The violent coughing came suddenly and it was not fake.

The original owner, Meng Taohua, was a blind and infatuated woman who always thought that Tian Zhigao married her sincerely.

But Meng Tao searched and sorted out her memories, and after analysis, she felt that this was not the case.

Tian Zhi was very proud back then. He was handsome and had graduated from high school. He was a man of pure character. It was impossible for him to fall in love with a 15-year-old country girl who was as green as a peach. Moreover, Meng Taohua did not like to study and only went to the third grade of elementary school, so she had no education.

What made Tian Zhigao helpless was that his family was too poor. He had seven brothers and sisters. His eldest sister married into a poor family in the neighboring village. His second brother was a bachelor and had no wife. His younger brothers and sisters had to eat, wear clothes and go to school. His father had long been bent over by the pressure of life, and his mother had to take medicine all year round because of her poor health due to giving birth to too many children. He had no relatives to support him and no money to secure his future. He could only join the infrastructure team and go to the infrastructure site to earn high work points by pulling stones and carrying mud. He worked hard for two years but still could not change his family's plight.

Later, it was his mother Wang Shuifeng who sent him a message to tell him that the Meng family was looking for a son-in-law. The Tian family had many sons, and Wang Shuifeng's initial thought was that she was worried that they would not have enough money to build a house in the future, so she wanted her third son Tian Zhigao to marry into the Meng family. The Meng family had a courtyard house, and old man Meng received a government subsidy every month. The old and young lived a comfortable life. More importantly, the girl's family would give the son-in-law a "bride price" and a batch of food, which the Tian family urgently needed.

Tian Zhigao did not like Meng Taohua, he actually succumbed to fate.

He followed the steps carefully planned by Wang Shuifeng and did not go straight to the girl's house for a blind date like other guys did, because Meng Taohua was young and timid and he was afraid of scaring her.

He created an encounter, and after the first time they met every week, smiling brightly, speaking softly and sweetly, and every time he brought a small gift that cost nothing but was extremely romantic, such as a ring made of a note with sweet words written on it, a bunch of wild flowers or a handful of berries picked from the mountains, or beautiful little stones picked up from the river... In this way he won Meng Taohua over. Of course, it was also Meng Taohua's fault that she was too young, ignorant and inexperienced, and could not resist the teasing of a twenty-year-old man. What's more, this man was talented, handsome and eloquent, it would be strange if the fifteen-year-old girl did not fall for him.

Grandpa Meng was old and frail, and knew that he didn't have much time left. He was eager to see his granddaughter get married and have someone to rely on so that he could rest in peace. So he accepted Tian Zhigao without any hesitation, based solely on his superficial affection and the key point being that his granddaughter liked him.

A banquet was held to invite the whole village to the wedding. The Meng and Tian families made an agreement under the chairmanship of the village cadres. Grandpa Meng gave the Tian family 200 yuan, 200 kilograms of grain, and some cloth coupons, oil coupons, and sugar coupons for the son-in-law. Grandpa Meng was an old guerrilla who fought against the Japanese and enjoyed state subsidies. He saved a little money by living frugally and used it to find a son-in-law for Meng Tao.

It’s just that Meng Taohua is still young, she hasn’t developed at all, and she hasn’t even had her period yet, so they won’t consummate the marriage for the time being. Of course, only the two families know this.

Later, seeing that Tian Zhigao was educated and ambitious, Grandpa Meng considered it and talked with Tian Zhigao again. He then went to the county several times despite his sick body. Finally, he got a quota and sent Tian Zhigao to the provincial steel plant.

Grandpa Meng’s idea: supporting his grandson-in-law is for the good of his granddaughter. If his grandson-in-law is successful, his granddaughter will be able to enjoy the good life in the future.

Before he passed away, Grandpa Meng gave Meng Taohua the last three hundred yuan and told her that this was her dowry and that she should keep it for herself and not give it to anyone else.

Grandpa Meng also told his granddaughter: Our courtyard is very solid. It is your home. If you marry into someone else's family, you will be bullied. Marry a son-in-law and let him live in your own home. You can live the way you want and no one else can interfere.

The old woman understood her granddaughter's character and knew that she would inevitably be bullied if she married into another family, so she reminded her granddaughter to protect her own home.

The poor old man's worries came true. After he left, Meng Taohua was very disappointing and failed to keep any of them.

The three hundred yuan was coaxed and deceived by the mother-in-law Wang Shuifeng, who asked Meng Taohua to move into the Tian family on the grounds that she couldn't bear to let her daughter-in-law live alone. The new furniture, clothes and other supplies that her grandfather bought for her when she got married were soon divided up by Wang Shuifeng and her daughter. In the Tian family, the new house that was hypocritically arranged for Meng Taohua to live in was asked to move out not long after, saying that it was first lent to Tian Baoshan, the second son of the Tian family who had been a bachelor for many years, to marry a wife, and then it would not be returned. Meng Taohua has lived in this narrow little house ever since.

