Cheng Suya and Han Qishan accompanied Cheng Ning to the Educated Youth Office, where she completed the paperwork for going down to the countryside. Then she boarded the large truck, draped with a banner, together with the other youths.
Waving to her aunt, Cheng Ning watched as the truck rolled toward the train station, loudspeakers blaring, stirring revolutionary songs.
It was already 1975. People knew, more or less, how bitter life in the countryside could be, but swept up in the atmosphere and the excitement of leaving home for a “new life,” most on the truck remained enthusiastic.
Cheng Ning’s eyes blurred as her aunt’s figure grew smaller. Her feelings were complicated. She knew there was much she had to do. She could not stop the flood—she didn’t even know the exact day, only that it would be around late July. She couldn’t simply selfishly arrange for Han Dongyuan and Liao Sheng to leave the Shanghan Brigade at that time to escape disaster. She wanted to do more—there was also Han Dongyuan’s later imprisonment.
But she had returned. Being alive was already a gift, wasn’t it?
After decades trapped in that house, unable to speak or leave, loneliness and helplessness had seeped into her bones. Now she was alive again, listening to songs full of vigor, looking at the lively faces around her, able to talk and laugh like them. How wonderful.
As long as she lived, there was hope.
The truck’s loudspeaker kept singing, and before anyone spoke, faces had already become familiar. When the music finally stopped, someone organized introductions.
“My name is Gu Jingwen, I’m going to Shiqiao Commune.”
“My name is Zhao Zhi, I’m also going to Shiqiao Commune.”
…
All the youths on this truck were headed toward Hexian County, though not all to the same commune. When introducing themselves, they mentioned the commune they were assigned to. As for which brigade within the commune, unless arrangements had been made beforehand like Cheng Ning’s, most didn’t yet know.
Zhao Zhi? Gu Jingwen?
That morning at the Educated Youth Office, Cheng Ning had felt that Zhao Zhi looked familiar. At first, she thought it was just some vague memory of a classmate. After all, her decades of confinement had blurred many childhood recollections.
But when Zhao Zhi sat beside her and interacted with the young man on her other side, smiled and introduced herself as Zhao Zhi, Cheng Ning’s heart skipped. A fragment of memory suddenly surfaced.
Years later, a woman in her thirties or forties had come to Han Dongyuan’s house to seek him. She was carefully dressed, but her face showed exhaustion and despair. With tears streaming down her face, she begged Han Dongyuan, saying she had always loved him. But when he was imprisoned, she had no choice but to marry Gu Jingwen. Gu Jingwen knew this—that her heart belonged only to Han Dongyuan—and that was why he had always targeted him. She begged him—begged him to let Gu Jingwen and her go, since their two children were still so young.
Cheng Ning still remembered Han Dongyuan’s expression at that time.
Although after prison he usually wore a cold, unreadable face to outsiders, Cheng Ning had stared at that face for decades in her confinement. Even the briefest flicker of disgust, she could catch.
So it was her.
Now, this face was still youthful and fresh, her temperament completely different. So many years had passed that Cheng Ning hadn’t recognized her at first.
A sharp wariness rose in Cheng Ning’s heart. She knew Han Dongyuan’s imprisonment had been the result of a fight gone too far—he had beaten a man who deserved it. That man had stolen medicinal plants from the deep mountains, crops Han Dongyuan was leading villagers to cultivate. Worse, the plants weren’t ready yet, and he ruined them all. Han Dongyuan always struck hard, and this time harder still. The man died the next day.
If it had been only that, Han Dongyuan might have received a lighter sentence. After all, the man had stolen commune property. But someone claimed the man had harassed Zhao Zhi days earlier. Zhao Zhi herself admitted it. And since she had some emotional entanglement with Han Dongyuan, people accused him of abusing public duty for private motives—pretending to act for the commune, but really for her.
Because of this woman’s tearful pleas, Han Dongyuan was sentenced to ten years.
Gu Jingwen—Cheng Ning remembered that name too. She had overheard it in Han Dongyuan’s study, when he spoke with subordinates. Out of boredom, she had pieced together stories from their conversations, even reading the documents spread across his desk.
Gu Jingwen, like Han Dongyuan, had been an educated youth in the Shanghan Brigade. Later, he opened a large furniture mall—something like “Wenxin Furniture City.” After prison, when Han Dongyuan started his own business, Gu Jingwen repeatedly schemed against him. Though he failed to destroy Han Dongyuan, in the end, Han Dongyuan crushed him instead.
Cheng Ning’s guard rose instantly. If this woman was destined to marry Gu Jingwen, then let her be bound to him from the very start.
“Your name is Cheng Ning, right? We’re all going to Shiqiao Commune. I hope we’ll be assigned to the same brigade.” As Cheng Ning was lost in her memories, Zhao Zhi beside her took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
Cheng Ning glanced at her and replied coolly, “Oh.”
Zhao Zhi didn’t mind. She thought perhaps Cheng Ning was simply homesick and low‑spirited, so she offered comfort: “Don’t worry too much. If we’re assigned to the same brigade, we can look after each other. With more people helping one another, life won’t be so bad.”
But Zhao Zhi herself was uneasy. She was pretty, and before leaving, she had heard that beautiful girls often had a hard time in the countryside, sometimes even ran into trouble. That made her anxious. Fortunately, she was going down with her childhood neighbor, Gu Jingwen, with whom she was only a step away from romance.
Gu Jingwen was her neighbor’s elder brother, two years older. He had already gone to the countryside two years earlier, to a farm only four or five hours from Beicheng. Conditions there were good—it was the kind of place many people pulled strings to reach. But when he learned that Zhao Zhi was being sent down, he deliberately returned, used his connections, and swapped places with another student so he could go to Shiqiao Commune with her.
