Chapter 19.2

After sending her father off, the arrival of the rattan box sparked a different thought in Tian Mi’s mind.

With this trip north, who knew how many years it would be before she returned? She had made the longest plans.

So, after hesitating for a moment, she ran back to the seaside to bring back some small yellow fish and golden bars.

She tightly wrapped the gold in clothes, ensuring there was no sound, then placed it at the bottom of the box, followed by some clothes and a sealed jar of lobster meat. After organizing her toiletries and towels in a bag and packing everything tightly, she finally closed the lid and lifted the box to gauge its weight.

Hmm… it was probably around fifty to sixty pounds.

Considering her significantly increased strength compared to her previous life, it was a bit heavy but still manageable.

Tian Mi had also thought carefully about the gold. Donating it locally, even under someone else’s name, carried a high risk of being discovered by Liu Xiangdong.

That was why she initially only thought about hiding it instead of turning it in.

However, traveling over two thousand kilometers north, if a good opportunity arose, she could turn it in to the state, which could amount to several hundred thousand RMB.

Of course, she also had her own motives; typically, in such situations, organizations would offer rewards, and she wanted to seize that opportunity.

Early 1970s.

At the county bus station, most areas were still brick and wood structures.

It was said that this bus station had been around for nearly twenty years.

Tian Mi believed it was true because it looked extremely dilapidated.

They arrived twenty minutes early, calculating the time correctly.

Once inside the station, Tian Hongxing locked his bike and reached out to take the box from his second daughter’s hands.

Tian Mi dared not let him carry it, as that would reveal its weight.

So, with a sincere expression, she declined her father’s help and instead handed him the other package filled with new cotton clothes, gesturing for Pan Di to come over to lend a hand.

Pan Di, though confused, knew her sister had secrets, like her ability to earn money, so she didn’t ask any questions and quickly helped her sister lift the load.

Tian Hongxing, unaware of the hidden matters, thought his daughter was just reluctant to part with her old father. Considering that a few pieces of clothing wouldn’t be heavy, he cheerfully led the way.

As soon as her father turned around, Pan Di’s small, tense face immediately scrunched up like a bun.

So heavy!

After queuing to board the bus.

Tian Mi’s seat was near the front, in the second row by the window.

She placed the box at her feet, set the package on her lap, and leaned against the window to see her family off.

Seeing that his daughter was truly sitting on the bus, Tian Hongxing felt the reality of his child leaving hit him, and he suddenly felt empty inside, his eyes filled with worry.

If the finances allowed, he would have preferred to personally send his second daughter off.

But going there and back would cost nearly a hundred yuan, and the family only had about a hundred yuan left, which needed to be saved for emergencies.

He might also have to plan for the eldest’s wedding, and every option required money; he had six children and couldn’t neglect the others.

Yet he couldn’t shake off his worry, even if his daughter had painted her face black.

Perhaps feeling at a loss, Tian Hongxing couldn’t help but start to ramble: “At your brother-in-law’s place, work hard and keep your eyes open. And about that boy you’re going to see—take a good look; character is the most important, you know? He’s quite old already; we aren’t exactly climbing the social ladder here, so don’t start off too low.”

These were words that should have been shared by her mother, Luan Hongmei, but with the impending farewell, Tian Hongxing felt no discomfort in nagging on.

Tian Mi listened attentively, even though there were some ideas she didn’t agree with; at that moment, she felt no impatience whatsoever.

Pan Di and Xiang Yang stood on tiptoe, leaning against the bus window, their voices trembling with emotion as they occasionally chimed in.

Parting was the most sorrowful moment, and gradually, influenced by the emotions around her, Tian Mi felt a lump in her throat, pouting as if she were about to cry.

Fortunately, the driver and ticket collector arrived quickly, interrupting her sadness.

The two first darkened their faces and chased away everyone leaning against the windows to bid farewell, then began checking passengers’ tickets.

Long-distance buses were state-owned, and the ticket collector’s attitude was quite poor.

However, Tian Mi didn’t mind; she was still immersed in her feelings of parting.

So when her ticket was checked, she cooperatively showed it and then turned back to look out the window, trying to find her father and younger siblings.

But this time, she peered out for quite a while, and even as the bus started moving, she couldn’t spot any familiar figures.

Had they left?

