Chapter 25

In her past life, Zhang Hongying had grown tired of riding her bicycle. Working three shifts was exhausting, with her days and nights constantly flipped.

But it was the only kind of work she knew how to do, so she had no choice.

To Li Xiaofang, her beloved bicycle was a precious thing. But to Zhang Hongying, it was just a means of transportation.

From her home, the distance Zhang Hongying had to bike to Qing Town was about the same as going to Bai Town. Along the way, she had to cross several bridges.

These weren’t the modern highway bridges that you could ride straight over. They were stone arch bridges with high arches and no proper paths for cycling. There was only a narrow strip, about 10 centimeters wide, patched together with stone slabs—flat enough for pushing a bike across.

When she got to the bridge, Zhang Hongying had no choice but to dismount and walk her bike.

It was quite the coincidence: on her way to work, she stepped onto the bridge just as someone from the other side was coming down. Their bicycle pedals got tangled together.

“How could this kind of thing happen?” Shen Jianzheng laughed out loud.

Then on her way home from work, she ran into the same person again, on the same bridge. Their pedals got caught again.

This time, all three of them burst out laughing.

“So coincidental,” Zhang Hongying took the initiative to speak.

The young man, shy and handsome, blushed and said, “Yeah, it is!”

Shen Jianzheng murmured, “That guy’s actually kinda good-looking.”

Zhang Hongying didn’t even think before replying, “What’s the use of a man being good-looking?

Besides, you need to focus on school. Don’t go thinking about nonsense.”

Shen Jianzheng replied, “…He wasn’t tangled up with my bicycle anyway.”

After crossing the bridge, Zhang Hongying went straight home.

If it had been the Zhang Hongying from her past life, the one who had just finished reading a Qiong Yao romance novel, her heart would’ve been pounding like a deer, and she’d start fantasizing about love.

But now, she had seen too much. She no longer had any hope in love, so she just brushed it off and forgot about him.

In her previous life, she’d gone to a park with a girlfriend. That girl caught the eye of a boy who pursued her for three or four years until he finally won her heart. But he didn’t cherish her. After a few years, the girl had withered away, as thin as a skeleton—the guy had found someone else.

Love? It was all just momentary impulse. Once the novelty wore off, there’d always be someone new.

But not long after, Zhang Hongying noticed that this guy wasn’t coming from the opposite direction anymore. Instead, he was heading the same way as her.

At first, seeing him silently following behind made her nervous—was he stalking her, planning to do something bad?

But with Shen Jianzheng around, she figured the two of them could take down one guy if it came to that. So she didn’t pay it much mind.

But soon after, Zhang Hongying started commuting alone.

The high school entrance exam results had come out. Shen Jianzheng had scored well enough to get into a vocational school, but she didn’t apply.

Her homeroom teacher suggested she apply to a vocational school in Shenyang, where the competition wasn’t as fierce since it was farther from home.

Shen Jianzheng looked around her bare, empty house and declined. The little money she earned probably wouldn’t even cover four round trips in a year.

Plus, she calculated that she’d need to leave home a day early just to catch the first bus to town.

And from town to Suzhou took another half a day. If she couldn’t get a train ticket that same day, she’d have to wait in Suzhou for several days. Her dad, Shen Dalin, had once brought the whole family to visit Wu Xiaohong’s parents.

It was only two or three hundred kilometers—something that would take half a day in the modern world—but it took them four days of travel.

Even with a train ticket, the journey would still take two or three days. How could she possibly afford to go to a school like that?

The nearby vocational schools were much more competitive. Shen Jianzheng decided to use her strong test score to apply for high school instead.

Zhang Hongying asked curiously, “If you get into vocational school, you’d get a household registration and a job. Why not go for it?

High school and the college entrance exam are really tough.

I heard that even at the best high schools, only about 30% of students get into university.

That’s just 30-something out of every 100 people.”

