Chen Lina was still wearing flats, and the freezing weather in Urumqi had left her toes numb after standing at the train station for half an hour.

Nie Bozhao was wearing big leather shoes, probably even colder than her.

But men endure the cold better, and he was carrying two small portable stoves in his arms.

One could imagine how difficult it must have been for him to manage on his own with three kids in the past, especially without her.

Chen Lina looked at the middle-aged cadre across from her, whose face was full of suspicion, and thought to herself, You used to pamper me for so long, now it’s time for me to pamper you.

Before long, the vehicle from the oil field arrived to pick them up.

It was surprisingly a small jeep, its tires specially fitted with snow treads and anti-skid chains.

The front was badly damaged—possibly from a collision—but the vehicle was still excellent.

On this road, which only had horses, cattle, and camels, the sight of this jeep, roaring down the road like a vehicle from the 1970s, felt like a breath of fresh air in the frontier landscape.

As the jeep approached, people at the train station, from all walks of life and different ethnicities, watched in silence.

Some were former revolutionaries, others criminals on the run, all waiting expectantly.

Even Chen Lina, who had ridden in all kinds of famous cars in her past life, was taken aback by this one.

What followed made her even more excited: a man, dressed in work pants, heavy leather shoes, and a wool coat, stepped out of the jeep, raising his hand in salute from a distance. “Nie Gong, Nie Gong, I’ve come to pick you up on my own orders.”

His own car?

A jeep?

Haha, this man’s a bigshot from the 1970s.

Opening the trunk, he said, “Nie Gong, for this kind of greeting, we should have taken the big Liberation truck, my trunk is about to burst.”

As they were getting in the car, Nie Weimin hurriedly tried to sit in the front.

A car, especially a jeep, was a rare sight in this area, and sitting in the front was even rarer.

But to his surprise, Nie Bozhao got to it first, opening the door to the passenger seat and saying, “Comrade Xiao Chen, please sit in the front.”

Her face was pale, looking as if she might vomit at any moment.

Well, his gentlemanly demeanor is still intact.

“Chen Lina, this is Comrade Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen, this is my… new wife.” Nie Bozhao introduced, hugging her and helping the three children into the back seat.

“Hello, Sister-in-law,” Xiao Chen said, taking off his sunglasses and eyeing Chen Lina.

He nodded appreciatively.

She had fair skin and a slender figure, looking refined and graceful, like a university student.

He didn’t know where Nie Gong had found such a beauty, but Xiao Chen, acting like a little rascal, flicked his messy hair and whistled.

“Hello, Comrade Xiao Chen,” Chen Lina replied, shaking his hand.

Xiao Chen looked as if he had grabbed an icicle, grinning from ear to ear.

“Is the new sister-in-law from Nie Gong’s hometown?” Xiao Chen asked.

“Yes,” Nie Bozhao answered.

“Not too many siblings at home, right? No little sister or anything? With your looks, your sister must be pretty too,” Xiao Chen said, grinning.

“I only have one older sister, and she’s already married,” Chen Lina answered, her tone a bit mocking.

You think you can flirt with me?

Sorry, I’m already married.

No flirting allowed.

“Good, good, I think it’s better that way. Fewer siblings are better. Our Sun Gong is a great person, but her family… too many brothers and sisters…” Xiao Chen rambled on, barely pausing.

Although the public roads had been constructed since the early days of the Liberation, particularly during the Hundred Regiments Campaign when they expanded into Xinjiang, these roads were mostly used by large trucks.

Over the years, they had been poorly maintained, and there were massive potholes everywhere.

With the snow and ice, the jeep’s tires hit a big hole, and suddenly, the three kids, who weren’t wearing seat belts, were sent flying into the air.

“Xiao Chen, focus on driving,” Nie Bozhao said impatiently from the back, holding one child while trying to keep another in place.

Chen Lina furrowed her brow, recalling that Sun Gong, Sun Zhuangnan, was Nie Bozhao’s late ex-wife.

In her previous life, Chen Lina had asked about her many times, but Nie Bozhao would never mention anything about her death.

Bumpy and jarring, the jeep continued on, passing large trucks that were bringing young intellectuals to the frontier for work.

Some of the young people clung to the truck’s edge, throwing up uncontrollably, while others were packed tightly, their faces frozen, their clothes not enough to protect them.

Snow had accumulated on their eyebrows, and the exposed skin had turned a bluish color.

With no other cars on the road, the big trucks sped recklessly, and when the jeep hit another bump, the young intellectuals in the back of the truck were tossed into the air, only to fall back down again.

Sitting in the warm, well-heated jeep, Chen Lina looked at the trucks speeding by and was scared out of her wits. “Lao Nie, those are just kids! Will they freeze to death?”

Nie Bozhao didn’t speak, but Xiao Chen chimed in, “Hah, freeze to death? You think this frontier is some kind of utopia, a paradise? Just the other day, a few of the young intellectuals who were sent here ran off into the Gobi Desert. By the time we caught up with them, two had lost their noses, and one had to have a limb amputated due to the cold.”

When Chen Lina heard about the amputation, she immediately vomited.

