Chapter 9

Before leaving Gu County, Xia Wenhua gave Pei Songbai an unforgettable lesson with the skills she had honed over the years.

Even a delicate young lady from a capitalist family wasn’t someone to mess with. If you really provoked her, she could casually break your leg.

Pei Songbai remembered this deeply and from then on never dared to underestimate any woman, which also helped him avoid countless troubles later on.

There were many helpful people around. Even though the traffickers had targeted Xia Wenhua’s children, taking them to the Public Security Bureau didn’t require any assistance from her or Songbai.

As soon as Xia Wenhua exposed the bearded man and his accomplices, someone had already called the police. The authorities finally showed up—just in time to stop the traffickers from being beaten to death.

They made a token effort to restrain the angry crowd. Since most people were in a rush to catch trains, they took statements on the spot and then hauled the three criminals away.

They had arrived early enough that, despite all the chaos, the usually late train still hadn’t arrived.

The two children had been asleep since they got to the station. No matter how noisy it was outside, they didn’t wake—they were clearly exhausted. Pei Songbai didn’t wake them up either. Instead, he handed Xia Wenhua some food.

“It’s still early. The state-run diner only had steamed buns. Here, eat something for now.”

He held out a big, steaming bun. After Xia Wenhua took it, he naturally opened a bottle of boiled water and handed it to her, then sat down to watch over the children.

A breeze blew in. Worried it might chill the kids, Pei Songbai adjusted his position, placing himself between the children and the wind, shielding them completely with their luggage.

Noticing Xia Wenhua’s gaze, he looked up in confusion.
“Why aren’t you eating? Don’t like the buns?”

“No, I’m eating,” she replied, taking a big bite and lowering her head to hide her emotions.

That small, natural gesture from Pei Songbai gave Xia Wenhua a rare sense of peace and warmth.

A thoughtful husband, well-behaved children—this combination softened the heart of someone like her, once called “Iron Lady.”

She had come to this time period thinking it was purely for survival. Whether it was Pei Songbai or the two children, she thought of them as nothing more than boss-level NPCs she needed to appease to get by.

But in this moment, feeling Pei Songbai’s quiet care, her eyes suddenly welled up—as if she’d waited a long time for a scene like this.

She quickly shook her head to banish the strange thoughts, and just then, a train whistle blew in the distance. The train was arriving.

Instantly, the station came alive with noise and movement.

“The train’s here, grab your things!”
“Hurry up!”
…

As the crowd surged forward, Pei Songbai had already woken the children and told Xia Wenhua to take them to the back.

“Backwards?”

While everyone else pushed forward, their family of four moved against the flow, confusing Xia Wenhua. But before she could react, Pei Songbai had already led them to a spot near the ticket office.

“Comrade, I bought sleeper tickets. It’s hard for my wife and the children to get on in this chaos. Could you help arrange for us to board more easily?”

Pei Songbai handed over two sleeper tickets to the female worker behind the window.

Xia Wenhua glanced at him instinctively—
What did he mean it was “hard to board”? It was just a crowded train. Was Pei Songbai underestimating her or what?

She turned around—and was immediately shocked speechless.

The train was so packed she truly couldn’t get on.

She had always thought that since there weren’t as many people in this era as in the future, it couldn’t possibly be more intense than the Spring Festival travel rush of the 2000s. She’d lived through that madness, surely this would be easier.

But now that she saw it with her own eyes, she conceded defeat.

Not only was the area around the doors jammed with people, but every open window was also crammed with bodies.

People were crawling in through the windows, and every single one had a line of people waiting beneath it. If she really had to carry two kids and climb through a window? Impossible.

Over by the sleeper carriages, there were fewer people. Once the female staffer helped carry their luggage on board, Xia Wenhua watched in awe as people still fought to climb into the regular cars—even after the train had already started moving.

“Are stations always this packed?” she asked.

Pei Songbai looked at her with a strange expression:
“Even if your family was rich, you still had to travel with the rest of the group when you were sent down to the countryside, right? Haven’t you ever taken a train before?”

In this era, trains ran far less frequently than in the future, and every train at every stop was just as crowded. So while the population was smaller, the crowding was worse.

Since she was a “sent-down youth,” it didn’t make sense that Xia Wenhua had never taken a train.

Before she could reply, Pei Songbai’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me… you really never rode a train before? You weren’t sent down with everyone else?”

Xia Wenhua stared at the ceiling, then the floor—refusing to meet his eyes.

What could she say?

Before she transmigrated, she never imagined Pei Songbai’s original family, barely mentioned in the main plot, would be this wealthy.

The original owner hadn’t gone down with the other youths. Her parents drove her to a nearby station and only had her meet up with the group later to head toward Hongshan Village.

The Xia family was a century-old aristocratic family from Zhejiang Province. They had made massive donations during the war and had deep political connections. Before the Cultural Revolution began, they had already been warned in advance.

Not only were they aware of what was coming, they had even arranged escape routes for several children. The old head of the Xia family voluntarily requested re-assignment to a remote farm to protect them.

Her family had repeatedly told her: never reach out to anyone. As long as she kept a low profile, her true identity would remain hidden forever. That was the terrifying power of the Xia family.

Even though the future Xia Wenhua had built a net worth in the billions, in front of the Xia family, she was still just a small player.

Xia Wenhua stayed silent at just the right moment, and Pei Songbai instantly understood. After a long pause, he couldn’t help but mutter a curse.

“Heavens above… just who did I marry?”

People from the very bottom of society believed once a label was stamped on them, it would follow them for life. But someone like Pei Songbai—who was more of a middle-level cadre—had seen a different side of society.

For example, in the area around their military base, there were villagers with questionable backgrounds who were still protected from above. Anyone who knew the truth understood: these people would return someday.

He had thought Xia Wenhua was just an ordinary capitalist, and had been planning how to discreetly clean up her “fake” identity later on.

Who would’ve thought this little wife of his was full of surprises?

Pei Songbai’s expression was so amusing that Xia Wenhua impulsively reached out and shut his gaping mouth.

“There, be good. Don’t worry—big sister’s got you.”

The next second, she felt like she had just provoked a wolf. The entire sleeper compartment suddenly fell silent.