Chapter 11: She Became an Intellectual Youth

“Here’s your household registration booklet, letter of introduction, and paperwork for going to the countryside!

Keep them safe. Stay here for the next couple of days. Meals are served at the dining hall downstairs on schedule. At the latest, tomorrow, someone named Yu Zhen will come looking for you. He’ll arrange for you to wait at the Intellectual Youth Office!”

A small, rectangular, vertically-opening booklet—that must be the household registration booklet the man mentioned!

Along with several sheets of paper representing a new beginning, they were unexpectedly placed in her hands!

Opening the first page, the three characters Ji Wanru were clearly printed on the first line!

Below the name should be information about her previous address, household registration, etc.!

She recognized some of the characters, and others looked familiar. Through a combination of guessing and understanding, she could make out most of it!

“This… you went out yesterday for this? Getting something like a household registration must be very troublesome, right?”

She didn’t know how to express her gratitude. In her past life, she must have done many good deeds to have met Xiaodu, and then him!

She could repay Xiaodu by completing tasks. But how could she repay this man?

“It wasn’t difficult. I happened to know someone who handles this. Just don’t let anything slip, and you’ll be fine!” the man said casually.

“I won’t! I’m not stupid! By the way! Asking someone for a favor must have cost a lot of money, right? Tell me how much you spent in total? Including the clothes and buns you bought for me earlier!

I’ll keep a record. Even if I don’t have the money now and can’t pay you back all at once, don’t worry. When I get to the Sikanzi brigade in Yushugou, I will work hard, earn more money, and pay you back bit by bit. Sooner or later, I will pay you back!”

The man’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot…

Perhaps a different method of repayment would make him happier…

The surprises weren’t over yet!

“Oh, right, and this…”

The woman suddenly remembered something, turned around, and pulled out her bundle from under the bed in the guest house!

“Anyway, these are useless now, not worth anything, so I’ll just give them all to you!”

As she spoke, she dug out a carved wooden box about 20 centimeters long from the bundle. The moment she opened it, it almost blinded Lu Yao!

This… a night pearl the size of a goose egg, a lifelike butterfly-shaped gold hairpin, ruby ​​and emerald drop earrings…

“I took these when I ran away. I originally planned to exchange them for some travel money outside, but after hearing what you said yesterday, these things can’t be seen in the light, so they’re useless. I’ll give them all to you!”

She had forgotten whose palace she had taken this box from. She had collected so many things in such a hurry at the time, and she had just randomly taken a box out of her space.

The bundle was too small to take out more. Otherwise, the red coral taller than her from the emperor’s private treasury would have been even more beautiful…

Lu Yao’s temples throbbed. He snapped the box shut, couldn’t help himself, and flicked her forehead.

“Keep this safe. Once you get to Yushugou, find a safe place, dig a hole, and bury it!

Remember, don’t take it out easily, not in front of anyone, including me!”

He wondered if a girl like her could even hide things properly? He was so uneasy.

“You don’t want them? Do you think they’re worthless?”

Lu Yao choked. Who would think they were worthless?

These were family heirlooms. How could he think they were worthless? Although the current social atmosphere was like this, banks still accepted gold as long as it came from legitimate sources!

Gold has always been a hard currency throughout history!

Throughout history, although there may be periods of downturn, it will always rebound eventually!

Perhaps in ten or twenty years, they will become sought-after objects again!

Thinking of this, Lu Yao suddenly had an idea!

“How about this, if you trust me, give me these things, and I’ll take them to the black market to exchange them for money for you! It’s not safe to keep them on you!”

He could see that the woman probably didn’t have a cent on her. He could give her money directly, but would she accept it? This woman was petite and frail, but she was quite stubborn!

Didn’t she even haggle over the price of a dress and a household registration?

Perhaps he could exchange these things for money and tickets first. When these things become valuable in the future, he could let her buy them back at the original price…

Sure enough, hearing that these things could be exchanged for money, the woman’s eyes lit up…

“Yes, yes! Take them all! Take them all!”

“Should I keep this pearl? It’s quite pretty?”

“No, take them all. I won’t keep a single one!”

Why keep them? She wished she could take out more!

She had plenty of these things in her space. She wasn’t short of this little bit!

Oh, if she had known she could secretly sell them for money, she would have packed fewer buns and brought more gold!

But it’s okay. Once she gets familiar with the environment, she’ll secretly find the place the man called the “black market” to sell them!

If the man could find a way to exchange gold for money, there’s no reason why she couldn’t…

Lu Yao didn’t know that at this moment, he had unknowingly given the woman a very important lesson!

~~

Lu Yao gave her some more instructions on things to pay attention to. Seeing that it was getting late, the guest house attendant had already “passed by” their door several times under the guise of cleaning!

He had no choice but to leave with a heart full of worry, finally reminding her to close the windows and doors when she went to sleep before leaving the guest house with a stern, unapproachable expression under the attendant’s watchful gaze.

That night, after dinner, the woman tossed and turned in bed, too excited to sleep!

Her mind was filled with what the man had told her that morning…

It was supposedly 1973 in the People’s Republic of China, a country that had just experienced over a decade of peaceful days after war and famine!

The people here deeply loved their ‘emperor’!

The once high-ranking clan officials of the Great Yan Kingdom had been brought down from their pedestals!

Even the prefects and magistrates who managed the local areas were ordinary workers and peasants!

And here’s the thing!

They pooled all the food, drink, clothing, and necessities together for unified distribution and sales!

People were equal!

Even educated people in the city would respond to the call and be sent to remote rural areas to help with labor!

Her new identity was one of these intellectual youths, going to a place called Yushugou Sikanzi brigade to support construction!

Supporting construction? It sounds so great!

It was said that as long as you were willing to work, you would be given grain according to your work points at harvest time!

She wasn’t afraid of work. As long as she was free, she could do anything, not to mention that she would be given food!

Oh my, she was already eager to try, couldn’t wait…