Chapter 5: Dog Eat Dog! Zhou Qingshan, Li Jiangang, and Liu Chunhua Fight 

“Li Jiangang! Li Jiangang! Something terrible has happened! Come quickly!” 

Liu Chunhua shouted at the top of her lungs. 

Li Jiangang was still in the middle of putting on his pants. Hearing Liu Chunhua’s frantic cries, he didn’t even have time to fasten his buttons before rushing out. “What’s wrong? What happened?” 

Liu Chunhua pointed at the now-empty room and exclaimed, “Li Xia and Gu Shi’an are gone!” 

Li Jiangang was stunned. “Gone? Where could they have gone?” 

“You’re asking me? I was just about to ask you the same thing!” Liu Chunhua snapped irritably. Suddenly, as if realizing something, she slapped her thigh and cried out, “Oh no!” 

Without another word, she bolted toward her bedroom.

The moment she entered the bedroom, Liu Chunhua dove under the bed, pried open the brick, and checked inside. 

Where was the money? 

Her money—where was it?! 

Liu Chunhua was utterly dumbfounded. A dizzying sensation washed over her, a buzzing noise filled her ears, and a sharp pain stabbed at her chest. 

All that money she had painstakingly saved—how could it all be gone?! 

At this point, even if she were a fool, she would have figured it out. Li Xia must have stolen it! Last night, when Li Xia gave her those two hundred yuan, it wasn’t out of goodwill—it was to find out where she had hidden the rest! 

It was over. Everything was over. 

Her son Yuejin’s job, her dream of having a city-dwelling daughter-in-law—all of it was ruined! 

Liu Chunhua’s legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. 

“That wretched little brat! She took all of our money!”

“I’ve been saving this money for so many years, scrimping and sacrificing, and now it’s all gone! This is going to be the death of me! I can’t live like this!” 

“Li Jiangang, that little wench you raised! She must have taken my money and run off to find some wild man!” 

“Yes, she must have gone to find Zhou Qingshan! No, I can’t let this slide—I have to go to the county right now and make Zhou Qingshan give me back my money!” 

With that thought, Liu Chunhua scrambled up from the floor and bolted outside. 

— 

Meanwhile, in the principal’s office… 

“Our school absolutely does not allow students who gain admission through bribery, fraud, or improper conduct!” 

“After a thorough investigation, we discovered that the person who was originally supposed to be recommended for the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University was another educated youth. After being sent to the countryside, he continuously embraced reformation under the guidance of the poor and lower-middle peasants. 

Even after completing his assigned work, he voluntarily helped others, assisting the village elders with chopping firewood in the mountains. 

Academically, he never gave up. He used his free time to study and expand his knowledge—now that is the kind of comrade we should all strive to emulate!”

“The spot should have gone to such an outstanding educated youth, yet it was stolen by Zhou Qingshan, this opportunist!” 

“Zhou Qingshan, effective immediately, our university is expelling you. You are no longer a student here!” 

Upon hearing these words, Zhou Qingshan’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. 

“Principal, please—let me explain… I didn’t—” 

But the security guards didn’t give him a chance to finish. Without hesitation, they dragged him out of the school gates. 

His former classmates, once friendly with him, turned their heads away the moment they saw him, as if even glancing at him was disgusting. 

“Shameless! How could he do something so despicable?” 

“A disgrace to the educated youth, absolute trash!”

“Just thinking about having been his classmate feels like a stain on my life.” 

“I heard he even used to send harassing letters to a military officer’s wife. Someone like him is truly disgusting—he should be arrested!” 

Amidst the murmuring crowd, Zhou Qingshan spotted the woman he was about to marry. Desperation surged in his voice as he pleaded, “Xiao Ya, I was framed! I didn’t do any of this!” 

With that one sentence, all eyes turned to the young woman called Xiao Ya. 

She merely rolled her eyes at him and said coldly, “We’re over.” Then, without another glance, she turned and walked away. 

Zhou Qingshan felt his entire world crumble. The university had expelled him, and now Xiao Ya had left him too…

All his bright prospects had vanished into thin air! 

And it was all because of Li Xia! 

He had already paid back the money he owed her, yet she still went and reported him! 

Zhou Qingshan scrambled up from the ground. He was going to Daxi Village—he had to settle this score with Li Xia. She had ruined his future, and he wasn’t going to let her get away with it! 

… 

When Zhou Qingshan arrived at the entrance of Daxi Village, he happened to run into Liu Chunhua and Li Jiangang, who were on their way to the county to look for him. 

“Zhou Qingshan! You’re just in time!” Liu Chunhua shouted. “Tell me, was it you who coaxed Li Xia into stealing my money and running off with you? Give me my money back!” 

The thought of losing over two thousand yuan made Liu Chunhua’s heart seize with rage. The moment she saw Zhou Qingshan, she stormed forward and, without hesitation, leapt up and slapped him hard across the face.

Zhou Qingshan had just taken a slap on his left cheek when another one landed on his right. He was on the verge of losing his mind, his fury boiling over. Clenching his fists, he swung directly at Liu Chunhua’s face. 

“You damn old hag, stop slandering me! You knew all along that Li Xia reported me, so you deliberately hid her away, and now you want to frame me for stealing your money too? I’ll beat you to death, you heartless old witch!” 

