With three superpowers at his fingertips, he could dominate the 1970s.

The train rattled along for more than a day.

The view outside the window gradually changed from the arid plains of the north to the outline of the water towns of the south, and the air also changed from dry and hot to humid, carrying a southern dampness that clung stickily to the skin.

Jiang Zhiyu felt like her bones were about to fall apart.

Although a sleeper berth was infinitely better than a hard seat, the narrow bed and the clattering noise still made her toss and turn, unable to sleep soundly. In the apocalypse, she had slept in even worse places—ruins, sewers, tree branches—but back then, the danger stimulated her nerves, so she didn't feel uncomfortable. Now, in peaceful times, traveling by train, she felt uncomfortable everywhere.

As the train approached the station, the train attendant's voice came over the loudspeaker: "Attention passengers, our next stop is Shanghai Station. Passengers arriving at the station, please gather your luggage in advance..."

Su Wanqing immediately sprang into action, tearing off the bed sheet, folding it neatly, and stuffing it into her bundle. She also gathered up the apples and odds and ends on the table.

Jiang Boxun also stood up and started tidying up his luggage.

Jiang Zhiyu climbed down from the lower bunk, stretched, and left the compartment to say goodbye to the train conductor.

The train conductor was making handover notes in the crew room. Seeing her arrive, he smiled and nodded: "Comrade Jiang, you've arrived? Have a safe journey."

"Thank you for taking care of me." Jiang Zhiyu nodded to him.

The train conductor waved his hand: "It's nothing. If you need anything while riding this line in the future, just let me know."

Jiang Zhiyu thanked him and returned to the private room.

-

The three of them got off the train with their luggage and followed the bustling crowd toward the exit.

The train stations in Shanghai are much bigger and more crowded than those in Northeast China. Everywhere you look, there are passengers carrying luggage, people holding signs to pick up passengers, and vendors selling tea eggs and soft drinks.

Jiang Zhiyu took a deep breath.

She was about to say something to her parents when she looked up—

stunned.

Among the crowd at the exit, one figure stood out.

With his upright posture, dressed in military uniform, broad shoulders and long legs, he stood there in the crowd of people waiting to greet them, like a pine tree embedded in a thicket.

Everyone around was craning their necks to find the person they were supposed to pick up, but he didn't move, his gaze fixed on her.

Song Yanzhou.

Jiang Zhiyu was stunned.

Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing were also stunned.

They don't remember telling the child. Could it be that Zhiyu told him secretly?

Jiang Zhiyu was also confused—she hadn't told him a single word when they left Kaoshantun.

The moment Song Yanzhou saw the three of them, he started walking towards them.

With his long legs, he reached the three of them in just a few strides.

"Uncle Jiang, Aunt Su." He greeted the two elders first, his voice steady, and nodded slightly. Then his gaze fell on Jiang Zhiyu, paused for a moment, said nothing, and directly reached out to take the bundle from her hand.

He then turned around and took the bundles from Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing's hands as well—their bundles were small and light, a piece of cake for him.

Jiang Zhiyu followed him out in a daze, and it wasn't until after several steps that she came to her senses and asked:

How did you know we were coming back today?

Song Yanzhou glanced at her sideways, his tone as indifferent as if he were simply saying that the weather was nice today:

"The day you left, I called Kaoshantun. The brigade leader said you had left, and I checked the train schedule and guessed it was this train, so I came to pick you up."

It's that simple.

Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing exchanged a glance and suddenly realized.

-

The jeep was parked on the roadside outside the train station.

Song Yanzhou quickly and efficiently put all the luggage into the trunk.

Jiang Zhiyu naturally opened the passenger door and got in. In the rearview mirror, she saw Song Yanzhou's gaze linger on her for a moment before he casually walked around to the driver's side and got into the car.

The engine roared to life.

Song Yanzhou glanced back at Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing in the back seat: "Uncle Jiang, Aunt Su, shall we go straight back to the villa, or stay at the guesthouse for the night?"

Eager to get home, Su Wanqing blurted out, "Back to the villa! Why stay in a guesthouse! It'll be almost ready by tonight, and we can move in."

Jiang Boxun nodded repeatedly. He also wanted to go back and check on the house as soon as possible—although his daughter had said she had taken everything from the basement, he still wanted to see with his own eyes whether the house had been damaged.

"Okay." Song Yanzhou replied, shifted gears, and stepped on the gas.

The jeep sped towards the Jiang family's villa.

-

Inside the car, Jiang Zhiyu leaned back in her seat, turning her head to look at the street scene rushing past outside the window.

While driving, Song Yanzhou unconsciously turned his head to look at Jiang Zhiyu.

Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing in the back seat looked at the two young people in front with amusement.

Song Yanzhou looks like a steady and reliable guy. He looks very imposing when he stands there in his military uniform. But when he's with his own daughter, his composure deflates like a punctured balloon, and he always seems a bit silly and naive.

Su Wanqing couldn't help but smile slightly, exchanging a knowing glance with her husband.

-

The jeep stopped at the entrance of an alley.

The Jiang family's villa is located deep in the alley. It is a two-story French-style building with gray bricks and white walls. A plane tree stands in front of the door with lush foliage, shading half of the alley.

Song Yanzhou turned off the engine and got out of the car first to open the trunk.

The surrounding neighbors stared in astonishment at the military jeep.

They all knew that the couple had been sent to the countryside—and they're back in less than a year?

Then they saw a tall, upright soldier get out of the passenger seat; his uniform stood out conspicuously in the afternoon sun.

