Chapter 5 – The Green Train to the Countryside

When Lin Cuifen heard this, her eyes widened.

“A 600 yuan ticket?! Are you out of your mind?
Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?”

Jiang Manman wasn’t crazy. She had the money but not many tickets, so of course she’d choose the tickets.

She also knew it was nearly impossible for ordinary folks to produce 600 yuan worth of tickets in one go, so she said:

“If you can’t give me that much in tickets, then at least half.
Any less and I’m not selling.”

Lin Cuifen’s eyes lit up.
“You’re really going to sell it? Then I’ll go right now and bring you the money and tickets!”

Jiang Manman reiterated,
“Yes, 300 yuan in cash and 300 worth of tickets.
If you can really bring that, I’ll sell.”

Afraid she’d change her mind, Lin Cuifen immediately agreed.
“Wait right here. I’ll get them now.”

She dashed out and, not long after, returned with both the money and the tickets.

Jiang Manman glanced at the 300 yuan and the bundle of tickets handed over—sure enough, all sorts of tickets were included.

With a wave of her hand, she stuffed the money and tickets into her pocket. Then she pulled out a work assignment certificate from another pocket and handed it over.

Lin Cuifen received it joyfully, grinning from ear to ear.

Just then, Hao Fangfang entered with another young woman in tow.

Upon seeing Jiang Manman, she exclaimed in surprise:
“Jiang Manman? What are you doing here?”

Hao Fangfang’s expression shifted uncertainly.
Had her mother not sold this girl off after all?
They had agreed on this!

Last night they were supposed to visit Grandma’s place and bring Jiang Manman, but she wasn’t there.
Had her mom changed her mind at the last minute?

Then it occurred to her—it might be that her mom was afraid they wouldn’t be able to find Jiang Manman in the countryside, and she’d have to go in her place.

She convinced herself with this imagined explanation.

“Oh my, you still don’t know? You’re heading to the countryside tomorrow.
Shouldn’t you be packing instead of sitting around here eating?”

Lin Cuifen, holding the work assignment certificate, turned to Jiang Manman in shock.
“What?!
You’re going to the countryside? No wonder you’re selling your job!”

“What?!
Jiang Manman, you sold your job?!”

Hao Fangfang stared at Jiang Manman in disbelief.

Jiang Manman shrugged, smiling as she watched Hao Fangfang’s shifting expression.
“Yup, I sold it.”

“Jiang Manman, what right do you have to sell my job?”

The girl beside Hao Fangfang couldn’t hold back when she heard that.

Hao Fangfang also began questioning angrily.
“Why did you sell the job? You promised it to me—I was saving it for Xiao Yanzi!”

The girl beside her was none other than Xiao Wenxuan’s younger sister, Xiao Yanzi.

Jiang Manman was amused by the two.
“It’s my job—why can’t I sell it?
Give it to you?
Give it to Xiao Yanzi?
You two really do dream big.”

Hearing this, Lin Cuifen neatly folded and pocketed the job certificate.
She shot a look at the two women—as if they could take it from her.

“Sister Liu, we’ve made a fair trade. I’m leaving now.”

“Alright, take care!”

Xiao Yanzi tugged Hao Fangfang’s sleeve.
“What now?”

Hao Fangfang tried to reassure her.
“Don’t worry, Yanzi. I’ll go home and ask my mom. The certificate was in her hands the whole time—how did it end up with Jiang Manman?”

The two of them left the state-owned restaurant and went straight to the Jiang household.

Jiang Manman, on the other hand, headed to the local office.

“Hey there, Director Wang, busy today?”

When Director Wang saw her, the corner of his mouth twitched.
He had heard all about her escapades yesterday from his wife, who had relayed it with vivid detail.

Seeing her now made him nervous.
Was she about to throw a fit and refuse to go to the countryside, demanding her name be removed from the list?

Forcing a smile, he said,
“Ah, the girl from the Jiang family! What brings you here today?”

Jiang Manman grinned so wide her face turned round like a bun.
“Well, since my stepmother signed me up for countryside relocation, and my stepsister hasn’t signed up yet, I figured I’d sign her up too.
Wouldn’t you say our family is so enlightened?”

Relieved she wasn’t here to back out, Director Wang relaxed.
“In that case, your family is the most ideologically advanced in all of Beijing.
I’ll add your sister’s name to the list.”