Tian Mi felt a little disappointed as she leaned her head against the glass.

Just when she was feeling disheartened, moments later, as the bus was just pulling away from the station, she heard Pan Di and Xiang Yang’s voices.

“Er Jie!”

Tian Mi suddenly lifted her head to look outside.

The bus had just started moving and wasn’t going fast, so she caught sight of her father and siblings standing by the bus station entrance, waving at her.

They hadn’t left!

With this realization, Tian Mi felt delighted and raised her hand to wave back through the glass.

Unfortunately, the bus gradually picked up speed, and even though Tian Mi kept craning her neck to look back, her family’s figures became smaller and smaller.

Suddenly, she faintly heard the sounds of her siblings crying, and she saw her father, who always cared about appearances, wipe his eyes.

Tian Mi slowly sat up straight, closed her eyes, and leaned back in her seat, feeling the sour sensation in her heart pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe.

No tears, I can’t let my makeup run. Wuwu…

“Ugh…”

On the first day of her journey to the north to seek out a male bodhisattva, Tian Mi found herself defeated on the ferry.

Who would have thought that the one who could breathe freely underwater and race with lobsters would actually get seasick?!

She didn’t have this problem in her previous life!!!

The only silver lining was that the seasickness lasted only about an hour.

When the bus reached the shore, Tian Mi was moved to tears, sincerely thanking all the bodhisattvas.

After crossing the Yangtze River, it wasn’t long before the bus drove into Shanghai.

Once they entered Shanghai, passengers kept getting off along the way.

Tian Mi’s brother-in-law’s comrade would be waiting for her at the bus station, so she stayed on until the final stop.

Shanghai was still Shanghai.

Even in the early 1970s, it looked grand and bustling.

However, Tian Mi wasn’t in the mood to look around; she hadn’t forgotten that someone was waiting for her outside.

So she only glanced in the general direction before hurriedly dragging her heavy suitcase and large package toward the exit.

At the bus station entrance stood two tall men.

One of them was in his thirties, dressed in a well-tailored standing-collar Zhongshan suit, holding a sign with “Tian Mi” written on it, scanning the crowd of people pouring out.

“Brother, why isn’t she out yet? That country girl wouldn’t get lost, would she?” The handsome young man beside him, looking somewhat impatient, was delicate and dressed lightly, his face nearly turning purple from the cold after standing there for a while.

“Shut up!” The older man scolded with a dark expression, “That’s my comrade’s sister, my sister too. Show some respect! Did I ask you to come here? If I catch you being even a bit disrespectful, you can walk back yourself.”

The handsome young man, spoiled by his family, was only afraid of this older brother. Even if he felt dissatisfied, he didn’t dare to show it.

His older brother treated that comrade better than him; all he did was yell at him. If it weren’t for his curiosity about what the younger sister of his brother’s friend looked like, he wouldn’t have come along to suffer.

Of course, if he had known he was here to pick up his sister-in-law rather than a sister, he definitely wouldn’t have come.

At this moment, as Tian Mi flowed out with the crowd, she immediately spotted the sign with her name.

Her gaze landed on the man holding the sign, and she walked straight up to him, smiling as she asked, “Hello, are you Comrade Pan Yue?”

Pan Yue lowered his hand and discreetly sized up the bright-eyed girl who had intentionally smeared her face black, smiling back, “You must be Tian Mi? Just call me Pan Dage. I’m your brother-in-law’s comrade.” As he spoke, the man pointed to his younger brother, who was trying hard to suppress his impatience, “This is my brother, Pan Dong.”

Tian Mi greeted them both with a smile, “Hello!”

After a simple exchange of greetings, Pan Yue took the larger package from her, signaling his brother to take the wicker suitcase.

Pan Dong wasn’t as observant as his brother and didn’t notice Tian Mi was hiding her appearance. Although he felt a bit disappointed that the girl was so dark, not pretty at all, and her outfit looked quite rustic, he still maintained the necessary politeness and immediately reached out to her.

Tian Mi tilted her body slightly, and when the two men looked at her in surprise, she chuckled and explained, “This suitcase is quite heavy; I’ll handle it myself.”

This was the truth, but Pan Dong blew up, disregarding her and reaching out to grab it, shouting, “How heavy can it be? I may look fair, but I’m not a pretty boy. I’ve got strength, too; I can carry it just as well as you!”

