In the winter of 1969, the biting cold woke up the woman lying in bed. She struggled to open her eyes, her mind buzzing, unable to grasp what had happened for a while. Then, she slowly moved her stiff body and sat up, looking around with a puzzled expression.

       

She remembered she should be dead.

       

Not far from her was a broken window, covered with thick white snow outside. The cold, white light seeped in through the window, illuminating the pitted ground and the cracks in the walls. Jin Xiuzhu frowned. The dilapidated state of this place was even worse than her childhood home.

       

She raised her hand to massage her throbbing forehead when suddenly she heard breathing beside her. She paused, about to turn towards the sound, but then her head started throbbing as if pricked by countless needles, and a series of unfamiliar scenes unfolded in her mind.

       

After the pain subsided, she took a deep breath to steady herself. Then, as if recalling something, she turned her head to the side, wearing a pensive expression. A man lay on the bed with his back to her, a thin blanket hanging at his waist, revealing his sturdy and powerful back.

       

Jin Xiuzhu struggled in her mind, glanced around, and finally gritted her teeth, seeming to make a decision. She trembled as she pulled the blanket and lay back down, tightly closing her eyes.

       

In the early morning, before dawn, a girl wearing a washed-out blue jacket carried a basin of hot water and walked towards the adjacent small house. Before knocking on the door, she deliberately stopped to touch her freshly combed braids. Seeing they were neat, she knocked on the door with a shy smile on her face.

     

She knocked twice, but there was no response from inside. Thinking her voice might have been too soft, she knocked twice more with force. After waiting for a while, still no movement was heard.

     

She didn’t know what she was thinking, her eyes flickered for a moment, then she turned to look at the yard. Seeing no one around, she secretly leaned her face towards the door crack to look inside. It was a bit unclear, so she pushed a little harder, and then the door swung open unexpectedly. Inside, she saw a man and a woman sleeping intimately together on the bed.

     

The man faced her direction, his eyes closed, his resolute face resembling a mountain peak, with thin lips pressed together. Even in sleep, he exuded an intimidating aura, making people dare not approach. The woman in his arms slept against his chest, only showing her dark head and half of her face.

     

But Fu Meiyun still recognized the person at a glance, and her whole body exploded with fury. She directly threw down the iron basin in her hand and rushed forward, screaming, “Jin Xiuzhu, you despicable person, I’ll fight you to death—”

     

The piercing sound tore through the entire courtyard, startling the elderly couple who were cooking in the kitchen. They hurried out to see what was happening, saying, “What’s all this yelling about early in the morning?! We have guests at home!”

     

The couple sleeping in the other small room were awakened and began to grumble as they opened the door, “Who’s making a racket this early in the morning instead of sleeping?”

     

The woman exerted some force to pinch the man’s waist, expressing her resentment, “Whose sister-in-law is still unmarried at such an old age, going crazy at her in-laws’ house every day.”

     

Before the man could retort, he heard his own mother shouting at the top of her voice, “Eldest! Come and beat this despicable person to death! See what mischief she’s done!”

     

He furrowed his brow but still put on his shoes and walked to the other small room. As soon as he entered, he saw three women in a mess in the room, mainly his mother and sister trying to grab Jin Xiuzhu, who was huddled under the quilt in a hurry to avoid them. In between them was a man with bare arms, who was Jiang Mingchuan, his brother’s comrade who had visited their house yesterday.

     

Jiang Mingchuan hadn’t even finished putting on his pants properly; it seemed he hastily put them on without zipping up. Any discerning person could see what was going on.

     

His expression was very ugly as he stiffly sat on the bed. Seeing Jin Xiuzhu being grabbed by the hair, he reached out to stop them. But this only further agitated the mother and daughter, who turned to scratch him. In an instant, several red marks were left on his body and face, some even breaking the skin…

     

Finally, the old man at the door couldn’t bear it anymore and roared, “Enough!”

     

The loud voice shocked everyone in the room. The old man turned to his son with a stern face and said, “Go and call our in-laws.”

     

The old lady in the room scolded angrily, “What in-laws? I have no such in-laws. Look at the kind of person they’ve raised!”

     

Jin Xiuzhu rubbed her sore scalp and remained silent with her head down. After the intense battle, she had regained her composure. She remembered that she had transmigrated into the body of a woman with the same name and surname.

     

Last night, she had woken up once. The original “Jin Xiuzhu” had overheard her mother-in-law planning to marry her daughter to this son’s comrade, which had led to different thoughts in her mind.

     

Her thinking was simple: why should her younger sister-in-law marry such a good man and enjoy a luxurious life in the city, while she could only suffer and be abused in the countryside?

     

Now that her husband was dead and she had no sons, countless days of suffering awaited her in the future. The more she thought about it, the more she hated it. So, she decided to get up and cook a bowl of fever-reducing medicine for the man.

     

This medicine was prescribed by the village’s old doctor. Recently, her daughter had a fever and cough, and drinking this medicine had helped her, albeit making her feel drowsy afterward.

