"Li Zaozao, you little fox spirit! How come you have a picture of my fiancé in your bag!"
As soon as she stepped into the narrow sleeping compartment of the train, with a "thud", an old bundle made of broken flower cloth was thrown in front of Li Zaozao.
Zhou Yujiao, who was in the lower bunk, was full of anger, looking at Li Zaozao as if she wanted to bore a hole through her with her gaze.
"Explain this to me!" She gritted her teeth.
Li Zaozao was still a little baffled as she bent over to pick up her bundle and the photo on the floor.
This was a photograph given to the original owner by her grandfather, who said it was of the man she had been betrothed to since she was a little girl.
There wasn't much in the bundle, just one photograph of her fiancé in uniform and a letter of introduction.
She had been keeping well, it on her own bed.
She was just accompanying neighbour Zhang Dajie to take her two kids to the restroom, and when she came back, her things had been opened and dumped on the floor.
As her reaction came over her, her brow contracted in displeasure and she spoke harshly, "On what grounds did you go through my stuff? Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to mess with other people's things!"
What the hell was wrong with her upbringing?
Zhou Yujiao was very stylish, her hair was permed into waves, she wore a fur coat and a pair of small leather shoes, giving an untouchable missy appearance.
At this moment, she was being questioned by this unkempt country girl, her eyes flickered for an instant before she quickly retorted.
"Is that the point right now? The point is, why do you have a picture of my fiancé!"
"Good for you, I didn't think much of you being so quiet along the journey, I assumed you were a modest person, didn't think you were a fox spirit coveting other people's man!"
Zhou Yujiao was just about to explode with anger. She had spent an entire day and night on a train with Li Zaozao, a girl as plain and flat as a bean sprout.
Li Zaozao was covered in dirt; her clothes were ragged, the red coat she wore layered with a murky greasy film. Her shoes were also filthy to the point of unrecognizability, and two of her toes were poking out!
At first sight, one would assume she was from some isolated impoverished corner of the country.
Intensely put off by her pungent odor, Zhou Yujiao hadn't managed to get a wink of sleep. Instead, she spent the whole night chatting with Zhang Aiping, a fellow passenger who was traveling with two kids, talking about how she was on her way to visit her fiance stationed in the army.
Coincidentally, Elder Sister Zhang was also on her way to accompany her children to the military. Upon hearing this, Zhou Yujiao grew even more animated, ceaselessly singing praises of her fiance, about how great and handsome he was. He was still so young, yet he had already become a battalion commander.
Zhang Aiping casually commended her and, feeling pleased with herself, Zhou Yujiao turned towards Li Zaozao, who had been gazing out the window all this while, and was stunned by her response.
Li Zaozao simply responded, "I'm also on my way to meet my fiance." She then clutched her bundle tighter.
Zhou Yujiao was instantly resentful. How could a bumpkin, a stinky little country girl, possibly have someone interested in her?
So the moment Li Zaozao left with Elder Sister Zhang, Zhou Yujiao couldn't resist the urge to peek into her rickety cloth bag. She wanted to know what this unsightly girl's fiance looked like.
But who could imagine!
The unsophisticated girl's fiance, was the spitting image of her own!
Both irate and flustered, Zhou Yujiao was on the brink of rushing in and snatching the photo from Li Zaozao's hands.
However, Li Zaozao noticed her reaction, clutched the photo tighter, and retorted," You must be mistaken. This is my fiance, we have been engaged since childhood by my grandfather——"
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhou Yujiao shot back, her face akin to iron, "What childhood engagement? Right now, this man is my fiance!"
She bent over to get her suitcase, wanting to fish out the photo her fiancé had sent her, to slap Li Zaozao in the face with the truth!
"Don't believe me? Look, this is the photo my fiancé sent me in his letter. He's my future husband!"
As Zhou Yujiao extended the picture, Li Zaozao carefully compared it with the one in her hand.
Unknown before, but once she looked, Li Zaozao's heart immediately sank.
Were the people in these two photos not the same?
They were simply taken from different angles and at different times.
Could it actually be that the object of this arranged marriage was already corresponding with someone else and had settled on a lifelong commitment?
But the original owner's grandfather had clearly said that he hadn't been seeing anyone...
Could he be a scammer?
If he really was a scammer, should she still go looking for him?
After all, she had escaped from five provinces, after much pain and effort, to get here.
A month ago, Li Zaozao ended up in this body, a girl with the same name as hers.
A severe drought had occurred in the original owner's hometown, resulting in the death of many people to starvation. With no other solution, the original owner's family could only get a letter of introduction from their team, asking the original owner to come to Qilian Mountain to find her fiancé, to whom she had been betrothed since childhood.
The original owner had never traveled a long distance alone. When she left, she brought money and food stamps, changed from an ox cart to a horse cart, and then from a horse cart to an automobile, and finally arrived in Xishi City.
Xishi City had a train station that could take her directly to Suxi Province, but as soon as she arrived at the train station, the money and tickets she had were quickly stolen by a pickpocket.
The original host had been literally worried to death.
It was at this time that Li Zaozao crossed over.
It took her half a day to accept this fact. After sitting at the train station for a night and bearing the chill breeze, she made up her mind to continue to Su Province.
The ten-year movement had just begun, and joining the military was definitely better than staying in the village.
But she had nothing on her and was afraid of being repatriated. She didn't dare to seek help from the authorities and could only resort to begging along the way.
Along the journey, wild vegetable roots, stale buns, and even caterpillars rich in protein, Li Zaozao faced her fears to roast and eat them for survival.
Calluses had formed on the soles of her feet. After walking for over a month, she finally arrived in Su Province.
The Su Province was desolate, where the howls of wolves could be heard at night.
Li Zaozao didn't dare to venture on her own, so she ran to the local military department. With a military photo and a letter of introduction, she got a bunk ticket. She was arranged with some other military wives who were also heading to the barracks, ready to be sent off together once they disembarked.
But who could have guessed, even before getting off the train, she felt there was no longer any necessity to go.
"Why aren't you speaking up? Guilty, aren't you?" Seeing Li Zaozao silent for a long time, Zhou Yujiao's face grew incredibly sullen.
She slapped the table forcefully, "Li Zaozao, you have to explain everything clearly to me today!"
Li Zaozao snapped back from her memories. She licked her cracked lips and lowered her gaze to the photo in her hand once again.
In the photograph, a man in a military uniform was tall and straight. Broad shoulders and narrow waist, his eyes sharp.
He was riding a horse on the vast steppe, with towering white snow mountains in the background.
This photo had her travel thousands of miles, trek uncountable steps. Was it truly to end here, at the foot of the Qilian Mountains?
Closing her eyes, Li Zaozao took a deep breath, then abruptly opened them.
"I can't make it clear to you."
There was a heaviness in her chest, her breathing becoming labored, but she still calmly sat back down on her bed, saying word by word.
"When we get to the group, you can ask him yourself."
