Even though her hair was caught in Widow Zhang’s vice-like grip, Sheng Ning didn’t retaliate. Instead, she said calmly, “Big Sister Zhang, if you won’t let go, we can go straight to the police station and forget about returning to the village.”

 Widow Zhang was so frightened at the mention of the police station that all her strength instantly left her hand, and she stood frozen to the spot.

 The man at the back of the bus had managed to squeeze his way to the front, but when he heard Sheng Ning’s words, he also paused and stood still.

 “What a sharp and bold girl this is!” he thought, and a hint of awe appeared in his eyes.

 “Big Sister Zhang, if you don’t let go, I can have you reported. And if you’re arrested, you’ll have to be detained.”

 Zhang Fang immediately released her hold on Sheng Ning when she heard the word “detained.” She couldn’t allow herself to be arrested. If she were arrested, how would she be able to face anyone in the future?

 The bumpy bus ride finally came to an end. The driver opened the door and said impatiently, “We’re here. Hurry and get off! All of you.”

 Time had slowed to a crawl for Sheng Ning on board the bus. She hugged her small bag of belongings to her body and was the first to scramble out the door.

 By the time the man from the back row alighted from the bus and looked around for her, she was already gone.

 The spot in town where the bus dropped them off at wasn’t far from Sheng Ning’s home. In fact, it was roughly only half an hour’s journey on foot. There was a fair going on, and the streets were teeming with people. Sheng Ning walked along the path that felt familiar yet foreign to her at the same time, her emotions in turmoil. It had been decades since she last came back to her hometown. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling a deep sense of longing.

 She crossed a small bridge over a winding stream, and the white poplar tree at the village’s entrance, as well as the wide threshing grounds in the east and west, came into view. Sheng Ning’s family lived in the west end of the village, which was very close to the threshing grounds. Standing under the white poplar tree, she could see the front door of her home, which someone had left wide open.

 Sheng Ning stood on the threshing ground and suddenly experienced the complicated emotions one feels when returning home.

 Remembering everything that happened in her previous life, she pursed her lips and tried to stifle her sobs, but she was unable to stop the tears that streamed down her face. She started crying hysterically. She had never cried like this before, not even when she was thrown into prison.

 “Ningning, what’s wrong?” a middle-aged woman asked. Cutting a sorry figure, Sheng Ning turned around and found her stepmother, Shen Luhua, standing right behind her.

 At this time, Shen Luhua hadn’t yet experienced the pain of losing her own daughter. At forty years of age, her hair was meticulously combed, and when she smiled, she emanated a warmth and elegance that other rural women didn’t have.

 But Sheng Ning knew that when her stepmother wasn’t smiling, she was actually an extremely stern woman. Her thin lips gave her an icy appearance.

 Shen Luhua saw Sheng Ning silently crying and was at a loss for what to do. “Ningning, what are you doing here? And why are you crying?” She always had to be careful when interacting with this stepdaughter of hers. Being a stepmother wasn’t easy, and she had experienced this all too well with Sheng Ning.

 “I’m sorry…” Other than that, she didn’t know what else to say to her.

 “Stop lingering at the village entrance,” she said. “Hurry and come home with me. If your dad knew that you were here, he’d be so happy.”

 Ever since Sheng Ning had joined the troupe, she never wrote a single letter home to her family. Although her father never mentioned it, he frequently stood on the threshing ground and stared absently into the distance. Six months ago, two letters arrived related to the wedding, and their contents made the old man ecstatic. However, the Xu family’s attitude toward the wedding abruptly changed, which angered her father so much that he had lost his appetite.

 Shen Luhua’s voice was loud, and everyone in the courtyard heard her. The first one to run toward them was Sheng Ning’s stepsister, Sheng An. Sheng An was only a year younger than Sheng Ning, and her wheat-colored skin had a healthy and shiny glow to it.