Li Juan finally lowered her head. “Yes, yes. It was all a misunderstanding.”
Lin Zhiyi had no intention of simply letting the matter go.
“Comrade Railway Police Officer, now that the truth has come to light, shouldn’t my husband also receive an explanation?”
Li Juan had not expected that even after admitting her mistake, this woman still had no intention of letting her off.
“Comrade Li Juan, apologize to this comrade.”
Even Wu Gang was not foolish enough to fail to understand what had happened. “All right, all right. Li Juan, apologize to them. I’m sorry, my wife is from the countryside and doesn’t know any better. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Li Juan reluctantly apologized. “I’m sorry.” She then took the child back from her husband’s arms.
Lin Zhiyi had never wanted to get too involved with her in the first place, so after receiving the apology, she let the matter go.
But Wei Shiyu’s heart began to stir at that moment.
My wife stood up to protect me!
The time on the train passed fairly quickly, and they arrived in Yizhou early the next morning.
After getting off the train, the family soon found the people from Heyan Brigade who had come to receive them.
A flag welcoming the educated youths was hung on the ox cart, which was driven by a young man.
Seeing the ox cart, Lin Zhiyi actually breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that they were using an ox cart to pick people up proved that the village was not too poor.
The ox cart was fairly spacious, with several small stools placed on it, enough for seven or eight people to sit.
Wei Shiyu put the luggage on the cart, while everyone gathered around Lin Zhiyi.
To make Lin Zhiyi more comfortable, Wei Shiyu had her lean against his shoulder while he firmly held onto the handle beside him.
Yang Shuzhen looked at the rural dirt road ahead and grew concerned about Lin Zhiyi’s condition.
“Comrade, how much farther is it to the Heyan Brigade?”
The young man replied, “At least another forty five minutes.”
Wei Shiyu gently squeezed Lin Zhiyi’s hand, his heart aching for her. “Just hang in there a little longer.”
The young man turned around and looked at the family. He knew that people from the city were like this and had long since grown accustomed to it.
“Our Heyan Brigade is already considered close to the commune. The others would take at least an hour.”
Leaning against Wei Shiyu, Lin Zhiyi was thinking about something else entirely.
By now, Lin Youwei should already have boarded the train heading to the northwest.
I wonder if she will like this big gift.
After all, going to the countryside is still going to the countryside, no matter where you are sent.
The story returned to the day Wei family left for the countryside.
“Dad, why hasn’t my sister come back?” Lin Youwei received Lin Dongshan’s call at the hospital, asked for two hours off from work, and returned home.
Lin Youwei casually tossed her handbag onto the sofa and drank a glass of water before finally easing the dry, scratchy feeling in her throat.
“Oh, my head hurts so badly.” Lin Dongshan lay on the bed, groaning.
He lived on the first floor, while the two rooms on the second floor belonged to his two daughters.
“Dad, why does your head suddenly hurt?” Lin Youwei reached out and touched Lin Dongshan’s forehead, but he did not have a fever.
“I don’t know. Take Dad to the hospital.”
Lin Youwei knew that she could not tell anything from simply touching his forehead, so she could only take Lin Dongshan to get examined.
The hospital was in the city, and it only took about twenty minutes to ride a bicycle from Lin Dongshan’s home to the hospital.
But Lin Dongshan refused to take any transportation and insisted on walking there, so Lin Youwei had no choice but to go along with him.
Medical examinations were very slow at this time, and there were also plenty of people waiting in line.
Seeing the scorching sun outside, Lin Youwei glanced at her watch.
It was noon. The Wei family was leaving for the countryside.
She had to reach the railway station before twelve thirty.
The militia escorting the people being sent away would take them to the railway station at twelve thirty.
Lin Dongshan remembered Lin Zhiyi’s instructions.
“Youwei, get me some water. I’m a little thirsty.”
