"Wow! Si was so handsome when he was young, with superb medical skills and adoring his wife so much; he was the epitome of a man!"
"His wife, Tong Yao, was a rare beauty. I heard she even turned down offers from big movie directors."
"No wonder the head of Hengfei Group remains unmarried for her."
"The head of Wanqing Group also spoke very highly of her in an interview."
As Tong Yao was waiting for her milk tea, she overheard the girls nearby talking about these things on social media. She secretly sighed at the irony of fate; her name was also Tong Yao, but her life was so different from hers.
"Your milk tea is ready."
Tong Yao, holding her milk tea, walked out of the store. Suddenly, the sky showed unusual signs. The originally hot air suddenly turned cool, wild winds blew, and dark clouds blocked the sun.
Tong Yao looked up, only to see a bolt of lightning coming straight at her from the clouds. A deaf naturesound rang in her ears, her body went numb, and she collapsed.
Before losing consciousness, she seemed to hear screams.
"Oh my God! Someone was struck by lightning."
...
"Ouch."
Tong Yao muttered, her head buzzing with pain as though it was about to split open. A barrage of memories that weren't hers came flooding into her mind, leaving her dazed.
Before she could gather her thoughts, she heard a woman's anxious voice next to her.
"Your second brother has been gone for so long to fetch the doctor, why isn't he back yet? You go to the entrance of the village and check."
Then another girl's voice chimed in, "Why bother getting a doctor? She's just pretending! I'm going to call my brother now and have him divorce her. She dared to steal money and elope with another man, utterly disgracing the Si family!"
"We don't know the full story yet, don't talk nonsense."
Listening to the dialogue between the two, Tong Yao was stunned for a while before finally coming to terms with the fact that she had actually traveled back to 1985.
Is this some kind of sick joke?
According to the memories in her head, the original host was also named Tong Yao. Her family was wealthy, and her father, Tong Yaohui, was the head of a state-owned factory and had just retired this year.
Because he had a daughter in his middle age, he doted on her immensely. The only drawback was that he was stubborn. Back then, Si's father saved Tong Yaohui's life and died early from a resulting illness. Tong Yaohui was gratefully remembered and not only provided for Si's eldest son to study medicine and become a doctor, but insisted on marrying his daughter to him as well.
The original host didn't have the ability to resist and married Si Chen - someone she's never met - amid tears. Coincidentally, her husband was called away for an emergency at the hospital on their wedding day. The original host completed the wedding ceremony alone without even seeing her groom's face.
Half a month into their marriage, the original host still didn't know what her husband looked like.
Interestingly enough, the original host's husband and the elderly Si share the same name, Si Chen, and both are doctors.
"Who's talking nonsense? We've caught them red-handed. How could there be any doubt?"
The voice of a young girl rang out by her side again.
According to the original host's memories, the speaker was Si Xiaohui, her sister-in-law, and the other voice belonged to Lin Fengying, her mother-in-law.
"Mother." Tong Yao opened her eyes. Seeing the bare, dilapidated room, she almost broke down crying.
What sort of rotten luck was this? Before time-traveling, she was just a fatherless, motherless, unfortunate university student. After time-traveling, her husband's family turns out to be so poor.
"Yaoyao, you're awake!" Lin Fengying was stunned when Tong Yao suddenly woke up. She seemed unsure if Tong Yao had heard their conversation and looked a bit awkward. "Does your head still hurt?"
"It hurts a bit." Tong Yao reached up to touch her head, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain.
Lin Fengying quickly grabbed her hand and said with concern, "Don't move around. Your brother went to fetch the doctor. He'll be back soon."
Si Xiaohui rolled her eyes and snapped, "What's the point of getting a doctor? All our money has been stolen by her. How can we afford to treat her injuries?"
"Stop talking nonsense." Lin Fengying scolded sharply. "Go and make your sister-in-law a bowl of chicken egg soup."
"I won't. After stealing our money, she still expects us to wait on her. You can keep spoiling her if you like!"
Si Xiaohui glared at Tong Yao resentfully and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Tong Yao could even smell the dust that was stirred up in the air.
The Si family had three rooms. This one was the largest. In principle, it should have been for Lin Fengying. But Lin Fengying gave it up for the newlyweds' bedroom, fearing that it would be unfair to the original host. She moved to the other room to live with Si Xiaohui. The second son lived in a small shed built under the eaves.
Not wanting Tong Yao to be upset, Lin Fengying quickly tried to comfort her, "Yaoyao, don't be angry. Xiaohui is spoiled. I'll talk to her about it later."
Tong Yao looked embarrassed, "I'm not upset."
The original host was exceptionally beautiful and the daughter of a city factory director. She was a university graduate who married into the countryside, which naturally made her the focus of attention. Adding to that, her experience of being left alone in her bridal chamber on her wedding day was known to people in several neighboring villages. Naturally, it also attracted some undesirable suitors.
The son of the village head from the neighboring village, Jia Qing, had his sights set on Tong Yao. His appearance as a literary youth deeply attracted the original host. Unfortunately, the original host was infatuated with romance. She stole some money intending to elope with him. However, she was caught red-handed just as she left the house. The original host did not admit it and even resorted to crying, making a scene, and attempting to hit her head against the wall.
Sigh! How embarrassing.
Lin Fengying discreetly observed Tong Yao, noting that she seemed a bit off. Usually, Tong Yao would be making a fuss already. It was the first time she had seen her so quiet.
And also, she had just called her 'Mom'.
"Mom, how is YaoYao?" Si Boyi, accompanied by a doctor, hurriedly entered the room, looking concerned.
"She's awake." Lin Fengying gave the doctor space to do his work, "Doctor, please examine my daughter-in-law. She hit her head."
The doctor that Si Boyi brought was in his fifties and was a well-known traditional Chinese doctor based in the neighbouring village. Everyone in the village would go to him for small illnesses like colds and minor injuries.
He carefully examined the wound on Tong Yao's forehead and concluded, "The skin was cut but it's not serious. I'll apply some medicine and wrap it. Remember not to get it wet in the next few days."
Tong Yao felt so embarrassed that she curled her toe. The original host had only pretended to hit her head hard. Her arrival was unexpected.
The old doctor applied some medicine to Tong Yao's forehead and covered it with a bandage. He only charged one yuan. Lin Fengying rummaged through her pockets for quite a while before she managed to find one and a half cents. Seeing the financial hardship of the family, the old doctor said in an unchanged tone.
"She'll need to change the bandage, you can give me the money next time."
"Thank you."
Lin Fengying saw the old doctor to the door.
Left alone in the room, Si Boyi felt awkward and didn't know where to put his hands. Flushing, he offered, "Are you hungry? I can cook something for you."
Tong Yao was very beautiful, with fair skin, a slim waist, and bright, intelligent eyes. Before he met Tong Yao, he had no idea that there were women in the world who were so beautiful.
Especially considering Tong Yao had almost become his wife, he felt even more at a loss about how to face her. He dared not make eye contact with her, and his face would turn red every time he saw her.
In hindsight, he was a bit spineless. He was close to Tong Yao's age and they would have been a good match, but Lin Fengying felt that he wasn't as educated as his brother and it would be a pity to marry him, so she had Tong Yao marry his older brother.