Meng Tao had been awake for a while. She stared at the environment in the room with bated breath, trying not to move, for fear of making any noise that would attract the two people who were whispering outside the wooden door to come in, breaking the silence and confirming something she was thinking.
She hoped that this was just a dream, and when she woke up, she would return to the world where she originally lived.
She didn't want to stay in this shabby room: the old loess walls were mottled and falling, the floor was not even made of cement, just a compacted layer of soil, let alone floor tiles, and the roof was covered with tiles, right? It hadn't been cleaned for a long time, and there were spider webs hanging here and there, and there were still spiders weaving webs.
She was lying on a wooden bed. The mosquito net and quilt were old and patched, but still clean. There was not much furniture in the room of about ten square meters, not even a wardrobe. There were only two old chairs with broken legs leaning against the corner, piled with tattered clothes and sundries, and a wooden shelf supporting a large old-fashioned wooden box with brass buckles. It was the only thing in the room that looked pleasing to the eye.
The wooden box used to have a window, but the window pane had no glass, only a layer of newspaper. No wonder the light in the room was so dim. Under the window was a wooden table without drawers. On the table was a broken palm-sized mirror propped up by a brick, a comb, a kerosene lamp and a box of matches. The most eye-catching thing was a white cup with badly peeling paint. A line of red words could still be clearly seen on the wall of the cup: Serve the People.
There were also two propaganda posters nailed to the earthen wall, with three characters on the paintings: a worker, a peasant, and a soldier, carrying tools, holding ears of grain, and holding a steel gun, looking at Meng Tao with a smile on his face.
Meng Tao closed her eyes, not daring to think...
The wooden door was pushed open, and a middle-aged woman with short hair and a young girl with two pigtails walked in. The middle-aged woman approached the bed, pushed Meng Tao with her hand, touched her forehead, and called out twice: "Taohua, Taohua?"
Meng Tao is pretending to be dead.
The middle-aged woman sighed, "He's still unconscious. Your sister Xianglan was too harsh."
The young girl pouted, "Mom, you also know that Taohua is in good health. The day before yesterday, Xiaoliu went up the mountain with her to carry firewood and deliberately bumped into her firewood bundle. She rolled down the hillside without getting hurt. This morning, we went to the river to wash clothes together. My eldest sister and I thought that even if we pushed her into the river, she would still be able to swim. My eldest sister had to knock her out with a club from behind when she wasn't paying attention. Fortunately, there was only a bump on the back of her head and no bleeding. Otherwise, blood would have been dripping and we wouldn't have bothered to carry her back... But my cousin is too slow. He hasn't come yet. If Taohua wakes up, wouldn't it be a waste of effort?"
"Keep your voice down, or someone will hear us and tell us what happened to our Tian family!"
The middle-aged woman said in a low voice, then pulled the young girl out of the room and closed the wooden door behind her. The mother and daughter whispered outside the door again:
"It rained heavily last night, and the roads in the mountains are slippery. Your big-headed cousin is lame and uses a cane. I'm afraid he won't be here until dinner time."
"What should we do? Taohua has been sleeping for a long time, and she might really wake up."
"It really doesn't work. Last time I went into the mountains to collect rice stalks, I encountered a few medicinal herbs. They were the kind that stick to you. No matter if you are a man or a woman, as long as you get a little bit of them on you, you will become stuck together like animals. You can't get them apart even if you try... I'll make a bowl of egg soup for Taohua tonight and put it in there. Don't touch it!"
"No, I want to eat egg custard too. You always hoard the eggs and don't let me eat them. I'm so greedy!" The young girl acted coquettishly.
The middle-aged woman patted her helplessly and said, "Isn't it because of you that I saved the eggs? The weather is getting colder, but you still insisted on making a long red skirt that reaches your calves. I saw Daya from the Zhou family in the village wearing a red skirt that day. Are you trying to compete with her in beauty?"
"That's why we have to compete! Our Tian family is no longer in the same situation as before. My brother has become successful and married a city girl. Our family is ranked second if not first in Linshui Village. Of course I can't be worse than Zhou Daya. I must have everything she has, and I must be better and more beautiful than her!"
"Tsk tsk, what a crazy girl!"