Lin Youwei had initially wanted to ask Sister Zhang, one of her colleagues, to help, but when she saw her making her rounds, she could only go downstairs to the nearby supply and marketing cooperative and buy a bowl.
Lin Youwei kept glancing at her watch. When it reached twelve ten, she gave up.
She remembered Wang Cheng saying that he could find a way to get her a spot for going to the countryside. It seemed she would have to find another way.
Finally, when the sun had begun to set, Lin Dongshan told Lin Youwei that his headache was gone.
Lin Youwei was so angry that she nearly bit through her lips.
But the matter was not over yet.
“Youwei, since you happen to be at the hospital, there’s something the director asked me to give you.” Head Nurse Wang was about to go change a patient’s dressing when she saw Lin Youwei preparing to leave.
Lin Youwei was ecstatic inside. Could it be that the hospital director wanted to promote her now that the results of the outstanding nurse selection had been announced?
She forcefully suppressed the corners of her lips from rising.
“Thank you, Sister Wang.”
She quickly opened the envelope, but the moment she saw the words on it, her legs went weak and she collapsed onto the floor.
It stated that, in recognition of Comrade Lin Youwei’s high level of ideological awareness, she had been specially approved to travel to Xiaohezi Village in the northwest for one year of medical assistance work, effective immediately.
Lin Youwei had not even figured out what was happening when she was surrounded by colleagues from the hospital who were also heading to the northwest. They all praised her for having such high ideological awareness.
She could neither laugh nor cry. She wanted to find the hospital director, only to be told that he had already gone home.
Before she could figure out what was happening, her door was knocked on by her colleagues who were going with her early the next morning.
“Are all these people really going to squeeze into one vehicle? How stingy!”
As the words fell, several pieces of luggage were thrown onto the vehicle, causing the wooden floor to shake several times.
The sound pulled Lin Zhiyi out of her thoughts.
The voice sounded extremely familiar, so she raised her head to look.
It was actually Li Juan from the train.
Lin Zhiyi immediately rolled her eyes and turned away.
Li Juan had not expected to run into them again either. When she carried Xiaohu onto the ox cart, she deliberately used extra force, making the entire cart shake.
Wei Shiyu glared at her and pulled Lin Zhiyi tightly into his arms.
“Tch, is that really necessary? It’s not like she’s going to fall off,” Li Juan muttered under her breath.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, the young man drove the ox cart toward the Heyan Brigade.
The road to Heyan Brigade was fairly smooth, and they did not have to cross any mountains or hills along the way.
After forty five minutes, the ox cart finally arrived at the Heyan Brigade.
As the ox cart passed along the main road, the wheat in the fields was ripe for harvesting, stretching out into a sea of golden yellow as far as the eye could see.
The farmers harvesting the wheat greeted the people on the ox cart familiarly.
“Chenghu, another group of newcomers?”
“Yeah, Uncle Wei. They’re here to help us harvest the grain,” Qiao Chenghu replied.
Whether they were educated youths or people being sent away, Qiao Chenghu was always the one sent to pick them up, which gave him plenty of time to himself.
Lin Zhiyi, however, was drawn to his name.
So this was Qiao Chenghu.
He was the second son of Qiao Mingshan, the captain of Heyan Brigade.
She remembered that in the original storyline, he was deeply favored by his mother, Jiang Lan.
If that person had not appeared later, Qiao Mingshan’s eldest son, Qiao Chenglong, probably would not have even gotten half of what belonged to the Qiao family.
“Are you all right? We’ll be there soon. Just hold on a little longer.”
Seeing Lin Zhiyi lose focus twice, Wei Shiyu assumed that she was feeling uncomfortable.
Lin Zhiyi shook her head, indicating that she was fine.
About ten minutes later, Lin Zhiyi and the others arrived at the educated youth station.
Li Juan slowly carried her luggage, her eyes repeatedly drifting toward where Lin Zhiyi was sitting.
Since you like sitting so much, you can sit there a little longer.