That’s the one.
As soon as she said “how er you,” Meng Zhizhi knew her best friend Zhao Mingzhu had also transmigrated over—because in her previous life, her best friend was an English major.
She blinked, coughing until her face flushed red, and whispered in her ear, “You came too?”
Zhao Mingzhu started spouting foreign words the moment she opened her mouth.
But then again, that was just the conditioned reflex of an English major with a TEM-8 certification.
With just a few words, Zhao Mingzhu knew the person in front of her was her best friend.
Her best friend had transmigrated too!
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land, and that old friend was her bestie.
Heavens, was there anything more exhilarating than this?
Zhao Mingzhu grabbed Meng Zhizhi’s hand, about to excitedly say something, when Meng Zhizhi suddenly scratched her palm.
Zhao Mingzhu instantly swallowed her words.
As longtime best friends, they had that kind of默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契默契
With a loud bang, the chair hit the floor, followed by Meng Zhizhi’s words.
It was impossible for those outside not to hear.
Mother Zhou was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan, repeating anxiously, “It’s over, it’s over. They really are fighting. Will they tear the roof off?”
No matter how well-off the Zhou family was, they couldn’t withstand the two of them wreaking such havoc.
Meng Zhizhi, of course, had no intention of tearing off the roof. She pricked up her ears, listening to the commotion outside. Her face was as pale as fine porcelain, with large, dark, and lively eyes, her gaze sharp as she took in the sounds from beyond.
From time to time, she threw something against the door.
Deliberately raising her voice, she shouted fiercely toward the outside, “Get out, all of you! Stay away, or when Zhao Mingzhu and I fight, we’ll take you down with us!”
At this, the neighbors who had gathered to watch the spectacle quickly dispersed.
Only Mother Zhou dared not leave, but Father Zhou pulled her away. “Let them sort it out themselves first. We’ll talk after they’ve vented their anger.”
Mother Zhou finally left, looking back every few steps, her heart aching as if bleeding. “The valuable chairs and cabinets in the west room were all bought by me. They can’t ruin everything.”
Father Zhou glared, his beard bristling. “What are you worried about at a time like this? You gave them different dowries, so of course they’d fight. After they’re done, we’ll see what conditions they bring up.”
Here, Father Zhou took a deep drag from his old pipe, staring at Mother Zhou with disappointment. “Miao Cuihua, I never say anything about your constant penny-pinching, but this time, to save money, you’ve really dug yourself into two big holes.”
“Instead of worrying about them smashing everything in the house, you’d better think about how you’re going to handle things once they come out.”
First, the wrong bridal chamber.
Second, the dowry.
Neither of these matters was easy to resolve.
Mother Zhou collapsed to the floor, weeping. “If I’d known these two were sworn enemies, I would never have agreed to marry them into the family.”
Now it was too late.
Everything was too late!
She had brought a pair of sworn enemies into her home, and they were causing chaos right under her nose.
Inside the west room, Meng Zhizhi waited until she was sure everyone outside had left before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
With no outsiders around,
Meng Zhizhi practically flew toward Zhao Mingzhu. “Mingzhu!”
She threw her arms around Zhao Mingzhu, tears of joy streaming down her face.
Heaven knew how lonely Meng Zhizhi had felt in this unfamiliar era.
Without memories and married off as soon as she arrived, despite her cleverness in dealing with Mother Zhou,
deep down, her fear was undeniable.
Zhao Mingzhu also embraced Meng Zhizhi, and the two sisters held each other, weeping bitterly.
Yet, afraid of being overheard by those outside, they stifled their sobs, keeping their cries low.
Once they had cried their fill, the two began exchanging information.
“It’s so good, Mingzhu, that you’ve come too,” Meng Zhizhi said, her voice trembling with joy.
Her features were exceptionally lovely—willow-leaf eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes with a slight upward tilt at the corners, pupils as dark as ink, clear and bright.
The lines of her face were smooth, a classic small oval shape, with relaxed brows and skin as fair and delicate as jade, so tender it seemed one could squeeze water from it.
Even Zhao Mingzhu, at first glance, was momentarily stunned. “Zhizhi, she looks just like you used to. But she seems even more refined.”
