This Was Fate!

While everyone else was still watching the train approach, Bai Yao grabbed his luggage and headed straight for the front.

Whoever boarded first got a seat. Whoever was a step too slow was out of luck.

Bai Yao's move brought the others to their senses. Hu Yang, especially, followed right behind him when he saw him move, with Gu Yang next.

As the train pulled to a stop, Bai Yao saw that there were already quite a few people in the carriage. Fortunately, he was at the front of the line.

Tickets checked, he boarded.

Once inside, Bai Yao found that the carriage was indeed quite crowded, though the row of seats in front of him had comparatively fewer people.

In the end, Bai Yao chose a seat in the middle.

His reason was simple: there was a handsome man with a buzz cut sitting there.

Though the man wore ordinary patched clothes, he sat upright like a soldier. His indifferent expression, however, made him look as though strangers should keep their distance.

When Bai Yao got closer, he saw that the handsome buzz-cut man had to be at least 1.9 meters tall.

That height was genuinely rare in this era.

Even Bai Yao, at 175 centimeters, was already considered tall.

"Comrade, could you please move aside? I need to put my luggage..."

Before Bai Yao could finish, the man picked up one sack in each hand and easily placed both on the luggage rack. He made it look as though Bai Yao's sacks were filled with nothing but air.

"Uh, thank you."

After thanking him, Bai Yao took the inside seat.

Hu Yang had taken a seat on the other side, and another man across from him had also put his suitcase on the luggage rack.

"Thank you, comrade. My name is Hu Yang. Are you an educated youth going to the countryside too?" Hu Yang asked.

"My name is Dongfang Dazhuang. I'm not an educated youth; I'm going home. Comrade Hu, you really are an educated youth?"

At the sound of that name, Bai Yao felt his heart skip a beat.

Good grief!

Well, good grief!

Dongfang Dazhuang! Hu Yang!

I get it now. So this world was stitched together from different stories.

That was right. Dongfang Dazhuang and Hu Yang were the protagonists of another book, a period novel with two male leads: a rugged man and a beautiful young educated youth.

The reason Bai Yao remembered it so clearly was that the name Dongfang Dazhuang was simply unforgettable.

The character had made an even deeper impression on him when he chatted with that book's author and learned that the name originally chosen for the top was Dongfang Dapao.

Now he also understood why Hu Yang was so good-looking. He was a protagonist, just like Gu Yang.

That makes sense. Perfect sense.

With that thought, Bai Yao turned his gaze to the handsome buzz-cut man beside him.

Since he's so good-looking too, could he also be the protagonist of some novel?

But the man caught him sneaking a look.

Just as Bai Yao was feeling awkward, the man spoke first. "My name is Kong Wu. I'm an educated youth going to the countryside."

After speaking, he looked at Bai Yao, waiting for a reply.

"My name is Bai Yao. I'm also an educated youth going to the countryside," Bai Yao replied.

Then the atmosphere immediately froze.

Unlike the two of them, Hu Yang and Dongfang Dazhuang were chatting so happily that they had forgotten all about the two men across from them.

There was no helping it. Bai Yao would have to break the awkward silence himself.

"Thanks for helping me just now. Have some sunflower seeds." As he spoke, Bai Yao took a handful of sunflower seeds from his shoulder bag—or rather, from his system space.

"Thank you."

The atmosphere eased somewhat, and Bai Yao began chatting with Kong Wu.

Unlike the pair across from them, who both asked and answered questions, Bai Yao did the asking while Kong Wu answered.

If he hadn't learned from their conversation that Kong Wu simply wasn't much of a talker, Bai Yao really wouldn't have been able to keep chatting.

As they talked, Bai Yao produced another handful of sunflower seeds, and the two across from them finally joined in.

Bai Yao: Now this is a conversation. Otherwise, if we kept going, I wouldn't even know what to say anymore.

Amid the talking and laughter, the subject turned to where they were going in the countryside.

When the three of them named their destinations, they discovered they were all headed to the same place: the Red Flag Commune under Harbin in Heilongjiang Province (fictional setting).

Hearing that they were all going to the same commune, Hu Yang said with a smile, "We really are brought together by fate! We're in the same carriage, with seats right next to each other."

