Chapter 70 – World Two: Educated Youth Who Abandoned His Wife and Child -1

At least this time, the system said a few more words.

Shen Xiuyan was excited, but let’s not talk about that.

Perhaps this was its own kind of PUA (Pick-Up Artist) technique—he seriously suspected the system had taken a PUA course.

It wasn’t until he finally sat down on the bed in the room that he began to carefully mull over the original host’s life story.

The original host was also named Shen Xiuyan, an educated youth who went to the countryside in line with the era’s movement.

As the youngest son in the family, this responsibility shouldn’t have fallen on him—it should’ve been his older brother who was sent to the countryside.

But at that time, his older brother was a skilled technician at the Standard Parts Factory, earning a full eighty yuan a month.

In that era, this was undoubtedly a huge sum.

It was also the primary source of income for the entire family. Naturally, they couldn’t afford to send him away.

So the one who was sacrificed was the spoiled youngest son, Shen Xiuyan.

In the middle of high school, he was sent to the countryside in a daze.

Although his grades weren’t great, he’d never thought of dropping out. But once the arrow was on the string, he had no choice. After all, if he didn’t take on the burden, the whole family would be left starving.

The first few days in the countryside weren’t so bad—at least it was novel.

But over time, this pampered city boy couldn’t take it anymore.

This wasn’t a life for people! Every day was just labor, labor, and more labor—like some old ox.

His fair hands grew calluses, which made him even more unwilling.

Let whoever wanted to do this work do it. He wasn’t going to.

Whenever it was time to go to the fields, he would fake illness. After working just a minute or two, he’d suddenly collapse to the ground and lie there motionless.

At first, people suspected he was faking. Why was it that every other educated youth was fine, but he couldn’t handle it?

Even the girls didn’t faint.

But he always fainted so “sincerely,” and with that pale, delicate face, gradually no one questioned him anymore.

Just look at that complexion—how could he be pretending?

Clearly someone who’d been frail since childhood.

That was thanks to his life of luxury back home—he’d never done any manual labor. That’s why he was so fair-skinned.

If any ordinary educated youth didn’t earn Work Points, they’d have starved to death long ago.

But he was different. His family already felt it was a huge injustice for him to be sent to the countryside—especially his capable older brother, Shen Jianguo, who felt deeply guilty.

Partly to make up for his little brother, and partly out of fear he’d go hungry or cold in the countryside, he sent most of his salary to him every month, along with food coupons and meat coupons.

So once the original host figured out how not to work, he actually lived quite comfortably.

But over time, things started to wear on him. Life in the countryside was too bitter—he couldn’t stand anything about it. All he wanted was to go back to the city.

But there were no precedents for returning to the city at the time, so he came up with a crooked scheme.

The most influential person in the production team was the Brigade Leader, who had only one daughter. If he could win her over, then when there was a chance to return to the city, he’d surely be the first chosen.

With this in mind, he took action.

The original host was good-looking—one of the most handsome among the educated youths—so it was easy for him to charm the Brigade Leader’s simple-minded daughter.

She was dark-skinned and not at all as pretty as city girls.

The original host didn’t like her at all.

But he had it all planned—marry her first, then dump her and return to the city alone when the opportunity came. With the distance and the times, she’d never be able to find him again.

With that plan, he proposed quickly, and the girl happily accepted.

Although the Brigade Leader was suspicious of his intentions and dissatisfied with this soft-handed, frail-faced man, he couldn’t go against his daughter’s wishes and eventually gave his reluctant blessing.

Later, when the National College Entrance Examination was reinstated, the original host, desperate to return to the city, studied like mad—and he actually passed.

He claimed he had to go to college in another province, said it wasn’t convenient to bring his wife, and promised to keep in touch and come back for her once he graduated.

But once he left, he was gone for four years—vanished without a trace. No contact, nothing.

The Brigade Leader’s family became a laughingstock in the village.

