Su Ruyi was quite fortunate—she didn't encounter any mothers or grandmothers bringing boys into the public bathhouse.
Although she somewhat disliked the lack of privacy in such communal bathhouses, she had to admit they offered a more authentic scrubbing experience. After a thorough scrubdown, her entire body felt two pounds lighter.
After Su Ruyi gave Tong Yunyun a good scrubbing, the child's skin even appeared fairer.
Su Ruyi couldn't reach her own back. At first, she asked Tong Yunyun to help, but the child's efforts fell somewhat short. Just as Su Ruyi was about to make do, the aunt at the neighboring faucet couldn't stand watching and enthusiastically stepped in to assist—her eagerness made refusal impossible.
As the aunt put it, "Since you're already here, not getting properly cleaned would be a waste of money."
Visiting the bathhouse wasn't cheap these days. Previously, factories would issue bath tickets, but now everyone had to pay out of pocket, and prices were higher than before. You had to make the most of it, or it simply wasn't worth it.
While scrubbing, the aunt remarked, "You look so slender, yet you've got all the right curves—not just skin and bones like some."
After entering the bathhouse, Su Ruyi no longer felt any embarrassment. When circumstances demanded, her adaptability shone through.
Thus, such comments didn't fluster her. "I'm just disadvantaged by my small frame—I look thinner than I am."
"Thin is good nowadays. Times have changed—young people prefer slim figures now, plumpness isn't in vogue anymore."
When you start putting yourself down, others will inevitably find ways to compliment you—Su Ruyi understood this dynamic well.
By the time Su Ruyi left the bathhouse, she had learned everything about the aunt's family: how many members there were, their occupations or schools, and even which daughter-in-law she clashed with the most.
The aunt simply loved to chat, and having found a new face, she couldn't resist sharing all the details.
When Su Ruyi prepared to leave, the aunt was reluctant to see her go, even suggesting she do her laundry at the bathhouse before departing. Su Ruyi politely declined—that was something she simply couldn't bring herself to do.
Upon returning home, Wang Huiting had already finished decorating the fruit baskets. She eagerly rushed over to show off her handiwork to Su Ruyi.
"What do you think of these fruit baskets? I specially went to that new boutique shop to buy ribbons and colored paper."
A closer look revealed that the baskets didn't actually contain much fruit, but Wang Huiting's artistic arrangement made them appear exceptionally abundant—visually appealing and tempting.
Li Mei commented, "Tingting always enjoys fussing over these flashy decorations. She spends half her time busy with them yet accomplishes nothing substantial—just a waste of effort."
Hearing this, Wang Huiting pouted in displeasure. "I'm not just fooling around! When I went to the provincial capital with my sister last time, I saw people packaging fruit baskets exactly like this near the hospital—and they sold for high prices!"
Wang Huizhen had always been academically strong. Two years ago, she tested into a provincial specialized secondary school for accounting with outstanding scores.
Specialized secondary schools remained highly valued at the time because graduates received job assignments upon completion, plus they gained more work experience compared to university students. Many students from ordinary families with good academic records prioritized specialized secondary schools over high school and future university entrance exams. The admission scores for top specialized schools sometimes even exceeded those of high schools.
In small counties like Liulin County, most assigned positions in various units went to specialized secondary school graduates, while university graduates remained relatively rare.
When Wang Huizhen left for specialized school two years ago, Tong Aihua accompanied her to the campus. Wang Huiting had insisted on going too, and the trip became her favorite topic of conversation for a long time afterward.
"You think you can compare with others?"
Wang Huiting felt as if she had been doused with cold water, all her earlier excitement completely vanished.
Su Ruyi: "Of course you can't compare."
Hearing this, Wang Huiting's eyes reddened.
Su Ruyi continued: "Tingting's aesthetic sense and craftsmanship are far superior to what's sold outside!"
Wang Huiting suddenly looked up, her eyes wide open.
"What? You think just because I'm from the countryside, my words don't count?" Su Ruyi raised an eyebrow and snorted coldly.