"Got it, hehe!"
The young girl smiled proudly, "Mom, Taohua and Big Head Cousin are having their wedding night tonight... Big Head Cousin is thirty years old, and Taohua just turned nineteen. She's pretty good-looking, so Big Head Cousin must be so happy. He got a wife for nothing. If he dares not respect you as his aunt in the future, I'll beat him to death!"
The middle-aged woman also laughed, "Okay, he is my sister's son and nephew after all, how can I not think about him? An old son-in-law will love his wife. Your cousin Datou just has a weak leg, but he can weave bamboo baskets and do carpentry. He is very good at making bamboo baskets and can sell them for money. Taohua will be fine if she follows Datou. She has been in our family for more than four years. Finding her such a good man like Datou is a good thing for her."
"That's right. She is an uneducated country girl, and she still hopes that my third brother who is a cadre will come back to live with her? She is dreaming! She should be very lucky to marry my big-headed cousin."
"Well, Yalan, you should hurry up and get ready these days. Your third brother and his wife will hold their wedding at the company on October 1st. We will just wait for Datou and Taohua to get married and then rush over. Your third sister-in-law is a city girl, but she is very particular. After your third brother returned from college, he is now a technical backbone of the factory and will be promoted to a higher position in the future. You guys should dress neatly and beautifully, and don't embarrass your brother and sister-in-law!"
"Don't worry, mom. I know a lot about this!"
"It's time to cook dinner as the sun sets. Today is Tuesday. Little Six and Little Seven live in the school dormitory and won't be home. Big Head will be here soon. Go see what your sister and brother-in-law are doing and ask them if they want to come back to eat together so I can measure the rice for the pot."
"Hey, I'll go right away."
The footsteps outside the door gradually faded away, and the surroundings became quiet. There were still sounds of chickens crowing, dogs barking, and children crying, but they seemed quite far away.
Meng Tao opened her eyes, stared at the roof for a while, then got up. She felt a little dizzy, but fortunately she could still move. She touched the back of her head and found a big lump. She didn't know if she felt it or not, but it hurt when she touched it, and she grimaced in pain.
In her heart, she cursed Tian Xianglan who hit her from behind: That woman is so cruel! I will definitely pay her back when I have the chance.
He also cursed the old woman who had just come to the bed and that Tian Yalan. What did they say? He wanted to drug her and make her go with that lame big head... What a family of black-hearted scum, not a thing!
Meng Tao got out of bed, staggered two steps before she could walk steadily, and rushed straight to the two propaganda posters on the wall. Nailed under the posters was a palm-sized hand-torn calendar, and the date torn to today was: September 10, 1974, Tuesday.
Meng Tao picked up the mirror on the table and looked at herself. In the mirror, she saw a strange yet somehow familiar face. Her eyebrows, eyes and mouth looked OK, but her skin was too dark and dry. Her hair was yellow and dry like grass on her shoulders, and her hair was split at the ends. Meng Tao almost fainted - this person was not her! No, she had traveled through time, her soul had traveled through time! The country was still the same country, but time had been turned back a few decades!
From the date shown on the calendar on the wall and the names and events revealed in the conversation between the mother and daughter, Meng Tao could easily deduce that she had traveled into a novel she had read and became a young rural wife in the 1970s.
In the novel, when the hero Tian Zhigao was 20 years old, he married a 15-year-old village girl named Meng Taohua in his hometown Linshui Village. Soon after the marriage, Tian Zhigao went to work in a steel plant in the provincial capital. In order to make a good future, he did not return home for four years, which means that he had not seen his rural wife Meng Taohua for four years.
The text does not describe this young rural wife much. She appears twice, both times in just three or four sentences. However, such a person with such a low sense of existence actually cheated on her and betrayed her marriage. She was cursed by everyone, could not hold her head up for the rest of her life, and could only live in a corner of the countryside.
Now it seems that the "affair" of the female supporting role Meng Taohua was actually manipulated by humans. She was a victim and a cannon fodder who was extremely wronged and miserable! A new article is coming, it is a story of the times. Dear little cuties and fairies, the author asks for your support and votes, as well as collections and comments! (End of this chapter)