Finally, Director Ding turned to Jiang Ling. “I remember Xiao Jiang just got married last month. I was the one who officiated the wedding, wasn’t I?”

Li Chunjiao, having just been praised, was full of enthusiasm and jumped in to help answer, “You have such a good memory. Xiao Jiang and Xiao Song are both clerks here at our factory.”

“A fine young couple—talented man and beautiful woman, and so affectionate. That’s really wonderful,” Director Ding said with a series of nods.

“Our relationship is indeed quite good. It’s just that both of us are pretty lazy. We’re exhausted from work during the day, so after work we head straight home and don’t feel like going out at all.” This wasn’t entirely truthful—Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu usually went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative after work.

What she was really saying, in a roundabout way, was: we don’t go out at night, so naturally, we couldn’t have run into you.

Her words came off somewhat abrupt, like she was either trying to take credit for being diligent or showing off her relationship.

The others in the office couldn’t quite grasp her meaning, but Director Ding understood clearly.

Seeing that Jiang Ling was this perceptive, he was quite pleased.

“It’s great that you young people take your work seriously. The future of our factory depends on people like you. I’ve heard about you from Yan—she says you work quickly and efficiently. Keep it up. I’ve got high hopes for you.”

At this point, everyone except Jiang Ling was confused. Was Director Ding planning to promote her?

Only Jiang Ling knew the truth—this was just empty talk.

If she could keep her mouth shut, she might be rewarded with something nice from Director Ding.

Wei Ming’s expression didn’t look good. Since Director Ding had arrived, he had first given him a subtle warning, then praised Li Chunjiao—who held the same rank as him as Deputy Section Chief—for her heroic act of saving supplies during the fire. Now he was saying he had high hopes for Jiang Ling, Wei Ming’s subordinate.

From the way the conversation flowed, everything pointed to a desire to promote and rely on these two people.

Li Chunjiao, like him, was a Deputy Section Chief and a competitor for the Section Chief position. In the past, Wei Ming had never taken her seriously. After all, his brother-in-law was Director Ding.

But now, after hearing this exchange, Wei Ming was no longer certain that he would be the one to take the position of Section Chief.

As for Jiang Ling, it must have been Ding Yan who had said quite a few good things about her to her brother. Director Ding likely intended for Jiang Ling to take over Li Chunjiao’s current position once Li Chunjiao got promoted.

Wei Ming suspected that Director Ding’s conversations with Li Chunjiao and Jiang Ling were actually veiled warnings aimed at him.

But he was overthinking it—Director Ding hadn’t meant anything more.

He had only chatted at length with the staff of the Accounting Section to conceal his true reason for coming.

The reason he spoke with Li Chunjiao and Jiang Ling specifically was simply because, among everyone in the Accounting Section, they were the only ones he actually knew.

Telling Jiang Ling that he had high hopes for her wasn’t because he truly did—it was just a way to ensure she would keep his secret.

Out of everyone, Jiang Ling was the only one who didn’t take his words seriously. The rest, however, took them to heart.

The others in the section began to treat Jiang Ling a bit differently, already viewing her as the next Deputy Section Chief.

After work, Jiang Ling recounted how Director Ding had come to the Accounting Section to pressure her, treating it like a joke as she told Song Guanshu. She asked, “Did he come to see you again today?”

“Since husband and wife are one, and you’ve already told him you won’t say anything, there’s no need for him to come to me,” Song Guanshu replied. “Besides, visiting both the Accounting and Technical Sections on the same day would be a clear sign of trying to cover something up. He’s not foolish enough to do that.”

The street was packed with people riding bicycles home. The crowd was massive and quite a sight.

Watching the stream of cyclists, Jiang Ling asked, “Do you think he’ll promote me?”

Song Guanshu chuckled softly. “I didn’t expect you to be this naive.”

Being mocked like that, Jiang Ling couldn’t help but give him a punch. “What, a girl’s not allowed to have hopes for the future?”

“If he promotes you, then what?” Song Guanshu said in a calm voice. “He’ll start to worry that your ambitions are endless, that you’ll hold this over him and use it to climb higher and higher. To him, you’ll always be a threat. Promoting you is his last resort.”

His voice was quiet. “His best option is to get rid of you.”

Jiang Ling rubbed at the goosebumps he had scared out of her. “It can’t be that serious. This is a society governed by law now—you’re making it sound like something from before the liberation. He’s going to ‘get rid of me’? All I did was see him going in and out of the guesthouse with someone else. I don’t even have proof he was having an affair. That’s not enough for something like that, right?”

“That depends on how he sees it,” Song Guanshu said.

Jiang Ling was genuinely spooked. “If I suddenly die one day, the murderer must be Director Ding. You have to avenge me.”

Thinking of some of the sneaky, underhanded things he’d done in the original story, Jiang Ling went on, “We are, after all, husband and wife. These past few weeks we’ve gotten along pretty well. You can’t let me die in vain!”

