Chapter 1

“Sanya, Sanya! Something terrible has happened!”

Qiao Baozhu, who was squatting at the entrance of the farm canteen peeling potatoes, looked up to see her childhood friend Gao Liman rushing toward her in a panic.

“What could be so serious? Catch your breath and speak slowly.”

Seeing her friend drenched in sweat, Qiao Baozhu put down the potato in her hand and pulled a clean handkerchief from her pocket, handing it over.

Gao Liman, seeing how new the handkerchief was, didn’t take it. Instead, she rolled up her sleeves and wiped her forehead with the back of her arm.

“It’s your fifth sister, Xifeng—I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Just now, she suddenly started crying and shouting that she wants to marry Zhao Haiyang, that educated youth.”

“I was eavesdropping outside your back window and heard Xifeng say that the educated youth would have the brightest future and would become a high-ranking official in the provincial capital.”

Gao Liman curled her lip in disdain. “She must’ve been possessed or something. Throwing a tantrum. Otherwise, why give up a military officer to marry some poor outsider?”

Qiao Baozhu was briefly stunned, then a meaningful smile crept across her face.

So, rebirth wasn’t something that happened to her alone. Her biological sister, born of the same parents, had also returned to the 1970s.

Three days ago, after sending her husband’s illegitimate child off on a plane to study abroad, she came home to find Qiao Xifeng lounging on her couch.

The sisters erupted into a fierce argument. Already in poor health, Qiao Baozhu was so enraged that she had a sudden heart attack and passed out.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the year 1975. She had just barely come to terms with the shock of her rebirth when she discovered the very sister who caused her tragic death had also returned.

And now, barely back, she was already trying to steal her man…

In her past life, when their grandfather fell gravely ill, her grandmother and uncles came up with the idea of a superstitious practice of arranging a marriage to ward off death.

At the time, engaging in feudal superstitions could get you publicly criticized, but Old Master Qiao had once been the production team leader and was highly respected in the village.

When villagers heard about his condition, they brought over eligible young men to propose marriage.

Of the girls in the Qiao family who were of marrying age, there were only two: Qiao Baozhu and her cousin, Qiao Xifeng.

Although Qiao Baozhu was technically part of the second branch of the family, she had been adopted by her third uncle—who was disabled and childless—when she was eight. That gave Qiao Zhangui the excuse to take over the right to arrange her marriage and collect the dowry.

After a few days of consideration, Qiao Zhangui settled on two candidates:

One was Shen Xiao, a military officer from the 585 Corps, who was the nephew of the wife of Li Tiezhu from Front Street.

The other was Zhao Haiyang, an educated youth introduced by Qiao Baozhu’s eldest uncle, who was the director of the third section of the Qingyan Mountain Farm and held considerable influence.

Although the Qiao family were farmers, they had deep roots locally. Marrying a poor educated youth from out of town was still considered a decent match.

As for the promising young officer in the military corps, Qiao Zhangui hadn’t even dared to dream of that possibility.

But Shen Xiao’s second aunt—Li Tiezhu’s wife Zhang Guifen—said the man didn’t want any dowry at all and was offering 500 yuan in bride price.

This heavenly match naturally landed in Qiao Xifeng’s lap.

Unfortunately, Qiao Xifeng was narrow-minded and obsessive. After marriage, she resented Shen Xiao for helping raise his fallen comrade’s orphan. Constantly suspicious and quarrelsome, she turned their once-happy life into chaos.

Due to later policy changes, Shen Xiao had to leave the army and was reassigned to a tougher life on the farm, living the rest of his life as a peasant.

In contrast, Zhao Haiyang—who had started out as a rootless, poor youth—climbed the social ladder thanks entirely to Qiao Baozhu’s careful planning and support. He eventually left the farm and entered the provincial government, completing a dramatic class transformation.

Because Qiao Baozhu was strategic and realistic, even without children to bind them, Zhao Haiyang never dared to bring up divorce.

To outsiders, Zhao Haiyang was successful, high-ranking, loyal to his family—a model husband that no one could find fault with.

No wonder Qiao Xifeng, upon returning to the past, was so desperate to snatch him up.

A cold sneer formed on Qiao Baozhu’s lips: Let her take him. She’ll find out soon enough—Zhao Haiyang is a cold-blooded, selfish man who beats his wife.

Gao Liman hadn’t noticed the scorn on Qiao Baozhu’s face. She looked at her with starry eyes full of admiration.

“Sanya, you have no idea. Ever since Xifeng got engaged to Officer Shen, your parents have been walking around the village with their noses in the air, bragging about how lucky she is to land a man with an ‘iron rice bowl’ (a secure government job).”

“This kind of man—you must hold on to him!”

Looking at the pure, earnest face of Gao Liman, Qiao Baozhu couldn’t help but shake her head and smile bitterly.

“Manman, you can’t just judge things by appearances. As the saying goes, ‘hearing is false, seeing is believing.’ We’ve only heard things about Shen Xiao. We’ve never seen him ourselves.”

“Do you remember what my life was like before I was adopted by my third uncle?”

Gao Liman blinked and nodded. “You were made to do all the chores and never even got enough to eat. Xifeng didn’t have to lift a finger and always had new clothes to wear. Your parents were totally biased.”

Every time they talked about her childhood hardships, Qiao Baozhu couldn’t help but get teary-eyed.

“Exactly. If they didn’t even feed me properly, do you really think they’d find me a good husband?”

It was as if a light bulb went off in Gao Liman’s head. She stomped her feet in frustration.

“Then it must be that Xifeng found out something’s wrong with Officer Shen and knew your parents wouldn’t want to return the bride price. So she’s causing a fuss to swap husbands!”

“Sanya, what do we do? What are we going to do?!”

Qiao Baozhu remained calm, as if the matter had nothing to do with her. She gave a dismissive snort.

“Is Qiao Xifeng the sun? Do we all have to revolve around her? She wants to marry Zhao Haiyang, but does he want to marry her? And Officer Shen gave 500 yuan in bride price. If she wants to back out, will he agree? Will the matchmaker allow it?”

Qiao Baozhu’s words made Gao Liman suddenly think of something. She slapped her forehead and shrieked.

“Oh no! I overheard Xifeng say she’s going to get your engagement canceled. I saw her leaving your house and heading toward the farm. That’s why I took a shortcut to come warn you!”

Gao Liman was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing in panic.

“If there really is something wrong with that Officer Shen, do you think your parents will give back that money? No way. And if they won’t return the bride price, then they’ll throw you into that fire pit instead.”

“If Xifeng tells your eldest uncle she wants to switch grooms, he’ll agree immediately. As long as it helps your grandfather recover, he won’t care who marries whom. After all, you’re not even his real daughter!”

Just thinking about how her best friend was being bullied by her whole family made Gao Liman grit her teeth in anger.

“Come on, let’s go see my mom!”

Unable to stand it any longer, Gao Liman grabbed Qiao Baozhu’s hand and dragged her out.

“My mom works for the Women’s Federation—she won’t ignore this!”