With gritted teeth, Zhou Qingshan threw a punch at Liu Chunhua’s face. 

“Hand over Li Xia!” Another punch. 

“Hurry up! If you don’t hand her over, I’ll kill you both!” Yet another punch. 

“Speak!” 

Zhou Qingshan had lost all reason, his eyes red with rage as he rained blows down, each punch landing solidly. Liu Chunhua, an old woman well past her prime, was no match for him. After just a few hits, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her forehead, having been knocked against the ground, was now bleeding profusely.

Liu Chunhua collapsed in a pool of blood, struggling to reach out for Li Jiangang as he rushed over. “Jiangang…” 

The moment she opened her mouth, she realized several of her teeth had been knocked out. 

“You bastard, I’ll fight you to the death!” Li Jiangang, seeing his wife beaten so badly, charged at Zhou Qingshan, and the two men began brawling fiercely. 

Zhou Qingshan landed another punch on Li Jiangang, but before he could follow up, Liu Chunhua, having climbed to her feet, grabbed a rock and smashed it down on Zhou Qingshan’s head with all her strength. 

“You son of a bitch, I’ll kill you!” 

“I’ll beat you to death!” 

“Hand over Li Xia, or I’ll finish you both off!” 

… 

While the three of them were locked in a vicious fight, Li Xia had already boarded the train to the army base with An An.

At this time, train tickets did not come with assigned seats—passengers sat wherever they could find space. If they were unlucky and no seats were available, they had no choice but to stand for the entire journey. Some even settled in the gaps between train cars, not being too particular about comfort.

Li Xia and An An were relatively lucky. Since their county’s train station was close to the starting station, the train wasn’t too crowded yet. They quickly found empty seats.

Technically, a child An An’s age didn’t require a ticket, but Li Xia still bought him one. Each ticket guaranteed a seat, and without one, An An would have had to stand or squeeze in somewhere else. With a journey of over thirty hours ahead, Li Xia wasn’t willing to save money at the cost of his comfort.

It was An An’s first time on a train. Ever since they entered the station, he had been unable to stop looking around in curiosity. Now, sitting in his seat, he kept glancing everywhere with excitement.

“Mommy, so this is a train! It’s so long!” An An said eagerly. “Are all these people traveling to visit their families like us?”

Li Xia explained, “Some of them are visiting family, but others might be moving for work. But there’s something else you should know—not everyone here is good. There might be bad people among them too.”

“Bad people?” An An widened his eyes and held his breath, listening intently.

“Mm,” Li Xia nodded. “There are thieves who steal things, and there are bad people who kidnap women and children. That’s why when we’re traveling, we must never accept food from strangers, no matter how kind they look—even if it’s a friendly-looking grandpa or grandma.”

She continued, “If you ever find yourself in danger, look for someone in a military uniform and ask for help. If there are no soldiers nearby, then call out loudly to draw everyone’s attention.”

Bad people didn’t have a specific look. Many disguised themselves as kind and gentle, making it easier to deceive others.

There were those who looked kind but were actually human traffickers, and there were those who appeared fierce and intimidating but would step forward to help at a crucial moment.

An An nodded firmly. “Mommy, I understand! I won’t take food from anyone.”

“An An is so smart,” Li Xia praised. “Also, if someone asks you for directions and wants you to lead the way, you must refuse. A normal person looking for directions would ask an adult. If they specifically approach a child, there’s a high chance something’s wrong.”

This was An An’s first long journey, and Li Xia took the opportunity to teach him how to protect himself from being kidnapped. An An listened carefully, absorbing every word.

After their lesson, he sat beside his mother, swinging his little legs that couldn’t quite reach the floor. Through the train window, he watched fields and mountains flash past, while distant farmhouses sent thin trails of smoke curling into the sky.

Before their departure, Li Xia had stopped by the supply and marketing cooperative to buy easy-to-store snacks like peach crisps and pastries.

At this time, there were no vendors pushing carts through the train selling “sunflower seeds, peanuts, mineral water” like in later years. With a thirty-hour journey ahead, they had to eat several meals on the train, so Li Xia had spent all of her sugar coupons.

The train’s restroom was tiny and filthy, so Li Xia had been drinking as little water as possible to avoid using it.

But after just a few hours, she suddenly felt a warm, wet sensation flow down her lower body.

In that moment, she immediately realized—her period had started.

What bad luck—her period had to come at a time like this! 

Li Xia’s first instinct was to take An An with her to the restroom. After all, the train was full of all sorts of people, and she didn’t feel safe leaving him alone. 

But when she reached the restroom door and took a look inside, she realized that the train’s restroom in the 1970s could hardly even be called that. Below was a wooden bucket with a hole in the bottom, leading straight to the tracks, where waste was directly discharged. 

It was filthy, cramped, and reeked of an unbearable stench. Even squeezing in alone was uncomfortable, let alone fitting two people inside. 

With no other choice, Li Xia crouched down and told An An, “Mommy needs to use the restroom. Wait for me right here at the door, and don’t wander off, okay?” 

An An obediently nodded. 

Just as Li Xia stepped inside, a man and a woman in another carriage exchanged a glance. 

The man abruptly stood up from his seat and strode purposefully toward An An.