Meng Zhizhi touched her own face, then looked at Zhao Mingzhu. As always, Zhao Mingzhu had a stunningly beautiful face, and even in winter, bundled in a padded jacket, her full chest was impossible to conceal.
Tall, with a slender waist and long legs—even after transmigrating, she couldn’t escape being a stunning, mature beauty.
Meng Zhizhi was unusually distracted. She reached out and poked her chest, muttering, “Seems even bigger than in our past life?”
Zhao Mingzhu, taking advantage of her height, pulled Meng Zhizhi into her arms. “You pervert!”
Suddenly enveloped in softness and fragrance, Meng Zhizhi felt an unreal sensation. She looked up, her face blank yet tinged with a hint of barely noticeable joy. “Mingzhu, you really came.”
She wasn’t alone in this unfamiliar era after all.
Zhao Mingzhu was slightly taller than Meng Zhizhi, which was why, in their past life, she often launched such ambiguous attacks on her. She gently stroked Meng Zhizhi’s face. “Zhizhi, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, no one can bully you.”
This was confidence—confidence in her own skills.
With Zhao Mingzhu’s arrival, Meng Zhizhi felt much more assured. Without further ado, she began verifying key information to plan for the future. “Mingzhu, when did you transmigrate?”
Zhao Mingzhu recalled, “It must have been after the car accident. I arrived last night, but I couldn’t move at all. I could only hear people talking outside, but my body felt like that of a vegetable. It wasn’t until you came in and called me that I could finally move freely.”
Meng Zhizhi furrowed her brows in thought and said softly, “That must have been due to physical rejection.”
“When I first arrived, I couldn’t move much either.”
Her expression grew more serious. “I suspect the real Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu drank themselves to death.”
Otherwise, she and Mingzhu wouldn’t have transmigrated together.
Seeing Zhao Mingzhu’s confusion, she added, “When I first transmigrated, I was completely drunk, not sober at all.”
At this point, Meng Zhizhi felt a sense of relief. “Luckily, I was getting married and entering the bridal chamber. Honestly, Mingzhu, if it hadn’t been for the wedding, and I’d been drunk outside, it would have been a disaster.”
Zhao Mingzhu also felt a pang of fear. She agreed that Meng Zhizhi’s speculation was likely the closest to the truth.
“Did you consummate the marriage last night?” she asked, eyeing the red marks on Meng Zhizhi’s neck suggestively. “How was it?”
A blush spread across Meng Zhizhi’s cheeks. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I was drunk at the time and remember nothing.”
“What about you?”
Zhao Mingzhu looked down at herself. “I don’t think I consummated the marriage. When I woke up this morning, my clothes were still neatly arranged.” She paused before adding, “And I didn’t feel any discomfort either.”
Meng Zhizhi pondered this. “So it seems you and Zhou Ye didn’t consummate the marriage.”
The current situation was that she had consummated the marriage with Zhou Shechuan, but Zhao Mingzhu and Zhou Ye had not.
Thinking of this, Meng Zhizhi frowned slightly. “I don’t know if you’ve received the memories, but we didn’t just transmigrate—we transmigrated into a book. I married the second son of the Zhou family, Zhou Ye, who’s the villain. You married the eldest son of the Zhou family, Zhou Shechuan, who’s the male lead.”
“But here’s the problem: last night, I slept with the eldest son of the Zhou family—Zhou Shechuan.”
“And you slept with the second son of the Zhou family—Zhou Ye.”
Zhao Mingzhu’s head was about to explode. She didn’t like thinking too hard, especially when she was with Meng Zhizhi.
“We entered the wrong bridal chambers?”
“Exactly.”
“What are you thinking?”
Meng Zhizhi needed to hear Zhao Mingzhu’s opinion before making any further decisions.
Zhao Mingzhu shrugged, her beautiful face full of disdain. “I don’t care. If you weren’t here, I’d probably have run off by now.”
“As for sleeping with the wrong guy—so what? It shouldn’t affect our friendship.”
Meng Zhizhi gave her a light hug. “Absolutely.”
“Sisters are like limbs.”
“Men are like clothes.”
They looked at each other and spoke in unison.
Meng Zhizhi was pleased that she and Mingzhu were still on the same page.
