Time quickly arrived on the day of departure for the countryside.
Su Yun watched the receding figures of Su’s second sister and little brother and felt a faint twinge of reluctance.
That morning, Su’s father and mother had gone straight to work. Su’s second sister had asked for an hour off from the factory, and the two siblings had come to the station to see her off.
Su’s father and mother hadn’t asked a single question over the past few days — they’d utterly ignored their youngest daughter.
After all, in their eyes, this daughter no longer had any value. None of the educated youth who’d gone to the countryside had ever come back.
Especially the girls — many of them ended up marrying and having children locally. And Su Yun was going so far away that they might never see her again.
So, naturally, they paid her no attention and prepared nothing for her.
She’d only taken a few of the original owner’s clothes and an old quilt for winter, bundled up in a bundle just for show.
Last night, Su’s second sister had secretly slipped her ten yuan — who knew how long she’d been saving that up.
She’d held Su Yun’s hand and talked to her all night, teaching her how to navigate the world and reminding her of things a young girl needed to watch out for.
The most amusing part was when she told Su Yun not to be afraid — if she still hadn’t saved enough money for a new winter quilt by then, she should write to their eldest brother for help; he definitely wouldn’t abandon her!
Before leaving, Su Yun had tucked the two jars of snow cream into the very back of Su’s second sister’s drawer. She wondered when she’d discover that little “surprise.”
The three of them had just reached the station entrance when Su Yun urged the siblings to go back. If they walked her inside, she wouldn’t be able to “smuggle” her things out unnoticed.
Yesterday, she’d already taken out the canteen, cup, basin, and other daily necessities that needed to be “visible” — bundled them together with the original owner’s old clothes in a bed sheet, and stored the bundle in her grid.
Su Yun found a quiet corner on the side of the station, took out the prepared bundle, and slung the canteen over her shoulder.
She rolled up the original owner’s old quilt and tied it with two cloth straps so she could carry it on her back — it was easier that way.
As for the rest of her things and the thick quilt, Su Yun planned to wait until she arrived, then pretend she’d bought them locally or had them mailed from home, and pick them up from the post office.
Otherwise, carrying everything the whole way would be too much trouble — she wasn’t very strong, and it’d be clumsy and exhausting, with a higher chance of losing things.
Besides, it was summer now, and the weather was hot — she wouldn’t need those things for a while.
With her small frame, Su Yun carried the quilt on her back, lugged the bundle in her hand, and had an old cloth bag and canteen slung cross-body. Step by step, she shuffled toward the boarding gate.
The educated youth coordination point had set up a wooden table next to the entrance. Staff members sat behind it, checking identities one by one and handing out train tickets to the queueing youth.
Su Yun didn’t dawdle. She joined the line, presented her ID, collected her ticket, and went inside.
Whoa!
The moment she stepped onto the platform, Su Yun was awestruck.
What a sea of people! Heads packed so densely it was overwhelming.
There were even more people than at a subway station during rush hour in her past life!
And everyone was lugging bags and bundles — each person carrying several pieces of luggage.
All around, people were stepping on each other’s shoes or tripping over each other’s bundles.
Su Yun stood on tiptoe at the back of the crowd and scanned around. Spotting her carriage, she immediately pushed her way over.
Fortunately, several carriages at the rear of the train were reserved exclusively for educated youth.
They weren’t as cramped as the front carriages. Once inside, it felt more spacious, and most of the people around were seeing others off.
Once the train was about to leave, they’d get off, and it wouldn’t be like other carriages where even the aisles were packed with seated passengers.
Su Yun looked around with wide eyes.
This was the legendary clackety-clack, slow-moving green train she’d only ever seen in old photos and movies!
She never thought she’d get to ride one herself!
Inside, compared to the slow trains she’d taken in her past life, there wasn’t much difference.
Two rows of seats facing each other, with a small folding table in between for cups and canteens.
The only differences were that it wasn’t as clean or as refined as modern trains, but the layout was mostly the same — though the speed was definitely worlds apart.
Withdrawing her gaze, Su Yun stepped over the luggage on the floor and found her seat according to her ticket — not bad, a window seat in a two-seater row.