"Of course not!" Wang Huiting blossomed into a smile, radiant like a sunflower, "Do you really think I did well?"
"Otherwise? I'm not a crosstalk performer here to entertain you."
Wang Huiting was overjoyed, her attitude becoming exceptionally attentive. She kept asking if Su Ruyi wanted tea, if she wanted an apple, offering to peel it for her.
Li Mei, seeing her carried away, couldn't help saying: "It's just some small trinkets…"
"Aunt Mei, you're wrong about that. Nowadays everything emphasizes packaging. While the product itself must be good, it also needs to look premium to give face. Look at this fruit basket Tingting arranged – originally the fruits and basket together were worth one or two yuan, but with this packaging, it's worth at least over ten yuan!" Su Ruyi affirmed seriously.
Wang Huiting felt her face grow warm hearing this. Was she really that good?
Li Mei looked at the fruit platter again after hearing this – it did seem more valuable than when the fruits were just randomly placed.
"Tingting usually likes to fiddle around with these things all day. Instead of focusing on her studies, she's obsessed with looking pretty – her hairstyles never repeat throughout the week. Today she just got lucky."
Wang Huiting couldn't help rolling her eyes at this. Her mother really couldn't say anything good about her.
What was originally a nice thing had to be spoiled with such discouraging words.
"The gifts are all wrapped. Should we deliver them now?"
Wang Huiting directly changed the subject, otherwise this would go on endlessly, as if they wanted her to kneel and admit fault.
Su Ruyi nodded, "You go deliver them. I won't go."
In principle, visiting in person would show more sincerity, but if she went, she would inevitably be pulled into conversations about her father – they'd expect her to share tears to make it proper.
Su Ruyi had now fully integrated with this body, so she did have feelings for Tong Aihua and didn't want to be dragged into grief.
Whether in her previous life or this one, her connection with fathers was always faint. In this life, at least she had lived with him for seven or eight years and maintained correspondence afterwards.
In her previous life, before she turned three, her father followed her mother attempting to sneak across the border. He didn't survive the journey and was thrown into the sea – just like her father in this life, dead without a body to bury.
This was her greatest regret. Although her mother hadn't been around since childhood, at least she knew she had a mother and could see her every few years. Later, with better communication, they could video call occasionally. But she had no memories of her father at all.
In the end, Wang Huiting took Tong Yunyun to deliver the gifts. Since these things were brought by Su Ruyi, Li Mei felt it somewhat inappropriate for her to represent them.
News of Su Ruyi's arrival had already spread throughout the entire furniture factory.
Her impressive display upon arrival had shocked the whole factory.
With such a remarkable person here, everyone was wondering what would happen next.
Given how arrogantly Su Ruyi had treated even her own grandmother, everyone felt that Li Mei and her three daughters would surely lose their jobs and money this time.
Who would have thought that Wang Huiting had sent several beautiful fruit baskets, containing many fruits that people had only heard of but never seen, let alone tasted.
Southern fruits transported to the north were never cheap, and the sight of those baskets made everyone's eyes gleam with envy.
Without even thinking, everyone knew these fruits were brought by Su Ruyi. Seeing this, each person had their own thoughts.
Old Wang felt particularly indignant upon hearing about it: "Why only give them to those few families? We've been helping out a lot lately too. Acting so stingily, who'd be willing to help in the future?"
Yang Wenjuan remained silent upon hearing this. Her mother-in-law had gossiped about that family countless times in front of her, and when she didn't join in, she got scolded.
Her mother-in-law never missed a chance to bring up how Li Mei was unlucky for her husbands.
"Mom, if you want to eat some, I'll ask my sister to bring some back from the provincial capital when she's on a business trip."
Not only was Old Wang not appeased, she grew even angrier:
"Do you think I care about those snacks? You just love showing off, don't you? Afraid people won't know your maternal family has capable folks who can get anything?"