With capable, experienced Gu Jingwen by her side, Zhao Zhi felt reassured.
Then, seeing Cheng Ning on the truck and hearing she was bound for Shiqiao Commune, Zhao Zhi’s spirits lifted further. She knew she was beautiful—her pride and her reliance. Yet in an unfamiliar place, beauty could also be a source of danger. Now, seeing another girl even more striking than herself going to the same commune gave her a sense of safety.
Cheng Ning’s outfit was odd. It was a sunny day, not too cold. Everyone else wore light coats or jackets for convenience. Only Cheng Ning was bundled in a bulky old military coat, a snow hat, and heavy boots—round and shapeless like a ball. She was clearly very pretty, yet dressed herself this way. Zhao Zhi found her strange. And with Cheng Ning’s aloof attitude, she seemed stranger still.
Cheng Ning said: “No need. Everyone should just mind themselves.”
Zhao Zhi: … *A peculiar person!*
She thought, *Forget it. Such a strange girl, doesn’t know how to get along, yet looks so eye‑catching. Who knows what will happen to her in the countryside?* So she didn’t hold it against her.
After half an hour on the truck and more than ten hours on the train, by evening the youths in one carriage were already familiar with each other.
The twenty‑odd people bound for Shiqiao Commune exchanged contact details, agreeing to stay in touch and help one another.
Throughout the journey, Zhao Zhi was warm and attentive to Cheng Ning, always offering her food. But Cheng Ning politely declined each time, saying she had her own. She kept Zhao Zhi at arm’s length, neither cold nor warm, while getting along well with others—never appearing unsociable.
Gu Jingwen, protective of the girl he loved, couldn’t stand seeing her brushed off. When Cheng Ning went to the restroom, he whispered to Zhao Zhi: “Zhizhi, that Cheng Ning doesn’t mean you well. Don’t get too close to her.”
He thought to himself: *Strange clothes, strange temperament.*
After two years at the farm, he had seen plenty. He didn’t want Zhao Zhi to be hurt someday.
Zhao Zhi only smiled at his warning. “It’s fine. Once we’re so far from home, we’ll all be living together. It’s best if we can look out for each other.”
Gu Jingwen shook his head but said no more, only ruffling her hair with a touch of affection.
The train ride lasted seventeen hours—departing around ten in the morning, arriving at Hexian Station after three in the morning the next day. By the time they found the people sent to receive them, dawn was breaking. At that point, the group split up, with the twenty‑odd bound for Shiqiao Commune climbing onto a small tractor.
In the north, the weather was still bitterly cold in the first lunar month. The tractor was uncovered, the wind howling. Even with scarves wrapped tight, the chill pierced straight to the bone.
After seventeen hours on the train, now exposed to the freezing wind on the tractor, whatever enthusiasm or anticipation they had was quickly extinguished.
Gu Jingwen squeezed Zhao Zhi’s ice‑cold hand and called toward the driver: “Master, how long until we reach the commune?”
The old driver, wearing a thick felt hat, had no roof above him either. The wind roared, the tractor rattled, but his attitude remained cheerful. He shouted back: “Not long—about three hours. By then, the sun should be up.”
Three hours in the biting wind. Everyone’s heads throbbed with the jolting.
The driver glanced back at them, grinning: “You’re lucky. Just days ago, heavy snow blocked the mountains. The road was dangerous—snow hitting your face like knives. What usually takes three hours took five or six. And going down to the brigades was even riskier. Now the snow’s melted, much better!”
Everyone: …
Their moods grew complicated.
Now, looking at Cheng Ning bundled in the corner—like a bear in her oversized coat, snow hat, and fur boots—they no longer found her outfit laughable. Instead, they envied her warmth.
Conversation died away. Even Gu Jingwen, who wanted to ask about the brigades, lost the desire—too noisy, too cold.
They huddled together, enduring the time. Those who had brought quilts no longer cared about appearances—some simply wrapped themselves up.
Zhao Zhi, in her bright red wool scarf and cotton jacket, still shivered violently. She turned to Cheng Ning, wrapped so tightly she looked cozy, and couldn’t help asking: “Cheng Ning, do you know what it’s like here? Do you have acquaintances here?”
In Beicheng the past few days hadn’t been so cold, and with luggage to carry, everyone had dressed lightly.
Cheng Ning didn’t want to explain much. She simply said: “I didn’t want to bring too much luggage.”
So she wore it all on herself? The shivering youths could only twitch their lips.
Gu Jingwen, seeing his beloved girl frozen and pale, spoke up: “Comrade Cheng, you’re dressed warmly. Could you switch places with Zhizhi? She’s lightly dressed, her face is already turning purple.”
Earlier, Cheng Ning had boarded quickly and taken the innermost corner seat, shielded by others—the best spot. She looked at the pair, then at the rest of the group. “She’s sitting right beside me. How much difference would switching make?”
Then she called across to a girl sitting further out in the wind: “Comrade Min, that side’s the draft. Come over here, let’s swap. I’m dressed warmly.”
Gu Jingwen & Zhao Zhi: …
Zhao Zhi blushed slightly.
Min Ran glanced around. Normally a straightforward girl, even she hesitated now, murmuring: “No, no need. The wind is strong—whoever sits in the draft will freeze.”
But Cheng Ning had already stood up, pulling Min Ran over to sit in her place. “It’s fine. I’m dressed warmly.”
The truth was, she wanted to put some distance between herself and Zhao Zhi and Gu Jingwen.
Then she turned deliberately to Gu Jingwen and added: “Comrade Gu, Comrade Zhao is your sweetheart. If she’s cold, why don’t you sit closer to the front to shield her? Or you could just hold her directly.”
Zhao Zhi’s head buzzed, stunned.
Gu Jingwen’s face darkened with anger, his expression turning blue.