She stretched her arms up and stuffed the quilt and bundle onto the overhead rack. Thankfully, the original owner’s quilt wasn’t heavy — probably only about five or six jin.
Just as she’d finished stowing her luggage, a train attendant walked through the carriage, shouting as they went.
“Time to get off! All family members, please exit the train now!”
“The train is about to depart!”
“Off you go…”
At that, people began filing out of the carriage one after another. Su Yun quickly sat down properly.
By then, most passengers around her had found their seats, and the entire carriage was filled with spirited young people.
Su Yun got lucky — both the person across from her and the one next to her were girls. The girl beside her had red-rimmed eyes and sat in silence, clearly reluctant to leave home.
Su Yun simply nodded a greeting to the few of them and didn’t say much. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and pretended to be deep in thought.
Who knew if there were other educated youth in this carriage assigned to the same place as her? Right now, it was best to act a little sad — that way, she could later pretend to have a good relationship with her family and use “family subsidies” as an excuse for living a bit more comfortably.
Yes, she hadn’t even arrived yet, but Su Yun had already set her persona!
From now on, she’d be the beloved youngest daughter from far away — doting parents, caring siblings, all with steady jobs and money to spare!
As for food and supplies that other educated youth didn’t have — if anyone asked, she’d just say her family had sent them!
Su Yun closed her eyes to rest, but her awareness was actually immersed in the check-in system.
She checked her storage grid. Over the past few days, she’d gotten some pretty good items.
At the department store, she’d gotten a [Women’s Watch ×1]. Since Su Yun could check the time directly through the system, she didn’t need it for now.
Still, it was a nice collectible or could be sold for cash if needed.
At the textile factory, she’d again gotten [Fabric ×2]. Last time it had been two bolts of cotton cloth, but this time it was two bolts of white dacron fabric.
Su Yun touched it and found it familiar — wasn’t this just that cheap polyester fabric from modern times?
Her middle school summer uniform shirts had been made of this material.
It wasn’t breathable and had no stretch — yet in this era, it had somehow become a symbol of fashion.
Meanwhile, the pure cotton fabric people thought was outdated and plain would actually become more expensive decades later.
Fashion really does go in cycles, Su Yun mused.
…
This time, the bank didn’t give her cash — instead, she got a small gold bar.
Back then, as long as you had the proper paperwork, you could exchange heirloom gold for cash at the bank. It wasn’t unusual for banks to have gold bars, so Su Yun didn’t find it strange.
What actually made her happy were the two whole braised chickens she’d gotten from the state-run restaurant — she’d been wanting to try them!
Jing City had a love for braised foods. During the New Year, most households would make their own braised meat dishes.
The Su family also made braised meat during the holidays — but the meat was for Su’s father and mother. The original owner had mostly eaten lotus root and tofu skin, and remembered only having gnawed on chicken feet and necks once or twice.
The braised snacks Su Yun had eaten in modern times were all from chain stores — spicy, sweet-and-spicy, covered in heavy seasoning powders.
She’d never tried freshly braised food like this, so of course, she was eager to taste it!
…
On the night before departure, while no one was home, Su Yun did a quick inventory.
She only took two 1-jin grain coupons and tucked them close to her body along with one Great Unity note for emergencies.
Added to the ten yuan Su’s second sister had given her last night, she now carried twenty yuan in cash and two jin of grain coupons on her.
The other forty yuan and 28 jin of national grain coupons she put into a biscuit tin, along with the watch and the gold bar. The leftover fruit and snacks from the past few days went into the bamboo basket that had held the green dates.
The yellow buraji dress, two sets of ready-made clothes, and two pairs of cloth shoes were bundled together with the original owner’s old clothes. The toiletry set had already been taken out.
Her storage grid now showed:
[Biscuit Tin] [Daily Necessities Set] [Basket of Fruit] [Tattered Bundle] [Braised Whole Chicken ×2] [Mushroom & Cabbage Buns ×15] [Spicy Tripe & Blood Curd ×3] [Pork ×2 jin] [Fabric ×4] [“Getting Rich in the 70s”]
She had 17 slots total, and 10 were now used.
Still too few slots, Su Yun thought.
She wondered when she’d trigger another special check-in to increase the number of slots.