Chapter 2

Jian Hualin's words caused a huge uproar. No one in the family had expected that he would arrange a marriage for Jian Lu so quickly, and to be a live-in son-in-law.

Zhang Cuixia stammered, unable to believe it, "Old Jian, did you really find a live-in son-in-law?"

Zhang Cuixia was always hurt that she didn't give birth to a son for the Jian family. She couldn't hold her head up because of this. Whenever she heard people talking about whose family had a son in the production team, she always felt that they were talking about her, and it was uncomfortable to listen to it. Not to mention the attitude of her husband and mother-in-law.

After his father died of illness, Jian Hualin's family split up. His mother lived with Jian Hualin's fourth brother Jian Huashan's family. Jian Huashan's family was very successful. They had a daughter and three sons in succession. In the eyes of the public, they were really well-off. They had four children each. The fourth brother's family had three sons, which naturally made Jian Hualin's family look even worse. Jian Hualin's mother didn't think much of Zhang Cuixia and only saw her during festivals.

It's not that they haven't thought about adopting a boy to raise, but there was a famine a few years ago and everyone was hungry, so they simply couldn't afford to raise a child. Besides, who in a family with enough food to eat would be willing to give their son away?

It would be really different if there was a live-in son-in-law. The more Zhang Cuixia thought about it, the happier she felt!

Jian Hualin smiled proudly, nibbled the custard in his hand in a few bites, and then said loudly, "That's for sure. I have already made an agreement with Hong Qiang. Hong Qiang is a good guy. He is tall and strong, and has a lot of strength. He will be a strong laborer when he comes to our house in the future."

Now the Jian family has only one able-bodied laborer. Jian Hualin can earn ten work points by working in the fields, Zhang Cuixia can barely earn seven or eight, and the remaining girls can only earn six work points a day. The Jian family's life is indeed no better than others. They earn fewer work points, and thus get less rations at the end of the year.

Jian Xin had never expected that not long after she got married, her fourth sister would also get married. Fortunately, she was still at home. Sons-in-law who came to live with their families were notoriously short. Thinking of this, Jian Xin became happy for her fourth sister again.

After all, the fourth sister has always been gentle, so it would be better for her to stay at home rather than live with her husband's family.

But Jian Lu didn't think so. It seemed that the plot had come to this point. She had just traveled through time for three days and had just gotten to know the environment of the original book and the neighbors of the production brigade. Now the live-in son-in-law was about to come?

She tentatively said, "Dad, I don't want to marry Hong Qiang."

Jian Hualin is a feudal and autocratic patriarch and the only able-bodied laborer in the Jian family. He is the authority at home. Jian Lu tried to speak gently to test his bottom line first.

Who would have thought that Jian Hualin, who was used to being dictatorial, would explode immediately. It seemed as if every strand of his hair stood up. He slammed his chopsticks on the table, and the pine wood table shook violently. "Who else should I marry if not Hong Qiang? He is strong and capable, and he is willing to be my son-in-law. Where else can I find such a good son-in-law?"

Jian Hualin stood up and cast a threatening look at his little daughter, with a murderous look on his already stern face. "I have already discussed this marriage with Hong Qiang. I will arrange it for you after the third daughter gets married!"

There was no room for argument and no one could change his decision. Jian Hualin threw down a few words and strode out, leaving the mother and daughter in the main room looking at each other in bewilderment.

——

The night was as dark as ink and the Xingmin Production Brigade was completely silent. Only Jian Lu was still thinking about her future.

The kang beneath her was warm. Thinking of the fate of the original person in the book, Jian Lu couldn't help but shudder. She would never marry this man.

But it was only 1970, and the Great Movement would not end for several years. Collective movements were being carried out everywhere. Take the Xingmin Production Brigade of the Red Star Commune where I was originally located. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides. It was more than 40 miles away from here to the county seat, and the mountain road was rugged. Most importantly, it was very difficult for a person to move around.

You need an introduction to travel, and you need grain coupons, meat coupons, and cloth coupons to buy things...Private transactions are strictly prohibited and will be classified as speculation, and the person caught will be sent to jail.

What's more, she had no money. After traveling through time, she looked through all the belongings in her original body's house and found only two dollars and thirty-six cents in total. She was really poor.

