Jiang Youtao finally felt relieved. The next day, Zhong Qianxi came to play with her early in the morning.
As soon as she entered the room, she said, "Xiao Meng called me and asked me to tell you that her teacher asked her to go back to Shanghai. She said she had a project to research and left in a hurry. She didn't have time to say goodbye to you. She said she would treat you to dinner next time she has the chance to come back to Zaoxiang."
Zhong Qianxi received a call in the morning and came over right after she hung up.
Jiang Youtao already knew the true whereabouts of Meng Linyi. She also understood the reason why Meng Linyi asked Zhong Qianxi to tell her, as she was afraid that she would be implicated.
After all, the matter of enemy spies was a top secret in this era. If people knew that it was Jiang Youtao who revealed it to Meng Linyi, she would inevitably be investigated.
"Of course it would be best if she could go back. Although Zao Township is not bad, it is still not as good as big cities like Shanghai." Jiang Youtao said.
Zhong Qianxi is a local, and she is also yearning for the capital and international metropolises of this era: "I hope I can visit the capital in my lifetime."
Zhong Qianxi was amazed and envious of the vastness of this country. She wanted to go to the south to see the sea, to the southwest to see the beautiful mountains and rivers, to feel the vastness of the northwest, and then to the northeast to see the legendary aurora.
"Yes." Jiang Youtao said.
Zhong Qianxi didn't say much, just waved to her and left.
Jiang Youtao cleaned the house and went to the county town.
It was time for her to supply goods to Zhang Dezhen.
It was Zhang Dezhen's turn to have a day off today. After cleaning up, Zhang Dezhen insisted on inviting Jiang Youtao out for dinner.
Jiang Youtao couldn't resist the hospitality, and the two went together. At the entrance of the state-owned restaurant, they met Zhang Dezhen's boyfriend who was out to eat with his colleagues.
After meeting Zhang Dezhen, her boyfriend decisively abandoned his colleagues and came to eat with them.
Zhang Dezhen introduced the two to each other: "Taotao, let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend Shen Mingyuan, who is currently working in the canning factory. Mingyuan, this is the relative from my mother's side that I mentioned to you, Jiang Youtao."
The first time Jiang Youtao went out to sell melon seeds, she met Zhang Dezhen and Shen Mingyuan. Since then, Jiang Youtao has met Zhang Dezhen quite a few times, but this is the second time she has met Shen Mingyuan.
Shen Mingyuan glanced at Jiang Youtao secretly, his gaze stayed on her face for two seconds, then he smiled faintly and said hello.
Jiang Youtao replied with a "hello" and stopped talking.
The meal was quite good. Shen Mingyuan was always caring towards Zhang Dezhen, and did a good job in serving food and pouring water.
After dinner, Shen Mingyuan left with his colleagues, but Zhang Dezhen and Jiang Youtao had not finished eating yet.
Zhang Dezhen said to Jiang Youtao with a happy face: "Does my partner look okay?"
Jiang Youtao nodded approvingly: "It seems like he takes good care of you."
Zhang Dezhen was very satisfied: "Yes, from the time I met him to the time I started dating him until now, he has always taken good care of me. We were originally planning to get married this summer, but something happened in his family, so the wedding date was postponed."
Zhang Dezhen felt quite melancholy when talking about this.
Jiang Youtao was a little curious: "What's the matter that requires postponing the wedding?"
Not to mention now, even in the future, very few people would postpone marriage. Generally speaking, once a date is set, you have to get married.
"I am the only daughter in my family. I married Shen Mingyuan. Shen Mingyuan married into my family. He has three brothers, and he is the third oldest. We had planned everything well, but then his mother got sick and was hospitalized, so the plan was postponed."
Maybe it was because she had eaten too much melon, Jiang Youtao always had a bad feeling when she heard Zhang Dezhen say this.
"Is his family also from the county town?" Jiang Youtao asked pretending to be curious.
Zhang Dezhen always has a lot to say when talking about her boyfriend: "No, his family is from Sidaohe, and they are all farmers. He is a good student. After junior high school, he got a job at our county cannery. He has been in the factory for four or five years. He has been promoted from a temporary worker to a team leader."
"Then how did you two meet?" Zhang Dezhen had never told Jiang Youtao about her family situation, but from what she revealed in her daily conversations, her father should be a politician and hold a fairly high position.
