Chapter 4: In Town

The next day, there was no work, so all the educated youth at the work point got up early.

Today, the team had an ox cart going to town. If they left late, there would be no seats left.

Tang Wan also woke up early. Her first meal since arriving was at Qin Zheng’s house — white flour steamed buns and some meat. Normally, Tang Wan didn’t have much appetite for such food in the present day, but here and now it was considered a rare treat. Many families wouldn’t even have such a meal during the New Year.

But if she was going to live here, from now on her meals would be at the educated youth point.

The educated youths there always ate together, and their food wasn’t just a little bad — it was extremely poor.

Most of the educated youth had never done farm work before going down to the countryside, and their work in the village did not earn high work points.

Therefore, the rations they received were meager — a handful of white flour wasn’t even enough to make noodles.

The rest was coarse grains, which made the throat scratchy when eaten.

Tang Wan’s main purpose of going to town today was to buy things, and she also wanted to check at the post office if there was a package for her.

When a few of the educated youths went over, there were barely any seats left on the ox cart.

Tang Wan immediately spotted Qin Zheng. He was sitting at the very front of the cart, his expression cold and stern. In the cramped cart, no one dared to crowd near him; they even deliberately kept their distance, as if afraid to touch him.

Tang Wan was walking in the middle of the group. When she reached the spot beside Qin Zheng to sit down, Li Qing suddenly darted from behind and plopped down right on that seat.

Tang Wan: “…”

Although Li Qing’s behavior was unethical, there was nothing Tang Wan could do.

She looked at the last remaining small spot on Li Qing’s left — it was tiny but could be squeezed into.

However, if that was possible, Li Qing wouldn’t have taken the seat first.

On the right side sat a leper from the village. His lecherous smile combined with the sores on his head made people uncomfortable, and he was totally unaware of it. When he saw Tang Wan was going to sit there, his expectant expression was unmistakable.

The people on the cart obviously knew what kind of person the leper was, and some even showed expressions like they were waiting to see a show.

There was only this one seat left.

The ox cart driver, Mr. Qin, was already urging people to get on.

The leper was staring at Tang Wan without blinking, sure she would sit down.

The previous educated youths had all done this — every time at this moment he could take advantage a little.

Especially this time, this new female educated youth was much prettier than the others before. He was quite excited just thinking about it.

Lost in his fantasies, the leper didn’t notice the sudden silence around him, then felt a sharp pain in his knee and suddenly fell off the cart.

“Sit up front,” the command was directed at the leper.

The others on the ox cart did not expect Qin Zheng to act this way, and no one dared to say anything.

Qin Zheng was known as a living hell — people said he had killed before. When he first returned to the village, he even beat his own uncle so badly he was bedridden for half a month. Everyone in the village was afraid of him, avoided contact, and children would dodge him when they saw him.

The leper cursed under his breath as he got up, but the moment he saw it was Qin Zheng, he went silent and stammered, “I, I, I’m supposed to sit up front?”

Qin Zheng gave him a stern, impatient glare. The leper tucked his tail and went to sit in the front.

Seeing Qin Zheng sit down in the leper’s original spot, the others quickly squeezed closer, making some room.

Tang Wan looked at the more spacious spot left after Qin Zheng sat down and without hesitation sat beside him.

Everyone on the ox cart watched this scene but no one dared to speak. Even those who usually gossiped the most stayed silent. However, they couldn’t help but steal glances at the two of them.

Qin Zheng had helped her once again.

Sitting next to Qin Zheng, Tang Wan could feel the warmth coming from his strong arm.

“Thank you,” Tang Wan whispered near Qin Zheng’s ear.

Qin Zheng stiffened completely, not daring to move, only nodding slightly: “Hmm.”

Tang Wan’s voice was low, and once the ox cart started moving, the few familiar aunties on the cart began chatting, so no one else heard the brief exchange between the two.

Those who had been watching Tang Wan and Qin Zheng realized there was nothing more between them and stopped paying attention.

The three-hour journey began with everyone on the cart lively and alert, but halfway through most were slumped and asleep.

Tang Wan was no exception.

Half-asleep, her head involuntarily tilted to the side. Qin Zheng had already noticed this little movement. When Tang Wan couldn’t control herself and leaned over, he quietly lowered his shoulder a bit.

Tang Wan rested on Qin Zheng’s shoulder and slept soundly all the way.

When the ox cart was about to enter the town, Uncle Qin at the front shouted to wake everyone.

Tang Wan woke to find herself leaning against Qin Zheng’s shoulder. Seeing she was awake, Qin Zheng didn’t say anything, only moved his now stiff shoulder slightly.

Others also woke up under Uncle Qin’s shouting.

Qin Zheng got off the cart upon arrival but didn’t say where he was going.

Everyone who came to town had their own affairs — some planned to walk together, others went alone.

Some veteran educated youths wanted to show Zhong Ling and Tang Wan the way to avoid them getting lost, but both refused.

Tang Wan needed to buy quite a few things and would have to store some in her space later; having company would be inconvenient.

Zhong Ling probably wanted to go to the black market and firmly declined.

Tang Wan had already checked her ration tickets before; basically, she had everything she needed — besides grain and meat coupons, she also had many supplementary food tickets.

She decided to go to the post office first and then to the supply and marketing cooperative, planning to avoid the crowd.

With this in mind, Tang Wan asked a young man for directions to the post office, which wasn’t far away.

Tang Wan collected her package according to memory. Judging by the timing, this package was probably sent from her home just after she left.

The Tang family had only one son and one daughter. Tang Wan’s brother had been in the army since childhood, so she was the only daughter, naturally cherished.

If the original owner hadn’t been so reckless, listened to relatives with questionable motives, and insisted on responding to the country’s call to go down to the countryside to build, secretly signing up herself, she wouldn’t be here now.

Naturally, Tang Wan’s family was very worried about her.

When she left, they tried to pack everything she might need, and money and tickets in particular were in great abundance. If not for concerns about her carrying too much money alone in the countryside, Tang Wan probably had much more money on her than she does now.

It wasn’t only Tang’s father; Tang Sheng’s side probably also sent things to his sister, though he was in the army, so sending things wasn’t very convenient.