She wanted to break up with Jian Hualin and refuse to marry him, but she knew it was impossible after she tried to test him tonight. He was the head of the family and the only person who had the final say. No one could challenge his authority. What's more, he held her household registration, so she really couldn't escape.

Feeling that there was no way out, Jian Lu had a rare sleepless night, worrying about how to deal with Hong Qiang's marriage. It was not until the sky turned pale that her eyelids began to fight...

=

The next day, heavy snow fell all over the sky, hitting the windows and dotting the glass with white spots.

Jian Lu, who was the last one to wake up in the family, felt the power of the wind and snow as soon as she opened the door. The world in front of her was covered in silver, which was a unique feeling.

Before the time travel, Jian Lu, as a native southerner, had infinite beautiful visions of snow. If the weather was good and there were a few snowflakes that melted in an instant, she and her colleagues would trot out to watch, and finally take photos and post them on WeChat Moments or Weibo to commemorate the occasion.

Now, Jian Lu, who is not very resistant to cold, can only wrap herself tightly in her clothes, curl up her body and step into the wind and snow.

It’s so cold!

It was bone-chillingly cold, and the wind seemed to drill into the very bones, waking people up instantly.

"Look how cold you are." Jian Xin felt that this winter was about the same as previous years, but it had been cold for twenty years, and it seemed that girls were particularly weak to cold this year. "Drink a cup of water to warm yourself up."

The enamel cup on the table had a magpie printed on it, and large patches of paint had fallen off around the rim of the cup. It was an old artifact from the family. Jian Lu felt better only after she drank a cup of hot water.

"Where are my parents?" She was also prepared to ask around and find out about Hong Qiang and think of a solution.

"I went to the brigade headquarters. There will be an ideological education meeting today." Jian Xin went back to the room and found her grey sweater, and handed it to the girl. "Put it on. It will be cold when you go out. I don't know what happened to you this year to freeze like this."

"Isn't this the new dress you made this year? It's okay, I have something to wear."

Jian Xin was getting married, and her family made her a new sweater, which she had only worn a few times.

"Don't be polite to me, put it on!" Jian Xin stuffed the clothes into the girl's arms and urged her to go back to the house to change. "This new one is much warmer."

The despised fake northerner Jian Lu succumbed to the cold. She had indeed never experienced such a cold winter, so she had no choice but to put on a sweater and a thick cotton jacket, wrap herself up like a dumpling, and go out with her third sister.

The two of them are going to their eldest sister's in-laws' house today.

Jian Yue, the eldest daughter of the Jian family, also married in this production brigade, but it was far away from the Jian family. The Jian family was on the east side of the production brigade, and Jian Yue's in-laws' family was on the west side.

When they arrived at the place, Jian Yue hurriedly welcomed the two into the house.

"Is it frozen?" Jian Yue looked a lot like her mother Zhang Cuixia, with a gentle look in her features. She had been warming herself by the fire in the house, waiting for her two sisters to come over.

"Sister, it's no problem!" Jian Xin pulled out a bench and sat down familiarly.

"Not bad." Jian Lu rubbed her hands as she entered the house, enjoying the rare warmth.

Jian Yue had heard from her third sister that her fourth sister was not very resistant to cold weather recently. Seeing her now, she realized that it was true. "Did she get sick last week and her body got damaged? You have to be careful from now on."

A week ago, the original body fell ill and had a core replacement, so Jian Lu could only go along with it.

Today, the two of them came to see their eldest sister to prepare for Jian Xin's wedding in half a month, and Jian Lu came along to take a look.

The eldest sister and the third sister were talking heart-to-heart. Jian Lu looked at the eldest sister's husband's house. There were not many people in it. It was winter now, and the ground was frozen hard. It was the idle season for farmers. The commune was busy holding ideological education meetings. Many members of the Fang family went there in batches. The remaining few people were resting and chatting in another room.

"You're getting married soon. Take these two dollars and use them to buy some things." Jian Yue and Jian Xin agreed that she would go to help on the wedding day. She also secretly slipped some money to the third sister and found a pair of old woolen gloves for the fourth sister.

"Here, Lulu, you're not in good health right now, don't let it freeze any more."

Jian Xin felt the money was hot on her hands. Her elder sister had a hard time at her husband's house. She was about to refuse but her elder sister held her back and said, "Why are you being so polite to me? You will only get married once in your life, you should dress up and wear new clothes."

