The two walked two hundred meters down the street before Lin Xialan couldn't help but say, "I just heard that Qiaoxinyu has already been sent to the countryside. What do you plan to do? Jobs are very hard to find right now. My parents have been asking around everywhere, and no factories are hiring."
Xu Qinghuan believed her. Lin Xialan’s father was the director of the Shen City Machinery Factory, and her mother worked at the Educated Youth Office. Even so, the only reason Lin Xialan had a job was because her third brother had given his up for her when he went to the countryside himself.
"Where did Qiaoxinyu go?" Xu Qinghuan felt a bit heavy-hearted.
She, Lin Xialan, and Qiaoxinyu had been classmates since childhood, attending primary, middle, and high school together. It had been half a year since graduation, and the Qiao family could finally no longer withstand the relentless pressure from the Educated Youth Office; they had no choice but to send Qiaoxinyu to the countryside.
Xu Qinghuan had only avoided being sent three months ago because Mother Lin had "borrowed" her to work as a temp at the Educated Youth Office for two months.
"She went to Heisheng Province, to the Shangjiang Production Brigade in Hongqi Commune," Lin Xialan said. "My brother also went to Hongqi Commune, but he’s not at Shangjiang Production Brigade; he’s at Liaozhong Production Brigade."
"Shangjiang Production Brigade?" Xu Qinghuan’s eyes lit up. That was the hometown of the hidden powerhouse who would help Xu Qinghuan achieve fame and success in the book.
According to the timeline, the hidden powerhouse was currently still back in his hometown farming. He was known throughout all the surrounding villages as a local bully and a notorious layabout.
"Why? Do you know that place?" Lin Xialan asked. "I specifically asked my mom to help Qiaoxinyu pick a good spot."
"I don't know it," Xu Qinghuan replied, having never been there. "But I know the black soil there is fertile and the produce is abundant. You can hibernate through the winter for half a year and still not starve to death."
Lying on a heated brick bed for half a year with food and drink provided—what office worker in the twenty-first century wouldn't dream of a life like that? What was so good about staying in the city to work? Every day was a nine-to-five grind, and they worked through every holiday without rest.
Xu Qinghuan realized in an instant that she did not intend to stay in the city. She certainly didn't want to sacrifice her youth and dignity just to remain there.
The engagement to the Jiang family had been arranged by her biological mother. Only after she and Jiang Chengxu were married would her mother arrange a job for her. The original owner of this body hadn't wanted to be a puppet, but she also hadn't wanted to go to the countryside. She had remained trapped in that struggle until she eventually died from it.
"When does the next group of educated youth leave?" With her mind made up, Xu Qinghuan intended to leave for the countryside as soon as possible. She wanted to cozy up to the powerhouse sooner rather than later.
Even though he was just a local ruffian now, he already had quite a few lackeys following him. One more or one less wouldn't make a difference. She wanted to secure a spot by his side early, even if it was just to earn the chance to light his cigarettes.
Lin Xialan was shocked. "Huanhuan, are you actually planning to go to the countryside too?"
Xu Qinghuan nodded vigorously, looking excited. "I want to be with Qiaoxinyu. Lanlan, could you ask Auntie Lin to arrange for me to go there, too?"
Lin Xialan was tempted, blinking her eyes. "Huanhuan, aren't you being a bit much? Are you going to abandon me just for Qiaoxinyu?"
Xu Qinghuan grabbed her arm. "My dear Lanlan, don't you waver now. Qiaoxinyu and I will have to rely on your support in the countryside. I don't need much—just five yuan a month for each of us would be fine."
"In your dreams! I only make 18.84 yuan a month, and I've been an apprentice for less than a year," Lin Xialan laughed. "At most, I can send you three yuan each."
Three yuan was plenty!
After they joked around for a while, Xu Qinghuan sighed. "Lanlan, what do you think I should do if I want to break off my engagement with Jiang Chengxu?"
"You want to break off your engagement with Jiang Chengxu?" Lin Xialan thought Xu Qinghuan had been provoked. "Huanhuan, you need to think this through carefully. You two have known each other for so many years, after all."
"Ever heard the saying, 'Childhood sweethearts can't beat the arrival of a newcomer'?" Xu Qinghuan teased. "I'm already planning to go to the countryside, so what use is this engagement?"
The original owner and the male lead had known each other since they were kids; they were classmates in middle and high school, practically childhood sweethearts. However, Lin Xialan had seen with her own eyes at the cinema how Xu Manman had rested her head on Jiang Chengxu’s shoulder. Jiang Chengxu had pushed her away a couple of times, but when she didn't budge, he gave up and just let her lean there.