Kong Wu nodded in agreement.

Bai Yao, meanwhile, only felt that his earlier prayer had been laughable.

He wasn't with Gu Yang, that protagonist, but Hu Yang, another protagonist, was going to the same commune.

"Um, my home is in Unity Village in the Red Flag Commune," Dongfang Dazhuang said then.

Hu Yang: "Fate!"

Kong Wu nodded.

Bai Yao: ...

Then Bai Yao thought of something and spoke in a low voice. "Dazhuang, let me ask you something."

Seeing him act like this, Dongfang Dazhuang thought it must be something important and replied quietly, "What is it?"

"This isn't the first batch of educated youths going to the countryside, and you know we educated youths can neither lift things with our hands nor carry them on our shoulders. I just wanted to ask: I can't handle hardship or earn many work points, so when the grain is distributed, could I make up the difference with money? Is there a village that would be agreeable about it?"

That piqued Hu Yang's interest too, and he hurriedly chimed in. "Yes, yes! Dazhuang, is there a place like that? I'm delicate and fair-skinned, so I can't do the work either."

Dongfang Dazhuang was quite speechless. He had thought it would be something serious.

But when it came down to it, educated youths like Bai Yao and Hu Yang were among the better ones.

They didn't want to work, but they weren't thinking of taking advantage of the villagers either. They honestly said they would pay if they didn't have enough work points.

They were much better than those educated youths who slacked off and didn't earn enough work points, only for the village to have to provide grain to feed them in the end.

Dongfang Dazhuang thought it over and said, "Well, how about you come to our village?"

Although the villages weren't happy to receive educated youths from the cities these days, it was an order from above, after all. They couldn't simply refuse to take any.

Rather than choose educated youths whose character was unknown, it was better to choose Hu Yang and the other two in front of him. At the very least, Bai Yao and Hu Yang weren't short of money, and Kong Wu had plenty of strength. The village chief would surely like him.

The more Dongfang Dazhuang thought about it, the more feasible his idea seemed, so he went on to explain the situation in their village.

Of course, he didn't talk about family squabbles or trivial matters. He told them about how their village chief and brigade leader handled things, and the benefits of choosing their village.

"I'm telling you, choosing our village would definitely be good. Uncle Village Chief and Uncle Brigade Leader are both fair-minded and especially easy to talk to. The issue you mentioned just now, Bai Yao, wouldn't be an issue at all."

"And the work in our village is different from other villages. You can leave as soon as you finish your own share. If you want to earn more work points, you work more. If you come to our village, you definitely won't go hungry. The educated youths who came before even send quite a bit of grain back home every year."

Bai Yao was tempted, but...

"Is the village far from the commune?"

If it was tucked away in some mountain gully, he would have to give it up, painful as that would be.

"Not far. It's a little over an hour's walk, and even faster by ox cart," Dongfang Dazhuang replied.

"All right, then. Unity Village it is. But will they let us choose where we go?"

"That's no problem. We're arriving together, and Uncle Village Chief will definitely be there. I'll just talk to him then." Dongfang Dazhuang could already picture Uncle Village Chief praising him.

Once the two had settled it, Kong Wu and Hu Yang had no objections. Neither of them understood these matters, so they could just listen to Bai Yao. He wouldn't lead them into a pit anyway.

"Oh, at a time like this, I have to say it again: we really are brought together by fate," Hu Yang said with a cheerful laugh. He could already picture his happy life in the countryside.

Kong Wu nodded in agreement.

Just then, the sound of an argument came from the back of the carriage, drawing everyone's attention.

Bai Yao had thought he would be tall enough to see what was happening, but who would have expected the people in front to stand on their seats?

There was no helping it. If he wanted to eat this melon firsthand, he could only use his mental power to watch.

With his mental power spread out, he saw Gu Yang and another girl arguing with several other boys and girls.

See? I knew there was bound to be trouble wherever a protagonist went.

Now he only hoped there would be less trouble around Hu Yang.

As he sighed inwardly, Bai Yao suddenly felt a burning gaze on him.

He looked over and saw Kong Wu, who looked very... excited?

Bai Yao: ???