She continued, “Ever since we transmigrated here, we’ve completely derailed the plot. According to the original story, I was supposed to marry Zhou Ye, have two children, and then, because Zhou Ye was rarely home, I’d fool around with other men. After Zhou Ye died, I’d take his compensation money, go out and support a pretty boy, leaving the two kids at home to nearly starve.”
“Those two kids were so pitiful—they were eventually adopted by the male lead, Zhou Shechuan.”
At this point, she glanced at Zhao Mingzhu before continuing, “You married Zhou Shechuan and also had two children. You were a ‘brother-obsessed’ type, constantly giving money to your family. Later, when Zhou Shechuan adopted his brother’s children, it cut into the resources you were sending to your family. You fought with him every day until he became disillusioned and divorced you.”
Zhao Mingzhu, “…”
Just hearing this, she knew she and her best friend were playing the roles of cannon fodder.
Sure enough, Meng Zhizhi went on, “The real female lead in this book is beautiful and kind-hearted. Because she treated all four children so well, she moved Zhou Shechuan, and the two got back together, forming one big happy family and living a blissful life.”
Zhao Mingzhu couldn’t help but interject, “Is she a trash collector?”
“What?”
Meng Zhizhi didn’t catch on.
Zhao Mingzhu, “The female lead in the book—is she a trash collector? Picking up used men, other people’s children, and then having a trashy happy reunion?”
You had to hand it to Zhao Mingzhu.
Meng Zhizhi, who had been under a lot of pressure, couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes.”
“So what happens to us?” Zhao Mingzhu asked.
Meng Zhizhi frowned. “After leaving the male lead and the antagonist, with no one to support us and our own laziness, we both end up as beggars, panhandling in front of the male and female leads.”
Zhao Mingzhu, “Who? Begging in front of who?”
Meng Zhizhi, “In front of Zhou Shechuan and Song Mian.”
She recalled the plot. “At the time, Song Mian was wearing beautiful, respectable clothes and called out to Zhou Shechuan, ‘Brother Zhou, it’s so good—they’ve finally gotten their comeuppance.'”
“‘But Brother Zhou, they’re so pitiful. Let’s give them a dime so they can have a full meal.'”
What did Zhou Shechuan say then?
“Mianmian, you’re so kind.”
Zhao Mingzhu couldn’t take it anymore. Her willow-leaf eyebrows shot up, and her beautiful eyes blazed with anger. “To hell with that! We become beggars? Begging in front of the male and female leads? And they give us a dime?”
Not in this lifetime!
She knew martial arts, and Zhizhi was a skilled cook.
At the very least, they both had a pile of certificates. Even if they fell on hard times, they would never beg in front of the male and female leads.
“That’s what the plot says,” Meng Zhizhi comforted Zhao Mingzhu. “But since we’ve transmigrated here, that definitely won’t be our fate.”
Zhao Mingzhu was still fuming. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. “So in this book, we’re basically just delivery girls? We spare the female lead the pain of childbirth and deliver a happy family reunion for her?”
“Pretty much.”
Meng Zhizhi nodded.
Zhao Mingzhu paced back and forth anxiously—she had no intention of being cannon fodder.
“So what do we do now?”
Meng Zhizhi had already devised a plan. Now that Zhao Mingzhu was here, it actually increased her bargaining power. Perhaps she wouldn’t have to be as passive as before.
“Stay flexible and adapt to changes. First, establish ourselves firmly in the Zhou family, then plan our next move. If we can find jobs, great. If not, we can temporarily accompany the army and live off the male lead. After all, we still have five years before our exit.”
“So, we have five years of happy times ahead.”
Hearing this, Zhao Mingzhu stopped pacing and stood still, counting on her fingers. “It’s 1974 now, right?”
Meng Zhizhi nodded. “Strictly speaking, it’s the winter of 1973.”
Zhao Mingzhu looked as if she had died on the spot. “I majored in English, and you majored in German. Zhizhi, do you think with our majors, we can find jobs in the 1970s?”
Meng Zhizhi, “…”
She had completely forgotten.
Language majors were practically useless in this era, at this point in time. Worse still, they were the kind of majors that could cause trouble just by opening one’s mouth.
