Shen Qiao didn’t want to make a big scene, so she simply said, "I’m going to stay at my grandmother's house for a couple of days."

Her grandmother lived in a rural commune, over an hour away by bus. It wasn’t a big deal; she seldom had the chance to visit, so it was fine to go.

Most people in the neighborhood knew she was having a disagreement with her parents, since nothing really stayed private in the family quarters. They didn’t ask more questions.

To be honest, it was hard for people to understand why anyone would willingly go back to the countryside to endure hardship rather than stay in the city. After all, Zhang’s family was a great match for her. Everyone else only regretted that they didn’t have this opportunity themselves.

However, there was one thing to be said: which family had a daughter as beautiful as Shen Qiao?

The neighbors, watching her leave, remarked, “She’s pretty, but she’s too thin.”

“Being thin isn’t good, she won’t have a good life. She can’t even have children.”

Shen Qiao didn’t know they were talking about her. She caught the bus to the train station, still determined to leave.

Though she had considered leaving without taking any money to make a statement, she realized it wasn’t practical. After all, even a train ticket required money. So, she packed the seventy-eight yuan she had left.

The train station wasn’t far from her home, but she hurried in case her family noticed and tried to stop her. She quickly bought a ticket for the next available train heading in the right direction, hoping to leave as soon as possible.

Her plan turned out to be correct. Half an hour after she left, her mother, Liu Aihong, arrived at the station looking for her.

Liu Aihong had been at a wedding banquet that day. She didn’t want to take anyone else, so she brought her grandson along. On the way home, she thought about her daughter’s recent mood and decided to buy her some cookies.

But when she got home and checked her daughter’s room, all she found was a note.

She could barely read, but she could make out the meaning of the note. In a panic, she rushed the child over to a neighbor’s house and immediately set out to find Shen Qiao.

She searched the train station for hours but couldn’t find her. In the end, she had to go home.

When she arrived home, it was already dark. The family was waiting for her to cook, as only Shen Liang didn’t need to work.

Upon hearing the news, everyone was shocked.

Shen Wenhua, with a dark expression, said, “What did you say?”

How was he going to explain this to the Zhang family?

Liu Aihong, with a mournful face, pushed him, saying, “It’s all your fault. You drove her away.”

No matter how much Shen Wenhua loved his daughter, his pride always came first. He said, “She’s gone too far. Well, let her stay away from now on!”

While the family was in chaos, let’s focus on Shen Qiao’s journey.

The train she was on took her to Xinhang, five hours from the city. By the time she arrived, it was already dark, but the station was still quite crowded.

She followed the crowd out of the station, bought a ticket for the next train to Puhua. The timing was unlucky, as she would have to either wait outside all night or stay in a guesthouse.

Not wanting to spend money, Shen Qiao wrapped her scarf tightly around herself and found a spot where the wind was blocked from both sides. She leaned against her bag and prepared to tough it out.

But it wasn’t long before she started to feel drowsy. Her eyes drooped, and just as she was about to drift off, she felt someone approaching.

Startled, she opened her eyes.

A man in his forties had been standing near her, and when he met her gaze, he casually withdrew his hand and turned to leave.

Shen Qiao was shocked, covering her mouth, her heart racing. She couldn’t decide if he was a thief, a pervert, or both.

Her tears, which had nearly dried up, started to well up again. But she forced herself to say, “I can do this.”

Those words offered little comfort, but they helped her keep her eyes open until dawn.

When daylight broke, the station was even busier, and the people with bad intentions seemed to disappear.

Shen Qiao finally boarded the train and found an empty seat. She hugged her bag and fell asleep the moment her head hit the seat.

The daytime felt safer, but during the night, she kept her eyes wide open, using a trick to stay awake when she couldn’t resist the fatigue—pinching herself. It took her two days and one night to reach Puhua.

That was only half the journey.

Puhua was a city, but she still had to take two more long-distance buses to reach the county seat of Guangming Village, then hop on a tractor to the commune, and finally take a bullock cart to the village.

The roads were bumpy, enough to make anyone lose their breath.

When Shen Qiao arrived at the youth dormitory in Guangming Village, it had been five days since she left home. She was so exhausted that she barely had the strength to stand but still had to greet the others.

There had been many young intellectuals (zhiqing) living in the dormitory, but one by one, they had either been recruited for work, joined the army, married, or returned home due to illness. Now, only six of them remained.

They were Shen Qiao, Li Liyun, Zhang Cuiting, Wang Yong, Zhang Bin, and Li Sheng. With so many empty rooms, each person had one to themselves.

With fewer people, there were fewer conflicts, and they all got along well. When they saw Shen Qiao return earlier than expected, they couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t you stay home a few more days?”

A round trip wasn’t easy. Young intellectuals had one chance each year to visit home, and many used any excuse to stay for ten days or even half a month.

Shen Qiao had already thought of an excuse. She said, “My mom wants me to perform well this year.”

The implication was clear enough for everyone to understand.

After all, many things in the youth program were linked to performance, especially coveted opportunities like entry to a university for workers, peasants, and soldiers.

The others congratulated her, assuming her family must have helped her find a way to go back.

Shen Qiao, however, was preparing for the tough work ahead. She forced a smile and said, “I’m so exhausted. Let me clean up and take a rest.”

Everyone understood that traveling by train was tiring, and no one noticed anything strange.

Shen Qiao quickly tidied up her room, washed up, made the bed, and lay down, sleeping straight through to the next morning.

In all honesty, if she hadn’t been so hungry, she wouldn’t have woken up at all.

Her stomach growled several times before she finally threw off the covers and got up, instinctively reaching for the drawer. It was empty.

It should have been where she kept snacks, but before returning home, she had eaten everything, fearing it would go bad.

At that moment, Shen Qiao realized that her life was about to face an immense challenge.