"Uncle, save your breath. You should save the good marriage for your own daughter."

Jiang Qiutang's expression changed. "How can you be so ungrateful? You should know that we are your family. As a young woman, no matter where you go, you always need family to support you."

Jiang Xuan laughed, "We've had no relationship since you schemed to take my university spot."

A layer of hatred welled up in Jiang Qiutang's eyes: "Fine, then don't regret it. We'll give you the money, but don't even think about setting foot in this house again."

Jiang Xuan nodded, raised three hands and swore: "Don't worry, as long as I get the money, I will never step into this house again."

Jiang Qiutang went off to raise money while cursing and swearing.

Three days later, in the afternoon, Jiang Qiutang's family scraped together the money and finally handed it over to Jiang Xuan.

Jiang Xuan counted them, and after confirming that everything was correct, she quickly packed a few clothes and left.

*

Qinshui Railway Station.

The train station is about 20 kilometers away from Hongxing Village. In the past, you had to walk to the town first, and then take a bus to the bridgehead. There are buses to the train station at the bridgehead, and you can just wave them down.

It usually takes three to four hours.

Jiang Xuan was lucky today. She ran into a tricycle going to the train station at the village entrance in the morning, so she arrived at the train station a little after nine o'clock.

The provincial military command is located in Ningzhou.

There is only one train a day to Ningzhou Station, departing at 10:30 a.m.

At that time, it was still a green-skinned train, with Ningzhou Station as the final stop, and the entire journey took 28 hours.

In her previous life, Jiang Xuan came from a wealthy family and had never taken a regular train. Now that she was not short of money, she planned to buy a sleeper ticket.

However, the sleeper tickets were sold out, so she had no choice but to buy a hard seat ticket, thinking that she would get on the train first and then see if she could upgrade to a sleeper ticket later.

Jiang Xuan, clutching her ticket, arrived at the waiting room.

The air was filled with an unpleasant, mixed odor—sweat, the sour smell of food, and the soot from burning coal on the train.

The small waiting room was crowded with people waiting for their trains. Luggage was piled up like small mountains next to the old wooden chairs. Some were wrapped in old bed sheets, some were tightly tied with hemp rope, and some were bulging nylon bags.

The air was filled with the cacophony of voices—loud conversations, rambling chatter, the cries of babies, and the shouts of ticket inspectors.

Jiang Xuan found a small corner near the ticket checkpoint, stood there, and took a short breath.

An elderly man was sitting next to her, munching on corn, and next to him was a young couple sharing a pancake.

Jiang Xuan didn't eat anything in the morning. Perhaps it was the excitement of leaving this awful place that made her feel so hungry.

Around 10 o'clock, the ticket inspector used a loudspeaker to announce that the No. 12 train bound for Ningzhou Station was about to start boarding.

Before Jiang Xuan could react, she saw the old man next to her suddenly stand up, stuff the half-eaten corn into the pocket of his Zhongshan suit, clap his hands, pick up the nylon bag that was almost as tall as a person and run towards the ticket gate.

"Line up properly, don't push."

Jiang Xuan was closer, and because she had light luggage and walked quickly, she was fifth in line.

After the tickets were checked, she saw those people running wildly toward the platform like madmen.

There were occasional sounds of luggage falling and anxious shouts throughout the journey.

It's really not easy to squeeze onto a bus!

After finally squeezing onto the old green train, the carriage still had that familiar smell, just like the waiting room.

There were already quite a few passengers on the train. Qinshui was a stop along the way, and a small one at that, so the seat next to Jiang Xuan was empty.

After sitting down, she subconsciously pressed the cloth bag inside her clothes.

Today she wore a very old light blue short-sleeved shirt, with a plaid shirt over it.

The clothes were all discarded by Jiang Qiaoyun; they were very outdated.

She hasn't had time to buy anything new these past few days, and since she's going on a long trip, it's best not to dress up too much for safety reasons.

The cloth bag was sewn inside the shirt.

She sewed it on herself last night, combining the original owner's memories.

These days, the security situation isn't great, and she was carrying so much money, along with her grandfather's letter and that military medal, so she had to be careful.

As the train chugged along, everything outside the window began to rush past.

Jiang Xuan looked out the window, her feelings very complicated.

"We've arrived at Liuhe Town. The train will stop here for 10 minutes. Passengers, please don't rush. Take your luggage and belongings and line up to disembark." The train attendant called out as he walked through the carriages.

Jiang Xuan looked out the window. There was a rammed earth platform, and across from the tracks was a hillside overgrown with weeds. Apart from a few telephone poles, there were no other buildings.

The wind looked quite strong, and the wild grass was being blown about in all directions.

Not far from the platform, several elderly women were carrying baskets and calling out their wares.

In the sweltering summer heat, the car already smelled quite strong, so Jiang Xuan decided to go out for some fresh air and buy some food while she was there.

Liuhe Town is a major station, and there are many passengers getting on and off the train at this station.

As soon as Jiang Xuan got off the bus, an elderly woman wearing a faded headscarf warmly greeted her.

"Young lady, would you like to buy apricot juice?" The old woman lifted the wooden bucket, and a thick, sweet aroma mixed with dust wafted out.

Jiang Xuan touched the change.

Just to be on the safe side, she put some change in her pocket before leaving home.

Suddenly, she felt a hard bump on her back.

She stumbled and looked over to see a young man in a gray jacket bowing and apologizing repeatedly with his hands clasped together. "I'm sorry, I bumped into you by accident. This apricot juice is on me."

"No."

"Don't mention it, consider it an apology."

The man quickly paid and handed the water to Jiang Xuan.

Jiang Xuan was still feeling grateful when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her waist. She looked down and saw a tear in the side of her clothes, from which blood was seeping out.

The cloth bag sewn inside the clothes had disappeared.

Jiang Xuan was both anxious and angry. She looked up and in the blink of an eye, the man in the gray jacket who had just been in front of her was already thirty meters away.

At that moment, he was climbing over the railway railing.

Jiang Xuan felt blood rushing to her head. Ignoring the pain, she shouted, "Thief, stop!" and used all her strength to chase after him at a 100-meter sprint speed.

The passengers on the platform panicked and instinctively started checking their pockets to see if their belongings had been stolen.

Jiang Xuan chased to the fence, where two more men with ferocious faces suddenly appeared on the other side.

The man in the lead had a scar across his face and was playing with a gleaming switchblade.

Jiang Xuan was anxious and scared, not knowing what to do.

Losing the money would be one thing, but that military medal was her treasure.

Suddenly, a loud voice came from afar: "Three o'clock!"

Immediately afterwards, a bullet whizzed past Jiang Xuan's ear, and the switchblade in the scarred man's hand was knocked to the ground.

Before Jiang Xuan could react, a tall man in desert camouflage uniform leaped over the railing with one hand, kicking up a cloud of yellow sand as he landed.