Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jiang Liling nodded in agreement. "Getting some fresh air sounds nice."

"Be careful."

After giving the reminder, she hurriedly hugged the bundle in her arms and headed into the courtyard.

Jiang Yiwei watched Jiang Liling's back as she walked away, recalling a scene from the novel.

Jiang Liling had been reborn into the production brigade. After her rebirth, she reflected on the hardships of her past life and held a grudge against Jiang Ningning. If not for Jiang Ningning’s schemes, she would never have been forced to become an educated youth in the countryside, and her past life wouldn’t have been so miserable.

With the New Year approaching, the brigade was on break, and during her few days back in Beijing, Jiang Liling had been trying everything she could to stay in the city—but to no avail.

She knew she couldn’t stay now. Her parents favored sons over daughters and wouldn’t lift a finger to help her. As for her uncles, Jiang Liling didn’t even consider them—she was only their niece, after all. Why would they bend over backwards for her? Besides, their own children would soon face the same issue of being sent to the countryside. They were too preoccupied with their own troubles to help her.

The only chance to return to the city would be after the return of the college entrance exams. If she could get into a university in Beijing, she could return in glory. So, Jiang Liling gave up trying to stay in the city now. Instead, she resolved to return as a successful college graduate.

Her immediate priority was finding textbooks to study.

That was why Jiang Liling was heading to the recycling center to look for books.

Many people had discarded their textbooks there, and with a little money to the recycling center attendant, she could take them home.

While searching for textbooks, Jiang Liling found some carefully hidden gold and jewelry. As someone who had been reborn, she knew how valuable these would become in the future. But for now, owning them was risky—though in a year or two, they'd be worth a fortune.

Later, these treasures would become incredibly valuable to Jiang Liling.

Gold. Jewelry.

Jiang Yiwei stroked her chin, her eyes gleaming.

Right! At this time, things like jewelry, antiques, and paintings were not worth a cabbage to most people. But in the future, they’d be incredibly valuable.

Jiang Liling had relied on these to fund her rise to success.

Though Jiang Yiwei wasn’t the heroine and didn’t know what fate had in store for her, she was determined not to follow the original character’s sad fate. But how could she ride the wave of coming reforms?

Lack of money was a huge problem.

Whether now or in the future, security was a woman’s greatest need.

And right now, these gold and silver treasures were just sitting in recycling centers. Could she find some too? The thought got Jiang Yiwei excited, and she even began wondering how many recycling centers there were in Beijing.

She was ready to start searching.

"Yi Wei!"

Someone called her name, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Jiang Yiwei turned and saw the neighborhood aunties. "Aunt Mao, Aunt Hu."

Aunt Mao and Aunt Hu beckoned her over. As Jiang Yiwei approached, the bandage on her forehead stood out to them.

"See? I told you Yi Wei was staying home because of her injury. You just wouldn’t believe me."

Aunt Mao pointed at Jiang Yiwei’s forehead.

"I thought it was a lie," Aunt Hu had assumed Jiang Yiwei's injury was made up, but it turned out to be true.

Aunt Hu gazed at the wound on her forehead sympathetically. "Yiwei, is your head feeling better now?"

Jiang Yiwei smiled in response. "Aunt Hu, I'm much better now. I’ll be able to take the bandage off soon."

From how it looks, Jiang Yiwei felt she wouldn’t need the bandage much longer.

"That’s good. When we heard you were injured earlier and asked your mom about it, she refused to say anything," Aunt Hu said, her voice trailing off into a whisper.

Jiang Yiwei knew why they had asked—Granny Hu had forbidden anyone in the family from speaking about her injury. Zhang Cuifen naturally refused, but Granny Hu threw a tantrum, even accusing them of being unfilial and threatening to cause a scene at the train station.

Jiang Sanjie and Jiang Weilin worked at the train station. If Granny Hu really made a scene, it would undoubtedly affect their jobs.

This forced Zhang Cuifen to give in.

Even Jiang Erjie and Xu Qi brought over a bunch of gifts just to placate Zhang Cuifen’s anger.

As long as Zhang Cuifen accepted their gifts, it meant the matter would be dropped.

At first, Zhang Cuifen refused to take them, but Granny Hu made her take them.

Granny Hu did all this for Jiang Ningning’s reputation.

Because Jiang Ningning was the one who caused Jiang Yiwei’s injury, Granny Hu couldn’t let her bear the blame for harming her younger sister.

Jiang Yiwei put on a pitiful, worried face. "Aunt Mao, Aunt Hu, you know how things are in my family. It’s not that my mom didn’t want to say anything—my grandma is still around."

Aunt Mao and Aunt Hu wanted to press further, but Jiang Yiwei cut them off before they could speak. "Aunt Mao, Aunt Hu, I’ve got something urgent to take care of. I won’t keep you from your work."

Without waiting for their reaction, she darted off.

Aunt Mao and Aunt Hu could only watch as Jiang Yiwei slipped away right before their eyes.

