Zhao Guihua bumped her head early in the morning, causing the whole family to rush out of bed. After the commotion, everyone returned to their rooms.
In the cold winter month, the room was chilly as the stove had gone out earlier. Zhuang Zhixi entered the room and squatted down to stoke the stove, advising, "It's not warm in here, you should put on more clothes."
Zhuang Zhixi was the third son of Zhao Guihua and Old Man Zhuang.
Earlier, the young couple had hurriedly thrown on so clothes and rushed out upon hearing the commotion, not wearing much. After he spoke, there was no response. He looked up to see his young wife still in a daze. He coughed and called out, "Ming i?"
At that mont, Ming i seed to suddenly awaken. Her large, watery eyes looked towards Zhuang Zhixi as she asked dazedly, "Did you call ?"
Zhuang Zhixi raised an eyebrow: "Why are you so absent-minded?"
Ming i blinked innocently and said, "I'm not."
Zhuang Zhixi gave Ming i a long look, then smiled. He lowered his head to poke at the stove a few more tis, added so coal, and turned to leave. At the doorway, he seed to think of sothing and looked back at her, but ultimately said nothing and left.
Ming i watched Zhuang Zhixi leave and let out a sigh of relief. She began fidgeting with her fingers, not giving much thought to this newly married husband of hers. Instead, her mind was full of thoughts about her mother-in-law who had just hit her head and fainted.
Others might not know what had happened to her mother-in-law Zhao Guihua, but she did!
Ming i knew everything. She had this "condition" since she was little.
She could "dream".
For others, dreams were just dreams, but not for Ming i. Since childhood, she could dream of other people's "life books". It wasn't always complete, but for people who had important connections to her, she could dream about them. Because of this, even though she was exhausted from her wedding night, with an aching waist and weak legs, she didn't sleep well. She had bizarre dreams all night and woke up early in shock.
That night, she had dread about her mother-in-law.
Allegedly, her mother-in-law had co back from fifty years in the future. She had witnessed the changes of the era and experienced societal developnt. After being reborn, she wanted to ride the wave of the tis, work hard, and was determined to lead the whole family towards glory.
Ming i clicked her tongue. Her mother-in-law was actually a centenarian! How... how impressive!
She lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers even more intensely, thoroughly shocked. After all, the concept of rebirth was truly difficult to understand and shocking. Otherwise, she wouldn't still be in a daze now.
Ming i already had plenty of experience with dreaming, but she had no experience dealing with soone who had been reborn.
What should she do from now on?
Zhuang Zhixi returned to find his young wife hanging her head like a pitiful little kitten, still fidgeting with her fingers. He ca to her side and saw that she had nearly picked her fingernails raw. He reached out and held her hand.
Ming i: "Ah!"
Her cheeks instantly turned red. Despite being married and having consummated their marriage, the two of them hadn't actually spent much ti together. They had gotten married after eting only three tis. So, this young couple truly didn't have much of an emotional foundation.
But this was common nowadays. So couples even got engaged after eting just once. If you dated for a long ti before marriage, you'd be considered a philanderer.
Zhuang Zhixi sat down beside Ming i, still holding her hand, and spoke: "Although my family mbers aren't the kindest people, they're not too hard to get along with. If you ever feel wronged, just tell , and I'll stand up for you."
Ming i imdiately looked up, instantly realizing he had misunderstood the reason for her daze. Still, these were nice words to hear. Her large, watery eyes curved into a smile as she asked sweetly, "Really?"
Zhuang Zhixi chuckled and nodded: "Of course it's true."
Holding his wife's hand, he said, "I've ward so water. Co out and brush your teeth and wash your face."
Despite not knowing each other well, they had already been "intimately acquainted", so there was a certain closeness between them. Zhuang Zhixi handed his wife her cotton jacket and said, "Co on, after you've freshened up, I'll tell you about the situation in our courtyard."
Ming i nodded with pursed lips, responding with an "Okay."
Since they were going to live in this courtyard, it was necessary to understand the neighbors, as they would be living together for a long ti to co.
