Chapter 19: I Knew Rural Life Would Be Hard, But I Didn’t Expect It to Be This Hard

“Comrades, sorry, our village has no tractor, no front passenger seat—only an ox cart. Will that do?” the young man beside the village chief asked coldly.

He was tall and strong, with skin darkened by the sun, rough but powerful hands—the epitome of a rugged man. In later generations, this kind of rough man would be admired.

But in this era, it wasn’t appealing; young women preferred fair-skinned, refined boys.

So Xia Tiantian looked down on the rugged man in front of her. She pointed sharply at Jian Yueshi and demanded, “An ox cart? You’re actually picking us up with an ox cart? Do you even know who she is?”

“I know. You’re the educated youth sent to support rural construction,” the rugged man replied honestly.

“Ha—ha!” The young male educated youth standing next to Ye Siran couldn’t help laughing out loud.

He was about seventeen or eighteen, delicate and refined, with rosy lips and bright white teeth. His smile was genuinely attractive.

Jian Yueshi and her little follower Xia Tiantian were stunned!

But he was laughing at them, so Jian Yueshi angrily pointed at Ye Siran and demanded, “There’s no front passenger seat this time—why are you laughing?”

“I’m not laughing. That wasn’t me,” Ye Siran explained calmly.

Even though the girl was pointing rudely at her, Ye Siran, nearly fifty, didn’t want to quarrel with a child.

“You still won’t admit it? Everyone heard you laughing,” Jian Yueshi insisted, stepping closer until her finger nearly touched Ye Siran’s forehead.

“Ouch! That hurts…” A piercing cry rang out as Ye Siran gently pinched Jian Yueshi’s finger.

“Shameless! You think I’m afraid of you? Who dares point a finger at my forehead? One more time, and I’ll break it!”

“Waa… Mommy… I want to go home…” Jian Yueshi collapsed to the ground in tears.

She had been squatting on the train and standing on the truck all this way—tired, hungry, exhausted. Seeing the ox cart with wooden planks and wheels in front of her, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

“Comrade, if you really don’t want to go to our village, go see Minister Chen. He hasn’t left yet,” Village Chief Qu said unwillingly.

“Waa… I don’t not want to go, I just… can’t get used to ox carts,” Jian Yueshi sobbed.

She knew there was no going back!

Crying even harder, the village chief could only tell the young man from before, “Gangzi, take her on your bicycle.”

Qu Chenggang, the village chief’s nephew, was an active-duty soldier accompanying his uncle to pick up the educated youth.

Seeing Jian Yueshi cry, he felt a pang of sympathy. “Alright then.”

Chen Wei and Chen Zihao watched Ye Siran effortlessly toss the unusually heavy snakeskin bag onto the ox cart.

Father and son exchanged a glance and wordlessly turned to climb into the truck, ignoring Ye Siran.

There were six educated youth going to Gaotang Village: two boys and four girls.

Four of them rode the ox cart with the village chief, while Jian Yueshi sat on Qu Chenggang’s bicycle.

Although Ye Siran had heard of rural hardships, stepping onto this barren land still shocked her.

Dilapidated houses, infertile soil, and exhausted farmers working in the fields.

Their eyes revealed the helplessness and struggle of life. An elderly man pushed a wooden cart full of hay, his wrinkled hands gripping tightly, each step careful not to spill the load.

Anyone who saw it could imagine how harsh life here was.

Ye Siran had always lived under someone else’s roof but only did household chores and never had to worry about food or clothing. She had never suffered hunger.

Lost in thought, she overheard the young boy next to her muttering sadly:

“I’ll have to wake early and work with them every day, eating coarse food, sleeping in drafty mud-brick houses. I start to miss home… I wonder if my parents think of me?”

“Little brother, what’s your name? How old are you?” Xia Tiantian asked gently, careful not to startle the handsome boy.

“I’m Xiao Zhiyu, seventeen. I came for my sister. If I’d known it would be this bleak, I wouldn’t have come,” he said, his voice trembling with tears.

Ye Siran didn’t speak but silently agreed—this life was indeed hard.

But she wouldn’t retreat. Her space had endless food. Even without it, she would find her grandparents.

She knew rebirth was not just an escape, but the start of a transformation.

She glanced at the educated youth on the ox cart and at the endless yellow land, thinking about how her mother might be doing.

Ye Family

Since Ye Siran left that afternoon, Song Chunhua’s wailing had filled the house.

“Heavens! Why didn’t lightning strike that sinner to death…”

“Song Chunhua, what nonsense are you spouting? Aren’t you going to cook?” Ye Jianping asked angrily.

“Cook? With what? That damned sinner, that thief, stole all our property!”

“Slap! How dare you curse me?” Ye Jianping furiously slapped his wife.

“…Child’s father, did you take the money and food coupons?” Song Chunhua asked incredulously.

Seeing her husband turn away in silence, she sat on the ground cursing, “You heartless man, do you have someone on the side?”

“Why such filthy thoughts? Who would I have?” Ye Jianping’s eyes flickered. He didn’t want to tell her the truth—he hadn’t expected to be trapped by his stepdaughter!

She had sold her university spot for 800 yuan to Yueshi, but she never received the acceptance letter—only a note that her sister was now married, to stay and take care of her husband instead of going to university.

The Ye household was in chaos.

He Family

He Hongwen suddenly felt a pang of pain, as if something important was slipping away.

No, the feeling was too strange.

He rushed outside, running into his father. “Hongwen, where are you rushing off to?”

“Dad, I’m going to find Ranran.”

“Don’t bother—she’s gone to the countryside! When Ranran gave you her love, you always acted like you didn’t want it.”

He Hongwen looked at his father in disbelief—but his father had already gone inside.

He was left standing alone, confused in the wind.

His father always told him that Ye Siran was the ideal partner: gentle, understanding, and faithful.

But when he did wrong, she didn’t lash out—no ridicule, no argument.

Her response was simply a calm departure. He Hongwen forced down the dull ache in his chest.

Had he gone too far?

So Ye Siran had truly flown away from him.