Lin Xia’s body swayed, and she nearly fainted again.
She rushed over to Miao Hong in a few quick steps, grabbed her by the shoulders, and demanded sharply,
“What did you say? You sent Qingqing away? She didn’t sign up for the countryside herself?!”
Miao Hong, already upset from being wrongly accused, couldn’t hold back when confronted by Lin Xia. The words tumbled out before she could stop them:
“You’ve always favored that idiot Miao Qing and never cared about me! She’s already been sent to the countryside, and she’s never coming back!”
Smack!
Lin Xia was so furious her ears rang. She raised her hand and slapped Miao Hong hard across the face.
Only then did Miao Xingye and Miao Jiang snap out of their daze. They looked at Lin Xia, who had passed out again, at Miao Hong sobbing with her hand pressed to her cheek, and then at the neighbors who had gathered at the doorway—and their heads spun.
Chaos. Absolute chaos.
The household was in turmoil, but on the train, Miao Qing remained completely unaffected.
After two days and nights—nearly forty hours—of sitting on hard seats, the initial enthusiasm of the educated youth heading to the countryside had been thoroughly extinguished, leaving only exhaustion.
The moment they heard the train was about to arrive, they jumped up, grabbed their luggage, and started shuffling toward the exit.
Miao Qing wasn’t in a rush. She felt better now than she had even at home.
Back home, there had been too many eyes around—she’d hardly had any time to practice her cultivation.
Besides, her luggage was still in her space. She had to wait until most people had gotten off before she could safely take it out.
Zhang Jingshan noticed Miao Qing still sitting there and kindly asked if she needed help.
Miao Qing saw Wei Ran immediately turn to look at her, and Chang Rufan shoot her a glare. She twitched the corner of her mouth in exasperation.
“No, thanks. My—legs—are numb.”
Zhang Jingshan wanted to help even more after hearing that, but Chang Rufan shouted at him,
“Jingshan, I can’t carry my suitcase! Come help me!”
Before Zhang Jingshan could refuse, Chang Rufan shoved the suitcase into his hands and pushed him into the crowd. He had no choice but to move along with the flow.
Wei Ran hurried after them. Miao Qing waited until the carriage was nearly empty, then stood up.
Using the seats as cover, she took her pre-packed bundle out of her space, slung it over her shoulder, and slowly made her way toward the door.
Those two steps down from the train were easy for most people, but for her, they required her ability just to move without looking too clumsy.
The bundle, weighing only about ten pounds, still felt heavy on her back. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to walk faster so she wouldn’t lag too far behind.
Even so, trailing at the very back of the group, she still earned Chang Rufan’s scorn:
“Why are you so slow? If you can’t carry that much, don’t bring so much luggage! You’re holding all of us up!”
Miao Qing ignored her, moving steadily at her own pace toward the assembly point.
Better to be criticized for being slow than to reveal that she had poor motor control.
The truth was, before she transmigrated, the original owner had been bedridden for over half a year, and her muscles had atrophied severely.
When Miao Qing first started walking again, she’d trembled like someone with Parkinson’s, constantly tripping over her own feet.
Being slow might be chalked up to a personal quirk, but poor coordination would definitely raise suspicions that something was physically wrong.
At her current rate of cultivation, it would take another month before she moved like a normal person.
Her biggest challenge right now was getting through that month without slipping up.
As for romance and all that nonsense—when survival was on the line, it meant absolutely nothing.
Wei Ran, whether to show off in front of Zhang Jingshan or because she genuinely wanted to help, actually ran back to offer Miao Qing a hand with her bundle.
It startled Miao Qing so much that she immediately refused. Her bundle looked big but wasn’t actually heavy. She’d brought it out to create a plausible excuse for pulling things out of her space later on.
If anyone discovered the trick behind it, she’d have to find another explanation.
Fortunately, Wei Ran was mostly going through the motions, and the team leader who’d come to meet them wasn’t particularly impatient either. They only set off once Miao Qing had caught up.
