Just a few days ago, after much deep thought, Wang Lingling finally remembered something about Zhao Jun. In her previous life, when Zhao Jun returned home, he didn’t have enough leave and said he had a minor accident in the county town, got a little injured, and had to stay in the hospital for two or three days.
At the time, his fiancée Wang Ying had gone with Grandma Zhao to pick him up. After returning, the two quickly got married.
After thinking it over, Wang Lingling decided to take a gamble. She simply climbed out the window and went to the county town. There were only two hospitals there, and she quickly found Zhao Jun without much trouble.
She lied, claiming to be the daughter-in-law candidate Grandma Zhao had chosen for Zhao Jun, and shyly took care of him in the hospital for two days.
Until yesterday, when Grandma Zhao arrived and exposed her lie. But it didn’t matter—even during those few days in the hospital, Wang Lingling could tell Zhao Jun was very satisfied with her.
Sure enough, once everything was laid bare, Zhao Jun persuaded Grandma Zhao to accept her. No matter how reluctant the old lady was, with her son speaking up, she had no choice but to agree.
Wang Lingling’s face was full of pride, looking down on those around her with disdain.
You may all be laughing now, but just wait—when Zhao Jun becomes the richest man in town, even if your eyes pop out from envy, it’ll be useless!
Wang Lingling happily knocked on the door with two children in tow. The older one, a boy named Dongdong, had an impatient expression. Such a small child already stood with arms crossed and his lips pouting. The younger one, a three-year-old girl named Zhaoxi, had big, bright eyes. She was adorable but wore the exact same expression as her brother.
Wang Lingling couldn’t get enough of looking at these two kids. They felt like pieces of flesh that had fallen from her own body. She kept lovingly calling them Dongdong and Xixi. Anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought she was their biological mother.
The door was opened by Li Chunjuan. The moment she saw her daughter, missing for three or four days, she cried out in joy.
“Old man! Old man! Our Lingling is back!”
Wang Yongshun felt a sinking in his heart, but still forced a look of excitement.
“You little brat! Where on earth did you go? Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I—”
His scolding was abruptly cut off when he saw the two little kids standing at the door. A terrifying thought entered his mind, making his expression twist.
Just then, Wang Lingling poured fuel on the fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wang Ying walking out of the house, so she raised her voice and introduced, “This is Zhao Dong, and this is Zhao Xi. They’re both my children.”
Wang Ying remained expressionless, but Wang Yongshun had never felt so humiliated in his life. His daughter had been gone for three or four days, and now she’d returned dragging along two children, claiming they were hers. Did she even understand what she was saying?
Unfortunately, Wang Lingling wasn’t thinking about any of that now. Her mind was full of the day she had returned to her hometown in her past life.
Wang Ying’s arm was linked with a man and his son, and the stepdaughter was also unusually close with her. The four of them looked like such a loving family, it made others jealous just to look at them.
But now, that future was in her hands!
Wang Lingling’s face was full of pride. In another ten years, she would be sitting in a car, holding the arm of the richest man, with two obedient and filial children who gave her all their money to spend!
By then, she would definitely drive slowly past Wang Ying, letting her feel exactly what she once felt.
Watching Wang Lingling basking in her sense of triumph, Wang Ying was thoroughly confused.
Was being a stepmother really something to be proud of?
Was this sister reborn just to waste a precious second chance?
Wang Yongshun dragged Wang Lingling into the house and quickly shut the door.
“Wang Lingling, are you insane?!”
Now he finally realized where she had gone the past few days—most likely straight to the county to find Zhao Jun. He didn’t know how she knew Zhao Jun was in the hospital, but clearly, Wang Lingling had already gotten involved with him.
Wang Yongshun was about to explode with anger: “You’re really that eager to marry a man with a previous marriage? You have to find someone who already has kids?”
Wang Lingling replied boldly, “Yes! Since you all won’t help me, I’ll fight for it myself.”
In her previous life, she hadn’t fought hard enough, which led to her being casually married off to Xu Shuang and living a miserable life.
This time, she had learned her lesson—she was going to take her fate into her own hands.
Zhao Jun was her destiny.
“Dad, things are what they are now. Even if you cause a scene, it won’t change anything. Just ask the village leader to write me an introduction letter. I’ll go get the marriage certificate with Zhao Jun right now.”
Wang Yongshun’s eyes narrowed. “Dream on!”
“Even if you get married, what is Zhao’s family doing sending two kids over here? Don’t you have any self-respect as a young woman? You brought two burdens back here and still want an introduction letter? Do you want me to report you to the Revolutionary Committee for being promiscuous?”
