This so-called "script of the family’s favorite" had its origins and could be traced back.
Thanks to Lin Chunlan’s stable position in the family, there was no such thing as favoring sons over daughters in their household. This could be seen from the names Xia Yongwu gave his two daughters: one was named Baozhen, and the other Baozhu.
When Xia Baozhen was born, life was tough, but both parents had jobs, so raising three children wasn’t much of a problem.
By the time Xia Baozhu was born a couple of years later, the Pacific War had reached a critical stage. The Japanese invaders intensified their grain requisition efforts, and the Japanese puppet regime forcibly seized food through the Grain Requisition Order. Ordinary people would be executed if caught eating rice and had to survive on sorghum and bean cakes.
Lin Chunlan herself was starving, let alone having enough milk to feed her child. As Grandmother Xia put it, Xia Baozhu was made of bean dregs mixed with farts—one wrong move and she’d be gone.
It could be said that from the moment she was born, Xia Baozhu faced the darkest of times, like a premature kitten teetering on the brink of death several times.
Thus, in the hearts of her parents, brother, and sister, she was a fragile porcelain doll.
Even after she grew stronger, they still felt she had suffered too much as a child and treated her with extra leniency.
Having been the family’s golden child since childhood, and later becoming the future daughter-in-law of the factory director’s family, she often looked down on others with her chin held high. She hadn’t made any close friends in the workshop either, which was why no one noticed her low-grade fever for several days.
This incident left a psychological scar on Lin Chunlan. While the first three children had been raised without much trouble, this youngest daughter was constantly on the verge of life and death, exhausting her. It wasn’t until after the founding of the nation that she dared to have another child, naming him Baojian.
In those days, having five children was considered average—some families had seven or eight, while others had ten or more.
The next morning, Xia Baozhu finally met her cheap dad, Xia Yongwu. Perhaps because working in the canteen meant he never went hungry, he looked a size larger than his two sons.
All five children in the Xia family had inherited their father’s height but mostly took after their mother in looks.
Apart from the elementary school student Xia Baojian, the shortest, Xia Baozhen, was already 1.65 meters tall, while Xia Baozhu had grown another two or three centimeters taller.
Seeing her yawn as she came out, Xia Yongwu put down his newspaper. "Sweetheart, you must be exhausted from the trip, right? After breakfast, I’ll take you to the workers’ hospital to see what’s wrong."
Xia Baozhu shook her head. "It’s probably just heatstroke. I’m full of energy now and don’t feel unwell at all."
Yeah, right! She hadn’t slept well at all last night.
She shared the inner room of the west wing with Xia Baozhen, while the outer room housed their parents and younger brother.
Unfortunately, the doors and windows weren’t soundproof at all. Last night, accompanied by Old Xia’s snoring and the cries of her little nephew and niece, she felt utterly hopeless.
Just as she was about to succumb to exhaustion and fall asleep in the early hours of the morning, she felt the urge to use the bathroom…
She wasn’t the real Xia Baozhu and couldn’t bring herself to relieve herself at home. But at night, no matter how close the public toilet was, she didn’t dare go alone.
She had no choice but to sheepishly (and unapologetically) shake awake the soundly sleeping Xia Baozhen, cling tightly to her arm, and head to the toilet to take care of business. Thankfully, the sanitary conditions in the residential area’s toilet were passable.
At that moment, she was immensely grateful that the original Xia Baozhu would also wake her sister to accompany her to the toilet when she had stomach issues at night. Otherwise, she really wouldn’t have made it.
Tomorrow at work, she would carefully study the application requirements for the single dormitory.
"Little sister, I just made you some brown sugar poached egg soup. If you don't drink it soon, these kids' drool will drip right in."
"Coming." Xia Baozhu responded without hesitation while brushing her teeth.
She hadn't slept well and had little appetite, but her current physical condition didn't allow her to be picky.
In her previous life, she had enjoyed a few years of being the treasured "Baozhu" after birth. Later, when her biological parents' relationship fell apart and they each remarried and had new children, she—the old child—was tossed to her grandmother.
Her grandmother was not some modern old lady who favored girls over boys. Fortunately, she had never relied on others, learning to take care of herself.
She never let herself suffer, enthusiastically playing both sides against the middle to squeeze money out of her parents. Swallowing grievances was out of the question, and yielding to others simply didn't exist in her vocabulary.
However, in the original host's memories, the service attitude of these kids in the Xia family was quite good. She would have some little helpers to use in the future.
Her eldest brother, Xia Changzheng, and his wife, Ye Qin, had a son and a daughter: Xia Youxi and Xia Youwang, aged five and three respectively.
Her second brother, Xia Chang'an, and his wife, Wang Zengdi, had two daughters. Following the "You" generation from "Youxi," Wang Zengdi wanted to name her daughter Xia You'er, but after being scolded by Lin Chunlan, Lin Chunlan named her granddaughter Xia Youhe. Naturally, the next one was named Xia Youmiao.
These two children were born at the beginning of one year and the end of the next, so in terms of age, they were only a year apart—one four years old and the other three.
One family had "Hope," the other had "Seedlings."
Youxi and Youhe were already in kindergarten. Ye Qin took care of Youwang herself, while after Wang Zengdi started working, Youmiao spent her days at the nursery.
Thinking that the family would soon add two more crying kids, Xia Baozhu squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
She didn't dare open them.
If the whole family went to the Teng family to break off the engagement, it would be too much of a spectacle. They were there to end the engagement, not to start a fight.
So, apart from Xia Yongwu and Lin Chunlan, only Xia Changzheng and Xia Chang'an came along.
Xia Baozhu whispered strategies with Lin Chunlan. In these times, breaking off an engagement was no small matter. One misstep could ruin her reputation, and they couldn't let the Teng family turn the tables and smear her name.
Last night, she had heard Xia Yongwu and Lin Chunlan discussing in hushed tones until midnight, probably also figuring out how to resolve this matter properly.
Personally, she didn't care much about reputation—it couldn't fill her stomach or quench her thirst.
But it was 1963, and they couldn't leave any hidden dangers.
In fact, class struggle had already begun to intensify over the past two years, though it hadn't yet affected the workers in state-owned factories.
Although the Xia family was a genuine working-class family with clean roots, in the setting of a Zhongmawen, anyone associated with Xia Baozhu, the Paohui Nüpei, was automatically labeled as a villain.
To justify the male lead's abandonment of his wife and children, even good people around the Paohui Nüpei were undeserving. They were inherently malicious, plagued by misfortune, and driven to extremes, as if it were their fate to become Gongjuren advancing the plot.
Who knew if Teng Fei had some sinister luck that could influence the Xia family into making foolish decisions? They still needed to be cautious.
Her fate was tightly bound to the Xia family. It wasn't something that could be severed with a simple "we have no feelings or connection."
Just as she was weighing the pros and cons, she caught sight of Song Qu riding his bicycle with a stern expression, turning out from a side path.