An Xiuyun wasn't sure either. "I don't know. All I heard is that when they pulled the body out of the water, it was all swollen, and the face was unrecognizable. The only thing anyone could tell was that it was a young man. Think about it—even the doctors came to check his pulse. It must be true.

Lin Xiaoxiao listened while nibbling on her steamed bun. Even though she knew it was just a rumor, she found An Xiuyun's storytelling quite entertaining.

Zhang Jing, who occupied the bed next to hers, grew impatient. "Haven't you learned anything from the 'Four Olds' campaign? Why are you still spreading superstitions? Once you're dead, your soul becomes the wind, your body turns to mud—how could there be ghosts? And you call yourselves medical students? So noisy."After saying that, she threw her book angrily onto the bed, grabbed her thermos, and went to fetch hot water.

An Xiuyun shrank back timidly. "Is she mad?"

Li Guiling didn't seem bothered. "Who cares? It's not like we were being loud. Are we not even allowed to talk? I've been a sent-down youth in the countryside for seven years—I've seen all kinds of people."

An Xiuyun was surprised. "Seven years? But you don't look that old. How old were you when you left?"

Li Guiling answered almost proudly, "I was sixteen. I volunteered."

An Xiuyun couldn't help but shower her with praise.

Lin Xiaoxiao kept listening as Li Guiling shared more stories from her time in the countryside.

Between bites of her bun, she occasionally asked a question or two—it was all quite interesting.

After finishing her bun, she noticed the sky darkening outside and thought she might go out for a walk. There was no time for business during the day with classes, but maybe she could explore a bit in the evening.

When Li Guiling saw Lin Xiaoxiao heading out, she quickly asked, "Where are you going?"

"Just taking a walk around the streets," Lin Xiaoxiao replied honestly.Li Guiling immediately stood up. "I'll come with you. It's been years since I've been back—I don't even know where the lively spots are at night. Let's go check it out."She asked An Xiuyun if she wanted to join, but An, who had a child to look after, shook her head.

The two women left the hospital. The city wasn't large, and downtown was just a short walk away—though "downtown" basically meant the bus station where coaches departed for other towns and cities.

It was a relatively busy area, with crowds coming and going. Nearby, there were residential compounds belonging to work units. Most of the buildings were single-level; multi-story ones were still rare.

By now, the bus station was mostly quiet, but small groups of young people were heading into a nearby alley. Curious, Lin Xiaoxiao followed them.

Li Guiling was also puzzled. "That's the Xiaonan Factory area—the cement factory's residential compound. What's going on over there?"

Just a short way in, they heard the thumping sound of music. The audio quality was poor, but that didn't dampen the crowd's enthusiasm.

When Lin Xiaoxiao got closer, she realized it was a repurposed abandoned courtyard—large and turned into an open-air dance hall. Someone was collecting money at the entrance: ten cents per person.

The courtyard was already packed with people dancing freely to the chaotic music.

Li Guiling stared in surprise. "How does a place like this exist? Doesn't anyone regulate it?"

As an outsider, even Lin Xiaoxiao knew that in these early years of reform and opening-up, all kinds of things—good and bad—were flooding in. Dance halls like this would only become more common.

After watching for a while from the entrance, they turned back.

Li Guiling seemed tempted. "Aren't we going in?"

Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head. "Better not. Who knows what kind of people are in there? It's not safe for two women on their own—we could easily get taken advantage of."

Maybe I'll bring Zhou Huai'an here another time, she thought. But that serious old man would probably frown and call it indecent.

They also stopped by the cinema. The area outside was crowded, with vendors selling sunflower seeds and peanuts. A blackboard on the wall listed that day's film screenings.

After wandering around, Lin Xiaoxiao returned with a sobering realization: there was nothing here she could realistically do.

Her confidence took a hit. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this small city after all.

She thought about the transmigration novels she'd read—other heroines could cook, sew, had magical spaces or golden fingers... She had none of that.

Sure, she was a decent cook, but the local snacks were more authentic.

Her stir-fries were tasty mostly because she wasn't shy with ingredients—which made them expensive. People nowadays watched their budgets. Who would spend extra on fancy food?

Even buying candy was a luxury. How could she expect them to pay for non-essential snacks?

Lin Xiaoxiao sighed quietly and turned over in bed.

She had come here intending to ride the wave of the era—was she already stuck in the shallows?No, no. Princess Lin of the Lin family doesn't give up that easily!

Maybe she could prepare herbal medicine and sell it to sick people?

She pondered the idea, but it didn't seem promising either.

Next to her, Zhang Jing, homesick and irritable from her first night away, snapped angrily, "Can you stop tossing and turning? Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Lin Xiaoxiao fired back, "What, am I not allowed to be alive? Since when do you control how I sleep? You've got some nerve."

If you had asked nicely, I might have apologized. But since you're being bossy—even if I were wrong, I'd never say sorry.That was just how Lin Xiaoxiao operated: no fixed principles, no unnecessary reasoning.

Zhang Jing fumed, turning over sharply without another word.

Lin Xiaoxiao ignored her. She lay still, thinking about what Zhou Huai'an might be doing, and eventually drifted off.

Over the next three days, the training focused on theoretical knowledge. Since Lin Xiaoxiao was already familiar with the material, she became the quickest and most accurate in recitation—earning frequent praise from the directors and instructors.

She felt a little proud, her invisible tail practically wagging.

Zhou Huai'an would be impressed, wouldn't he?

Just as she was thinking about him, he showed up—with an elderly man in tow.

Life had been so enjoyable that Lin Xiaoxiao had completely forgotten what Zhou Huai'an had told her earlier: her grandfather, Cheng Yuancheng, was coming!

Lin Xiaoxiao stepped out holding her textbooks and spotted Zhou Huai'an standing tall and stern like a winter spruce. Her eyes lit up, and she was about to run over when she noticed the energetic old man beside him.

Cheng Yuanmin—her grandfather, in this life.

In the original host's memories, she and her grandfather had once been very close. That changed when she insisted on returning home at fifteen.

The reason? Soon after her grandfather was sent to the labor camp, she cut ties with him—returned to the city, even wrote letters denouncing him.

Lin Xiaoxiao felt a headache coming on. What kind of person does something like that?

And then there were all those lies she'd told Zhou Huai'an... This was going to be a disaster.

The old man looked at her warmly. "Xiaoxiao? Do you not recognize your grandpa anymore?"

Setting shame aside, Lin Xiaoxiao dashed over, clasping her textbooks in one hand and linking arms with him with the other.

"Grandpa, I've missed you so much!" she cooed, laying the sweetness on thick.Zhou Huai'an glanced sideways at her, unable to hide a faint reaction.