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 some 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 Mei?"
At that moment, Ming Mei seemed to suddenly awaken. Her large, watery eyes looked towards Zhuang Zhixi as she asked dazedly, "Did you call me?"
Zhuang Zhixi raised an eyebrow: "Why are you so absent-minded?"
Ming Mei blinked innocently and said, "I'm not."
Zhuang Zhixi gave Ming Mei a long look, then smiled. He lowered his head to poke at the stove a few more times, added some coal, and turned to leave. At the doorway, he seemed to think of something and looked back at her, but ultimately said nothing and left.
Ming Mei 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 Mei knew everything. She had this "condition" since she was little.
She could "dream".
For others, dreams were just dreams, but not for Ming Mei. 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 dreamed about her mother-in-law.
Allegedly, her mother-in-law had come back from fifty years in the future. She had witnessed the changes of the era and experienced societal development. After being reborn, she wanted to ride the wave of the times, work hard, and was determined to lead the whole family towards glory.
Ming Mei 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 Mei already had plenty of experience with dreaming, but she had no experience dealing with someone 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 came to her side and saw that she had nearly picked her fingernails raw. He reached out and held her hand.
Ming Mei: "Ah!"
Her cheeks instantly turned red. Despite being married and having consummated their marriage, the two of them hadn't actually spent much time together. They had gotten married after meeting only three times. So, this young couple truly didn't have much of an emotional foundation.
But this was common nowadays. Some couples even got engaged after meeting just once. If you dated for a long time before marriage, you'd be considered a philanderer.
Zhuang Zhixi sat down beside Ming Mei, still holding her hand, and spoke: "Although my family members aren't the kindest people, they're not too hard to get along with. If you ever feel wronged, just tell me, and I'll stand up for you."
Ming Mei immediately 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 warmed some water. Come 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, "Come on, after you've freshened up, I'll tell you about the situation in our courtyard."
Ming Mei 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 time to come.
The young couple went out together to freshen up. By this time, 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 Meifen, hurriedly returning with breakfast.
Liang Meifen glanced at the kettle placed beside the water tank and smiled awkwardly.
Their quadrangle courtyard was different from apartment 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 came 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 someone bringing a kettle to mix in some hot water.
Especially not in winter. After all, coal for boiling water wasn't free.
Liang Meifen 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 some 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 Meifen 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 came 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 came out. Zhao Guihua called out sharply, "Third son, third daughter-in-law, come eat!"
Zhao Guihua's loud voice could be heard throughout the courtyard. The young couple quickly entered. Ming Mei rubbed her hands, saying, "It's really cold."
Her family lived in an apartment building, so she wasn't very accustomed 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 Mei didn't say anything negative to avoid being disliked.
While Ming Mei 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 times in total. They were so excited that their eyes were red, constantly swallowing saliva.
"Grandma, are we eating?"
"Grandma, it smells 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 Mei 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 some 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 me to buy this again!"
Upon hearing this, the children immediately 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 nourishment.
Zhao Guihua was the same. She didn't think she was greedy, but just the smell 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 moment, no one in the family was talking. Everyone was focused on their breakfast.
Ming Mei was the same, 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-income group. However, because the name Zhuang Haoren didn't sound particularly pleasant when spoken, it was said that both his coworkers at the factory and his neighbors were accustomed to calling him by his nickname: Old Man Zhuang.
As they say, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong given names.
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 somewhat more lively. Her name 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 met to discuss the marriage, Ming Mei'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 Mei's older brother, Ming Cheng, were high school classmates. After graduation, they both became attendants at the railway station, so they were considered good friends. It was because of this connection that Ming Mei and Zhuang Zhixi were introduced.
Zhuang Zhiyuan had been married for several years. His wife was Ming Mei's sister-in-law, Liang Meifen. Ming Mei stole a glance at her sister-in-law, feeling deeply that she was quite a calculating person. Liang Meifen originally had a job as a worker at the Textile Mill, making her and Zhuang Zhiyuan a dual-income family. It was well known that dual-income families lived quite comfortably and respectably. However, a month ago, just as Ming Mei 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 Mei's wedding plans. If the date hadn't already been set, Ming Mei'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 Mei and her husband would be a dual-income 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 Mei'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 Mei'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 Mei 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 Meifen had become a stay-at-home housewife.
Zhuang Zhiyuan and Liang Meifen had two children, a boy and a girl. The six-year-old brother, nicknamed Tiger Head, had the formal name Zhuang Yang. To be honest, their family had a knack for choosing peculiar names. This name always felt a bit odd.
The little girl was four years old, with the formal name Zhuang Xue and the nickname 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 home 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 medicine and collecting fees, earning 28.5 yuan.
Although Ming Mei 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 Mei 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 me?
