Chapter 8 – Going to the Countryside, and Sending the Scheming Women to the Far Northwest

Facing the empty house, she walked out in a daze.

Seeing her mother kneeling and crying bitterly under the big tree in the backyard, she couldn’t help but ask in confusion,
“Mom, what are you doing? What year is it now?”

“Girl, the only money our family had has been dug out and stolen! What are we going to do?”

Money? What money?

“Mom, look at me and tell me yourself—what year is it right now?” Bai Huanxi shouted frantically, as if clinging to a sliver of hope.

“It’s 1976. Your uncle was just sent away to the countryside by us, and now this happened—your father’s hands are crippled. Our family is done for.”

1976? She really came back!

Last night, she had been sulking and drinking after Lu Tingxiao failed to come home again, and when she woke up, she was here. Could it be she drank herself to death and came back to life?

Let me think… right now is when my uncle is being sent down to the countryside. In my last life, our family should have been thriving at this time.

That’s how it was before—her uncle and aunt went down to the countryside, both died within a year, her eldest sister was beaten to death by her husband, and Xia Wanwan was tortured to death by her own cousin after a year.

After that, her own family had a smooth rise. Her own status soared, and she set her sights on the incomparably handsome Lu Tingxiao, using her father’s life-saving grace to force him into marrying her. She finally became Mrs. Lu.

But for the three years after marriage, he never touched her, and she only saw him twice. Still, he was so handsome that she couldn’t help but want him, to possess him. But why is this life different from the last?

Never mind—this life, she would make Lu Tingxiao fall for her first. Whether in the last life or this one, that man was hers to claim.

When Xia Wanwan and her sister arrived at the family home, they saw the door sealed with official tape. Xia Yuwei’s tears couldn’t help but spill down.

Xia Wanwan knew her sister just needed a moment to vent. She wasn’t as strong as she appeared. But that was fine—she was here now, and she would protect her sister.

“Come on, let’s go register at the street office!”

She pulled her sister along. They had to get themselves sent down to the countryside as soon as possible. Who knew if the villagers would bully their parents? Even if she couldn’t help much, she could at least offer some protection.

Xia Yuwei wiped her tears lightly. She firmly believed her father was wronged, and the truth would come out to clear his name.

“Let’s go.”

Some neighbors saw the sisters and quickly came out to ask where they were going. Hearing they were going to the countryside shocked them.

After all, the Xia couple had been fighting hard to keep their daughters in the city. And wasn’t the elder sister already married? Why would she also go to the countryside? Would her in-laws even agree?

But that was none of their business—people had the right to make their own choices.

“Comrade, is this where we sign up?”

The woman with a red armband perked up at once and enthusiastically introduced which places were good.

Xia Wanwan carefully scanned the list until she spotted the educated youth point in Lin County, Jiang Province. She pointed at it.
“Comrade, my sister and I want to go there.”

Xia Yuwei didn’t know where their parents were exactly, but since her sister did, she was fine with it.

“This one? It’s fine there, the supplies are pretty good. Both of you want to go?”

“Yes!” Xia Wanwan answered without hesitation. She filled in their names and addresses, then her eyes flashed.
“Oh, right—Comrade, I also have a cousin and a younger female cousin. They want to go too. Can I fill it out on their behalf?”

The red-armband woman’s face couldn’t hide her delight. She’d been short on recruits this month, and now four girls were volunteering—perfect.

“Of course. Just make sure the names and addresses are correct.”

“No problem.” Without a trace of mercy, Xia Wanwan wrote down “Great Northwest” for the two scheming women. Keeping them together in that harsh place was the best outcome, wasn’t it?

“To the Northwest…” The woman frowned slightly—most people didn’t want to go there.

“Comrade, this is exactly what my cousin and cousin’s sister want. They’re eager to make great achievements in such a vast land. Please, you must honor their patriotic wish.”

“All right! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they get their wish!”

Xia Yuwei smiled indulgently—if her little sister wasn’t scheming against someone, she wouldn’t be herself.

They were told that with the five of them, the quota was filled, and they’d depart in two days, meeting at the train station. The other two women might have to wait a bit longer until more Northwest recruits were gathered.

That was fine—as long as their fake-sweet cousin was “satisfied.”

With no other family around, the sisters went straight to the guesthouse. Xia Wanwan’s suitcase held a few clothes and money for her sister. They began packing.

Unimportant things were boxed and mailed; valuables stayed close. But who would carry a whole bag of cash?

“Sis, this is the share Mom left for you. Keep it. If you can, deposit some in the bank tomorrow.”

Xia Wanwan could store her own money in her space, but not her sister’s—that would be suspicious.

She also had a lot of local ration tickets in her space and needed to find time to use them before leaving, or they’d go to waste.

“You use it. I have money,” her sister said.

“This is from Mom. How could I take it? Or do you want to watch me get beaten in the countryside?”

With no choice, Xia Yuwei accepted it, planning to deposit ten thousand and keep the rest for the countryside. Life there would be hard, but with cash, they wouldn’t have to worry as much.

They still had to send mail and buy necessities before departure, so the next two days would be busy.

Meanwhile, Bai Huanxi was in the hospital, staring in shock at her father’s broken hands.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand. She had been reborn, knowing more than anyone else—but why wasn’t life following the same path as before?

Why hadn’t Xia Wanwan married her cousin? What was going on?

With her father crippled, he couldn’t be a doctor or become hospital director. She couldn’t enjoy the lavish life of her past life.

Without her father’s protection and medical skills, would Lu Tingxiao still marry her?

Fine—she’d just go after him directly. If she could seduce him, everything else would follow.

In her past life, she’d bound him with gratitude; in this one, she’d start with getting to know him. She vaguely remembered he was in Kyoto around this time.

This life, she wasn’t going to let him escape.