69: Chapter 69 Island Life in the 1980s (4)

If they weren't foraging for seafood, they were heading up the mountain, or else she was playing games with the other children in the family residential compound. She was a child now; what else was she supposed to do if not play?

However, they went foraging for seafood the most, because anything the family couldn't finish eating could be sold to those buyers, allowing them to earn some pocket money.

This was likely a job without age restrictions; as long as you found something, you could take it to be sold.

No matter how much, earning a little money for candy was great, and at the very least, the family would have some food.

Jiang Wan's Eldest Aunt and uncle didn't require her to do this. It wasn't as if they couldn't afford to raise a child, and they didn't need a young child to earn such hard-earned money.

They felt that their fair, tender, and delicate little girl would look less pretty if she were tanned by the sun every day.

However, their persuasion was fruitless. Jiang Wan and her three cousins were quite enthusiastic, so they had no choice but to let them be.

The three boys didn't need supervision, but the two adults always reminded Jiang Wan to take protective measures when she went out, not to get tanned, and to return early.

They told their three sons to take good care of their younger sister and not to let her get too tired.

They didn't even need their parents to tell them; the three boys were particularly fond of their younger sister and were very conscientious about taking good care of her.

This morning, Jiang Wan was going foraging for seafood with her three older cousins again. It had rained for two days, but the sun was finally out today, and the family had run out of seafood, so they had to go pick some more.

Jiang Wan followed behind her eldest cousin, Jiang Zhenyi, empty-handed, while her second cousin, Jiang Zhendong, and third cousin, Jiang Zhenlin, had already run ahead.

Jiang Zhenyi and Jiang Zhendong were twins, fifteen years old this year.

The two of them had long wanted a younger sister. When their mother was pregnant back then, they would shout every day that it would be a sister, but unfortunately, they guessed wrong in the end.

When the two saw Jiang Wan, they were overjoyed.

This was the younger sister of their dreams!

Seeing Jiang Wan walking very fast, Jiang Zhenyi was worried she might fall, so he quickly spoke up.

"Wanwan, slow down, be careful not to fall."

Jiang Wan was wearing a straw hat on her head, a large mask made by her Eldest Aunt, and a thin silk scarf around her neck. She was wrapped up so tightly that if it weren't for someone who knew her well, they wouldn't have recognized her as Jiang Wan.

"It's fine, I'm watching the road. Eldest Cousin, let's hurry up too, otherwise, all the good stuff will be picked by others."

Jiang Zhenyi laughed and said, "If they pick it, then they pick it. It just means it wasn't meant for us."

Jiang Zhenyi was quite open-minded. Every time they sold seafood, their parents wouldn't take the money, letting them keep it for themselves. Now, he even had some money in his hands.

If they couldn't find anything, at worst, they could just buy a good fish at the pier to take home!

As Jiang Zhenyi was talking to Jiang Wan, someone suddenly called out to him from behind.

"Zhenyi, are you going foraging for seafood too!"

Jiang Zhenyi and Jiang Wan turned their heads to look back in unison.

Two steps away from them, a boy was walking towards them.

Like Jiang Zhenyi, the boy hadn't put on his hat yet; it was hanging around his neck.

He had fair skin, was tall, had a slender build, jet-black hair, deep eyes, and a slight smile on his lips, giving people a gentle and steady feeling.

Seeing the person who arrived, Jiang Zhenyi happily went up and patted the boy on the shoulder.

"Shen Zhao, you rascal, when did you get here!"

Shen Zhao was also very happy to see his good friend.

"I arrived yesterday afternoon. Actually, I arrived a while ago, but it rained for the past two days, and the waves at sea were a bit rough, so the boats didn't run. I only came over yesterday afternoon after the rain stopped. I haven't been foraging for seafood in a long time, so I came to do that, but I didn't expect to run into you here. Hey, why are you the only one here? Where are your two younger brothers? Didn't they come?"

Shen Zhao looked around but didn't see Jiang Zhenyi's two younger brothers.

"Who said I'm the only one here?"

Jiang Zhenyi pulled over Jiang Wan, who was by his side.

"There's also my younger sister. This is my younger sister, Jiang Wan. As for those two boys you mentioned, they ran ahead a long time ago. Come, Wanwan, let me introduce you. This is my good friend, Shen Zhao. You can just call him Brother Shen Zhao."

Jiang Wan felt that the surprise came a bit too early. She hadn't expected to run into her mission target so soon after arriving!

This was simply too delightful.

However, now was not the time to chat with Xiao Lingdang; it was more important to handle the situation at hand first.

"Hello, Brother Shen Zhao."

