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In the blink of an eye, time passed by quickly. The train rocked back and forth, which caused Wen Nuan to gradually open her eyes.
The benefit of sitting by the window is that you can lean against it and take a short nap.
While Wen Nuan was catching up on her sleep, Zhu Jianjun had already used his silver tongue to strike up a conversation with Zhang Zhenzhen and become quite familiar with her.
The train was getting farther and farther from the capital city, and at this moment, Wen Qing was still busy struggling to make ends meet back at the Machine Factory Residential Compound.
She had searched the house from top to bottom but had not found a single coin. Fortunately, there was still some rice and flour in the kitchen, enough to keep her from going hungry.
But Wen Qing knew that continuing like this was not sustainable; her urgent priority was to solve her financial problems.
However, when she was in school, Wen Qing’s academic performance had been poor. Was she really going to resort to marrying just anyone?
Once this thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t help but start to consider it.
But Wen Qing’s circle of acquaintances was limited, so in the end, she had to turn to her former classmates.
After some inquiries, she found that most of her classmates had gone to the countryside, and the few who stayed in the city already had partners, with their family conditions being average at best.
After much deliberation, Wen Qing finally settled on one candidate: Song Dongsheng, a year older than Wen Nuan. He was currently a temporary worker at a canned goods factory. Though his family conditions were average, his situation was simpler, which she considered a plus.
With an elderly mother and a younger sister, he was the only man in the family, so in the end, Wen Qing didn’t have to worry about anyone competing with her for the inheritance.
Once she had chosen her target, Wen Qing began preparing to create an opportunity for a chance encounter with Song Dongsheng. However, to her surprise, before she could take any action, her plans were completely disrupted by a notice from the neighborhood committee, informing her of her assignment to the countryside.
Looking at the large characters on the notice, Wen Qing felt dizzy, so frustrated that she nearly fainted on the spot.
“Big Aunt, you’ve got it wrong! My older sister has already gone to the countryside. Why do I have to go too? You said only one person from each family needs to go!”
The woman who had come to deliver the notice wasn’t the same one who had helped Wen Nuan with her registration, but she was well aware of the Wen family’s situation.
“Given your family’s circumstances, with parents who are both labor reformers, how can you stay in the city? You have to go to the countryside to do labor reform—what are you going to do staying in the city?”
Moreover, the list of assigned personnel had already been finalized, and there was no possibility of making any changes. “Your sister is your sister, and you are you!”
“I advise you to start packing and get ready. The train departs at six o’clock the day after tomorrow at the station. If you try to run away, the consequences will be something you won’t be able to bear!”
After being scolded and warned by the woman, Wen Qing felt utterly helpless, almost on the verge of tears. Looking at the empty house, she didn’t even know what to prepare!
Just then, it seemed as if Wen Qing suddenly remembered something. She immediately rushed after the woman who had just left.
“Big Aunt, wait! The countryside notice has been delivered, but what about my relocation subsidy? Why haven’t I received it?”
The woman furrowed her brows, watching Wen Qing panting with exertion. There was a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.
“The relocation subsidy was distributed when the registration was done. You should ask your family about it. I don’t have anything here for you!”
“What?”
Wen Qing was stunned for a moment, her entire body slumping as if all energy had drained from her. She walked back to the Wen family house in a daze.
As she passed by the small partition door, she could no longer hold back her emotions.
Grabbing a stool from nearby, Wen Qing angrily slammed it against the door of the small room.
“Wen Nuan, you troublemaker! You’re really something, signing me up to go to the island! Just wait, one day I’ll get my revenge, I swear!”
In a complete emotional breakdown, Wen Qing recklessly destroyed everything in the room. From the small partition to the living room, everything was in shambles.
After the outburst, Wen Qing collapsed, sitting weakly on the floor as she burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
“Ah… wuwuwu… wuwuwu…”
Meanwhile, on the train, Wen Nuan woke up from her nap and started preparing to eat.