Then the question arises, Shen Mingyuan is just an employee of a canning factory, how did he have any connection with Zhang Dezhen?
"At that time, he and his friends came to the cinema for a blind date. It happened that our cinema suddenly lost power. I fell and he helped me up." Speaking of how she met Shen Mingyuan, Zhang Dezhen still felt it was quite sweet.
Probably no girl can resist the romance of a hero saving a beautiful girl.
"Did you already visited his home? What's his family situation like?"
"I've been there, his parents are very welcoming. There are three brothers in his family, no daughter, but his aunt is kind and adopted a girl who is about Mingyuan's age. She treats her very well. I thought, if his family can treat a girl who has no blood relationship with him so well, they should be able to treat me well too, right?"
"His brothers and sisters-in-law are all very nice. They are very simple people."
Jiang Youtao still felt something was wrong. This routine seemed a little familiar.
After finishing their meal and coming out of the restaurant, Jiang Youtao rode her bike home, while Zhang Dezhen went out to play with friends.
Jiang Youtao returned to Zao Township and went to the post office first to take a look. Fu Shaohua was not there as he had gone to the countryside to deliver letters and newspapers. He asked the melon-eating system to check Ji Youshang's current situation and found that he was still in a trance on the train to Shencheng.
It will take at least two or three days to get back to Shanghai.
Jiang Youtao was bored, so she had to go out and gossip with the old ladies in Xingfu Lane.
Su Jianing and He Shuli were also there. Su Jianing took a knitting needle and was learning to knit a sweater from He Shuli.
She was very skillful and she could knit quite well after He Shuli taught her just once.
When Mrs. Zhang saw this, she told everyone, "Jianing is so skillful. I embroidered a few flowers on clothes a few days ago, and she wanted to try it. I taught her once and she learned it. The flowers she embroidered are very spiritual."
Su Jianing's eyes sparkled: "Do I really have talent?"
In her previous life, Su Jianing had always been the woman behind Lu Xiangqian. Under the control of the plot, her only purpose in living was to help Lu Xiangqian take care of everything at home, take good care of the children, and let him have a warm family after coming back from a tiring and busy day outside.
In that situation, everything Su Jianing did became a matter of course, but if she did something wrong, she would be like the sinner in the family. Not only Lu Xiangqian, but even the two children would give her a cold look.
Su Jianing was used to being suppressed, and she didn't regain much confidence after her rebirth.
But the praise from the neighbors in Xingfu Lane during this period made Su Jianing more and more confident in herself.
"Yes, of course." Old Mrs. Zhang said, "Do you know the old lady at No. 10 in our alley? Before liberation, she was an embroiderer for a wealthy family. The day before yesterday, she looked at the flowers you embroidered and praised them."
Speaking of the family at No. 10 Xingfu Lane, Old Lady Zhang couldn't help but mention their child: "In fact, the old lady and her husband also had a son, who joined the army when he was 18 years old. Later, there was no news of whether he was dead or alive."
"That was in the 1950s. In a blink of an eye, nearly 20 years have passed."
"So they never went to look for it?" He Shuli asked curiously.
"How could they look for him? He just followed the army. They had no idea which unit he followed. There were so many troops, and they didn't find this person after searching for several years, so they gave up."
At this point, Mrs. Zhang looked at Su Jianing and said, "That old lady doesn't get along much with our neighbors. Since she praised you, you should go and talk to them more."
Su Jianing now felt that everyone was more interesting than staying at home, so she agreed.
They chatted there for the whole afternoon and went home when it was almost dark. Jiang Youtao was preparing to cook when He Shuli came.
"Taotao, I made some wolf tooth potatoes. I'll bring some for you to try." As soon as He Shuli came, Jiang Youtao smelled a very strong aroma of fried potatoes.
Jiang Youtao is not from the southwest and rarely eats wolf tooth potatoes, but anyone who has eaten wolf tooth potatoes won't dislike its taste.
The wavy-cut potato strips are fried until golden brown, garnished with green onions, bright red chili powder and various seasonings. The overbearing aroma can be smelled even before you eat it.
"Thank you, Sister Shuli." He Shuli was the oldest of the female protagonists Jiang Youtao knew. Jiang Youtao and the others all called her sister. "Come in, come in. My meal is just ready."