Shen Zhao looked at Jiang Wan, who was wrapped up tightly. He couldn't tell what she looked like, as only a pair of beautiful, large eyes were visible.

"Hello,"

Shen Zhao didn't know what was going on. He had known Jiang Zhenyi for so many years and had never heard him mention having a younger sister. He did have female cousins, but Jiang Zhenyi had explicitly stated he didn't like them.

Now, Jiang Zhenyi was actually holding this younger sister's hand, which showed he liked her a lot. But where did this younger sister pop up from? Shen Zhao felt extremely curious.

But since the younger sister was still right there, Shen Zhao could only wait for another opportunity to ask Jiang Zhenyi later.

Once they reached the seaside, Jiang Wan and Jiang Zhenyi separated. Since they were still nearby and could be seen at a glance, Jiang Zhenyi felt at ease.

Seeing this, Shen Zhao quickly leaned over to Jiang Zhenyi's side and asked him what the deal was with this younger sister.

"Zhenyi, why have I never heard that you had a younger sister before? Why hasn't she been to your house before?"

Jiang Zhenyi didn't say much:

"Oh, my younger sister had been living with my grandmother before. My grandmother passed away a while ago, and since there was no one to take care of her, she had to come to my house. Shen Zhao, let me tell you, remember to take care of my sister when you see her. Wanwan is very pitiful; you are not allowed to bully her, got it?"

Jiang Zhenyi was a teenager and knew quite a lot; he truly felt that Jiang Wan was very pitiful.

Her own father had died, her own mother had abandoned her, and the grandmother who doted on her was gone too.

After coming to his home, she had always been very sensible. She didn't make a fuss like other children, nor did she clamor for food, clothes, or toys like other kids.

None of that, absolutely none of that. She never made any demands and helped his mother with household chores that she could manage every day.

Every time she sold seafood, she would give the money to his mother, saying she was young and didn't need much money, and that his mother should use it to buy food. When his mother said she wouldn't take it, she would say she should let his mother keep it for her because she was afraid of losing it. She was truly so sensible that it made people's hearts ache.

Shen Zhao had initially been curious about why Jiang Wan lived with her grandmother and where her parents were.

But seeing Jiang Zhenyi's silent expression, Shen Zhao felt that this probably wasn't a particularly good thing, so he swallowed his questions.

"Alright, I got it. What kind of relationship do we have? There's no need for such polite words. Your sister is my sister; isn't it only right to take care of a younger sister?"

After saying this, Shen Zhao began to change the subject.

"Sigh, are you going to continue training with them this year? If you want to, let's go together tomorrow..."

While Shen Zhao and Jiang Zhenyi were chatting over there, Jiang Wan was looking for seafood while receiving the plot information from Xiao Lingdang.

Apart from Jiang Wan, there was another transmigrator here, and that was the female lead, Bai Xueqing.

Bai Xueqing was originally a newly graduated female college student who was hit and killed by a car running a red light while looking for a job.

Then, she transmigrated into this world. After understanding the situation, she discovered that she was in a book.

And she was the female lead of this book. However, in the original plot, she chose to be with her fiancé, Shen Zhao. But just after the wedding ceremony was completed, before even spending the wedding night, Shen Zhao received a notice to return to his unit immediately, as there was an important mission waiting for him.

Unexpectedly, this departure resulted in them being separated by death. Bai Xueqing became a widow, and a widow who hadn't even consummated the marriage with her husband!

Although the Shen family was saddened, they did not mistreat Bai Xueqing. Knowing that their child had not yet shared a room with Bai Xueqing, they acknowledged her as their foster daughter, saying she was still young and encouraging her to find someone else to marry.

Later, Bai Xueqing met a college classmate whose family owned a factory. After meeting Bai Xueqing and learning she was single, he began to pursue her madly.

He said that he had liked Bai Xueqing back in school, but since he knew she had a fiancé, he hadn't bothered her.

Now that Bai Xueqing was free, he couldn't let this opportunity slip by no matter what.

He sent Bai Xueqing flowers every day and would occasionally take her out to eat Western food, attend concerts, go shopping, and so on. Bai Xueqing was coaxed until she was overjoyed, feeling that this man truly loved her, so she decided to marry him.

However, this sweet life turned sour a year after they married. The man began to stay out all night, and sometimes when he returned, she could smell perfume on him.

Bai Xueqing knew her husband had definitely cheated, so she had a big fight with him.

The man was arrogant, showed no remorse at all, and even told Bai Xueqing self-righteously.

He said that if Bai Xueqing could behave herself, the position of young mistress would always be hers; if she wanted to cause trouble, he would make Bai Xueqing have nothing. What he said about loving her before was also true; he did love her, but after obtaining her, he felt it was just so-so.

