Reborn back to the time before I sold my blood to support my scumbag boyfriend's college educat

Xia Yichu stood on Dongmen Old Street, where a bustling crowd flowed endlessly. All sorts of stalls lined both sides of the street, and the stall owners enthusiastically greeted passersby.

There were clothing vendors, with brightly colored clothes hanging on simple racks. There were also many stalls like Wang Zhijie's selling small accessories, and snack stalls with fragrant aromas wafting through the air.

Xia Yichu walked past the various stalls. A large crowd had gathered around one stall selling electronic watches, where the vendor was enthusiastically explaining the watch's functions, and customers were readily making purchases. She thought to herself, "Electronic products must have a huge market in this era."

Next, she went to a toy stall, where the novel plastic toys attracted the children's attention, and the parents were also picking them out.

The 1990s were truly an era full of opportunities. After browsing around, Xia Yichu returned to Wang Zhijie's stall. He had no customers at the moment and was tidying up his things.

"Yichu, I'm sorry, I'm a bit busy today, it's Sunday."

"It's okay, you go about your business. I just came to tell you that I want to go back."

"Okay, I'll pick you up and take you to Shengli's house tomorrow."

"No need to trouble yourself, I'll take a taxi myself. You're busy, I'm leaving."

As soon as Xia Yichu finished speaking, three more girls came over to buy things from Wang Zhijie.

"Hello, beautiful ladies, what kind of jewelry would you like?" A stylishly dressed girl stood in front of the stall, her eyes scanning the dazzling array of jewelry. Wang Zhijie ignored Xia Yichu and enthusiastically went to greet her.

"I want to buy earrings, can you recommend some to me?"

"Of course! Look at these earrings, they have a unique design and they make you look especially elegant."

As he spoke, he picked up a pair of earrings adorned with small crystals and handed them to the girl. The girl took the earrings and held them up to her ears.

"The design is quite nice, but I wonder about the quality..."

The girl and Wang Zhijie's voices gradually faded until they were no longer audible. Xia Yichu remarked that Wang Zhijie was quite suited for business. If he hadn't been dragged down by Wang Mingpeng in his past life, he wouldn't have been so impoverished, surviving on temporary jobs.

An hour later, Xia Yichu got out of the car and went home. Her alley was unusually lively today, as if someone was moving. However, none of that mattered to her. She hadn't cooked at home in a long time, and today she wanted to cook for herself.

Xia Yichu went home to tidy up, and then went to the market to buy groceries. It was quite convenient for her to buy groceries; it only took her about ten minutes to walk to the market.

Xia Yichu walked into the market, which was bustling with people and filled with the sounds of vendors calling out their wares. Stalls lined up one after another, laden with fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats.

She first went to the vegetable section, where the lush green vegetables and bright red tomatoes looked very appetizing. She picked out a bunch of fresh green vegetables and then selected a few round potatoes.

The vegetable vendor greeted her warmly, "Young lady, these vegetables are so fresh, they're homegrown."

Xia Yichu smiled and paid. Then, she went to the meat section, intending to buy some pork ribs for soup. The butcher skillfully cut off a piece of rib, weighed it, and bagged it, all in one smooth motion. She also bought a fish, planning to make braised fish that evening.

After buying groceries, she went to the fruit stand and picked out a few oranges. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard an argument nearby. It turned out that a customer wanted to return the fruit because he felt it wasn't fresh, but the stall owner refused.

Xia Yichu shook her head and walked out of the market. Carrying the groceries, she looked forward to cooking a sumptuous meal herself that evening.

"Young lady, could you tell me where the market is?"

She took out her keys, carrying the groceries, and prepared to open the door when a voice came from behind her. Xia Yichu slowly turned her head. It was a woman in her thirties or forties asking her a question. Xia Yichu looked at the man beside her, and her hand trembled, dropping the meat and vegetables she was carrying to the ground.

"Little girl, you dropped something."

The woman bent down to pick it up for her and handed it to Xia Yichu, while the man beside her stared at Xia Yichu. Xia Yichu noticed the man's gaze and tried her best to control her emotions.

"Thanks"

Xia Yichu suppressed her panic, accepted the food, and thanked the woman again. She glanced at the man beside her; he looked honest and simple, an ordinary man.

"Young lady, we're your next-door neighbors. We just moved in today, and we saw you carrying groceries home. So we wanted to ask you where the market is? Did it scare you?"

Xia Yichu forced a smile, trying to appear calm. "Don't scare me. The market isn't far from here. Just go out of this alley, turn right, and walk straight for about ten minutes. The vegetables there are very fresh, and there's a wide variety."

The woman smiled and nodded, "Thank you so much, young lady." The man also thanked her.

Watching the two walk away, Xia Yichu's heart was still pounding. She opened the door, went in, and then locked it again, leaning against the door with lingering fear.

She recognized the man; he was the thug Chen Shaoping had somehow found to kidnap her in her past life, but in reality, he was a spy.

Why did they come to Pengcheng? Did that woman know they were spies, or was she in cahoots with them? Those people were living next door to her; were they after her? No, to be precise, they were after Xia Guoan.

Xia Yichu put the things she had just bought at the market into her spatial storage; she wasn't in the mood to cook right now.

"Do you think Xia Yichu knows us? She seemed quite shocked when she saw us," the man said seriously.

"Impossible. We've only been waiting for her a few times recently at the entrance of Pengcheng University. We were very careful and always kept a distance. This is the first time we've been this close to her."

They helped Xu Yumei kidnap Luo Yuekai in Kyoto and learned a lot about Xia Yichu from her. Xia Guofang was just an adopted daughter of the Xia family; her child was unimportant to Xia Guoan.

Therefore, kidnapping Luo Yuekai would be completely useless to them and might even alert the enemy. Originally, they planned to leave after learning about Xia Yichu's situation from Xu Yumei, but unexpectedly, Xu Yumei tricked Luo Yuekai into their clutches in less than half an hour.

To keep Xu Yumei in check, they had no choice but to tie Luo Yuekai up and wait for her to leave. Afterwards, they left Luo Yuekai in the abandoned house and headed straight to Pengcheng.

To find out about Xia Yichu's situation at school, the woman bribed a lot of money to sneak into the school cafeteria to work, but she didn't dare to openly inquire about Xia Yichu.

I've only overheard the students talking about her during meals, so I've heard quite a bit about her, but I've only seen Xia Yichu once in the cafeteria.

Knowing that she rented an apartment near the school, I promptly found one that was closest to Xia Yichu and rented it. Apartments near schools are in high demand, and Xia Yichu's apartment was the closest to the school.

It was extremely difficult to rent a house; they spent several days searching before finally managing to find one. They paid double the market price, but they didn't mind the expense.

They wanted to capture Xia Guoan through Xia Yichu because they had obtained the latest intelligence that the research team led by Xia Guoan had developed key technologies for fighter jets, which was a secret they had long coveted.

"Yeah, maybe I'm overthinking it."

The woman frowned and analyzed, "Even if she knows us, she might not guess our purpose. Let's keep her calm for now, and then slowly approach her."

Don't worry, she's just a little girl; she can't escape our grasp. And don't forget, I also serve food to students in the cafeteria, making it even easier to get close to her."

"Then we can't rush things. We need to approach her slowly and make sure she doesn't notice anything amiss. If all else fails, we'll have to kidnap her and threaten Xia Guoan into handing over the items."

I've received intelligence that Xia Guoan should be returning soon. Xia Yichu is his only daughter, so he'll definitely come to Pengcheng.