It was noon soon, and Shen Mu Ning walked through the dense crowd toward the dining car. She wasn't worried about her luggage, because the passengers with seats in this carriage were all educated youth sent to the countryside, and they generally wouldn't touch other people's belongings.
The passengers standing in the middle of the carriage, seeing so many educated youths present, and with it being broad daylight, generally wouldn't reach into other people's belongings. Even if someone were shameless enough to try and touch a educated youth's things, the educated youths in the carriage would stop them; they didn't want just anyone to be able to touch their luggage.
She had long since finished all the food in her small bundle, and even ate quite a bit of the leftover steamed buns in her spatial storage. So, she had to eat at the dining car for every meal for the past couple of days. It was also because the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and food kept in her bag would easily spoil, unless it was really dry rations that wouldn't spoil easily.
She hadn't expected so many people to be taking the train from Beijing to other places. If she had known, she would have bought more steamed buns and put them in her baggage, so she wouldn't have had to squeeze through the crowds.
After finishing her meal, Shen Mu Ning returned to her carriage. When she tried to get back to her seat, she found that a farce was taking place in the middle of the carriage, blocking her way. So she had no choice but to watch the show from the back.
"Grandma, I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat, I'm so hungry!" came the voice of a mischievous child. Shen Mu Ning couldn't see the specific situation from behind, so she slowly spread her spiritual power around and saw a chubby little boy tugging at the hem of the old woman's clothes next to him and howling.
It turned out to be lunchtime. Lin Siqi took out the stir-fried pork and rice prepared by her family. It smelled so good that it attracted the attention of the mischievous child.
Perhaps his family spoiled him, which is why he developed a domineering and selfish personality. Whenever he sees others eating meat, he whine and begs for some.
Looking at that brat's chubby body and his all-talk-no-action behavior, Shen Mu Ning wanted to slap him every minute. Shouldn't his parents educate him properly?
To everyone's surprise, the old woman not only didn't stop him, but also chimed in, "Young lady, look, my child is just greedy, could you share some with him?"
Lin Siqi rolled her eyes inwardly and casually refused, "No way."
When Lin Siqi refused him, the chubby boy wailed even louder. He was like this at home; as long as he cried for something, his mother and grandmother would give in in no time. But the noise made the onlookers frown.
"Siqi, why don't you give him some extra length? He looks so pitiful." Seeing that everyone around them was being disturbed, He Xiaolan gently persuaded Lin Siqi.
If Lin Siqi gives it to her, it means she's a sucker, and other people with ulterior motives might try to take advantage of her. If she doesn't give it, then Lin Siqi's stingy behavior will make her seem understanding and considerate of the bigger picture. Either way, she'll be in a winning position.
Upon hearing that someone was willing to help him, the old woman immediately perked up and said with a smile, "Young lady, please have some compassion and let my precious grandson taste meat!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Siqi rejected her without hesitation, leaving Lin Siqi speechless as she was about to say something.
Her refusal stirred up a hornet's nest. Not only did the chubby boy wail loudly, but the old woman also cursed repeatedly: "You're all just capitalists! Look at how well-dressed you are, looking down on us country folk, huh? Then why are you coming to the countryside to steal our grain? If you're so rich, why don't you stay in the city? Why are you going to the countryside?!"
The educated youth in the carriage trembled with anger upon hearing this. The old woman's behavior of arbitrarily labeling people was disgusting, and it was an indiscriminate attack. For a moment, no one in the carriage spoke.
Shen Mu Ning couldn't stand it anymore. She had originally planned to watch the show and enjoy the gossip, but not only was the gossip uninteresting, it also made her get scolded. She decided to end it here.
So she pushed through the crowd, grabbed the old woman by the back of the neck, and said with a little force, "Old woman, watch your mouth. We are all good young people who responded to the national policy and went to the countryside to build the motherland. We are not capitalists. Don't just label people like that."
"You keep asking people to share some meat with you, how dare you be so arrogant? If you want meat, go buy it from the food truck, don't leave it here and spoil people's appetite."
The old woman had intended to continue her tirade; how dare a little girl provoke her? She'd show her the consequences. But then she felt a sharp pain shooting through her hand, which Shen Mu Ning was gripping. It felt like Shen was about to crush her wrist, the pain making her tremble. She immediately stopped talking, instead covering her grandson's mouth with her other hand and slowly moving out of the carriage.
Seeing that the old woman had been driven away by Shen Mu Ning, the others also withdrew their gazes from the spectacle.
Seeing that Shen Mu Ning had chased away that annoying old woman, Lin Siqi felt a surge of goodwill towards her and quickly thanked her, saying, "Thank you, comrade. May I ask your name?"
Shen Mu Ning gently shook her head and said, "No need to thank me. My name is Shen Mu Ning, and I am an educated youth who went to the countryside in Chunshi."
Upon hearing that she too was being sent to the countryside in Chunshi, Lin Siqi excitedly exchanged information with Shen Muling. After a conversation, they discovered that Lin Siqi, Shen Muling, He Xiaolan, and Zhang Jiayang, who wore a wristwatch, were all being sent to the countryside in Chunshi.
After exchanging information, the four of them sat back down. However, she didn't find the joy of being fellow educated youth sent to the countryside. Instead, she wondered: Why do these three names sound so familiar? Where have I heard them before?
Suddenly, Shen Mu Ning froze as if struck by lightning. She hurriedly used her mental power to search through the miscellaneous pile of things she had collected in the apocalypse.
Finally, she found a period rebirth novel called "After Rebirth, I Became a Big Shot Through Cooking Skills". She bought this novel in the post-apocalyptic world to pass the time when she was bored. She hadn't read much of it. The reason she felt that their names were familiar was because those three were the main characters in the early part of the novel.
Lin Siqi is obviously the female lead, He Xiaolan is a villainous supporting character, and Zhang Jiayang doesn't have many scenes in the early stages. So she didn't travel to a parallel universe, but rather into the book.
After thinking it through, Shen Mu Ning started looking for her name in the book. Sure enough, she was just cannon fodder, with very few scenes. She married a local not long after going to the countryside and later died in childbirth.
Shen Mu Ning felt a pang of sadness. She didn't want to talk. Why was life so difficult? She had come to the countryside hoping to live a leisurely life, but with the female lead here, how could she possibly have a peaceful life?
Most importantly, don't mention things from the future, or the female lead might find out. However, the book says she brought the seasoning warehouse from her first restaurant with her, and that her cooking is incredibly delicious—I wonder if that's true!
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