Jiang Youtao led He Shuli into the kitchen, took the plate she gave her, went to the cupboard, got a bowl and poured out the potatoes, then, using the cupboard as a cover, took out a plate of cooked blanched prawns.
Now she has no shortage of food and drink, and these seafood and river fish have been in her backpack for a long time.
In order to make these foods appear more legitimate, the melon-eating system fabricated an aunt who married into a fishing village. Whether in terms of life experience or personal presence, her life was impeccable, and even if someone checked, they would not be able to find anything.
There was a lot of dried shrimps in the package that Jiang Youtao received a few days ago. After boiling them in water, the taste was no different from fresh shrimps.
Jiang Youtao also thoughtfully served a dish of ginger, garlic and soy sauce.
He Shuli looked at the shrimps on the plate, each of which was as thick as a thumb, and was embarrassed to accept them. Jiang Youtao said, "My aunt sent me a lot of seafood the day before yesterday. Now Weiwei and Manqiu are not at home, so I have to make a lot of them. Just consider it as helping me share some of the burden."
He Shuli finally couldn't resist the temptation and took it away, but she decided to kill the non-laying chicken in her house tomorrow and send some meat to Jiang Youtao.
After He Shuli left, Jiang Youtao was not in a hurry to eat. Ten minutes later, Fu Shaohua came and brought Jiang Youtao the fruits he had exchanged with the villagers in the village.
July is the time when apricots are ripe.
The apricots of that era were very sweet. Jiang Youtao washed them and placed them on the dining table as after-meal fruit.
Fu Shaohua was already very hungry, and Jiang Youtao had made some eggplant noodles with sauce for lunch.
The braised eggplant is made from the dried eggplants left over from last year. It is chopped into minced meat and fried with the method of making noodles with soybean paste. A little bit of minced garlic and green pepper are added to enhance the flavor, and then mixed with the noodles rolled by Jiang Youtao. It is refreshing and chewy.
Fu Shaohua walked around the streets more often and knew more things. He told Jiang Youtao about what she had seen and heard in the countryside.
The two families had quarreled again, and the couple in that family had a conflict. He wanted to talk to Jiang Youtao about everything he saw today.
The desire to share is extremely strong.
Jiang Youtao also satisfied his desire to share. After he finished talking, she also told him what happened to her at home.
The things were very small and ordinary, but the two of them talked about them with gusto.
It was not until the moon came out that Fu Shaohua reluctantly went home.
After washing up, Jiang Youtao lay on the bed and started to let the melon-eating system check on Gu Nianwei's condition.
She was sitting in the corridor of a hospital, with several people standing or standing beside her.
The melon-eating system said: [ The grandmother of the No. 1 heroine is about to die. Before she died, she said something that shocked the No. 1 heroine. ]
Smelling the scent of the melon, Jiang Youtao immediately turned over and sat up: [ Expand your story. ]
The melon-eating system obviously did not expect that World No. 1, which had not been running perfectly successfully, would actually have subsequent melons. Before it spoke to Jiang Youtao at the exit, it had already told the whole story.
[ The mother of the heroine No. 1 is not her biological mother. Her biological mother died before she was born. The woman who raised her and planned to let her marry her stepson is her stepmother. ]
Jiang Youtao's reaction was normal. Gu Nianwei was not the original Gu Nianwei, and whether her mother was her biological daughter or not had nothing to do with her. Instead, it made her further away from the original Gu family.
[ What about Xiao Meng? How is she now? ]
[ She just came out of the research institute and is about to go back to the dormitory to rest. ]
Meng Linyi is fine, and there is no problem with Gu Nianwei either: [ What about Manqiu? How is she doing in the village? ]
[ Everyone took good care of her, and she has fallen asleep. ]
Jiang Youtao didn't ask about Zhong Qianxi. Her schedule was surprisingly regular, so she should have gone to bed by now.
All the friends were fine and Jiang Youtao fell asleep.
Two days later, in the early morning, Jiang Youtao curled up in bed and looked at the system screen.
Ji Youshang had already gotten off the bus in Shencheng. He found a tricycle and headed home without stopping.
An equally inconspicuous person followed him inconspicuously. Even the person who drove the tricycle for him was replaced by a relatively young man. He had a simple smile on his face and started chatting with Ji Youshang about family matters.
