Chapter 16: Ye Niuhu Lu Qing Makes Her Entrance

Chapter 16: Ye Niuhu Lu Qing Makes Her Entrance

Oh my god!

How unbelievably unlucky do you have to be to randomly barge into a room and hit the jackpot like this?!!!

Ye Qing’s mind went blank, all she wanted to do was let out a groundhog scream.

Because just a few steps away from her, on the hospital bed, the man who was staring at her like a falcon was none other than the cop she had rescued in the She Mountains!

Out of all the places in Shen City, and all the hospitals, did she really have to end up in the People’s Hospital? And out of all the rooms, how did she manage to land right in front of this guy?

This was a coincidence too ridiculous for even a TV drama to pull off!

Ye Qing’s expression was one of utter helplessness, her toes practically digging a hole through the floor.

A day ago, she had been confident that her rescue mission was flawless.

She had even convinced herself that even if the cop remembered her face, it wouldn’t matter. After all, he would never be able to track her down.

But now, what was this? Walking right into a trap?

The problem was, this police officer had been staring at her non-stop since he saw her, clearly recognizing her.

At this point, there was no pretending she didn’t know him.

“Hi! What a coincidence, Uncle! Fancy meeting you here,” Ye Qing said, raising a hand in a fawning greeting towards the “Police Uncle.”

But her mind was racing, thinking about how she could escape this situation.

Her eyes fell on the policeman’s leg, noticing the bulky brace on his left leg, which had probably just had a bullet removed. An idea popped into her head.

Since this guy couldn’t move around easily and there was no one else in the room, now was her best chance to make a run for it.

Without wasting a second, Ye Qing dropped a quick “I’ve got some stuff to take care of, so I’ll be off now,” and bolted out the door.

Gu Weidong was utterly surprised by Ye Qing’s sudden appearance.

For a day and a night, he had been filled with confusion, desperate to find the little girl who had been picking fruits in the mountains that night and get some answers.

He hadn’t expected that the investigation team hadn’t reported back yet, but the person had walked right into his room.

“You—”

Before he could even start speaking, the yellow-haired girl who had barged in moments ago vanished like a rabbit.

Ye Qing’s unpredictable move left Gu Weidong completely dumbfounded.

When he snapped out of it, he panicked and shouted, “Gao Fusheng! Gao Fusheng, come out! Quick, go catch that little girl for me!”

Gao Fusheng, who had been in the restroom, rushed out with his pants barely pulled up.

“Boss, what’s going on? What girl? Where?”

Gu Weidong was fuming. “Were you giving birth in there? Move so slow! She ran out, a young girl, with a backpack, two pigtails, around sixteen or seventeen!”

Gao Fusheng burst out of the room door and sprinted down the hall.

But after searching the corridors and stairwells, the large special ward area outside was empty. There was no sign of the girl the boss had described.

He even ran down the stairs to the ground floor and looked around, but still no luck.

Gao Fusheng went out confused and came back just as puzzled.

“Where is she?” Gu Weidong demanded anxiously.

Gao Fusheng shook his head.

Gu Weidong was so frustrated he wanted to pound the bed.

Gao Fusheng scratched his head, completely clueless about what had gotten into his boss.

In his mind, he thought, “Is the boss getting old and thinking about women? It’s just a hospital stay; has it really gotten to him so much that he’s hallucinating?”

This wasn’t good. He needed to report this to the higher-ups! Since the boss was injured and needed time to recover, maybe it would be best for him to go back to his hometown and sort out his personal issues. Otherwise, this was going to cause problems later.

Gu Weidong had no idea that his order to catch Ye Qing had led to so many wild assumptions from Gao Fusheng.

Right now, his mind was completely occupied with Ye Qing, and he didn’t have the energy to explain things to Gao Fusheng.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the young girl’s reaction was suspicious.

If she had nothing to hide, why would she run the moment she saw him?

If it weren’t for his recent surgery and his limited mobility, he would have gone after her himself!

“Go ask the nurse. Maybe someone knows which patient she was visiting!”