As he spoke, he successfully grabbed the wicker suitcase, his face flushing red.

Tian Mi couldn’t help but stifle a laugh, “Well, how about you carry it for me?”

Seeing this, Pan Yue also reached out, wanting to take it, “Is it heavy? Let me have it.”

Pan Dong gritted his teeth and walked outside with the suitcase, managing to squeeze out two words through clenched teeth: “Not! Heavy!”

…

Having seen the temperament and attire of the Pan brothers earlier, Tian Mi had guessed their economic situation shouldn’t be bad.

But now, sitting in the jeep, she was still somewhat surprised.

In this era, being able to drive a car, even if it was a jeep and not a sedan, meant you were quite wealthy.

Pan Yue drove the car, perhaps concerned that Tian Mi might feel awkward, and he actively chatted with her all the way.

They weren’t discussing anything important, but through their exchanges, they managed to observe each other’s general personalities.

Then, they both subtly sighed with relief.

Good, she wasn’t the difficult type.

When they arrived at the nearest guesthouse to the train station, Tian Mi took out her introduction letter and booked a room.

Pan Yue was quite responsible and accompanied Tian Mi to her room. After obtaining her consent, he checked the room thoroughly, ensuring everything was safe, before saying, “I’ve booked a meal at the state-run hotel next door. Why don’t you tidy up and come out for dinner?”

Tian Mi felt a bit embarrassed. “It should be me treating you.”

Pan Yue laughed heartily. “You’re Chen Gang’s sister, which makes you my sister too. Why be so polite? Besides, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to treat us later.”

Tian Mi understood he was just being polite but noted down in her mind to look for some inexpensive gifts when they went shopping tomorrow to bring back for him.

Once she had a clearer idea of the situation at her older sister’s place, she would find a way to send some local specialties to the Pan family.

With her thoughts organized, and adopting a “no worries about debts” mentality, Tian Mi decided not to be coy anymore and cheerfully agreed.

Once Pan Yue headed to the lobby, she quickly grabbed a basin and went to the public washroom to wash her face.

She changed out of the deliberately patched-up old jacket she was wearing and styled her two braids into one that hung in front of her, taking only about three minutes before heading out to meet the Pan brothers.

When Pan Dong saw Tian Mi again, he was initially shocked, then his face turned bright red. He immediately regretted his previous attitude, his expression shifting dramatically.

Even the composed Pan Yue was taken aback and asked, “Do you think you and your sister look alike?”

Tian Mi was confused but began rummaging through her memories for a picture of her sister.

Unfortunately, the original body hadn’t seen Tian Yu in eight years, and she only vaguely remembered her sister mentioning many times that they resembled each other. So, Tian Mi nodded honestly, “We should look quite alike.”

Pan Yue twitched the corners of his mouth. Great, it turned out it wasn’t just his sister-in-law who had poor judgment; even her younger sister seemed to be the same.

He thought that apart from her eyes, there was nothing else on her face that resembled Tian Yu.

During dinner, Pan Dong was particularly silent and fidgety.

Tian Mi didn’t think much of it and mainly chatted with Pan Yue. Thanks to her experiences in later life, their conversation flowed quite well.

After a delightful dinner, the Pan brothers escorted Tian Mi back to the hotel and invited her to join them for a tour the next day before bidding her farewell.

Once in the car, Pan Yue didn’t rush to start the engine but instead looked at his brother and bluntly pointed out his awkwardness. “Stop thinking about it. Tian Mi is going to her sister’s place to get married. That guy’s circumstances are much better than yours.”

Pan Dong was surprised to learn that Tian Mi actually had a partner. Although a bit disheartened, he was more annoyed at his brother’s belittling remarks. “What makes me worse than him?”

In response, Pan Yue started the car, and only after they drove out did he coldly snort, “He is better than you. He’s three years older and is already a squad leader. Sure, he’s earned a lot of military merit and has been on the battlefield several times. Oh, right, he’s even been shot a few times and injured. Compared to you, young master Pan, he’s not far behind.”

—

The next day.

Pan Yue came with his wife and warmly entertained Tian Mi, showing her around the city of Shanghai in the 1970s.