Ji Youshang revealed his past without realizing it.
Ji Youshang got off the car at the Ji family's small Western-style building, pushed open the door and walked inside.
By the generation of Ji Youshang's parents, the Ji family had three branches. Ji Youshang's father was the eldest, but Ji Youshang was not the eldest grandson of the Ji family. He was the second oldest. The eldest was from Ji's second uncle's family. He is now an internist in Huangpu Hospital. Last year, he married the daughter of the dean. He usually lives in the staff quarters and does not come back often.
But there are quite a few people living in the Ji family's small Western-style building, including Ji Youshang's family of four, Ji Sanshu's family of four, Ji Ershu's couple and his little daughter.
When Ji Youshang came back, the family was at its busiest. It was dinner time, and there were a lot of food on the dining table on the first floor. Ji Youshang's mother, his second aunt and his third aunt were busy in the kitchen, and his father and uncles were smoking in the living room.
Mr. Ji is not here. He must be in his room and hasn't come down yet.
Ji Youshang's return attracted everyone's attention. Everyone knew that Ji Youshang went to coax his fiancée who had grown too powerful and was about to break up the engagement.
Mother Ji came out of the kitchen and wiped her hands on her apron: "How is it, has Linyi calmed down?"
Meng Linyi, the daughter-in-law chosen by Grandpa Ji, was not liked by Mother Ji at all. In private, she scolded Grandpa Ji for meddling in her affairs countless times. But in public, she had to happily accept this marriage.
Ji Youshang frowned and put the suitcase by the door. "She didn't know how to behave. I went there in person. She wanted to cancel the engagement and was very rude. I didn't indulge her and came back directly."
"Anyway, my grandfather said that he would transfer her back at the end of the year. We'll talk about it then. I don't know what my grandfather is thinking. What's so good about Meng Linyi? She's just pretty, and her family background is nothing special."
No one responded to Ji Youshang's complaints.
Their idea was the same as Ji Youshang's, but the second and third rooms had slightly different ideas. Although they didn't say it openly, they were actually very happy in their hearts that Ji Youshang had arranged for such a fiancée.
Ji's mother took his suitcase away, and she agreed with what Ji Youshang said.
With the capabilities of the Ji family, the transfer of a young nurse can be said to be too easy.
As for Meng Linyi's words that she would not marry him, no one in the Ji family took it to heart.
Ji Youshang felt that he had figured out Meng Linyi all the way back. As the eldest grandson of the Ji family, and also handsome, Ji Youshang didn't believe that Meng Linyi wouldn't be moved when she saw him. She was just playing tricks on him.
All in all, doesn't she just want to go back to the city? Breaking off the engagement is just an excuse.
As soon as Ji Youshang finished speaking, a cup flew from the second floor to Ji Youshang's feet, scaring all the Ji family members present.
Mother Ji had a trace of panic on her face. She looked at Grandpa Ji who was walking down the stairs slowly and said with a smile: "Dad, why did you get up so early today? It will take a while to wrap the wontons."
Mr. Ji's three meals a day are very exquisite. Five out of seven days a week, he eats freshly made meat wontons.
Ji's mother and three sisters-in-law had to get up at five o'clock. Some bought meat, some chopped stuffing, and some kneaded the dough. When Grandpa Ji got up and went downstairs, the wontons had to be on the table on time.
Mother Ji looked at the quartz clock on the wall. Today, Grandpa Ji came down half an hour earlier than usual.
Old Master Ji didn't even look at Ji's mother. Instead, he asked Ji Youshang in a deep voice, "What did I tell you when you went to the Northeast? I told you to make sure Meng Linyi gave up the idea of breaking off the engagement, and that you get along well with her, and it would be best if she agreed to marry you before the end of the year. Did you turn a deaf ear to it?"
When Old Man Ji got angry, no one in the Ji family dared to speak, and the two sisters-in-law who were cooking in the kitchen carefully closed the door.
Ji Youshang lowered his head. Based on his twenty years of life experience, he knew that it would be better for him to keep silent when Old Man Ji got angry.
Old Master Ji was very dissatisfied and disappointed with Ji Youshang.
If it weren't for the fact that when he first saw the young Meng Linyi, Ji Youshang was the only boy of the right age in his family, how could he have chosen Meng Linyi for him!
