Chapter 34: How can I ever get any good from her?

The next day.

When the staff came to the Song household and informed Song Baozhu to get ready to go to the countryside in a few days, it was like she had been struck by lightning.

“Didn’t I write Song Youyou’s name on the countryside application?! Why is it me now?” Song Baozhu’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“What have you done now?!” Upon hearing that her daughter had to go to the countryside, Mother Song became anxious as well. Life in the countryside meant working under the scorching sun and pouring rain every day, and if the work wasn’t done well, the grain rations would be reduced—leading to starvation. She didn’t want her own biological daughter to suffer such hardship.

“I-I signed up Song Youyou to go to the countryside as an educated youth, but somehow it ended up being me,” Song Baozhu said, face full of despair, her voice choked with tears. “Mom! What do I do now? I don’t want to go to the countryside!”

She had fought so hard to make it back to the city from the countryside—she would rather die than go back. No one understood the misery of rural labor better than she did. Going a whole year without meat, enduring daily backbreaking labor in the sun and rain. Only a fool would give up the comfortable city life for that!

“Aiyo! Why do you always have to provoke Youyou?! When have you ever gotten the upper hand against her?” Mother Song jabbed her daughter’s forehead with her finger, furious at her failure. She had finally seen the truth—her biological daughter always lost, yet still insisted on running headfirst into humiliation.

“Waaah, Mom! What should I do? I really don’t want to go to the countryside!” Song Baozhu didn’t even bother arguing anymore about who was better between her and Youyou. Crying hard, she clung to her mother’s hand like a drowning person clutching a piece of driftwood.

“Alright, alright, stop shaking me—I’m trying to think of something…” Though her daughter’s behavior these days had been disappointing, she was still her own flesh and blood. No matter what, she couldn’t just watch her suffer.

“At this point, we can only do what Song Youyou did,” Mother Song said after thinking for a while, her tone serious.

“Do what Song Youyou did? What do you mean?”

“Get legally married.”

“Legally married? You mean with Wenqing-ge?” Song Baozhu’s eyes lit up instantly but quickly dimmed again. “That won’t work. Wenqing-ge doesn’t even want to see me now. Even Uncle He and Aunt He, who used to treat me so well, are ignoring me lately. Why would he want to marry me?”

“Shameless social climbers, the lot of them. Just because my daughter lost her job and my man didn’t get promoted, they dare to treat her like this!” Mother Song fumed silently, clenching her teeth so hard it seemed she might break a molar. But desperate times called for desperate measures—this wasn’t the time to hold grudges.

“Don’t worry, Baozhu. Mom has a way to make He Wenqing marry you.”

“Really, Mom? Are you serious?” Song Baozhu’s despair instantly turned into joy.

“Mm, really. I’m going to the He family right now.”

“Mm! Mm! Mm! Mom, then go quickly! Please go now!” Song Baozhu urged, her voice a mix of excitement and desperation.

“Guess this countryside assignment turned out to be a blessing in disguise after all!”
Song Baozhu never expected that not only would she avoid going to the countryside, but she could also use this as a reason to marry her beloved Wenqing-ge. After so many cloudy days—finally a ray of sunshine! What wonderful news!

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Meanwhile, Song Youyou had no idea that one of her counter moves had accidentally advanced Song Baozhu and He Wenqing’s marriage.

She had been focusing all her attention these past few days on translation work to earn money. At that moment, she was counting money—or rather, counting envelopes.

“This envelope is the manuscript fee for the 2nd. This one’s for the 3rd, this for the 4th, the 5th, and this is for the 6th. That’s five days’ worth of payment. The last three days were paid at the intermediate translator rate,” said General Manager Lin with a kind smile, handing the envelopes to Song Youyou one by one.

“Thank you, General Manager,” Song Youyou responded with a gentle smile, receiving each envelope with care.

The base rate for beginner translators was 3 yuan per 1,000 characters, while intermediate translators got 5 yuan. Based on her current speed—translating about 20,000 characters per day—that meant her daily income had jumped from 60 yuan to 100 yuan, an increase of 40 yuan.

Forty yuan! That could buy 40 catties of meat on the black market!

However, Song Youyou didn’t spend her earnings recklessly. She knew that in a few years, the entire environment would drastically change. Many currently forbidden things would become open again. So aside from stockpiling essentials like grain, meat, and coal briquettes, she saved the rest.

She planned to use the money wisely when the reform and opening-up era arrived.

After collecting her manuscript fees from the Xinhua Bookstore, Song Youyou walked home.

Recently, while translating, she had also been learning the content alongside. She found immense enjoyment in this kind of knowledge absorption. Once she got into the zone, hours would fly by. As a result, she’d been spending less time at the black market and more on self-improvement.

The Xinhua Bookstore was only a few minutes away from home. Holding her documents, Song Youyou crossed the street and turned into a narrow alley.

It was dusk, and there were fewer people on the road, making everything feel calm and peaceful. Even the breeze brushing past her ears felt like a gentle whisper.

As she strolled in the evening wind, Song Youyou couldn’t help but feel at ease and relaxed.

And when she passed through a familiar stretch of road—she saw him again.

That man, leaning quietly against the wall.