Meng Zhizhi pinched the space between her eyebrows. Her skin there was pale, and her brows were usually relaxed, but now they were furrowed tightly in worry. “Mingzhu, in our previous lives, we worried about unemployment after graduation. In this life, we’re even better off—we’re unemployed right from the start.”
Unemployment seemed to be their fate across two lifetimes.
In their previous lives, she had hoped Zhao Mingzhu would strike it rich and support her.
Zhao Mingzhu had hoped Meng Zhizhi would strike it rich and support her.
But before either of them could get rich, they ended up transmigrating together.
What rotten luck.
Zhao Mingzhu fell silent, counting on her fingers again. “We still have five years before our exit.”
“Someone will support us for five years?”
Meng Zhizhi quickly changed her strategy. “How about we just go with the flow for now?”
“Given the current situation, I’ve slept with the male lead, and you’ve slept with the villain. No matter what, these two are prominent figures in the book. Let’s cling to them for now and get through these tough years.”
“Later, when policies improve, our majors will make us unbeatable in this era. We’ll save money, buy a house, get household registration, and then divorce to live together.”
“As for the male lead, let him have his happy reunion with the female lead!”
“We’ll stay together for life and grow old together.”
Zhao Mingzhu was quite taken with this proposal.
“Then let’s go with that for now.”
No sooner had they settled on their goal than there was another knock on the door—a door that seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
Mother Zhou was shouting, “Meng Zhizhi, Zhao Mingzhu, take it easy with the fighting! Don’t wreck the house—that’ll cost money!”
Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu exchanged a glance. After confirming the situation, Meng Zhizhi asked, “Can’t break the sworn enemies act?”
Zhao Mingzhu nodded. “We can’t. If we break it, we won’t be able to explain our origins as undocumented individuals.”
“Besides, being troublemakers is great. Troublemakers get to enjoy the good life without moral constraints—they have all the fun.”
“I’m proud to be a troublemaker.”
With that, the two of them grinned at each other.
They started fighting again, trading blows back and forth.
Mother Zhou was frantic, pacing in circles. Since the door was already broken, she had someone break it down.
The door opened to reveal a scene of utter chaos, with furniture strewn about in disarray. Mother Zhou’s heart ached as she scolded while picking things up, “You two wasteful women, do you think these stools and tables come for free?”
But before she could finish her tirade, she turned and saw Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu on the bed, pulling each other’s hair.
Mother Zhou, “…”
What a sin.
She must have committed some grave sin in her past life to end up with such a daughter-in-law in this one.
And not just one, but a pair.
This is the death of me.
How could I be so unlucky?
Just as Mother Zhou was about to plant her hands on her hips and start scolding again, Meng Zhizhi suddenly let go, turned, and ran toward her, clutching her arm while crying, “Mom, you be the judge. Forget about the bride price for now—I slept with the eldest, she slept with the second son. How are you going to settle this for us?”
Before Mother Zhou could respond, Zhao Mingzhu crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and sneered coldly, “Then I’ll give Zhou’s second son back to you, how about that?”
Meng Zhizhi sobbed tearfully, “I don’t want a man you don’t want either!”
“I’m not picking up trash!”
Author’s Note:
Hahaha, I’m dying laughing writing this part.
PS: Red envelopes from the previous chapter have been sent out, and there are more in this chapter! Go for it, babies! Please bookmark, comment, and send nutrient solutions—I’ll take them all! Love you all~
That hit the spot.
As soon as she said “how er you,” Meng Zhizhi knew her best friend Zhao Mingzhu had transmigrated too. After all, her best friend had been an English major in their previous life.
Meng Zhizhi blinked, her face flushed red from coughing. She whispered into Zhao Mingzhu’s ear, “You crossed over too?”
Zhao Mingzhu had spoken English as an instinctive reflex of a student who had passed the TEM-8 English exam. With just those few words, she also knew the person in front of her was her best friend.
Her bestie had transmigrated as well!
Meeting an old friend in a strange land—and that friend being her own bestie. Heavens, could anything be more exhilarating than this?
Zhao Mingzhu grabbed Meng Zhizhi’s hand, about to say something excited, but Meng Zhizhi suddenly scratched her palm. Zhao Mingzhu immediately shut her mouth. Having been best friends for years, they shared that level of unspoken understanding.
