A Waste of Effort

The two of them slept with their own quilts for the night. The next day, the weather cleared up a lot, and in the morning, the Liu family members came over on their own to take Meng Yuanzheng to the clinic for treatment. Lin Miaoyin was also allowed to rest for a few days and stay at home to take care of Meng Yuanzheng.  

Although not working meant no work points, the village secretary instructed the Liu family to do their tasks, to show that they were sincere in admitting their mistakes. 

Even if the Liu family was unhappy, there was nothing they could do. 

But Lin Miaoyin wasn’t planning to go along. After seeing Meng Yuanzheng’s condition last night, she thought it wasn’t too serious, so today, she decided to take care of something important: buying meat on the black market and picking up some seasonings to cook the snake meat. 

She searched the house for money. The meat tickets were gone, but there were still a few pounds of grain tickets, which were given by the Lin family. As for money, there were only a few cents left, which was the dowry she had when getting married. In these times, without tickets, money was useless, which is why the previous owner hadn’t spent it all. 

She braided her hair into two braids in front of the small mirror Meng Yuanzheng used to shave and securing them with hairpins. She put on a floral long-sleeve shirt, straightened her collar, slipped into cloth shoes, and grabbed a military-green cloth bag. With everything in place, she headed out, looking neat and tidy. 

The commune was not far from Houtouwan Brigade, only a few miles away. She walked quickly and arrived there in less than an hour. 

The commune paved the way for what would eventually turn into a town. It was a little wealthier than the countryside, with buildings and a bus station that led to town.  

But at this time, there were almost no street vendors; there were only supply and marketing cooperative and state-owned restaurants.  

She looked around first and saw a long line at the supply and marketing cooperative. She squeezed in to take a look and saw that the good meat had been sold out, leaving only some pig offal and bones. 

There were also chicken and other meats, but they all required tickets to purchase.  

She patted her pocket, feeling the few grain tickets inside, and glanced at the sky—it was still only about eight in the morning.  

After walking around for a while, the sun gradually rose, and she felt a little hot. There was still no sign of the black market. 

Finding a shady spot to sit down, she took off her straw hat and used it as a fan while looking at the people coming and going. 

A few children suddenly caught her attention. 

They looked to be around seven or eight years old, playing games like kicking and jumping ropes at the entrance of an alley. On the surface, everything seemed normal. 

Lin Miaoyin also played with these when she was a child, and she missed them a little, so she couldn’t help but look at them. But as she kept looking, she suddenly felt something was wrong. 

She remembered that in this era, children aged seven or eight were already considered half adults. They were either gathering firewood, feeding pigs, or looking after younger siblings. Only those in better circumstances went to school. So why were these kids here, playing in the middle of the morning? 

Looking closer, she noticed the children were all “casually” eyeing her. 

After all, they were just children, and no matter how hard they tried to hide it, their intentions showed. Soon, one of them stopped playing and ran into the narrow, worn-down alley behind them. On both sides of the alley stood a mix of earthen-walled houses and old tiled homes, some even abandoned. The Taoist temple, especially, had been destroyed during the “Destroy the Four Olds” campaign in the early days of the Cultural Revolution, leaving only broken walls and ruins. 

She continued to watch, and after a while, some people came out from the depths of the alley, carrying backpacks, baskets, cloth bags, and all kinds of things. No one was empty-handed, and they looked around with a nervous look before leaving. 

Something was wrong. Could this be the black market? She stood up, dusted off her clothes, and was about to enter the alley when she saw someone who had just come out that look so familiar…  

The others were all dressed in gray and were short and pale due to malnutrition. Compared to them, this man was tall, with a clean, fair face, wearing a white shirt, black pants, and black leather shoes. He walked with confidence, his face practically shouting, “I’m a rich guy; come and scam me.”  

He was holding several packages in his hands, all tightly packed. 

Lin Miaoyin caught him red-handed and thought angrily that this man had told her righteously last night not to go to the black market, and that he would expose her if she did… and now here he was, visiting the black market himself! 

She understood that this man must have hidden some private money, or his family sent him tickets. On one hand, he told her not to go to the black market, but on the other hand, he secretly went to buy some delicious food. 

What a selfish man. 

She quickly hid herself where Meng Yuanzheng couldn’t see her and stuck half of her head out to observe. 

Meng Yuanzheng didn’t notice her and left with his things. 

After he walked away, she came out carefully and observed that there was no one around. The group of children she had seen was gone too. She walked into the alley, only to find an abandoned and dilapidated house. There was nothing there except for many footprints on the ground.  

What’s going on? Am I seeing things? 

She walked around and realized this must be the backyard of the destroyed temple. Sure enough, she found a small door leading to another place. These people must have mistaken her for someone from “above,” so they escaped quickly.  

How unlucky! She didn’t even have a chance to buy anything this whole morning. 

She angrily pulled her empty cloth bag and headed back. 

After walking for a while, she was lucky enough to run into a fellow villager driving an ox cart from the same brigade.  

Seeing that she was Captain Lin’s daughter, he insisted she get on the cart. 

After thanking him, Lin Miaoyin climbed onto the cart, and the fellow villager shouted at the ox as it started to move forward. 

She leaned against the fence of the ox cart, covered her head with a straw hat, and turned her head to look at the rice fields on the side of the road. As far as she could see, except for the villagers wearing straw hats who occasionally stood up, it was all green, one after another. When the wind blew, the rice ears rustled. 

She was born in the late 1980s in her previous life and also came from the countryside. Although the countryside had undergone great changes since then, the scene before her was similar to her memory, which brought a sense of familiarity to her heart.  

After passing the rice fields, they reached the slightly elevated corn fields. The corn stalks, taller than a person, stood on both sides of the road, giving the illusion that they were blocking out the sun. 

Suddenly, she saw two people walking side by side in front of her. The man was tall and the woman was beautiful, a perfect match. The girl was wearing a white long skirt, sandals, and white socks, revealing her slender calves, and she walked with a graceful air. 

Lin Miaoyin tightened her grip on the cloth bag, thinking to herself, this bastard, he just came out of the black market, and he ran to the woman to show his affection. Is he planning to give all the things he bought to her? 

He had just promised yesterday not to get in touch with Zhu Wanqin, and now they’re walking shoulder to shoulder?  

She was so angry that her chest ached. She sat on the ox cart, waiting for the cart to pass the two people by the roadside. 

The two of them stopped and stood aside to let the cart pass. Lin Miaoyin had already recognized that the woman was Zhu Wanqin. 

This female protagonist is really something. Meng Yuanzheng is already a married man, yet she still walks so closely with him. 

And this bastard, even with amnesia, he would automatically stick with the female protagonist. 

She wasn’t jealous; she just felt a little betrayed for some reason. 

When the two saw Lin Miaoyin in the cart, Zhu Wanqin widened her eyes slightly and called out, “Miaoyin?” 

Bah, Miaoyin, don’t act like you’re so familiar with me. Lin Miaoyin complained in her heart and ignored her. She asked the man to stop the cart and said fiercely to Meng Yuanzheng, “Meng Yuanzheng! Get in the cart! You’re coming back with me!” 

Author’s note:  

She’s not jealous🙄, NOT jealous🙄, NOT jealous🙄.  

Important things said three times. 

It’s just that what was promised yesterday was forgotten today, and it made her angry.