Gu Yi opened his eyes and looked around the room as if he were looking at old photos from the 80s, with an old-fashioned thermos, an enamel basin, and a tea mug with the slogan "Serve the People".
Gu Yi was about to get out of bed, but as soon as he lifted his leg, he found his leg was extremely painful. Just then, he heard cursing from outside.
Gu Yi listened carefully; it was the voice of his sister-in-law, Ye Qian, with his mother-in-law saying something alongside her. Gu Yi felt that everything in front of him was so familiar.
She recalled the first year she married Ye Hao, when the village planned to dig a reservoir upstream from the village entrance, and every household had to provide labor.
Ye Hao was in the army, and her in-laws were old, so only she and her sister-in-law, Ye Qian, were eligible in the family.
She used to be a quiet introvert, while Ye Qian was the complete opposite, a fiery little pepper who couldn't stand any loss.
A few people from the neighboring village who went to dig the reservoir with them disliked their looks and buried large stones in the soil, for Gu Yi and Ye Qian to dig out.
The sister-in-law warned her, but she didn't take it to heart, believing others wouldn't actually do such things.
The hoe hit a stone, and it shattered, with the fragments hitting Gu Yi's head and knocking her unconscious.
She opened the door to the room, and her sister-in-law was saying to her, "She's such an idiot, people set traps for her, and she can't see it at all. Even my warnings were useless. She just had to plunge headlong into it, driving me mad!"
"Say a little less, your sister-in-law isn't feeling well either." The mother-in-law said this while flinging her sister-in-law's arm back, taking two steps forward.
"Yiyi, you're awake. How's your body? Don't take Qianqian's words to heart. You're probably hungry. I saved some food in the pot; it's still warm. You sit down, I'll go get it."
After saying this, she didn't wait for Gu Yi to respond and went straight to the kitchen.
"Hmph, people calculated against you, and you couldn't see it, deserved to be hit."
Ye Qian said this and then stopped paying attention to Gu Yi, returning to her room and slamming the door shut with a "bang".
Ye's mother came in just in time, "Why are you, girl, so hot-tempered all day long? Yiyi, come have your meal; don't mind her."
"Thank you, Mom!" Gu Yi might have been really hungry, for although the food didn't have much oil, she ate it with great relish.
In no time, the bowl of rice was empty, and she looked a bit embarrassed at Ye's mother beside her.
Ye's mother was about to take her bowl, but Gu Yi quickly stopped her, saying, "Mom, I'm full, thank you."
Ye's mother felt that Gu Yi was a bit different but didn't think much of it, "Does your head still hurt?"
"No, it doesn't."
"Have a good rest these days. The bump on your head is no small matter. The reservoir is almost done. The village chief said you and Qianqian don't need to go anymore. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me."
"Thank you, Mom. I'll go back to the room first."
Gu Yi returned to the room, and Ye's mother took the dishes to the kitchen.
Gu Yi sat on the bed, and in her previous life, at this time, she didn't know why she had married Ye Hao and why the wedding had happened so quickly.
She was a dazed bride, and the groom, Ye Hao, didn't seem very happy either. The sister-in-law was indignant, but her in-laws treated her well.
Ye Hao returned to the army the day after their marriage. Already feeling insecure due to her chubby figure, she became even more reticent in this household.
She tried to please everyone carefully, but in her previous life, Ye Hao had always been distant towards her.
Until one day, her sister-in-law, Ye Qian, saw there was no spark between Gu Yi and Ye Hao.
She angrily yelled at Ye Hao, "You've been married to your sister-in-law for so many years, and you still can't forget her. Although you haven't shown anger or lost your temper with anyone over the years, you've been using cold violence against each of us. Dad and Mom never dare to speak harshly in front of you, and the sister-in-law follows your lead. You always ignore her, and she doesn't even know what she did wrong. If you really don't like her, you might as well divorce, at least give her some closure, and give us some too."
"What nonsense are you spouting? Go to sleep." Ye Hao turned to look at Gu Yi behind him and froze for a moment.
As he turned away, he only said, "Don't overthink it."