"Mmm—so noisy—"
Susu was awakened by the noisy sounds around her ears. She frowned, and opened her eyes irritably.
Before her eyes were people and carriages that were old and threadbare, and even the aisle was crammed with people.
Accompanied by various voices, there were occasionally the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking.
Susu's brain crashed for a few seconds, and a flood of memories that weren't her own rushed into her mind.
The original host frowned at her husband, who was holding a child, and said irritably, "In the middle of the day, why did you bring a kid home? Send him back quickly, the little food I made is not enough to eat."
Lu Xiaoting patted Xiao Yu on the back, then patiently explained to the woman, "This is the child I mentioned to you yesterday, it's just about adding an extra pair of chopsticks to the table. It's feasible for our family to raise one more child…"
"No! I said no means no! I don't want to raise someone else's child." The woman's shrill voice rang out, and she began to tug at the little boy.
Lu Xiaoting, enduring his patience, held back his frantic wife and once again whispered sweet nothings.
...
"From now on, Tianyu will be our child," the man's cold voice sounded.
"No, I will never agree. If you dare to keep this child, I'll divorce you." The woman broke down and shouted hysterically, furiously throwing things to the ground.
In her mind, a tall man remained calm and composed, while the woman raged, smashed things, yelled, and slammed the door as she left. The room was left in shambles, a small and skinny figure curled up in the corner, trembling with tears streaking his face.
The vision abruptly ended, and Susu was terrified to find out she had traveled into a book!!!
She had become the dreadful sister-in-law of the triumphant female protagonist in a rebirth novel she had read previously—the ill-fated former wife of the male lead's younger brother, Su Er Ya.
Susu was overwhelmed with sorrow and pounded her chest hard with her fist. Alongside the sharp pain that came from her chest, Susu ignored the dumbfounded Auntie beside her and slowly shed tears.
The original host was married off to the Lu Family for a thousand yuan, sent to be a bride of joy and to fulfill her dying father-in-law's last wish as he lay in bed.
Who would have thought that right after she got married, the father-in-law, who was down to his last breath, miraculously began to gradually improve and regained his health?
The original host was famously troublesome in the Family Court, disliked by all. Later, due to her husband adopting a deceased colleague's child and causing a divorce uproar, abusing the adopted son, and discontent with her husband being constantly busy and not at home, she was kidnapped by a human trafficker during one of her trips back to her parents' home, sold to a dark and isolated ravine, and died from a fall while trying to escape.
Susu rolled her eyes to the heavens, thanks a lot! Not only am I without any golden fingers, but you also had to make me into such a tragedic character, I really...
As the bus traveled on the bumpy dirt road, Susu's entire body bounced up and down, smelling the gasoline mixed with various body odors and stench of sweat, making her stomach churn.
Susu closed her eyes tightly, clenched her teeth, and forcibly suppressed the nausea rising in her throat.
When they reached An County, just as Susu got off the bus, she was stopped by a middle-aged woman—it was Mrs. Lu, the original host's mother-in-law.
"Erya, let Mom carry that for you. You must be tired from the journey," she said.
Susu wanted to ask her mother-in-law why she was here, but as soon as she opened her mouth, her stomach churned, and she couldn't hold back and threw up.
Mrs. Lu hurried to pat her on the back, saying, "Oh dear..."
Susu felt much better after throwing up, and while feeling a bit apologetic about the mess on the ground, she tried to cover it with soil, "Mom, I'm fine, just a little car sick."
"That stinker called and I scolded him too. How could he make such a big decision without consulting his wife?"
Mrs. Lu said with a heart full of sympathy while helping to kick dirt over it, "Let's go, we're going home. I've bought the groceries already. We'll have a good meal at noon, and we won't bother with that stinker."
Textile Factory Family Courtyard
"Is your second son's wife back?" The Auntie chatting at the door asked with a smile.
"Yes, she came back to visit us two old folks," Mrs. Lu said with a smile, nodding her head.
Susu, "..."
Once inside the house, Mrs. Lu told Susu to sit down and entertain herself while she rolled up her sleeves and headed for the kitchen.