Zhu Jianjun had voluntarily swapped seats with Zhang Zhenzhen. Though Zhang Zhenzhen wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea, at least the new seat was by the window, which was far more comfortable than the one next to her. So, she reluctantly accepted the change.
With Zhu Jianjun diverting his attention, Zhang Zhenzhen no longer kept her eyes fixed on Wen Nuan. But now that the two were sitting face to face, even if she tried to avoid looking, she couldn’t help but see Wen Nuan clearly!
As Wen Nuan held a meat bun in her left hand and a boiled egg in her right, Zhang Zhenzhen’s stomach rumbled loudly.
The sound wasn’t exactly quiet, and all four people in the area heard it very clearly. This was what people meant by “social death”—and it was happening right here!
Embarrassed to the extreme, Zhang Zhenzhen immediately blushed, lowered her head, and hurriedly began rummaging through her bag. However, she had forgotten that she had rushed out in the morning and only packed two buns.
The train attendants selling boxed meals hadn’t come by yet, so after fumbling around for a bit, Zhang Zhenzhen could only sit there awkwardly, waiting.
Naturally, Wen Nuan didn’t took the opportunity to approach, and as usual, Zhu Jianjun was there, though this time he didn’t have a boiled egg. Instead, he had only a dry, hard wholegrain cracker.
“Zhenzhen, here, have a piece of this cracker to tide you over!”
“You’re asking me to eat this?”
The slight positive impression Zhang Zhenzhen had felt toward Zhu Jianjun instantly vanished.
“I’ve never eaten something like this in my life! Just looking at it makes it hard to swallow!”
Zhu Jianjun hadn’t expected Zhang Zhenzhen to respond like that. The disdain in her eyes was completely unmasked, and he immediately felt incredibly awkward.
“Sorry… sorry! The crackers are easy to store, so I brought more. If you don’t want them, then forget it!”
Wen Nuan and Li Yueyue both overheard Zhu Jianjun’s disappointment. They exchanged a glance but said nothing. After all, these two had brought this situation upon themselves—one was willing to strike up a conversation, and the other was willing to put up with it!
Meanwhile, Zhang Zhenzhen, feeling the pangs of hunger due to the long wait without the train attendants passing by, was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“Wen Nuan, sell me two of your buns, I’ll give you fifty mao!”
Normally, a meat bun would only cost about two mao each, but since Zhang Zhenzhen was clearly trying to use food stamps, she offered a higher price.
“Sorry, I only brought enough for myself. I wasn’t planning to sell any!”
Wen Nuan said as she took a bite of the last bun, then raised her hand and added:
“This is the last one, and I’ve already taken a bite!”
“You…”
Zhang Zhenzhen gritted her teeth in frustration, but there was nothing she could do to Wen Nuan. All she could do was angrily turn her head away.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the small meal cart selling boxed lunches came around. Zhang Zhenzhen immediately called the vendor over, ready to buy a hot meal.
“Comrade, I’ll have one serving of braised pork!”
“We’re out of braised pork. Right now, we only have stir-fried mung bean sprouts and sweet-and-sour cabbage, one yuan per serving.”
“No meat?”
Zhang Zhenzhen asked incredulously.
“Yep, there’s no more. The train is too crowded, and everything sold out.”
Although she had anticipated this outcome, Zhang Zhenzhen was still disappointed. With a sigh, she finally gritted her teeth and resigned herself to eating the vegetarian options.
After receiving the boxed lunch, Zhang Zhenzhen dug in, clearly starving.
Back at the residential compound, after venting her frustration, Wen Qing had no choice but to accept the harsh reality. At least she still had clothes and her luggage.
Clenching her teeth, Wen Qing sold the last of the furniture and even her cotton blankets to the recycling station.
At least that would give her some pocket money. If she have the deed to the house, Wen Qing probably would have ended up selling the house too.
Once everything was sold off, the Wen family’s home was left empty—there wasn’t even a bed inside. For the last two nights, Wen Qing could only make do with the small partition room that Wen Nuan had used before.
She gripped the little bit of money she had earned from selling off the belongings tightly in her hand. This was her last hope.