The Zhao family’s scheme was obvious—none of the adults had shown their faces, not even Grandma Zhao. Their plan was to make Wang Lingling come back and ask for the introduction letter and household registration herself. Zhao’s family wouldn’t provide a thing, but wanted to take a daughter-in-law home? Dream on!
“Go back and tell your future mother-in-law—unless she brings fifty yuan, she won’t get either the introduction letter or the household registration!”
That old woman from the Zhao family thought she could marry off her son without spending a penny? Compared to the thirty yuan they gave for Wang Ying, this was a bargain. Bringing back a wife who’d do all the housework was basically free labor.
Wang Lingling sneered, “Marriage is a personal freedom. Even if you don’t agree, I’ll still get it done.”
She hadn’t come back to seek approval anyway—this was just a warning to Wang Ying. Now that she’d made her point, Wang Lingling didn’t bother pretending anymore.
“Zhao Jun and I are in a military marriage. It’s protected. As long as we both agree, no one else can stop us.”
For the first time in his life, Wang Yongshun felt like he might’ve been better off drowning this daughter at birth.
How dare she?!
“Fine! Fine! Get out of here! Don’t ever come back again!”
Now he had completely lost his mind. A daughter this stubborn and willful—he, Wang Yongshun, disowned her!
He opened the door and began to kick her out. Wang Lingling didn’t hesitate at all and turned to start packing her things.
After packing her things, Wang Lingling left with the two children without looking back.
Wang Yongshun almost couldn’t catch his breath and nearly choked himself.
Wang Ying watched the whole scene unfold like a drama and couldn’t help but want to applaud.
Truly, evil meets its match. Wang Lingling’s wild antics had unexpectedly resolved Wang Ying’s own crisis.
Just by looking at Wang Yongshun and his wife’s faces, it was clear they wouldn’t be stirring up any more trouble anytime soon.
After Wang Lingling’s short return and sudden departure, breaking off the marriage with the Xu family so decisively and then turning around to become a stepmother to a divorced man, the entire commune was abuzz with gossip about the Wang family.
Wang Yongshun and his wife barely went outside anymore. Except for when they had to work, no one saw them. Even at home, the place was unusually quiet.
As for Wang Lingling, it was said that she managed to get a letter of introduction and transferred her household registration to the Fifth Brigade of the Hongqi Commune. The Zhao family’s boy stayed for two or three days and left, and Wang Lingling remained at the Zhao household as a stepmother.
“Tsk, you guys didn’t see it, but that girl from the Zhao family really spoils those two kids. The older one gets called ‘my precious’ every day, and the little one, who’s already three, still gets carried around constantly.”
“Could it be that girl’s been hexed or something? She’s acting way too enthusiastic about being a stepmother.”
“No way, I bet she just didn’t want to marry into the Xu family, so she grabbed whoever she could.”
“If she didn’t want to marry Xu, fine, but there are plenty of young men in our own brigade. Why go all the way to the neighboring commune? That’s an hour’s trip each way!”
…
But no matter what people said, Wang Lingling still got married. Even though she left behind a mess, she seemed to be enjoying it.
The Zhao family was big. Four households crammed together. Zhao Jun, the man Wang Lingling married, was the third eldest. There were three sisters-in-law in the family, each with at least two kids. The whole extended family didn’t separate and shared meals from one big pot.
Even though Wang Lingling was eager about starting her new life, she still felt a lot of discomfort.
Maybe it was because of how many people lived there, but the Zhao family’s living standards weren’t great. Especially compared to her own family’s income, just eating the rough, scratchy grains every day was already torture.
In her past life, she had lost money, but never went hungry—Xu Shuang had never skimped on food.
After being reborn, though her family faced hardships, Wang Lingling knew her father was clever and that their household had more savings than they let on. So even though they ate coarse grains, they were mixed—sorghum flour blended with cornmeal, cornmeal with a bit of white flour. Still unappetizing, but at least better in texture.
Unlike now—her three brothers-in-law and husband ate cornmeal steamed buns, the sisters-in-law had sorghum ones, and the mother-in-law lived easy with a blend of corn and white flour in her bowl.
The little kids ate about the same as their grandmother, just in smaller portions.
Old Lady Zhao also divided up the porridge—and the way she did it left Wang Lingling speechless. The men got thick, mushy bowls, the sisters-in-law got watery ones.
Wang Lingling’s bowl was the clearest of all, practically a bowl of plain water.
Old Lady Zhao even grumbled, “A bunch of female locusts, all you know is how to eat, eat, eat! No matter how much grain we have, you’ll all eat us out of it!”