"Mom, that's not what I meant…"
"Don't I know you? Instead of living properly, you're always flaunting nonsense. My son is such a clever man—when I gave birth to him, all the village roosters crowed. Everyone said it was a once-in-a-millennium phoenix destiny, but did I show off? And here you are, flaunting in front of me…"
While Old Wang's household was stirred up over the fruit baskets, the Zhao Gang family next door, who had received a basket, was filled with joy, turning a blind eye to the commotion next door.
The Zhao Gang family's circumstances were quite ordinary too; they had neither seen nor tasted most of these southern fruits. The children were especially thrilled, finally able to match the fruits with their descriptions in books and discover what they actually tasted like.
At first, Zhao Gang's wife, Li Zhaoxia, was reluctant to eat them, thinking of saving the fruits for gifting later.
Seeing how eagerly the children longed for them, Zhao Gang persuaded his wife to just share the fruits. After all, fresh fruit wouldn't last long, and he had no one in particular to gift them to lately.
With the furniture factory in its current state, no amount of gifts would solve the problems. Better to fill their own stomachs with something delicious.
Wang Zhaoxia sighed: "I was originally worried that when Accountant Tong's former daughter came, their family would become even more turbulent. But now it seems the child is quite good—probably not as bad as expected."
"I have a feeling that with her here, this family might just hold itself together."
"How can a young girl like her hold a family together? And given their family dynamics, it's still awkward. I think they'll split up after a while."
They seemed to be getting along fine for now, but it was undoubtedly still uncomfortable. They had never lived together before, and the bond that once connected them was gone, leaving only Tong Yunyun who understood nothing. No matter how you looked at it, it was hard to imagine them coming together.
Putting herself in their shoes, Wang Zhaoxia was certain she couldn't live together with them.
"You don't understand," Zhao Gang shook his head. He was close to Tong Aihua and knew some things about their family.
"Just wait and see. With this girl here, perhaps Li Mei won't remarry again."
Wang Zhaoxia still disagreed: "Li Mei isn't that old now. Even though this would be her third marriage, it's too hard for a woman to raise three children alone. She'll definitely want to find another family. With her temperament, she can't stand on her own—she needs a man."
When Li Mei's previous husband passed away, she rushed into remarrying within a month.
The current situation was quite similar to back then. She had her job and the pension money in hand. If only Tong Aihua's body had been found, she might have already started making arrangements.
Having been neighbors for so many years, Wang Zhaoxia believed she understood Li Mei quite well.
Zhao Gang didn't continue arguing with Wang Zhaoxia either.
That evening, Su Ruyi slept on the upper bunk in the living room.
Li Mei had originally wanted her to sleep in her own bed, but Su Ruyi declined and chose the upper bunk in the living room instead.
This spot was usually occupied by Wang Huizhen. After Su Ruyi took it, she went to sleep in Tong Yunyun's bed, while Tong Yunyun went to share with Li Mei.
Tong Yunyun still shared a room with Li Mei, though they slept in separate beds with a curtain dividing the space.
There was some privacy, but not much.
Lying in bed, Su Ruyi could finally properly plan what to do next.
Earning money was definitely the top priority. Before going to sleep, she used the toilet. Although the conditions were slightly better than a pit latrine—it was a long trench-style squat toilet.
At the front was a faucet with a tipping bucket beneath it. The faucet was always left on, allowing water to flow continuously. When the bucket filled up, its weight would cause it to tip backward, pouring the water into the trench and flushing waste from the front to the back.
However, the toilet had no door, was filthy and foul-smelling. If someone missed the mark or the water flow was too weak, the scene was utterly disgusting. There were unidentified substances on the walls—whether boogers or someone having wiped their butt against them—which made Su Ruyi extremely nauseated. Using the toilet felt like enduring torture.
She had to quickly earn money to buy a house and install a flush toilet for her exclusive use!
Riding the wave of the era and armed with knowledge of the future, she might not become extremely wealthy, but at the very least, she aimed to live comfortably like before—becoming a landlady who could cover taxes without needing to work.
But before that, she had to visit the Zhang family, the original male lead's household. This was a plot point she couldn't avoid.