Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 142: The Pretty Educated Youth in the 1970s (10)
By the time the two arrived in the county town, it was already dark.
After spending several hours on the road, Xia Shuang was hungry.
Jiang Jin took her to find something to eat first. Fortunately, the state-run restaurant was still open, though it closed at seven in the evening.
It was nearly closing time, however, and there was hardly anything left to eat. The head chef said he could still make them some hot noodles, so the two ordered a bowl of pork noodle soup each.
They had just started eating when another person walked in.
“Chef Zhang, the usual. Pack me a bowl of pork noodles to go.”
“Sure! Just leave your lunchbox at the serving window.”
The man placed his lunchbox on the counter, then sat in a nearby chair to wait. When he turned his head, he happened to notice the man and woman eating beside him. The more he looked at them, the more familiar they seemed.
He got up and walked over to them. “Comrade Xia?”
Xia Shuang had been concentrating on her noodles. She looked up and, recognizing him, smiled. “Isn’t this Comrade Luo? What a coincidence!”
Comrade Luo was the official the county committee had previously assigned to investigate the matter in person.
Jiang Jin recognized him too and nodded in greeting.
“Well, look at that! It’s you two! I only recognized Comrade Xia at first. Comrade Jiang is here too!”
Comrade Luo laughed and patted Jiang Jin on the shoulder. “So you two are dating now? What brings you to the county town?”
“We’re returning to the city. Just passing through,” Jiang Jin explained.
“Congratulations, congratulations!”
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Comrade Luo suddenly remembered something. He took a slip of paper out of his briefcase and handed it to Xia Shuang with a smile.
“This is the phone number of the director of our county newspaper. She was transferred back to the capital before the New Year and asked me about you. She really admires your writing, but unfortunately, I didn’t have your contact information. So she left me her own number and asked me to pass it on to you when I had the chance.”
“I was planning to visit you two in the countryside in a couple of days. Good thing we ran into each other today. Otherwise, once you returned to the city, I wouldn’t have known where to find you!”
Xia Shuang took the paper, glanced at it, and casually slipped it into her pocket. “All right, thank you, Comrade Luo. I’ll contact her when the time comes.”
“Great! By the way, I don’t know which hometown you and Comrade Jiang are from. Maybe I’ll run into you again on one of my business trips!”
Xia Shuang replied, “I’m from Beicheng.”
“I’m from the capital,” Jiang Jin added.
Comrade Luo immediately broke into a smile. “I knew there was something special about Comrade Jiang! You two are practically neighbors, too. If I remember correctly, it takes less than an hour to get from Beicheng to the capital.”
Xia Shuang’s hometown was actually separated from the capital by only a few fields, so the two places really were close. It took less than an hour to reach the city.
“Comrade Luo, your noodles are ready!”
“Coming!”
Comrade Luo collected his takeaway noodles. Worried they would turn soggy if he took too long, he hurriedly said goodbye to the two and left. He was bringing the noodles home for his pregnant wife.
……
The next morning.
Xia Shuang and Jiang Jin got up early after spending the night at the inn. They packed their belongings, filled two thermoses with hot water, and headed to the station to buy tickets.
They bought tickets for the earliest train, then picked up some dry food near the station. After all, the train journey would take an entire day.
The train arrived not long after.
During the journey, Jiang Jin had already told Xia Shuang quite a bit about his family.
His family consisted of just his parents and him. His father was a skilled technical worker at a factory and held a permanent position, earning 60 yuan a month.
His mother didn’t have a formal job, but she was quick-witted and good with words. The neighborhood committee often asked her to help mediate domestic disputes, so she worked as a temporary employee, earning 25 yuan a month.
Through their connections, his family had found him a job at a food factory transporting goods. The position required someone young who could drive, was familiar with the terrain and geography of different regions, and had at least a high school education. Military experience was preferred as well.
With so many requirements, the factory had struggled to find a suitable candidate. It wasn’t until Jiang Jin’s father’s superior stepped in and recommended him to the person in charge of hiring at the food factory that he finally secured the position.
After graduating from junior high school, Jiang Jin had attended high school for only one year before schools were shut down during that period. Afraid he might get caught up in the turmoil, his parents sent him to the army.