What the original host didn’t know was that his wife had already become pregnant when he left. After four years of raising their child alone without a father in sight, she gritted her teeth and brought the child to the city to find him.

What did she find?

At that time, the original host was just graduating. He had started dating a factory director’s daughter and was planning to marry her to secure his future.

He never imagined his wife would actually track him down—he was completely stunned.

So was she.

She saw her husband walking hand in hand with a fair, pretty girl across the clean college campus—they looked like a perfect couple.

While she stood there in contrast—dark-skinned, dressed in worn-out flowered clothes, holding a skinny child.

The contrast was stark.

Of course she felt ashamed. But more than that, she was furious.

She rushed forward, and during the commotion, she and the child were struck by a transport truck—killed instantly.

And the original host?

As if nothing had happened, he took the compensation money and quickly married the factory director’s daughter.

As for the wife he lived with for years and the child he only met once—he erased them from his life without a second thought.

But of course, things didn’t end well for him. The truth eventually came out. The Brigade Leader, realizing his daughter hadn’t returned home, came to the city and uncovered everything.

In the end, he dragged the original host down with him in a bitter struggle.

The original host died miserably—too horrible to look at.

Shen Xiuyan shivered after reading all this.

Good grief, how unlucky could he be? He’d transmigrated into a heartless jerk again.

It had been lifetimes since he’d seen such a gut-wrenching plot…

Sigh, oh well—this wasn’t the time to worry about the original host’s lifetime of sins. Better to think about how to complete the mission.

Becoming a famous figure in this world… that was going to be tough. He’d have to plan carefully.

Knock knock~

A gentle knock sounded at the door. A pleasant girl’s voice followed, deliberately lowered—probably afraid of being overheard.

“Brother Shen, are you there?”

Shen Xiuyan snapped back to attention. Just his luck. Could it be the Brigade Leader’s daughter?

This was probably the ambiguous stage of their relationship—he needed to think of a way to gently turn her down.

After all, he, Shen Xiuyan, was a man determined to remain faithful to his wife!

Until he found her, all flirty girls should stay away from him.

“Come in,” Shen Xiuyan took a deep breath and resolutely allowed her in.

The door creaked open.

Shen Xiuyan looked up.

A girl with very dark skin walked in.

Backlit by the sunlight, he couldn’t see her face clearly. But judging by her complexion, this was almost certainly the Brigade Leader’s daughter, nicknamed “Heiniu” (“Black Girl”)

The girl spoke anxiously, “Brother Shen, I heard from my dad that you fainted again. Are you alright?”

As the saying goes, one doesn’t hit a smiling face—Shen Xiuyan shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Alright then, these are some sugar candies I brought from home—they’re really sweet. If you suck on one later, you’ll feel a bit better.”

“No need. Take them back.”

“You need them.” The girl turned around and placed the sugar candies wrapped in paper onto the table.

“I really don’t need them.”

The girl tilted her head, puzzled. Why did it feel like Brother Shen had suddenly turned so cold?

Just as she was about to say something else, Shen Xiuyan had already decided that short pain was better than long pain. He might as well come clean and politely send her out.

At worst, he’d get slapped—he could handle that.

So he took a determined step forward. “Heiniu, I have something to tell you. The truth is, I don’t actually like—”

Before he could finish, Shen Xiuyan finally saw the girl’s face clearly.

The words caught in his throat.

“!!!”

———————

PUA stands for Pick-Up Artist. It refers to someone who studies and practices techniques aimed at attracting and seducing potential romantic or sexual partners. The term is often associated with communities or individuals who share strategies, tips, and methods to improve dating success.

However, in recent years, PUA has gained a negative connotation because some practitioners use manipulative, disrespectful, or coercive tactics, leading to criticism and concerns about ethical behavior in relationships.

———

In Chinese history, “Educated youth” (知青) refers to young urban students sent to rural areas during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) as part of the “Down to the Countryside Movement.” They were meant to learn from peasants through manual labor but often faced tough conditions and lost educational opportunities.