With everything finally settled, Song Jinyue had also finished packing her belongings.
She was ready to leave for the capital to find that scumbag and break off their engagement. While she was at it, she would make a trip to Qingcheng and take back every last bit of the Song family’s assets that Lu Weiguo had secretly transferred there!
The day before her departure, she visited Factory Director Liu’s home to say goodbye.
She brought along a basket of fruit, but when she left, they stuffed dozens of ration coupons into her hands—grain coupons, meat coupons, and all sorts of others. Better yet, they were valid nationwide, meaning she could use them wherever she went.
Factory Director Liu had even tried to give her money, but Song Jinyue had gone to great lengths to refuse it.
She had no idea when she would return after leaving this time.
Fifth Granduncle had only recently regained consciousness, and Song Jinyue was still worried about his health. So she decided to leave enough spiritual spring water for him and Fifth Grandaunt to drink regularly and strengthen their bodies.
Since the water in the well was constantly flowing, she filled their water vat with spiritual spring water instead, filling it all the way to the brim.
Once Fifth Granduncle and Fifth Grandaunt finished drinking this entire vat of spiritual spring water, their health would surely improve tremendously and their appetites would be better than ever!
Besides that, Song Jinyue also visited the kindhearted neighbors and gave each household some apples to thank them for taking care of her over the years.
Perhaps it was because the apples had been stored inside her space, but this batch was exceptionally sweet and fragrant.
Time passed quickly, and soon the day of Song Jinyue’s departure arrived.
Fifth Granduncle and Fifth Grandaunt insisted on personally accompanying her to the train station.
Unable to persuade them otherwise, Song Jinyue could only let them come along.
“Yueyue, you must take good care of yourself while you’re away, understand? If anything happens, call us. If things don’t go well out there, just come home. Your Fifth Granduncle and I will always be here waiting for you.”
Fifth Grandaunt held Song Jinyue’s arm tightly, tears shimmering in her eyes as reluctance filled her face.
“Fifth Grandaunt, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of myself. You and Fifth Granduncle need to look after yourselves too. Once I’ve settled down, I’ll bring both of you over so we can live together.”
Although the Song family’s fortune was already enough for Song Jinyue to live comfortably without working for dozens of lifetimes, she still wanted to find something meaningful to do.
If she managed to settle down somewhere else, she would bring Fifth Granduncle and Fifth Grandaunt over to live with her.
Standing nearby, Fifth Granduncle’s eyes were already swollen like walnuts.
The thought of Song Jinyue leaving them and heading to the capital had upset him so much that he’d tossed and turned all night without sleeping.
Even now, he was secretly wiping away tears.
Song Jinyue walked over to him and deliberately teased him in a lighthearted tone.
“Since when did Fifth Granduncle become so sentimental? It’s not like I’m never coming back. All right, stop crying. What if someone you know sees you crying like this? Won’t they secretly laugh at you behind your back?”
“Who’s crying?”
Fifth Granduncle immediately protested stubbornly.
“The wind’s too strong. It just blew something into my eyes.”
Song Jinyue saw right through him but decided not to expose him.
“All right, all right. You’re not crying. It’s just the wind bothering your eyes.”
Fifth Granduncle awkwardly turned his face away and snorted.
“That’s exactly what happened!”
“Fifth Granduncle, after I leave, you need to listen to Fifth Grandaunt. If you feel unwell, go to the hospital immediately. Whatever the doctor tells you to do, you do it. You absolutely cannot be stubborn like you were this time, understand?”
Although Song Jinyue had already reminded him several times, she couldn’t resist repeating herself before leaving.
Fifth Granduncle waved his hand impatiently.
“I know, I know! How did you become as nagging as your Fifth Grandaunt at such a young age?”
“The train is about to depart! Comrades with tickets, hurry and board!”
The conductor stood beside the train door, loudly reminding the passengers.
“Yueyue, hurry up. If you wait any longer, you’ll miss the train.”