The two women exchanged glances. Aunt Hu, mulling it over, suddenly said to Aunt Mao, "Yiwei… she seems like a completely different person now."

Before, if they hadn’t let her leave, Jiang Yiwei would’ve stood there like a meek little thing. But now, she ran off before they even dismissed her.

Aunt Hu was taken aback by the change.

"There is a difference. Her eyes look much sharper now," Aunt Mao agreed, noticing that Jiang Yiwei seemed brighter and easier on the eyes, unlike her former dull—almost gloomy—way about her.

Now, with her naturally delicate features, Jiang Yiwei seemed fresher and more likable.

"That’s true," Aunt Hu agreed. The current Jiang Yiwei did seem much sharper than before.

Still, Aunt Hu was more curious about why Zhang Cuifen’s family kept it hush-hush. It wasn’t something worth hiding.

"Aunt Mao, why do you think they won’t let anyone talk about Yiwei’s injury?"

Aunt Mao glanced around before leaning in and whispering, "Rumor has it Yiwei got hurt on her forehead because she tried to stop Ningning and Liling from fighting."

"So that’s it!" Aunt Hu blurted out, only for Aunt Mao to quickly yank her arm, signaling her to lower her voice.

Aunt Hu shot a nervous glance around, covering her mouth with an awkward laugh. "I got too excited and raised my voice."

Aunt Mao gave her a sharp glare. "Keep it down. If Granny Hu finds out, we’ll catch hell."

Aunt Hu huffed indignantly, "Ugh! Yiwei’s forehead injury—Cuifen and the others won’t even mention it. Who here *doesn’t* think Ningning’s behind it?"

"Ningning’s downright vicious."

They’d all been neighbors for ten-plus years—some even longer. Everyone had a *pretty good* idea of what went on in each other’s households.

Like with Yiwei’s injury—no one in the Jiang family said a word about it. Not Zhang Cuifen, her mother, or Jiang Yuexin, her sister.

Folks knew Granny Hu had shut them up; that meant it had to do with Jiang Ningning.

Among the Jiang grandchildren, Ningning was Granny Hu’s favorite. Her three sons *combined* didn’t measure up to Ningning.

"We both know, but *zip it*, okay?" Aunt Mao hissed at Aunt Hu. They just needed to be aware.

"Got it, got it." Aunt Hu nodded, but mentally she was already planning to spill the tea with her friends.

Aunt Mao didn’t say anything more because she knew Aunt Hu would definitely find someone else to gossip with.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yiwei sauntered down the street, upbeat, rubbing her freezing-cold hands. A smug grin tugged at her lips.

She’d *played* vague on purpose.

And judging by what Aunt Mao and Aunt Hu said, they’d already guessed the truth—they just wanted confirmation from her.

Truthfully, spilling the beans wouldn’t kill her, but with Granny Hu breathing down her neck, if she found out Yiwei had talked, she’d *ride her* day and night and make her life miserable.

Since Aunt Mao and Aunt Hu pretty much knew anyway, letting them *connect the dots* worked just fine.

She touched her forehead again. The old Yiwei might have been a pushover, but she wasn’t her. Ningning and Liling *weren’t getting off scot-free*.

Though, that price would likely fall on Ningning’s head, since Liling would soon return to her rural post as an educated youth after the New Year.

Walking cheerfully down the street, she curiously eyed the stalls on either side.

Watching vendors shouting their wares and customers haggling, Yiwei found it *way* livelier than she’d figured.

The *savory* smell of meat hit her nose. She focused and saw freshly baked meat pies at a nearby shop.

A crowd surrounded the stall as the vendor wrapped pies and handed them to buyers.

Staring at the pies, Yiwei’s mouth watered. She dug into her pockets and fished out a single yuan.

That *lone* yuan was *every penny* she’d scraped together after searching the original owner’s entire room.

Looking at the money, she sighed heavily.

Zhang Cuifen and Jiang Sanjie might not have paid much attention to the original owner, but she was still their daughter. While they couldn’t be fair, they *threw her a bone* now and then.

Unfortunately, the original owner had been naive. Her cash got *swindled* by Jiang Yuexin, spent on treats for Jiang Ningning and others, or used to buy things for her so-called best friend, Chen Songzhi.

Bottom line: Money *burned a hole* in the old Yiwei’s pocket.

Which was why, now *she* was stuck with *a grand total* of one yuan.

The meat pie cost forty cents each, and Jiang Yiwei splurged on one.

The forty-cent meat pie was the size of two hands.

Holding the steaming hot meat pie, Jiang Yiwei grinned widely.

She took a bite—the crust was crispy on the outside and tender inside, though the meat filling was barely there. Yet, the rich aroma was irresistible, and every bite filled her mouth with juicy goodness.

Satisfied, Jiang Yiwei munched away at the pie, eating until half of it was gone.

She couldn't finish the remaining half.

She decided to take it home to enjoy later in the evening.

Stuffing the meat pie into her pocket, she smiled and headed back in the direction of Qing'an Alley.