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

The train rattled northward, passing through cities, fields, and one dusty little station after another.

Jiang Zhiyu sat in the hard seat, watching the scenery rushing past the window, but her mind was filled with other things.

She felt a little depressed.

Logically, after such a long trip, she should be happy to finally see her parents. But for some reason, ever since she boarded the train, she'd had a constant feeling of unease, as if something was about to happen.

The feeling was strange, like the intuition before encountering danger in the apocalypse—even though you haven't seen any danger signals, your body will instinctively send out warnings.

Will nothing bad happen?

Jiang Zhiyu shook her head, dismissing the thought.

No, she arranged everything before she left. Her parents are in Kaoshantun, under the care of the village chief and villagers. What could possibly happen to them?

But that string remained taut, making her feel uneasy.

It was already afternoon when the train arrived at the station.

Jiang Zhiyu got out of the car, found a secluded corner where no one was around, and teleported to the town in a few moments. The town was the same as before, with gray streets, sparse pedestrians, and political propaganda that could never be heard clearly coming from the loudspeakers.

She took out a bicycle from her spatial storage and then hired an old man driving a donkey cart at the entrance of town to carry her luggage.

"To Kaoshantun, two yuan, is that okay?"

"Okay! Hold on tight!"

The old man's donkey cart was piled with several bundles of hay. Jiang Zhiyu put the large packages on the hay and rode her bicycle slowly behind him.

The closer she got to Kaoshantun, the more tense she became.

Not right.

Something is really wrong.

As the donkey cart rounded the last bend in the mountain and the outline of Kaoshantun came into view, Jiang Zhiyu frowned.

Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, several women were sitting and chatting, sewing shoe soles. When they saw the donkey cart approaching, they first looked up—

Then I froze.

"That's... Young Jiang, the educated youth?"

"That's right! Zhiyu is back!"

"Oh, the child is finally back!"

Several women chattered amongst themselves, their voices low, their eyes darting around and glancing at her every now and then.

Jiang Zhiyu jumped off the donkey cart and nodded to them, saying, "Hello, aunties."

"Okay, okay..." the women responded, but no one said another word.

Their eyes darted around, as if they wanted to say something but hesitated. Two of them even lowered their heads and continued sewing the soles of their shoes, as if they hadn't seen her at all.

Jiang Zhiyu's heart tightened suddenly.

Not right.

She knew most of these women; they used to be very friendly with her, always eager to chat and ask her all sorts of questions. Why were they all acting like they'd seen a ghost now?

Just as she was about to ask something, an older woman suddenly stood up, dusted herself off, and hurried home with her head down, muttering, "I have to go home and cook..."

Another auntie stood up as well: "My husband must be hungry too..."

In the blink of an eye, only one person remained under the tree. The aunt looked at her, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just sighed, shook her head, and walked away.

Jiang Zhiyu stood there, staring at their hurried departing figures, her unease growing stronger.

What's wrong? What happened?

She vaguely heard the two women behind her whispering—

"What good will it do if he comes back? He's already been arrested..."

"You bet! That spectacle...tsk tsk tsk, Old Jiang and his wife are going to suffer..."

Shh! Keep your voice down! Someone might hear...

The sound grew farther and farther away, until it finally disappeared completely in the wind.

Jiang Zhiyu's pupils suddenly contracted.

Arrested? Who was arrested?

Her first instinct was to chase after him and get to the bottom of things, but reason told her to stay calm. She took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing her anxiety, and continued walking towards the courtyard.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, Jiang Zhiyu was stunned.

The courtyard was empty, with the doors and windows tightly closed. She went in and pushed open the door to the main room—it was also empty inside, with the bedding neatly folded.

The water tank still had water, the stove was cold, and there was a little bit of ash on the table, so it looked like they hadn't been gone long.

My parents aren't here.

He wasn't inside the house, in the yard, or working in the fields.

What about Mom and Dad?

Jiang Zhiyu's heart finally snapped.

She turned and left the courtyard, striding towards the village chief's house.

As soon as Jiang Zhiyu reached the gate of the courtyard, she saw Qiuyue, the eldest daughter-in-law of the village chief, squatting in the yard washing clothes.

Qiuyue heard footsteps, looked up and saw—

"Little Jiang, an educated youth?!"

She stood up abruptly, not even bothering to pick up the clothes she had dropped on the ground, and quickly came to greet Jiang Zhiyu. She took Jiang Zhiyu's hand, looked her up and down, and her eyes even turned a little red.

"You're finally back! You silly girl, why were you gone for so long this time? Do you even know...?"

She paused mid-sentence, her expression becoming complex.

Jiang Zhiyu's heart sank, and she asked directly, "Sister-in-law Qiuyue, where are my parents?"

Qiuyue's lips moved, but she didn't make a sound.

"Sister-in-law!" Jiang Zhiyu raised her voice, "Where did my parents go?"

Qiuyue sighed and pulled her into the courtyard: "Come in, come in..."

