Chapter 3

Leaving was something that was certain to happen. The attitude of the elders was resolute.

As a 15-year-old girl, it was normal to be treated with care due to her special situation in the past.

So, after several unsuccessful attempts to resist, Chen Nongmo had no choice but to give up on her resistance.

No matter what, there were still two years before the disaster, and if she really couldn’t avoid it, she could run away at that time. There would still be time.

Of course, if her strength allowed it, she would prefer to counterattack and eliminate the danger in advance.

Once she had made up her mind, she didn’t rush to rest after her parents left the bedroom. Instead, she opened the small parcel and began to check the contents inside.

The package was not large. Inside the patched cloth bag was a small leather pouch, and inside the pouch were various receipts and twenty Great Unity notes, along with a savings book bearing her name for a checking account.

Looking at the “huge” amount of savings on the passbook, a sum that could be considered large for this era, Chen Nongmo felt a bit more at ease. She now had some confidence in surviving in an unfamiliar environment. At the same time, she couldn’t help but sigh at her parents’ selfless love for their child.

How should she put it?

Having parents was… really quite good.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself to go to the northern countryside to join her Mom Qiuhua, she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

---

The next morning, before dawn, she was told by her mother that the train ticket had already been arranged, and Xiao Hu-ge would send her off at 3 p.m.

“That soon?” After being surprised, she opened her mouth, wanting to ask if her father had confirmed the so-called ‘thought reform’ place. But as the words were about to leave her mouth, she swallowed them back. She couldn’t explain where this information had come from.

Ji Mo had woken up earlier than her daughter. Strictly speaking, she had been burdened by thoughts, and she and her husband hadn’t slept much that night. Only by sending their daughter away could they calmly wait for the storm ahead.

But these words, she didn’t want to say to her daughter. She smiled and teased, “Your dad and I are getting old, not much sleep, come, let me braid your hair for you.”

At just 42 years old, how could she be considered old? Chen Nongmo bit her lip, holding back her discomfort. She sat silently on the stool, letting her mother’s fingers weave through her long hair.

“When you get to your Mom Qiuhua’s, you need to be more diligent. Don’t be too spoiled. You need to help with the chores, understand? You’re a grown girl now… If anyone bullies you, don’t be afraid. Just tell your Mom Qiuhua, she will definitely protect you…”

As she listened to her mother’s endless chatter and thought about the upcoming separation, Chen Nongmo thought she wouldn’t be too affected by it.

But for some reason, the more her mother spoke, the more a vague discomfort began to rise within her, eventually spreading into a wave of sourness.

She gradually felt a more tangible sense of the difficulties her parents were about to face.

And this feeling lasted until she got into the car. As the wheels slowly began to roll, and through the car window, she waved goodbye to her mother, whose face was covered in tears, and her father, who wore a stern expression. That was when the feeling reached its peak.

She pursed her lips and thought to herself that once she got settled, she would find a way to contact her parents. Even if it was just sending more supplies, at least she could make their lives a bit easier.

With this thought, Chen Nongmo subtly touched her waist, feeling the familiar stack of hard objects, and she finally felt at ease.

There, sewn into her clothes by her mother, was all the money and notes she had brought with her.

---

H Province.

738 Military Unit.

Chu Wuwen stormed into the office, his face dark and full of anger.

“Bang!”

With a loud crash, his tall figure, carrying the chill of frost and snow, swept in like a gust of wind.

When he saw the person inside the office, his thick black brows furrowed even tighter, and he growled in a rough voice, “What are you doing in my office?”

Shao Zheng ignored his foul mood, waving the stack of documents in his hand, the corners of his lips curled into a smile. “The military training plan for next year is ready. The Colonel asked me to bring it over for you to discuss. If any changes need to be made, you can talk to him. But you… what’s going on with you? Why are you so angry? Who gave you gunpowder to eat?”

“Stop joking around with me,” Chu Wuwen growled, clearly in no mood for pleasantries. He stretched out a long arm, grabbed the documents, and threw them onto the desk. Then he sat heavily in the chair, propping his long legs up and waving his hand, signaling for Shao Zheng to leave. “Get out of here.”

Having been friends with him for so many years, Shao Zheng had never seen him like this before. He could tell something big had happened. Despite Chu Wuwen’s bad attitude, he didn’t mind and furrowed his brows, asking, “What happened?”

Chu Wuwen didn’t want to say anything, but when his gaze met his brother’s concerned eyes, his anger, which had been on the tip of his tongue, faltered.

After a long moment of silence, he raised his hand and roughly rubbed his face a few times. Then, with a gloomy expression, he sneered, “The old man’s been hit. He’s going for thought reform.”

Hearing this, Shao Zheng hesitated for a few seconds before uncertainly asking, “You mean Colonel Chen Demao?”

From military academy to the military unit, with a ten-year-long brotherhood, Shao Zheng was one of the few who knew about his good friend’s family situation.

Normally, the man he called “Dad” was his stepfather, while his biological father, Colonel Chen, always referred to his stepfather as the “old man.”

As he explained it, it was easier to distinguish between the two.