The young couple went out together to freshen up. By this ti, it wasn't early anymore. Most people who needed to go to work or school had already left, so there weren't many people at the water tank. As the young couple brushed their teeth side by side, they saw their eldest sister-in-law, Liang ifen, hurriedly returning with breakfast.
Liang ifen glanced at the kettle placed beside the water tank and smiled awkwardly.
Their quadrangle courtyard was different from apartnt buildings. The water pipes and toilets weren't separate for each household. The water main was in the courtyard and hadn't been divided among the households. There was one in the front yard and one in the back yard. Everyone ca to the courtyard to fetch water, and the water tank in the middle of the courtyard was shared for brushing teeth, washing faces, hair, and clothes.
The water bill was split equally among the households based on the number of people each month, so there were usually quite a few people here early in the morning. Everyone was quick about it, and it was rare to see soone bringing a kettle to mix in so hot water.
Especially not in winter. After all, coal for boiling water wasn't free.
Liang ifen entered the house, smiling as she said, "This young couple's relationship is so good, they even use hot water to wash their faces early in the morning."
The subtext was clear: How wasteful.
Although the third brother's wife had just married into the family, it didn't stop her, as the eldest sister-in-law, from planting so seeds of discord in front of their mother-in-law. Besides, she had greatly offended her mother-in-law recently, so if she could get her to focus her attention elsewhere, it would be good for her.
Liang ifen thought her plan was quite good, but after she finished speaking, she realized no one was responding. Her parents-in-law weren't even in the outer room, and neither was her husband. Only her two children heard her voice and ca running out, calling, "Mom, Mom, we want to eat fried dough twists!"
No one paid attention to what she said, but as soon as the two children called out, both in-laws ca out. Zhao Guihua called out sharply, "Third son, third daughter-in-law, co eat!"
Zhao Guihua's loud voice could be heard throughout the courtyard. The young couple quickly entered. Ming i rubbed her hands, saying, "It's really cold."
Her family lived in an apartnt building, so she wasn't very accustod to life in a quadrangle courtyard, having to go outside to freshen up early in the morning. It was quite cold. However, since she was already married, Ming i didn't say anything negative to avoid being disliked.
While Ming i was rubbing her hands due to the cold outside, the two children inside were rubbing their hands in anticipation.
The two little ones hardly ever got to eat this kind of breakfast, oh no, not just rarely in a year, they had barely eaten it a few tis in total. They were so excited that their eyes were red, constantly swallowing saliva.
"Grandma, are we eating?"
"Grandma, it slls so good."
Zhao Guihua: "Why is everyone just standing there? One bowl of tofu pudding, one tea egg, and one fried dough twist for each person. Eat up. If the children can't finish, give it to the old man."
With this kind of breakfast, there was no need to divide it up. Everyone could just help themselves.
When the two children heard that they were counted as "people" too, they happily made loud noises, like little puppies.
Zhao Guihua ignored them and brought her own portion over. She first took a sip of the tofu pudding, making a satisfied sound, thinking how pure things were in this era. Then she started cracking her tea egg. Everyone had their own portion, and Ming i also began eating.
No matter what kind of family, this was considered a top-notch breakfast.
Her family was well-off, so she managed to eat with so restraint, but the children couldn't hold back. They wolfed down the food in large mouthfuls. This prompted Zhao Guihua to scold them: "No one's fighting you for it, eat slower. If you choke, don't expect to buy this again!"
Upon hearing this, the children imdiately slowed down, but they really couldn't help themselves. Even their slower pace wasn't much slower at all.
Zhao Guihua knew this was because their stomachs lacked nourishnt.
Zhao Guihua was the sa. She didn't think she was greedy, but just the sll of the fried dough twists was irresistible. It was truly a loss. However, being "experienced" and an adult, Zhao Guihua wasn't like the children.
At this mont, no one in the family was talking. Everyone was focused on their breakfast.
Ming i was the sa, drinking her tofu pudding while her eyes scanned the family.
Naturally, the people at the forefront were none other than her parents-in-law. Her father-in-law, Zhuang Haoren, was not yet fifty years old. He was a level-five riveter at the Progressive Machinery Factory, earning a high wage of 55.5 yuan, placing him in the high-inco group. However, because the na Zhuang Haoren didn't sound particularly pleasant when spoken, it was said that both his coworkers at the factory and his neighbors were accustod to calling him by his nickna: Old Man Zhuang.