Not giving up, Gu Weidong thought for a moment and gave another order to Gao Fusheng.

Unauthorized personnel are not allowed in this special ward. Anyone who can come to this building must be a relative or friend of a patient!

Gao Fusheng resignedly headed out.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing was hiding on a branch of a camphor tree in the backyard behind the special ward, barely daring to breathe.

When she heard Gu Weidong calling out to someone, she rushed downstairs, just in time to see that the window at the stairway corner was open.

The window faced the backyard, where several lush camphor trees grew. One of the branches happened to stretch out to the window.

Seizing the moment when no one was in the stairwell, Ye Qing reacted swiftly. In the instant that Gao Fusheng came out, she made a move.

Without a second to spare, she pulled out a vine from her sling bag and threw it out.

The vine, catalyzed by her special ability, grew wildly. One end wrapped around the tree branch and then the trunk, while the other end tightly cinched around her waist, pulling her out of the window in the blink of an eye.

Ye Qing then hid in the tree canopy, not coming down until Gao Fusheng had given up and left. She carefully climbed down the trunk of the camphor tree and tiptoed away.

Just then, a hand reached out from behind and landed on Ye Qing’s shoulder.

Ye Qing shuddered, her heart nearly jumping out of her throat.

"I couldn’t find you anywhere! So you were hiding here, you sly girl! I’ve been searching high and low for you!"

Chen Youde’s booming voice was as loud as ever, completely unaware of the damage he had just caused Ye Qing with his light pat.

Ye Qing’s heart was racing off the charts, and it took her a while to find her voice.

"Uncle, you really are my uncle, okay? Do you have any idea how scary it is to scare someone like that?"

"What is it that you want from me?"

Chen Youde grinned and said in his usual familiar tone, "It’s nothing much. We saw how skilled you are at fishing, and some of us old folks want to ask you to be our teacher. Don’t worry, we won’t learn from you for free! We’re willing to pay tuition!"

Ye Qing was on the verge of tears.

She hadn’t expected that her whim that day would lead to such trouble.

All she wanted was to get something to eat because she was starving. Was that so much to ask? And now these old men were clinging to her?

The thing was, if she really had some unique fishing technique, she wouldn’t keep it to herself. If she could teach it, she would have done so ages ago.

But she had cheated using her wood-based special ability. There was no way for her to teach that!

Ye Qing’s head was spinning, and she had no choice but to rely on her skill of making things up as she went along, racking her brains for an excuse to fend off Old Man Chen.

"Uncle Chen, it’s not that I don’t want to teach you. It’s just that without my master’s approval, I absolutely cannot pass this skill on. If I did, I’d be betraying the school, and they’d expel me."

Chen Youde was taken aback.

"So you really are a disciple of a master angler? Who’s your master, if you don’t mind me asking?"

The old man’s eyes were filled with excitement and curiosity.

Ye Qing, who had been bluffing, could only grit her teeth and continue weaving her story.

"It’s not convenient to say. There are rules in our school that this unique skill can only be passed down to males, not females. My master made an exception by teaching me. I promised the old man that this skill would never leave my hands, or I’d never be able to face my master again."

Ye Qing said it with such conviction that Chen Youde had no choice but to believe her.

Disappointed that he couldn’t learn the skill, his previously eager expression fell.

But he understood that such matters couldn’t be forced. Rules set by a school were not for outsiders to meddle with.

After a few seconds of silence, Chen could only settle for the next best thing.

"It’s fine if we can’t learn the skill. But could we old folks invite you to go fishing with us again when you’re free?"

"You don’t know this, but the other day at People’s Park, you really left a deep impression on us! These past few days, we’ve been so obsessed that we can’t eat or sleep, thinking about asking you to join us for another fishing session!"

Ye Qing sighed.

The last time at People’s Park, she had already given Chen Youde and the others a glimpse of her situation, telling them that she was struggling to make ends meet.

There were things she couldn’t explain to Liao Yun, but facing this familiar old man, Chen Youde, she decided not to hide anymore.

