Wang Ying was initially quite annoyed to be dragged into this mess. Wang Lingling, a reborn woman, had inadvertently entangled the eldest uncle’s family in trouble—what did any of that have to do with her?
She hadn’t forgotten Wang Lingling’s scheming ways.
And to marry Wang Lingling’s ex-fiancé just to help her settle things? She wouldn’t even consider such a thing. There were plenty of people in the commune—why should she tie herself to the Wang family?
But what Xu Shuang had just said… made her reconsider.
Marrying Xu Shuang—maybe that was actually an idea worth entertaining.
Wang Ying’s original plan had always been to find someone willing to marry into her family. Only then would she be, in a legal sense, the head of the household. Would Wang Yongshun still dare to kick out a niece’s husband and seize the house for himself?
She had given up on the idea, though, because usually men who agreed to marry in were the ones from families with five, six, seven, or even more sons, families too poor to support them all. If she married someone like that, she’d end up having to deal with a whole clan—brothers, sisters-in-law, in-laws—it would be too much trouble.
So she turned instead to looking for an educated youth. It was essentially the same as recruiting a husband, and they fit her aesthetic preferences more, too.
Wang Ying had seen the local bachelors—their clothes weren’t the worst part. They all had dirt under their fingernails, fleas in their hair, and smelled terrible even from a distance.
The educated youths, by comparison, were much cleaner.
And then there was Xu Shuang—he was good-looking, kept clean and tidy because he worked as a cook, and had helped her out before, like when he gave her a rabbit in the mountains. She’d also heard plenty of stories about how he lent a hand around the village. Clearly, he was a good person.
Most importantly—
He was a cook.
Wang Ying couldn’t deny it—she was kind of tempted.
Xu Shuang didn’t press her for a decision right then. Seeing that she was thinking it over, he simply said, “I know this is sudden. Think it over and let me know later.”
He paused, then added, “Earlier when I said ‘okay,’ it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. When we go back out there, just say you’re not agreeing to it.”
When it comes to marriage discussions between young people, the order of things matters.
If she said yes before and later changed her mind, it wouldn’t look good—people would think poorly of her.
But if she said no now, she could always say she changed her mind later. No one would hold that against her.
Wang Ying nodded. Her internal scale had already tilted in favor, but there was no harm in thinking a bit more about such a major life decision.
As she looked again at Xu Shuang, she mentally added another descriptor—thoughtful.
Good. Wang Ying thought of a friend she had before the apocalypse, who often complained about her boyfriend’s insensitive, “straight man” mindset.
Wang Ying didn’t think being a typical guy was inherently bad, but too many men liked to think that focusing only on the big picture showed how forward-thinking they were. When they overlooked or messed up small things, they brushed it off like it was no big deal. You’d tell them “details matter,” and they’d reply that they just forgot that one time—what’s the big deal?
Yeah right. Let them make one little mistake at work and see what happens.
Bottom line, they just didn’t care enough about their relationship.
But Xu Shuang—he had considered things this thoroughly. That was a pleasant surprise.
Wang Ying called after him, and after thinking for a bit, made a decision.
She said, “Your brother’s situation—it was Wang Lingling who reported him.”
She didn’t know all the details, but considering Wang Lingling had memories from another life, it wasn’t hard to imagine her acting based on what she already knew.
Wang Ying continued, “I don’t know how she found out about your brother, but I heard her say she anonymously reported it to the town’s Revolutionary Committee.”
She didn’t feel guilty telling him this. Wang Lingling clearly didn’t feel bad when she ratted people out—why should she?
She’d heard about Xu Ming, the eldest son of the Xu family, and how he was studying aircraft engineering in university. If not for the chaos that had shut down most schools, he’d still be studying at the provincial university.
Apparently, he was even set to graduate and be assigned a job at the university, working on research with his professor.
But then Wang Lingling reported him, and he got sent off to the Northwest.
Wang Ying was clearly stating her position—everyone should face the consequences of their actions. Wang Lingling had done what she did, and Wang Yongshun’s household had tried to cover it up. Was that supposed to be fair?
Xu Ming didn’t even know Wang Lingling. If she didn’t want to marry Xu Shuang, she could’ve just said so. Why drag his whole family into it?
A cold glint flashed in Xu Shuang’s eyes.
He had originally thought his brother’s troubles had come from the school…
“Alright. Thank you.”
Wang Ying felt a little awkward. “You can go scare my uncle a bit, make him cough up the money.”
