Chapter 2

It was impossible to return just by lying around.

After two days of lying in the room, Su Ting had come to this realization.

She couldn’t resort to extreme measures like starvation or hanging herself to return—firstly because she feared pain, and secondly because she hadn’t lived enough yet.

Who knew if su!cide would send her back or simply end her life?

Better a messy life than a neat death, even if it meant living in the seventies, even if the original fate of this body wasn’t great.

Though the seventies were tough, the person she’d become had married well. He Dongchuan was a battalion commander, earning over a hundred yuan per month, which made him a high-income earner in this era.

According to the original story, although He Dongchuan didn’t like the original owner, he hadn’t mistreated her while he was alive; he provided her with ample living expenses.

Moreover, He Dongchuan was stationed on a southern island. While other things might be scarce, seafood was plentiful. Although the rice was a bit coarse, it wasn’t inedible. After all, the original owner had eaten it for so many years without issue. She could adapt gradually.

The tough days would only last a few years.

It was 1974 now. In three years, the Cultural Revolution would end, followed by the resumption of college entrance exams, reform, and opening up. Supplies like grain, oil, and rice would gradually become available until various ration coupons were phased out.

By the eighties, she should be able to live quite comfortably.

In the novel, the original owner also lived comfortably for several years.

After He Dongchuan passed away, she and He Yan were brought back to the capital by the He family’s elders. Father He found her an office job in a state-owned factory.

Although the original owner’s abilities were average, jobs in this era were iron rice bowls. Even after Father He passed away, her job remained stable. She was lucky—the company not only survived the wave of closures but thrived, with employee benefits continuously improving.

If it weren’t for He Yan’s crazy revenge after growing up, she might have had a peaceful old age.

The original owner didn’t get to enjoy a happy old age, but Su Ting believed she could.

Although she was now the male protagonist’s wicked stepmother, the timeline was still early—she had only been married to He Dongchuan for less than a month.

At this point, the original owner hadn’t yet despaired over He Dongchuan and was still trying to win his love by pleasing He Yan. Their relationship hadn’t completely broken down.

As long as she treated He Yan well after He Dongchuan’s death, even if she couldn’t cling to the male protagonist’s golden thigh, surviving until the end shouldn’t be too difficult.

Before she transmigrated, Su Ting had already lost all her family, and she could barely count a few close friends. Even so, she couldn’t accept the reality of transmigrating into a book within a second, like the many novel heroines she had read about. She couldn’t just instantly adapt to a new identity.  

She kept hoping that she was dreaming, that once she woke up, she would return to her original world.  

So, she had been feeling utterly dejected, lying in bed, unwilling to move.  

It just so happened that the man of the house was away, and He Yan was just a child—unable to keenly notice her changes—so she naturally indulged in her slump, letting herself wallow in despair.  

In that state, she had absolutely no desire to communicate with anyone.  

For this reason, when Su Ting finally pulled herself together, faced reality, and asked about He Yan’s school life, he was surprised.  

A six-year-old child couldn’t hide his emotions very well, and Su Ting immediately noticed his surprise. She couldn’t help but wonder—had her question just broken character?  

That shouldn’t be possible. The original owner had cared far more about He Yan than she did.  

If anything, her behavior from the past two days had been the real break in character.  

As she was thinking this, she heard He Yan answer: “It’s okay.”  

Su Ting pushed aside her stray thoughts and continued: “Do you understand the lessons?”  

She wasn’t underestimating He Yan by asking this.  

In the capital, school enrollment age was strictly regulated. He had only turned six in February, and before coming to Pingchuan Island, he had still been attending Yumiao class.  

Yumiao class was the equivalent of kindergarten in later generations. It taught basic literacy and arithmetic, but the content was very elementary.  

However, Pingchuan Island had no Yumiao classes, and school enrollment rules were much looser. While the official age for first grade was six, in practice, children as young as four or five could be sent to school. As long as they had basic self-care abilities, the school would accept them.  

Given He Yan’s age, starting first grade in September wouldn’t have been too late. The original owner didn’t have a job for the time being, so she could have taken care of him.  

But He Dongchuan, for some reason—whether he feared his son would grow too wild without structure or simply didn’t trust the original owner—had sent He Yan to elementary school as soon as his household registration was settled.

It was already April, and the second semester of first grade was nearly halfway through. Yet, just over half a month ago, He Yan had still been in Seedling Class. Naturally, he couldn’t keep up with the lessons.  

His face flushed red, but he refused to admit that he couldn’t understand anything. Instead, he said: “I understand a little.”  

Su Ting responded with an oh and didn’t press further.  

She figured that, given He Yan’s situation, He Dongchuan would likely have him repeat first grade in September. This half-semester was probably just a transition period to help him adjust to elementary school.  