"To be honest, I’m about to head to the countryside."

"There are many children in my family, and my relationship with my parents isn't great, so they secretly signed me up to go for rural labor without telling me. I only found out when the revolutionary committee issued the notice a few days ago."

"Because of this, I've completely fallen out with my parents. That day in the park, I hadn't eaten anything for a whole day, and I was forced to use that method to earn some money for food from you all."

Chen Youde suddenly realized what had happened.

Looking at the girl's pale and severely malnourished appearance, he knew that her words were probably true.

He couldn't help but frown and asked:

"How many days are left until you're supposed to go for rural labor?"

Ye Qing honestly replied:

"There should be four more days."

After a moment of thought, Chen Youde clapped his hands and advised:

"Then you should go fishing with us! Kid, don't rush to refuse me. Just hear me out and see if what I say makes sense."

"In your family's situation, they definitely won't be able to offer you much help. Don't you need to make more preparations for your own future?"

"You should exchange more money vouchers to have on you. That way, you'll have some confidence when you go down to the countryside, right?"

"Otherwise, with your small frame, how can the few work points you earn in the countryside be enough to live on?"

"Although you said you saved my eldest sister without asking for anything in return, the favor you're owed is no empty promise. When I, Chen Youde, acknowledge a debt, my word is absolutely solid!"

"Which day are you free these next few days? I'll gather those old fellows, and we can all go fishing at Chunsheng Pu together."

"There are plenty of big fish at Chunsheng Pu, but they're even harder to catch than the fish at People's Park. Our group of old guys have limited skills, and we often come back empty-handed. But with you there, it'll definitely be different."

"We old guys receive a fixed retirement allowance every month, and our lives are quite comfortable, so you don't need to worry about nobody wanting the fish you catch."

"Whatever you catch, we'll buy it all from you. If you really can't finish it, I'll find a way to help you deal with it. I certainly won't let you take a loss!"

Ye Qing really didn't know what to say at this point.

Looking at the sincere expression on this little old man's face, she was genuinely touched inside.

During the ten years of the apocalypse, because she possessed a healing ability, even though her level wasn't high, she still attracted many ill-intentioned people who coveted her. These people approached her in various ways, seemingly treating her with genuine care, but behind her back, it was all schemes and calculations.

When facing the threat of death, people would do anything to survive. After suffering many losses and witnessing too much of humanity's ugliness, Ye Qing was on the verge of developing PTSD towards her own kind.

But she didn't expect that in just a few days since coming to this era, she had already met two benefactors.

Both Song Chunhua and this old man, Chen, were genuinely looking out for her, and their intentions were purely altruistic without any ulterior motives.

And there was one thing Old Man Chen said that was right.

It was currently 1971, and there were still six or seven years until the educated youth would return to the city.

She didn't know what the situation would be like when she went down to the countryside, but if she didn't make sufficient financial preparations, what would she do if an emergency came up and she urgently needed money?

Ye Qing wasn't someone who would reject kindness. She couldn't refuse the old man's goodwill, so she nodded and agreed.

"Alright then, let's make it tomorrow. Where shall we meet tomorrow morning?"

Old Man Chen gave a location, and Ye Qing acknowledged it. She didn't delay any longer at the hospital and left right away.

She truly didn't have much time to spare because the thought of Ye family collecting the 200 yuan reward sent by the daughter-in-law of Chen Laotai was making her furious.

All she could think about now was how to get that money back. She had no mood to continue chatting with Old Man Chen.

Taking the bus back to Yantang Old Street, Ye Qing stormed into the dormitory courtyard of the tube-shaped building.

But to her surprise, after preparing herself for a big confrontation, the house was empty when she burst through the door.

Not a single person was home.

Ye Qing's father and Ye Zhi Gao had gone to work, and the twins had gone to school. It wasn't strange that they weren't home, but even Ye Hong and Ye Qing's mother were gone. She had no idea where they had gone.

"Qing girl, why didn't you go to collect the rations?"

Perhaps noticing that Ye Qing had returned empty-handed, the neighbor aunt poked her head out and asked curiously.

