Xu Keke suddenly opened her eyes and sat up straight.
Clang! Clang! The distinctive rhythm of the green train as it moved forward filled my ears. The scenery outside the window rushed past.
The man sitting opposite her was around forty years old. He wore a melon-shaped hat and a long gown and mandarin jacket. So she had somehow traveled back to the Republican era.
A familiar feeling washed over her as Xu Keke received the original owner's memories. The world in this book differed somewhat from the real era she knew before; it had many discrepancies with actual history, making it a semi-fictional world.
The original owner's name was Du Jin. Her mother died when she was three years old. When her father remarried in the city, her grandmother was afraid that she would be mistreated, so she asked her wet nurse to take her to the countryside and raise her by her side.
When she was fifteen, her father suddenly sent someone to bring her back to the city and arranged a marriage for her. However, her husband died of illness less than two years after the marriage.
At that time, the domestic situation was unstable, so she went to Hong Kong with her husband's family.
Her later life was extremely miserable. Not long after arriving in Hong Kong, her husband's family divided the household. They gave her a small apartment and some money. However, because she had no means of making a living and encountered some misfortunes, she gradually squandered her savings.
He eventually ended up scavenging for a living, until he froze to death on the street.
Xu Keke had expected that this time, it would be another request for her to live well in place of the original owner. To Xu Keke's dismay, the original owner actually asked her to find the murderer who killed her mother.
The point where she was sent was where her father had sent people to bring her back to the city, shortly after her sixteenth birthday. At that time, her mother had been dead for over ten years. Even the wet nurse who had taken her back to the countryside had long since passed away. Where was she supposed to find out anything?
The butler opposite her, seemingly lost in thought, felt a little uneasy under her gaze. He pointed behind him.
"There was a melon seed vendor who just passed by. How about I buy you a bag so you can eat some?"
A single sentence brought Xu Keke back to her senses.
"Uncle Liu, how many years have you been with the Du family?"
The housekeeper was taken aback by her sudden question and subconsciously replied, "I was introduced to the master by a friend six years ago when the master was in Nanjing."
He hadn't inquired about the situation at the manor along the way, so he assumed she didn't care. As if understanding what she wanted to ask, he smiled considerately.
"The master and mistress are both very kind, and the young ladies are all lively and well-mannered. Knowing that you were coming back, the mistress specially asked the fourth young lady to prepare a room for you. She also bought a lot of fabric and jewelry, just waiting for you to arrive so that a tailor can make you new clothes."
Six years. Xu Keke nodded. It seemed she couldn't get any information from the past, so she would try to find out about the present.
“My father mentioned my marriage in a letter to my grandmother. Do you know which family it is?”
Butler Liu smiled even more obsequiously, "How could you say such a big thing to a mere servant like that, sir? Please sit down first, or that melon seed seller will disappear without a trace if he doesn't chase after us soon."
Without waiting for Xu Keke to speak again, he took a shortcut from the side and got up to go to the back of the carriage.
Watching his hasty retreating figure, Xu Keke smiled calmly. He seemed like a tight-lipped person who would eventually come forward. But this one dodge suggested that the original owner's marriage wasn't as simple as she thought.
The train was passing through a field of green wheat. Xu Keke glanced at her watch; it was 3:05. According to the original owner's memories from her previous life, the train would arrive at the station in about an hour.
Xu Keke glanced casually at the man in the black suit sitting diagonally opposite her, next to Butler Liu. His face was completely obscured by a low-brimmed top hat and oval tortoiseshell sunglasses. The only thing noticeable was his neatly trimmed mustache.
Xu Keke looked around boredly. Since the next stop was the final stop, the carriage wasn't as crowded as before, and there were several empty seats. The elderly woman who had been sitting next to her had gotten off at the previous stop, leaving the seat next to her empty.
Two seats away was a young couple with an infant. The baby, seemingly lost in a dream, suddenly burst into an incredibly invigorating cry.
The sound startled everyone in the carriage, and the carriage, which had seemed motionless, began to move involuntarily.
Xu Keke feigned impatience, turned around, and rolled up the car window. A breeze blew in; it was late spring, early summer, and the wind carried a hint of warmth.
Xu Keke rested her chin on her hand, tilting her head to stare blankly at the scenery outside the window. Her eyes, however, were fixed on the man diagonally opposite her through the glass.
Sure enough, the man reached into the handbag next to him and grabbed something.
He stood up slightly, his hand resting on the bicycle seat as if he were looking at something. He had a good build, but he wasn't very tall and was rather thin.
He took two steps forward when someone approached. He turned to face Xu Keke and made way for the person. Suddenly, as if bumped into, the person inexplicably lunged towards Xu Keke.
Xu Keke had been observing his movements, waiting for this moment. She quickly pressed her body against the corner of the car seat.
The man hadn't expected Xu Keke to dodge, and his head was about to hit her. He reacted quickly, placing one hand on the small table and leaning forward to steady himself.
So suddenly, what he was holding didn't go into Xu Keke's trench coat pocket, but fell onto her lap.
Xu Keke pretended to scream and frantically flung the cloth bag out the window.
The man was stunned! He rushed to the train window, clinging to it and peering out. The train was moving too fast, and the cloth bag was too small; what could he possibly see?
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