Chapter 8: Encountering the Male and Female Leads

After being tricked back by her eldest sister and brother-in-law in her previous life, she never saw them again. They probably assumed she had died in the countryside, and they would never have imagined that her sister and brother-in-law had conspired to give her away, never even giving them a chance to meet.

Thinking of this, Wen Xi couldn't sleep. She hurriedly climbed up, threw on a coat, took some manuscript paper to pad under her textbook, and began to write.

She had intentionally let her eldest sister intercept this first letter, so she didn't write anything else—just some very ordinary greetings and expressions of longing, so as not to arouse her sister's suspicion.

The next time she wrote a real letter to her second brother and parents, she would tell them about how her eldest sister had deliberately signed her up for the countryside behind everyone's back.

She was seven years younger than her eldest sister, and she truly didn't know how she had hindered her sister to the point that her sister would treat her this way. She had only been graduated from high school for a few months and still had time to find a job; she didn't know why her sister was in such a hurry to sign her up for the countryside.

Once the letter was finished, Wen Xi folded it neatly, placed it in the pocket of her padded jacket, blew out the candle on her nightstand, and lay down to rest.

Perhaps it was because she was too exhausted from the long train ride, she slept incredibly well, sleeping straight through until dawn, only being woken up by the sounds from the house.

Lying in her quilt, Wen Xi gave a long, comfortable stretch before slowly getting out of bed and walking to the main hall. Seeing Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue squatting on the ground tidying things up, Wen Xi asked with a smile, "Jiaojiao, Xiaoyue, did you sleep well last night?"

Shen Jiaojiao stood up and said excitedly, "I slept wonderfully! But I couldn't fall back asleep after midnight. Xiaoxi, thank you. After we fell asleep yesterday, you finished everything. You worked so hard."

"Since you're so worried about me, I'll leave the housework to you two today. It just so happens I need to go to town." Wen Xi let out a large yawn and went to the kitchen. She lifted the pot lid and, seeing that sweet potato porridge was already cooking inside, nodded in satisfaction. Fortunately, she wasn't the only one contributing to this home.

Wen Xi scooped some hot water from another pot, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. Afterward, she went back to her room to apply face cream and tied her hair into two simple ponytails. There was a female protagonist from the twenty-first century in this village; she didn't dare to be too extravagant for fear of being noticed, so she styled her hair in the most common fashion of this era.

As the three of them sat together eating breakfast, Wen Xi asked, "Jiaojiao, Xiaoyue, aren't you two coming to town with me?"

Shen Jiaojiao hurriedly waved her hands. "I'm not going. My legs are still weak!"

Jiang Yue also shook her head quickly. "I don't want to run anymore either. I'll go in a few days!"

Wen Xi nodded. "Alright, then you two stay home and rest well. If anything happens, wait until I get back. Oh, and if any other educated youths come by, whatever you do, don't open the door to let them in, and definitely don't let them tour our rooms."

Having lived in the educated youth dormitory for two years in her previous life, she knew those people too well.

Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue nodded repeatedly. "Xiaoxi, don't worry. We will definitely guard the house well."

After breakfast, putting down her utensils, Wen Xi saw that time was running short and hurried off. As soon as she left the courtyard, she started running toward the place where the ox carts gathered at the village entrance.

By the time Wen Xi reached the ox cart stop, she was panting heavily. Mainly because her physique in this life hadn't been trained yet, so her constitution was just average, unlike her previous life where farm work had built up her strength.

The old man on the ox cart sized up the unfamiliar Wen Xi. "Comrade, are you the new educated youth who arrived yesterday?"

Wen Xi pulled out two White Rabbit creamy candies and stuffed them into the old man's hand, saying with a smile, "Hello, Grandpa. I am the new educated youth, Wen Xi."

"A round trip on the ox cart is ten cents," the old man said.

Wen Xi pulled out ten cents, handed it to the old man, and found a seat. After a while, she saw the original protagonist Lin Yiwan and the original male lead Xia Minglei walking toward them side by side. Wen Xi's eyes widened in shock; she had never expected that on her second day in the countryside, she would encounter the legendary female protagonist with the heaven-defying golden finger and the male lead.

Lin Yiwan was the same age as Wen Xi, sixteen this year, while the male lead Xia Minglei was four years older than Lin Yiwan, twenty years old. The male lead had not yet realized that he already liked the female protagonist and that he couldn't live without her, so he hadn't confessed yet. However, there was mutual affection between them, just waiting for a stimulus from the female protagonist's childhood friend to break through that final layer of tension.

Lin Yiwan had transmigrated when she was nine years younger than the "little" Lin Yiwan, and she was now sixteen. This meant the female protagonist had been here for seven years. Through seven years of effort, several members of the female protagonist's family had obtained jobs in the city, and they had become the wealthiest family in the Fengshou Brigade. One could only imagine how many families secretly envied and resented them.

"Xiao Wan, Comrade Xia, hurry up and get on. We're leaving," the old man shouted.

Lin Yiwan and Xia Minglei walked quickly over. As soon as Lin Yiwan sat on the ox cart, Wen Xi clearly smelled the scent of perfume. Wen Xi was somewhat surprised—wasn't the female protagonist's golden finger an automatic planting space? How did she have such fragrant perfume? Could that automatic planting space produce perfume as well?

Wen Xi kept shrinking into a corner, trying her best to minimize her presence; she didn't even have the heart to enjoy the scenery on both sides.

The female protagonist's soul was that of a woman in her thirties. Wen Xi hadn't even reached thirty when she died in her previous life, meaning she was younger than the female protagonist. Therefore, she had to be cautious to avoid being detected by the female protagonist.

One mountain cannot hold two tigers, unless one is male and one is female. Between her and the female protagonist—two tigresses—only one could remain. So, it was better to be careful; she didn't want to die young again.

Fortunately, Lin Yiwan was only focused on chatting with Xia Minglei and did not notice Wen Xi's existence. Perhaps in Lin Yiwan's mind, everyone in this world was just a passerby and she didn't care about them!

After all, to highlight her happiness, the author had written everyone else to be extremely miserable.

A few dozen minutes later, the ox cart arrived in town. Everyone got off the cart and dispersed. Wen Xi also hurried toward the supply and marketing cooperative; she had been here in her previous life and was very familiar with the area.

The supply and marketing cooperative, the post office, the bathhouse... they were all in that area, not far from each other, only a few minutes' walk apart.

Arriving at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw the crowd inside and changed direction, walking straight toward the post office. She first mailed the letter, and then spent twenty yuan to buy a large stack of old stamps.

She didn't have a golden finger as powerful as the female protagonist's; her sign-in system could only sign in one item per day. It was impossible to make a fortune quickly, so she couldn't miss even a small opportunity to earn money. Just like these stamps—the original novel mentioned that they would be extremely valuable decades later!

(End of Chapter)