Ye Qing was taken aback, then remembered that it was mid-month, the time when the grain station distributed rations again.

In Shen City, the grain station distributed rations twice a month, once at the beginning and once in the middle.

On these days, every household had to go and buy grain with their grain book.

Although every household in the city relied on state rations, each person's monthly allocation was fixed.

Moreover, the grain released by the station was graded, and the amount of fine grain available each month was limited.

So, at the beginning and middle of each month, there would be a rush for grain at the station.

In the past, the original body would go and queue up in the early morning to get the grain for the Ye family.

Not only did the rest of the Ye family not help, but when it was close to mid or late month and the grain at home was running low, they would complain and blame the original body for not getting more.

The original body had endured so much resentment from the family just over the monthly grain rush.

Now that Ye Qing had completely fallen out with the family, she certainly wasn't going to bother with the grain rush anymore.

So, this task naturally fell to Ye Qing's mother and Ye Hong.

No wonder they weren't home; they must have gone to queue up at the grain station early in the morning.

Ye Qing couldn't help but sneer in her heart.

The original body had endured so much hardship but received not a shred of care or affection from the Ye family. Now, it was their turn to taste this bitterness themselves!

However, with no one at home and no one to confront, the anger in Ye Qing's heart was stuck, neither rising nor falling, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She certainly wasn't planning to let it go just like that. After glancing around the house, she headed straight for the room of Ye Qing's father and mother.

Of course, the master bedroom door was locked, but that didn't pose any difficulty for Ye Qing.

Ever since her ability had upgraded, she had become more adept at manipulating vines.

She inserted a small vine through the gap under the door and extended it to the lock. With a few quick movements, she unlocked the door from the inside.

With no one at home, Ye Qing walked in boldly.

After thoroughly searching the room, she successfully found a place where Ye Qing's mother had hidden money.

Inside were fifty neatly arranged ten-yuan notes.

Ye Qing was still very principled. Including the 200 yuan gratitude gift from Chen Laotai's family, the ten yuan medical fee she paid on behalf of the old lady, and the 250 yuan resettlement subsidy sent by the revolutionary committee, the total amount came to 460 yuan.

So, she only took 46 notes, leaving the remaining four large unity notes, which she put back in their original place.

However, to let Ye Qing's mother know where these 46 large unity notes went, Ye Qing deliberately placed a note inside:

"I will manage my own money, no need for your concern—Ye Qing."

It was uncertain whether Ye Qing's mother would be enraged after seeing the note.

But Ye Qing didn't care. She had already made up her mind that since they had already torn apart any pretense of civility, her greedy and disgusting relatives wouldn't get a single cent from her!

She wasn't afraid of Ye Qing's mother calling the police either.

After all, this money was specifically given to her as a thank-you gift by the patient's family and her resettlement subsidy. There was nothing wrong with her taking it. Once the police investigated the matter, they wouldn't trouble her at all.

With the money in hand, Ye Qing's anger finally subsided a little.

As she was about to leave, turning the doorknob, the door lock was suddenly turned from the outside.

Someone was back!

Startled, Ye Qing quickly retreated back into Ye Qing's parents' room.

Just as she closed the master bedroom door, Ye Hong's sharp, piercing voice of complaint echoed from outside:

"Damn Ye Qing, it was her job to collect the rations. If she hadn't suddenly gone crazy and run off, why would we have to do it? I'm exhausted!"

Ye Zhi Gao replied with irritation:

"I'm still on duty. Didn't I take time off to help move the rations? I'm not complaining. What do you have to complain about, staying home all day doing nothing? Hurry up and put the rations inside and let's go. Mom is still waiting at the grain station. After this trip, we have to go back again!"

Unhappy, Ye Hong threw the rations on the floor with a scream and began cursing Ye Qing, her curses so vile that it was as if she wished Ye Qing would die immediately, despite being her own sister.

Ye Zhi Gao also harbored deep resentment towards Ye Qing, but not because of the rations. He was angry about Ye Qing threatening their parents, trying to take hundreds of yuan in savings from the family.

