"Mom, I don't agree. You can't push Xiaoxiao into a pit of fire."
"What pit of fire? Who would spend two hundred yuan to marry a wife if it's a pit of fire?"
"Xiaoxiao is still in school. Let's talk about marriage later."
"What good is it for a stinky girl to study so much? Better to marry early."
The old lady's sharp voice rang out, buzzing in Su Xiaoxiao's ears.
Who disturbs one's sweet dreams so early in the morning!
No sense of civility, so annoying!
Su Xiaoxiao sat up from the bed, grabbed the enamel basin from the washstand next to her, opened the door, and threw a basin of water on the old lady who was chattering endlessly at the door.
The world instantly fell silent.
The old lady, caught off guard, swallowed a big mouthful of water and stared at Su Xiaoxiao in disbelief, "You...you..."
Before she could finish, the door slammed shut.
Su Xiaoxiao tossed the basin aside carelessly, turned around, climbed back to bed, and closed her eyes to continue her peaceful sleep.
So annoying, she was just dreaming about pampering a male model with eight-pack abs!
She turned over and continued her dream.
The handsome guy in the dream gave her a seductive look, wrapping his arms around her neck, "Sister~"
His deep and magnetic voice made Su Xiaoxiao's heart race.
She knew it was a dream, but she was willing to indulge.
With a slightly roguish motion, she lifted his chin and bent down to kiss him.
A light kiss, enough to whet the appetite, but the male model wasn't satisfied.
He wrapped her waist, reversing their positions.
Su Xiaoxiao frowned, reached out to push him, but the next moment, her hand was caught and pressed against his firm abs.
Oh, it feels so good.
Just as she was enjoying the moment, a sudden pain on her face jolted her awake from her dream.
Opening her eyes, she was met with an old, wrinkled face.
Wang Chunhua stood with hands on her hips, looking imposing, "You little brat, are you rebelling?"
Raising a hand to slap, but before she could reach Su Xiaoxiao, she was shoved aside.
"Liu Cuilan, have you gone mad?"
Seeing who intervened, Wang Chunhua's face turned even uglier.
No wonder she's biased towards the second son's family; the eldest son's family doesn't have anyone good.
She used to think the eldest daughter-in-law was obedient.
Who would have thought, the eldest son hasn't been dead for long and this mother-daughter duo dares to lay hands on her.
Liu Cuilan stood in front of her daughter, "Mom, you can hit me, but you can't hit Xiaoxiao. Her health is poor."
When Su Xiaoxiao was born, it happened to be during the three years of food shortage after the Great Leap Forward. She was so hungry that she had no milk, and could only be fed rice soup. As a result, she was the weakest among the five children.
Liu Cuilan has always felt guilty about her, doting on her the most.
Wang Chunlan rolled her eyes, pushing Liu Cuilan aside, "A stinky girl has become so precious?"
Su Xiaoxiao was so annoyed by the noise she had a headache, holding her forehead, she looked around, stunned by the scene in the room.
Sunshine filtered through the green-painted windows, barely illuminating the dim room.
The narrow and cramped adobe-bricks walls had portraits of leaders and a red plastic round mirror hanging, giving a sense of the era.
The room's furnishings were pathetically simple. Besides a mud bed and broken tables and chairs, there was just an old red-painted wooden box at the head of the bed, and nothing else.
It was the kind of level where even a thief would sigh at the poverty.
"Oh my beans."
Su Xiaoxiao stood in a daze for a moment, then realized belatedly.
Good news, she didn't die in the car accident; bad news, she's now in the 70s era lacking food and clothes.
In this era where everything needed ration tickets and even travel to another province required an introduction letter, people had pockets cleaner than their faces, and eating well every day was considered middle class.
Unfortunately, the host's family was nowhere near middle class.
A mother who had been sickly for years, a little brother still in need of care, and a grandfather who's just waiting to live off her, and a malicious grandmother who wanted to package her off for money because of the preference for boys over girls.
A family of six to feed, primarily relying on the eldest and second brothers' hard work to survive, keeping the eldest already twenty-six but still without a wife.
Tsk, the level of poverty brings tears to the storyteller and sadness to the listener.
Su Xiaoxiao glanced at the shoes her toes peep through, the pants too short, and the bare-bones room, silently vowing that since she now occupied this body, she had an obligation to work hard and earn money, so the entire family could live a good life.
As she was thinking, the old lady's angry voice rang again, "I'm telling you now, I've taken the two hundred yuan dowry already. Whether she wants to or not, she's getting married!"
"Mom, you're forcing an orphan widow like us to die!"
A weak female voice sounded, followed by the old lady raising her pitch, "It's all for your own good. Once the stinky girl is married off, we can then arrange a marriage for the eldest, have a child, and our Su Family will have descendants."
Su Xiaoxiao rubbed her aching temple, quickly realizing that the one repeatedly calling her a stinky girl was her cheap grandmother Wang Chunhua.
She turned her head to look at Liu Cuilan, seeing her lean on the table, her face as pale as a dead fish for three months.
"Mom, are you okay?"
She shot a fierce glare at Wang Chunhua and stepped forward to support Liu Cuilan.
"Stupid girl, you're against me now."
Wang Chunhua made a move to charge at Su Xiaoxiao, but before she could touch her, her wrist was caught by a slender, fair hand.
Only to hear a crisp crack, Wang Chunhua's face twisted in pain as she let out a shrill scream.
Su Xiaoxiao held Liu Cuilan against her, staring coldly at Wang Chunhua, "If anything happens to my mom today, you'll never hear the end of it from me."
"You brat, I'm your grandmother, how dare you talk to me like that?"
Wang Chunhua was startled by her look, stepping back but stubbornly retorting.
"Get lost!"
Su Xiaoxiao looked with concern at Liu Cuilan, whose lips had turned pale, and firmly pushed Wang Chunhua out of the door, slamming it shut.
Wang Chunhua stood outside, her face a riot of colors like a spilled paint palette.
This brat, why is she so bold today?
She was about to angrily pound on the door, but before her hand could touch it, the door flung open.
Su Xiaoxiao flexed her wrist, looking coldly at her, "Is there something else?"
The anger on Wang Chunhua's face instantly deflated, "Nothing... nothing."
With a bang, the door closed again, almost hitting the old lady's nose.
The words 'stupid girl' that were about to escape her mouth were forcibly swallowed back.
This damned girl is like she's possessed today; she can't afford to anger her.
Regarding the marriage, she would have to discuss it with the second daughter-in-law.
The second daughter-in-law was fierce and would surely take care of the brat firmly.
With this in mind, she hurried off with small steps.
Hearing the receding footsteps, Liu Cuilan, who was leaning weakly against Su Xiaoxiao, suddenly opened her eyes, looking bright and spirited, much different from her earlier sickly appearance.
Su Xiaoxiao's face turned pale, clutching her and wailing, "Mom, Mom, this can't be your last flash of brilliance, right?"