After returning to the storage room, Jiang Muyan wrinkled her nose at the strange smell inside.
Even though she wouldn’t be staying in this room for more than a few days, she didn’t want to make do like this.
So, she took out a cleaning talisman from her Mustard Seed Bag and gently tossed it into the air above the storage room. The talisman dissolved into a faint glow, and in an instant, all the dust in the room vanished without a trace, and even the air became fresh and clear.
It was the height of summer, and the room was also full of mosquitoes and insects. Jiang Muyan took out some mosquito-repelling herbs from her Mustard Seed Bag and scattered them around the room, filling the entire space with a faint, medicinal fragrance.
After finishing all this, she finally took out the snacks her master and the others had prepared for her from the Mustard Seed Bag.
Back then, her master hadn’t been able to divine which era she would travel to, so what they had prepared the most in the Mustard Seed Bag was gold and silver jewelry.
They said that no matter which era she ended up in, preparing gold would never be a mistake. When the time came, she could sell the gold for the currency of that dynasty and buy whatever she needed.
Thinking of this, Jiang Muyan smiled happily. Although her master and the others hadn’t foreseen that she would travel to an era where she couldn’t even take out gold, that was only for now—it would be possible in the future!
Besides, her space still contained high-quality medicinal herbs, plenty of rice, flour, and various fruits, oh, and the snacks she wanted to eat right now. She was very content!
Jiang Muyan opened the saqima she had just taken out—it was one of her favorite snacks.
She quickly finished one piece, then took out an apple and crunched into it.
Fortunately, the Mustard Seed Bag had a preservation function, so the fruits and snacks inside would last her a long time.
After filling her stomach, Jiang Muyan began to seriously plan her next steps.
In this era, a letter of introduction was required to go anywhere. And she, wanting to completely break free and distance herself from the Jiang family, thought it over carefully and settled on an idea: going to the countryside as an Educated Youth!
In the future, as she cultivated, her Spiritual Power would grow deeper and deeper, so naturally, she wouldn’t have to worry about the farm work she’d have to do in the countryside. Moreover, her Mustard Seed Bag contained so many supplies that even if she went to the countryside, she wouldn’t go hungry.
What’s more, it was already 1975, and in just over two years, the college entrance examination would be restored. In modern times, she had never set foot on a university campus, so perhaps in this era, she could experience university life as well.
Once she had made up her mind, Jiang Muyan immediately began planning the next steps.
After lunch, Liu Fangmei and Jiang Yucheng were in a hurry to go to work. She glanced at the bowls on the table and ordered Jiang Muqian to clean up.
Jiang Muqian was initially very reluctant, but after Liu Fangmei coaxed and cajoled her, she reluctantly got to work.
While cleaning up, she accidentally dropped a bowl on the ground. Fortunately, the kitchen floor was made of packed earth, so the bowl didn’t break.
After finally washing the pots and bowls, Jiang Muqian couldn’t wait to rush out to play with her friends.
Once everyone in the Jiang family had left, Jiang Muyan slowly stood up and walked toward Jiang Yucheng and Liu Fangmei’s room.
Earlier, she had already discerned from Liu Fangmei’s physiognomy where their household registration page was stored, so she went straight to a wardrobe and found the household registration page in the bottommost drawer.
In addition, she also found the letter she had seen in Liu Fangmei’s physiognomy from another location.
Although it was improper to read someone else’s letter, intuition told Jiang Muyan that this letter was closely related to the original owner’s origins, and she had to get to the bottom of it.
Moreover, given how harshly this family had treated the original owner, it wasn’t too much for her to help the original owner uncover her true identity!
Thinking this, Jiang Muyan picked up the letter and read it carefully.
After finishing the letter, she roughly understood the truth of the matter. It seemed that Liu Fangmei had swapped the newborn original owner with her own biological daughter back then!
A cold glint flashed in Jiang Muyan’s eyes. She calmly returned the letter to its original place, tightly grasped the original owner’s household registration page, and turned to leave the room.
Stepping out of the Jiang family’s gate, Jiang Muyan walked toward the neighborhood office while pondering how to seek revenge for the original owner.
Although the original owner had been driven to desperation by the Jiang family, she had ultimately taken her own life by hitting a wall. Besides, now that Jiang Muyan was living well in the original owner’s body, even if she reported it to the police, they wouldn’t be able to convict the Jiang family.
Furthermore, in these times, the deeply ingrained preference for sons over daughters meant that even if the Jiang family had treated the original owner harshly, outsiders would only see it as the original owner being immature and unfilial if the matter were brought to the police.
As for Liu Fangmei’s act of swapping the children, Jiang Muyan had no intention of pursuing it for now. From Liu Fangmei’s physiognomy, she had already seen clearly that this person would pay a painful price for this sinful debt in the future.
Reporting it to the police now would, at most, land her in prison for a few years, which would be letting her off too lightly. It would be better to let her revel in false hope for a while, then deliver a fatal blow later, letting her taste the bitterness of falling from the clouds into the mud.
Of course, even if she wasn’t pursuing it now, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t do something in the meantime. She wouldn’t let that family off easily during this period.
She would use her own methods to reclaim some interest for the original owner first. After all, a slow, subtle torment is the most agonizing, isn’t it?
As her thoughts flowed, Jiang Muyan had already arrived at the neighborhood office. On one side of the office courtyard wall, a red slogan was written in bold, powerful characters: “Respond to the nation’s call, go up to the mountains and down to the countryside, where vast lands await great achievements,” exuding a strong sense of the era.
On the other side of the wall, a small window was open, with a red paper sign reading “Registration Office” pasted above it.
Jiang Muyan approached the window and saw a middle-aged woman sitting there reading a little red book.
“Comrade, hello. I’d like to sign up to go to the countryside. Is this where I should register?”
Zhang Qiuyan looked up at the sound of Jiang Muyan’s voice. Whether she hadn’t fully emerged from the book or was momentarily stunned by Jiang Muyan’s striking appearance, she paused for a moment before nodding:
“Yes, young lady. Are you here to sign up? The latest batch of educated youth is about to depart soon. If you register now, the timing might be a bit tight!”
As she spoke, Zhang Qiuyan thought for a moment, then added with a smile:
“Young lady, you could come back in two or three days to register. That way, you could go to the countryside with the next batch of educated youth, and the timing would be more flexible!”
Jiang Muyan naturally understood the goodwill of the staff member before her. She smiled and shook her head:
“It’s alright, I’ll take this batch. I’m already prepared!”
Zhang Qiuyan rarely encountered young people so eager to go to the countryside and couldn’t help but praise:
“What a conscientious young lady! Nowadays, many young folks in the city get nervous at the mention of going to the countryside, yet you’re taking the initiative. Such spirit is truly rare.”
Zhang Qiuyan set aside the little red book in her hand, pulled out a registration form and a fountain pen from the drawer, and slid them through the window.
“Here, fill this out first. Write your name, age, and home address clearly.”
Just as Jiang Muyan took the paper and pen to fill it out, Zhang Qiuyan added:
“Oh, by the way, there are currently three options for the countryside location: one is the Hongshan Production Brigade in the neighboring county, which is closer to home. Another is the Dongfeng Brigade in the northwest region, and the last is the Wanshan Brigade in Heilongjiang Province. These two are a bit farther away. Which one would you like to choose?”