Susu didn't feel right sitting while an elder did the work, so she hurried to follow, "Mom, let me help you with it, to speed things up."
Mrs. Lu waved her off, urging her to go sit outside instead. Only after Susu argued that two people would be faster, and that Father Lu would be home in time for dinner, did Mrs. Lu agree.
During the meal, Father Lu, having heard from Mrs. Lu the reason for his daughter-in-law's return, frowned and felt that his son had also done something wrong.
No matter how you slice it, husbands and wives are a unit, and one shouldn't make decisions on such big matters without discussion, even if the intentions are good.
"Second Brother did wrong here, too. If anything, we should just bring the child back and raise him ourselves, to avoid any conflict between the couple," Father Lu suggested.
Mrs. Lu nodded in agreement. After all, the four kids rarely came home, and having a little one around would liven up the place.
Susu was still oblivious to the fact that the old couple had already come to an agreement. She lay on the kang bed, dozing off, with her mind in disarray.
After waking from her nap, the courtyard was quiet, and neither Father Lu nor Mrs. Lu was home.
Why not take advantage of the eighties—an era touted as paved with gold—and earn some money with the opportune winds of the time?
One must seize the opportunity, of course.
She heard that in this era, as long as one was shameless enough and willing to endure hardship, financial success was inevitable.
What was a bit of shame?
To Susu, it wasn't important. Making big bucks and enjoying life's luxuries was what mattered most.
Susu stuffed two yuan into her pocket, locked the Family Court's gate, and prepared to stroll down the streets.
"Mum, Aunt Wang."
Susu handed the key to Mrs. Lu, who was picking vegetables with Aunt Wang, "Mum, I'm going to look around the streets and I'll be back later. Is there anything you need me to pick up for you?"
"No need, there's nothing I want. Go ahead, buy whatever you'd like," Mrs. Lu said as she turned side-on and began to dig out money from her waistband.
Susu was too embarrassed to take it and quickly made her exit with a wave of her hand.
"Erya, you..." Mrs. Lu looked up just in time to see her daughter-in-law already far away.
"Tsks tsks tsks, your Second Young Master's family is quite something. If it were my eldest's family, they'd have had my pockets emptied out long ago," Aunt Wang said with a twist of her mouth that nearly reached her jaw.
Mrs. Lu didn't humble herself at all and nodded with a chuckle, "Er Ya is a sincere child, and my old man is lucky to have her."
If Susu had heard this, she wouldn't have been able to resist throwing cold water on Mrs. Lu's words; it was just happenstance.
Fortune-telling was only worth a listen, after all.
...
It was still 1983, and there were plenty of bold people setting up stalls or hawking goods through the streets.
Susu wandered around once and then headed back, mainly because this era didn't offer the plethora of entertainment options that later generations did, and a quick circuit was all it took.
"Who's there?"
Seeing a tall and a small figure at the door, Susu stared blankly for a few seconds before hurriedly making way.
"Mom, Lu... Xiaoting and Xiao... Xiao Yu are back."
After a long moment
Susu stole glances at the tall figure being scolded by his in-laws; broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, long-legged, with wheatish skin tone, a chiseled jawline, and a cold, sharp visage.
Standing nearly one meter ninety, the towering figure appeared like a mountain, yet he listened obediently to his parents' admonishment.
Seeing the child, helpless and with his head bowed, thin and small, Susu's heart ached; she stepped forward to ruffle the kid's hair and squatted down to look him in the eye.
"Is your name Xiao Yu?"
The little guy timidly nodded his head.
"Well, Auntie's got some candy for you. Don't be scared, okay?"
Susu saw the child remain motionless, simply staring at her, so she peeled off the candy wrapper and popped the candy into the little boy's mouth.
She then watched as he shifted from being scared and guarded to sneakily glancing at her with occasional curiosity.
Suddenly, Lu Xiaoting came over, patted the little guy on the head, and said softly, "Xiao Yu, go inside and find grandpa and grandma. They have some tasty treats for you."
As she watched the child take a few steps and look back, Susu looked up at the man with confusion.
"I'm sorry!"