Jiang Manman beamed.
“Yes, yes! By the way, I haven’t asked—where exactly did she sign me up to go?”

Director Wang glanced at her cautiously.
“Don’t worry—your stepmother signed you up for Enshi, at the Xujiazhuang Forest Farm near Shennongjia. The scenery’s beautiful there.”

Jiang Manman clapped her hands.
“Aha! I knew my stepmother treated me well.
As for my stepsister, send her to the northwest!
Even if my stepmother’s good to me, that doesn’t make up for her daughter stealing my fiancé, does it?”

“Heh heh…”

Director Wang laughed dryly.
Seeing her watching as he wrote, and since the northwest farms also needed people, he directly filled in that region.

“All set now!
You’ve been signed up for days—you’re leaving tomorrow. Aren’t you going to go home and pack?”

“Why do I feel like you’re trying to shoo me away?
Just hand me the introduction letter and the 50-yuan relocation subsidy!”

Director Wang chuckled nervously.
“Didn’t I already give those to your stepmother?
No offense—want to chat a bit longer?”

Jiang Manman had no interest in chatting with him. She smiled and said,
“I’ve got nothing to talk about. My family’s had a crisis!
Yesterday my stepmother ran off with another man and took everything we had.
So now it’s just my dad and stepsister at home, and I don’t want rumors going around.
That’s why I signed my stepsister up to go to the countryside too.”

Director Wang was floored by this bombshell.
“Wait, what?
Your stepmother ran off?
With all your family’s money?”

Jiang Manman nodded enthusiastically.
“Exactly!
She’s been married to my dad for years without having any kids.
Maybe my dad’s got… issues, you know?
That’s probably why she got restless and ran off.
As the daughter, it’s not really my place to expose it.
But seriously, if you’re going to live like a widow, at least stick with it!”

Director Wang shot to his feet.
“No, this is serious. We handle affairs like this on the street level.
Your stepmother was head of the women’s committee—I need to inform my wife!”

Jiang Manman couldn’t care less. She went straight to the supply and marketing co-op to buy countryside supplies.

Even though she was going to the south, winters still existed, so she had to buy some cotton.

Sigh. She used to live in the northeast. Now she was heading south all of a sudden.
So annoying. She’d only been to Shennongjia as a tourist before—lush mountains and rivers, absolutely gorgeous.

But in the 1970s, there were no tourist sites. It was all hard labor year-round.

She already had plenty in her space, so she didn’t buy too much.
Using toilet paper tickets, she bought toilet paper.
With sugar tickets, she bought White Rabbit candy, two jin of brown sugar.
With grain coupons, she got 50 jin of rice.

She also bought “Heroic Grassland Sisters” biscuits and peach crisps.
Using industrial tickets, she got a flashlight and batteries.

She figured there was no need to buy too much—her space had enough.
Plus, this was Beijing. Prices here were bound to be higher than out in the provinces.

Instead of spending more here, she could spend less once she arrived.
Surely prices near Shennongjia wouldn’t be higher than in Beijing, right?

She placed everything she bought into her space.
Hands in her pockets, she strolled leisurely home.

By then, a crowd had already gathered outside her house.

Jiang Manman glanced at them and shook her head.
Instead of going home, she wandered around Beijing—Shichahai, the Forbidden City, etc.—taking a final stroll.

Eventually, she wandered to the train station, found a secluded spot, stashed her bicycle into her space, took out her pre-packed bundle, and boarded the green train to the countryside.

As for raising a fuss with the Xiao family? Forget it—she probably couldn’t beat the three Xiao brothers alone.

The Xiao family might’ve gotten off easy, but at least she’d sold the job and ruined their little scheme.

Plus, with Hao Fangfang now carrying the shame of a mother who ran off, who knew what kind of treatment she’d get after marrying into the Xiao family?

Oh right—she still had to go to the countryside.

She’d already cleaned out Jiang Mingtang’s entire household.
When she left, he only had two large yuan bills in his pocket, and she’d taken those too.

He said he wanted 1,000 yuan—like he could actually cough that up.

Might as well just head off to the countryside.
She had no patience for their nasty faces.

Still, she thought she had come early—but why were there so many people already on this train?