No matter how reluctant Fifth Grandaunt was to let her go, she still urged Song Jinyue to board after hearing the conductor’s announcement.
“Fifth Granduncle, Fifth Grandaunt, I’m leaving now. Remember to take good care of yourselves. Don’t keep standing here. Hurry home.”
Song Jinyue picked up the suitcase beside her and, after saying goodbye to them, walked toward the train.
“Yue, if anything happens, don’t try to handle everything by yourself! You still have your Fifth Granduncle!”
Watching her walk away, Fifth Granduncle, who had been acting stubborn just moments earlier, hurriedly shouted after her.
“I know! You two hurry home!”
Song Jinyue waved goodbye and boarded the train.
The train was packed with people.
It was noisy and chaotic, and everyone practically had to shout just to hold a conversation. All kinds of unpleasant smells mixed together in the crowded carriage, creating an odor so pungent that it was difficult to endure.
Dragging her suitcase, Song Jinyue squeezed through the crowd for quite some time before finally reaching her compartment.
She had purchased a sleeper ticket.
Sleeper berths were scarce in this era, and each compartment contained six bunks. Yet including Song Jinyue, only three people occupied her compartment, so the air inside was much more tolerable than outside.
Her suitcase contained only a few sets of clothes. She had already stored all her valuables inside her space, so the suitcase was extremely light.
After placing it on the luggage rack, Song Jinyue took off her shoes and climbed onto her bunk.
In an era without mobile phones, and when reading materials weren’t freely available, traveling alone by train could be painfully boring.
Fortunately, the other two passengers in her compartment were middle-aged women who already knew each other.
Perhaps they hadn’t seen one another in a long time because the moment they met, they began chatting nonstop as though they had endless things to catch up on.
Their conversation consisted almost entirely of neighborhood gossip.
They knew everything—from whose mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had gotten into another fight and what caused it, all the way down to how many eggs someone’s chicken had laid yesterday.
Leaning against her bunk and watching the scenery pass outside the window, Song Jinyue found herself listening with great interest.
The two women were also extremely warm and friendly.
Seeing that Song Jinyue was traveling alone, they took turns giving her all sorts of advice and even shared the snacks they’d brought with them.
Song Jinyue herself was naturally sociable, so it didn’t take long before she joined their conversation.
She had originally thought the eight-hour journey from Shanghai to Qingcheng would be unbearably long.
Unexpectedly, with all their chatting, the hours flew by.
After saying goodbye to the two women, Song Jinyue got off the train and arrived in Qingcheng with her suitcase.
She first found a secluded place and stored her suitcase inside her space.
Then she began asking the locals for directions to the dock mentioned in the novel.
Following their instructions, she made her way there.
According to the locals, the dock only sold legitimate ferry tickets during the daytime.
Once seven o’clock in the evening arrived, ticket sales stopped completely.
Even offering twice the normal fare wouldn’t get anyone a ticket.
None of the locals knew why.
But since it had always been the dock’s rule, everyone had gradually grown accustomed to it.
Song Jinyue, however, knew exactly what was going on.
Most likely, the dock conducted legitimate business during the day.
But once night fell, it began taking private jobs.
For example, secretly transporting prohibited goods or helping criminals illegally cross borders and flee.
Although such jobs were extremely dangerous and anyone caught would inevitably be arrested, the profits were enormous.
There were always people willing to take their chances for money that came from questionable sources.
There were still five hours until seven in the evening.
Song Jinyue found a deserted corner near the dock, slipped into her space, and took a comfortable shower.
Fifth Granduncle and Fifth Grandaunt hadn’t been the only ones unable to sleep last night.
Song Jinyue had also tossed and turned for most of the night.
Since she still had several hours to spare, she lay down on the bed and caught up on some sleep.
By the time she woke up, the sky was already dark.
She checked the time.
Not too early.
Not too late.
Exactly seven o’clock.
Awaken—
It’s hunting time!