As they spoke, the bicycle rolled into the courtyard.

Song Guanshu parked the bike, turned to look at her, and said, “I was just talking nonsense. Don’t take it seriously.”

Jiang Ling’s expression changed, and she couldn’t help but reach out and smack him.

Song Guanshu looked innocent. “You joke around with me all the time too.”

How was that the same? He had taken advantage of her trust!

As the two of them were bickering, Sister Juxiang walked in carrying a basin.

“This afternoon, my man went out and picked some elm seeds. We can’t finish them all at home. I don’t know if you and Xiao Song like eating them?”

Jiang Ling welcomed her inside. “Thank you, Sister. Song Guanshu loves elm seeds the most.”

Song Guanshu, who had just been randomly labeled as someone who loved elm seeds: …

He nodded. “Yes, I do like them.”

Sister Juxiang was instantly delighted. “As long as you like them, that’s all that matters. Elm seeds only come around in April. You two are usually busy with work and don’t have time to gather them, so if you ever feel like eating some, just let us know and I’ll have my husband go pick more.”

This young couple was generous and often gave sweets to her children, so Juxiang didn’t want to take advantage of them.

Jiang Ling agreed right away. “Sure, whenever we feel like eating some, we’ll trouble Third Brother Miao.” But that was just something she said politely—she had no intention of actually bothering others.

She wasn’t even sure if she liked elm seeds or not, and besides, there was already free labor at home, so why trouble someone else?

Juxiang happily carried the basin out, only to run into Li Jun head-on.

Li Jun had been cooking in the kitchen and naturally overheard their entire conversation.

It was clear that Juxiang had been neighbors with her family for much longer, while Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu had only moved in later.

Li Jun was quite displeased that Juxiang thought of Jiang Ling and her husband first. Elm seeds might not be anything special—they couldn’t compare to meat—but at the very least, they were free.

Anything that didn’t cost money was a good thing in Li Jun’s eyes.

“You’re giving elm seeds to Xiao Song and his wife? I overheard a bit just now—you said your husband picked a bunch of elm seeds. Could you spare some for me too? We’ve got both the elderly and the young at home, no one who can climb trees to pick them. The two kids have been wanting to eat elm seeds, and I’ve just been fretting with no way to get any.”

She spoke with such sincerity that Juxiang, thinking of how pitiful their family situation was, couldn’t help but be overcome with sympathy. “I’ll go home and get you some.”

“Then thank you so much.”

But the moment she agreed, Juxiang regretted it. Every time, she let herself be swayed by Li Jun, and once she came to her senses, she always regretted it.

It was Jiang Ling’s first time eating steamed elm seed rice. Because it was a new experience, she found the flavor of elm seeds quite nice.

She didn’t crave vegetables the way she did meat.

Jiang Ling didn’t trouble Sister Juxiang, nor did she ask Song Guanshu to go pick elm seeds.

But half a month later, Sister Juxiang brought over another basin of elm seeds.

Perhaps having learned her lesson from last time, she entered the courtyard very quietly this time, as if afraid of alerting the locust family across the way.

“You can only eat elm seeds during this time of year. If you don’t eat them now, there won’t be any left next month.”

People back then were very different from those in later generations. Aside from the rare types like Li Jun who loved to take advantage of others, most people were genuinely warm and generous—living proof of the old saying, a near neighbor is better than a distant relative.

“Thank you, Sister.”

“Thank me for what? Our family eats elm seeds too—it’s not like we went picking them just for you. It was no trouble at all.”

Just as she was about to leave, Juxiang suddenly remembered something. She pulled Jiang Ling aside and whispered mysteriously, “There’s talk of a haunting on the grave hill behind the residential compound. You and Xiao Song better not go up the back mountain these days.”

What was that supposed to mean? How had it become haunted again?

Back when rumors spread that the ghost of the Yu family girl was causing trouble, no one said they were afraid to go up the mountain. In fact, quite a few reckless young men, emboldened by their youth and energy, had even formed groups to go up the mountain at night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the female ghost.

Juxiang took Jiang Ling’s silence as skepticism. “It’s true, I’m not lying. My father-in-law’s birthday was a few days ago, so our whole family went up the hill with offerings to celebrate. But the fruit we brought during the Qingming Festival had all been eaten—only the pits were left. Who knows who took them.”

As she continued, she actually ended up scaring herself. “Haven’t you heard? Xiao Bing’s been released. If you ask me, it’s that girl from the Yu family—she saw she couldn’t get justice through the law, so she had to take matters into her own hands. It’s her, coming back to find people.”

Even with the supernatural event of being transmigrated into a book, Jiang Ling still didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits. She said, “Probably just someone starving who happened to pass by and ate them.”

Juxiang didn’t believe it. She had lived through even harder times and had never once thought of fighting ghosts for food. She just couldn’t accept that explanation.

As for whether it had really been the Yu family girl who took revenge on Xiao Bing, Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu knew the truth better than anyone.