Fu Yurou pondered for a moment and realized this was likely the result of things going missing around the house over the past few days.
But could a simple lock stop her?
She went to the kitchen, found a hammer, and smashed the lock. The tool was decent, so Fu Yurou tucked it into her space. Once inside, she followed her usual routine: bedding into the space first, then ransacking the wardrobe. In a hidden compartment, she found over thirty yuan and some coupons, including one for a wristwatch. Aside from that, there was nothing else of value.
That didn't seem right.
Even though Fu Aiguo had given her two thousand, he had hesitated at the time, which suggested there had to be other savings. She searched the room, her gaze finally landing under the bed. She crawled underneath, getting a face full of dust for her trouble, but found nothing.
If it wasn't under the bed, could it be the desk? She shoved the desk aside and turned out the drawers. Finally, her eyes settled on the wardrobe. After struggling to move it, she discovered a protruding brick on the wall behind it.
She had found it.
Squeezing into the gap, she pried the brick loose. The space behind it was hollow, and she pulled out an iron box. When she opened it, she found a bank passbook with three letters tucked underneath.
Fu Yurou opened the passbook, checked the balance, and gasped.
Ten thousand yuan.
What kind of concept was that? She had gained a rough understanding of prices over the last few days; the pile of things she had bought at the supply and marketing cooperative had cost just over ten yuan. For a family of six like the Fu household, even after accounting for individual grain rations, twenty yuan a month was enough to eat meat occasionally and eggs every day—a very high standard of living. This ten thousand was a literal fortune.
The Fu family was considered a middle-class household for this era. Giving her two thousand should have emptied their coffers; where could this much money have come from?
Fu Yurou’s gaze fell on the letters resting on the passbook. She picked up the one on top; the recipient was written as Fu Yurou. She opened it and read:
*Rou'er, seeing this is like seeing me:*
*By the time you read this letter, Mother will already be gone. I instructed your father to give this to you when you turned eighteen.*
*You have grown into an adult now, and I regret that I cannot be there to see you grow or witness your beauty. However, I have left some things for you. The ten thousand yuan passbook was given to me by your maternal grandparents; the money is clean, and you may use it.*
*There is also a trunk intended as your dowry. But you must not bring it out until the day you have weathered the storm and cleared the clouds. Furthermore, there is a special mechanism on the trunk; forcing it open will cause it to ignite and burn. You must use the key. I have left the key with a friend. She does not know its purpose and believes it to be a toy; she will give it to you once you come of age.*
*There are two other letters. One is for a friend connected to the Qin family—you may seek him out if you are in trouble, and he will help you. The other is for a man who owes Mother a favor; you can find him to arrange a job for you.*
*Though there is much I wish to tell you, the letter is too short and life is too long. Even without Mother by your side, you must walk your path well.*
*—Written by Qin Lan.*
Finishing the letter, Fu Yurou felt a sour, aching sensation in her chest, and tears welled in her eyes. The emotion was intense; it must have belonged to the original owner of the body. She wiped her eyes and tucked the letters away. She wouldn't claim she would "live well for the original owner"—everyone only has one life, and the original was already gone, forever unable to feel her mother's love. The letter appeared to have been written in haste, the handwriting somewhat scribbled.
Fu Yurou scanned the other two letters casually. One was addressed to a man named Ling Juezhi, asking for help, and the other to Song Qingyuan, asking him to arrange a job.
She moved everything into her space, a bitter edge to her teeth. The original owner was already nineteen, yet Fu Aiguo had never even mentioned these letters. Had she not been "unkind" and decided to ransack the place before leaving, she would never have known, and Fu Aiguo would have pocketed the ten thousand. And the job—he clearly could have let her use those connections to stay in the city, but instead, he had forced her to go to the countryside.
It was too late for the letters now.
Furious, she kicked the wardrobe hard. She wanted to empty the entire house, but her space was limited; she couldn't take everything. In the end, she took her hammer and smashed holes in the wardrobe and bedframe. She went to the kitchen—the cupboards were locked, too. Fu Yurou stowed them directly into her space, used her mind to pry the doors open, kept the contents, and tossed the cupboards out, also smashing holes in them. She took everything useful: the coal stove, the iron pot, the spatula, the ladle, the kitchen knife.
Finally, looking at the wreckage of the Fu home, she shouldered her packed bag and walked away without a backward glance.
***
Before heading to the train station, Fu Yurou stopped by the bank. Because the amount was so large, she had to visit several different branches to withdraw the money. She was interrogated quite a bit and had to produce her credentials to prove her identity before she could get it all. Only after placing the money in her space did she feel at ease.
The delay meant it was already quite late by the time she arrived at the train station. It was a sea of people—everywhere she looked, there were heads, all of them educated youth heading to the countryside and the family and friends coming to see them off. She had no idea where to find the people from the educated youth office to get her ticket, nor did she know where to board.
"Yurou! Yurou!"
A thin, slight figure lugging a massive pack pushed through the crowd toward her.
"Wang Fangfang."
Seeing a familiar face, Fu Yurou let out a breath of relief.
Wang Fangfang was drenched in sweat. "Yurou, I went to the educated youth office to sign up and specifically requested the same location as you. But when I was leaving, my mom wouldn't give me my subsidy, and I was delayed so long I thought you’d already left."
"No, I just got here. Let's go together."
Wang Fangfang nodded happily. Compared to her, Wang Fangfang might have looked malnourished, but she was full of grit. She knew the ropes and led Fu Yurou straight to the educated youth office staff to collect their train tickets. In fact, the staff had been shouting through a megaphone the whole time, but it had been so noisy that Fu Yurou hadn't been able to make out a word, so she had ignored it.
"Zhishu, send a telegram home as soon as you arrive. Don't skimp on food or daily necessities—Mom will send things to you."
"Brother, you have to write to me, too!"
At the door of the train car, Song Zhishu was saying goodbye to his parents and younger sister. He wore a large red flower pinned to his chest; on others, it looked tacky, but on Song Zhishu, it gave him the dashing look of a groom. Every educated youth had one, issued by the office; Fu Yurou and Wang Fangfang had just received theirs when they picked up their tickets. Though she felt awkward, Fu Yurou decided to follow the local custom.
Just as she was about to board, she noticed Wang Fangfang standing still in front of her, a flush creeping up her sallow cheeks.
"What's wrong?"
Following her gaze, she saw Song Zhishu.
At that moment, Song Zhishu noticed Fu Yurou. He quickly said to his family, "Mom, Dad, Zhiyu, I have to board now. You go on back. I'll come visit when I get home leave."
He shouldered his pack and walked over, evidently assigned to the same carriage as them. The three of them boarded one after another, found their seats, and realized they were three in a row.
Wang Fangfang was delighted. "Yurou, we’re sitting together!"
After stowing their luggage on the overhead racks and under the seats, Song Zhishu said, "Yurou, you take the inside seat."
The inside was by the window and more comfortable, so Fu Yurou sat down without ceremony. Song Zhishu sat next to her, and Wang Fangfang sat gingerly in the aisle seat.
Just as the three of them settled in to catch their breath, a commotion broke out in the seats opposite them.