Since she was leaving for the capital the day after tomorrow, Song Suisui’s house-hunting plans were put on hold.  

However, while she was delayed, her sister Song Niannian wasn’t.  

Not long after the Song family members had returned to their rooms for the night, Niannian knocked on Suisui’s door.  

The two sisters chatted in Suisui’s room for quite a while before Niannian finally left with a smile on her face.  

…

The next day at work, Suisui went to Director Zhang to collect her train ticket and letter of introduction, then returned to her office to organize her things.  

After lunch in the cafeteria, she left the machinery factory and headed to the residential area. There, she found a child playing by the roadside and asked for directions to Zhou Xiuna’s home.  

She handed the kid a few pieces of fruit-flavored hard candy as payment for running over to call Xiuna out to meet her.  

At the moment, Xiuna hadn’t yet left for the countryside, and the fact that she had sold her job to Suisui couldn’t be revealed to the Zhou family.  

Xiuna still needed to use this job as leverage against them.  

Xiuna arrived quickly. When she saw Suisui, she smiled brightly and asked, “Suisui? What brings you here?”  

“Hehe~ I’m going on a business trip to the capital the day after tomorrow. I remember you’re also leaving for the countryside tomorrow, right?”  

As they spoke, the two of them walked further away from the residential area.  

“Yeah, my train’s at eight tomorrow morning.”  

“Is your family seeing you off?”  

“Pfft—” Xiuna couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you really think my deadbeat dad and wicked stepmother would send me off?”  

“Fair point.” Suisui nodded thoughtfully, then brightened up. “Well, I’m also taking a train tomorrow morning—just half an hour after yours. I’ll come to the station to see you off. My parents prepared a bunch of supplies for you.”  

“Ah—” Xiuna quickly refused, “No need! I already managed to squeeze a decent amount of money and coupons out of my dad.”  

“But even with money and coupons, you wouldn’t be able to gather everything you need in such a short time, right?” Suisui insisted. “It’s my parents’ way of showing their care. If you don’t accept it, their efforts would be wasted.”  

Xiuna figured the Song family probably hadn’t prepared too much. Since Suisui was so insistent, she decided not to refuse. Once she got to the countryside, she could look for some local specialties to send back as a thank-you gift.  

“Once you’re in the countryside, don’t just marry some local guy because the farmwork is too hard, okay?” Suisui couldn’t help but remind her.  

After all, the college entrance exams would resume in just four years. Xiuna had excellent grades and could easily return to the city by getting into university.

Marrying a country guy—forget whether he’s a decent person or not—once you’re tied down with a family and kids, do you really think you’d still have the drive to study for college?

“Don’t worry, I won’t marry or have kids in the countryside. I still plan on returning to the city someday.”  

Besides, she didn’t believe the current situation would last forever.  

Though Zhou Xiuna had endured hardships over the years, her mother had once been the daughter of a prominent capitalist family in Xinghai City.  

If not for being deceived and left behind, her mother would have long since reunited with her family overseas.  

If not for her mother’s “undesirable” class status—being a former capitalist’s daughter with overseas ties—how could Xiuna’s father, a social-climbing opportunist, have ever married such a stunning beauty?  

But Xiuna’s mother was a woman of foresight. Knowing that men couldn’t be relied on, she had raised Xiuna with great care, ensuring her daughter had a broad perspective and wasn’t prone to naive romanticism.  

At most, Xiuna just had a minor weakness for ogling handsome men and pretty women.  

“As long as you have a plan, that’s good.” Song Suisui feigned a regretful sigh. “If only we could take the college entrance exams…”  

Xiuna froze. Who wouldn’t want to go to university? But the exams had been canceled for years—who knew when they’d ever return?  

“I don’t know if the exams will ever come back, but I think people should hold onto hope. What if, one day, it actually happens?”  

Suisui looked at her meaningfully—this was her subtle way of hinting at the future. Whether Xiuna picked up on it or not was up to her.  

She couldn’t just grab Xiuna and blurt out, “Girl, the exams are coming back in four years—don’t you dare settle down with some random guy!”  

If Xiuna asked how she knew, there’d be no good explanation.  

So Suisui could only drop vague hints.  

“Oh, and once you’re in the countryside, if you run into any trouble, you can always write to me. And don’t trust people too easily—appearances can be deceiving…”  

Xiuna listened, torn between amusement and exasperation. She wasn’t that naïve.  

It was just… kind of hilarious. Here was Song Suisui, with her delicate, fairy-like beauty, suddenly nagging like an old grandma. The personality whiplash was downright jarring.  

A sweet, ethereal girl transforming into a fussy auntie in seconds—how could Xiuna not feel a little disillusioned?!  

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Xiuna said, laughing. “Who knew you were such a chatterbox?”

Suisui broke into a cold sweat, her expression turning awkward.  

In her past life, she’d been in her late twenties—to her, Xiuna felt like a little sister, and she couldn’t help but mother-hen a bit.  

After chatting a while longer, the two parted ways. Xiuna had things to prepare before leaving for the countryside tomorrow, and Suisui needed to pack for her business trip and inform her family. 

She hadn’t told her family about it the night before.

Not because she didn’t want to tell them right away—she’d simply forgotten.  

After all, she’d been on her own for over a decade. The idea of reporting her whereabouts hadn’t even crossed her mind.  

So, forgetting in the moment was only natural.  

Luckily, when she brought it up that evening, the Song family didn’t make a fuss—just reminded her to be careful while traveling.  

Not that Song Jianjun and Ma Xiumei weren’t worried, but their daughter was a procurement officer now, and frequent trips were part of the job.  

To the couple, the fact that Suisui could stay in the city at all was already a tremendous blessing.  

Besides, she wasn’t the only one in the family who traveled often—their second son, Song Tong, spent most of his time on the road driving trucks.  

At least Suisui got to ride trains every time she went out, which was far more comfortable than Tong’s conditions!  

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Song Tong sneezed.  

Rubbing his nose, he thought, Once I finish procuring this batch, I can finally head home.

He’d been away for nearly ten days and missed his parents and sisters.  

The thought of the treasures he’d scavenged for them brought a smile to his face.  

…

March 28, 1973.  

7:30 AM, Xinghai City Train Station. 

The bustling station was alive with noise and movement. Among the crowd, groups of young men and women—sent-down youths with bright red flowers pinned to their chests—formed a striking scene.  

Ma Xiumei and Song Suisui spotted Zhou Xiuna chatting with another female educated youth bound for the countryside.  

When Xiuna noticed Suisui, she excused herself and walked over.  

“Suisui!” She glanced at Ma Xiumei. “Is this your older sister?” 

Ma Xiumei burst out laughing. “Oh, this girl’s got a sweet tongue! I’m Suisui’s mother.”  

“Ohhh—Auntie! You look so young. Standing next to Suisui, you two could pass for sisters!”

Suisui stared at Xiuna, utterly speechless at the shameless flattery.  

The two exchanged meaningful looks.  

Suisui: (I never knew you were this kind of person, Zhou Xiuna.)  

Xiuna: (What? Jealous?)  

Suisui: “…”