When the white light disappeared in front of Xia Ling's eyes.
She had entered a new world.
She could feel the heat above her head and the heat beneath her feet. Most importantly, the light in front of her was very bright.
Xia Ling wanted to open her eyes before she could get used to it, but the light pierced her eyes and made them sour. Physiological tears flowed out.
She stood on the spot and rubbed her eyes.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps and the sharp voice of a woman.
"Mei family's eldest son, where are you going? Are you going to the Tang family at the east end of the village to break off the engagement?"
Rubbing her eyes, she got used to the light.
Xia Ling looked in front of her.
It was a woman wearing a gray-blue blouse and gray pants.
The woman's skin was black and yellow. One look and one could tell that she had been baptized by the sun.
Her head was wrapped in a tattered cloth, and in her hand was a large bamboo basket. The bamboo basket was filled with hay.
However, Xia Ling's eyes were sharp. As she walked through the bamboo basket, she saw the dried sweet potatoes hidden under the hay.
*
When she rubbed her eyes, Xia Ling had already taken over the plot and the original owner's memories.
She knew that it was the beginning of the 80th year.
It was now spring, and the new crop had yet to arrive. Even if every family had their own fields, they would still have to eat in the commune first. They would have to endure until summer, and when the crops were gone, the commune would truly be disbanded.
The woman in front of her was an aunt who lived near her house. Her surname was Luo.
Usually, she loved to gossip.
The original owner's grandfather was the village secretary, and she usually fawned over him.
But recently, the host was dissatisfied with the arranged marriage at home because she liked the Zhiqing teacher from the village head primary school who had gone to the countryside to make reforms. She cried at home and begged to break off the engagement.
She was locked up at home but didn't stop.
She stole the money from the previous engagement, the gift money from the Tang family, two hundred yuan.
Taking advantage of the fact that it was noon and everyone was sleeping, she secretly went to the Tang family to break off the engagement.
But she didn't expect to run into this aunt Luo who liked to gossip.
In the plot, the host admitted that she wanted to break off the engagement and rushed to the Tang family.
In the end, she went to cancel the engagement with the Tang family.
The next day, half of the village spread the news. Because she was pregnant, she couldn't hide the fact that she knew, so she secretly went to the Tang family to cancel the engagement.
It was even spread that in the middle of the afternoon, she knelt there and begged the Tang family to cancel the engagement with her. She had completely embarrassed the old party secretary!
...
This was all groundless news. However, once the news spread, the matter of her canceling the engagement was already blown up. Now, the notoriety of having a child out of wedlock fell directly on her head.
She was just a virgin, but in that era, she had already become the target of criticism.
Her family had almost broken her legs.
*
Thinking about the plot, Aunt Luo must have been the one who spread the rumors.
Xia Ling's eyes moved and she smiled. "Aunt Luo, what are you saying? I'm a young lady, how could I dare to go to the man's house to cancel the marriage? Such a shameless thing? Don't talk nonsense."
She looked at the girl, saw that she was in a hurry, and held a handkerchief in her right hand.
The handkerchief was tightly wrapped, so it was obviously money.
Aunt Luo was suspicious. "Then why didn't you cancel the engagement in the middle of the day? Why did you take so much money?"
Xia Ling glanced at it.
Wasn't she holding the money to cancel the engagement in her hand?
"Aiyo, aunt, my memory!"
Xia Ling suddenly laughed.
"My mother said that the handkerchief for the betrothal gift is old, so she asked me to go to the tailor's house to get some stitches and thread. I'll make another one later. I just remembered the handkerchief, and I actually took out all the money in the house!"