Chapter 13: On the Road

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The Qi family.

While Shen Zhiyu was sorting through the miscellaneous goods, Qi Huan was tending to Qiao Xi over breakfast. Even Zhou Cuihua treated Qiao Xi with exceptional care, as though she were her own daughter.

As for Qi Huan’s father, Qi Gui, he had little say in the household. Honest and good-natured, he was the family’s punching bag. Though he had some misgivings about Qiao Xi, whose reputation was already in tatters, he could hardly oppose her when his eldest son and daughter-in-law were both protecting her.

Many families in the village were on good terms with the Qi household, yet not a single one came to tell them what Shen Zhiyu had been doing.

After all, the things Shen Zhiyu was selling were not merely cheap—the important thing was that they were good quality.

If the Qi family found out, how would anyone else get a bargain?

Thus, until Shen Zhiyu had disposed of everything and left Han Family Village, the Qi family remained completely unaware.

By the time Shen Zhiyu boarded the bus to the county town, the Qi family finally received word.

Unfortunately, everyone who had bought something had already completed the transaction with Shen Zhiyu. No matter how displeased the Qi family was, they could only swallow this bitter loss.

Still, there was other excitement for them to watch.

Accompanied by Qi Huan, Qiao Xi went with Zhou Yuhuai’s parents to the village office to obtain proof that she and Zhou Yuhuai had dissolved their marital relationship.

That was right.

Qiao Xi and Zhou Yuhuai had never obtained a marriage certificate.

That was precisely why Zhou Yuhuai could marry another woman outside the village.

In her previous life, Qiao Xi had not learned of this until the day she died.

In this life, she had originally intended to proceed slowly, gradually emptying out the Zhou family’s wealth. She had never expected Shen Zhiyu to disrupt all her plans before she even had the chance to act.

But Qiao Xi certainly had no intention of letting the matter go.

“Either pay me back, or I’ll go and ask Zhou Yuhuai’s superiors!”

Qiao Xi knew exactly how to handle the Zhou family.

Zhou Yuhuai’s parents knew what their son was doing outside. The reason they had concealed it from Qiao Xi was that they wanted someone to remain by their side and care for them.

But now that Qiao Xi’s actions had been exposed, the couple, who cared deeply about their reputation, had no choice but to abandon her.

Zhou’s father and mother could only hand over the money.

Once she had received it, Qiao Xi went with Qi Huan to the commune office and obtained a marriage certificate. She officially became Qi Huan’s wife and accompanied him to the county town.

The entire village gossiped that Qi Huan must have been kicked in the head by a donkey.

But this was exactly the sort of situation summed up by the saying: nothing could stand against a simple, “Because I want to.”

Qi Huan wanted to.

And so Qiao Xi truly was blessed with extraordinary good fortune.

…

Shen Zhiyu knew nothing about this, but she could imagine it.

After all, Qi Huan’s feelings for Qiao Xi had been carved into his very bones.

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In the original story, he had been willing to remain unmarried for the sake of Qiao Xi, content to serve as her knight and protector for the rest of his life. That alone showed the depth of his devotion.

But once the moonlight of his dreams had finally become his, once the daily trivialities of rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea had seeped into their lives, whether his feelings for her would remain as they had been in the beginning was something only Heaven knew.

Shen Zhiyu took a bus to the county town, then bought a ticket at the county bus station for a vehicle bound for the city.

It was not until the afternoon that she managed to purchase a train ticket back to Beijing at the city railway station.

Her luck was fairly good. Although it was a hard-seat ticket, at least she had a seat.

As for a sleeper berth?

In this era, anyone without a certain status did not even qualify to buy one.

So Shen Zhiyu did not overestimate herself by trying to purchase a sleeper. The journey would take two or three days, but given the circumstances, what else could she do?

Coal-burning green trains like this had become extremely rare in the era Shen Zhiyu came from, existing mostly as nostalgic sightseeing attractions.

She had never ridden one, though.

Now that she was actually aboard such a train, she found the experience strangely novel.

The only problem was that the smell inside the carriage was rather pungent.

The couple sitting beside Shen Zhiyu had brought along a four-year-old girl, who was very cute.

Cute as she was, however, she was undeniably noisy.

Across from Shen Zhiyu sat three men. Judging by their clothes, they were probably factory workers, most likely traveling on business. Shen Zhiyu simply did not know where they would get off.

People in this era were all very talkative.

Shen Zhiyu, however, did not join in. Throughout the journey, she was either dozing or preparing to doze.

After all, she was traveling alone. Although she had no luggage that required watching over, she still had to remain vigilant.

One should not harbor the intention of harming others, but one must never abandon the intention of guarding against them.

“Miss, would you like some?”

The woman sitting beside Shen Zhiyu noticed that she had barely spoken the entire journey. When mealtime came, she took the pickled vegetables her family had brought and offered them to Shen Zhiyu.

“Thank you, but no,” Shen Zhiyu said with a smile. “I’m not hungry right now.”

She truly was not hungry.

The atmosphere in the carriage had completely destroyed her appetite.

It was not that she was being fussy. She had simply been thrust into an unfamiliar environment and found it difficult to adjust.

Whenever the train swayed back and forth, even Shen Zhiyu, who normally did not suffer from motion sickness, felt slightly dizzy.

“This is your first time on a train, isn’t it, miss?”

“When I rode one for the first time, I was just like you. Nothing felt right. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and by the time I got off, my calves were swollen!”

“After that, I started bringing these appetite-stimulating pickles. They make everything taste delicious!”

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This woman was truly talkative.

Shen Zhiyu could only smile in response and thank her repeatedly.

But she still did not eat.

After a day and a night of travel, the passengers around Shen Zhiyu had changed. The warm and gregarious woman had already gotten off with her husband and child, and the three workers across from her had long since left as well.

Now seated around Shen Zhiyu was a group of educated youths returning to the city to visit their families—three men and two women.

The two male educated youths were visibly attracted by Shen Zhiyu’s appearance. They were extremely attentive to her, so much so that they neglected the two female educated youths they had originally been looking after.

As a result, Shen Zhiyu endured quite a few resentful glares from the two women.

Although Shen Zhiyu’s outward identity was also that of an educated youth, she was not one in truth.

She did not know much about the topics the educated youths discussed, so she could only smile from time to time without offering any opinions. Unexpectedly, this made them assume that she was aloof.

Aloof, then.

They were merely strangers who had met by chance. They might not even reach the final destination before going their separate ways.

“Educated Youth Shen, you’re returning to the city to visit your family this time too, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Although Shen Zhiyu did not fully understand the mindset of educated youths, she had never eaten pork, yet she had seen pigs run. Having read countless stories set in this era, she knew very well how desperately educated youths longed to return to the cities.

If these people learned that she was not merely visiting her family but returning to the city for work, they would probably be consumed with jealousy.

Never show off in front of others.

That was Shen Zhiyu’s rule for dealing with the world.

Although she had crossed into this era with unusually great strength and a Fortune Airdrop System, the system’s performance was difficult to describe.

So, as a general rule, it was still best to keep a low profile.

“Sigh, who knows when we’ll finally be able to return to the city?”

“Say no more.”

The moment one female educated youth voiced her lament, one of the men glared at her.

At a time like this, saying such things could get someone branded with a political label. Even if they had a chance to return to the city, they could lose it.

At that moment, the male educated youth suddenly understood Shen Zhiyu a little better.

One had to be cautious with one’s words and conduct.

Silence was a level above careful speech.

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