Bai Aimeng stood in place, staring dreamily at the direction in which He Chengxiao had left, her heart filled with excitement.
What did he just say? He thanked her—and even said he would reward her.
So he believed what she said!
The explanations she had carefully prepared earlier were completely unnecessary.
Bai Aimeng placed her hands over her chest and had already started thinking about what names their future children should have.
However, He Chengxiao had not fully believed Bai Aimeng’s one-sided words. He was simply rushing out for a mission. When he returned, he intended to verify everything again with Liu Shengli.
Meanwhile, Bai Aimeng, lost in her fantasy of being repaid with marriage for saving his life, had no idea that He Chengxiao had not fully trusted her at all.
After eating a simple breakfast, Wen Xi planned to call Hao Meili again. As usual, she jogged to the post office near the machinery factory.
After several days of training, she could now run a full kilometer without stopping. As long as she kept exercising and controlled her diet, she was confident she would slim down quickly.
Fearing Hao Meili might be in class, she deliberately waited until break time before dialing.
The familiar loud, energetic voice came through the phone again.
“Xixi, is that you?”
“It’s me, Meili. Did I disturb your work?”
“No, it’s break time right now. Xixi, I’ve found everything out. Write it down.”
Knowing Wen Xi was eager to find her parents, Hao Meili skipped the small talk and directly gave her an address.
“Xixi, this address is in the Northwest. I think it’s not too far from the military base. If you go, you must be careful.
If you need money, tell me. I can’t help much with anything else, but I can still send you some. I’ve saved a bit over the years.
And if you need more, I can ask my parents first—you know they dote on me.”
Hearing her friend’s concern, Wen Xi’s eyes grew slightly red. Hao Meili truly cared for her—more like family than her so-called relatives ever did.
“Meili, I have money. You don’t need to lend me any. Just helping me find the address is already a huge favor.”
“Don’t say that, we grew up together. We’re sisters. We should help each other. If I were in trouble, you wouldn’t ignore me either.”
“Don’t jinx it! We’re both going to be fine. When I return to Bin City, I’ll properly thank you.”
After a few more words, they hung up just before the three-minute mark.
Carefully, Wen Xi folded the paper with the address and put it into her bag.
Now that she had found the whereabouts of the original owner’s parents, once she dealt with Song Mingyuan’s matter, she would go to the re-education farm.
Three years had passed—no one knew what condition her parents were in now.
After leaving the post office, she detoured to the machinery factory.
Seeing her arrive, the gatekeeper quickly stopped her.
“Comrade Wen, the factory director said that when you come, you should go directly to his office.”
“Alright, thank you, uncle.”
She then took out a pack of cigarettes from her space and handed it through the window. “Uncle, take this. I don’t smoke.”
It was something she had taken from the Song family. Since she didn’t smoke, she might as well use it as a favor.
The old gatekeeper’s eyes lit up when he saw it was Red Double Happiness cigarettes. He couldn’t even refuse.
“Thank you, Comrade Wen! Haha, Red Double Happiness too!”
After she left, the old man happily held the cigarettes, smelling them again and again, clearly delighted. He carefully tucked them away, planning to save them slowly.
Wen Xi went straight to the director’s office and knocked twice.
“Director Ji, did you need me?”
“Oh, Comrade Xiao Wen, come in, come in.”
Director Ji looked at her as if she were his own daughter—no, even better than his own daughter, since his daughter couldn’t repair machines or solve factory problems.
“It’s like this—it’s not me looking for you. It’s the manager of the Xinhua Bookstore in the city who wants to see you.”
He handed her a cup of water and sat her down.
The bookstore manager?
Wen Xi raised her brows slightly. Could it be that they wanted her to do translation work because she knew English?
That was exactly how novels usually went—heroines in time-travel stories often became translators and earned extra income.
“Director Ji, may I ask why the bookstore manager wants to see me?”
“Ah, this is actually my fault. I mentioned your work helping our factory to a friend of mine—the bookstore manager—over dinner.”
“Men, you know how they are, always like to show off. I told him about you, and it just so happens they’re short of translators.”
“So he asked if you could help. It’s paid according to translation level and workload. You won’t be working for free.”
“If you agree, I can take you there now. They seem quite urgent.”
Director Ji looked a little embarrassed for making the decision without asking her first.
“I’m sorry—I should’ve asked you first.”
“It’s fine, Director Ji. Thank you for thinking of me.”
“If it doesn’t delay your work, I can go now.”
“It won’t delay anything. Production is running smoothly. Let’s go now. If we settle it today, we can even treat them to lunch at the state-run restaurant nearby—the chef there is amazing, supposedly trained under imperial cooks.”
Soon, they took a slightly old factory car and headed to the Lan City Xinhua Bookstore.
The moment she stepped inside, a strong scent of ink filled the air.
It instantly reminded her of her student days filled with exam papers.
Books, papers—that exact smell.
Inside, bookshelves were neatly arranged. Sunlight poured through the glass, casting a soft glow over the books. The mixture of ink and paper created a strangely calming atmosphere.
Even their footsteps unconsciously softened.
Director Ji lowered his voice and led her inside.
“Shuzi, I’ve brought you the talent you wanted.”
The bookstore manager was named Shu Xicai, a man in his forties wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a Zhongshan suit. A pen was tucked into his chest pocket. He looked like a refined university lecturer.
Because “Shu” and “Shuzi” sounded similar, his friends called him “Shuzi.”
Director Ji introduced them.
“Comrade Wen, this is Shu Xicai, the bookstore manager. You can just call him Manager Shu.
Shuzi, I’ve brought her. The details are for you two to discuss. If it works out, we’ll go eat at the restaurant next door.”