He had been counting on that money to start his own family and build his future. If Ye Qing took it, it would severely damage his interests. How could he tolerate that?

Fortunately, Ye Qing's father had a plan and would never allow himself to be manipulated by Ye Qing.

"If you have the energy to curse, save it. You might be able to carry an extra bag of rations! Besides, that short-lived girl won't live long anyway. What's the point of cursing her? Dad has already asked your classmate for help. With a little tampering in her food or drink, she'll die on the train!"

"Once she's dead, we can go to the revolutionary committee and claim compensation. That sickly girl can still be useful to us and won't be a waste of the years we've taken care of her!"

Ye Zhi Gao spoke casually, as if they weren't talking about killing someone but something as trivial as slaughtering a chicken or a fish.

Standing in the master bedroom, Ye Qing felt a chill run through her entire body.

She never expected that a spontaneous visit home would uncover such a huge secret!

What kind of demons and monsters was this family?

Even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs, yet this heartless, wolf-hearted family would harm their own flesh and blood!

Not only did they mistreat the original body, but they also planned to use her life for profit, knowing full well that she was critically ill and had little time left. It was utterly insane!

Ye Qing clenched her fists tightly, the hatred in her eyes almost tangible.

Originally, although she disliked the Ye family, she hadn't intended to take drastic revenge because she wasn't the real Ye Qing. She had thought that if she punished them mildly, causing some financial loss, it might be what the original owner wanted.

But now, hearing this horrifying plan, Ye Qing could no longer hold back.

She didn't care about the money, cotton, or watches anymore. What she wanted more than anything was to destroy this entire family.

Her mercy was for humans, not beasts. These conscience-lacking dogs didn't deserve any mercy. They should be dealt with directly without hesitation!

As soon as Ye Hong and Ye Zhi Gao left again after placing the rations, Ye Qing immediately sprang into action.

Dealing with the Ye family was simple—divide and conquer.

The eldest sister, Ye Hong, valued her engagement to the neighborhood committee director the most. Without it, she would be powerless.

As for the eldest brother, Ye Zhi Gao, he relied on the job his mother left him. If that job was ruined, so would he.

As for Ye Qing's mother, she seemed formidable but was actually a paper tiger. As a traditional woman, after handing over the job to her eldest son, she could only rely on her husband and children.

If something happened to her husband and children, she would be overwhelmed, and her life would fall into chaos. If she couldn't even rely on them, it would be a catastrophe for her.

The most difficult person to deal with in this family was actually Ye Qing's father.

He was a skilled worker at the factory, with a stable and relatively leisurely job. He was also quite calculating and good at pretending, maintaining a decent reputation in the apartment complex. This made him the hardest to deal with.

Ye Qing preferred to strike decisively. She didn't want to go through the trouble of a half-hearted attack that didn't hit the core of the issue.

If she was going to strike, she would make sure to take the person down in one blow, leaving them unable to rise again.

Thinking it over, Ye Qing remembered the household registration book she had seen while searching the master bedroom earlier. A plan began to form in her mind.

She returned to the master bedroom to get the household registration book and then used the same trick to enter the room shared by Ye Hong and Ye Xia.

The original owner had a habit of keeping a diary and had once written about her secret crush on a male classmate in high school.

This secret was accidentally discovered by the original owner when she was cleaning the room.

Ye Qing was quite lucky and easily found the diary under Ye Hong's pillow.

She opened it and soon raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Her elder sister was really something, and she had written just about anything in the diary.

Not only did she write quite explicitly about her crush on a male classmate, but she also poured out her heart, calling the foolish son of the neighborhood committee director so ugly that he made her sick. She claimed that if it weren’t for the director’s family being well-off and her not wanting to go to the countryside, she would never have demeaned herself by dating such a disgusting toad.

But that wasn’t all. This elder sister of hers was quite scheming too. Every time she went on a date with the director’s son, she would subtly pry information from him and jot down everything she learned about the neighborhood committee director.