After transmigrating, Wang Ying had always felt something was off. At first, she’d been busy with daily survival and regaining her health, so she hadn’t had time to think it through. But now that she had some breathing room, things started to feel… off.
Her whole family situation was just weird.
Her father went off to join the army and never came back—not even a death notice.
Her mother never remarried or went back to her family. Instead, she happily raised Wang Ying on her own.
When her mother was still alive, if the eldest uncle had wanted to steal everything, he could’ve taken her down with it. But back then, he behaved himself.
And Wang Ying remembered something odd from the original host’s memories—she had eaten chocolate as a child. The original host didn’t know what it was, but Wang Ying did. That meant she had eaten a lot of rare treats growing up.
But at some point, that all stopped.
Still, her mother had become a barefoot doctor, was respected, and their household had plenty of eggs and food. So it hadn’t been obvious.
But thinking more deeply… aside from the house and the things in it, surely her mother had left something else behind?
A barefoot doctor didn’t make much, but they got a little—maybe a dime or two per visit. And her mother was good. People came to her from other villages, not just their own.
Because most barefoot doctors were just amateurs who could hand out some aspirin. But her mother? She could give injections, prescribe medicine, and even prepare her own herbal remedies.
Technically, barefoot doctors still had to work the fields—it wasn’t a full-time job. Just part-time.
But her mother was so capable that people were always seeking her out. So the brigade gave her full work points and exempted her from fieldwork. She only had to pitch in when things got really busy—like helping carry grain during harvest season.
This was also the reason why Wang Ying’s mother had the accident on the grain transportation road.
Thinking about it, could it be that the original owner’s mother, after all those years, didn’t leave any savings at home?
Wang Ying found it suspicious and suspected that her uncle’s family had taken it.
But last time when things got ugly and her uncle’s house was thoroughly searched, they only gave her a little over ten yuan.
Either her uncle was shrewd and hid the money for himself, or someone else had taken the family’s savings.
Wang Ying emphasized to Xu Shuang, “If you’re going to trick Wang Yongshun, don’t go after Li Chunjuan.”
Wang Ying still believed her uncle must have some hidden savings.
Xu Shuang nodded, “Okay.”
The people around had been watching for a while and only saw Wang Ying and Xu Shuang talking, with Xu Shuang nodding his head.
“Hey hey hey, do you think San Ya (Wang Ying) agreed?”
“No way. She’s a high school graduate and a martyr’s child. The commune might even assign her as a teacher. Why would she marry into a family labeled as a black category?”
“Back then they might have been a good match. Shuang kid’s family wasn’t bad either, and he looked good.”
“They’re coming out!”
The two of them came out one after the other. Xu Shuang shook his head at his mother, who was watching with hopeful eyes.
Old Lady Xu instantly deflated like a balloon, her whole posture slumped, and from afar, she looked like she had aged several years.
However, Old Lady Xu didn’t glare at Wang Ying, she just looked at her with a bit of envy.
Wang Ying had taken good care of herself recently. She hadn’t gone out to do heavy work, and although her food wasn’t particularly good, she had enough of it. She had become fairer, and the new hair growing in was black and thick. She looked much prettier now.
Old Lady Xu was full of regret!
This girl looked much more proper than Wang Lingling. Why had she agreed to marry Lingling back then?
Now look, they weren’t even good enough for her anymore.
This girl was pretty and a high school student — she was bound to marry well.
Sigh, it was as expected.
Everyone looked at Old Lady Xu’s expression and could guess that Wang Ying had probably said no. This little episode just made everyone think that Xu Shuang was still stuck in the past.
You used to be the most desirable bachelor in ten surrounding villages. All the young women in the commune wanted to marry you.
But now, with your family’s current status, how are you any different from the black category?
And you still have the nerve to propose to a high school girl?
Got rejected, didn’t you?
Among the crowd watching, some young men began to stir. In the past, Xu Shuang’s good conditions had suppressed all the young men in the brigade, even the educated youths couldn’t compare to him.
Now… what, a molting phoenix still wants to act like a mountain chicken?
He’s not even good enough to be a sparrow!
“Wang Ying is a high school student and a martyr’s child. The commune will definitely call her over later. Any job she gets will be an iron rice bowl.”
“Exactly! And she’s the only one in her family. That house…”
“…Hey, Wang Ying’s conditions are really good.”
“Right! She’s the only one in her house — doesn’t that mean all her property will go to her husband’s family?”
