Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 201 True or False First Love 1_1

Chapter 201: Chapter 201 True or False First Love 1_1

"Zhou Lina, what’s the matter with you? We agreed to go register at the street office today, why are you dilly-dallying so much?" Zhou Juan looked at Zhou Lina with displeasure.

She was worried sick when Zhou Lina hadn’t arrived just yet, concerned about what to do if this girl decided not to go after all.

Dilly-dallying? Zhang Yu, who had just traveled through time, was truly bewildered, not understanding the situation at all.

The only thing she knew was that there was profound malice in the eyes of the person in front of her.

Even without knowing the specifics, she knew whatever they were about to do must be something undesirable.

And what about this registration at the street office? What exactly were they registering for?

Just then, she heard loudspeakers blaring about going to the vast lands to build, to strive with a spirit that was not afraid of hardship, and so on.

Zhang Yu was immediately frightened. Could it be that this mission entailed time-traveling to an era when young people were fuelled by zealous passion?

Looking around, she noticed the military uniforms that were very much of a bygone era, and from the looks of the scene, Zhang Yu was certain it was that period.

From this, she realized that the only thing they could be registering for at the street office was the household registration book she was clutching tightly in her hand.

This was definitely about registering to become a member of the Red Youth Army. With no knowledge of the current situation, Zhang Yu understood that making no choice was the best decision.

Especially with registrations, if you miss today, there’s always tomorrow. They’re always welcoming people to sign up enthusiastically.

Zhou Juan noticed that Zhou Lina had arrived, but seemed to have lost her soul, not uttering a single word.

Could she really have changed her mind? Zhou Juan swallowed nervously, looking down at the household registration book in Zhou Lina’s hand.

It’s alright, it’s alright. She must have run here too fast and hadn’t had time to process everything. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have brought the registration book if she didn’t intend to go.

"No rush, no rush, take a rest," Zhou Juan said, trying to contain her impatience and indicating that they were not short on time.

Zhang Yu looked up at her, "You say you’re not in a hurry, but you seem very anxious."

Zhou Juan didn’t expect this fool to see through her, "I’m just worried that we won’t be assigned together later."

Indeed, Zhou Juan thought this reason would definitely prevent Zhou Lina from suspecting anything.

"Have you completed the procedures?" Zhang Yu asked casually.

"Zheng Weijian and I have both completed our procedures; he had something else to do and has already left." Even though Zhou Juan knew Zheng Weijian didn’t like Zhou Lina, she didn’t want them to have more contact.

Especially since Zhou Lina was prettier than her, had better prospects, and Zheng Weijian’s parents liked Zhou Lina more. If it weren’t for the fact that she knew how to keep Zheng Weijian happy, where the flower would fall was an unknown.

Fortunately, she would be leaving here soon, so there was no need to worry about any further changes.

Procedures completed? Zhang Yu glanced at Zhou Juan’s empty hands and said meaningfully, "Where’s your registration book then?"

"Didn’t you just finish the procedures?" The registration book is very important; you wouldn’t let someone take it home for you.

Zhou Juan’s expression instantly became awkward, uncertain of what to say.

Zhang Yu, seeing this, immediately understood—so-called "completing the procedures" was just a ploy to trick her, or rather, to trick the original Zhou Lina.

"You say you went to register; I’ll go to the street office and ask about it." She started heading towards the street office.

Where could Zhou Juan let her go? If she did, everything would be exposed, "That, that..."

What to do? She truly didn’t know how to explain, having never considered that Zhou Lina might ask such a question.

Zhou Juan and Zheng Weijian had discussed for a long time, thinking as long as they tricked her into believing they arrived early and Zheng Weijian had to deal with an emergency and went ahead with the procedures.

Zhou Lina would definitely be very anxious to go through the registration process. As long as the paperwork was completed, even if Zhang Shifen found out, so what?

However, their plan was well-thought-out, but Zhou Lina didn’t follow their script at all.

"Um, do you, do you, are you thirsty?" Zhou Juan pondered for a long time and could only come up with this excuse.

Regardless, they had to get Zhou Lina out of there, at all costs they must not let her enter the neighborhood office.

"I’m not thirsty," Zhang Yu gave a negative answer, "Did you guys actually not go through the registration process at all?"

Zhou Juan saw that Zhou Lina was not fooled and simply stomped her foot and turned to run away.

Zhang Yu was still waiting for the other party to give an explanation when, to her surprise, she pulled such a stunt and was truly flabbergasted.

"Guilty conscience," as she watched the retreating figure, Zhang Yu snorted coldly, thinking that deceiving her was completely out of the question.

Damn, this is bad - what to do, she doesn’t even know where home is, what now?

If that girl hadn’t run away, she could have continued questioning her, but now the only person who knew her was gone.

Forget it, it doesn’t matter. Although it isn’t the best place to receive tasks outside, she had no choice but to accept them.

Aimlessly walking the streets, she accepted tasks along the way.

The tasks were quickly received and completed. If she hadn’t remembered she was walking on the road, Zhang Yu, no, at this moment she should’ve been Zhou Lina, really felt like cursing out loud.

Her intuition was not wrong. Zhou Juan, the girl who had just spoken, and Zheng Weijian, the object of the original host’s unrequited love, had set a trap for her.

The so-called going to the countryside together, was actually nothing but a scheme to trick the original host into going, they never intended to go themselves.

Zheng Weijian, the only son in his family, with several authoritative elder sisters above and a docile younger sister below, how could he ever become part of the Red Youth Army?

If it weren’t for the fact that Mother Zheng, Wang Chunhua, was a temporary worker in a machinery factory, she would have certainly passed her job to Zheng Weijian. Unfortunately, a temporary worker’s job couldn’t be transferred.

The Zheng family was looking everywhere for connections, to see if they could find a job for Zheng Weijian, even if that meant buying a position.

Zhou Juan’s situation was different, her mother Yang Zhaodi was also a temporary worker, and with a younger brother below her, even if there was a stable job, it wouldn’t be handed over to her.

In order not to be sent to the countryside, they targeted the original host, set on eliminating a love rival, as well as coveting the job of the original host’s mother, Zhang Shifen.

They never considered that for a girl who had been spoiled from childhood, suddenly moving to the harsh conditions of the Northwest, life would be extremely difficult.

Especially where she was sent, where the local customs were bad - even Red Youth Army members wanting to persist in waiting for the chance to return to the city would not be given the opportunity.

Due to the location in the deep mountains, communications with family members were only possible when the village head took monthly trips to the commune for meetings and brought back the mail.

Whether it was letters or parcels, they were all divided up by the village head and villagers, leaving the Red Youth Army members oblivious to this, and even if some suspected, there was no way to leave the village.

Men and women who couldn’t endure had no choice but to marry locals, including the original host who married a villager.

Frequent pregnancies, combined with working in the fields, made a woman in her thirties look prematurely old, as if she were sixty.

Later, it was Zhou Xuan, who came according to her mother’s will, that she learned the truth of their time in the countryside - it was not a case of not being assigned together, but rather, Zhou Juan and Zheng Weijian never went to the countryside at all.

While she endured hard rural life, they worked in the city; as she continuously had children and labored in the fields, they branched into business, and now they were modestly wealthy business owners.

The original host, already frail, quickly deteriorated after learning of her mother’s death, related to her in some way, and did not live much longer.

Zhang Yu could only say it was truly a tragic life. If she hadn’t been so love-struck, her life definitely would not have turned out this way.

Don’t worry, Zhang Yu swore silently to herself, she would never let the original host’s path be repeated.