Volume One, Chapter Five: The Quota for Rural Assignments

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Dong Qianqian stared at the tattered black-and-white photograph, her heart once again aching for the original owner. The original owner could never escape the marriage because of a father whose heart was as cruel as a beast’s. A lifetime spent in the harsh northwest, battered by sandstorms and treated like a dog, beaten and scolded. Dong Qianqian could no longer bear it. She had originally thought to leave some money for this family, but now, she didn’t even want to consider it.

Decisively, she went to the master bedroom, once the love nest of the original owner’s parents. The warmth of the past was gone; all the furniture had been removed by Dong Qianqian, except for the rosewood wardrobe, which had been part of the original owner’s mother’s dowry. Inside the wardrobe was a drawer with a hidden compartment.

When the original owner was young, Dong Ercheng had once shown off the secret compartment, where he hid Russian books to win the favor of the original owner’s mother. Now, Dong Qianqian opened the drawer and the secret compartment, only to find no receipts or money inside. Instead, there were love letters exchanged between that pair of scoundrels, along with some bills of dealings between their organizations.

All dated three years ago, the most crucial letter described how she had painfully given birth to their love’s fruit, Dong Shuanghuan, and, due to harsh conditions, had been forced to give away Dong Shuanghuan’s twin sister. No wonder Dong Ercheng treated Dong Shuanghuan as his own, granting her whatever she wanted. It turned out they had conceived the child before the mother’s pregnancy; in chronological order, she might even have to call Dong Shuanghuan “elder sister”!

The thought of such a disgusting truth happening to her own body made Dong Qianqian suppress her anger. She patiently smoothed out the creased papers she had just pulled out, carefully stored the evidence, and placed the rosewood wardrobe back into the space. Noon was approaching, and the stepmother would be returning soon.

Taking advantage of no one watching, Dong Qianqian broke the glass on the balcony and escaped from the house. Inside the space, she tidied her makeup in front of the mirror. The mirror was far better than the old bronze ones—her face could be seen clearly, even her eyelashes perfectly reflected. Using her exquisite makeup skills honed at the Shangshi Bureau, she transformed herself to resemble Lin Xuehua’s sister, Lin Luhua, from memory. Fortunately, both sisters were short, and Dong Qianqian could barely pull off the role.

When she emerged from the space, she found a crowd gathered around the Dong family’s Western-style house, whispering incessantly.

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Dong Qianqian quietly approached and overheard news that Lin Xuehua had screamed and fainted. It seemed time flowed interchangeably between the space and reality. Well, this was good news—she wouldn’t need to buy a house anymore.

With hopeful anticipation for the future, she returned to the neighborhood office, where a little girl was still waiting outside—a woman in a Western-style coat. The staff were preparing to leave for dinner and saw someone entering again; regardless of the purpose, they had no choice but to sit back down patiently.

Their work was tough; every person had quotas to meet. Xiao Wang was in this situation—he still needed to send two people to the northwest and the northernmost Beidahuang region this month to complete his quota.

He immediately greeted her with utmost enthusiasm: “Comrade, come see our up-to-the-mountains and down-to-the-countryside program! Responding to the Party’s call to build the northwest, accept re-education by the poor and lower-middle peasants, root yourself in the countryside and carry out the revolution! Now, if you sign up for the Great Northwest, besides the official subsidies for educated youth, we offer an extra month’s worth of ration coupons. Don’t miss this opportunity!”

Xiao Wang had thought that after this spiel, the lady would just leave. After all, no parent wanted to send their children so far away, especially with the risk they might never return. Yet he still held a tiny hope that maybe this aunt would be moved by his dedication.

Dong Qianqian was not moved at all. At a glance, she knew this comrade’s smile was forced. In the palace, he likely wouldn’t have lasted three days. Fortunately, he was born in modern times and didn’t have to live by others’ whims, or else he wouldn’t even have food to eat. Thinking this, she carefully adjusted her voice to sound steady and deep.

A calm female voice emerged from her chest: “I am willing to follow the Party’s call and have my children receive education. So, see where these two can be assigned. Preferably the harshest places; that way their temperaments can be corrected, and they can return to the Party’s embrace.”

Dong Qianqian flipped to the pages for Dong Jianxi and Dong Shuangcheng. Although neither had graduated high school, they met the criteria to go to the countryside.

Indeed, these two qualified. At first, Dong Qianqian was very surprised. Dong Jianxi should have had a rural household registration as the original owner’s third uncle’s son. Yet the household register showed him as Lin Xuehua’s son, with Dong Ercheng as his stepfather. This had never been mentioned in the story, and the original owner had never known about it until death.

Dong Qianqian didn’t want to investigate further. As long as a person was on this household register, except for the original owner, none of them could expect to live a peaceful life.

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“Comrade, are you sure? What’s your relationship to these two?” Although Xiao Wang did not want to know, protocol required confirmation.

Dong Qianqian was prepared and presented a black-and-white photo of Lin Xuehua and Lin Luhua, showing the close bond between the two sisters.

“This is my sister Lin Xuehua, their mother. She works at the Women’s Federation and is too busy, so she entrusted me to help register them. I don’t recall any regulations forbidding relatives from assisting with registration, do I?”

To prevent disbelief, Dong Qianqian also showed a family portrait requested by Dong Shuanghuan the previous year. Interestingly, the original owner wasn’t in the family photo because she had been ill that day and missed the shoot.

Seeing the family portrait, Xiao Wang relaxed and immediately issued referral letters, sending the siblings separately to Beidahuang and the Great Northwest, leaving the Dong family’s address and phone number. He stressed that if they did not depart that day, a city-wide announcement would be made, and military personnel would escort them onto the train. To avoid public shame, it was best not to resist.

Dong Qianqian happily waved and nodded, taking the two months’ worth of ration coupons for the siblings. She noticed the little girl still standing loyally at the gate, shivering in the cold wind.

She hadn’t expected the little girl to be so diligent—the charm of eggs was truly powerful! Dong Qianqian shook her head helplessly and approached the melon-headed little girl.

“A little girl in a gray cotton jacket just told me she found the person she was looking for. You can go home now.”

“Really? But I haven’t seen them here.”

“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you?”

“Alright then, I’ll go home. Thank you, auntie!” Watching the girl bounce happily back home, Dong Qianqian felt reassured.

She found a deserted alley, returned to the space, and washed off the gaudy makeup. She switched to a pale, delicate look and deliberately put on her most tattered cotton coat; then she went to the hospital and pitifully requested to be admitted.