“It really does!”
Originally, they wanted to join in badmouthing Xu Shuang, but somehow the topic shifted to Wang Ying.
Looking at it now, Wang Ying had a house, land, grain, household furniture, chickens, and she could make money. No mother-in-law to deal with, maybe not even a bride price…
Damn! Such a great catch! How did they not notice before?!
Taking a closer look, Wang Ying really was beautiful.
She had an oval face and big eyes. Even though her clothes were patched, she looked even better than the daughters from cadre families in the commune, even better than the young women from town!
Immediately, a few young men were tempted and thought about going home to ask their mothers to help make a match.
Some cunning ones even thought of not involving their families yet — instead, they’d first go and cozy up to her themselves. After all, she was already at odds with her uncle’s family. If they skipped over Wang Yongshun and his wife, they might save themselves some money.
Wang Yongshun felt a tightness in his chest. When Xu Shuang had gone over to talk to Wang Ying, he’d been the most nervous of all.
Although he always acted like he wanted to marry Wang Ying off, for some reason, seeing those two standing together just felt… wrong.
Li Chunjuan, on the other hand, had stars in her eyes. If Wang Ying married Xu Shuang, with his tainted family background, she’d suffer in that marriage!
Then she could flip the situation and even demand a bride price from Xu Shuang!
Wang Lingling had left as a “loss bride,” and because of the shock, Li Chunjuan had forgotten to stop her from packing up her things. She regretted it deeply afterward.
All of Wang Lingling’s clothes, little trinkets bought in the past, even a teapot from her room — Wang Lingling took them all!
Li Chunjuan’s thinking was always extreme. She loved her daughter, yes, but once a daughter married, she was considered someone else’s. If a daughter brought things to her in-laws, she was a good daughter. But if she came back to take her things, she was a bad one.
Now, Li Chunjuan considered her second daughter Wang Lingling a money-losing, ungrateful thing.
She believed the dowry Wang Lingling missed out on should be made up by Wang Ying.
Xu Shuang, being a cook, must have some money. She planned to demand another hundred from him.
Old Lady Su was eyeing the situation too, uncertain whether to cause a scene or not. With her temper, she thought: even though Shuang kid’s prospects are grim, he still shouldn’t settle for someone from the Wang family!
Worst case, spend more money to find a decent-background girl.
But if they didn’t get their money back from the Wang family, she’d be stewing over this for a whole year!
Seeing that the Shuang kid came out shaking his head, Old Lady Su immediately gained confidence!
“Pay back the money!”
Wang Ying also stepped out, shrugged, and said to Li Chunjuan and Wang Yongshun, “Uncle, why are you looking at me? You owe me money! Trying to pawn me off to patch up your daughter’s mess? No way.”
Wang Ying’s words confirmed that she was unwilling to marry.
Li Chunjuan was instantly enraged and started hurling filthy insults: “You heartless, rotten little slut…”
Surprisingly, Wang Yongshun felt a wave of relief.
Every time he saw those two standing together, he felt a knot in his chest.
He hadn’t even finished exhaling that sigh of relief when Xu Shuang pulled him aside and whispered, “A few days ago, I saw Wang Lingling at the Revolutionary Committee office in town…”
Wang Yongshun’s heart pounded.
Xu Shuang continued, “Two days after she went there, my brother got into trouble.”
Wang Yongshun instinctively retorted, “Nonsense! How could Lingling have known your brother was hiding foreign language books?”
Xu Shuang replied, “She came to my house often.”
Wang Yongshun argued, “That still doesn’t mean Lingling reported him!”
Xu Shuang’s eyes were sharp like blades: “Fine. Then I’ll go tell my aunt.”
Old Lady Su was not one to mess with. She had already disliked her little nephew’s fiancée for being materialistic. If she found out her older nephew got into trouble because of the younger one’s fiancée, she’d sit in front of the Wang family’s house and curse for three days and nights—until the whole county knew about it!
Wang Yongshun felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff, nothing solid beneath his feet.
“…How much do you want?”
He couldn’t let Xu Shuang go through with it!
His family had already lost face, but this wasn’t something that involved the rest of the commune. People were just watching for entertainment. Day to day, they still interacted like normal.
But if a report like this got out, his family would truly be shunned.
When Xu Ming got into trouble, no one in the brigade said anything, but many secretly pitied him. And since it was because of a report, people had cursed whoever did it.
