Chapter 4

“You lazy girl, you’ve been sleeping all day, and you didn’t even feed the chickens! Can’t you do anything?”

Seeing Lin Hongna, Li Aifeng’s frustration boiled over.

Recently, a series of unfortunate events had struck the family. First, Lin Hongna had fallen into the river while washing clothes.

Like many rural women, Li Aifeng didn’t value her daughter much.

When she heard that her daughter had fallen into the river, she didn’t rush out in a panic. She first fed the chickens at home before heading to the river.

By the time she reached the village, Lin Hongna, who was floundering in the river, had already been pulled out by the villagers with bamboo poles.

It was still late March, and the early spring air was chilly.

Lin Hongna couldn’t swim and had been splashing around, screaming and swallowing several mouthfuls of water. When she finally grasped the bamboo pole, terrified of getting back to shore, she was soaked from head to toe and her lips had turned blue from the cold.

Li Aifeng was just as reckless. Instead of worrying about her daughter who had fallen into the river, she accused the villagers who tried to help, claiming they had pushed her daughter in, demanding medical expenses.

This infuriated the villagers, who didn’t care about the staggering Lin Hongna and turned away, letting go of the pole.

Li Aifeng jumped up and chased after them.

Left with no choice, Lin Hongna had to make her own way home, change out of her wet clothes, wrap herself in a quilt, and drift into a fitful sleep.

When Lin Hongna opened her eyes again, everything had changed.

Li Aifeng thought to herself that it didn’t matter if her daughter had fallen. A girl just needed to sleep it off, right?

Who knew that after a good sleep, Lin Hongna would act like she had gone mad, refusing to marry Gu Shi’an, the boy she was betrothed to.

Lin Daguo and his wife tried to beat and scold her into submission.

But Lin Hongna was resolute. No matter how much they punished her, one night she even threatened to hang herself.

Despite Lin Daguo’s flaws, he couldn’t ignore his own daughter and had no choice but to arrange for his niece Lin Yao to take her place in marrying into the Gu family.

As he considered this, Lin Daguo thought he had a solid plan. He believed Gu Mancang was honest and sentimental, and if the matter of the substitute marriage got out, he might be able to smooth things over with some emotional appeals.

However, he underestimated Zhang Cuilan, this fierce woman.

On the wedding day, Zhang Cuilan, somehow sensing something was off, abruptly lifted the red veil covering Lin Yao’s face.

Lin Hongna, who bumped into a doorpost, caused Lin Daguo to hurriedly lead his family away in panic.

They managed to escape, but the next day, Zhang Cuilan arrived at Linjia Village with her brothers and nephew in tow…

In the end, Lin Daguo received a sound beating, and after stealing money from his younger brother, it was taken away by Zhang’s brothers.

The more Li Aifeng thought about it, the angrier she became. If it weren’t for her daughter refusing to marry Gu Shi’an, how could there be so much trouble?

Just as she was about to point at Lin Hongna and unleash her fury, Lin Hongna casually remarked, “Mom, what are you doing? Jialiang invited me to the county to see a movie tonight. If I delay and make him unhappy, my brother can forget about getting promoted.”

Li Aifeng was left speechless, the curse stuck in her throat.

Her son was her lifeline.

For the sake of her son’s future, Li Aifeng swallowed her anger, begrudgingly went to the kitchen to start cooking.

Sun Jialiang was none other than Lin Yao’s husband from her previous life.

In her past life, Lin Yao was chosen by Mother Sun because of her beauty. She went from being a country girl to marrying the director of a light bulb factory, and later, Sun Jialiang went into business, using his parents’ connections, sharp vision, and ruthless methods to amass a fortune.

Once the Sun family prospered, they moved to Hong Kong.

Lin Yao enjoyed a life of luxury in a garden villa on the hillside, with servants at home and drivers and bodyguards when she went out. Even though Sun Jialiang had affairs outside, Lin Yao was still the enviable wife of a wealthy family.

At least, that was how Lin Hongna felt in her past life.

But now, Sun Jialiang was the very man Lin Hongna was currently courting.

She brushed back her hair that had fallen over her forehead, admiring her delicate, fair fingers. A proud, mocking smile crept onto her lips.

See? When someone has something to gain, they change completely.

If this life was like her previous one, marrying into a crowded courtyard, she wouldn’t have the status she had now at home.

In her past life, Lin Hongna was never satisfied with the betrothal arranged by her grandfather.

People said the Gu family lived in the city, had a good situation, and that her husband was an officer with parents and sisters who had stable jobs, so marrying into the family was like falling into a honey pot.

What a load of nonsense!

The Gu family was a pit of filth!

Gu Mancang was dull as a post, incapable of making a sound.

Zhang Cuilan was domineering and made all the decisions. Half of Gu Shi’an’s salary and allowances were controlled by that old woman. She couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law and fought with her sister-in-law Gu Chunmei every time they met.

And then there was Gu Shidong, the little brat who always took sides.

Besides, she had no interest in a cold, taciturn soldier like Gu Shi’an. She preferred cultured, refined intellectuals!

In her past life, she had endured marrying into the Gu family. Unexpectedly, on the very day she wed, the army received an urgent telegram, and Gu Shi’an had to rush back to duty.

From that moment on, she became a living widow!

Her life was miserable. Why should she remain pure for Gu Shi’an?

Half a year later, unable to bear the loneliness, Lin Hongna began an affair with a man from the alley and was caught by Gu Chunmei.

