Chapter 3: The Market is Full of Human Touch

After quickly ranting about her complaints, Wang Yuyan pointed at Wang Yuqing and said, "She just asked my older sister if she was just as fierce back in her parents' home. Mom, look how angry she made my older sister."

Wang Yulan: "..."

Lin Xuemei glanced at Wang Yulan as if she had noticed something, then grabbed a piece of firewood from the doorway and rushed over to hit her: "You lazy bum who eats nothing, you'll climb onto the roof and tear off the tiles if I don't beat you for a day, I'll beat you to death."

Wang Yuqing nimbly dodged, then jumped off the bed and shoved Lin Xuemei hard.

Lin Xuemei plopped down on the ground, feeling a little dizzy. No matter how she used to beat this idiot, even if she beat him to death, he would always cower and never dare to move, let alone fight back.

Now that they can't run away, they dare to push me? They've gone too far!

She was furious and, clutching the firewood, rushed after him.

Wang Yuqing looked at Lin Xuemei behind her, who was like a tigress. If she weren't Lin Xuemei's mother, and if she didn't need to leave this family smoothly, she would definitely have pinned her to the ground and pulled her hair.

Lin Xuemei caught up, shuffling along in her slippers.

"I'll beat you to death... You dare to run away? Even a dog is better than you. A dog knows how to please its owner. I should have kicked you to death when I gave birth to you. Now you think you're all grown up and dare to say that our whole family is handless? You even dare to talk about your older sister! You bitch, why don't you just die..."

Hearing the harsh curses behind her, Wang Yuqing recalled the reason why the original owner was not favored: Lin Xuemei's first child was a daughter, and she was so eager to have a son when she became pregnant with her second child that she listened to her family's advice and took a folk remedy called "gender-changing medicine," which not only tasted terrible but also almost caused her to miscarry.

I thought that if it were a boy, I wouldn't mind suffering a little, but it turned out to be a girl.

Her husband was unhappy, her mother-in-law gave her a cold shoulder, her sisters-in-law laughed at her, and her mother-in-law even took back the gold bracelet she had given her. She packed her things that very night and went to her eldest son's house to serve her eldest daughter-in-law. From then on, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were like enemies.

Lin Xuemei was already deeply patriarchal and disliked her second daughter even more. She would beat and scold her all the time, turning the original owner into a taciturn, socially awkward, tactless, timid, and cowardly person. This made Lin Xuemei hate her even more.

Wang Yuqing felt that even so, she still couldn't understand why someone would use such vulgar language to attack their own child.

In fact, physical pain does not cause extreme suffering; rather, it is the sharp, malicious curses that leave deep scars.

The original owner also harbored hatred deep down, but she was mostly filled with inferiority. Every time she was scolded, she would lower her head, and the more she was scolded, the deeper she would lower her head. She didn't have the courage to fight back and numbly accepted it.

At this moment, Wang Yuyan and Wang Yulan followed, and the twins also joined in the commotion, even trying to stop Wang Yuqing.

Hearing the commotion, Wang Jiandong came out of his room and saw this scene. He roared sternly, "Stop right there! Where are you going? You always look like you're about to get beaten up."

With nowhere to run, Wang Yuqing turned and ran towards the main gate.

Lin Xuemei stood at the door, not daring to chase after her. The neighbors all worked at the same factory, and because her eldest son-in-law was a projectionist and her eldest daughter was an accountant, everyone fawned over her.

She cares about her reputation; as the saying goes, "family scandals should not be aired in public," and this matter would not sound good if it got out.

Wang Yuqing knew this was why she ran away; otherwise, staying at home all day, regardless of whether she did any work, would have been torture for her.

Moreover, as someone living in a technologically advanced and information-driven society, she was very curious about the markets of the 'planned economy era,' and she was determined to see them after traveling through time.

Wang Yuqing went straight to the market. She wandered through the crowded streets, feeling both excited and amazed.

The cities she lived in were all lush and vibrant, with dazzling lights and bustling traffic. Although the streets of that era were somewhat dilapidated and not very large, they were full of life, with simple and honest folk. Everyone's face was beaming with joy, and the atmosphere was lively and extraordinary.

She was dazzled by what she saw. Apart from the grains, peanuts, and pork that were not subject to state purchase and distribution, the street was filled with all kinds of traditional snacks, handicrafts, farm tools, fruits and vegetables, daily necessities, as well as vendors selling leather goods, blacksmiths, barbers, storytellers, and even acrobats... All kinds of stalls filled the street completely.

It is now 1976, just past the special period of "cutting off the tail", and the Libreville field in some remote areas where "the emperor is far away" has become active again.

In the original owner's area, farmers could grow vegetables and fruits and raise livestock on their private plots, and then sell them at the market.

The original owner's family lived in the staff quarters of the state-owned fertilizer factory in Sui'an County. The couple were the first generation of employees of the fertilizer factory, and they received a fourth-level salary of 44.10 yuan per month.

In the era of planned economy, working in a state-owned factory was considered a "secure job," a dream for countless people.

When the couple visited relatives in the countryside, they referred to themselves as "city people" and "employed," walking with their heads held high and full of arrogance, as glamorous as could be.

Therefore, it's understandable why they look down on Ji Xuening, even though he had served in the military.

Wang Yuqing saw a four or five-year-old child sitting on a cart licking an ice pop. When the child saw Wang Yuqing looking at him with shining eyes, he quickly protected the ice pop.

Wang Yuqing found it ridiculous. She had eaten ice cream and popsicles before, so why would she be tempted by your one-cent popsicle? She just couldn't take her eyes off it.

She didn't look away until the child's father pushed the cart away. Although there were no high-end things around her, everything was interesting and unique, and there were no fakes or inferior products.

Today happened to be market day, so the place was packed with people from all around. Normally, the workers and villagers would go to work and wouldn't come to the market unless they had something to do.

Wang Yuqing saw a farmer next to her selling cabbages and tomatoes from a cart. The cabbages were lush and green, and the tomatoes were a mix of green and red. They were all grown with organic fertilizer and were very nutritious and healthy.

Unlike most vegetables nowadays that are treated with pesticides or hormones, or preserved with chemicals.

As people's living standards have improved, they have grown tired of eating rich and heavy meals and are now more interested in local specialties, farm-style dishes, and even miss the simple and rustic rural life of their childhood.

What attracted her most were the food stalls. Not to mention that food was extremely scarce in this era, and people worshipped and were eager for food, even she, a wealthy person of the new era who had eaten spicy hot pot, barbecue, hot pot and drunk milk tea, was drooling at this moment.

Wontons, steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and roasted sweet potatoes.

Cold mung bean jelly, sweet rice cake, potstickers, and spicy soup.

The hawking and shouting made Wang Yuqing's heart itch and her stomach rumble.

She remembered that the original owner of this body had never eaten these things since birth, while her sisters, brothers and sisters could eat an ice pop and drink a bottle of soda from time to time. In particular, Wang Yubao had tasted these breakfast foods countless times.

While other parents might secretly give snacks to their beloved children behind their backs, Lin Xuemei was different; she gave snacks to the other children right in front of the original owner.

Wang Yuqing felt quite disheartened!