Tang Momo felt that Xu Xiaoyun’s thought process was truly beyond what ordinary people could understand. Of course, Gu Chengze’s thoughts were also quite unusual; he told her about the situation so directly. 

Tang Momo rubbed her temples, wondering what all this was about. This time, she didn’t hesitate and told Gu Chengze about what had happened with Zhao Xiuli. He had already become cautious of Xu Xiaoyun, so she believed he could guess that this incident must be related to Xu Xiaoyun without her saying anything. 

Xu Xiaoyun had been waiting for Gu Chengze’s reply. She was afraid that the postman would miss it, so she went to the post office twice. Unfortunately, she found no letter for her. 

Xu Xiaoyun couldn’t help but sneer. Was Gu Chengze really willing to risk his life for Tang Momo? 

How is she worse than Tang Momo? She is obviously better than Tang Momo in everything, so why couldn’t he see her worth? 

With Gu Chengze’s situation not working out and no progress with Zhao Xiuli either, Xu Xiaoyun suddenly felt a bit lost. 

From the moment she woke up, she decided that her goal in this life was to live a good life with Gu Chengze and live her life happily without any regrets.   

She originally thought this was an easy thing. As long as she didn’t interact with Tie Yanming in this life, the tragedy in her previous life would not happen again.   

But she never expected that Gu Chengze wouldn’t want to marry her in this life, which was something she couldn’t bear. 

Her family was still forcing her to see someone and she doesn’t have much progress with Gu family. Xu Xiaoyun didn’t know what to do for a while.   

At that moment, the commune informed her that she have a phone call. Xu Xiaoyun was confused; who would be calling her? 

She had a guess in her mind, and she couldn’t help but speed up her pace. When she arrived at the commune, she was fifteen minutes earlier than expected. 

The people at the commune told her that the call would come in fifteen minutes and asked her to wait. 

The waiting felt long. After what seemed like an eternity, Xu Xiaoyun finally heard the phone ring. She hurried over, and sure enough, it was Gu Chengze’s voice on the other end. 

Xu Xiaoyun’s hands were trembling a little. She tried hard to control her excitement and kept her tone as calm as possible. “Hello, who is this?” 

After Gu Chengze told his family to stay away from Xu Xiaoyun, he still felt uneasy, so he decided to make this phone call. 

“I’m Gu Chengze. Do you know what the consequences will be if the letter you wrote to me last time gets out?”   

Gu Chengze’s tone was cold, as if he had just been pulled from a cold pond. 

Xu Xiaoyun imagined many possibilities along the way, but she never expected him to react like this. She pretended to be calm and said, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” 

“Xu Xiaoyun, it’s a new era now. Let go of the feudal superstitions and stop acting like a ghost. It doesn’t matter whether you did anything underhanded about my grandmother’s fall; you’d better keep your distance from her in the future. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.” 

After Gu Chengze finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for her response.   

After Xu Xiaoyun hung up the phone, her whole body was trembling. Yes, why did she ignore this? If Gu Chengze leaked the contents of the letter, she would most likely be arrested by someone with ulterior motives and coerced into revealing more information. 

Only then did Xu Xiaoyun feel scared. She began to regret her impulsiveness from that day. If Gu Chengze was correct, then she would actually be in a dangerous situation. 

Now, all she could do was pray that Gu Chengze would destroy the letter. But she knew he wouldn’t agree to that; wasn’t this what he had just used to threaten her just now?  

She obviously didn’t do anything that day. Zhao Xiuli fell by herself. What does it have to do with her?   

Xu Xiaoyun had arrived at the commune filled with excitement, but she returned home feeling dejected. 

“Xu Xiaoyun, have you grown wings? You go out without even telling your family.” 

Mother Xu looked displeased. There were a lot of things going on at home, and she had no idea where Xu Xiaoyun had gone. 

“She went to the commune to answer the phone. I don’t know who called her to make her so happy,” Bai Lu said from the side.   

“Answer the phone. What call? Who called you?” Mother Xu asked forcefully.   

Xu Xiaoyun shook off her mother’s grip on her arm, and her tone was full of helplessness. “Can’t you just leave me alone? Do you have to push me to the brink of death before you’re satisfied?”  

With less than three years left until the reform and opening up, she wanted to live a dignified life in the city. 

Oh, right, the college entrance examination. Is it too late for her to review now? In her previous life, she endured enough suffering at the bottom of society, and in this life, she wants to be someone important. 

Mother Xu slapped her on the back, “What nonsense are you talking about? Letting you look for a match is pushing you to death! Go ask around; which girl dares to say such things?” 

“Mother, I don’t want to stay in the countryside for my whole life. I don’t want to be stuck in the village forever.” 

Xu Xiaoyun couldn’t help but shout.  

In her previous life, if they had cared about her a little and tried to persuade her when she was interacting with Tie Yanming, then the tragedy of her past life wouldn’t have happened. 

“You are very ambitious, but do you have the ability?” 

 Mother Xu also wished for her to marry into the city but she had to have that ability. 

“I didn’t expect that my little sister would have such great ambitions.” 

Bai Lu spoke meaningfully from the side.  