Over the years, Ji Youshang has been a waste, including the boss's family, who can only see the little piece of land in front of them.
Old Master Ji walked to the turntable on the first floor, picked up a vase and smashed it in front of Ji's father.
"I have said it countless times before. Even if you are not satisfied with Meng Linyi's family background, you should still treat her as your legitimate fiancée. You should go and see her during the New Year and other holidays, and show more concern for her on weekdays."
"But what did you do? You just pretended that this person didn't exist. Not to mention greeting her on weekdays, you even pretended to be indifferent during the New Year."
"You did a good job of hiding it from me. If I hadn't noticed it three years ago, you would have kept it from me forever!" Old Master Ji became angrier as he spoke.
The road to success that he had found for the Ji family was ruined by this family of idiots. Old Master Ji was filled with hatred and regret, and he pounded the ground with his cane, making a loud clanging sound.
Every time he hit the floor, Ji's father's body trembled.
Old Master Ji's cane was almost sticking in front of Ji Youshang: "I sent her to nursing school, and you were in the medical school next door. It wouldn't take you long to walk there. It's been three years, three whole years. I thought you would go and keep in touch with her, but what happened?"
"You haven't even met her a few times, and yet you want to cancel the engagement right after she graduated from school!"
Ji Youshang lowered his head and pursed his lips without saying a word. He wanted to refute Old Master Ji, but he didn't dare.
Old Master Ji snorted and looked at the people in his room.
The Ji family, a medical family, had stood in Shencheng for hundreds of years, but was bound to decline in the end. No matter how hard he tried to turn the tide, he could not save this useless family.
Mr. Ji was so angry that he didn't even eat his favorite wontons and turned around and went back to his room.
He opened the closet in the room, pushed open the door and entered a small secret room.
There was a statue of Jesus placed in front of the secret room. Mr. Ji knelt devoutly in front of the statue and began to confess.
Looking at the cross on Jesus' chest, his thoughts went back to twenty years ago.
That day, he woke up as usual, but was surprised to find himself back in 1957. In that year, his three hospitals were still in existence, and his Ji family was still one of the most upright families in Shencheng.
The Ji family was not liquidated during the WG, and all of his sons are still alive.
After failing to return to his previous life for three consecutive days, Mr. Ji began the Ji family's self-rescue plan.
First, he closed down his two hospitals and three pharmacies, leaving only the hospital with the worst performance and two pharmacies with little income. Before the big GM started, he exchanged all the family assets for small yellow croakers and stored them secretly.
When the Ministry of Commerce proposed public-private partnership, he was the first to respond positively. As a leader, the Ministry of Commerce rewarded him, and the small Western-style building where he had lived for many years was preserved, and his family was also awarded the honorary title of red capitalists.
With this title, his family can be guaranteed not to be implicated even during the most chaotic years.
Apart from that, he kept wandering around his own pharmacy until he met Meng Linyi, the genius pharmacist praised by everyone in later generations, who made outstanding contributions to the national pharmacy.
Compared to the solemn-faced woman in later generations, Meng Linyi was only four or five years old at that time. She was still a plain little girl from an ordinary alley in Shencheng, and she was also the little girl who helped her parents take care of her younger brothers and sisters.
Old Master Ji was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. The next day, he took the initiative to find Meng Linyi, went home with Meng Linyi, and arranged a marriage between him and Ji, the grandson of his eldest son.
Over the years, in order not to hinder Meng Linyi's self-growth, he rarely appeared in front of Meng Linyi, but he often asked his eldest son, daughter-in-law and grandson to hang out in front of Meng Linyi more often, and try to cultivate feelings with Ji Youshang before she became famous.
In this way, when Meng Linyi becomes successful in the future, as the granddaughter-in-law of the Ji family, all her achievements will be engraved with the shadow of the Ji family.
With Meng Linyi around, the country would not take action against the Ji family. Even if it was found that the Ji family had provided funding to the enemy when they funded the party.
A national treasure-level pharmacist is enough to make state departments cautious and also enough for the Ji family to clear their name and get out of trouble.
But the eldest brother's family was too stupid and short-sighted. They only saw Meng Linyi's shortcomings and couldn't see her strengths. Even when he sent Ji Youshang to Meng Linyi, he couldn't see Meng Linyi's peculiarity.