As they say, there are no wrong nicknas, only wrong given nas.
Her father-in-law was an honest, quiet, and unassuming man. It was said that her mother-in-law handled all household matters.
Her mother-in-law was sowhat more lively. Her na was Zhao Guihua, and although she didn't have a job, she managed the household with an iron fist. Among the neighbors, she was known as a rather fiery old woman who, reportedly, was not to be trifled with and never allowed herself to be taken advantage of.
When the two families first t to discuss the marriage, Ming i's mother hesitated for a while because of Zhao Guihua's personality, but ultimately agreed.
The Zhuang family had three children. The eldest, Zhuang Zhiyuan, was present. The second child, Zhuang Zhixin, was married and living elsewhere. Her husband, Zhuang Zhixi, was the youngest.
Zhuang Zhiyuan and Ming i's older brother, Ming Cheng, were high school classmates. After graduation, they both beca attendants at the railway station, so they were considered good friends. It was because of this connection that Ming i and Zhuang Zhixi were introduced.
Zhuang Zhiyuan had been married for several years. His wife was Ming i's sister-in-law, Liang ifen. Ming i stole a glance at her sister-in-law, feeling deeply that she was quite a calculating person. Liang ifen originally had a job as a worker at the Textile Mill, making her and Zhuang Zhiyuan a dual-inco family. It was well known that dual-inco families lived quite comfortably and respectably. However, a month ago, just as Ming i and Zhuang Zhixi were preparing for their wedding, this sister-in-law dropped a bombshell out of nowhere.
Without telling anyone in her husband's family, she secretly gave her job to her younger brother from her natal family.
This incident caused a huge uproar in the Zhuang family and significantly affected Zhuang Zhixi and Ming i's wedding plans. If the date hadn't already been set, Ming i's family would have considered calling off the marriage. They felt that if the sister-in-law could do such a thing, she was not to be trusted.
After all, if the families didn't separate, Ming i and her husband would be a dual-inco couple, while the sister-in-law's family of four would have only one worker. It was clear they were trying to take advantage of the situation.
Ming i's mother saw through this and was very displeased.
In the end, it was only after Zhao Guihua repeatedly promised that the young couple wouldn't be taken advantage of that Ming i's mother reluctantly agreed. Of course, it wasn't entirely because of Zhao Guihua's promises. Mainly, the wedding date had already been set, and calling it off would be bad for their reputation.
Moreover, Ming i was indeed eager to get married.
While they reluctantly accepted the situation, it was said that the Zhuang family had several fights over this matter. But what's done was done, and now Liang ifen had beco a stay-at-ho housewife.
Zhuang Zhiyuan and Liang ifen had two children, a boy and a girl. The six-year-old brother, nicknad Tiger Head, had the formal na Zhuang Yang. To be honest, their family had a knack for choosing peculiar nas. This na always felt a bit odd.
The little girl was four years old, with the formal na Zhuang Xue and the nickna Little Swallow.
This was the eldest son's family. The second child, Zhuang Zhixin, had a love marriage, marrying a soldier against her parents' wishes and following him to his post. It was said she could only return ho once a year. She had a pair of twin boys.
As for her husband, Zhuang Zhixi, like his father Old Man Zhuang, also worked at the Progressive Machinery Factory. However, he wasn't in a technical position but worked in the factory's clinic, responsible for dispensing dicine and collecting fees, earning 28.5 yuan.
Although Ming i had just married into the family, she had a mother who was a keen gossip, so she knew everything about this family's background.
Her big eyes darted from one person to another as she sipped her soy milk pudding, finally landing on her mother-in-law. Reborn fifty years in the past... this was a powerful ally, so she'd better try to get on her good side no matter what.
Ming i smiled ingratiatingly and said to Zhao Guihua, "Mom, after we finish eating, shall we go for a walk together?"
Zhuang Zhixi, who had been eating happily, raised his head in confusion when he heard this. What? Wife, why didn't you invite ?
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