The Meng family's yard was given to Tian Xianglan and her family, who were separated after a quarrel with her mother-in-law.

However, the brigade cadres felt that this was outrageous. Tian Xianglan married and moved to the neighboring village, but she came back to occupy her brother and sister-in-law's family yard, which was very unkind.

The brigade cadres came forward and divided the Meng family courtyard into two parts with a fence. The three main rooms were given to the educated youth to live in, as if they were rented by the brigade headquarters, and more food was allocated to Meng Taohua at the end of the year. The row of shorter side rooms were given to Tian Xianglan's family to live in. After all, they were relatives, and it was not appropriate to do too much.

Tian Xianglan, however, was not convinced and thought that the brigade cadres were deliberately suppressing her as a married woman. She repeatedly asked Meng Taohua to make a fuss and demanded that the three main houses be returned to her.

Just like now, Tian Yalan seized the opportunity again, walked over and sat next to Meng Taohua, and said, "Are you going to give that broken yard to Big Sister as a thank you gift for saving my life?"

Wang Shuifeng thought of something and said with a smile, "You don't have to give it all to me. Just give half to your eldest sister according to the current division."

"Mom, who wants half of the yard? It's so narrow and small." Tian Yalan shouted.

Wang Shuifeng gave her little daughter a look. After all, they were mother and daughter. Tian Yalan understood immediately - Meng Taohua would soon become Shi Datou's woman. Even if she was foolish enough to give the whole yard to her elder sister, she would have no relationship with the Tian family at that time. She couldn't follow her big-headed cousin back to the mountain village while her elder sister lived in her yard. Wouldn't that make the whole village gossip? The brigade cadres would definitely come out and talk a lot. The elder sister was not right, and in the end, she would probably get nothing. Only the big-headed cousin and Meng Taohua would move in, and half of the yard would be given to the elder sister. It would be said to the outside world that it was a matter between cousins. Who cares? This is reasonable, so the old lady is still smart! Meng Taohua only saw the mother and daughter arguing back and forth, and couldn't guess, so she didn't bother to care. If she knew that the mother and daughter meant this, she would definitely be so excited that she wanted to throw a bomb.

I only heard Wang Shuifeng say, "Mom is going to make dinner. Taohua, what do you want to eat? Mom will make it for you. How about a bowl of egg soup?"

"No need, I can save the eggs to exchange for oil and salt. I can just eat the same thing as everyone else." Meng Tao said politely.

"That won't work. You're weak. Mom will make you some eggs to supplement your nutrition. You should take a good rest."

Tian Yalan said, with a smile on her face, "Taohua, we have a guest today. It's our big-headed cousin from Zhushan. Last year, he came to our house and made a lot of bamboo baskets, chairs, and beds. You watched him for a long time and praised his craftsmanship. Now he's here again, don't you want to go and see him?"

Meng Tao felt sick, with no expression on her face: "I have a headache and feel dizzy, so I won't go to help you. Yalan, take a good look at him. Although Big Head Cousin has bad legs and feet, he still looks okay. He and you, Yalan, look like a good match, which is good."

"What are you talking about?" Tian Yalan stood up suddenly, her face looking as ugly as if she had eaten monkey shit: "Who would look like a good match for him? Who said I want to meet him?"

Meng Tao opened her eyes wide as if frightened: "Isn't that what you just said? Could it be that I am dizzy and have tinnitus, and I heard it wrongly?"

"You..." Tian Yalan was almost mad at seeing her like that.

Wang Shuifeng waved her hands and acted as a peacemaker: "Stop arguing, stop arguing. It's common to have tinnitus and mishearing. Let's go, Yalan. Go and help mom wash the vegetables."

Tian Yalan followed her mother, throwing tumbles and screams, "I don't want to wash vegetables! I'm going to work in the textile factory in the city in November, and you're still asking me to work. What if I get my hands rough? Taohua is lying comfortably, and you're asking her to wash them!"

"Oh, she's hurt. Isn't she having a headache and dizziness?"

Wang Shuifeng pinched her little daughter's arm suggestively, and turned back to tell Meng Tao: "Taohua, you don't have to get out of bed, just take a good rest, and I'll bring you the meal when it's ready."

Meng Tao paused and agreed: "Yes."

"You country bumpkin, you can't even say thank you."

Tian Yalan looked at her with disdain, then walked away with her head held high, as if she had now become a superior city dweller.

(End of this chapter)