"Help me carry this."
Xia Xiaolan stuffed the bag into Liu Fen's arms; the latter's face was covered in tears.
"Xiaolan, how can you go out... what will we do when your father comes back..."
Liu Fen didn't know how things had turned out like this. Although her daughter wasn't being made things difficult for, it was equivalent to being sent out to live on her own. Kicked out of the house, how would a teenage girl survive in the future? She wanted to tell Xia Xiaolan to admit her mistake, but she was afraid of provoking her.
"You're coming to live with me. We'll wait until my father returns. I don't know how to cook; I'll starve to death on my own!"
Xia Xiaolan had no intention of leaving Liu Fen behind. Once she left, wouldn't the Xia Family Members bully Liu Fen relentlessly? She also knew Liu Fen would be soft-hearted, so she took a firm stance to make Liu Fen leave with her.
The Xia Family Members didn't stop Liu Fen either. They were likely waiting for Xia Xiaolan's father, Xia Dajun, to return before dealing with the mother and daughter. Due to continuous heavy rain, the county was worried about the flood washing away the river embankments in the neighboring township and was recruiting young men nearby; the Xia family men had all gone to repair the embankments.
Liu Fen had no mind of her own to begin with, so she confusedly followed along, clutching the bag of sweet potatoes.
As Xia Xiaolan stepped out, she turned back and took the enamel cup filled with steamed eggs. The Xia family's little grandson had been staring at the steamed eggs and salivating for a long time; seeing Xia Xiaolan take them away, he immediately started crying and making a fuss.
The room was a mess, with people cursing Xia Xiaolan and others coaxing the child.
As soon as she stepped out, a gust of fresh air greeted her.
A sky without smog or pollution—only someone returning from thirty years in the future would know how precious clean air was. Xia Xiaolan's spirits were instantly lifted.
The Xia family had made such a scene in broad daylight; who knew how many households were eavesdropping on the excitement.
Seeing the mother and daughter, those people didn't hide either, openly pointing and whispering about them. Of course, Liu Fen was ignored; they were mainly talking about Xia Xiaolan:
"Kicked out by her family?"
"Pah, serves her right! She wouldn't even let her brother-in-law off!"
"And she rolled around naked in a haystack with that Hooligan from the neighboring village... The Xia family has lost so much face..."
"They both have the surname Xia, but her Older Paternal Cousin got into university while she's just being a tramp."
"Xia Dajun will definitely beat her to death when he gets back."
"He's beaten her and scolded her, but she just won't change... Look at the way she walks, swaying her hips like that..."
Xia Xiaolan really wanted to give these long-tongued village women a beating. Was she swaying her hips? She was so damn hungry she had no strength! These gossips ruined the good mood brought by the fresh air. Xia Xiaolan surveyed her surroundings—was the pastoral scenery beautiful? One only had the mood to appreciate that when their material life was prosperous.
Only the literati of Nativist Literature would praise the countryside in 1983.
At a glance, there were mostly mud houses, with very few red brick ones. The low houses had mud-brick walls painted with white lime, still bearing slogans from ten years ago in red paint.
Neither north nor south, a province trapped in the heartland of the motherland, the remote Dahe Village where the spring breeze of Reform and Opening Up could not reach.
The only way to escape this environment was through education.
Xia Xiaolan's Older Paternal Cousin was on the right path. Ziyu was the only University Student in Dahe Village in the thirty-plus years from the Founding of the Country to the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination. One could imagine that if Xia Xiaolan hadn't been replaced by a different soul, from the moment Ziyu got into university, the gap between Xia Xiaolan's life and hers would have been like a vast chasm!
Even if she was set up by Ziyu, what could she do?
One was a female University Student in the 1980s with a bright future—no wonder the whole family saw her as a Golden Phoenix; the other had a ruined reputation and no skills, a village woman who could only marry a widower or an old bachelor in the future, unable to help the family at all.
The difference between clouds and mud.
No wonder the Xia Family Members were snobbish and pragmatic... it was just human nature.
For the sake of profit, the Xia Family Members would stand united on Ziyu's side. 'Xia Xiaolan' truly didn't understand even until her death; it was clearly a relationship where they were just a step away from making it official, and she was the one who encouraged that man to take the National College Entrance Examination.
She had even swallowed her pride to borrow books from her Older Paternal Cousin Ziyu for the man to study hard, and personally sent him to the county for the exam.
She didn't notice anything strange after the exam. How did he become Ziyu's official Partner after the admission notice arrived?
Was it because she wasn't good enough for Wang Jianhua?
Choosing her Older Paternal Cousin was correct in the long run; a University Student paired with a University Student was a match made in heaven.
But why did you have to step on 'Xia Xiaolan' before you left?
How did the deadly rumors spread through the surrounding villages? 'Xia Xiaolan' went to Wang Jianhua to confirm, only to find Ziyu in Wang Jianhua's room. Ziyu was more reasonable than 'Xia Xiaolan'; with a few firm yet gentle words, she made 'Xia Xiaolan' turn around and leave.
On the way, she ran into the Hooligan from the neighboring village. This man had pestered 'Xia Xiaolan' before, and this time he was even bolder, directly tearing 'Xia Xiaolan's' sleeve... Wang Jianhua and Ziyu appeared together. Wang Jianhua seemed very disappointed in 'Xia Xiaolan'; not only did he not listen to 'Xia Xiaolan's' explanation, but he also directly took Ziyu's hand.
Were the rumors spread by the Hooligan from the neighboring village? This year was the year of the Strike Hard Campaign; they could send a Hooligan to be executed in a heartbeat!
It didn't matter. Since she had been reborn into this body with the same name, she would figure out what 'Xia Xiaolan' hadn't, and she would seek justice for the original owner.
By the riverbank, a dilapidated old house came into view.
The fence gate was lopsided, and there wasn't even a lock on the door. There were holes in the walls and the roof. Liu Fen clutched the sweet potatoes in her arms, feeling lost and helpless.
This was simply not a place that could provide shelter from the wind and rain.
"Xiaolan, listen to my advice—"
Xia Xiaolan clutched her head. "Mom, my wound hurts again!"
She called her that more and more naturally. Sure enough, Liu Fen's attention was diverted. "Did the wound open? Let Mom see."
There was no lock on the door, and the room was a mess; only the frame of the bed remained. Liu Fen told Xia Xiaolan to hurry and eat the steamed eggs. Once the eggs got cold, they would smell fishy. Xia Xiaolan didn't want to eat them all herself, so she only ate half and said she was full:
"You eat the rest. It'll go bad if we leave it until tomorrow."
Liu Fen held the enamel cup, her heart filled with complex emotions. This sort of thing had never happened before; her daughter had hit her head, and now she seemed to know how to care for others.
Liu Fen felt both relieved and distressed:
"Your father will be back in two days."
At the mention of her husband, Liu Fen couldn't help but shrink her shoulders, her fear ingrained in her bones.