’t rush to leave. She waited five minutes and saw the man come back from the river, carrying two buckets of water.
Only after he left this time did she emerge from behind the tree and return to her courtyard.
She had no idea who the two people having the affair were. From their voices, they didn’t sound young and probably both had families.
Though it was a juicy piece of gossip, it was incomplete—truly intriguing.
She lay back on the kang and managed to sleep for another hour or so before being awakened by noises from the neighboring Educated Youth Spot.
Having been up most of the night, she was utterly exhausted. After putting on her coat, she got up and went next door to find Zhang Ruolan.
"Xiao Lan, could you ask for leave on my behalf? I'm not feeling well today," Song Xiu Jun pretended to be physically weak, speaking in a feeble voice.
Zhang Ruolan was in the middle of combing her hair. Upon hearing this, she immediately set aside the other braid she hadn't finished tying and hurried over to support her. "Is it serious? Should we ask the barefoot doctor from the team to take a look?"
Song Xiu Jun shook her head. "Probably caught a chill last night. It's nothing serious. I brought some medicine with me to the countryside and have already taken it. I just need to rest for half… a full day to recover."
She had initially intended to ask for half a day off but changed her mind mid-sentence. Since she was already requesting leave, she might as well take the whole day.
Zhang Ruolan promptly agreed and even accompanied her back to her room. "Should I also ask for leave to take care of you?"
"No, no, you should go to work," Song Xiu Jun repeatedly declined.
Only after assuring her that it wasn't serious did Zhang Ruolan finally leave.