Lin Xialan had been worried that Xu Qinghuan wouldn't be able to let go, but since she was being so decisive, she was happy to support it. After thinking for a moment, Lin Xialan suggested, "Why don't you talk to your Second Aunt? Doesn't Xu Manman like Jiang Chengxu? If you break the engagement, they’ll be thrilled, right?"
When Xu Qinghuan was three, her father died in the line of duty and her mother remarried. Around that same time, Xu Manman had gone missing, and her Second Aunt was so devastated that she had adopted Xu Qinghuan. Half a year ago, Xu Qinghuan’s uncle and aunt had come to visit with their foster daughter. This cousin looked seven-tenths like Second Aunt Wang Mingxia, and upon asking, they discovered she was actually their cousin who had been missing for fourteen years.
When Xu Qinghuan returned home, she heard voices coming from the room.
Wang Mingxia was saying with frustration, "What is so good about that Jiang Chengxu? Look at how he’s got you two sisters acting so lovesick. It’s one thing for your sister to insist on marrying him, but you’re 'Brother Chengxu' this and 'Brother Chengxu' that all day long, too. I’m telling you, you’d better drop that idea right now."
Xu Manman whined, "Mom, I know. I don't have any thoughts like that; he’s just my brother-in-law. Stop talking about it, my sister is coming back."
Xu Qinghuan deliberately pushed the door open with a loud thud. The mother and daughter emerged from the room, and Wang Mingxia, unsure how much Xu Qinghuan had heard, said sheepishly, "Huanhuan, you're back?"
"Second Aunt, Manman!" Xu Qinghuan greeted them and headed into her room.
Space was tight in the Xu household; Xu Qinghuan and Xu Manman shared a room. Xu Manman followed her in and asked, "Sister, did Brother Chengxu find you?"
"No, I was with Xialan."
Xu Qinghuan folded the clothes she had left on the bed. They were covered in patches. If she were going to the countryside, the Northeast would be very cold, so she would need to prepare the thickest quilts, cotton-padded jackets, and trousers. This wouldn't just cost money; it would require cloth coupons and cotton coupons. The inheritance the original owner had left her totaled thirty-two cents, and now there were only twenty-seven cents left.
Her biological mother sent her Second Aunt twenty-five yuan a month for her upkeep, but that money had never reached her hands. Neither the original owner nor she had ever thought about claiming it. She didn't know what the original owner had thought, but Xu Qinghuan knew from the book that after her father died, her mother had married one of his comrades. Her stepfather earned a Grade 12 salary—nearly two hundred yuan a month—and her mother earned eighty or ninety a month in the cultural troupe.
That was a very high income. The reason they sent the twenty-five yuan was simply because her mother didn't want to raise her personally and didn't want her to affect her new family, and because her stepfather, regarding her as the orphan of a comrade-in-arms, had insisted on it.
"What were you two talking about?" Xu Manman asked with a naive, innocent smile.
"We were talking about going to the countryside," Xu Qinghuan said, feeling a bit gloomy.
Sure enough, a look of nervousness crossed Xu Manman’s face. She was in the same position: go to the countryside if she didn't get married. But the only decent man she knew was Jiang Chengxu. In the book, she hadn't been able to outcompete Xu Qinghuan and had eventually been forced to the countryside.
"Sister, I’m the one who should be worried. You and Brother Chengxu are about to get married. It’s not like me—I have no one to marry, so I have to go to the countryside."
At dinner, an official from the Educated Youth Office arrived. There were five children in the Xu family. The eldest, Xu Hongwei, was a worker at the food factory. The second, Xu Hongye, had served in the military for two years before being demobilized and becoming a projectionist at the cinema.
Originally, the plan was for Xu Hongye to become a volunteer soldier after two years of mandatory service. Instead, he had suddenly returned as a civilian. The job as a projectionist had originally been reserved for Xu Qinghuan by her biological mother; somehow, through negotiation, it had ended up in Xu Hongye’s hands.
There were still three children left in the Xu family: the third, Xu Hongtu, and then Xu Qinghuan and Xu Manman. Since they had finished middle or high school without jobs, they had to go to the countryside.
After the official from the Educated Youth Office left, the atmosphere in the room grew even heavier. Wang Mingxia asked, "Old Xu, you mentioned before that Old Xiao’s son from your factory works at the slaughterhouse and is at the age to get married. Has there been any progress with that?"