A small bowl of rice the size of a fist, accompanied by a few unknown green vegetable leaves and a few pieces of potato, without even a trace of meat—no, wait, there was some, but you had to dig around carefully to find it.
Not only was the portion small, but the presentation was also hard to describe.
Even this was considered a “luxury meal” that Chu Songqiang had gritted his teeth and spent money and ration coupons to buy from the hospital cafeteria window, all because she was a patient. Otherwise, forget about meat, she wouldn’t even have gotten rice.
Chu Songqiang himself ate cornmeal buns with pickled vegetables, hastily finishing a couple of bites.
Although this place was known as a land of fish and rice, farming in the countryside barely earned any Gongfen in a year. After accounting for Gongliang and Shougouliang, ordinary families couldn’t even fill their stomachs, let alone afford fine rice.
Even though the Chu family was considered relatively well-off in the village, in this era of scarcity in the 1970s, everyone was accustomed to frugality, stretching every penny and only daring to cook rice a few times a month.
Moreover, buying things in the city required ration coupons everywhere, making it even more necessary to save.
Looking at the pitiful meal in the lunchbox, Chu Youhuan really couldn’t bring herself to eat it, but reason told her that if she didn’t eat, she would go hungry.
As for wanting extra food or a different meal…
Whether Chu Songqiang would agree aside, she simply didn’t have the nerve to ask, especially since she wasn’t the one paying.
So, after hesitating for a couple of seconds, she forced herself to pick up her chopsticks. But the more she ate, the more she felt like crying. Her nose tingled with suppressed tears, and she felt silly for being so emotional. Afraid Chu Songqiang might notice, she lowered her head further and further.
When Chu Songqiang went to return the lunchbox to the cafeteria, Chu Youhuan finally let herself go.
At first, she was just silently crying, but upon seeing the patched hospital blanket and the shabby surroundings, she couldn’t help but break into loud sobs. Even while crying, the beauty-conscious girl remembered her injured face and feared tears might cause scarring, so she lay on her side to cry.
Although she had mentally prepared herself, facing the poverty and backwardness of this era firsthand, Chu Youhuan still found it hard to accept. After all, she had lived over twenty years of a comfortable, well-fed life in a stable and prosperous time. Even after her father passed away and her mother remarried into a new family, leaving her with little parental love, she never felt she had it worse than anyone else, because money could solve most problems.
If she had to name the only hardship she’d ever faced, it would probably be when she insisted on getting into Jing Shi Daily on her own merits after graduating from college.
Wait—she could still work at a newspaper office to earn money!
Sure, she had transmigrated into a book, but her skills in writing articles, digging up exclusives, and conducting interviews were still intact. With a skill like that, she wouldn’t starve anywhere.
But her excitement lasted only a couple of seconds before Chu Youhuan realized she was being too naive. Finding a job was hard even in later times, let alone now?
This was still the era of the planned economy, where doing business openly was forbidden. If caught, it would be labeled Touji Daoba and land her in jail. Having been given a second chance at life, she didn’t want to risk such dangerous activities.
Now, if she wanted to earn money and ration coupons legally and properly, the only options were to work a regular job or labor in the fields to earn Gongfen.
But nowadays, all job positions are Tiefanwan—they can be inherited or bought and sold, and most are absorbed internally by insiders. Even if there are job openings, they rarely go to people from the countryside. Especially after the policy of sending urban youth to the countryside for development was introduced, competition for jobs in the cities has become increasingly fierce, as urban residents strive to avoid being sent to unfamiliar rural areas as Zhiqing. It could truly be described as “one job is hard to come by.”
As for earning Gongfen? With her slender arms and legs, forget about improving her life—even supporting herself would be difficult.
The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she felt, and her tears flowed uncontrollably.
Just as she was crying her heart out, the door to the hospital room suddenly knocked. Startled, she had no time to react and could only watch helplessly as the door was pushed open from the outside.
“Room check.”
The person outside probably hadn’t expected to walk in on this scene. After a brief pause, they continued with an unchanged expression, “Is there anywhere you’re feeling unwell?”
Being caught in such a pitiful state, Chu Youhuan still felt somewhat embarrassed and awkward. But after working as a journalist for so long, her skin had grown thicker. No matter how flustered she felt inside, she wouldn’t show it on her face. So, when faced with the inquiry, she managed to feign nonchalance and fabricate an answer: “Heartache.”
