By evening, her curiosity was piqued by the plot, and she opened the novel again…
From then on, Xia Baozhu’s ears were never at peace.
Comments like: "Xia Baozhu’s father is a good-for-nothing, her mother a shrew, her eldest brother heartless, her second brother a scoundrel, her younger brother a little troublemaker. Only her eldest sister is somewhat decent, taking her in, but her brother-in-law is no good either!"
"After graduating from university, the scumbag was forced into marriage by Xia Baozhu’s family. Their good days didn’t last long before his family ran into trouble, so he dumped her under the guise of doing what was best for her! That despicable scumbag—his birth certificate is an apology letter from the condom factory!"
"The scumbag has always had high intelligence, high emotional intelligence, good looks, and even great luck. Thanks to his ideas, his father became a factory director, his mother a department head, and even his sister caught the eye of a high-ranking official’s son."
"All the women love him! They rush to help him solve problems without a word, and over ten years, while others were sent down, he rose in rank; while others lived in cowsheds, he lived in a Western-style house."
…
Xia Baozhu listened to her ramble all night, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
Just before she drifted off, she heard Meng Shuting complain: "I can’t take it anymore! I skipped straight to the end to see which beauty he ended up marrying, but after becoming the nation’s richest man, his harem kept expanding. He didn’t want to marry any of them and ended up fighting you for custody of your son!"
Xia Baozhu wanted to force her eyes open and retort, "What does that have to do with me?" but her eyelids refused to stay open.
When she opened her eyes again, she had truly Chuanshu.
A chill ran down her spine—she hadn’t even memorized the entire book!
She had just fallen asleep, not knowing whether she had vanished from that world or died.
If it was the latter, Tingting would be terrified. Fortunately, she came from a happy family with loving parents and would eventually recover. Their shop was already registered in her name and managed by her, so at least she wouldn’t lack money.
If it was the former, even better. She had never been loved by her parents anyway—why give her the name "Baozhu" (treasured pearl)? It practically cursed her to Chuanshu.
To make matters worse, the little Baozhu in the book was also a pitiful soul driven out by her family.
However, as she thought this, she felt a strong sense of dissonance.
Wait, that wasn’t right. Sorting through her memories, this Xia Baozhu was not a pitiful soul but the tyrant of the household!
Two nieces brought her foot-washing water, another two poured it out for her. At home, she was waited on hand and foot, and she didn’t even have to hand over her wages to the family.
In these times, not many girls lived like this.
The corner of her mouth twitched. If she wasn’t a pitiful soul, she was a little tyrant—how was she supposed to play this role?
In short, she had transmigrated, arriving over sixty years in the past…
And it was the kind of transmigration where she had Chuanshu.
According to Meng Shuting’s account, this was a Zhongmawen where the male protagonist had countless women in his harem, dabbled in politics and business, and accidentally became the nation’s richest man.
In the book, Xia Baozhu was spoiled and willful, not only failing to assist the Zhongma male protagonist but also dragging his family down during a special period. As a result, she was ruthlessly cast aside, met a tragic end, and later had her child taken from her.
It could be said she was entirely the Paohui Nüpei in the book, even at the level of a Gongjuren—used and discarded.
Now, in 1963, Xia Baozhu was 19 years old.
Since she came of age, her grandmother had visited several times to urge her to marry the factory director’s son as soon as possible. She had even subtly and not-so-subtly pressured Tengjia a few times.
Previously, hearing Meng Shuting constantly refer to him as the male lead, the male lead, scumbag, scumbag, she hadn’t even known what this person’s name was.
Now she knew—the male lead of the Zhongmawen, the man the original owner was engaged to in reality—was named Teng Fei.
That name… fits perfectly.
By the time Xia Baozhu snapped back to reality, Grandmother Xia’s tears had long dried up, her wailing had stopped, and she was now in a heated argument with Xia Chang’an.
Xia Chang’an sneered, “Why must you stick your own rolling pin onto our cutting board? How old are Baozhen and Baozhu anyway? What’s the rush?”
