When she came back out, she looked like a completely different person.
Xu Siyao had a set of makeup supplies, though the quality wasn’t anything special. Still, with Xu Shuning’s modern makeup skills, making herself unrecognizable was perfectly possible.
She needed to go out and buy some things, and she was worried about being recognized if she went out looking like herself. There were certain things she couldn’t explain if people started asking questions.
She wasn’t going to divorce Cui Wenzhou—not for now, at least.
Given her current situation, the best choice was to join him at his military posting.
Cui Wenzhou was stationed in Heilongjiang Province. The author of the original novel had based the setting on Northeast China.
No matter the era, winters there were bitterly cold. And in the 1970s, supplies were still in short supply.
Since she was going to live with the army, she naturally had to make preparations in advance.
Over the course of the morning, Xu Shuning visited several supply and marketing cooperatives, stocking up on a huge amount of supplies and storing everything in her space.
Anything she thought she might need, she bought some of.
After all, she had money, ration coupons, and a space to store everything. No matter how much she bought, carrying it wasn’t a problem. If she ever needed something urgently, she could simply take it out.
Things stored inside the space could be preserved for a very long time.
The space was truly mysterious.
Plants grew incredibly quickly inside, yet food from the outside seemed to freeze in time once it was stored there.
There was a limit to how much could be purchased at the supply and marketing cooperatives. If she wanted larger quantities, she’d have to go to the black market.
After carrying her purchases away from the supply cooperative, Xu Shuning found a secluded corner and stored everything in her space.
She also bought some common vegetable seeds, planning to plant them in the space when she had time.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to find any fresh medicinal herbs.
Fresh, intact medicinal herbs were rarely available on the market.
It looked like she’d have to wait until she reached Heilongjiang and search the mountains herself.
There should be plenty of good things to find up there.
After finishing her shopping, she went to a state-run restaurant and treated herself to a hearty meal.
Only when it was getting late did she leisurely make her way back to the Xu family’s home.
She hadn’t even reached the entrance of the alley when she heard a commotion.
The noise was clearly coming from the direction of the Xu residence.
Xu Shuning was very curious to see what kind of reaction Zhong Yan and Xu Hongtao would have when they discovered that their entire house had been stripped bare and that their daughter had lost her innocence.
Hehe.
This was going to be entertaining.
“Excuse me, let me through. Please, let me through.”
Xu Shuning pretended to struggle through the crowd, repeatedly asking people to move aside.
In reality, she barely moved at all.
People were gathered all around, gossiping among themselves. There were quite a few people outside, and several more had crowded into the courtyard.
“What happened to the Xu family?”
“You haven’t heard? The Xu family got robbed today. The thieves cleaned the place out. Anything that could be carried away was taken. They even took the pots from the kitchen. Someone went inside to have a look and said the Xu house looks practically brand-new now.”
“When the Xu family’s daughter-in-law came home, she was so shocked that she fainted on the spot. The neighbors heard the commotion and came over to take a look. Good grief, those thieves really did clean the place out.”
“No way. How could that happen? What kind of thief could pull that off in broad daylight? To empty an entire house that thoroughly, there should have been a huge commotion. They must have had quite a few accomplices. Surely someone nearby saw something.”
“That’s exactly what’s so strange. Nobody saw anyone carrying things away, and nobody saw the stolen belongings either. It’s almost as though everything simply vanished into thin air.”
“If you ask me, maybe the Xu family offended someone and this was revenge.”
“And that’s not all. I heard the Xu family’s younger daughter got into trouble too. Apparently, while the house was being emptied, she was in her room with a man doing that sort of thing. They didn’t even realize there was a thief in the house.”
Things had gone even more smoothly than Xu Shuning had expected.
And Zhong Yan’s fainting spell had happened at exactly the right time.
If she hadn’t passed out, the neighbors wouldn’t have rushed over so quickly.
And if the neighbors hadn’t come, Xu Siyao and Zhao Yang might not have been exposed so openly.
After hearing everything she wanted to hear, Xu Shuning finally pushed her way to the front of the crowd.
The Xu family’s front gate stood wide open.
When Xu Shuning had returned earlier to put Xu Siyao and Zhao Yang inside, she’d taken one of the two gate doors into her space.
She had also taken the bedroom door.
Even if the Xu family wanted to close up the house now, they couldn’t.
She wanted everyone to see the Xu family’s spectacle.
The more people watching, the more entertaining it was.
Xu Siyao and her mother, Zhong Yan, were sitting in the courtyard with their heads together, crying miserably.
Why weren’t they inside?
Because there was absolutely nothing left inside the house.
There wasn’t even a chair to sit on.
At least there was a step outside where they could sit.
Xu Hongtao had rushed home as soon as he learned that something had happened.
When he saw how completely bare the house was, he nearly cried.
It was hard to say whether Xu Hongtao had reported the theft to the authorities.
Most likely, he hadn’t dared.
After all, many of the things stolen from his home couldn’t be explained if they came to light.
And with the scandal involving Xu Siyao and Zhao Yang, if the authorities discovered everything, the two of them could be arrested.
But it didn’t matter whether he had reported it.
Xu Shuning had already planned ahead.
Before coming back, she’d stopped at a public telephone booth and made a call.
The authorities should arrive before this entire farce was over.
How could such a spectacular show be complete without the authorities showing up?
After taking another look at Xu Siyao and her mother, Xu Shuning turned her attention to another corner of the courtyard.
Zhao Yang was crouched there, his face covered in bruises.
Clearly, he’d already been given a beating.
He was wearing two loosely fitted pieces of clothing, barely enough to cover himself.
His and Xu Siyao’s original clothes had been torn to shreds by Xu Shuning and left on the floor. They were completely unwearable.
The clothes the two of them were wearing now had been borrowed from the neighbors because all the clothes belonging to the other members of the Xu family had disappeared too.
Looking at his miserable state, Xu Shuning couldn’t help grinning again.
Serves him right.
In her previous life, Zhao Yang had joined forces with her scumbag father and stepsister to ruin the original owner’s life.
He had taken a large sum of money from Xu Hongtao and sold the original owner to a remote mountain village.
Afterward, he returned to his hometown, married, had children, and started a business.
His life had turned out rather comfortable.
Unfortunately for him, none of that was going to happen this time.
Zhao Yang had no idea what had happened.
After he and Xu Siyao had finished discussing how they would deceive Xu Shuning, he had just walked out of the alley when someone suddenly struck him from behind.
He hadn’t even seen what the person looked like before losing consciousness.
He had no idea what happened afterward.
All he knew was that he had been beaten and cursed at until he finally woke up.
When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he and Xu Siyao were both naked, lying on the floor of her bedroom with their bodies tangled together.
Several people had been standing around them, pointing and whispering.
He genuinely had no idea what had happened.
He had been unconscious.
He couldn’t understand how things had turned into this.
“Where’s Xu Shuning? Where did that wretched girl run off to? Something this serious happened to the family, so why isn’t she here?”
Xu Hongtao suddenly seemed to realize that one person was missing.
He began shouting around the courtyard.
As his voice rang out, Xu Shuning slowly walked into the courtyard.