Standing nearby, Mother Zhou was completely lost. She looked bewildered. “Have you two been possessed? What foreign tongue are you speaking?”
Meng Zhizhi realized belatedly that in this era, speaking a foreign language was practically a sin. Moreover, there were so many people nearby who might have heard.
She reacted instantly. “It’s not a foreign tongue, it’s a fit of hysteria.”
She immediately reinterpreted Zhao Mingzhu’s previous “secret code” as a symptom of a medical episode, settling the matter then and there. Then, she directly shifted the subject.
“Zhao Mingzhu—” Meng Zhizhi raised her delicate brows and immediately started a mock quarrel. “Why is your bride price a hundred more than mine?”
Zhao Mingzhu blinked. With just one exchange of glances, she instantly understood her best friend’s intention. This was the synergy of years of friendship.
She immediately stood up from the bed, attempting to use her height to loom over Meng Zhizhi. Her towering, ample chest seemed to act as a weapon of intimidation. She looked glamorous, beautiful, and aggressively overbearing.
“Just because I’m taller than you! What’s wrong with my bride price being higher?”
As soon as these words were out, Mother Zhou knew things were going south. Are these two about to start fighting again?
As expected, what she feared most happened. In the next second, the previously gentle Meng Zhizhi transformed instantly, completely exploding with rage.
“Zhao Mingzhu!”
“You’re taking this too far!”
Her tone was filled with gritted-teeth resentment. Before the volcano erupted, Meng Zhizhi abruptly turned around and began shooing Mother Zhou and the others out. “Out! All of you, get out!”
She looked as if she was about to fight Zhao Mingzhu to the death.
Mother Zhou was unwilling to leave at such a time, but she couldn’t withstand Meng Zhizhi’s genuine outburst. Meng Zhizhi snatched a rolling pin from behind the door and began pushing the crowd out.
“This is a personal grudge between me and Zhao Mingzhu. We’ll come out to find you once we’ve settled it!”
Without giving Mother Zhou a chance to refuse, she slammed the door shut and dropped the bolt. The dilapidated door was barely closed, cutting off the prying eyes from outside.
Forced outside, Mother Zhou’s eyes turned red with anxiety. She paced back and forth, wanting to go back in but not daring to. “That wretched girl Meng Zhizhi, how dare she kick us all out?”
“If she’s left in a room with Zhao Mingzhu, won’t they start fighting again? What about the furniture in my house?”
Inside the room, Meng Zhizhi had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Mother Zhou’s loud voice outside. She scanned the room, spotted a stool by the bed, and sent it flying with a kick.
“Zhao Mingzhu, take a punch from me!”
With a loud thud, the chair hit the floor. Combined with Meng Zhizhi’s shout, it was impossible for the people outside to miss it.
Mother Zhou was as anxious as an ant on a hot griddle. she kept saying, “It’s over, it’s over, they really are fighting. Are they going to tear the roof off?”
No matter how well-off the Zhou family was, they couldn’t afford to have these two wrecking everything.
Meng Zhizhi, of course, had no intention of tearing the roof off. She perked up her ears to listen to the movement outside. Her face was like white porcelain, her eyes large with dark pupils, and her gaze was sharp as she monitored the noise. From time to time, she would pick up an object and hurl it against the door.
She intentionally strained her voice, shouting fiercely toward the outside, “Get out! Everyone stay far away, or else when Zhao Mingzhu and I start fighting, I’ll take care of you all too!”
Upon hearing this, the neighbors who had gathered to watch the commotion began to disperse. Only Mother Zhou was afraid to leave, but Father Zhou grabbed her and pulled her away. “Let them settle it themselves. Let them vent their anger first.”
Mother Zhou finally left, turning her head back every three steps, her heart bleeding with pity. “The valuable chairs and cabinets in the west room were all bought by me. They better not wreck them all!”
Father Zhou glared at her. “What time is it, and you’re still worried about that? You gave them different bride prices; of course they’re going to fight. We’ll see what conditions they propose after they’re done.”
