After dinner, Li Yi fed his red mule and black horse, gave them plenty of hay for the night, and then set out with Third Sister!
He planned to make a trip to the educated youth commune to have a chat with Zhang Xinyao.
Originally, Li Yi had wanted to take Tang Xue with him, but it had just snowed outside; the roads were dark and slippery, making it easy to fall.
Plus, Tang Xue was currently pregnant with twins, making it quite difficult for her to get around.
In the end, Li Yi had no choice but to come with his third sister!
The freshly snow-covered road was treacherous; his feet slipped easily, and the snow crunched beneath his steps.
As the wind picked up in the evening, it blew snowflakes off the roofs and walls, making a rustling sound as they hit their clothes.
If the wind blew the snow into their faces, it felt icy and cold—it was quite uncomfortable.
Braving the biting cold, Li Na said with a hint of frustration, “I’m telling you, you’re so stubborn—you take everything I say at face value!”
“What’s the matter?”
“Can’t you wait until tomorrow to talk about this? Why come over in the middle of the night? Aren’t you afraid Xiao Xue will get the wrong idea?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “I brought you along, didn’t I? Besides, I’m here to talk business with Zhang Zhqing—don’t read too much into it, Xiaoxue!”
Actually, Li Yi didn’t want to come over this late either, but he was worried that Zhang Xinyao would get up early and leave.
After all, she’d already said goodbye to Tang Xue today, so it would be perfectly normal for her to leave tomorrow.
“Don’t drag me into this kind of thing in the future—or I’ll slap you!”
“Got it!”
With that, the siblings huddled close and quickened their pace toward the educated youth camp!
The reason Li Yi wanted to keep Zhang Xinyao around wasn’t simply because she was Tang Xue’s close friend or had spoken well of him.
Rather, he knew that Zhang Xinyao’s return this time wouldn’t bring her anything good; it could be said to mark the beginning of the tragedy of her life.
In his previous life, Zhang Xinyao was supposed to return to the city this August, less than two months after Tang Xue, but for some reason in this life, she was nearly three months late.
But based on what he knew of Zhang Xinyao, as long as she returned to her hometown, she would be unable to escape a tragic fate.
In his previous life, Li Yi didn’t meet Zhang Xinyao until several years later, by which time she was already the mother of two children.
However, her life was far from good.
In just a few short years, she looked like she was in her forties, even though she wasn’t yet thirty.
Since she was the only one who regularly visited Tang Xue’s grave to tend to it, Li Yi had made a point of learning more about Zhang Xinyao.
As far as he knew, after finishing her rural placement in North Sai Province, Zhang Xinyao had returned to her hometown of Li County.
Soon after, she married a local thug.
The reason was simple: she was short on money!
Unlike Tang Xue, who had been forced into marriage by Tang Jizhong and Li Hongmei, Zhang Xinyao’s family did not pressure her; on the contrary, they all tried to dissuade her from marrying that thug.
But there was no other choice: her mother was seriously ill and needed medical treatment, her younger brother needed to get married, and she herself was no longer young.
Looking across the entire county of Li, he was the only one willing to pay a 300-yuan dowry—and that was only because they were “classmates.”
And so, having compromised with reality, Zhang Xinyao sold herself for 300 yuan!
After the wedding, the man didn’t treat her well; he was constantly beating or berating her, and especially after drinking, he treated her as his personal punching bag.
That would have been bad enough—if life had just continued like that, it wouldn’t have been impossible, just a bit difficult.
But what was even more tragic was that a few years later, the man was sentenced to death for sexual assault, and she found herself a widow before she knew it.
With two children to raise and a husband who had been executed, her life became incredibly difficult.
But to give her credit, her character was truly beyond reproach.
Even though her own life was so hard, she still made time every year to travel dozens of kilometers to the neighboring county to visit Tang Xue’s grave—that kind of devotion is truly touching.
Moreover, after Tang Xue took her own life, she was the first to write to the Li family to inform them of the news.
