Chapter 5

“My cousin said it’s just washing people’s hair and doing massages and stuff. She said there are lots of rich people in the city, and now that the authorities are loosening control over private shops, more and more people want these services. If you wash and massage well, the customers might even give you extra tips…”

Fan Hua looked at Sister Geng with a bit of expectation in her eyes and continued asking, “Then… if you had to wash and massage men’s hair, would you do it?”

“…”

Geng Ailing was stunned.

“Well… the ones who like getting their hair washed should be women, right? Men’s hair is so short—do they even need to go to a shop for that? Isn’t it something you do quickly while washing your face?”

Geng Ailing said uncertainly. She had never really thought about it and naturally assumed the customers would be women.

Fan Hua understood immediately—Geng Ailing was clueless about the real situation.

Who knew how the original book portrayed this pure-minded and modest Geng Ailing reacting after discovering she’d been tricked into such a line of work? And what became of her afterward?

The author of the book didn’t mention anything about Geng Ailing’s fate.

Fan Hua realized something clearly for the first time: a novel only tells the story of one or two main characters. The lives and endings of minor characters are left unknown, though they, too, have their own stories to tell.

Suddenly, Fan Hua felt relieved. Yes, she was just a cannon-fodder side character in The Abstinent Officer No Longer Pretends, but she was Fan Hua, not Fan Lihua. She was the protagonist of her own life.

The train slowly pulled out of the station…

Fan Hua grabbed Geng Ailing’s hand, determined to get to the bottom of things. She lowered her voice and solemnly asked, “Sister Geng, if someone tried to make you sell your body for a living, what would you do?”

“Lihua, what kind of thing are you saying?!” Geng Ailing suddenly raised her voice, full of indignation.

People around them started looking over again—including that intense gaze from earlier.

Fan Hua quickly covered Geng Ailing’s mouth and motioned for her to lower her voice. After all, this kind of topic wasn’t appropriate for others to overhear.

Geng Ailing realized she’d lost control and calmed down before replying in a low voice, “How could I do something like that?! A person lives for their dignity, just like a tree needs its bark! My husband may be gone, but I, Geng Ailing, will always be Li Dazhu’s wife. I would never do anything to betray him!”

Now Fan Hua was sure—Geng Ailing had been tricked, too.

Since she wasn’t a bad person, and they were traveling south together, Fan Hua figured she’d take her along from now on. After all, she had misunderstood her and even scammed her out of ten yuan and three bowls of noodles. Oh, right—also a train ticket…

She really had taken quite a bit from her. It might not be much in monetary value, but for someone like Fan Hua who had arrived in this world with only 4.25 yuan, it was a huge favor!

Fan Hua kindly pulled out the last two peaches from her bag, gave one to Geng Ailing, and said while munching on hers, “Sister Geng, from now on you stick with me! Don’t do that hair-washing massage job—it’s no good. You’ll have to deal with strange men, and they might get handsy. If you follow me, I promise you’ll have a future. You’ll earn more than fifty yuan a month, guaranteed!”

Geng Ailing clearly didn’t believe this country girl could find any money-making opportunities, but hearing that the hair-washing job might involve lecherous men made her start to worry.

She asked cautiously, “And what kind of way do you have to make money?”

Fan Hua thought it over—she didn’t have a specific plan yet. She had originally intended to assess things after arriving in the south. But now that Geng Ailing had asked, she had to give a convincing answer.

She began to seriously consider her options…

She’d been a good student since childhood, came from a decent family, and was multi-talented—dancing, piano, painting… especially painting, which she loved deeply.

In high school, most people studied art just to get into college, but she did it out of passion.

In the end, she was accepted into the top national art academy with top scores in both academics and fine arts. She majored in graphic design and minored in fashion design and English.

Later, she was directly recommended for graduate school. During her master’s, she and two classmates even started a design company outside school, which was thriving…

Her life had gone smoothly—until she unexpectedly ended up inside a novel!

Thinking of what’s most practical now, she figured her best bet was to start with the fashion design she studied in college. The rest would have to wait until she took the college entrance exam and got a diploma.

After all, a junior high school education wasn’t enough—no matter how skilled she was, it wouldn’t earn trust.

“Sister Geng, do you know how to use a sewing machine?” Fan Hua asked.

“I learned a bit, but I’m not that good at it,” Geng Ailing answered honestly.

“That’s fine. I’ll teach you. Once we get to the south, we’ll make clothes together! I’m great at designing clothes. With the way things are improving now, the clothing business will definitely make money!” Fan Hua said confidently.

Geng Ailing didn’t fully believe her, but was somehow moved by Fan Hua’s bright eyes and confident tone—she suddenly had the urge to give it a try.

Still, she said, “I’d like to first see if the job my cousin mentioned is really as shady as you say.”

Fan Hua knew she wouldn’t believe it without seeing it for herself and had no objections. “Sure, when we get to the south, we’ll check things out first before deciding!”

Across the aisle, the new soldier Zhao Yilu had been quietly watching them. The train was noisy, so he couldn’t hear much—only caught words like “south” and “make money.” But he could clearly see Fan Hua’s animated expressions and cheerful smile while she talked.

She… didn’t seem like the same person anymore…

After chatting a bit more with Sister Geng, Fan Hua started getting drowsy. Probably from pregnancy fatigue. She didn’t fight it and leaned on the table to sleep.

The hard seats of the 70s really were hard. She slept uncomfortably, but there was no choice—she didn’t have the money for a sleeper car.

After Fan Hua fell asleep, Geng Ailing pulled out some insoles and began stitching.

Zhao Yilu watched her head bobbing as she slept, nearly tipping over a few times and almost getting poked by Geng Ailing’s needle. He frowned, but with a military officer nearby, he held back from reaching out to help. He couldn’t show any reaction.

…

The train slowly pulled into a new station, and the carriage grew noisy again. Fan Hua blinked awake, looked around in confusion, then closed her eyes again.

Zhao Yilu gave up his seat to an elderly woman who had just boarded without a ticket, then stood beside Fan Hua to shield her from the noise.

Fan Hua felt things quiet down and drifted into a deeper sleep.

Zhao Yilu stood straight next to her, watching her from the corner of his eye. He hadn’t expected to run into Fan Hua on the train.

Why was she going south? Did she not get the letter he left behind? Or did she not believe he’d come back to marry her in three years?

Even though that night had been orchestrated by Fan Lihua’s parents, he had been fully conscious. He remembered her crying from the pain, how he’d lost control trying to relieve the heat in his body, and the flutter of emotion when he had her…

So even though he’d heard about Fan Lihua’s bad reputation, he had always planned to come back and marry her. It was a man’s duty…

He had escaped through the window that night not to shirk responsibility, but to avoid being blackmailed by her family—especially since he was posing as his older brother He Siyan at the time. If the matter blew up, it would be a disaster!

And his brother, to help him avoid regret, had even enlisted in the army under his name. He had to go for his physical the next morning…

But he had left a letter before leaving. He just couldn’t understand why she acted so indifferent when seeing him again today—like he was a total stranger…

Zhao Yilu was full of questions, but with the military officer nearby and so many people around, he couldn’t speak up.

After all, impersonating a sent-down youth could land him—and his family—in jail. He had to be careful.