Ye Qing guessed that Ye Hong probably intended to use this information to manipulate her future father-in-law but was afraid she might forget over time. So, she used the diary as a ledger, recording everything in detail.

However, Ye Hong would never have imagined that her writings wouldn’t become leverage against the neighborhood committee director. Instead, they would become a tool and ammunition for Ye Qing to use against her.

Ye Qing had originally planned to secretly hand the diary to the neighborhood committee director’s son, letting him know that Ye Hong had a white moonlight in her heart.

Since Ye Hong had written so bluntly in her diary, revealing that the son was just her backup and that her affection was all an act, any man with a shred of self-respect would not be able to bear such humiliation and would definitely break up with Ye Hong.

But now, after seeing the contents of the diary, Ye Qing had changed her mind.

A young couple breaking up was hardly worth watching.

Besides, the son of a neighborhood committee director didn’t carry much weight. How could he compare to having the director himself take action?

So, Ye Qing decided to take a more direct and brutal approach—she would hand the diary directly to the neighborhood committee director.

If the director found out that his son had been played by a woman and that this woman intended to use his son to gather dirt on him and threaten him, it would be more than just a failed engagement.

Ye Qing couldn’t imagine what the neighborhood committee director would do to Ye Hong after reading the diary.

But being a neighborhood committee director, the man was certainly skilled in political maneuvering, and his connections were not to be underestimated. To retaliate against an ordinary citizen like Ye Hong would be as easy as squashing an ant.

It didn’t take much thought to know that Ye Hong’s days ahead would be tough.

Ye Qing casually slipped the diary into her bag and smoothed out Ye Hong’s pillow. A slight smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Ready to face the storm of the neighborhood committee director’s wrath, elder sister?

After leaving her sisters' room, Ye Qing turned into the adjacent room where Ye Zhi Gao stayed.

There wasn’t much to see in Ye Zhi Gao and Ye Zhiyuan’s room. The two boys lived there, and without the original body coming to clean these days, it was naturally a mess with a foul smell.

Ye Qing pinched her nose and looked around disgustedly but found nothing useful.

Just as she was about to leave, her eyes fell on a pile of disorganized books in the corner near Ye Zhi Gao’s bed.

Those were probably Ye Zhi Gao’s high school textbooks, which he had haphazardly stacked in the corner after graduation, letting them gather dust. It had likely been over a year since he touched them.

What caught Ye Qing’s attention wasn’t the textbooks but the red booklet hidden inside them.

Almost everyone had a red booklet these days, so it wasn’t anything special.

But this unremarkable booklet gave Ye Qing a sudden flash of inspiration.

She immediately got up and ran out, and to save time, she even spent four cents to take the trolley bus for two stops, heading back to the recycling station she had visited earlier that morning.

Soon, she was back in the cluttered warehouse of the recycling station and quickly found the hand-copied book she had previously considered a hot potato and avoided.

Because it was wrapped in the cover of a red booklet, the hand-copied *Jin Ping Mei* didn’t attract much attention.

But to be safe, Ye Qing grabbed two more random books from the pile to use as cover, and it was easy to pass the check and spend five cents to take the book away.

With the item in hand, she hurried back to Yantang Old Street, managing to secretly replace the red booklet hidden in Ye Zhi Gao’s textbooks with the newly acquired one before Ye Hong and Ye Zhi Gao returned from their second trip to carry more grain.

With all preparations in place, Ye Qing, feeling quite pleased, swiftly left the tube-shaped building.

From now on, everything concerning the Ye family would be none of her concern. She would never come back here again.

As for the money she had asked from the Ye parents for her own support, Ye Qing didn’t care at all.

If she didn’t get it, so what? With Chen Youde’s promise to “cover everything,” it wouldn’t be hard for her to earn a few hundred bucks.

Now, Ye *Niohugu* Qing had only one thought in mind—she was going to stir up the Ye family and make those vicious wretches who had caused the original body’s death pay for their sins.

Neighborhood Committee Office of Yantang Old Street.