There were many things here that didn’t require tickets, so Tian Mi, unable to resist, ended up buying quite a lot of food and items. After subtracting gifts for Pan Yue and his wife, she still ended up with a large bag full of goodies, spending over three hundred yuan in total.

Although most of it was for her three little nephews, she also got herself quite a bit.

She hadn’t thought much of it while buying, but afterwards, she found herself regretting her spending several times.

So expensive!

—

836th Unit.

“Lao Lou, your little wife is coming! I’m keeping an eye on her. That girl’s train is at two this afternoon.”Zhou Jianshe, who knew Lao Lou had returned to the team, ran wildly all the way, bringing first-hand good news to his comrade, only to run into the man just coming out of the office.

Lou Luhui had also been thinking about this matter.

The recent mountain rescue mission was perilous. They had wandered in the mountains for three or four days before finding a few children. Regrettably, out of the four children, only one survived, and he had suffered severe frostbite and was currently receiving treatment in the hospital.

And the soldiers who entered with him also had various degrees of frostbite and snow blindness, taking four or five days of rest to recover.

Now that they had set off, it was too late to go to Tian Mi’s hometown to pick her up, but Lou Luhui was still worried and wanted to head forward to greet her.

Upon seeing Zhou Jianshe, he patted his old friend’s shoulder. “You came just in time. I’ve already requested time off from Wang’s brigade. We’re leaving today, and calculating the time, I should be able to greet her two days ahead. You’ll take me to the train station later, right?”

Zhou Jianshe was momentarily stunned, but quickly reacted. He clapped his hands, making a loud “smack!” sound, and praised, “Lao Lou, you’re doing well! You’ve zeroed in on your target and are charging forward! What other experiences do you have? Share them with me; I want to learn too.”

Lou Luhui shot him a glance but said nothing.

Zhou Jianshe asked, “What do you mean?”

“You don’t even have a partner.”

“…”

The train from Shanghai to H Province still had a steam locomotive.

Here, Tian Mi saw another vibrant display of human life.

The overcrowded train carriage had many people squeezed into the aisles, sitting or lying closely together.

In each carriage, there were always a few who led the singing, encouraging a group of teary-eyed young intellectuals going to the countryside to sing revolutionary songs.

There were also those who, upon reaching a temporary stop, climbed out of the windows to throw out their packages.

Even more were those who boarded the train and then bought tickets, scrambling for seats with those who had the same tickets.

Of course, these scenes mostly occurred in the hard-seat carriage.

Tian Mi was escorted onto the train by the two Pan brothers, who personally helped her settle into the carriage.

Pan Yue knew the train conductor, and they seemed quite familiar with each other.

After the train set off, thanks to the conductor’s attention, there were staff members who came by several times a day to check on her, occasionally bringing tasty snacks and fruits.

The enthusiastic care from the attendants made her experience on the train much better than she had imagined.

At least, the people in the nearby carriages looked at her with courteous and polite eyes.

Thus, every day, accompanied by the “clank—clank” sound of the train, Tian Mi either lay down to sleep or sat reading and enjoying the scenery, occasionally chatting with a few people in her carriage.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the fourth day.

When the train stopped again at a major station, many people chose to get off and get some fresh air.

Unlike temporary stops, major stations had longer layover times.

At these times, Tian Mi would also follow the flow of people down.

However, she didn’t go far, keeping the wicker basket positioned upright by the window in her line of sight.

There were still two days of travel left to reach their destination, and the temperature grew colder the further north they went.

The train had heating, so Tian Mi only wore a thin cotton jacket, made from a navy blue fabric with light blue check patterns.

It wasn’t the current trendy style of short front-open jackets; she specifically asked a tailor to make an A-line version. On her lower half, she wore fitted pants bought in Shanghai, and this outfit suited her temperament perfectly.

However, it was extremely cold outside, and after only a short while, she started to feel uncomfortable.

Thus, she didn’t bother to undo her long hair to re-braid it, letting it flow with seaweed-like curves as she hurried back to the carriage.

At that moment, a loud, bustling sound suddenly came from not far away.

Tian Mi instinctively looked over and was greeted by a sea of army green.

However, when her gaze met a pair of beautiful eyes that resembled black obsidian, her eyes gradually widened.

Tall and straight body!

Slender waist and long legs!

Cold, ruthless and tyrannically handsome!

Isn’t this… a Male Bodhisattva?