"A woman who throws herself at you can be a good catch?"
"You're a college graduate, and her family's circumstances are such that she didn't get into college. How can she be a match for you? If you dare to choose her today, I'll die for you to see!"
"Qiaoqiao, if you love me, you should understand me, don't keep pressuring me."
"..."
Two voices alternated in Li Qiao's head, over and over, causing her a headache.
Her eyes groggily opened a crack, and she could see the dark ceiling lined with neatly arranged reed poles.
Suddenly, she woke up.
Mud walls, a plank bed, two large trunks in the corner, and a long table by the window.
She was bewildered. Where was this?
Shouldn't she be accompanying her cousin in Yanjing at Gorge Mountain Temple to pray for a good marriage match?
Fragments of memory slowly seeped into her mind, and it took her a while to piece together her current situation.
She had transmigrated!
It was the winter of 1977, the original owner of this body shared her name, Li Qiao, and was the same age as her, eighteen.
Not long ago, her childhood sweetheart's mother forced them to break up because the original owner had failed the college entrance exam and was deemed unsuitable for him. Distraught, she attempted to drown herself in the river but was luckily rescued by Qin Jin from the neighboring Feng Family Village.
Drenched, the two of them emerged from the river, seen by many, and rumors spread quickly through the village. The original owner's parents demanded Qin Jin take responsibility.
Qin Jin had a notorious reputation for being a local ruffian, known for his troublemaking. On the day of the wedding, he had been arrested for starting a fight while drunk the day before.
The original owner, feeling hopeless about a life with such a man, took advantage of a moment alone to end her life with a piece of rope.
Just then, there was a creak.
The door opened from the outside, and in came a young man around eighteen or nineteen, dressed in dark blue cotton clothes, tall and straight, roughly 188 centimeters tall by estimation.
Thick black hair, sharp and distinct facial features.
A piece of dry grass dangled from his lips, looking nonchalant, not even granting her a proper glance. "Heard from the neighbors you tried to off yourself while I was away? If you want to die, die farther away, you bring bad luck!"
Li Qiao was astonished. The original owner's husband? Handsome indeed, shame about his mouth.
Just then, an old lady in her sixties rushed in. Of medium height and brimming with vitality, she jumped up and tugged at his ear: "What are you babbling about, you damned brat?"
"Hiss—Ouch…"
"Get lost!" Old Mrs. Qin gave him another kick and turned to Li Qiao with a smile, "Qiaoqiao, don't take his words to heart."
"Grandma, is she going back to her parents' home today? I'm going out to hang out."
Old Mrs. Qin took a deep breath and roared, "You'd better stay put at home!" She turned back to Li Qiao, her expression softening: "If he dares to bully you when you go back to your parents' home today, just tell me, and I'll take good care of him."
Li Qiao gave a complex hum in response.
After the old lady had left, she got out of bed to tidy up her clothes and then sat in front of the mirror to comb her hair. The reflection in the mirror startled her so much that she recoiled.
God! Apart from the hairstyle and clothing, it was her own face.
Not understanding it all, she adjusted her mindset, then sat back down in front of the mirror, integrating the heavy bangs into her hair, revealing her full forehead, and used a hairband to tie two short braids, and wore a scarf to cover the bruises on her neck.
She then went outside to look around. There were two mud houses, with a courtyard enclosed by walls stretching out from both sides.
To the left was a shed neatly filled with kitchenware and farm tools, the ground clean.
Where were the people?
After a moment of hesitation, she called out, "Grandma."
The girl's voice was soft and glutinous.
Qin Jin peered out from the adjacent room, a look of amazed appreciation in his eyes.
Her face, the size of a palm, had almond-shaped eyes and rosy cheeks; her naturally flushed lips were slightly pursed, and her skin was fair and lovely to look at.
How had he never noticed before how charming and pretty she was?
He saw her smile sweetly at him, "I'm all ready."
The young girl's radiant smile dazzled the young man. Had he learned to ingratiate himself after a brush with death?
Too late!
Her words of mockery and scorn still rang in his ears.
