Chen Lina thought, what should I do?

In my past life, I was wealthy, and though my money didn’t match his, everyone would call me General Chen.

But I never had to fight like a shrew for a pound of sugar and two pounds of milk.

Now it’s a different story.

Last time, when I took an axe to fight Sun Dabao’s mother, my image as a little princess was completely shattered.

“Here’s the plan: I’ll block Sun Dabao, but from now on, you cannot lock the door to the small bedroom. I’ll come and go as I please. Your house is bare, except for the books no one took. I may not read, but I can’t stop learning,” Chen Lina said.

“You can come into the small bedroom at night, you can come with me,” Nie Bozhao replied.

“Forget it, you can continue locking the door then,” Chen Lina thought.

If he wanted to sleep with her, there was no door to open.

Anna hadn’t been caught yet.

Not only were the security officers at Mulan Farm looking for her, but the security officers at the base were also searching everywhere.

When Aunt Ha was feeding the horses, she saw a tall young woman hiding in a corner of the horse stable and immediately called Chen Lina, saying, “Comrade Chen, I think I’ve found the girl the farm’s looking for.”

Chen Lina hushed her and quickly went next door.

As it turned out, Anna really did look quite similar to Chen Lina.

However, Anna was exceptionally thin, with pale skin.

Some people seem to have skin that only reddens in the sun without tanning, and Anna’s skin was just like that.

Her hair, whether permed or naturally curly, was a soft brown, and it looked beautiful.

Chen Lina immediately concluded that Anna’s mother was either from a minority group or from the Soviet Union.

“I’m Chen Lina. Have you heard of me?” Chen Lina asked straightforwardly.

Sitting on a fragrant-smelling couch at Aunt Ha’s house, Anna nodded.

She looked extremely nervous.

Though she was very thin, her hands were covered in frostbite sores, swollen and alarming.

She wore Xiao Chen’s canvas shoes, which were probably too small now due to her swollen feet.

“My dad told me about his pen pal, who loved dancing, especially the song ‘Moscow Nights,'” Anna said.

Chen Lina then replied, “You’re different from the other educated youth. They came here to work, but your background is problematic. You know that, right? Now, I want to keep you at the base. I don’t know if you’re willing?”

Anna nodded vigorously.

The current oil base was a rare paradise, and who wouldn’t want to be a part of it?

However, approval for family members was strict, often requiring five generations of clear records, and the workers at the base were either very hardworking or held essential technical roles.

There were no idle people.

Chen Lina, as a former “educated youth,” could only come here because of the support from everyone, from Chief Wang to Secretary A.

“Can I really come to the base?” Anna asked quietly.

“I can only keep you here temporarily for now. If you want to stay long-term, I’ll have to figure out another way,” Chen Lina explained.

To find a solution, she returned home.

“Comrade Nie, Comrade Nie!” she called outside.

“What is it again?” Nie Bozhao impatiently asked from inside.

“I need a favor.”

“What favor? I won’t help.” Nie Bozhao replied directly.

“You have to help!” Chen Lina, acting spoiled.

“Help me sleep in the small bedroom tonight, and I’ll help. Do you know how much coal has been wasted? I’ve had to deal with the ash. There are two walls of fire; try it yourself,” he warned.

“Forget it, I’ll ask someone else.”

As she was about to leave, Nie Bozhao called out, “Fine, tell me what you need, and I’ll help.”

After all, a dog remembers old matters.

Chen Lina was the kind of woman Nie Bozhao understood well.

Though she didn’t say anything now, she was gathering interest.

Once Sun Dabao’s problem was solved, she would make him pay.

Outside the large iron gate of the base, Sun Dabao was facing off with the security officers of the base.

He had crashed his car into a coal mountain, injuring his neck.

To this day, his neck was still in a collar to straighten it, and he couldn’t turn his head without turning his entire body.

The oil base, of course, wasn’t a place where just anyone could enter, especially not the workers from subordinate farms.

After a while, the chief engineer issued an order saying that Sun Dabao could come in and look for someone.

Sun Dabao, with the security officers in tow, stormed into the base.

“Are we searching for people, or are you just going to hand over Xiao Chen?” Sun Dabao asked with an imposing attitude, looking up and glaring as soon as he entered the base.

Qin Sheng, the leader of the security management team, replied, “Xiao Chen said he’s alone at home with no one else. We went in and checked; there’s no one you’re looking for.”

“Can we trust Xiao Chen’s words? He’s just a big talker. He came to your base under a special technician status to fix cars, but his personnel file is still at our farm. I think there’s something off about him, especially with his connections to Anna, who’s been in contact with the Soviet Union.”