Later, when Li Yi went to Yong County to have Tang Xue’s remains reinterred, she helped out a great deal.
So Li Yi has always felt deeply grateful to this woman.
In his previous life, Li Yi had helped her a great deal later on, lifting her out of poverty.
But unfortunately, by the time Li Yi saw her again, several years had passed, and many things had already been set in stone.
For the rest of her life, just like Li Yi, she remained alone!
In this life, Zhang Xinyao hadn’t returned yet, and the tragedy hadn’t unfolded, so Li Yi hoped she would be well.
Just like Tang Xue, she would find someone who loved her.
In the years to come, she doesn’t seek wealth or prestige, but only happiness and peace of mind.
……
The educated youth camp. Girls’ dormitory!
Under the dim light of a kerosene lamp, Zhang Xinyao was packing her bags.
She had just returned from Secretary Feng’s house, where she had asked Uncle Feng to take her to the county seat tomorrow morning, thus bringing her life as a sent-down youth in North Sai Province to an end.
Beside Zhang Xinyao, Feng Qian tended the stove with a melancholy air.
After tying the opening of her burlap sack, Zhang Xinyao turned around and saw Feng Qian quietly wiping away tears. She sighed immediately.
She walked over to Feng Qian, patted her on the shoulder, and said, “Why are you crying? Don’t you want me to leave?”
“Yeah, Sister Xinyao, once you’re gone, I’ll be the only one left at the sent-down youth camp. I’m scared!” Feng Qian said through her tears.
Hearing this, Zhang Xinyao could only offer comfort: “It’s okay. You should be heading back soon, too!”
Feng Qian shook her head without speaking, but her tears kept streaming down her face, her eyes filled with sorrow and worry.
There weren’t many educated youth in Nianzi Mountain Village to begin with, and over the past few years, many had either gotten married, passed exams to leave, or used connections to return to the city.
In short, most of them had left one after another, and there weren’t many left at all.
As for the female educated youth, by this year there were only four of them left: Feng Qian, Zhang Xinyao, Zhong Na, and Tang Xue.
But after July, Tang Xue married Li Yi and moved out of the dormitory.
In September, Zhong Na also received a transfer order to return to the city and left Nianzi Mountain Village.
On top of that, because of the incident where they tried to poison Li Yi, some of the male educated youth were sentenced to prison, while the others felt too ashamed to stay in the village and left one after another.
As a result, in the vast educated youth settlement, only she and Zhang Xinyao remained.
Now that Zhang Xinyao was also returning to the city, she was the only girl left at the sent-down youth settlement.
Just think about it—a place this big, with just a young girl like her left to look after it. How on earth was she supposed to get by?
“When I went to Secretary Feng’s house the other day, I mentioned your situation. Uncle Feng said if things don’t work out, he’ll find you a companion!” Zhang Xinyao said.
Feng Qian wiped away her tears and said, “Sister Xinyao, you don’t need to worry about me too much. I’m just a little sad to see you go—once you leave, who knows when we’ll see each other again!”
Zhang Xinyao was from Qin Province, while Feng Qian was from Yu Province—the distance between them was far more than a thousand miles.
In this era of poor transportation, this parting might very well be for a lifetime.
“It’s okay. I know your address, and you know mine. We can write to each other…”
Just as she spoke, the sound of footsteps crunching through the snow suddenly echoed outside the door!
Immediately afterward, a series of “thump, thump, thump” came from the door of their dorm room.
“Who is it?” Zhang Xinyao asked warily.
“It’s me, Li Na!”
Hearing Li Na’s voice, Zhang Xinyao and Feng Qian immediately relaxed and opened the door.
But once the door was open, they realized there was someone else besides Li Na.
Upon closer inspection, they saw that Li Yi was standing right there outside the door—though he hadn’t come inside.
“May I come in?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
Zhang Xinyao glanced at Feng Qian and herself—they were both fully clothed, and there were no women’s undergarments in the room—so she nodded immediately and said, “Come on in!”
Li Yi immediately shook the snow off his shoes and strode into the room!