And it truly was heartache—the pain of having to accept reality!
After saying this, she wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and added, “But I’m feeling much better now.”
“…”
Xu Chenxin’s gaze instinctively fell on her face. He didn’t know when she had washed her grimy face, but now it was clean and fair, with nothing on it except for a faint redness around her eyes and the tip of her nose, which did little to diminish her beauty.
With excellent bone structure and flawless skin, rosy cheeks, peach-like complexion, almond-shaped eyes, and pink lips, even without makeup and with two small wounds on her cheeks, she was stunningly beautiful.
Out of human nature, Xu Chenxin took an extra glance, but who would have thought that this very glance would be caught by the person in question.
Meeting her bright, watery smiling eyes, Xu Chenxin furrowed his brows, sensing trouble.
Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, she shook off her earlier despondency, leaned slightly toward him, and curled her lips into a faint, teasing smile, her beautiful eyes sparkling with light.
“Doctor Xu, am I quite good-looking?”
Her voice was soft and sweet, the rising tone like a hook, utterly captivating.
But unfortunately, Doctor Xu stood there like a block of wood, his expression unchanged and not uttering a word.
The smile on Chu Youhuan’s lips gradually faded. Asking that question wasn’t due to narcissism—if she hadn’t seen herself in a mirror, she wouldn’t have humiliated herself. But earlier, while washing up in the water room, she had caught a glimpse of her current appearance in the large red plastic round mirror hanging on the wall.
The original owner’s face was at least eighty to ninety percent similar to her own, and she had known since childhood that she was beautiful—no one who saw her ever failed to praise her.
And to become a journalist, aside from solid professional skills, appearance and image were also important criteria.
She had just finished crying and was wallowing in negativity, questioning her life, when someone inadvertently affirmed one of her strengths. In such a situation, wouldn’t anyone feel a bit of joy? So, she couldn’t resist making a small joke to lighten the mood.
But it turned out she was just making a fool of herself.
Perhaps she had misread the situation earlier—it was all just a misunderstanding.
Indeed, someone as pure-hearted as Dr. Xu would never stare at her face, even for just a second, right?
Once she understood this, Chu Youhuan gazed at Dr. Xu with a hint of resentment for a moment before finally pursing her lips. Well, to each their own—everyone’s tastes are different. If Dr. Xu couldn’t appreciate her beauty, so be it. It wasn’t as if she lacked admirers.
“I don’t feel any discomfort. Do I still need to be examined?”
Xu Chenxin glanced at her, his gaze lingering for a few extra seconds on her cheeks, which were puffed up as if she were sulking, before replying as usual, “Yes.”
With that, he set down the medical kit he was carrying.
A basic examination didn’t take much time, but the silence throughout the process made it feel unbearably long.
Whether it was her clever, feigned crying in the sweet potato field to secure the best outcome for herself, or her hiding alone in the ward earlier, burying her face in tears before straightforwardly asking a man if she looked good as if nothing had happened, or now, seemingly angry at someone for no apparent reason…
In just one day, her emotions had swung wildly.
What could have happened to make someone behave like this?
Staring at the top of her head, Xu Chenxin’s lips moved slightly as he was about to say something, but the door to the ward was pushed open from the outside.
Xu Chenxin lowered his gaze, setting aside his thoughts, and nodded to Chu Songqiang, who had just entered, as a greeting. “I’m here for rounds.”
“Is my daughter alright?”
Only after receiving a positive answer did the heavy stone in Chu Songqiang’s heart finally settle. He asked a few more questions about Chu Youhuan’s condition, watched Xu Chenxin leave, and then turned back. Seeing Chu Youhuan lying motionless, he assumed she was asleep and quietly sat down on the nearby chair.
From an angle he couldn’t see, Chu Youhuan slowly opened her eyes and clenched her fists. No, she couldn’t just give up on herself. No matter how difficult it was to make money in this era, she had to try. If she gave up without even trying, everything would remain the same, and she would never take the next step.
Once she dealt with Zhou Lifang’s matter, she would go to the county newspaper office to check things out.
With this thought, she suddenly sat up and called out, “Dad.”
Chu Songqiang stood up almost immediately. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
“No, I have something I want to discuss with you.”
Zhou Huaiqing borrowed the village donkey cart to go into town after getting money from home. But before he could even set off, the Chu family boys caught up and insisted on squeezing into the cart to go to town together.
Feeling guilty, he couldn’t refuse and had to let them tag along.