Qin Sheng responded, “He knows how to repair cars, and we’re really short on this kind of talent. That’s why the chief engineer specifically reassigned him. Besides, if he says there’s no one there, we can’t just pull a living person out of nowhere.”

Sun Dabao waved his hand, “Then let’s search. Let’s go around and look. After all, we’ve got a responsibility since an educated youth has run away.”

“Technically, people from your farm are not allowed into our family area. You can come in, but your people will have to stay outside,” Qin Sheng explained.

The group following Sun Dabao consisted of young men from Zhang County, all calling him “Big Brother” like members of a gang.

At that moment, Liu Han’s son, Liu Xiaogang, came running up and said, “Captain Sun, Aunt Xiao Chen wants you. She says you should come to her house; she has something to tell you.”

Chen Lina?

Wasn’t she the new wife of Nie Bozhao?

Because of the death of Sun Zhun, the Sun family and Nie Bozhao had become enemies.

Why would his new lover want to see him?

Sun Dabao said, “I won’t go. Why should I meet someone like her?”

He instinctively wanted to curse, but since there were outsiders present, he kept it in check.

“She said Anna is at her place,” Liu Xiaogang added.

In fact, not only was Anna at Nie’s house, but also, Chief Wang had been invited over and was there as well.

When Sun Dabao heard that Anna was at Nie Bozhao’s house, his temper flared immediately.

With the security officers, he entered the family area and headed straight for Nie’s house.

Qin Sheng stopped him, saying, “Captain Sun, you’re the captain from Mulan Farm. We’ve allowed you into the base out of respect for Sun Gong, but you can’t bring your people into our family area.”

Having been the head of security for many years, Sun Dabao, though ruthless, was not foolish, and said, “You all stay outside. I’ll go in.”

In simple terms, as long as he placed Anna under pressure, she wouldn’t be able to escape.

As for Chen Lina, Sun Dabao had already sent a telegram to Qi Sixiang for an investigation, though the response hadn’t arrived yet.

But he felt that once the telegram came through and he had the records, he could make something of it.

Having spent so many years in the frontier, although he was young, he had learned a lot from his older sisters and was skilled in this area.

As soon as he entered the yard, a large, plump white rabbit greeted him.

However, he didn’t see the three children.

Sun Dabao instinctively muttered, “Pretentious.”

People like him, on weekends, would drive trucks across the Gobi, shooting at random, killing anything they saw.

Some they would bring back, others, they couldn’t even be bothered to collect.

For someone like him, rabbits were just targets for gunfire.

When Nie Weimin was little, Sun Dabao had taken him to Mulan Farm and shot rabbits right in front of the child.

He’d even given the child a cute white bunny to play with, and when the child grew fond of it, he’d suddenly shot it dead.

The terrified, crying child had been a source of perverse satisfaction for Sun Dabao, who enjoyed the deep fear and helplessness it caused.

So, without hesitation, he took out his gun and shot.

“Well, Chief Wang is here, and Anna too. What, are you all gathering here today?” Sun Dabao called out loudly as he walked into the living room of Nie Bozhao’s house, where several people were standing.

Just then, a young woman with an oval face, big eyes, and a high nose bridge, holding a cup of tea, came out of the kitchen.

There was no sofa at home, just a few dry chairs, which were left behind by Huang Huacai when there was a commotion before, and she didn’t take them.

Sun Dabo still remembered how dirty those chairs had been back then—covered in a layer of grease.

Now, they seemed much cleaner, with floral fabric chair covers draped over them. When you sat on them, they felt soft like a sofa.

After the woman handed him the tea and invited him to sit, she straightened up and said, “Comrade Sun Dabo, hello. I am the stepmother of Nie Weimin’s brother and also the wife of Nie Bozhao. I should be older than you, so you can call me ‘sister.’”

Saying this, she extended her hand for a handshake.

Sun Dabo remembered the first time the old lady had come asking for child support, and for some strange reason, she couldn’t find the lever, and when she returned to the farm, it was already 11 p.m.

Even though he was the security officer at the time, he had scolded the district chief, and the position of tractor driver was revoked from the old lady.

She was severely affected by this and fell ill for a while. To this day, she still got upset when talking about Chen Lina.

At that time, Sun Dabao thought this woman was tough.

So, he shook her hand, but only weakly.

“Your farm isn’t doing production at the moment, but why are you letting the educated youth dig the alkali ditches? This matter should be considered scientifically. In this cold winter, the ground is frozen solid, and digging the ditches is inefficient and exhausting. Isn’t this just making trouble for no reason?” Chief Engineer Wang said.