     

The man had walked over a dozen kilometers yesterday afternoon. During dinner, the old man brought out his prized wine, but he said he couldn’t drink because of the fever. It was then that “Jin Xiuzhu” came up with this plan.

     

As for the current Jin Xiuzhu, she had long been accustomed to the wealthy life in the Marquis’ mansion. How could she be willing to stay in this poor mountainous village?

     

Without further ado, she decided to carry out this plan to the end.

     

The Jin family soon arrived, followed by their eldest and second daughters who had come to pay New Year’s respects in the morning. Because it was an embarrassing matter, the two sons-in-law were not called over.

     

As soon as Mrs. Jin entered, she immediately wanted to hit Jin Xiuzhu, scolding her for being shameless, asking how she could do such a disgraceful thing.

     

Jin Xiuzhu had already put on her clothes and was standing at the doorway of the main hall. Seeing her mother glaring at her as she approached, she immediately dodged behind Jiang Mingchuan who was sitting on a stool.

     

Jiang Mingchuan sat upright, his fists clenched tightly to restrain his temper.

     

From childhood to adulthood, he had encountered countless setbacks, but never had a moment made him want to dig a hole and hide like now. Sensing Jin Xiuzhu’s movements, he tightly pursed his lips and glanced at the middle-aged woman rushing over.

     

The icy cold gaze made Mrs. Jin choke on the curse she was about to utter, and in the end, she only gave Jin Xiuzhu a fierce glare.

     

Even if they were furious, both families dared not make a scene at this moment. The Fu family still wanted to rely on their sacrificed second son to maintain their reputation. If this matter became known, who knew what it would turn into.

     

In the countryside, those gossiping women could turn white into black. Moreover, this matter was not without its guilt. The Fu family had a grandson, and the Jin family had a younger son. In a few years, they would all be getting married. If things escalated, it might affect their future marriages.

     

Thinking of this, both families began to calculate. While they couldn’t make a big scene, they still had to bargain. The Fu family demanded that the Jin family return the two hundred yuan dowry they had given, but the Jin family refused, saying their daughter was fine at home, but as soon as she went to their house, such a thing happened. Indicating there’s a problem with their family’s upbringing…

     

In the end, they both blamed each other and demanded compensation.

     

As the argument grew fiercer, the women of both families began to physically fight. Originally, they thought the Fu family’s mother and daughter were fierce enough, but they didn’t expect the three women from the Jin family to be even more aggressive.

     

They directly pinned down the Fu family’s mother and daughter, while the two men from the Fu family, skinny and scared, hid to the side shouting to stop. The daughter-in-law didn’t care either; she even covered her mouth and chuckled.

     

The main hall descended into chaos once again.

     

In the end, Jiang Mingchuan sitting in the corner couldn’t bear it anymore. He took out two hundred yuan from his pocket and settled the matter, giving one hundred to each family.

     

After both families settled down for a moment, they started arguing again, this time about disassociating from Jin Xiuzhu. The Jins said that a daughter married off is like water poured out, no longer belonging to their family. The Fus also disowned her, saying that Jin Xiuzhu was so shameless, who knows if the child she bore was their true granddaughter. They accused her of freeloading at home.

     

Jiang Mingchuan couldn’t bear to listen anymore. With a stern face, he interrupted them, “I will marry her.”

     

Jin Xiuzhu had been standing by, indifferent to the situation until she heard these words. She looked at the man with some emotion. She had been worried about how to latch onto him, but she hadn’t expected him to be so responsible. In fact, they hadn’t done anything last night; he had completely fallen into “Jin Xiuzhu’s” own calculations.

     

As for what happened next, Jin Xiuzhu didn’t know. She heard crying from the room and knew that the child must have woken up. Whether it was blood ties or something else, she didn’t care and went straight back to the room.

     

Since “Jin Xiuzhu’s” husband died six months ago, she and the child had been sent to this small room up north. The room was small, damp, and gloomy. The original room was given to Fu Meiyun. This time, it was Jiang Mingchuan who came over and specifically gave up the room for him.

     

The money for renovating the house was still provided by “Jin Xiuzhu’s” husband.

     

Speaking of which, the real Jin Xiuzhu had a tough life. With two older sisters above and a younger brother below, she was the least favored among them. She thought she had married a capable man, but little did she know that he was often away from home, her mother-in-law was unkind, his younger sister was malicious, and there was even a sister-in-law who liked to sow discord. Life was simply unbearable.

     

Jin Xiuzhu, not very skilled at it, and awkwardly picked up the child to soothe her. The little girl was very light, with a thin, yellow face. When she saw Jin Xiuzhu approach, she whimpered a few times, then closed her eyes wearily. Jin Xiuzhu touched the child’s rough cheek and felt that she had a slight fever.

     

It was evident the child wasn’t being well taken care of. Compared to the children in the Marquis’ mansion, it was like heaven and earth.