The group left the train station early in the morning, rushed to the bus station, took a bus to Qi County, then transferred to a public bus to the commune. After multiple transfers and a bumpy ride, they finally arrived at Dingcun Commune by evening.
But it wasn’t over yet—they still had to take an ox cart to their respective production brigades, because the commune had neither the funds nor the space to put them up for the night.
The setting sun dipped below the distant mountains, taking its last rays of warmth with it. The cold air, carried by the harsh northwestern wind, gave Miao Qing and the others a rude welcome.
If Zhang Jingshan hadn’t reacted quickly and grabbed her, Miao Qing—who was running on fumes and felt like her arms and legs were about to fall off—would have been knocked over by the wind.
Forget about propriety or what Wei Ran and Chang Rufan might think—Miao Qing quickly clung to Zhang Jingshan’s arm and ducked behind him for shelter.
Her frail, clumsy, pathetic demeanor made the brigade leaders who had come to pick up the newcomers frown deeply. They silently prayed:
Please, don’t let this girl be assigned to our brigade!
Please, don’t!
When the commune director finished reading out the list of educated youth assigned to each brigade, Liang Futian, the captain of Anfeng Production Brigade, felt his heart finally drop into his stomach.
He looked at the five young people assigned to his brigade and felt a headache coming on—especially when his eyes landed on Chang Rufan and Miao Qing. He couldn’t help but sigh.
One looked like a capitalist’s pampered daughter, the other like a chronic invalid. Neither seemed fit for manual labor.
And the remaining three? Not much better.
“Futian, are we going or not? It’ll be dark soon!”
Old Liang, the cart driver, tapped his pipe impatiently and pulled his sheepskin vest tighter against the wind.
Liang Futian sighed and waved for everyone to get on the cart.
Chang Rufan had learned her lesson. She dashed forward and grabbed the two front seats on the ox cart.
The others scrambled to climb on as well. Zhang Jingshan wanted to wait for Miao Qing, but Chang Rufan kept urging him, so he had to get on first.
Miao Qing certainly wasn’t about to fight for a spot now—her energy was completely drained, her health bar practically flashing red.
After everyone else was on board, she dragged her bundle and, with the last of her strength, tossed it onto the pile of luggage at the back.
But inertia was too strong, and she was too weak—she went tumbling right into the pile herself.
There was a clatter of scattered items, and soon only her hands and feet were visible; her head was completely buried.
Liang Futian rubbed his forehead in exasperation and looked away.
What kind of useless lot did we end up with?!
“Miao Qing! Miao Qing! Are you okay?” Zhang Jingshan called out anxiously.
“I’m—fine.”
Miao Qing raised a hand with difficulty from under the pile. This is fine. I can’t be bothered to move. As long as I can breathe.
Seeing Zhang Jingshan so worried, Chang Rufan felt annoyed. She didn’t dare snap at him, so she took it out on Miao Qing instead.
“Some people really have no self-awareness. Can’t do a thing right, and still insist on coming to the countryside. Does she really think the state has enough grain to waste on—pfft, pfft—”
Old Liang cracked his whip, and the ox lurched forward. A gust of wind swept a mouthful of dust right into Chang Rufan’s face.
She was so furious she nearly lost it. She grabbed the water Zhang Jingshan handed her and rinsed her mouth. By the time she caught her breath, the cold wind had her shivering uncontrollably.
Back in Guancheng, it was still crisp autumn weather—neither too hot nor too cold. But here, it felt like winter had already arrived. As soon as the sun set, the cold was biting.
Everyone dug through their bags to pull out heavier clothes. Miao Qing did the same, using her bundle as cover to take out Miao Hong’s new cotton jacket from her space.
Lin Xia had made it for Miao Hong after a lot of coaxing, and Miao Hong treasured it—she’d planned to save it for the New Year. To placate her mother, Miao Hong had even promised that once she found a job and earned money, she’d save up to make one for Miao Qing too.
Miao Qing decided to cash in that promise early. No need to wait.
The ox cart swayed along for over an hour, and by the time the sky was pitch-black, Miao Qing and the others finally arrived at the educated youth settlement.