Grandmother Xia, exasperated, jabbed his forehead several times. “Fool! Once your sister marries into Tengjia, won’t you be able to get a decent job? Who am I doing this for? Your mother is never home—if I don’t look after you, who will? If we relied on her, this family would have fallen apart long ago!”
Xia Chang’an mercilessly swatted her hand away from his forehead, exposing his own grandmother’s ulterior motives: “Whether you’re doing this for us or for someone else is up for debate, but Baozhen isn’t going to that blind date. I looked into the man Second Aunt introduced—he’s unemployed, and I heard his reputation isn’t great either.”
“Oh, so you think you’re clever now, huh? You’re still knee-deep in your own mess, yet you have the nerve to judge others? That man will soon be a state-certified cadre! All you know are those good-for-nothing troublemakers—what could you possibly find out? You can’t even get near the back door of a government building. Throwing mud at him is just a waste of effort. Go on, get out of here. Can’t you wish your sister well? If Baozhen marries him, they’ll be a dual-cadre household. How wonderful!”
Xia Baozhu’s heart sank upon hearing this.
This so-called blind date candidate was likely the husband of the original owner’s sister, Xia Baozhen, and he was no good.
She broke free from Grandmother Xia’s grip and sat on the edge of the kang to catch her breath. She had walked for two or three hours on dirt roads to get back to the old Xia household and was utterly exhausted.
“Grandma, how did you come to know about this blind date candidate for my sister? What unit does he work in?”
This blind date candidate probably only emerged while the original owner was away for rural labor.
The current “rural labor” wasn’t like the later educated youth sent to the countryside—it was a pairing between state-owned factories and impoverished communes for mutual support.
In the past two years, higher authorities began emphasizing the integration of workers and peasants, strengthening the worker-peasant alliance, allowing factory-commune partnerships, and encouraging enterprises to find their own solutions to alleviate meat shortages for workers.
Thus, the factory paired up with Tuanjie Gongshe to establish a pig farm there. The factory provided funds and equipment, while the commune supplied land and labor. This not only responded to the call for “industry supporting agriculture” but also increased the income of the peasant comrades.
The workers also cleared land near the pig farm to grow fruits and vegetables. The original owner had gone with the large group to work in the countryside. Since the beginning of the year, the factory had already sent over a dozen batches of workers.
Grandmother Xia lifted her head proudly. “It was your Second Aunt who introduced him to your sister. This Wang Xudong has three older sisters—he’s the only son. His father works at the Finance Bureau, and his mother works at the neighborhood office as the deputy director. Your Second Aunt even works under her!”
Xia Baozhu smiled and patted her. “Grandma, look at your memory! I’m asking what unit Wang Xudong works in.”
“Wang Xudong is a good boy. According to your Second Aunt, his father plans to get him a job at the Finance Bureau. He’ll be a state cadre soon.”
"If your sister could make it work with him, one from the Finance Bureau and the other from the Forestry Bureau—a dual-cadre family—just imagine how good life could be."
Xia Baozhu widened her eyes in amazement. "So you're saying he's currently unemployed, just like my second brother? Isn't that what you'd call a street loafer?"
Xia Chang'an, never one to miss a chance to stir the pot, chimed in, "Exactly! I see him as nothing but a toad on the road, causing trouble and showing off."
Grandmother Xia, deflated by their remarks, lost some of her earlier bravado. She insisted stubbornly, "But both his parents are high-ranking cadres, and his three older sisters all support him. He’s a high school graduate, not some hopeless case." After saying this, she shot a disdainful glance at her grandson, who seemed utterly unimpressed.
Xia Baozhu understood. With a family background like that, even Xia Baozhen herself would be willing to meet him.
She tried to temper the old lady’s expectations in advance. "Don’t get too optimistic. The government is currently streamlining its cadres—it’s not so easy to get into those high-ranking positions nowadays. With Wang Xudong’s family background and a high school education, even if he couldn’t get into the Finance Bureau, he shouldn’t be unemployed. There might be some hidden reason behind it."
Grandmother Xia felt her confidence waver at these words, and she began to hesitate.