Jiang Zhiyu was pulled into the main room by Qiuyue. Qiuyue closed the door and said in a low voice, "Zhiyu, don't worry, your parents... should be alright for now."

"What do you mean 'temporarily safe'?" Jiang Zhiyu's brows furrowed deeply. "Where did they go?"

Just then, Aunt Wang's voice came from the inner room on the east side: "Qiuyue, who's here?"

Qiuyue quickly replied, "Mother, it's Zhiyu who's back!"

As soon as the curtain to the inner room was lifted, Aunt Wang was stunned for a moment when she saw Jiang Zhiyu. Then she grabbed her hand and her eyes reddened.

"Zhiyu, you're finally back!"

"Auntie, where are my parents?" Jiang Zhiyu asked directly, not bothering with pleasantries.

Aunt Wang's expression changed, she sighed, and pulled her to sit down on a chair, her voice low and somber: "Zhiyu, your parents... were taken away by the Revolutionary Committee the day before yesterday."

Jiang Zhiyu's mind went blank.

"What?"

"The day before yesterday morning," Aunt Wang said, wiping away tears, "a few people from the Revolutionary Committee came. The one leading them was a minor leader, what was his name... surnamed Ma? He brought a group of people, looking very aggressive, saying they wanted to investigate your parents' past."

"What historical issues are you investigating?" Jiang Zhiyu's brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

"It's the same old story," Aunt Wang said angrily. "They say your dad made inappropriate remarks at school and got beaten up, so there's something wrong with him; they say your mom is suspected of being from a capitalist family, which is even more serious. They also say that since you're not in the village, you must have fled to avoid punishment, and they're going to take your parents to town for investigation..."

Jiang Zhiyu clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Aunt Wang continued, "Your Uncle Chen happened to be patrolling the fields that day. He heard the commotion and rushed over. No matter how we explained, it was no use. That guy surnamed Ma was incredibly arrogant, completely disregarding us. He waved his hand to take them away. Your Uncle Chen tried to stop him, so he ordered his gang of thugs to do it—"

"They made their move?" Jiang Zhiyu's voice was as cold as ice.

"Oh! You have no idea how hard those people hit him," Aunt Wang said, wiping away her tears. "Your Uncle Chen is over sixty years old, how could he withstand such a beating? He was knocked to the ground and had a bloody hole in his head. Our village is united, and when they saw your uncle being beaten, they tried to stop it, but they were all beaten too! They were forcibly taken away! Later, your sister-in-law Qiuyue found a few people to carry them home. Your uncle has been so worried that he hasn't slept for two nights, and he went to town early this morning to inquire about the situation... He said he promised you..."

Qiu Yue sighed beside her, "Zhiyu, don't blame your Uncle Chen for not being able to stop them. Those guys are really fierce, they're carrying sticks, and they'll beat anyone who tries to stop them. They seem like a bunch of young thugs, not decent people at all..."

Jiang Zhiyu took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

Where did those people take my parents?

"They say he's been taken to the Revolutionary Committee in town," Aunt Wang said. "Your Uncle Chen went to town to find out what was going on and see if he could get him out..."

"Auntie," Jiang Zhiyu suddenly asked, "did you take my official document?"

"They took it! Your Uncle Chen showed them the document right away, but that guy surnamed Ma wouldn't buy it at all. He said the official document was fake, a forgery, and he almost tore it up..."

As Aunt Wang finished speaking, tears welled up in her eyes again.

A cold glint flashed in Jiang Zhiyu's eyes.

They even dare to tear up official documents? Those people are really bold.

She stood up, her tone eerily calm: "Auntie, thank you for telling me all this. I'll handle my parents' situation."

"Zhiyu, don't be impulsive!" Aunt Wang grabbed her arm. "Those people are very fierce, you're just a young girl..."

"It's alright, Auntie," Jiang Zhiyu patted her hand, her expression growing colder.

She took out two boxes of Daqianmen cigarettes and a pound of milk candy from her bag, placed them on the table, and turned to leave.

Aunt Wang and Qiu Yue looked at each other, wanting to stop her but not daring to, and could only watch helplessly as she left the yard.

Jiang Zhiyu walked out of the village chief's house and stood under the big locust tree at the village entrance. The cold wind blew across her cheeks, but it could not dispel the chill in her eyes.

Some people really have a long reach.

She came from the apocalypse and has always been careful to conceal herself, trying to integrate into her new environment, avoiding ostentation and trouble, and keeping a low profile whenever possible. No one knows how much she cherishes this peaceful and harmonious world.

Perhaps she had kept a low profile for too long, making these people really think she was easy to bully.

If you harm someone she cares about, you are crossing her bottom line.

Since these people insist on walking into the line of fire, then she shouldn't blame her for being ruthless.

Jiang Zhiyu's lips curled into a cold smile as she turned and walked out of the village.

The town's Revolutionary Committee, right?