Xiao Wang, the duty officer, had just returned from the restroom when he found a strange yellow package on his desk. He had no idea who had brought it.

The package was tightly bound with a rope, and he couldn’t tell what was inside, but on the front of the package were a few regular script characters:

——For Director Hu Ziqiang’s eyes only.

Xiao Wang frowned and examined the package carefully, but he couldn’t make sense of it. After some hesitation, he took the package to Director Hu’s office.

"Director, there's something here addressed to you."

Hu Ziqiang was busy with his work and didn’t pay much attention. Without lifting his head, he said, "Oh, just put it on my desk."

Seeing this, Xiao Wang didn’t want to disturb him further and quickly placed the package on the desk before leaving.

It wasn’t until Hu Ziqiang finished his work that he noticed the new item on his desk.

Seeing the square yellow package wrapped so tightly, he thought it might be some snacks someone had sent him and casually grabbed a pair of scissors to open it.

As soon as he unwrapped it, a diary with a plastic cover was revealed.

Hu Ziqiang was immediately stunned.

After sending out her diary, Ye Qing headed to the revolutionary committee with a smile on her face.

Having gotten the Ye family's household registration booklet, how could she not make good use of it?

The Ye parents liked to engage in moral coercion, secretly signing her up for rural labor without her consent?

Well, Ye Qing would fight fire with fire!

At the revolutionary committee, Ye Qing went to find a clerk with the household registration booklet in hand. She started by reciting a passage from the leader's writings:

"A single spark can start a prairie fire, and all reactionaries are paper tigers."

"Comrade leader, my name is Ye Qing, and I come from a family with a very high level of ideological consciousness. Everyone in my family is very interested in supporting the country's construction! I am sixteen years old and was supposed to start junior high school in September, but as soon as I heard about the call for young educated youth to go for rural labor and receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants, I signed up without a second thought."

"My parents also have a heart for selfless support and follow the Party's lead in all actions! Wherever the country is in need, they want to go!"

"They said that the frontier is like the south of the Yangtze, with fat sheep and abundant grain. As long as you can endure hardship, the wilderness can become fertile land!"

"So, they sent me to ask the revolutionary committee if the western regions of our country are still in need of people. If so, they are very willing to actively join the ranks of border reclamation and defense!"

Ye Qing's revolutionary posture and passionate words stunned the people at the revolutionary committee.

At that time, the slogans called on everyone to go to difficult places, but how many were truly willing to go to the frontier to engage in production?

Usually, the revolutionary committee had to work hard, going door to door to persuade families to meet the border support quotas set by the higher-ups, but with little success.

Now, suddenly, someone who wasn't afraid of hardship and specifically wanted to go for border reclamation and defense had come along. The revolutionary committee was secretly thrilled, almost wanting to hold a welcome ceremony on the spot.

The director of the revolutionary committee, in particular, was quick-witted and excelled at seizing every opportunity to promote himself.

Hearing Ye Qing's passionate words, he had an idea:

Wasn't this a typical example of patriotic dedication? Such positive and advanced cases were rare, and the revolutionary committee had to vigorously promote this! If handled well, not only could their Yanpond Street revolutionary committee become famous, but his position as director might also get a boost!

With this thought, the director was excited and waved his hand, immediately instructing his staff to handle the registration for this girl.

Thus, Ye Qing successfully signed up her parents with the household registration booklet, without anyone questioning their age. As long as the quota could be met, the volunteers' ages weren't a concern.

The registration clerk only asked why the parents hadn't come in person.

Ye Qing had already prepared a response, saying that today was the day the grain station released grain, and her parents had gone to queue for purchases.

The clerk thought about the usual scene at the grain station on release days and nodded in understanding, not asking further.

Only after watching the information of Ye's father and mother being filled into the registration form did Ye Qing smile in satisfaction.

These unscrupulous parents had exploited her and criticized her for being too delicate to endure hardship. Since they were so capable of enduring hardship, she would send them to a truly harsh place to really suffer!

The plan had gone smoothly, but there was one tricky point. Although she had signed up her parents, Ye Qing wasn't sure if it would succeed.