Jian Xin had no choice but to accept it.

The two sisters Jian Lu accepted the gifts from their eldest sister, thanked her sweetly, and then left.

——

In the afternoon, it was the sisters' turn to go to the brigade headquarters to attend the meeting. The snow had stopped, but the snow was not shallow. The two did not walk very fast. When they arrived near the educated youth institute, they met someone Jian Lu did not want to see - Hong Qiang, the son-in-law that Jian Hualin had chosen.

Hong Qiang was fierce, with a big head, a square face, and rough features. He was also going to the brigade headquarters to attend the ideological education meeting, but because his parents died early and no one cared about him, he had been lazy since he was a child. He was dawdling on his way to the brigade headquarters, but he ran into Jian Lu, the fourth daughter of the Jian family.

If we were to ask which girl in Red Star Commune is the most beautiful, it would naturally be Jian Lu.

At this moment, even though she was wearing a patched shirt, it still couldn't stop her good looks. The wind blew across her fair oval face, and her peach blossom eyes quickly moved away after seeing the person in front of her. Her slender swan neck seemed to be glowing, and the most eye-catching thing was her high chest, which looked like two peaches hidden under her clothes, making Hong Qiang's eyes hot.

Hong Qiang had originally agreed with Jian Hualin to propose marriage in a month, but now he actually felt that a month was too long.

"Comrade Jian Lu!" Hong Qiang took two steps forward, and realizing his own urgency, he added, "Comrade Jian Xin is here too."

Jian Xin took a look at her future brother-in-law. He was tall and big, like a mountain, which was quite intimidating. However, when she thought that he would be a relative to her in the future, she naturally became easy-going. "Comrade Hong Qiang, why don't you go to the brigade headquarters?"

"It's too late now." Hong Qiang answered Jian Xin's words, but his eyes were fixed on Jian Lu.

Jian Lu only felt a sharp line of sight scanning across her face, and even glancing at her chest...disgusting!

Although Hong Qiang pretends to be gentle and polite now, he actually has a violent temper and gets angry easily. In the words of later generations, he seems to have mania and is completely unable to control his emotions.

Jian Lu is most afraid of dealing with such people. They can be fine one second and go crazy and attack you the next. Such people are really scary.

An emotionally unstable person is like a time bomb. You never know when he will explode.

"Comrade Hong, please make way. We are in a hurry to get to the brigade headquarters." Jian Lu had a cold face, and her words lost their warmth in the cold wind.

Hong Qiang was not angry with his sweetheart. If someone else had spoken to him like that, he would have taken action long ago. But this was Jian Lu, the delicate and charming Jian Lu, and it was quite interesting to see her keep a cold face.

"Okay, then you guys go first, see you later." Hong Qiang was not in a hurry. In another month, this beauty would be his!

Hong Qiang stared blankly at Jian Lu's departing back, his Adam's apple rolling, swallowing his saliva, imagining the tender scenes with her in the future...

As a result, he was stunned and saw Goudan and Jian Lu from the team talking in front of him. Jian Lu was talking and laughing with the 15-year-old Goudan, and seemed easy-going. That look made him frown instantly.

After the others left, he quickly caught up to Goudan and grabbed him by the collar.

"Goudan, what did you and Jianlu talk about just now?"

Goudan was small and skinny, and he couldn't stand Hong Qiang's strong pull. His collar made him breathe fast, "No...nothing."

"Damn it, you still want to lie to me, right? What did you say? Why is Jian Lu smiling at you?" Hong Qiang remembered how Jian Lu smiled at someone else just now, and a nameless anger rose up, burning him uncomfortable.

Goudan huddled up and trembled as he explained, "I... I just asked her family if we could exchange eggs. My sister just had a baby and we don't have enough eggs at home, so I wanted to borrow some."

"That's it?"

"Really! Just this one thing, nothing else." Goudan was trembling with fear when he was stared at by Hong Qiang's fierce eyes.

"If I see you talking to Jian Lu again, I'll break your legs. Get lost."

Hong Qiang glared at Goudan who fell on his butt, kicked him hard in the stomach twice, and then left cursing.

Jian Lu is his wife. Any man who dares to talk to her is seeking death!