October, 1974.
Dong Province, Hongqi Commune, Qingshan Production Brigade, the Gu family.
The newly harvested grain had just been distributed for the year, and the old couple of the Gu family gathered everyone around the table to discuss the marriage of their precious youngest son.
“Shicheng is your younger brother and the most promising child of our Gu family. Now that he’s getting married, the bride price of eight hundred yuan will be paid from the family fund. The girl’s family has already been considerate enough not to demand the ‘three turns and one sound,’ but the three of you, as elder brothers and sisters-in-law, must help prepare the forty-eight legs. This wedding must be carried out smoothly and with great fanfare. All three households must do their part. I’ve made myself clear. If none of you object, then it will be carried out this way.”
In the Gu family, the old woman ruled with absolute authority. Who would dare voice any objection to her favoritism toward the youngest son?
The eldest and second daughters-in-law exchanged glances, their faces pale. Though they were dissatisfied, neither dared to speak up.
The other three sons of the Gu family, long accustomed to their parents’ bias, sat there with expressionless faces.
Suddenly, Li Wenxiu, the usually meek and submissive third daughter-in-law, felt her mind clear in an instant. When she saw the scene before her, she was startled, and soon a flood of unfamiliar yet familiar memories poured into her mind.
What the hell!
Had she transmigrated into a period novel?
Beside her, Gu Shiye, who had also regained awareness, remained much calmer. Noticing the confusion and disbelief in the woman next to him, he quickly guessed that the two of them had transmigrated together as a couple.
He raised his elbow and gently nudged Li Wenxiu.
Coming back to her senses, she turned to carefully study the man beside her. For people who knew each other well, a single glance was enough. Besides, he even blinked at her with a familiar gesture.
The weight in her heart lifted instantly, and she exclaimed in delight, “Husband, you also—”
Before she could finish saying “transmigrated,” Gu Shiye quickly covered her mouth.
The Gu family members, who had already begun to disperse, all turned back at the commotion.
They truly hadn’t expected this. The usually reserved and simple third sister-in-law had just called her husband so intimately in front of everyone.
So this was how she acted in private—so bold and flirtatious.
Mother Gu frowned and scolded, “Third son, control your wife. Even though we’re a rural family, we still have our dignity. Look at her behavior, she has no sense of propriety.”
Li Wenxiu frowned, about to respond, when she saw her husband stand up and firmly defend her.
“Father, Mother, we don’t dare object to you arranging a marriage for Fourth Brother. If he can pay the eight hundred yuan bride price himself, we have no objections. But the family fund belongs to all of us. Since I contribute to it, I do not agree to paying such an outrageous bride price.”
This was a period novel about supporting a lucky koi wife. The Gu family had five children in total. The male lead was ranked fourth, while the first, second, and third branches were all cannon fodder characters manipulated by the plot into becoming mere blood suppliers for the male and female leads. The old couple of the Gu family were the executioners who helped squeeze the upper three households dry.
To everyone in the Gu family, Gu Shiye’s words were like a thunderclap out of nowhere.
Especially for the eldest and second households, who had long been treated as blood bags—upon hearing this, they seemed to wake from a dream.
Seeing their reactions, Li Wenxiu curved her lips slightly. The good news was that their arrival had easily broken the balance set by the original story.
But Gu Shiye’s words were quickly met with a furious rebuke from Mother Gu. “Third son, how dare you! Are you trying to rebel? Let me warn you, your father and I are still alive. The money in the family fund belongs to the two of us!”
Before she could finish, Father Gu struck her on the back.
But it was too late.
The old couple’s intentions had already been laid bare.
The eldest and second households, who had worked tirelessly to save money for the family fund, now glared sharply at the couple, especially at the domineering Mother Gu.
“What, are all of you trying to rebel today?” Even in this situation, where the truth could no longer be hidden, Mother Gu still chose to add fuel to the fire.
Standing behind her, Father Gu quietly observed the reactions of his three “blood bag” sons.
Li Wenxiu stepped forward. “Father, Mother, when my sisters-in-law and I got married, the bride price was only fifty yuan and two vats of pickled cabbage. Forget the ‘three turns and one sound,’ we didn’t even have forty-eight legs. All three elder brothers married under the same conditions. So why does it have to be different for the fourth? Why does he get to marry some gold-edged commune bride?”
“Exactly!” The hot-tempered eldest sister-in-law, Wang Lihua, was the first to speak up after regaining her clarity. “Fourth Brother has been studying all these years and hasn’t contributed a single cent to the family fund. Now he’s just started working and still hasn’t handed over any money, yet he wants to marry a high-status wife. He really has some nerve.”
After speaking, she tugged at the sleeve of the timid second sister-in-law beside her. “Second Sister-in-law, don’t lose your nerve at a time like this.”
Ruan Hongmei also gathered her courage and stepped forward, offering a compromise. “Father, Mother, eight hundred yuan is too much. Why not let Fourth Brother marry a rural girl? After all, we’re all from the countryside.”
“Pah!” Seeing that Ruan Hongmei was the easiest to bully, Mother Gu spat directly at her. “My fourth son is not like your country bumpkins. He’s a commune teacher now. He eats from the state’s pot, so of course he deserves a refined wife.”
Gu Shiyu, the twin sister of Gu Shicheng who had also been doted on, stepped forward. “Sister-in-law, if you ask me, you have the least right to object. After all, Eldest Brother’s job in the city was also paid for using the family fund.”
As soon as she said this, what would the second and third households who had never benefited from the family—think?
Father Gu cursed inwardly at their short-sightedness. If he didn’t step in now, the family would fall apart. “All of you, shut up! Shizhu is the eldest son, so it’s only natural we favor him a little. And Shicheng is the only one in our family who studied and became a teacher with a stable job. These are his own achievements, not favoritism. If you’re incapable, then you should support your capable elder brother and younger brother. Only then will the Gu family prosper, and your children will benefit in the future.”
What a grand promise.
With a loud crash, Li Wenxiu lifted her hand and flipped the table over, instantly shocking everyone in the room into silence.
“Don’t feed us that nonsense. I only know that the money in the family fund was earned through the hard work of the first, second, and third households. Eldest Brother’s wages, my husband’s wages, Second Brother’s labor, and the work points that we three daughters-in-law earned through backbreaking labor in the fields. So no matter how you spin it, the bride price for Fourth Brother is actually our hard-earned money.”
Wang Lihua nodded vigorously in agreement. Half the money for her husband’s temporary job had come from her own natal family, she had almost been misled by her cunning sister-in-law earlier.
Gu Shiye walked over and stood in front of his wife. “If Fourth Brother insists on marrying a wife with an eight-hundred-yuan bride price, then we’ll split the family first.”