Looking at the crowded people and luggage on the train and smelling the indescribable mix of odors, Ning Xuan wished she could faint again.
She wondered how a person could be so unlucky.
All she wanted was to take a vacation, go traveling, climb a mountain, and relax to shake off the work fatigue.
But on her way up the mountain, she encountered a mischievous child poking a wasp nest. Before she could even enjoy the spectacle, the agile and quick-footed child had already scampered away.
Although she was only in her thirties, her physical condition felt more like someone over sixty. By the time she reached the mountainside, she was already panting heavily and couldn’t run fast enough. Though she tried to tuck her head into her sun-protective clothing, the fabric was too thin to be of any use. She was swarmed.
Then Ning Xuan died. The fear and pain of being attacked by the wasps were still fresh in her memory.
Unexpectedly, she woke up again—only to find herself not on the mountain or in a hospital, but on a green-skinned train from the 1970s.
Fortunately, having absorbed the memories of the original owner upon waking, Ning Xuan quickly understood her situation.
She had traveled to the parallel timeline of the 1970s. The original owner was also named Ning Xuan, an 18-year-old who had just graduated from high school. Due to the Down to the Countryside Policy, she had no job and was being sent to the countryside.
The original owner’s stepmother, to spare her own biological daughter Ning Lan from going to the countryside, had registered the original owner for the program without consulting her. She then persuaded the original owner’s father to buy a job for Ning Lan.
The saying “with a stepmother comes a stepfather” couldn’t be more accurate. Although the family could afford to buy two jobs, doing so would likely deplete their savings. Still, even without money, having a job would allow them to earn it back. Yet, the original owner was simply cast aside.
Due to the stepmother’s manipulations, the original owner had gradually become invisible in the family. If not for the fear of gossip, she might not even have been allowed to attend school.
The crux of the matter was that the stepmother was ruthless. Aside from two patched-up sets of clothes the original owner usually wore, she was given only ten yuan and a few food stamps. Other essential items like ration coupons, quilts, and cotton-padded clothes were withheld.
The original owner, timid and unwilling to fight for herself, grew hungry and fearful on the train to the countryside. She fainted from exhaustion and never woke up—until she was replaced by Ning Xuan from the 21st century, who had been killed by a swarm of wasps.
Thinking of the mere ten yuan she had on hand, Ning Xuan felt her vision darken. What a hellish start!
If only she had traveled a little earlier, she could have thrown a tantrum and fought to squeeze more money and coupons out of the family. She was heading to the northern countryside without even a cotton-padded coat.
Although ten yuan had strong purchasing power at the time, it wasn’t enough to equip her for winter in the northern countryside.
She wondered if she would return to the modern era if this body died.
Sob, sob. According to the laws of time travel, the chance of going back was almost zero. Moreover, she had already tested it by going to the train’s bathroom—there was no spatial system or anything. She hadn’t gotten any of the golden fingers that were must-haves for a time-traveling heroine. How miserable.
Ning Xuan sat with a blank expression, lost in thought, unaware that the train had stopped midway and the people around her had changed.
Until a voice beside her said, “Comrade, hello. Could I swap seats with you? My friend isn’t feeling well, and sitting by the window would be better for her.”
Ning Xuan turned to look at the boy who had spoken to her and rolled her eyes directly. “Sorry, I’m not feeling well either. Please ask someone else.”
“You look perfectly fine, how can you be so unsympathetic? Jiajia has a weaker constitution, what’s the problem with giving up your seat?” Before the boy who initially asked could say anything, another boy nearby started shouting.
Hearing this, Ning Xuan thought, here it comes, she’d actually encountered the classic moral coercion scenario on a train. She was already irritated, and now someone was asking for a scolding.
“Why don’t you ask this male comrade across from me to switch seats? Is it because I’m a female comrade and easier to bully?”
“Forget it, Brother Zhipeng, I’ll just sit here. It’s fine, my health has always been like this anyway. No need to trouble others specially for me.” The girl wearing a blue Bulaji dress spoke softly with a delicate demeanor.
Only then did Ning Xuan notice the girl standing behind the furious boy. She did indeed have a fragile aura, with delicate, pretty features and low twin braids hanging in front of her chest, making her appear even more delicate and easily arousing others’ protective instincts.
Ning Xuan’s heart sank, and she nearly lost control of her facial expression.
Jiajia,
She would have liked to be more generous with her food intake, but the dry provisions in her bundle were limited—once finished, there would be no more. With only a small amount of money on hand and an uncertain road ahead, she had to save wherever possible.
After getting off the bus, they found the person sent by the brigade to pick them up—a tall, dark-skinned middle-aged man.
“I’m Zhou Aiguo, a member of the Red Star Brigade in Towards the Sun Commune. The brigade leader is still in a meeting at the commune. You can take this chance to see if there’s anything you need to buy here in the county town.”
“Our brigade isn’t very far from the county town, but it’s not exactly close either. Even by ox-cart, it takes about an hour. So you should take this opportunity to quickly purchase anything you’re missing.”
“You can leave your luggage with me for safekeeping, or you can assign someone to stay and watch it together.”
“We’ll gather back at the station entrance in two hours. I’ll wait at most ten minutes—if you’re later than that, you’ll have to find your own way there.”
The educated youths looked at each other uncertainly. Everyone wanted to go look around and buy something, but no one felt comfortable leaving their belongings with a stranger.
Not all the educated youths knew each other either—to the others, each was essentially a stranger.
However, some had quite a lot of luggage, making it impractical to carry everything while shopping. Eventually, a boy with particularly heavy baggage volunteered to stay and watch the things, asking someone he knew to help him make purchases.
Only then did the others feel secure enough to leave their luggage behind. Of course, those who weren’t foolish kept important items like money and food stamps with them.
As for Ning Xuan, she hardly had any luggage to begin with, so she simply carried her woven plastic bag herself—it wasn’t heavy anyway.
She was too hungry and wanted to buy some food first before she could gather the energy to consider what urgent supplies to purchase.
Arriving at the state-run restaurant, she spent one mao along with food stamps to buy two large steamed buns.
The moment she received the buns, before Ning Xuan could even marvel at how substantial the buns were during this era, she was startled by an electronic voice that sounded in her mind.
After a few seconds of pure music:
[Congratulations on activating the Ten Thousand Realms Trading System. Bind immediately?]