After saying this, the man slammed the door and left, going straight to find the woman outside, leaving openly and brazenly.

Bai Xueqing was extremely heartbroken, never expecting that a man's love could be so short-lived.

Wanting to know who had stolen her man, she secretly followed him, only to be hit and killed by a drunk driver on the road, ending her short life.

This was the original plot. After the modern-day Bai Xueqing transmigrated back, her choices were different from the original Bai Xueqing.

The transmigrated Bai Xueqing decisively proposed to her family that she wanted to break off her engagement with Shen Zhao, saying she only had brother-sister feelings for him, not romantic love.

Although her family was reluctant to lose the opportunity to marry into the Shen family, they doted on their child. Since their child didn't like Shen Zhao, they would break off the engagement!

Not long after, the engagement was successfully broken off.

Bai Xueqing actually had another target. She remembered that in that book, there was a man named Liang Shiwei, a soldier who served in the same place as Shen Zhao, though not in the same regiment. He eventually climbed to the position of General, and one could even see him on television.

And the wife by Liang Shiwei's side looked old and ugly, not at all appearing to be Liang Shiwei's wife.

Bai Xueqing felt that since she was the female lead, only this status was worthy of her; the position of General's wife should be hers.

Fortunately, Liang Shiwei was also in this city. After breaking off the engagement, Bai Xueqing would often stake out the street that Liang Shiwei's mother passed by.

One time, Liang Shiwei's mother sprained her ankle. No one else dared to go forward to help, and Liang Shiwei's mother didn't have a mobile phone to contact her family.

Just when she was helpless, Bai Xueqing descended from the heavens, came to Mother Liang's side, helped her up, found a car to personally take her to the hospital, and paid the medical fees, moving Liang Shiwei's mother to tears.

She said she had met a fairy. During their conversation, Mother Liang inadvertently asked if Bai Xueqing had a partner.

Bai Xueqing feigned shyness and said her family thought she was still young and wanted to keep her at home for a couple more years.

Mother Liang felt that this girl had a good heart and was beautiful; she was perfect to be her daughter-in-law!

Mother Liang introduced her son to Bai Xueqing, saying her son was tall and handsome and would be coming back to visit relatives next month. She said that if Bai Xueqing was interested, she would let her son meet Bai Xueqing.

Bai Xueqing was, of course, willing, but she pretended to hesitate for a moment on the surface, and when Mother Liang was about to be disappointed, she said she agreed.

Bai Xueqing said she wanted to see what that tall and handsome son Mother Liang spoke of looked like.

Once the two went on a blind date, they certainly took a liking to each other, and later, Bai Xueqing married Liang Shiwei.

And what about Shen Zhao? Since he was a child, his family had always told him that Bai Xueqing was his fiancée and his future wife, so he had always felt that taking care of Bai Xueqing was his responsibility.

But he didn't know if he liked Bai Xueqing, though he was heartbroken when he learned Bai Xueqing had broken off their engagement.

Shen Zhao thought, he must have liked her!

Later, while on a mission, he was careless and encountered an enemy ambush. In order not to be taken prisoner, he fought the enemy to the end, but was eventually shot in a vital spot and sacrificed on the spot.

After understanding the plot, Jiang Wan frowned and thought for a while before saying to Xiao Lingdang:

"Xiao Lingdang, I think we can just give up on this mission; there's no need to do it. He is a hero, a martyr who sacrificed himself for the country. How do you expect me to save him?

Am I supposed to stop him from going on his mission? That's impossible. Military orders are like mountains; he is a soldier, and this is his duty. I don't think I can save him."

Xiao Lingdang also agreed. This mission was different from other missions; this was a hero who sacrificed himself for the country, and it wasn't something Jiang Wan could decide.

Perhaps stopping him this time wouldn't prevent the next time; as long as Shen Zhao hadn't retired, he would always have the possibility of sacrificing himself.

But the mission hadn't even started yet, so giving up just like that—wasn't that a bit bad?

Xiao Lingdang tried to persuade her:

"Uh, Wanwan, actually you could try to do this mission. Don't you know medical skills? Why don't you become an army doctor, the kind that accompanies troops? When he gets injured, maybe you could turn the tide and save him, don't you think? Just give it a try. You haven't even started yet, and you're already giving up—that doesn't sound like your usual self!"

Jiang Wan still didn't have confidence, but she was still young, and Shen Zhao hadn't even joined the army yet, so there was still plenty of time to consider.

"Alright, I got it. I'll think about it first to see what the best way to handle this is."