The entire journey was nothing short of torture for him. Surrounded on all sides by glaring members of the Chu family, every word spoken was laced with sarcasm, as if they wanted to devour him whole.
When they finally arrived at the county hospital, he couldn’t even get through the ward door.
Seeing Chu Songqiang, broad-shouldered and imposing, blocking the entrance to the ward, Zhou Huaiqing sensed trouble but forced a smile. “Old Chu, look at how this has turned out. Our Lifang only meant to play a joke on your Huanhuan. Who knew it would accidentally go this far? I’m truly sorry.”
“A joke that leaves someone beaten up like this?”
Chu Songqiang sneered coldly, his rough and booming voice nearly cracking the smile on Zhou Huaiqing’s face. It took him a good while to find his voice again: “Isn’t it normal for kids to roughhouse a bit? When we were young, we didn’t hold back either…”
Before he could finish, Chu Songqiang raised a fist as big as a sandbag in front of him. Zhou Huaiqing’s face paled, and he instinctively took a step back, but several equally burly young men from the Chu family stood behind him, leaving him with nowhere to retreat.
“Cut the fancy talk with me. We both know what started this. You must bring your Zhou Lifang over to apologize to my Huanhuan!”
Huanhuan chasing after men and throwing herself at them every day is her own shameful business. What kind of thing is Zhou Lifang? She’s not even Hu Huiqing’s wife, yet she dares to threaten people with violence.
If we’re really going to talk about it, Zhou Lifang is even more shameless!
Hearing this, Zhou Huaiqing’s heart sank. Afraid that this crude man Chu Songqiang would expose Hu Huiqing in front of everyone, he quickly said, “Of course, I’ll bring her over tomorrow.”
What’s a mere apology? As long as this matter can be put to rest, he’d even make that damn girl kneel.
————————!!————————
Red envelopes continue to roll out [dog head holding a rose] It’s the end of the month, please allow Guazi to covet the nutrient solution in your hands, babies [shy]
【Next up: “The Glamorous and Capricious Beauty of 80s Hong Kong,” please give it a follow, babies!
Synopsis:
Jiang Shunan is stunningly beautiful and seductive, with an enchanting figure—a gorgeous flower of earthly riches. But when she opens her eyes, she finds herself transmigrated into an 80s-era novel as the capricious female antagonist.
After her parents suddenly encounter misfortune, she is driven out of Gangcheng by her malicious uncle and sent back to her rural hometown on the mainland. From a sought-after young lady, she becomes a penniless village girl.
Jiang Shunan, newly arrived in this world, is on the verge of tears but secretly vows to reclaim everything she’s lost!
But for now, her top priority is finding a place to stay! So, with a flash of her beautiful eyes, she sets her sights on the bed in the home of that seemingly “simple-minded” rugged young man…
Only later…
“Lu Zhengran! The bed frame collapsed!”
“Be good, I’ll fix it when it’s light out～”
Lu Zhengran grew up without parents. After the reforms, he became the first Wanyuanhu in the village through decisive means, built several houses, and could live comfortably just by collecting rent.
But one day, a stunningly beautiful girl showed up at his door, claiming to be his fiancée, and simply refused to leave.
He knew perfectly well—what fiancée? He was determined to find out what she was really up to!
As time passed, he couldn’t figure out her motives, but he ended up losing his heart… and himself.
She wanted fine grains to eat, trendy clothes to wear, and a watch on her wrist—delicate and incapable of any hard work. Lu Zhengran couldn’t bear to see her suffer the slightest hardship. He gave up his laid-back life and began striving upward, wanting to create the best life for her.
Under the serene night sky, he held her fragrant shoulders and whispered enticingly, “Nannan, when will we fulfill our engagement?”
She sweetly coaxed him with her words, only to turn around and run back to Gangcheng.
This heartless little liar! Lu Zhengran gritted his teeth in frustration, swearing that once he caught her, he’d make her pay a thousand times over!
Time passed, and Lu Zhengran, now a renowned business tycoon on the mainland, encountered her again in Gangcheng. He couldn’t help but sneer, “Miss Jiang, long time no see. Why aren’t you running anymore?”
Run? How can you run when your legs are weak?
Reading Guide: 1V1, SC
The female lead acts first, then falls in love; she flees while pregnant, while the male lead falls in love at first sight and is love-struck.
Both the female and male leads have their own career arcs!