Fortunately, Fang Lan'e came out after a while, and Ai Xiaoxia breathed a sigh of relief.
Fang Lan'e first went to the toilet and then jumped out from the wall.
The two entered the cornfield. Fang Lan'e held Ai Xiaoxia's hand and cried, "Xiaoxia, you're finally here."
Ai Xiaoxia held Fang Lan'e's hand and said, "Xiao'e, don't cry yet. I've already thought of a solution. Time is running out, so please listen to me first."
Fang Lan'e looked at Ai Xiaoxia with some disbelief: "Have you really come up with a solution?"
Ai Xiaoxia nodded and said, "Xiao E, do you believe me?"
Fang Lan'e said with certainty, "I believe it."
"I want you to leave home for a while and see the outside world. Once you're out there, you'll have a new perspective on life, and you'll have your own direction. If you don't leave this place, either your parents' home or your husband's home, neither of which is a good choice. Once you're out there, I believe you'll have new choices."
"But I've never left. I'm afraid I'd starve to death if I went out."
"Don't worry about that. I asked my husband to find you a job in the city. It provides food and accommodation. I didn't ask about the salary, but it should be the level of an ordinary city worker."
After saying that, Ai Xiaoxia glanced at her watch and continued, "It's 8:40 now. Leave a note for your family later, saying you want to go out and try your luck. Then go to the village and take the 11 o'clock bus to the city. I'll go back now and take the 9:30 bus to the city to meet you. You'll see me when you get off." As she spoke, she took out ten yuan and gave it to Fang Lan'e, "Don't let anyone else know about this."
Fang Lan'e was nervous when she took the money, but she knew that Ai Xiaoxia was right. This was her only hope of survival. She was living a life worse than death at home, so she might as well give it a try.
She took the money: "Xiaoxia, thank you so much."
"Don't be polite. I'll go back to catch the bus and wait for you in the city." Ai Xiaoxia patted Fang Lan'e's arm and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." After that, she quickly rode away on her bike from the path.
After returning to the village, Ai Xiaoxia didn't want to send the bike back home, otherwise she would have difficulty finding an excuse to go out with her family. So she left the bike at Boss Liu's house and then took a bus to the city.
When she arrived in the city, she didn't call Lu Jingshen first because she was not sure whether Fang Lan'e could come at noon. There were still two hours left. She just walked around here to see what the city was like in this era.
The square in front of the station is quite large. The train station is opposite the bus station. It is a three-story Russian-style building. There are quite a lot of people there, and their clothes are very representative of the era. Ai Xiaoxia always feels like she is watching a TV series from the 1990s.
The buildings in the city were not too tall at that time. Most of them were five or six stories high, with a few being taller.
Across the square is a newly opened Lingyuan Hotel, with a main building of four floors, which is quite large in this city. He guessed that this might be the place Lu Jingshen was talking about, but he was not sure.
Lingyuan City is a very developed city, as it has some of the country's best steel mills and lead mines. The jade here is also very famous, as well as medicinal materials, etc. Therefore, after the state supported individual businesses, there were a lot of businessmen coming and going here. In addition, this is a very important road transit point, so the hotel here has no shortage of customers.
She walked a little further along the square. This era was much more backward than her own, but she felt that people were very enthusiastic, life had less pressure, there was little competition, and everyone lived a very comfortable life.
After taking a walk around and seeing that it was almost time, she returned to the exit of the bus station to wait for Fang Lan'e.
Finally, Fang Lan'e got off the car as Ai Xiaoxia expected.
Ai Xiaoxia went to meet him and asked, "Did everything go smoothly on the way?"
Fang Lan'e nodded: "Yeah, it went smoothly. It was just my first time riding in a car by myself, and I was scared to death."
Ai Xiaoxia took Fang Lan'e's hand and walked towards a public telephone booth on the side of the road. She said, "Everyone has a first time. It's great that you took the first step. I wasn't sure if you could come out, so I didn't call my husband. Let's go call him first. The hotel is nearby."
Fang Lan'e said apologetically, "Xiao Xia, your husband won't have any objections to you because of what happened to me, right?"
Ai Xiaoxia smiled and said, "No, I get along well with him. He's a nice guy."
"Xiao Xia, I really have no other choice. Otherwise, I promise not to let you ask your husband for help."
"Everything he and I have to discuss is done through discussion. I'm not begging him, so don't overthink it."
After saying that, Ai Xiaoxia went to the phone booth and called Lu Jingshen's office.
Lu Jingshen was afraid that Ai Xiaoxia would come in the next two days, and he calculated the number of buses from the village, so he deliberately went to eat half an hour later.
Just at this time he received a call from Ai Xiaoxia. He quickly left the office and took a taxi to the station.
When he arrived at the station, he looked for the agreed location and found Ai Xiaoxia. His heart felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.
Ai Xiaoxia waved to Lu Jingshen: "Lu Jingshen, this way."
Lu Jingshen strode towards Ai Xiaoxia and asked, "Are you getting impatient?"
Ai Xiaoxia smiled and said, "No, we haven't been here long." Then she added, "I haven't introduced her to you yet, Depth of Field, this is my best friend Fang Lan'e."
Then she turned to Fang Lan'e and said, "Xiao'e, this is my husband, Lu Jingshen."
Lu Jingshen nodded and greeted Fang Lan'e: "Hello."
Fang Lan'e was a little afraid of Lu Jingshen and didn't dare to look up: "Hello, I'm really sorry to trouble you."
Lu Jingshen said, "You're Xiaoxia's friend, no need to be so polite." Then he said to Ai Xiaoxia, "I've already greeted them over there, let's just go over there."
Ai Xiaoxia agreed: "Okay, let's go there quickly."
Lu Jingshen walked on the left side of Ai Xiaoxia, close to the side of the road where there were cars, and then walked a little faster than them. While leading the way, he also left some space for Ai Xiaoxia and her friends to talk.
Seeing Fang Lan'e was particularly reserved, Ai Xiaoxia took her hand and said, "Don't be nervous. Lu Jingshen looks serious, but he's actually very easygoing."
Fang Lan'e nodded and whispered to Ai Xiaoxia, "I understand. I'm just worried that if I don't do my job well, you won't be able to explain yourself to your husband."
Ai Xiaoxia smiled: "It's okay, even if this one doesn't work, we can find something else, don't think about it."
Lu Jingshen didn't really listen to their conversation, but instead wondered if the two girls really didn't come from the same village. Ai Xiaoxia probably hadn't been to the city before, so why wasn't she curious about anything, or feeling out of place? She and Fang Lan'e were completely different people.
They went to Lingyuan Hotel, the one Ai Xiaoxia had guessed before.
As soon as I entered, a young man in his twenties came out to greet me: "Brother Shen, I've been waiting for you to come."
Lu Jingshen introduced Ai Xiaoxia beside him to the young man and said, "Qiangzi, this is my wife Ai Xiaoxia." Then he also introduced Fang Lan'e.
Qiangzi said to Ai Xiaoxia with great respect: "Hello, sister-in-law. Today I finally see your face. You are more beautiful than I thought." Then he greeted Fang Lan'e.
Ai Xiaoxia politely replied, "Thank you for the compliment. I'm really sorry to bother you this time."
Qiangzi said, "Sister-in-law, please don't be so polite. Let's go inside and sit in the office to talk. The tea is ready and we're waiting for you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