     

She gently touched the child’s face, preparing to put her down so she could continue sleeping. Just then, someone else entered the room. Turning around, she saw it was her second sister, the sister of the original “Jin Xiuzhu”.

     

Second Sister, Jin Yuzhu, glanced at her with some jealousy. Originally, she had intended to come over and inquire about Jiang Mingchuan’s situation. However, as soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn’t help but sarcastically say, “You’re quite lucky. You’ve actually encountered such a windfall. According to what I heard from your mother-in-law, that man is still a high-ranking official. You’ll be living a life of luxury from now on.”

     

As she said this, she felt somewhat resentful. How could she have never imagined that the usually dull and hardworking Third Sister would end up marrying so well? In fact, she had hesitated at first. The marriage arrangement was originally for herself, but she had kept an eye out and found out that the Jin family was difficult to get along with. So she told her mother to marry off her younger sister over. After all, the dowry given by the Jin family was substantial, and her mother would definitely be unwilling to refuse.

     

She had never regretted it. After all, the Third Sister had been living poorly after marriage. But who would have thought that there would be such a day? Compared to Fu Jianguo, this man couldn’t be compared at all, not to mention his appearance, just his capable and decisive manner was far inferior to Fu Jianguo’s.

     

“However, what you did today was really unpleasant. I’m afraid he’ll hold a grudge in his heart. Don’t be fooled by his nice words. It might be difficult for him to marry you for real. We don’t even know where he’s from. If he runs away and disappears, it will be troublesome. In my opinion, it’s better to stay in the Fu family. After all, Xiaoyan’s surname is Fu.”

     

Alright, Jin Xiuzhu understood Second Sister’s intentions as soon as she heard her words. It turned out she couldn’t stand seeing her living a good life.

     

She had lived in the inner courtyard for years. The words spoken by the masters in the mansion were always circuitous. It was rare to encounter someone who was so straightforward in expressing their thoughts.

     

Jin Xiuzhu wasn’t used to her either, so she lightly chuckled, “Second Sister really reminded me. I’ll pack up now. Whenever he leaves, I’ll leave.”

     

Jin Yuzhu: “…”

     

That’s not what she meant.

     

Jin Xiuzhu did as she promised. After Jiang Mingchuan finished handling things, he prepared to leave. He had already discussed with the couple in the Fu family that he had other matters to attend to, and he would come to pick up Jin Xiuzhu and her daughter in five days.

     

The elderly couple in the Fu family were not too pleased, but their eldest daughter-in-law was willing. After all, Jiang Mingchuan had given them too much. He took out the remaining thirty yuan and five catties of grain tickets from his pocket. Anyway, it was only for five days, and they wouldn’t lose much.

     

Little did they know that when Jiang Mingchuan was about to leave, Jin Xiuzhu held her child in her arms and carried a small bundle on her back, following him.

     

Jiang Mingchuan frowned. He didn’t know how to deal with her. Taking a deep breath, he didn’t even look at her, his eyes falling on the treetops nearby as he said flatly, “You stay at home first. I’ll come to pick you up in a few days. I still have things to take care of.”

     

Jin Xiuzhu lowered her head, looking like an obedient young wife, but her tone was clear, “My second sister asked me to follow you closely. She said we don’t know where you’re from. If you run away, there’s nowhere to find you.”

     

Coincidentally, Jin Yuzhu was nearby, watching the scene unfold. Upon hearing this, her smile froze on her face.

     

Jiang Mingchuan glanced at her. Although he didn’t say anything, his eyes were somewhat cold.

     

Everything he had just experienced made him realize that neither the Fu family, his comrade’s family, nor this Jin family were easy to deal with.

     

He also knew that he had been deceived, but he couldn’t just ignore them.

     

After some thought, Jiang Mingchuan said, “I’ll keep my word. I’ll come back in five days. It’s inconvenient to take you with me, and the child is still young.”

     

After speaking, he glanced at her, thinking she would understand his intention, then turned around and strode away.

     

Little did he know, after walking a few steps, he heard footsteps behind him. Stopping and looking back, he saw the other person also stopping with a child in their arms, but they refused to look at him.

     

“…”

     

Jin Xiuzhu lowered her head to look at the child in her arms, thinking to herself that it was because of the child that she had to stick closely by, not knowing what would happen in five days.

     

She never believed in a man’s promises; she only trusted herself.

     

Perhaps sensing Jin Xiuzhu’s determination, Jiang Mingchuan remained silent.

     

The two walked, one in front and one behind. After walking a distance, Jiang Mingchuan stopped and took the sleeping child from Jin Xiuzhu’s arms.

     

Mrs. Jin watched their retreating figures and spat to the side, “She’s living the good life now.”

     

Jin Yuzhu remained silent.

     

At that moment, regret gnawed at her insides. She suddenly realized that her younger sister, whom she had always looked down upon, seemed to have found a very outstanding man.