If it came out that Wang Lingling did it, people would avoid their whole family!
And then what? His family would be treated just like Xu’s—like one of the “Five Black Categories”!
Also…
Wang Yongshun, with all his life experience, knew very well that someone like Wang Lingling, who was so fond of reporting others, would make even the brigade leader Tian Youfu uneasy.
If she could report someone just for standing in her way, what’s to stop her from doing it again? The brigade leader handled a lot of affairs and had made plenty of enemies.
If people followed her example, how could the leader continue?
That would change the brigade leader’s attitude toward their family too. Normally, he might bend the rules a little, but now he’d stick strictly to the book. Others might get leniency—his family wouldn’t.
Even his son, Wang Yaozong, who hoped to become a worker, would be affected. The brigade leader had to write a character reference for the application. Usually, he’d just approve it without much fuss.
But under these circumstances, no way.
Wang Yongshun couldn’t let his family fall into such a situation.
He gritted his teeth and said, “How much do you want? Name a price.”
Xu Shuang’s eyes darkened: “One hundred!”
Wang Yongshun’s heart bled, but he had no choice.
“Come inside, I’ll get it.”
He rummaged through every nook and cranny of the house to scrape together one hundred yuan and handed it over to Xu Shuang.
“You’ve taken the money—this matter must not be spoken of again.”
Xu Shuang paused, and Wang Yongshun grew anxious: “You’ve got the money—it’s even more than what you asked for! You have to keep your mouth shut! Lingling didn’t tell me anything about what she did—I’m totally innocent here.”
Wang Yongshun was truly aggrieved.
He hadn’t made the report! He didn’t even know Xu Ming had foreign books! That ungrateful Wang Lingling—eighteen years of raising her, and now she’s costing the family a hundred yuan!
Xu Shuang tucked fifty yuan into his pocket and held the other fifty in his hand. “Mm.”
The main culprit was Wang Lingling. In this situation, Wang Yongshun really was just collateral damage.
Finally, Wang Yongshun could breathe again. His heart ached so much he nearly couldn’t stand. Out of the family’s three-hundred-something yuan, only a bit over two hundred was left. How were they going to get by now?
Xu Shuang walked out with fifty yuan in hand. Old Lady Su stood up so nimbly she didn’t look like someone in her sixties at all.
She spat at Li Chunjuan on the ground: “The debt’s settled. Don’t come knocking at my sister’s house again!”
Seeing the Xu family reclaim their money, the onlookers scattered. Today’s drama had been truly thrilling—from start to finish.
Xu Shuang had proved himself hard and capable.
The Wang family, on the other hand, was pure misfortune. Anyone with a daughter like Wang Lingling was doomed. Not only had she rushed to become a stepmother and married without a dowry, she now had her natal family coughing up every last benefit they’d ever gotten.
And then there was Wang Ying. Her prospects really were excellent. Now that she’d fallen out with her uncle’s family, anyone with a decent son would do well to start asking around.
Before, no one had directly proposed to Wang Ying. One reason was she was a girl who stayed home working and didn’t know many people in the commune. Anyone wanting to bring up marriage had to go through Li Chunjuan and Wang Yongshun.
But those two had gone out of their way to downplay Wang Ying—telling everyone she was difficult, had a temper like a spoiled young lady. That scared off honest folks looking for a steady wife and attracted only oddballs.
Wang Yongshun thought that was great—those oddballs were more willing to pay bride prices!
In legitimate marriages in the commune, families gave about twenty or thirty yuan in bride price. The bride’s side had to supply two sets of clothes and a quilt.
He never planned on finding a good match for Wang Ying anyway—why bother with all that social effort?
But now things had changed.
Everyone in the village saw that Wang Ying had excellent prospects.
No parents to demand a bride price, and she had family assets. Besides, even if you paid a bride price, she’d still bring everything back into her new home.
Compared to girls from town, Wang Ying’s conditions were even better!
She was a high school graduate, and according to Uncle Tian, she even knew some medical skills.
Whether she worked in the health clinic or became a barefoot doctor like her mother, or even a teacher at the commune—she was a real breadwinner!
She was a golden girl!
Families with eligible sons were suddenly excited, and gossipy matchmaking aunties were digging through their relatives, too. Who didn’t have a few bachelor nephews?
In this day and age, rural girls were in short supply. Every commune had a bunch of single men who couldn’t find wives.
Plenty were too poor to afford marriage at all.