She said that while waving her chopsticks to scoop out the thick stuff, mumbling as she ate. The other sisters-in-law seemed used to it, none of them said a word.
Spit flew from Old Lady Zhao’s mouth as she rambled in her loud, shrill voice, the only sound in the room.
“Third daughter-in-law, you just got here, so I won’t say much, but you better know your place. Especially Dongdong and Xixi, you keep a close eye on them. Feeding pigs, tending chickens, sweeping the yard, hauling water—you sisters-in-law better figure it out amongst yourselves. I don’t care how you divide it, but if I see the yard filthy or the pigs go unfed, all of you can roll back to your mothers’ homes!”
Wang Lingling forced herself to agree, telling herself in her heart:
Hold on. Just endure for a few more years. Once the kids are older, once Zhao Jun retires and comes back home, then life will be hers for the taking!
By then, she wouldn’t just eat the good stuff—Zhao Jun would buy her all kinds of jewelry and clothes! A new outfit every day!
And so, Wang Lingling began her married life.
Meanwhile, Wang Ying had also moved a certain plan up her list.
Given that the scheming uncle and aunt in the next house would never give up, Wang Ying decided to strike first.
She hovered near the commune’s educated youth dorms. “Dorms” was a generous term—they were actually just mud huts belonging to elderly villagers without children, whose homes were repossessed by the commune.
There were seven or eight run-down mud-brick houses, housing only nine educated youths.
A few years ago, coming to the countryside was voluntary. In five or six years, only five educated youths had come. They arrived full of dreams to change the countryside, only to be disillusioned quickly. Rural life was too bitter, too hard. Farming relied on the weather, and one bad season could affect everyone’s food supply.
Some of the educated youths started demanding to return to the city. After two years of appeals, not a single one got approved. In fact, things got worse—this year it was officially mandated that all eligible young people from the cities had to move to the countryside to help build it up.
Now returning to the city was a distant dream—a bitter sentence. One of the earliest arrivals couldn’t take it anymore and had already married a local farmer.
Wang Ying watched the gate of the educated youth dorm and thought: she’d at least have to pick one that looked decent. If they sent her some crooked-looking guy…
Sorry, she’d rather stay single.
Wang Ying staked out the dorms for two days and made her choice.
There was one youth who had been there for three years, a quiet type named Wei Qiang.
Wang Ying thought he looked normal and seemed kind, often helping others during labor. He appeared to be a decent person.
She just didn’t know how he felt about starting a family in the countryside.
As Wang Ying walked back home, she thought it over, and then, as usual, made herself a bowl of egg soup.
The marinade she’d bought a few days ago was already used up. Wang Ying had used the last of it to cook rabbit, and the flavor had been absolutely exquisite.
She was just thinking about when she should make another trip to the state-owned restaurant to buy more marinade—or perhaps even try to strike a deal with one of the servers to buy the marinade directly, or even the pre-made seasoning.
Suddenly, Wang Ying heard a commotion outside.
“Peh! You said you’d marry your daughter into our family. How much have you taken from us over the years?! I won’t even mention the two full hides we gave! Your daughter had the nerve to back out of the marriage and switch suitors—that’s her business. But as her parents, shouldn’t you at least have had the decency to notify us?! Fine! If you look down on us so much, then return everything you’ve taken from my sister’s house! Otherwise, give us a daughter-in-law in compensation!”
“You—you—you, how can you say such things! That damned girl of ours is headstrong, how can that be our fault? Besides, we were practically in-laws, helping each other out…”
“Help each other out, my ass! Who was helping who?! Your family’s dirt-poor—unless your doorway is lined with gold teeth, don’t talk to me about fairness! When my sister was well off, did she ever ask your family for help?”
“That’s not the point…”
“I don’t care what you say—you’re in the wrong! Stop the nonsense! Return everything you’ve eaten and taken from my sister’s household!”
…
Wang Ying poked her head out and saw chaos outside the Wang family’s front gate. A large crowd had gathered.
A gray-haired old lady was grabbing at Li Chunjuan, shouting so loudly it could shake the sky. Standing nearby were Wang Yongshun and Xu Shuang, the latter supporting another elderly woman.
Wang Yongshun had been hit hard recently—first by Wang Ying, then by the fiasco with Wang Lingling. Now he was stuck cleaning up the mess she’d left behind.
His face was so dark it looked like it was coated in tar. “I’ve cut ties with Wang Lingling…”
But the gray-haired old woman wasn’t having any of it, crying and yelling dramatically: “And what about the things she brought home before that? Didn’t you eat them?! Didn’t you take the gifts my niece gave? Even if your girl cut ties with you later, weren’t you the one who took everything before that? Now you’re trying to weasel out of it?!”
