The day of departure was fast approaching, and the train was set to leave in a few days. She had a lot to prepare, and she decided to use her ’young man’ disguise as permanent until she could gather enough strength.
A young girl roaming around alone simply roused too many questions and attracted too many eyes. Not to mention, she narcissistically acknowledged that, despite her malnourished state, she was quite the beauty and was subject to many annoyances.
Most importantly, even that family wouldn’t be able to recognize her. Even if she didn’t purposely disguise herself, the fact that her entire temperament had improved—in contrast to the meek girl who couldn’t lift her head and with hair covering much of her face—would make her unrecognizable.
She also didn’t look like Qiao Yaqin and was more of a mix of features from both sides of the family, only inheriting her fair and flawless skin.
Su Qinghua had her own brand of beauty was very different from that of her mother. Qiao Yaqin had a soft and gentle beauty, the kind that would soften many men’s hearts, while Su Qinghua—once matured—had defined, impactful features that could turn heads and make hearts palpitate just at the sight of them.
Combined with the fact that she decided to use simple make-up to slightly mute her features, she wasn’t afraid of meeting her former family members.
She had also experienced a lot of unsavory things in the village in her past life, all because she was a pretty woman. Her reputation was always smeared by them, and she couldn’t prove her innocence because she was so outnumbered, and many of the villagers were unreasonable.
So, while she was adjusting to the new place, and while she was building her strength and her forces, donning a male disguise would—sad to say—provide her with many conveniences and avoid a lot of obstacles that a woman would most likely face.
It was just the harsh truth of the times, and—as she was now—she wasn’t powerful enough to change it.
As for the sustainability of her male disguise, she was still young, and her body was undeveloped. Due to a decade of malnutrition, she hadn’t even had her menses yet at sixteen.
Further, the north was quite cold for most of the year, so she’d wear loose clothing and several layers of jackets. It wouldn’t be too difficult for the underdeveloped her to pretend to be a young man, at least for the first few years.
She wouldn’t manipulate her documents or anything like that. This convenience wouldn’t be worth the risk. She was simply and subtly misleading people on the surface by being actively vague about her gender.
This way, she wouldn’t be called a liar, and it would be easy for her to transition back as needed.
She wasn’t planning on crossdressing for long. She’d return once she found herself stable enough, and she recovered enough of her strength to be unafraid of harassment. It was purely for convenience.
She just needed to bid her time until she could bravely and fearlessly show her true self.
...
Su Qinghua used this time to fill up her new space, filling up the remaining area with plants. After finding out she could get emergency buffs (which was still valid, by the way), she had become much more hardworking.
The buff pretty much allowed her to be near-indestructible, and this included a massive amount of stamina.
She had never farmed for so long with minimal break times. Seeing that her expanded space had been filled up in one sitting, she felt a very high sense of accomplishment.
"Am I en route to becoming the prince of farming!?" she chirped. She ran around her space and realized that she still had energy even after all that work.
Those ’sacrifices’ were quite worth it!
She had recorded her losses this time, and she had lost 5 second-generation plants and 20 first-generation potatoes. Her peas and other crops were not touched.
It was very interesting. Was it because potatoes were strong on carbs and starch? Hehe.
As for why she never discovered this in her past life, it was because she had been too focused on her business and discovered the space a bit late. Other than her actual day of death, she had also never experienced serious threats to her life. The maximum level of crops she got then was level 5, and even then, the effects were impressive.
In this life, she was determined to maximize her space.
When she left the space, it was already noon. A lot of things had happened today, but thanks to the buff, she didn’t feel tired yet. At least physically.
Mentally, she also felt refreshed. It was like she had pooped after years of being constipated.
She finally got rid of that pesky plaster of a toxic family~
And without leftover sentiment left for her mother, she felt particularly lighter.
She decided to have lunch at the State-owned restaurant. She took out a couple of yuan and coupons, prepared to splurge.
"I’d like a plate of fried rice, four pork mantous, red-braised pork, sweet and sour fish, stir-fried greens, and egg drop soup, please," she said, paying the money and the required coupons for them.
Seeing her money and coupon, the usually-snobbish waitress nodded and served her well. "The food will be served in ten to fifteen minutes."
Su Qinghua nodded and headed to a nice location, ideally near the walls. She really disliked being in the central areas, feeling that there was too much activity going on.
Eating was a sacred activity for her. While she wasn’t so stringent that she wouldn’t speak while eating, she was the kind who liked to take her time to savor her food.
As she perused for a good seat, she unexpectedly saw an acquaintance.
It was none other than Qiao Yaqin, and she was having dinner with another middle-aged woman who felt vaguely familiar to Qinghua. Judging by her appearance—especially her good clothes and accessories—the latter was fairly well-off.
Su Qinghua was confident she wouldn’t get recognized, so she furtively chose a seat nearby with her back facing them.
There was a table in between, but her hearing and sight had already improved permanently, so it was no problem to eavesdrop on two women who weren’t even whispering to each other.
"Are you really not fooling me, Qiao Yaqin? You have to remember that your husband’s position is based on my husband’s mood."
Wang Dashan had just been taken into custody the night prior, so it wasn’t surprising that she hadn’t received news. The police were probably still going around her neighborhood to investigate her claims as of this date.
"I know," Qiao Yaqin said, her voice naturally velvety. "I will never risk my husband’s job. We just...need a bit of assistance now."
"The bride price has already been deposited. You’re saying we have to find the bride, too?" the other woman scoffed, tone a little shrill that it grated the nerves.
Qiao Yaqin was unperturbed, tone remaining gentle despite the harsh tone of the other. "She’s a bit unruly. I can’t control her, so I hope Mrs. Zhou could do so."
So...the day after they separated from the police station, this woman went straight to the abusive family who’d buy her daughter.
Su Qinghua sneered. Heh.
It seemed like some of her plans had to be expedited.