“Sister-in-law, I was driving too fast and the bumps made you dizzy, huh?” Xiao Chen, always eager to please women, hurriedly apologized.

Chen Lina quickly shook her head. “No, I’m fine. The jeep’s suspension is really good. It’s way better than many other cars. Even with the bumps, it’s still more comfortable than a regular off-road vehicle.”

“Sister-in-law knows a lot. This car may look small, but it’s a gas-guzzler. However, since we’re in the oil fields, it’s not oil we lack, but cars,” Xiao Chen explained.

In fact, Xiao Chen’s father was the factory director of the Shanghai Auto Factory, which is how Xiao Chen managed to bring one of the jeeps—imported and assembled from abroad—into the frontier.

While all the young intellectuals were living in makeshift shelters, eating hard, frozen bread, Xiao Chen somehow managed to join the oil field base.

Meeting someone who understood cars in such a remote place felt like finding a kindred spirit, and Xiao Chen couldn’t help but look at Chen Lina a little longer.

Chen Lina, being an expert on cars—especially off-road vehicles—was well-versed in all kinds of cars.

Even at fifty years old, she had been a participant in desert rally races.

When she put on a racing suit and helmet, she still looked like a young woman, with a group of young men whistling behind her.

In her previous life, she had driven through Urumqi to Wuma’i, speeding down the straight highway at 180 km/h, reaching her destination in less than two hours.

But now, even in the best off-road vehicle, the constant bumps and shakes made her dizzy.

As they passed a series of large trucks, she could see young intellectuals throwing up, which made her too scared to open her eyes.

She decided to pretend she was dead to avoid it.

They arrived in Urumqi at six in the morning after a ten-hour journey covering 300 kilometers.

They didn’t reach the oil field base until 4 p.m.

However, the oil field base was much better than Chen Lina had imagined.

The office buildings were on one side of the road, and the workers’ homes were on the other.

White poplar trees and jujube groves surrounded the square courtyards.

Every family’s roof was emitting a plume of smoke.

In front of the residential area was a river, and beyond that, the snowy desert oasis.

It was exactly like the poem: The lone wild goose flies straight, the river reflects the setting sun.

All the houses were built by the oil field base.

Entering the house, there was a small hallway with a kitchen in the middle.

On the right side was a large room with a big fire bed, and beyond that, the living room.

There was another room next to it, making it a standard two-bedroom, two-living room layout.

The bedroom was somewhat dark, and as Chen Lina walked in, she noticed a red streak behind a curtain, almost like a woman’s skirt.

Her heart raced, and she thought, It’s been a long time since Sun Gong died, and I’m now with Lao Nie. We got here one after another, but I’ll call you ‘sister,’ so please, ghost, leave me alone and don’t scare me, because I’ll get jealous. I’m naturally difficult to deal with, and even if you’re a ghost, you can’t outdo me.

Hugging the third child for courage, she yanked open the curtain and screamed when she saw the words painted in red: “Nie Bozhao killed Sun Zhuangnan, worse than an animal, completely heartless!”

The red paint had dripped down, making it look like a scene from a horror movie.

Chen Lina immediately backed out. “Lao Nie, do you want to go check?”

Nie Bozhao entered the room as if he had seen this many times before, casually tearing down the curtain and tossing it into the fire.

Afterwards, Chen Lina walked around the house, opened the only cupboard, and concluded that Nie Bozhao’s house could only be described in four words: bare as a bone.

There were no basic necessities—just enough food to get by.

The three kids were so hungry they were crying, with the Er Dan pestering the kitchen for eggs and instant noodles.

Nie Bozhao was busy starting the fire stove.

Every house had a fire stove, and once it was lit, the entire house would be warm.

Xiao Chen brought in a half-raw lamb and tossed it onto the counter.

He asked Chen Lina a few questions, but seeing she wasn’t interested, he left.

The lamb was food that Nie Bozhao had saved for his return home.

When Nie Weimin saw the half-raw lamb, the smell made him cry out, “I don’t want to eat lamb! I don’t want to eat lamb!”

After lighting the stove, Nie Bozhao had to rush to the base to report.

He stopped by the kitchen, where he saw Chen Lina boiling the last pack of instant noodles to calm the kids.

Hesitating for a moment, he said, “If you want to ask about Sun Gong, I can explain.”

“How important can it be? Just change the lock later,” Chen Lina said.

Of course, she was curious, but now wasn’t the time to ask.

Finally, after settling the kids with the noodles, Chen Lina got to work cleaning the house.

Once the cleaning was done, she had to prepare dinner.

The only ingredients in the house were some cabbage and large radishes that had just been brought in, and that old lamb.

Standing there, Chen Lina took out the butcher’s knife and cut the lamb into pieces, saving only the lamb shanks.

The rest, she froze in the deep snow outside, imitating what others did.

She had a rusted iron pot, with a thick layer of red rust nearly an inch deep.

It was nearly impossible to clean.

After scrubbing it outside, she brought it back in, cut a large radish, and heated the fire.

She then began using the raw radish to scrub the pot.

This was how they seasoned the pot—by scrubbing with raw radish.

Once the pot was properly seasoned, it wouldn’t rust again, and the food would no longer have the unpleasant taste of iron rust.