A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

"Nianci, stop looking, close the curtains." Lin Wenjun's voice trembled slightly as she reached out to cover the small car window.

Su Nianci didn't move; her gaze remained fixed on the moving black dots on the distant horizon. As a top-tier surgeon, her eyesight far surpassed that of ordinary people. She had already seen clearly—those weren't animals, but rather…people!

Ragged and unsteady on their feet, like walking corpses, they approached the enormous, food-smelling "steel behemoth" that was the train.

"Who...who are they?" Su Nianci asked knowingly, her voice carrying just the right amount of childlike curiosity and confusion.

Lin Wenjun's face paled slightly. She hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice to explain, "They are...they are refugees. This area was flooded a while ago, which inundated crops and villages. Many people lost their homes and food, so they had no choice but to flee."

flee from famine.

This word, which she had only ever seen in history books, was now being presented to Su Nianci in an incredibly real and cruel way.

The most horrific scenes she had witnessed in her past life were patients covered in blood and gore on the operating table, and lives racing against death in the ICU. But those were individual tragedies. What she saw before her was a tragedy of the times.

An invisible, immense sense of oppression enveloped the entire carriage. The passengers who had been chatting and laughing loudly just moments before were now silent, each one nervously staring out the window, afraid that the ragged figures would approach.

"Sister, I'm scared..." Little Stone sensed the change in atmosphere, his little hands tightly gripping Su Nianci's clothes, his small body trembling uncontrollably.

"Don't be afraid, your sister is here." Su Nianci hugged him and gently patted his back. Her voice was soft, but it carried a reassuring strength.

She drew the curtains, shutting out the suffocating scene outside.

"Sister Wenjun, you... seem very familiar with this place?" Su Nianci looked up and asked casually.

Lin Wenjun paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "The place where I was sent to the countryside was near this area. Three years ago, I also came here on this train, but the scenery was much better back then."

"Three years ago?" Su Nianci caught the key information. "You were an educated youth from Beijing?"

"Yes." Lin Wenjun nodded, a hint of reminiscence and melancholy in her eyes. "We came from the capital. Back then, we all answered the call, arriving in this vast land full of passion, thinking we would make a difference..."

She didn't say anything more, but that sigh said it all. The stark contrast between the lofty ideal and the harsh reality was immense.

"My name is Lin Wenjun. Lin means forest, Wen means literature and martial arts, and Jun means gentleman." As if she remembered something, she took the initiative to introduce herself, "My family is in the capital, and my father... works in the cultural department."

Su Nianci's heart skipped a beat.

The cultural department! In this special era, those four words carry considerable weight! Those who can work here are no ordinary people. No wonder Lin Wenjun possesses such a unique scholarly air, and no wonder she could produce a letter of introduction for returning to Beijing to visit relatives.

"My father's name is Lin Zhenbang." Lin Wenjun seemed to want to confide in someone, or perhaps she felt that Su Nianci wasn't a child and wouldn't understand her, so she continued, "He's an old-fashioned intellectual. He always taught me that people should study, be reasonable, and have integrity. The reason I was able to get leave to go home this time was because he wrote a letter to the leaders of the commune and talked for a long time..."

She carefully took out a letter from home from her canvas bag. The envelope was a little wrinkled, but the handwriting was strong and vigorous, exuding the pride of a scholar.

Su Nianci's gaze fell on the address on the envelope.

The address of a compound in Xicheng District, Beijing.

Although she wasn't from the capital in her previous life, she knew what that address meant in the future. It was the true heart of power!

Lin Wenjun's family background was probably even more illustrious than she imagined!

"So, why did you come home this time...?" Su Nianci asked tentatively.

"My mother is in poor health, and my father wants me to go back to see her. And..." Lin Wenjun paused, a complex expression flashing across her face, "My father said in his letter that perhaps... perhaps there is a way to transfer me back to the city."

Transfer him back to the city!

This was the ultimate goal that tens of millions of educated youth who went to the countryside dreamed of!

Su Nianci immediately understood. Lin Wenjun's father was definitely a powerful and influential figure!

"Then what are you going to do now that you've given us the letter of introduction?" Su Nianci asked her seriously.

Lin Wenjun smiled, a smile that carried a hint of nonchalance and relief: "It's alright. Like I said before, a person has to live with a conscience. Compared to your and your brother's lives, what does it matter if I come home a year later? Besides, I think it's worth it to have met a little sister like you."

She looked at Su Nianci with sincere admiration in her eyes: "Nianci, you really are... very different. I always feel that you are not like a five-year-old child. The questions you ask and the things you think about are more insightful than many young people in their twenties in our commune."

A warm feeling welled up in Su Nianci's heart.

This was the first time since she came into this world that someone treated her as an equal, someone she could communicate with, not because of her status as a "martyr's orphan" or because of her "child prodigy" performance.

"Sister Wenjun, thank you," Su Nianci said sincerely.

"Why are you being so polite with me?" Lin Wenjun smiled and patted her head. "By the way, you haven't told me your plans yet. After you get to Harbin and find your father's comrade-in-arms, what are your plans? Are you going to stay there to study, or...?"

Su Nianci remained silent.

A plan? Of course she has a plan.

Her plan was to find Lu Zhenhua and use his influence to thoroughly investigate the cause of her parents' deaths. She couldn't believe that her father, a war hero, and her mother, a military doctor, could have died from a simple "accident."

She wants to reclaim everything that belongs to her, including the pension, job opportunity, and house in the county town that were seized by Su Weiqiang's family.

She wants everyone who has harmed her and her parents to pay a bloody price!

But she couldn't tell Lin Wenjun these things.

"I don't know." Su Nianci lowered her eyes and said in a low voice, "I just... I just want to find Uncle Lu, so that my brother and I can have a home, have enough to eat, go to school, and stop being bullied."

This answer, simple and humble, perfectly reflects the identity and wishes of a five-year-old orphan girl.

Lin Wenjun was even more heartbroken upon hearing this. She held Su Nianci's cold little hand and said solemnly, "Nianci, don't worry. When we get to Harbin, if... I mean, if, in the unlikely event, you can't find Uncle Lu, or if he's having any difficulties, don't be afraid. Just try to send me a telegram from the post office. I'll write down our home address and telegraphic code for you. As long as I receive the letter, I will definitely find a way to help you!"

These words were nothing short of a promise. A weighty promise from the child of a high-ranking official in Beijing!

Su Nianci raised her head, looked into Lin Wenjun's sincere and pure eyes, and nodded firmly: "Yes! I've got it!"

She knew that Lin Wenjun was the first and most important "benefactor" she had encountered on this arduous journey north. She would forever remember this friendship.

Just as the two were talking, the train suddenly jolted violently!

A loud crash, accompanied by screams from the passengers in the carriage, came from the direction of the train window!

Su Nianci and Lin Wenjun's expressions changed, and they turned around abruptly!

The glass window that was covered by curtains had been smashed by someone from the outside with a stone! Broken glass was scattered all over the floor!

A cold wind, carrying the smell of mud, suddenly rushed in!

Immediately afterwards, a withered hand, its fingernails filled with black grime, reached in through the broken window and, with clear intent, grabbed at the remaining half of the roast chicken on their small table!