Chapter 1 Dream
In 1965, in Yangcheng City, Henan Province.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, the darkest hour before dawn had just passed.
In April, the weather is still a bit chilly in the mornings, but compared to the days when it was hard to keep the bed warm all night, the temperature is now quite comfortable.
Inside the newly built dormitory building of the food factory, Song Lu, still lying in bed, had a fine layer of sweat on her forehead and her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
While still dreaming, Song Lubai was cursing herself for being sick in her dream. At this moment, she fell asleep, but her heart was heaving violently with anger.
In her dream, she was the jinx of three men who were engaged to her. After her bad reputation spread, she finally found a divorced, abusive man with a child when she was thirty, and became someone else's stepmother.
After they got married, she gave birth to a daughter.
This daughter is disliked by both her biological father and her biological mother.
The second-marriage man frequently beat and kicked her without mercy, making her married life extremely miserable.
Fortunately, her second husband died young. He died not long after their marriage, leaving her a widow who raised her two daughters. Later, she started a business and became one of the earliest people to earn 10,000 yuan a month.
What angered her the most was about to happen.
Due to overwork, she fell ill at a young age and her health deteriorated before she was fifty. Before her death, she left all her property to her niece, whom she had always liked.
Isn't this just plain crazy?
In her dream, she had a biological daughter, so why would she give all her property to her adopted niece with whom she had no blood relation?
Just because my niece has been cute and charming since she was a child and knows how to say nice things?
Pah!
In her dream, Song Lubai became an old maid in everyone's eyes, still unmarried at thirty. Even if she was still unmarried at thirty, she would not just marry a divorced man with a child who beat his wife.
If she can't find someone she likes, she'd rather not marry.
How could I possibly marry that good-for-nothing?
Furthermore, if she had a daughter, why would she dislike her? Just because a daughter isn't a son?
Song Lubai is not a weak and easily bullied woman from the old society who would be punched and kicked without fighting back.
If someone slaps her, she has to slap them back at least three times.
That bastard dared to hit her; she'd make him afraid to close his eyes and sleep every night.
Giving your property to a stranger? That's bullshit; such a thing only happens in dreams.
She was panting angrily, but the chaotic dream wasn't over yet.
The scene shifts to her tombstone.
My niece's family placed a bunch of bright yellow chrysanthemums in front of her tombstone.
The cheap sister-in-law sighed at the tombstone: "If you had a better temper, weren't so strong-willed, weren't so harsh on your relatives, and weren't so calculating, you wouldn't have died so young."
The older sister sneered, "Someone like her is lucky to have survived this long."
The older brother said, "Even her daughter didn't come to the funeral. I don't know who she took after. They're all heartless."
The older sister said, "Who else could they take after? They all look like their own mother. Whoever gives birth to them looks like them. A rat's son knows how to dig a hole."
The young niece standing nearby said, "Dad, Mom, Aunt, please don't talk about Aunt like that. Although Aunt is a bit... she has always been very good to me."
Thinking of the free money, the older sister snorted again:
"It's all because you've always been well-liked since you were little! Consider it a good deed she's done in her life. Let's be magnanimous and not hold grudges against her for what happened in the past."
The woman who was being taken advantage of sighed, "In the end, she's pitiful, but what can she do when she can't give birth to a son?"
My niece disagreed: "Mom, why haven't you changed your mindset? I've been an only child for so many years, and our family is still harmonious. Whether life is good or not depends on the kind of man you marry. I hope all girls can be as lucky as me, to meet parents who don't discriminate against girls and treat their daughters just as well, and to marry a husband who respects them when they grow up."
The older sister poked her niece's head: "You think everyone is as likable and well-behaved as you, and that you deserve a good life? But some people don't deserve that."
…
Song Lubai felt like she was about to explode.
It's one thing for her property to be given to unrelated outsiders, but these people even came to her grave to make sarcastic remarks.
The door was pushed open, and a little girl of about seven or eight years old ran to the bedside, shook Song Lubai's shoulder, and said in a sweet voice, "Auntie, Auntie, it's time to get up, the sun is already high in the sky."
By this time, it was already broad daylight, and various noises could be heard coming from inside the tenement building.
Cooking, washing dishes, a baby crying loudly in the morning, someone hitting a child, a couple arguing...
The soundproofing in tenement buildings is poor, and there are almost no secrets between the upstairs and downstairs residents, except for whispering under the covers, of course.
Song Lubai had a headache from the child's noise. She was trapped in a dream and couldn't open her eyes. She was so angry about the underworld plot that she couldn't wake up no matter how hard she struggled, until her adopted niece's voice rang out.
She opened her eyes with a "whoosh".
His eyes were bloodshot, and the anger in his heart shone through them.
His expression looked fierce and menacing, which frightened the little girl Lin Jinyao so much that she stopped smiling.
The little girl stared wide-eyed, her face pale: "Auntie, what's wrong?"
Her aunt's gaze was fixed on her, staring intently, which was quite frightening.
It took Song Lubai a while to look away. She closed her eyes and tried to soothe her dry and swollen eyes.
"I have a headache and I don't feel well. Go get me some water."
Lin Jinyao obediently said "Oh," turned around and went to the main room, picked up the tea bottle, poured a cup of water into the enamel mug, and then brought it back over.
Song Lubai lay there without moving. A boy's head peeked out from the window through the curtain: "Sis, give me a sip after you finish drinking."
"Me too, I'm thirsty too."
Both voices came from behind the curtain; they were her twin brothers, Lin Jianshe and Lin Heping, who shared the same mother but different fathers.
Normally, Song Lubai would tell her two lazy brothers to "get up and pour your own water," but today she wasn't in the mood.
Boiled water left in a teapot overnight is perfect for drinking the next morning; the water temperature is just right for drinking.
He gulped down a large cup, leaving not a single drop in the jar, which displeased his twin brother.
The thoughtful Lin Jinyao took the teacup and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Second Uncle, Third Uncle, I'll go pour you some water. Please wait a moment."
The Lin brothers, Jianshe and Heping, were satisfied.
"Yaoyao is still the best-behaved."
Hearing the praise, Lin Jinyao's steps became even lighter.
Zhang Cui brought in the stewed chicken noodle soup and saw Lin Jinyao standing on a small stool, holding a teapot and pouring water. She frowned.
It wasn't that she couldn't bear to see her granddaughter, who wasn't related to her by blood, doing chores; it was just that Lin Jinyao was small, and if she stood on a small stool to pour water, she would easily fall over. If the teapot broke, wouldn't she have to buy a new one? Wouldn't that cost money and tickets?
After setting down the scalding hot soup bowl, she quickly took the tea bottle from Lin Jinyao's hand and said, "Go and wake the three of them up."
Zhang Cui roared again, "Get up, all of you! I'm going to work. You eat by yourselves. Lu Bai, after you finish eating, take Jin Yao to the hospital to deliver her food. Lin Jianshe and Lin Heping, you two go to school by yourselves after you finish eating. If you dare to be late, see how I deal with you when I get back!"
Song Lubai responded while lying on the bed.
Lin Jianshe and Lin Heping responded listlessly.
Zhang Cui drank a bowl of corn porridge, ate some mixed flour steamed buns, and hurriedly went to the factory.
The trio, who hadn't gotten up as early as Lin Jinyao, didn't feel lazy at all. They deliberately dawdled until Zhang Cui left before getting up.
Upon entering the main room, the aroma of chicken soup intensified, but when they lifted the lid of the pot on the stove by the door and saw the mixed grain steamed buns inside, their hopes were dashed.
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