Her mother would be fine; she had already been replaced by Ye Zhiyuan and was currently unemployed, so once her name was registered, she couldn't escape.

But her father was a different story. He had a formal job at the silk factory, and even if the revolutionary committee finalized the border support list, the silk factory might not be willing to let him go.

However, Ye Qing was determined to trap one if she could, and if it didn't work out, she would try other methods.

Before leaving, she didn't forget to ask the registrar when this batch of Xinjiang aid volunteers would likely depart.

The registrar told her that there would definitely be news within five days.

What the registrar didn't mention was that supporting the frontier was much more troublesome than being sent down to the countryside, so the neighborhood committee usually submitted the forms on the same day to prevent any second thoughts from the applicants.

Thinking about the rural notification she had received earlier, Ye Qing thought to herself:

"Well, it looks like we'll be leaving around the same time. If the clerks are a bit more efficient, I might even catch the same train as her."

It would be quite something if they did end up on the same day.

The whole family, with their backpacks, waving from across the station platform. She would be heading north to the Great Northern Wilderness, while Ye Qing's parents would be heading west to the Great Desert.

That scene would be quite a thrill!

The more Ye Qing thought about it, the more excited she became. She was even a little eager to see the expressions on her parents' faces when they received their own notice to aid Xinjiang!

After handling the matter of "getting back" at her parents, Ye Qing headed to the educated youth reception office on the other side of the revolutionary committee.

She needed to collect her ticket for being sent down to the countryside.

It had been several days since her arrival, and she still didn’t know where she would be assigned.

The receptionist at the office checked Ye Qing's household registration book, confirmed her name, and handed her a certificate for the rural send-down and a train ticket.

"Both of these must be kept safe. If you lose the train ticket, you won't be able to board. The rural send-down certificate needs to be handed over to the local educated youth office upon arrival, as they will need it to complete the acceptance procedures."

The receptionist carefully instructed her.

Ye Qing glanced at the two items.

The train ticket was indeed for four days later, Train No. 56, a direct hard-seat ticket from Shen City to Wusong City.

The departure time was 7:15 AM, but the arrival time would be noon on the third day, meaning over fifty hours on the train, assuming it didn't get delayed.

Having to sit on the train for that long was going to be quite a torment.

Even though Ye Qing had mentally prepared herself, now that she actually had the ticket in hand, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

If it weren't for her ability upgrading smoothly, there was no telling whether her original body, frail as it was, could even make it until the train reached the final station.

On the remaining certificate for rural placement, Ye Qing's specific rural address was filled out.

She was assigned to a place called Kaoshan Tun in Jiaotan County, Fogong City.

Ye Qing had never heard of Jiaotan County, but she was familiar with Fogong City, which sat at the foot of Changbai Mountain, known for its dragon vein head and the Heavenly Pool.

And as for Kaoshan Tun, the meaning was pretty clear, wasn't it? It meant that behind the village was a mountain!

Although she couldn't be certain if the mountain referred to Changbai Mountain, Ye Qing felt that it was probably pretty close!

Originally, Ye Qing had braced herself for the worst-case scenario of being sent to the Great Northwest, but now that she knew she was headed to the Great Northern Wilderness, her face flushed red with excitement, utterly thrilled.

Changbai Mountain, wow! It was world-famous for its sea of forests and snowy plains. With so much dense vegetation, just how rich in wood-type energy would it be? Thousands of square kilometers of deep mountain wilderness—she could absorb as much as she wanted, how awesome would that be?

Seeing Ye Qing's abnormal reaction, the clerk was dumbfounded.

Other educated youths usually couldn't hold their expressions together upon learning they were assigned to the Great Northern Wilderness, and some delicate girls might even burst into tears on the spot.

But this girl, upon learning she was headed to the Great Northern Wilderness, was so happy that she clenched her fists and shouted "Yes!" as if some great fortune had fallen from the sky.

The clerk looked utterly bewildered: Wait, since when has the Great Northern Wilderness become so popular?