Shen Jianzheng explained, “Most of the students who go to high school are the ones who couldn’t get into vocational school. But even so, about 30% of them still get into college.

Since I already scored better than most of them, it shouldn’t be hard for me to be in that top 30%.

Plus, I might qualify for scholarships. I heard a semester’s scholarship can be 70 or 80 yuan. And if I work part-time during winter and summer breaks, I won’t need to make my dad humble himself to borrow money every time I need something.

I could even give him some money to repay his debts.

Starting from high school, if I can already earn money for the family, it’ll lift his spirits a bit.

Otherwise, he’s always so down—that can’t be good for his health.”

Zhang Hongying realized that even though Shen Jianzheng often complained about her parents’ favoritism and other things, she actually had deep affection for them.

Later, Shen Jianzheng enrolled in a provincial key high school. The exam was out of 620 points, and she scored 618!

Shen Jianzheng said it was because the test was easy, but Zhang Hongying, who hadn’t even finished elementary school, didn’t buy that.

If it was so easy, why wasn’t everyone getting 618?

Sure enough, her 618-point score for a high school application moved even the principal. Normally, scholarships weren’t issued until after the end-of-term exams, but once the school saw the poverty certificate issued by her middle school and stamped by the village committee, they not only waived her boarding, tuition, and uniform fees—they even gave her 70 yuan in advance.

Now Shen Jianzheng had gone off for military training.

Zhang Hongying was worried her frail body might faint on the training field.

In fact, Shen Jianzheng did nearly collapse a few times.

Her body had suffered from long-term malnutrition—it wasn’t something a month or two could fix.

Word got around that the school had accepted a sickly student.

If it weren’t for her excellent grades, she might’ve even been expelled.

Meanwhile, Zhang Hongying realized that the boy who had been following her hadn’t done anything weird. Her fear subsided.

So next time she reached the bridge, she slowed down and waited for him to come up.

When she moved slowly, he moved slowly too. But when she stopped altogether, he had no way around and had to step forward and awkwardly greeted her: “Off work?”

Zhang Hongying nodded. “Yeah. You switched factories?”

“Yeah. I used to work in Bai Town. Now I’ve moved to Qing Town.”

“Why switch? Bai Town’s factory is older, right? The pay should be better.”

“I… I—” His face flushed red, and he couldn’t get the words out.

Boring, Zhang Hongying thought. She felt like she was bullying a younger guy and asked, “What factory are you at that our schedules are always the same?”

The guy steeled himself and blurted out, “I’m Liang Junhua! I’ve got my eye on you and want to date you. Will you or won’t you?!”

“No need to shout,” Zhang Hongying took a step back. “If I date someone, my parents have to agree. Asking me is no use.”

Liang Junhua chuckled. “My mom already asked around. They said your younger brother just broke his leg. No one would want to propose now. My mom plans to wait until he recovers before coming with a proposal.”

Zhang Hongying rolled her eyes. “Then stop following me.”

Liang Junhua shook his head. “There are creeps on this road. If I don’t follow you, I won’t be at ease.

But I’ll keep my distance, don’t worry. No one will see me, so your reputation won’t be affected.

If the creeps see someone in the distance, they won’t try anything.

They only harass girls when there’s no one around—say dirty things or grope them. But if anyone’s around, they won’t dare.”

Zhang Hongying suddenly remembered—wasn’t it next spring that a girl was dragged into the woods by a creep? She screamed so loudly that the forest guard came running and scared the guy off.

The guy was caught eventually, but since he didn’t succeed, he only got three years in prison. After his release, he married a disabled but sweet girl and kept a low profile. Nothing bad was heard about him afterward.

But the girl he harassed? She carried that shame for life and lived a stifled, bitter existence.

Zhang Hongying asked, “If there are creeps, why don’t you report them? Or call the local patrol team?”

Liang Junhua froze. Saying dirty things or copping a feel—did that really count as something to report?

Zhang Hongying quickly pushed her bike across the bridge, swung one leg over, and pedaled away.