Wang Yongshun was left speechless. Ever since the marriage arrangements with the Xu family were nearly finalized over a year ago, the Xu family had given them quite a bit. With Xu Shuang being a chef, and her older son working in the provincial capital, they had even gifted preserved foods and candy—twice.
These were rare luxuries in the countryside. Canned goods especially—even city dwellers rarely had access to them. But thanks to Xu Ming’s job at a good university in the city, where he helped professors, they were sometimes allocated a few tins.
Those gifts were carefully accounted for. While the food could be brushed off as being “paid for,” Wang Yongshun knew full well that their paltry one or two jiao never came close to the real value. Those tins and candies—each could cost several yuan, and sugar was expensive, too.
Wang Yongshun didn’t want to pay back that kind of money, and Li Chunjuan—who didn’t even know their household’s real financial status—was even less willing.
Now that the Xu family was pressing them hard and had even drawn the attention of the entire brigade, Li Chunjuan decided to play dirty. She threw herself to the ground and started whining.
“What’s the point of all this yelling?! Our family is unlucky, gave birth to a shameless daughter who insisted on marrying someone else! What can us parents do?! And we already gave everything to Wang Ying recently. We don’t have a cent left!”
“If you want money, ask Wang Ying!”
“Otherwise, just beat me to death and call it even!”
Li Chunjuan might’ve been playing the part of a shrew, but she was also keenly aware that the Xu family wouldn’t dare escalate the situation.
Ever since Xu Shuang’s family was labeled “rightist,” the entire brigade avoided them. Hadn’t they been keeping their doors shut and avoiding people lately?
Even now, the one confronting them wasn’t Xu Shuang mother herself—it was her older sister.
Inwardly, Li Chunjuan cursed these old witches. Weren’t they all married out? Why were they meddling in someone else’s family affairs?
She was betting that the Xu family didn’t have the guts to blow things up.
With the stigma of being rightist, no one would support them even if things got serious.
Just like what happened in the Fifth Brigade nearby—the family with a “landlord” label got robbed, and no one in the commune lifted a finger.
So, Li Chunjuan lay on the ground and played dead.
After all, her family had no dignity left anyway.
The whole scene caused by Wang Lingling had already thrown their reputation far beyond the commune boundaries.
Xu Shuang’s sister, surnamed Su, was called Old Lady Su. She stayed with their maiden family and had married a man into the household, which was why she retained her maiden name.
Old Lady Su saw Li Chunjuan lying there and refusing to get up and was furious. She couldn’t drag Chunjuan, so she started pulling at Wang Yongshun instead.
She raised her hand to slap him: “You bloodsucking leeches! Always leaping at the benefits and running from responsibility! When my sister gave you a pack of cigarettes, you paid a single jiao! You shameless freeloader!”
As she spoke, Old Lady Su listed every little item the Wang family had taken and what paltry sums they’d offered in return.
Older folks tend to remember what matters most to them—and Su hadn’t forgotten a thing.
Though Xu Shuang herself wasn’t petty, her sister remembered clearly. Now she listed off all the things the Wang family had gotten from the Xu family.
At first, the villagers were just watching the show—after all, the Xu and Wang families were both outsiders, unrelated to the village’s major clans, so no one felt personally involved.
But the more they watched, the more disgusted they became.
“Shameless, that Wang Yongshun! Took a pack of cigarettes and paid one jiao? Unbelievable.”
“Forget the cigarettes—Wang Lingling used to go to the Xu family asking for meat all the time. She gave them half a rabbit and paid five fen.”
“Who told you that?”
“Who else? Wang Lingling bragged about it to my girl.”
“Unbelievable. Your daughter ditches the engagement, and you as her parents can’t even give a proper explanation?”
“They’re just bullying the Xu family. Think they’re weak now and don’t dare to fight back.”
“Poor kid from the Xu family… really got the short end of the stick.”
“If you feel bad, take him as your son-in-law!”
“…On second thought, never mind.”
…
Listening to the chatter around her, Old Lady Xu tightened her grip on her son’s arm.
Ever since she found out about Wang Lingling’s betrayal, she knew this kind of showdown was inevitable.
People in the countryside may be simple, but many of them bully the weak and fear the strong. Her family’s political background was murky, no one had clearly defined it yet. Everyone was just watching and waiting.
This incident with the Wang family, even if unintentional, was essentially a gamble by Wang Yongshun—a test. If their family couldn’t stand up for themselves even when they had the moral high ground, they’d be picked on both openly and behind their backs from here on out.
