The cabinet at home was locked. Since no one was usually around, it was also meant to keep outsiders out.
Clicking her tongue, Lin Jinghong paced around the house, found a tattered basket, and dug out a patched piece of cloth from inside the room to cover it before heading out.
She had no idea how to get to the city. The original owner of this body had grown up without ever going anywhere farther than the town—the commune, that is.
Oh well.
She trotted along on legs as thin as matchsticks, taking the back paths to avoid people.
And sure enough, walking from Qingyan Brigade to the commune took over an hour on foot.
She’d only been walking for a short while when she started feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
She drank a bowl of the Mystic Spring water from her Spatial Dimension, regained a bit of strength, and kept going.
By the time she reached the commune, her lips had turned pale.
The streets of Red Flag Commune… were still dirt roads, though much smoother, with some sections filled in with fine gravel.
There was a grain and oil shop, a supply and marketing cooperative, a food products store, a state-run restaurant, and a post office—all single-story brick or tiled-roof buildings.
The only two-story building… was the grain management station.
She headed straight for the state-run restaurant. It was around lunchtime, and big, plump, white steamed buns had just come out of the steamer.
Lin Jinghong was ravenous. She pulled out her money and said, “Give me ten big meat buns!”
“Sure, that’ll be fifty cents and one jin of grain coupons.” The speaker was the only waitress at the state-run restaurant.
“Huh?”
Lin Jinghong felt like she must be starving herself stupid.
This was an era where you couldn’t take a single step without an introduction letter or ration coupons.
“No grain coupons, no sale.” The waitress furrowed her brow. “Shoo, shoo, don’t block the people behind you.”
Lin Jinghong swallowed hard, turned away in disappointment, and left reluctantly.
Even when she reached the door, her head was still twisted back over her shoulder.
Her thin neck looked so fragile it was nerve-wracking to watch—as if she might snap it any second.
“Give me five buns.”
A somewhat crisp voice rang out, the tail end carrying a faint huskiness—barely noticeable, yet unconsciously alluring.
Lin Jinghong felt her ears tingle.
Sigh.
She let out a breath, stepped out of the state-run restaurant, and tilted her head up at a forty-five-degree angle to gaze at the sky. Why was it so hard to get a meat bun?
She really wanted to just snatch one. She was about to lose it.
“Here, eat this.”
She’d already lifted her foot to leave when, the next moment, two plump white buns appeared before her eyes.
The hand holding the buns was long-fingered, with well-defined knuckles and smooth lines.
Most importantly… he’d wrapped the buns in oil paper, showing her full respect.
Lin Jinghong whipped her head around to look at the owner of that hand.
A face of striking, unparalleled beauty appeared before her. The man wore a simple white shirt, the top two buttons undone, revealing tempting collarbones. Blue work pants hugged his long legs. He was at least 185 centimeters tall, and his eyes were stunning—luminous and deep.
Lin Jinghong swallowed again.
Not sure if she was more entranced by the fine specimen of a man or the meat buns.
“I’ll pay you.” Though she’d sized up the handsome man, it was only for a moment.
She reacted quickly, snatched the buns over, and handed him a dime.
Then she took a huge bite of the meat bun.
Thin skin, generous filling—so good it made you want to cry.
Tears streamed down her face.
“You don’t recognize me?” The man pressed his lips together slightly. “My treat.”
Huh?
Lin Jinghong tilted her head, searching her memory. After a moment, she dug up information about the person before her from some dusty corner of her mind.
“Youth Su?”
Su Zhaoying—one of the educated youths who’d come to the youth placement point this year. Word had it he was from the capital, and the moment he arrived, he’d captured the attention of every young woman and married lady for miles around.
He’d also charmed the female educated youths at the placement point.
His connection with Lin Jinghong… At the start of the year, he’d gone up the mountain to gather firewood, slipped, fallen into a ditch, and passed out. Lin Jinghong had spotted him and carried him out on her back.
Otherwise, in the dead of winter up north, he would have frozen to death.
“Mhm, is that enough? Here, take these too.” Su Zhaoying handed over the remaining buns.
Lin Jinghong took them without hesitation and quickly polished them all off.
“If that’s not enough, I’ll go back in and buy more.” Su Zhaoying showed no sign of reluctance.
“Alright, go buy ten more then.” Lin Jinghong wasn’t shy about it either.
Su Zhaoying let out a soft laugh and soon came back out with ten more meat buns.
Lin Jinghong didn’t eat them this time. Five was about right for her—the buns these days were even bigger than a grown man’s fist.
“Do you have meat coupons?” she asked.
“I do.” Su Zhaoying knew what she wanted to do and took her to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Unfortunately, they were out of meat.
Seeing Lin Jinghong’s shoulders slump, he paused for a moment. “Wait here for me. Don’t wander off.”
Lin Jinghong nodded, curious where he was going.
But she obediently stayed put and didn’t follow. About half an hour later, Su Zhaoying returned.
He was carrying about two jin of meat—a mix of lean and fatty.
Lin Jinghong’s eyes lit up. “Where did you get that?”
“Don’t worry about it. Anything else you need to buy?” Su Zhaoying asked. “Want to get some candy?”
“That would be perfect.”
By the time the two of them walked out of the commune, both hands were too full to carry anything more.
And now they had another hour-long walk back on foot.
Halfway there, the area grew sparsely populated, with woods on the left and a river on the right.
“Who are you?!” Su Zhaoying suddenly turned around, his sharp gaze fixed on Lin Jinghong.
His eyes were full of scrutiny and wariness.
His muscles tensed, as if he were about to strike at any moment and kill the other person in one blow.
Lin Jinghong was taken aback for a moment, then quickly snapped back to her senses. “Are you out of your mind? A big, obvious Lin Jinghong is standing right here and you can’t tell?”
Her eyes clearly said, “I don’t bother arguing with someone whose brain is broken.”
Su Zhaoying nearly laughed in exasperation. “You’re not Lin Jinghong!”
His tone was resolute.
Lin Jinghong raised an eyebrow. Yeah, I’m not the original body, but I am Lin Jinghong.
What are you gonna do about it?
She had suspected she might be recognized ever since she unceremoniously made Su Zhaoying buy things for her.
After all, the original fool, after saving Su Zhaoying, had completely refused to let him repay her.
When he offered her things, she flat-out refused. When he offered her money, she returned it three times a day.
When he tried to help her with things, she kept him at arm’s length.
In short, she wanted no repayment at all.
Because that fool had been brainwashed. The man she liked was also at the educated youth station. That big idiot had deceived her, brainwashed her, telling her not to have any contact with Su Zhaoying, or else he would never speak to her again.
What made it even more idiotic was that the man liked Bai Ruoxue, and Bai Ruoxue liked Su Zhaoying. So when she learned that the original had saved Su Zhaoying, and that the aloof and unapproachable Su Zhaoying was actually sending the original food and drinks, she couldn’t sit still and sent her sycophantic admirer to go after the original.
“I’m called Lin Jinghong.” There was no hint of evasion in Lin Jinghong’s eyes.
No matter what anyone said, she was Lin Jinghong.
Su Zhaoying frowned. That was what puzzled him too. Lin Jinghong was like a completely different person, yet upon closer observation, she was still Lin Jinghong, the same person.
“Alright, I know you don’t want to repay the life-saving favor with food, drink, or money.” Lin Jinghong snorted coldly.
“That’s not it.”
“Oh, so you want to offer yourself to me instead? Your big sister will oblige you.”