Lu Xiao knew everything, but he never spoke a word about it.  

Whether it was his parents forcing him to marry Su Tang with just a letter or his current inability to get promoted, he acted as if none of it mattered—as if these things had nothing to do with him.  

If it were anyone else, they would have long since lost their temper.  

“It’s just to let them know I’m safe.”  

Su Tang swallowed the rest of her words and simply said it was a letter to reassure her family.  

The next day, after Lu Xiao left for training, Su Tang tucked the letter into her pocket and headed to the post office.  

Ever since arriving in the Northwest, she had wanted to write to her parents in Shanghai. But with one thing after another, she hadn’t found the time until now.  

Seizing the opportunity, she finally came to send the letter—along with the questions she needed to ask.  

However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Su Tang kept the contents of the letter vague.  

Her father was an educated man. He would surely understand her hints.  

The postal clerk glanced at Su Tang, giving her a once-over before reaching for the letter—only to freeze when Hu Lili’s voice rang out from a distance.  

“Don’t accept it.”  

At Hu Lili’s words, the clerk hesitated. Su Tang turned to look at the woman behind her.  

“You can’t take it. She’s from a bad background—who knows what she’s written in there?” Hu Lili said with a smug smile. “Isn’t there a rule that letters from people like her have to be handed over to the leadership first before they can be sent?”  

She had followed Su Tang after seeing her sneak out suspiciously.  

Sure enough, this woman was up to no good.  

Hu Lili reached for the letter, but Su Tang blocked her hand.  

“Hu Lili, has no one ever taught you that spying on others is illegal?”  

Su Tang tucked the letter away and glared at Hu Lili coldly, no longer willing to indulge her.  

She had thought people in this era were simple and honest—so how did she end up running into such a troublemaker like Hu Lili?  

“Don’t try to scare me. I wasn’t raised to be frightened so easily.” Hu Lili scoffed. “Su Tang, why are you in such a hurry to send this letter? Someone like you should be under the supervision of the masses—don’t you know that?”  

At first, Hu Lili had felt a twinge of fear at Su Tang’s words, but then she reminded herself—Su Tang was the one who should be afraid.  

“Says who?”  

Su Tang took a step forward. The sheer force of her presence made Hu Lili gulp involuntarily.  

“T-there’s a rule!” Hu Lili stiffened her neck, though her voice grew quieter. “People from bad backgrounds have to submit their letters to the leadership for inspection before sending them!”  

Su Tang smirked. “Oh? Then tell me—which organization made this rule? The commune’s revolutionary committee? Or the postal office?”  

She pulled the letter from her pocket and held it up in front of Hu Lili.  

“Besides, this letter is just to reassure my parents. If you insist there’s a problem, let’s go to the commune right now and ask Director Zhang to read it in front of everyone. Then we’ll see if there’s anything illegal in it.”  

Hu Lili hadn’t expected Su Tang to stand her ground so firmly. Panic flickered across her face.  

Of course, she knew the so-called “inspection rule” was something she had made up.  

While the commune did monitor incoming and outgoing mail, there was no explicit rule about confiscating letters from people of “bad backgrounds.”  

She just disliked Su Tang and wanted to make things difficult for her—to humiliate her.  

More than that, she wanted Lu Xiao to realize that marrying Su Tang would only bring him endless trouble.  

The postal clerk, who had been watching the scene unfold, finally spoke up.  

“Comrade, if this female comrade says she’s just sending a letter to reassure her family, we shouldn’t suspect her without reason. If there’s really a problem, the authorities on the other end will handle it. Holding onto her letter now isn’t appropriate, is it?”

Seeing that the postal clerk wasn’t taking her side, Hu Lili stomped her foot in frustration. “Why are you siding with an outsider? She’s from a bad background—what if she’s written something she shouldn’t have? Can you take responsibility for that?”  

“Whether I can or not is my business,” the clerk retorted impatiently, waving her off. The bickering was giving him a headache. “Hurry up and stop delaying her. If you really think there’s a problem, go report it yourself.”  

Su Tang nodded at the clerk and handed over the letter. “Thank you, comrade.”  

The clerk took the letter, stamped it efficiently, and dropped it into the mailbag.  

Hu Lili watched helplessly as her plan fell apart. Her face twisted with anger, but she didn’t dare say anything else. With a final stomp, she turned and stormed off.  

Watching Hu Lili’s retreating figure, Su Tang frowned slightly.  

Around the corner of the post office, Zheng Jinxin observed the scene, a faint smile playing on her lips.  

Hu Lili is an idiot, she thought. But at least this gave me a good look at Su Tang.

She really isn’t someone to be trifled with.

Zheng Jinxin turned and walked into the nearby supply cooperative. As Su Tang left, the hem of her blue cotton shirt fluttered in the wind, revealing a faded dacron underskirt beneath.  

The daughter of an elite family really is different.

“Nurse Zheng, here for your mail again?”  

The cooperative’s Aunt Wang leaned on the counter, smiling as she waved a kraft paper package at her. “Your family’s parcel arrived. There’s even a bar of Shanghai-brand soap inside!”  

“What was all that commotion outside just now?” Zheng Jinxin asked casually.  

Aunt Wang immediately lowered her voice. “That Hu Lili girl is just petty and can’t stand seeing others do well.”  

She slid the parcel across the counter. Zheng Jinxin tucked it into her canvas bag and asked nonchalantly, “Is Su Tang’s background really that bad?”  

“I heard her family is from Shanghai—all university professors,” Aunt Wang whispered. “If it weren’t for that urgent letter from Lu Xiao’s father, how could a girl like her have ended up married into our backwater? Though that Lu boy probably doesn’t care for her. They got married just like that—didn’t even hold a banquet.”  

Zheng Jinxin smiled without responding. Just as she was about to leave, a sudden commotion erupted at the cooperative’s entrance.  

Hu Lili had returned with a group of women, blocking Su Tang’s path. One of them waved a crumpled book in the air. “Someone reported you for reading capitalist poison!”  

Su Tang looked at Hu Lili, who had come back so quickly, and almost laughed. No wonder she left in such a hurry.

“The cover has foreign words on it—it’s definitely suspicious!” The woman shook the book triumphantly, her face smug.  

“Hu Lili, that book is the same one you’ve been carrying around every day—just the Russian edition,” Su Tang said calmly. “After reading it for so long, have you forgotten the very first line of the first chapter? It says, ‘No investigation, no right to speak.’ Have you even read it?”  

With that, she snatched the book from the woman’s hands.  

“Seems like your devotion isn’t very sincere if you can’t even remember that after reading it every day.”  

“That’s a serious problem.”  

Hu Lili’s face paled. “Su Tang, stop trying to fool everyone! None of us understand Russian—you could say anything and we’d have to believe you!”  

“If you don’t understand, find someone who does. But I won’t let you slander me so easily.”  

Hu Lili’s face flushed red, her nails digging into her palms. She glared at Su Tang, but when she met those icy eyes, a shiver ran down her spine.  

That gaze reminded her of a butcher she’d once seen at a slaughterhouse—cold, precise, locking onto its target’s weakest point.  

“If it turns out you’re wrong,” Su Tang said slowly, “you’ll apologize to me properly—in front of everyone.”