So, whether He Yan understood a little or a lot didn’t really matter. It wasn’t something she, as his stepmother, needed to worry about right now. With that in mind, she continued eating her meal without concern.  

On the other hand, He Yan felt restless when she simply acknowledged his response and said nothing more.  

If you have something to say, just say it!  

…  

After dinner, Su Ting instinctively picked up the lunchboxes and walked into the kitchen.  

This apartment had been assigned to her and He Dongchuan after their marriage and her military-dependent registration was approved.  

Since He Dongchuan was only a battalion commander, the place wasn’t large—about sixty square meters, with a layout of two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.  

The two bedrooms were quite small, but the living room felt relatively spacious—though that was probably due to the lack of furniture. Aside from a round dining table and a four-tiered chest of drawers, there wasn’t much else, making the space seem even emptier.  

Although the place wasn’t big, it was comfortable to live in. The plumbing extended into the house, and the bathroom even had a ceramic squat toilet.  

This was one of the reasons Su Ting felt that life here was still bearable.  

After washing the lunchboxes, she went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She didn’t use soap—there was only a single bar of opened soap in the house, which He Yan used when he bathed. She suspected that He Dongchuan used the same bar, so for the past two days, she had been washing herself with just water.

When she still held onto the hope of returning to her original world, she had been willing to make do with anything. But now that she had abandoned that thought and was preparing to live in this era for the long haul, certain matters had become urgent.  

So, after leaving the bathroom, Su Ting went straight to the master bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out a tin box.  

Although He Dongchuan wasn’t satisfied with the original owner as his wife, she was still the daughter of his mother’s close friend. No matter what, he had made proper preparations for their marriage, including the three major household items that were popular at the time.  

However, since he wasn’t sure whether the original owner would actually use them, he had only given her a wristwatch directly. As for the sewing machine and bicycle, he had provided ration tickets along with the necessary money.  

If she wanted them, she could buy them after moving to the island. If she didn’t, she could sell the tickets to someone else.  

Of course, the original owner would never sell them—these were part of the bride price He Dongchuan had prepared for her. Even if she never used them, she still had to buy them and keep them!  

Theoretically, the island’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative stocked all three major items, but they were almost always out of stock and required special ordering.  

In the past two months, He Dongchuan had taken leave twice, but after returning, he had been so busy that he had no time to accompany her to the city to purchase a sewing machine and bicycle.  

The original owner also hadn’t wanted to travel to the city alone. She had never gone on a long trip by herself—aside from following He Dongchuan to Pingchuan Island, she had never traveled far.  

As a result, the matter had been put on hold.  

Because of this, when Su Ting transmigrated, she found herself with a considerable amount of savings at her disposal.

The bulk of her savings naturally came from the bride price that He Dongchuan had given her. In this era, rural bride prices were typically symbolic—eight yuan and eighty cents, or eighteen yuan and eighty cents. Anything over fifty yuan was considered an extravagant sum.  

In the capital, bride prices were slightly higher, but they generally didn’t exceed two hundred yuan.  

However, Mother He had taken a liking to Su Ting. In addition to the money that He Dongchuan personally provided, she had also chipped in to round up the total to six hundred and eighty-eight yuan for Su Ting.  

Then there was the cash equivalent for the sewing machine and bicycle. Each of these items cost around one hundred and fifty yuan, so He Dongchuan had given her four hundred yuan in total, along with the necessary ration tickets.  

The Su family cherished their daughter, and since the gap between the two families was significant, they had not kept a single cent of the bride price. Instead, they had even stuffed an additional fifty yuan into the original owner’s dowry, combining it with the money from He Dongchuan.  

Aside from the wedding funds, after arriving on the island, He Dongchuan had also given the original owner a household allowance of fifty yuan.  

While the Su family was considered well-off in their village, they couldn’t compare to the He family. When the original owner attended boarding school in junior high, her weekly living expenses were less than three yuan. Later, when she became a scorekeeper, she was paid in work points, which amounted to only twenty or thirty yuan a year.  

After getting married, she suddenly found herself with a significant amount of money at her disposal. However, she had been reluctant to spend it freely and had only purchased essential household items—firewood, rice, oil, salt, pots, bowls, and utensils. Even after nearly half a month, half of the household allowance remained untouched.  

Although the household allowance technically wasn’t part of her personal savings, the other three portions of money were still substantial. Altogether, she had more than one thousand one hundred yuan!  

Thinking about the cost of living in this era and looking at the neatly stacked Great Unity banknotes inside the tin box, Su Ting gradually felt at ease.  

Having money in hand meant having security. That was her mindset now.