He narrowed his cold, steely eyes, suddenly shifting his gaze away and stepped on his bicycle impatiently, saying, "Get on the bike already, stop dawdling!"
Li Qiao: "..." Isn't there a saying about not hitting a smiling face? Why is he acting like this?
She took a deep breath and silently chanted to herself: I am magnanimous, I won't stoop to the level of an antique like you.
She stepped forward and seated herself on the side. Just as she settled in, the bicycle zipped off, causing her to reflexively wrap her arms around him.
"What kind of ruffian are you playing at in broad daylight?" The young man slapped her hands away forcefully.
On their wedding day, the bride isn't allowed to touch the ground. He was supposed to carry her into the house, and when his hand accidentally touched her, that was how she cursed at him.
Li Qiao yelped in pain, shaking his numb hand and felt so wronged that even his refined features contorted.
Almost every household in the village had their doors wide open, but there was nobody in the courtyards or on the streets.
Approaching the entrance of the village, he saw groups of children skating on the ice.
Weren't the village adults afraid of the children falling into the river while skating?
Li Qiao wanted to warn the children to stay away from the ice, but Qin Jin's bike was moving too fast to stop.
It took roughly twenty minutes or so.
The bicycle came to a stop in front of a farmstead.
Three mud-brick houses came into view, the courtyard cluttered with farm tools, and the ground was littered with rotting vegetable leaves and remnants of firecrackers.
Four women of varying ages and a boy around ten years old came out to greet them.
Li Qiao's mind went blank as she heard Qin Jin call the middle-aged woman mother, and he addressed the eldest and second sister as Jinhua, referring to the boy as Jinniu. She followed suit in her greetings while secretly taking stock of them.
The eldest sister looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, and the second sister was also in her early twenties. Both were pretty with fair skin.
Jinhua seemed to be about her age, and since Qin Jin called Jinhua and Jinniu by their names, they must be her younger sister and brother, right?
As her gaze wandered, it collided with Jinhua's eyes, shining brightly as she stared at Qin Jin. Was she dazzled by his looks?
She also looked at him and got a glare in return.
Li Qiao: "..."
While making small talk, Li Shengcai, her father, and the other two sons-in-law came out of the main house. Their glances slightly lingered on the cigarettes and alcohol brought by Qin Jin as they smiled broadly, "Good to have you back, good to have you back. We've heard you can hold your liquor, so let's have a few good drinks together today."
Qin Jin was busy offering cigarettes and making polite conversation. The room filled with smoke, which made Li Qiao cough incessantly and gave her a throbbing headache. She excused herself to go to the outhouse for some fresh air.
Mrs. Li, Dong Lamei, caught up with her. "Youngest daughter, later go to the village store and buy a couple of bags of peanuts to serve with the drinks." After delivering her message, she walked away.
Li Qiao was incredulous. It was the first time she'd heard of buying your own appetizers while visiting relatives.
With so many people around, why should she be the one to buy? She didn't have any money either.
She wouldn't buy them!
She wandered on her own to a mound of dirt not far from her home and surveyed the surroundings. Rolling hills and barren wastelands stretched endlessly, with the village hidden among them. If not for the additional memories in her head that didn't belong to her, she would have thought she'd been kidnapped to some backwater place.
"Third sister."
Li Qiao turned around and it was Jinhua. "Need something?"
Li Jinhua's eyes flashed. "Third sister, Cai Hechuan came to me in secret the other day, planning to take you out to lay low when he returns today. I'll go set it up for you now."
Li Qiao was puzzled. As an older sister, didn't she realize that running off with a man would also affect her own reputation?
Perhaps she was just too concerned about her well-being, but as her elder sister, she couldn't be so oblivious. "If I go with him, it will make it harder for you to find a good match. Don't meet up with that guy, act as if you don't know him."
"Don't talk nonsense, meet me at the threshing field." Li Jinhua ran off.
"Hey!" Li Qiao wanted to stop her, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She couldn't be getting her period, could she?
Without a penny to her name, what was she to do?
Li Qiao, clutching her aching stomach, arrived at the village store. The clerk told her they didn't sell sanitary napkins but handed her a stack of yellow paper instead.