Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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Anren Township was definitely one of the most remote poverty-stricken townships in Nanjiang Province, so several people were sent here for reform at that time. Mr. Sheng was one of them. He and his wife were both university professors. They had two sons and one daughter, the eldest son of the family had gone abroad, and lost contact during the special period. They didn’t know what was going on with him now. Their young daughter was hastily married into a poor farmer’s family, and thus escaped disaster. The second son couldn’t bear the humiliation and committed suicide. His wife was with them when something happened to the Sheng family. She broke off the relationship, but she was not really heartless, instead she left deliberately. If she hadn’t been around outside, Mr. Sheng wouldn’t have been able to go to a place with mountains and rivers like Nanjiang Province. He might have been sent to open up wasteland in the Northwest. At his age, and being a literati, he would definitely not be able to survive it.
The second son had a son, whose name was Sheng Chuan and whose nickname was Ping’an. He was eight years old and had gone through a lot. He seemed to have grown up overnight. His mother wanted to take him to remarry, but he refused to agree to it. His grandparents were older. Now, he wanted to go to the countryside with them. If anything happened, there would at least be someone by his side.
That year, he was eight years old and Ye Ning was five years old.
Sheng Chuan was good-looking, so Ye Ning loved to follow him. Later, she became wise and understood his identity. She met him less openly and often went there secretly. Later, Ye Lan fell in love with him too, because Mr. Sheng would tell many interesting stories. Speaking of which, the two sisters had good grades and the reason why Mr. Sheng started a small business.
In 1979, Sheng family was allowed back, and Sheng Chuan followed his family. In the same year, he was admitted to college. He would send letters back every month, but he never received a reply. After a long time, the contact was lost. This time, the old man asked him to come back to visit his past. He stopped by to see Ye Ning and Ye Lan as the people who had taken care of him.
“It’s really safe to come back. I heard that your grandfather went back to be an official?” asked a woman in the village.
“What’s the point of being an official? They are professors and they teach college students.”
“Hey, college students become officials after graduation, so aren’t the teachers who teach college students also officials?” The woman was unhappy and retorted with her hands on her hips.
“My grandfather is just an ordinary people’s teacher, not an official.” Sheng Chuan explained with a smile.
The cowshed where he lived needed him to pass by Ye Ning’s house. When he passed by, he saw that the door of their house was locked, so he asked, “Uncle Qingshan is not at home?”
When talking about Ye Qingshan, the people in the village looked sorry.
“That little girl Ye Ning usually looks cute and doesn’t go to the fields or do housework. Hey, I didn’t expect that as soon as Ye Qingshan left, she still managed to support the family. She said she wouldn’t go to college when she didn’t want to. She was admitted to a pharmaceutical factory as a formal worker, and now she has brought her younger brother and sister to the city. I heard that she has found a good school for her younger brother, and he will go to school in the city next semester. If Qingshan was alive, he could have followed her into the city.”
“No, she has only been working for a few months. I said it before, we farmers should work hard and not go far away.”
Many people echoed this. At this time, people were afraid to go out to work. After Ye Qingshan’s incident, they were even more afraid to go out. Some of the bolder people wanted to try it, but their families didn’t agree.
Sheng Chuan didn’t expect such a big thing to happen to Ye Ning’s family. Her mother returned to the city and never went back, and her father died unexpectedly while working away from home. Thinking of the little girl who cried all the time, he felt a little uncomfortable.
After spending a night in the village, Sheng Chuan came to the pharmaceutical factory to find Ye Ning the next day.
“Ye Ning? There is such a person. It’s unlucky that you came here. She went on a business trip to Nancheng with the boss.” The guard took the cigarette from Sheng Chuan and spoke in a gentle manner, “If you really want to find her, come back in a week.”
“Thank you.” After asking for Ye Ning’s address, no one knew it, so Sheng Chuan had no choice but to leave a letter and give it to the doorman, asking him to help deliver it to Ye Ning.
At the same time, Ye Ning, who had finished her work in the morning, was told that she would have half a day off for free activities in the afternoon.
She finally understood why people were rushing to go on a business trip. She worked in the morning and had free time in the afternoon. It was indeed almost like traveling.
It was good to have some rest. She went to the mall with two other female colleagues in the factory. She didn’t forget to bring something for Yang Wanqing. In addition to hers, she also agreed to bring something to the two little girls in the workshop. It wasn’t anything big, just a piece of clothing, a silk scarf.
Yang Wanqing had a really long list, a lot of bits and pieces.
She bought everything she could and marked the ones she couldn’t. It took her most of the day to finish, and she had to buy herself a watch. She went to a watch store to take a look, and some of them were very exquisite.
“This is new this year. You can only buy it in Nancheng in the whole country. You can’t buy it anywhere else.” The salesperson glanced at Ye Ning. The clothes were very beautiful and the material was good. She could afford it, otherwise she would never show it to her.
“What brand is this?” Ye Ning picked out a small ladies’ watch and asked.
“Nancheng Orchid Watch is famous throughout the country.” The salesperson was surprised that Ye Ning didn’t recognize Orchid Watch.
“One hundred and twenty-five yuan, do you want it?” Since Ye Ning didn’t know Orchid Watch, the salesperson’s attitude became much worse.
“Yes.” Ye Ning bought it after she was sure she liked it. She also thought that Ye Lan would go to high school soon and it would be convenient to have a watch, so she bought one for her. As for Ye An, if they had a digital watch, she would have bought it, but unfortunately they didn’t. She would buy one for him later when he was older.
It was a rare trip to Nancheng, so she couldn’t bring nothing with her, so she bought a pair of sneakers for Ye An. She don’t know if he would like it or not.
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