Everyone was even more surprised.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Zhiyu got out of the car from the passenger seat.

Those around gasped.

Isn't this the little girl from the Jiang family? How come she's grown so much taller in just one year, and even her demeanor has changed dramatically? The last time I saw her, she was a timid little girl. Now she's standing there quietly, but for some reason, people don't dare to talk to her.

A plump auntie was already walking over here.

As soon as Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing got out of the back seat, the plump aunt recognized them at a glance.

"Hey! Old Jiang! It really is you!"

Aunt Zhang rushed forward, grabbing Jiang Boxun's arm, her eyes welling up with tears: "It's so good you're back! It's so good you're back!"

He wiped away his tears, then took Su Wanqing's hand and looked her up and down: "Hmm, not bad, not bad. Although you were sent down, you don't seem to have suffered much; you look great!"

Su Wanqing smiled and said, "Sister Zhang, how have you been this past year?"

"Good! Good! Good!" Aunt Zhang said "good" three times in a row, and then quickly added, "The house, the neighbors have all looked after it for you, no one's touching it! It's so good that you're back! Quite a few people wanted to buy your house, but we've turned them all away!"

She lowered her voice and said resentfully, "It's that guy surnamed Zhao, who, relying on his connections in the neighborhood committee, has tried several times to take this house from you and allocate it to others. We, the old neighbors, stood up for him! That house belongs to the Jiang family, why should it be given to outsiders!"

Su Wanqing gratefully shook Aunt Zhang's hand: "Sister Zhang, thank you."

Aunt Zhang waved her hand: "No need to thank me! We've been neighbors for decades! It's just that no one has lived here for over a year, so you'll have to clean it up properly; it's all dusty."

The neighbors around also started talking amongst themselves.

"What did the Jiang couple do to get back so quickly?"

"What did they do! They were university professors, implicated by those brats' baseless accusations!"

"You wouldn't know this, I heard their family comes from a capitalist background..."

Some people who were envious of the fact that they didn't get the house made sarcastic remarks from the sidelines.

Jiang Zhiyu and Song Yanzhou ignored these people.

Jiang Boxun took out his key and opened the courtyard gate.

-

The scene in the courtyard came into view.

It was covered in dust.

The flowers and plants in the flowerbed had long since withered, cobwebs covered the corners of the walls, and a thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, rustling underfoot. The lock on the iron gate was rusty, but the windowpanes were intact, only covered in a layer of dust, making it impossible to see anything.

Seeing them enter the yard, Aunt Zhang called out from outside the gate, "Old Jiang! You two get ready first, don't cook tonight! I'll go back and prepare a meal. You absolutely must come to my house for dinner tonight! Don't refuse! I'm so happy you're back!"

Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing didn't refuse: "Okay!"

Aunt Zhang turned around and went home to cook in a hurry.

-

In the courtyard, the three people started to get busy.

Song Yanzhou rolled up his sleeves and got to work without saying a word.

Jiang Zhiyu had assumed that a child raised in a large compound, who had never done any housework, would be clumsy and inept—but this person greatly surprised her.

They fetched water, wiped tables, wiped pillars, and even cleaned the glass doors. Their efficiency and fluidity were truly impressive.

Jiang Zhiyu leaned against the doorframe for a while, then couldn't help but ask, "Do you often do housework at home?"

Song Yanzhou withdrew his hand from the window, glanced back at her, and said, "In the army, you have to do everything yourself."

After saying that, he bent down again to wipe the threshold.

Jiang Zhiyu watched his back as he diligently wiped the threshold, and a slight feeling stirred in her heart.

This person seems to be meticulous in everything they do.

Jiang Boxun and Su Wanqing were also working nearby, but they would stop from time to time to glance at Song Yanzhou and then at their own daughter, their eyes filled with an indescribable smile.

As for Jiang Zhiyu—like an old leader, she wandered around the courtyard, looking at this and that, touching this and that, without making any move at all.

Su Wanqing couldn't hold back any longer: "Yuyu! Why don't you do something about it!"

Jiang Zhiyu replied matter-of-factly, "I'm just doing a checkup."

Jiang Boxun shook his head helplessly, exchanged a glance with Su Wanqing, and both smiled.

My daughter has changed so much. She's become much more carefree and easygoing.

-

It took the three of them nearly an hour to clean up the mess.

The fallen leaves in the yard were cleared away, the windows were polished, the tables and chairs were wiped clean, and even the fallen leaves under the sycamore tree by the gate were swept away.

Aunt Zhang also came to call them on time.

"Come on, come on! Dinner's ready!"

Su Wanqing, holding her daughter's hand and leading Song Yanzhou, walked towards Aunt Zhang's house.

Every now and then, a head would pop out from the alley to observe them. Some would peek from behind a crack in the door, while others would pretend to hang clothes out to dry in the yard, but their eyes would keep following them.

Jiang Zhiyu remained outwardly calm, but her mental energy had already been quietly deployed.

Most of them were just curious neighbors with no ill intentions—they just wanted to see if the Jiang family had returned and what they were like now.

But one of the viewpoints is not quite right.

They were acting suspiciously, not looking openly, but secretly watching from behind a doorway at the corner of the alley—not at her, nor at her parents.

They were watching her yard.

That gaze had been there ever since they entered the yard, never leaving, carrying a sense of intrusion that wasn't typical of ordinary neighbors.

Jiang Zhiyu remained outwardly calm, but she memorized that position in her heart.

She followed her parents toward Aunt Zhang's house, a slight smile playing on her lips, but no joy in her eyes.

Could there really be some who slipped through the net?