“Shut up. If it weren’t for marrying you, our family wouldn’t be in such trouble. They wouldn’t be pushing me to find a match every day. I know what you’re thinking. You’re just thinking about my betrothal money, right? Let me tell you, dream on!”   

Even if she couldn’t escape the fate of marriage this time, don’t even think that they can get her betrothal money. 

“Is this girl going against the heavens?” Mother Xu said, feeling frustrated. 

“I said I wouldn’t marry for these two years; it’s you who is forcing me.”  

There are still two years left, and she can still study hard and take the college entrance examination. Yes, passing the college entrance examination will make Gu Chengze regret it. 

“Fine, if she doesn’t want to, then let it go. Otherwise, if the engagement doesn’t work out, it could lead to hostility instead.” 

Father Xu frowned and advised. 

“No way! What girl doesn’t get married when she grows up? Does she want to stay home as an old maid? If that happens, others will laugh at us.” 

Mother Xu immediately rejected her husband’s advice without a second thought. 

“You’ve seen how she acts; let’s put this on hold for now. Don’t make the house a mess every day.” 

At the end, Father Xu’s voice revealed strong dissatisfaction. 

“As long as you don’t force me to find a match or get married, I will listen to you for the past two years.” 

If she fails in the college entrance examination, she will think of other ways out. After all, she didn’t want to stay in the countryside any longer. 

“You said last time that if this doesn’t work, you’d listen to me.” 

Mother Xu sneered; this girl’s words couldn’t be trusted at all. 

“Anyway, I won’t agree to it. Believe it or not, if you dare to force me, I have nothing to lose. This home will never know peace again.” 

Xu Xiaoyun looked at them with hatred on her face; it was all because of them forcing her. 

Why couldn’t they be like Zhang Xiaoli, who supported every decision Tang Momo made? 

Mother Xu wanted to say something more, but Father Xu pulled her away. “Enough, why argue with her now? Since she’s not willing now, just wait.” 

Eventually, she’ll agree. Once she’s married off and the betrothal money is collected, she’ll no longer be their concern. 

Xu Xiaoyun, on the other hand, didn’t expect them to agree. She was relieved that they had finally stopped pressuring her to meet a potential match. 

She lowered her head and stared at the textbook she had specially found and clenched her palms tightly. “Gu Chengze, you will regret it in this life.” 

After Tang Momo replied to Gu Chengze, she felt a weight lifted from her chest. It seemed that there was no need to worry about Zhao Xiuli anymore. 

As for Xu Xiaoyun, she hoped she wouldn’t continue down the wrong path. 

After resolving the issue, Tang Momo continued her work. Director Wu had just mentioned that she needed to bring the promotional brochure to the event to explain some information to everyone. 

Tang Momo knew that the event Director Wu mentioned was the “social event” organized by the factory. 

It’s supposed to be her day off, yet she has to prepare and still work at the event. Who would be happy about that?  

Unfortunately, she could only grumble about it in her mind and continue with her tasks. 

This time, Tang Momo’s entire promotional brochure focused on safety knowledge. She had already completed a few pages and had shown them to Lu Ruijun. He thought the theme was great and suggested adding more details. 

Tang Momo could only think of a few of them after brainstorming. She didn’t know whether they were applicable in this era, so she planned to ask around in the workshop. 

There were many people in the workshop, and with each person providing a suggestion, she would have enough material. 

Since the event between the two factories was scheduled at the end of the month, Tang Momo was very busy these past few days. She’s organizing some document and check the previous brochures for reference. 

This event also required photos to be taken and two articles to be written for submission to the newspaper.  

At that time, they still used point-and-shoot cameras, and Tang Momo wasn’t very skilled with them. In the end, she handed the camera to another person in the department and said with a smile, “Sister Liu, you have to take better-looking photos when the time comes.” 

The person called Sister Liu quickly shook her head, “No way, I’ve never used a camera before.” 

Suddenly, the camera became a hot potato. 

“I’ll take the photos then.” 

Yang Jianlin suddenly appeared. 

“Wouldn’t that be a waste of your time?” 

Tang Momo looked at Yang Jianlin, feeling a bit embarrassed. It seemed like she always troubled him. 

“It’s no trouble. I was supposed to take photos of Director Wu and the union chairman, so I can just snap a few of the event for you as well.” 

Yang Jianlin responded casually. 

“There’s only one camera in the factory, and it’s too troublesome to look for someone. Let’s leave it to Secretary Yang.” 

Sister Liu looked grateful. 

“It’s nothing, no need to be so polite.” 

After Yang Jianlin finished speaking, he glanced at Tang Momo next to him and said with a smile, “I thought you didn’t want to go.” 

“I initially didn’t plan on going, but I didn’t expect that I need to show the safety brochure I design in the event.” 

Tang Momo looked helpless. 

“Our office also has a copy of the safety brochure, and it’s quite well done.” 

Yang Jianlin complimented.  

“That was the original version. The current version has more precautions, so I’ll probably have to explain for a long time. But Section Chief Lu said he would find someone to help share the burden.” 

Tang Momo felt a bit nervous at the thought of explaining to so many people. After all, this was a big event. 

While talking, the door outside was pushed open, and Section Chief Lu, who came back, suddenly had a new idea when he saw Yang Jianlin standing next to Tang Momo. 

***

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