As a brother, Shao Zheng was sure that Old Chen really felt that way. He respected both fathers but had inevitably grown up under the watchful eye of his stepfather, which made their relationship a bit more affectionate.

Chu Wuwen poured himself a cup of tea, drank it in one gulp, and exhaled a heavy breath. Only then, his mood slightly calmer, did he nod. “Yes, it’s Colonel Chen.”

Shao Zheng raised an eyebrow at the sarcastic tone in his voice. “Are you angry that he kept it from you?”

“Tch! Shouldn’t I be angry? If my mom hadn’t just called me, I wouldn’t even know the old man was in trouble. How fresh is that? I’m his son, and I’m the last one to find out when something happens to him…”

Shao Zheng ignored his brother’s irritable words and endless complaining. Instead, he stood up and said, “Don’t rush. I’ll call my dad and ask.”

Just as his brother knew about his family background, Chu Wuwen also knew Shao Zheng’s background all too well. He understood the weight of General Shao’s words in the upper circles.

But in such a sensitive situation, how could he possibly bring it up? “I appreciate it, but you know the old man knows about my relationship with you, yet he still kept it from me. You should understand he didn’t want to use any connections.”

Shao Zheng chuckled and cursed lightly, “What are you thinking? You know what kind of man my grandfather is, don’t you? Even I, his biological grandson, was sent to the battlefield at thirteen for training.”

“Then what do you mean?”

The man curved his lips into a smile, his tone implying something. “If it’s really ‘ideological reform’ those places can vary in quality.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Wuwen suddenly felt enlightened. He immediately stopped being angry and stood up, quickly walking toward his brother, urging him impatiently, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go, let’s go, I’ll go with you to call Dad.”

As he was being pulled toward the door, Shao Zheng laughed out loud. “That Dad sounds nice. What’s this? You want to marry me and be my little wife?”

“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I? My old man would definitely want to become relatives with your family’s Patriarch. You can call me ‘Dad’ a thousand times, Young Master Shao.” Chu Wuwen said, the anxiety in his heart easing significantly. His temper was quick to rise, but it also faded just as quickly.

He raised his broad palm, making an exaggerated gesture with his fingers and threw a flirtatious, almost cramp-like glance.

Shao Zheng closed his eyes in disbelief and, thoroughly disgusted, muttered, “… Ugh… Get lost!”

“Aha, our Young Master Shao is shy, huh?”

“Damn you, you big bear, stay away from me…”

“Aren’t I your little wife? You can’t stay far away, husband and wife need to stick together…”

“Get lost! Go away!”

“……”

The playful bickering gradually faded into the distance.

Neither of them knew that, a few years later, the Shao and Chen families would actually become in-laws.

Because of that, Chu Wuwen would later consider countless times drawing his sword to duel with his brother!

---

On the other side, far away in N City, Chen Nongmo had no idea that her parents’ destination was much better than she had imagined.

At this moment, she was being escorted to the train station by her bodyguard, Xiao Hu-ge.

They had arrived early, and they had already been waiting for more than half an hour, but the train still hadn’t arrived.

All the passengers waiting for the train could only stand outside the tightly closed walls, braving the cold wind and waiting anxiously.

Xiao Hu held a large suitcase in one hand and, amidst the crowded throng of people, shouted to the girl beside him, whose face was completely wrapped in a scarf, leaving only a pair of distinct, dark eyes visible. “Yuyu, hold on to my clothes tightly and don’t talk to anyone, understand?”

N City was a big city, and the train station was packed with people. The noise was deafening, with everyone almost shouting to be heard. Chen Nongmo didn’t mind her appearance, but being squeezed in like a can of sardines was already exhausting. She couldn’t manage to shout back, so she gripped Xiao Hu’s shirt tightly and nodded several times to show she understood.

Even in later years, bus stations and train stations were hotspots for human trafficking. In the 1970s, when public safety was still quite poor, she valued her newfound life greatly and was determined not to make any reckless mistakes.

But, it was so crowded—why were there so many people?

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this didn’t feel like a normal trip. The intensity of the crowd was more akin to an evacuation.

Thinking about this, Chen Nongmo’s expression, hidden beneath her scarf, faltered for a moment, before she couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile. Wasn’t she, in fact, running away from disaster?

And among these travelers, how many were in the same situation as her?

As Chen Nongmo’s mind wandered, trying to make herself as small as possible, she was once again jostled by the people behind her, nearly losing her balance. But then, suddenly, she heard the faint sound of a train whistle.

“The train’s here! The train’s here!”

The noisy crowd fell silent for a few seconds, and then, someone in the front shouted. The crowd surged forward, pushing even harder.

Chen Nongmo cursed inwardly, *My feet hurt so much!*

The train arrived at the station.

The gates opened.

The flood of people rushed in, and the crowd pushed so hard that the barely 1.6-meter-tall girl, still in the early stages of development, was nearly squashed.

Fortunately, despite the hardships, Chen Nongmo managed to hold her breath, tightly protecting the money and notes close to her body. Gritting her teeth and staying alert, she used the momentum of the crowd to push forward. Just as she thought she might run out of breath, she managed to climb aboard the green train bound for H Province, a journey that would last five days and six nights.

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