When Gu Shi’an returned from the army, he calmly divorced her.

After the divorce, Gu Mancang hypocritically handed her a hundred yuan. She had lost her marriage, her reputation was ruined, her family rejected her, and the man from the alley left her, leaving her destitute for the rest of her life.

She suffered such a tragic fate. How could Lin Yao be allowed to live better than her?!

Fortunately, the heavens had opened their eyes, she had been reborn. The humiliation and pain she had endured in her previous life were meant for Lin Yao to experience.

*

With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, the weather in Yunshui County grew increasingly hot.

The blazing sun hung high in the afternoon sky, with not a hint of breeze.

As the festival drew near, the marketing and supply cooperative and pig farms became busier. Customers streamed in and out of the cooperative, and Gu Chunmei, usually free, found herself standing behind the counter for most of the day, feeling so exhausted that when she returned home, she collapsed onto her bed.

Zhang Cuilan was equally busy. Once summer arrived, the state-owned pig farm ramped up operations. With the summer came swarms of mosquitoes, especially after rain, making sanitation in the pigsty a top priority. The pig pens needed to be cleaned twice a day.

As the weather grew hot, the pigsty became stuffy. Zhang Cuilan and the other workers needed to fetch water to cool the pigs, using at least one bucket of water for each pig. With hundreds of pigs at the pig farm, this was no small task.

After a few days of this, Zhang Cuilan’s shoulders had been chafed raw by the carrying pole. In previous years, this would have left her unable to sleep from the pain.

This year, however, she applied the medicine Lin Yao had given her. With just a few applications, she could sleep soundly from dusk until dawn.

Gu Mancang had a heavy workload in the workshop, often not returning home until after dark.

This left only the sick Lin Yao and the school-free Gu Shidong at home in the old Gu family.

With no parents around to supervise, Shidong, the little rascal, was bouncing around the house all day.

Recently, Lin Yao had to visit the clinic multiple times to have her forehead injury treated. With the house quiet at night, she quietly took out some ointment from her space supermarket and gently applied it to her wound.

This ointment had been left for her by her grandmother, who claimed it was a good medicine for the apocalypse.

After using it a few times, Lin Yao found it worked wonders. In just a few days, her wound was almost healed, leaving only a faint pink scar.

Gu Chunmei found Lin Yao’s progress infuriating and insisted she go to the hair salon.

At the salon, the skilled barber used hot tongs to give Lin Yao a trendy curled fringe. Lin Yao was very pleased with her new look and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

Gu Chunmei was also delighted and kissed Lin Yao’s face, saying, “Our Yaoyao is truly charming.”

Saying this, she hugged Lin Yao and gave her another peck.

Lin Yao thought to herself, Sister Chunmei, we really don’t need to be this affectionate.

*

After getting Lin Yao’s bangs styled, Gu Chunmei still had some time left. The two sisters chatted and decided to head to the supply cooperative to see if they could buy some meat.

For several days, the Gu family had been eating thin porridge with pickled vegetables and steamed corn buns.

Not only was Lin Yao craving something more substantial, but Gu Chunmei’s appetite was also stirring.

As for Gu Shidong, that little brat dreamed every night of eating braised pig trotters.

Gu Chunmei whispered to Lin Yao that the little scamp must be gnawing on his own stinky feet in his dreams.

Lin Yao imagined this scenario and agreed that it wasn’t impossible, given Shidong’s antics.

The stone-paved streets of Yunshui County had been smoothed and polished by years of wind, frost, and rain. The moat meandered through the streets, with willow branches swaying gently in the breeze.

Gu Chunmei pedaled her bicycle diligently for about ten minutes. By the time they reached the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Yao’s face was flushed from the sun.

The sisters quickly split up to cover more ground.

Gu Chunmei truly treated Lin Yao like a younger sister. When she spotted a popsicle stand, she didn’t hesitate to run over and buy two white sugar popsicles.

The two of them each took one.

Gu Chunmei went to stand in line at the grocery store to buy meat, while Lin Yao, licking her popsicle, was left to watch their bicycle in the shade.

Bicycles were precious at this time.

The Gu family had spent 180 yuan and five industrial tickets to buy this “Flying Pigeon” brand bicycle, which they had to wait for half a year to receive.

As Gu Chunmei would say, if she lost it, it would be a huge loss.

Lin Yao stood by the bicycle, appearing obedient in the shade while secretly pondering how to find a chance to pull out a few pounds of bacon from her space supermarket.

Yunshui County, being close to the south, meant that people usually ate both rice and noodles. However, at this time, every household relied on government-issued grain rations to buy food. Ordinary families couldn’t afford fine grains, and for more than half the month, they were eating a mix of cornmeal, buckwheat flour, and sweet potato buns.

By now, it was already midday, and there was a high chance that the grocery store had run out of meat.

Sure enough, after a short while, Gu Chunmei came out of the grocery store with a bag of meat, her head hanging low, looking disheartened.

Great, it’s obvious she didn’t buy any meat.

Lin Yao shook her head, clapped her hands, and stood up, preparing to take matters into her own hands.

Just as she thought about how to distract Chunmei, a tall and handsome young man appeared across the street.

Lin Yao beamed, quickly finishing her popsicle and calling out to Gu Chunmei, “Sister Chunmei, your Brother Da Tou^[1]Big Head Brother. It is the nickname for Gu Chunmei’s fiancee, Xu Xiangqian. I chose not to change it into Big Head Brother because it just doesn’t sound good to me. is here.”