However, after serving for just one year, Jiang Jin was injured in combat and returned home to recuperate. Since he was their only son, his parents absolutely refused to let him return to the military. He eventually received a medical discharge.
Later, the neighborhood committee called on unemployed young people to go to the countryside. At the time, Jiang Jin’s mother only had temporary work, so Jiang Jin’s father wanted to give his factory position to his son. However, the factory refused. Jiang Jin’s father had been a key technical worker for over a decade and had a whole group of apprentices under his supervision. If his son took over without any experience, wouldn’t everything fall into chaos?
Jiang Jin’s father’s superior promised to help find Jiang Jin a job and pleaded with him not to resign.
Jiang Jin had never wanted his father to give up his position for him in the first place. When the factory also approached him for a talk, he decided not to make things difficult for anyone. Without even informing his parents, he volunteered to go to the countryside.
Who could have imagined that he would end up staying for three whole years?
He had been only nineteen when he first went to the countryside. Now, he was already twenty-three.
Jiang Jin thought the food factory job was decent enough. With a monthly salary of forty yuan, he could at least support a family and make ends meet after getting married.
Although the Jiang family were natives of the capital, they were an ordinary household. Compared to families crammed into single rooms in large communal apartment blocks, their living conditions were quite decent. They had a small courtyard and three rooms in total.
Jiang Jin brought Xia Shuang home.
Both his parents were there. After receiving their son’s phone call the previous day, they had specifically taken leave to welcome their future daughter-in-law. Early that morning, they had gone out to buy vegetables and meat, preparing a whole table of delicious dishes.
With a smile, Xia Shuang greeted them politely. “Hello, Uncle and Auntie. I’m Xia Shuang.”
“Ah, good, good! Xiao Shuang, you’re such a pretty girl. Our Jiang Jin is truly lucky to have you! Come inside and warm yourself up. We’re just about to eat…”
Before Xia Shuang could even react, Jiang Jin’s mother had already taken her hand and enthusiastically led her inside.
The house was warm and cozy. A round table was laden with six or seven dishes, most of them meat dishes at first glance.
Jiang Jin’s father looked honest and down-to-earth. With a kind smile, he welcomed Xia Shuang to sit down and eat.
“Xiao Shuang, don’t be shy. Make yourself at home. If there’s anything you want to eat, just ask Jiang Jin to serve it to you.”
“Thank you, Uncle and Auntie…”
The four of them sat down together, chatting and laughing as they ate. The atmosphere was warm and harmonious.
The room they had eaten in was the main reception room, where the family usually entertained guests and had their meals.
Inside the main room was another connected room where Jiang Jin’s parents slept.
Jiang Jin’s spacious bedroom was on the eastern side, separated from his parents’ room by half a vegetable garden and a small kitchen.
After lunch, Jiang Jin took Xia Shuang to his room.
The walls had been painted a neat, pristine white, without a single black mark or patch of damage. The windowpanes had been polished until they gleamed. Two red paper-cuttings of the character ¹“福” had been pasted on the glass, along with a new piece of blue curtain fabric.
Instead of a traditional heated brick bed, there was a double bed made of solid wood, with a chest of drawers and all the other necessary furniture beside it.
The furniture was perfectly matched and looked newly made, with a consistent style and color scheme that gave the whole room an elegant, imposing appearance.
The room was nearly fifty square meters, even larger than the main room they had just eaten in. With both of them inside, it didn’t feel cramped at all. Quite the opposite, it was spacious and airy.
Jiang Jin also explained that they wouldn’t need to light a fire in this room during winter. They could keep a fire going in the adjoining kitchen overnight and run a metal pipe through the bedroom to warm it up.
Xia Shuang was absolutely delighted with the arrangement. After all, burning a fire inside the room would inevitably leave smoke and soot behind.
The thing she had found hardest to tolerate about the communal sleeping quarters in the village was the stove that burned inside. Every morning and evening, whenever they tended the fire, the whole room would fill with choking smoke.
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Glossary:
¹“福” means blessing, good fortune, or happiness.
In Chinese culture, people often put the red character 福 on doors or windows during Chinese New Year to invite good luck and prosperity.
The two paper-cut 福 characters are festive decorations, symbolizing blessings for the household.
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