After leaving the Educated Youth Office with the 200-yuan resettlement allowance in her pocket, Mu Xi decided to visit the supply and marketing cooperative.
Since she was heading to the Northeast, the first thing she needed to do was prepare enough padded clothes and quilts. Otherwise, she would probably freeze into an icicle once winter arrived.
However, supplies were scarce in this era, and purchases also required coupons. Buying cotton certainly wasn’t easy.
Mu Xi didn’t have many coupons on hand.
For this trip, she only intended to scout out the situation first, then discuss it with her parents that evening.
Unexpectedly, just as she reached the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, Mu Xi heard someone calling her name.
She turned around in confusion and saw a male comrade with an ordinary face, ordinary height, and an ordinary appearance in practically every respect, yet who somehow gave off an inexplicable air of superiority. He was staring at her with an expression as though she were a heartless lover who had betrayed him.
Mu Xi: “???”
“Excuse me, Comrade, were you calling me?”
She didn’t even know who this person was. Why was he looking at her like that?
“You don’t recognize me?!” the male comrade asked in disbelief.
Mu Xi frowned. “Am I supposed to know you?”
How baffling.
Looking at his expression, she almost began to wonder whether something had gone wrong with the memories she had inherited. She went through the original owner’s memories from beginning to end, yet couldn’t find the slightest trace of the man standing before her.
“You! How could you not recognize me? We went to the same school! You were in Class One and I was in Class Five. My name is Xiang Qian. My dad is the director of the machinery factory!”
When he mentioned that his father was the director of the machinery factory, the male comrade puffed out his chest, and that air of superiority returned.
Mu Xi: “…”
“So you’re the one who sent the matchmaker to my house!
“I thought I made myself clear. I don’t intend to consider personal matters right now, and I’ve already registered to go to the countryside in response to the country’s call and contribute to the construction of the motherland!
“So I’m very sorry, Comrade Xiang… Qian.”
She hadn’t been interested in him to begin with.
Now she was even less interested.
“You’ve already registered to go to the countryside?” Xiang Qian froze, looking somewhat dumbfounded.
“That’s right. I still need to buy some things, so I’ll be leaving first.”
Mu Xi nodded to him and strode away.
This era was right in the middle of a severe crackdown. Forget unmarried men and women—even married couples didn’t dare act overly intimate while walking outside, or they could be seized and publicly criticized.
Having made herself clear, Mu Xi hurriedly slipped away.
That left Xiang Qian standing there alone like a fool, staring after Mu Xi’s retreating figure with one hand stretched out dramatically.
He had taken a liking to Mu Xi back when they were still in school.
She was beautiful and did well academically, and quite a few male students at school had been interested in her.
However, Mu Xi had always conducted herself properly and never even spared them a glance. Even so, Xiang Qian had often used his status to warn off those male students who lacked self-awareness.
Over their three years of high school, he couldn’t even remember how many times he had stepped in.
Now that they had finally graduated, he had eagerly begged his parents to send someone to the Mu family to propose a match.
Who would have thought that she would reject him outright?
When he received the news yesterday, he could hardly believe it. As the son of the machinery factory director, he had been immensely popular ever since he was young.
He had never been rejected so explicitly before.
Whether it was his classmates or the neighbors in the workers’ residential building, anyone who knew that he was the machinery factory director’s son would greet him with a flattering expression.
So why had Mu Xi rejected him so cleanly and decisively?
After hearing the matchmaker repeat what Mu Xi had said, Xiang Qian felt as though his brain cells were about to burn out.
Had she really been brainwashed by someone?
How could anyone willingly rush headfirst into a pit?
Being sent down to the countryside might sound nice when described as supporting national development, but in reality, among those who had already been persuaded into going, there wasn’t a single one who didn’t regret it.
Suddenly, inspiration struck Xiang Qian.
Could she be playing hard to get?