Old Master Ji only hated himself for not being able to let go of the worries in his heart. If he had paid more attention to Meng Linyi, things would not have come to this point today.
Old Master Ji was too regretful and too hateful. Seeing his family fail in two consecutive lives was too much of a blow to him.
Old Master Ji had a vicissitudes of life on his face: "Merciful Lord, please tell me, did you let me go back to the past just to see the Ji family fall once again? Then what's the point of letting me go back and see it again? I've seen enough in my last life."
"Merciful Lord, why can't such a brilliant person appear in our Ji family? Why does it have to appear in a girl with no identity or background?"
"Merciful Lord, why do my descendants still look like a hopeless case no matter how I teach them? Why do they still choose such a narrow path when I have found a great road for them?"
"I can't understand it. I can't understand it. Merciful Lord, why don't you protect your most sincere believers?"
Old Master Ji lay on the ground, crying bitterly.
His merciful Lord remained the same, without any change.
····
When it comes to enemy agents, the country's response speed has always been fast. Ji Youshang was eager for quick success, and after resting at home for a whole morning, he couldn't wait to go to the agreed meeting place, a park not far from his home.
He pretended to read a newspaper on a chair for more than half an hour, and then threw the newspaper into the trash can beside him. After a while, a sanitation worker with a broom and a hunched back came to clean up.
While no one was paying attention, he put the newspaper that Ji Youshang had read into his pocket, picked up the garbage, and left calmly.
The stalkers were divided into two groups, one group followed Ji Youshang who had already left, and the other group followed the sanitation worker.
So on this very ordinary summer night, the enemy spies in Shencheng were picked out one by one.
There were as many as 200 people involved in these enemy plots. Some of them were newly-turned rebels, while others were old spies who had been lurking in Shencheng for 20 to 30 years.
These old nails have taken root in Shanghai. Not only have they married and had children, they have also made achievements in various fields. The most powerful one has even joined the ranks of civil servants and become a section chief.
This special operation code-named "Pulling Carrots" lasted for two full days. On the morning of the third day, a group of soldiers knocked on the door of the Ji family and broke in, showing an arrest warrant to the Ji family members who were having breakfast.
When he found out that they were trying to catch an enemy spy, Ji Youshang's face turned pale and a strong smell of urine flowed out from between his legs.
Just when he was about to stand up, Mr. Ji calmly finished the last fresh meat wonton in his bowl and stood up.
"I thought I had hidden it well, but I didn't expect you to find it. I really shouldn't have underestimated the state machinery."
Ji Youshang looked at his grandfather in amazement. He never knew that his grandfather was also an enemy spy.
The soldiers who came to arrest Ji Youshang also fell silent. They looked at each other obscurely, and the commander nodded to the person closest to him: "Cuff him."
Mr. Ji had already accepted his fate and did not resist at all while being handcuffed.
He has thought it through clearly. No matter what, he has gained a new life, and this is the final outcome. He has to accept it.
Mr. Ji was taken aside, and the commander pointed out two more people and walked towards Ji Youshang: "Ji Youshang, we found out that you were recruited by Party M while you were in school. In the past two months, you have been constantly passing our intelligence to Party M. Now we are arresting you according to the law. Please cooperate."
Regardless of whether Ji Youshangpei cooperated or not, he was taken away.
Old Master Ji looked at Ji Youshang with gritted teeth. He never dreamed that the Ji family would produce two traitors.
He never expected that the people he thought were there to arrest him actually didn't find him at all, but when he saw them, he couldn't wait to stand up and blow himself up!
Mr. Ji was so desperate that he almost fainted.
The soldiers escorting them were very happy.
Who would have thought that Mr. Ji was also an enemy spy? Judging from his age, his treason could be traced back to the Anti-Japanese War!
This is a walking medal of honor! This is a medal of honor that fell from the sky! Everyone's eyes were shining when they looked at Grandpa Ji. This was truly an unexpected surprise.
Ji Youshang didn't dare to look at his grandfather.
Jiang Youtao, who was far away in Zaoxiang, Harbin, had been watching this radish-pulling drama for two or three days in a row. Even though she was knowledgeable, Grandpa Ji's actions still left her dumbfounded.
This play is so fucking wonderful!!!