So even if it was just for the sake of their future, Old Lady Xu couldn’t let this slide.
But she herself couldn’t take the lead. If she made a move—even righteously—Wang Yongshun might retaliate and accuse her based on her background. So her older sister had volunteered to step in and fight this battle.
Old Lady Xu glanced around and sneered.
In the past, she hadn’t minded giving things to the Wang family, but this time she had to make a public stand and suppress them. Only then could her family catch a breath and start planning how to change their political label.
Wang Yongshun was being pulled and yelled at by an old woman, completely losing face, but he didn’t dare fight back. After all, it was Su Old Lady—whose political background was spotless—who started it. If he laid a finger on her, she’d definitely report him.
Li Chunjuan, seeing Su Old Lady pulling at Wang Yongshun, rushed up to join the scuffle.
While flailing, she wailed, “What can I do?! I don’t have any other daughters! If I had another one, I’d give her to you!”
Su Old Lady spat, “Who’d want anyone from the Wang family!”
“Pay up! All those things from before—at least fifty yuan!”
Fifty yuan wasn’t enough to cover all the valuable things given to the Wang family, but combined with all the unquantifiable wild goods and meat, it was close.
Li Chunjuan started crying again: “Where would we get that kind of money?!”
She genuinely didn’t know the family’s financial situation. Although her eldest daughter’s dowry had brought in a hundred yuan, all the money was held by Wang Yongshun. He said it was all spent, and she actually believed it.
But Wang Yongshun, who actually had over 300 yuan stashed away, had no intention of paying.
Not to mention that giving it up now would expose their hidden wealth to the whole commune—just the fifty yuan itself was painful to part with!
That money was meant for their son!
Li Chunjuan kept crying and rambling incoherently.
One moment she was cursing Wang Lingling for being heartless and saying she should’ve drowned her at birth, the next she was saying she truly had no money.
“How about you just marry Wang Ying then! We have no money!”
That shout suddenly pulled Wang Ying—who had just been enjoying the drama—into the fray.
Wang Ying curled her lip and replied, “Auntie, you’ve got some nerve. Even if I were to marry into your mess, we’ve already split households. You still owe that fifty yuan.”
Li Chunjuan’s resentment boiled over. Her family was suffering while Wang Ying was living in her own house, holding the money and ration coupons, looking comfortable as ever. And here she was, not even lifting a finger to help her own uncle’s family?
Black-hearted little wretch!
“All our stuff went to Wang Ying! Go ask her for it! She can marry in your place!”
Li Chunjuan was determined to drag Wang Ying into the mess.
Before Wang Ying could say anything, a voice suddenly cut through.
“Alright.”
Li Chunjuan’s messy hair whipped around, and through the tangles, she saw who had spoken.
It was Xu Shuang, supporting his own mother, his expression calm as if he hadn’t just inserted himself into the situation out of nowhere.
Wang Ying had been enjoying the spectacle, but now that Xu Shuang had spoken up, she felt… complicated. A bit angry, and also confused.
Xu Shuang helped his mother over to stand beside Wang Ying. The surrounding crowd wasn’t too close, and Wang Ying happened to be standing in the shade.
Xu Shuang said a few words to his mother, then came to stand next to Wang Ying.
They were just far enough apart that everyone could see them facing each other, but not close enough to hear what was being said.
Xu Shuang said, “Let’s get married.”
Wang Ying was dumbfounded. “Do you even know what you’re saying?”
The conversation had jumped topics so drastically she couldn’t even respond properly.
Xu Shuang looked at her intently. “I saw you outside the educated youth residence.”
Wang Ying: …
Xu Shuang: “Given your situation, I’m guessing you’re planning to find someone to marry and bring into your household. You were talking to those educated youths so you could get married and prevent your uncle’s family from using your marriage as leverage anymore, right?”
“My family’s background, as you know, is an issue. If we get married, I’ll be the one marrying into your household, and with you being a martyr’s daughter, that’ll help clear my family’s political status.”
“If I marry you, you won’t have to worry about your uncle’s family taking over your property.”
Wang Ying: !!!
Xu Shuang tilted his head slightly and added, “It’s just me and my mom at home. She’s easy to get along with. You can be in charge of the household, or do things however you like.”
Wang Ying: “Uh…”
Xu Shuang: “I can turn over my wages. We also have some savings, which you can manage after the marriage.”
Wang Ying: “Mm…”
Xu Shuang thought for a moment, then dropped a bombshell:
“I’m a cook. I’ll handle all the meals after we get married.”
I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.
Wow, he’s quite clear-headed in his calculations.