Ruan Qingzhi didn’t expose the truth on the spot.  

She simply tucked the coat away quietly and thanked her obediently, “Thank you, Mom!”  

Then, she turned to Ruan Zhiguo, lifting her small face as she added softly, “And thank you, Dad.”  

The girl sat primly, her voice gentle and sweet, her dark lashes fluttering like butterfly wings. Her bright almond-shaped eyes gazed at the man with an almost unnatural docility.  

Ruan Zhiguo’s heart clenched at the sight of his youngest daughter like this.  

He had always known she was pretty, but ever since she was little, she never smiled, never knew how to sweet-talk, dull and wooden—nothing like his stepdaughter, who was so much more likable.  

But just now…  

She looked so well-behaved!  

Her kitten-like eyes glistened, bright and watery, and when she looked at him, his heart nearly melted.  

For the first time in his life, Ruan Zhiguo felt a pang of guilt toward his daughter.  

Married off at such a young age to a place so far north, and to a man like that…  

She has suffered.  

This guilt lingered all the way until he saw her off at the train station.  

After locking his bicycle, Ruan Zhiguo kept admonishing her on the way to the platform: “Once you get to Shengyang, remember to write home and let us know you’re safe. And don’t act spoiled—women have to be diligent. No more pretending to be sick to laze around like before, understand? Also, remember this: no husband will ever treat you as well as family. Your mom and I might’ve indulged your faking illness, but that Shen fellow won’t. Don’t forget your family just because you’ve got a man now!”  

Indulged!?  

How could he say that with a straight face?  

Even now, he was still gaslighting his daughter!  

If the original Ruan Qingzhi were still alive, leaving home would probably make her realize that the outside world was full of kinder people.  

Ruan Qingzhi rolled her eyes internally.  

Suddenly, she leaned into her theatrics. Pressing her lips together, she began unbuttoning her coat with an aggrieved expression, pulling open the inner lining as she said in a soft, pitiful voice, “Dad, I’m sorry. I didn’t understand before. I knew our family was poor, yet I still made you borrow money for me. Now I realize how much you’ve sacrificed for me. This hundred yuan should go back to Mom and my brother, so they can buy some food—”  

Her words cut off abruptly.  

Ruan Qingzhi stared at what was in her hand, looking as though she was too shocked to speak.  

Ruan Zhiguo had been standing beside her, watching as she pulled out the money. When the pile of blank, torn paper scraps tumbled out, his mind went blank. He immediately lunged forward, frantically searching through every pocket of her coat—  

Nothing…  

Still nothing!  

The man froze, then looked back at the pile of scraps.  

It finally dawned on him—his wife had never sewn the money into the lining in the first place!  

His expression darkened, his jaw clenching tightly.  

But the next second, his vision was abruptly filled with his youngest daughter’s tear-filled eyes.  

He hesitated…  

Then, after a long pause, he reluctantly pulled out the last three yuan from his pocket and handed it to her.  

Ruan Qingzhi took it gently, comforting him, “Dad, don’t be mad at Mom. After all, I’m not her biological child—it’s only natural she wouldn’t want to spend this money on me. It’s fine if I suffer a little, as long as our family stays happy and united. From now on, I won’t be by your side to take care of you… so please, take care of yourself…”  

Her voice cracked with a sob by the end.  

The girl’s eyes were red-rimmed, moisture gathering in them.  

A single tear trembled on her lashes before rolling down, leaving a glistening trail on her cheek.  

Her frail frame, the tear on her cheek—  

It amplified Ruan Zhiguo’s guilt. He dug out another ten cents to buy her five steaming vegetarian buns.  

As he looked at her bony, emaciated hands, his anger grew.  

Li Qiuhua, you’ve let me down!  

Choo—choo—

The train roared into the station.  

Ruan Qingzhi boarded the train.

Watching Ruan Zhiguo’s furious retreat from the platform, she suddenly smiled.  

Then, she bent down, hiked up her pant leg, and pulled out a small money pouch. Tossing it lightly in her hand, Ruan Qingzhi couldn’t help but grin as she opened it and dropped the three yuan inside.  

The pouch contained Li Qiuhua’s secret stash.  

She had found it last night.  

Inside was over a hundred and twenty yuan.  

And now—  

It was all hers.  

A deal was a deal—how could Li Qiuhua think she could just replace ten crisp hundred-yuan bills with a pile of scrap paper?  

She could only imagine the woman’s reaction when she discovered the money was gone.  

It would probably be…  

Quite the spectacle.

As for Ruan Zhiguo, he had always been a suspicious man by nature.  

Now that Pandora’s box had been opened—  

Distrust would seep in.  

Unstoppable.  

Ruan Zhiguo…  

Li Qiuhua…  

Let’s see how long your happiness lasts.

Tucking the pouch away, Ruan Qingzhi turned and stepped into the train carriage.  

It was July, the height of summer. The moment she entered, the stifling heat hit her, thick with the stench of sweat.  

The girl wrinkled her nose reflexively, glancing around.  

In the 1980s, before the economy had fully developed, most people dressed plainly in muted shades of gray, black, and blue.  

The carriage was noisy, luggage piled haphazardly on racks and in the aisles—even the occasional squawking poultry, feet bound, flapped helplessly.  

With no luggage of her own, Ruan Qingzhi wove through the obstacles with her slender frame and settled into a seat by the window.  

Before long, a group of fresh-faced soldiers filed in.  

The PLA officer at the front directed ten recruits to take their seats before leading the rest to the next carriage.  

Passengers continued boarding.  

The young soldiers occasionally stood to help fellow travelers with their bags or assist mothers with their children, but most of the time, they sat ramrod straight, expressions solemn.  

The train rumbled to life, slowly pulling away from the station.  

Having woken early and traveled far, Ruan Qingzhi was exhausted. She wrapped herself in her coat, curled into a comfortable position, and fell into a deep sleep.  

She didn’t know how long she slept, but at some point, the clamor of the carriage seeped into her dreams—loud voices, men shouting for people to make way.  

Her sleep was restless.  

Fragments of the original Ruan Qingzhi’s memories swirled in her mind like a chaotic slideshow, trapping her in a half-awake haze.  

Then, suddenly—  

A shrill voice pierced the air beside her:  

“You call yourselves soldiers? I’m holding a child, and not one of you offers me a seat? The country and the people feed you, clothe you, and this is how you repay them? ‘Women and children first,’ my foot! ‘Learn from Comrade Lei Feng’—what a joke! All talk, but when it comes down to it, you won’t even give up a seat!”  

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” a young man’s voice replied. “Please, take my seat. I’ll hold your child for you.”  

The woman scoffed, still unsatisfied even after sitting down. “Ma’am? Who are you calling ‘ma’am’? Saying I look old, huh? What kind of insult is that? And you want to hold my son? I wouldn’t trust you—you’d probably sell him to traffickers out of spite!”  

The soldier’s voice hardened. “Comrade, I am a serviceman.”  

“Pah! As if that means anything! My son is the only male heir in five generations of our family! Even if every last one of you died on the battlefield, you still wouldn’t be worth a single hair on my precious boy’s head!”