At this point, Father Zhou took a puff of his tobacco. He stared at Mother Zhou with an expression of “failing to meet expectations.” “Miao Cuihua, I don’t usually say anything about your constant penny-pinching, but this time, in your effort to save money, you’ve truly poked a hornet’s nest.”
“Instead of worrying about them smashing the furniture, you’d better think about how you’re going to solve this when they come out.”
First, there was the mix-up of the bridal chambers. Second, there was the bride price. Neither of these issues was easy to handle.
Mother Zhou slumped to the ground and wailed, “If I had known these two were arch-enemies, I never would have let them marry into the family!”
It was too late. It was all too late now! She had married a pair of arch-enemies into the house only for them to walk all over her.
In the west room, Meng Zhizhi breathed a sigh of relief once she was sure everyone outside had gone. Without outsiders, she practically flew toward Zhao Mingzhu. “Mingzhu!”
She pulled Zhao Mingzhu into a hug, crying with joy. Heavens knew how lonely Meng Zhizhi had felt in this strange era. She had no memories and had found herself married off the moment she arrived. Even though she had been slickly deceiving Mother Zhou, deep down, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid.
Zhao Mingzhu hugged Meng Zhizhi back, and the two sisters cried together. To keep the people outside from hearing, they even suppressed their sobs.
Once they had cried enough, they began to exchange information.
“It’s so good, Mingzhu, that you crossed over too.” Meng Zhizhi was practically weeping with happiness.
Her features were exceptionally beautiful—willow-leaf brows and almond eyes with slightly upturned corners. Her pupils were as dark as ink, clear and clean. Her face was a standard “little goose-egg” shape with smooth lines, and her skin was as white and translucent as jade, so tender it looked like it would bruise at a touch.
Even Zhao Mingzhu was momentarily stunned by her beauty. “Zhizhi, she looks just like you did before. But she seems even more delicate.”
Meng Zhizhi touched her face and then looked at Zhao Mingzhu. As always, Mingzhu had a glamorous face. Even wearing a padded cotton coat in winter couldn’t hide her curvaceous chest. She was tall with a slender waist and long legs—even after transmigrating, she couldn’t escape being a glamorous “older sister” type.
In a rare moment of distraction, Meng Zhizhi reached out and poked her chest, muttering, “Seems even bigger than in our last life?”
Capitalizing on her height, Zhao Mingzhu pulled Meng Zhizhi into her arms. “Pervert!”
Suddenly enveloped in softness and fragrance, Meng Zhizhi felt a sense of unreality. She looked up, her face a mix of daze and subtle joy. “Mingzhu, you’re really here.”
She wasn’t alone in this strange era.
Zhao Mingzhu was slightly taller than Meng Zhizhi, and in their previous life, she had often teased her with such intimate “attacks.” She touched Meng Zhizhi’s face. “Zhizhi, don’t worry. With me here, no one will dare bully you.”
This was confidence. She was very confident in her own fighting skills.
With Zhao Mingzhu there, Meng Zhizhi felt much more confident. She stopped wasting time and began verifying key information to plan for the future. “Mingzhu, when did you cross over?”
Zhao Mingzhu recalled, “It must have been after the car accident. I came over last night, but I couldn’t move at all. I could only hear the people outside talking. My body felt like I was in a vegetative state. It wasn’t until you came in and called me that I could fully move.”
Meng Zhizhi lowered her brows in thought and whispered, “That was likely a body rejection reaction. When I first arrived, I could barely move as well.”
At this, her expression grew serious. “I suspect the original Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu drank themselves to death.”
Otherwise, she and Mingzhu wouldn’t have both transmigrated here. Seeing Zhao Mingzhu’s confusion, she added, “When I first crossed over, I was a total drunkard. I wasn’t conscious at all.”
Meng Zhizhi spoke with a hint of relief. “Luckily, this was a wedding night. To be honest, Mingzhu, if I hadn’t been in the bridal chamber and had been drunk outside instead, I would have been finished.”
Zhao Mingzhu felt a lingering fear. She also felt that Meng Zhizhi’s theory was likely the closest to the truth.
“You had your wedding night last night?” She stared at the red marks on Meng Zhizhi’s neck and teased, “How did it feel?”
A flush appeared on Meng Zhizhi’s cheeks. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I was drunk; I don’t remember a thing.”
“What about you?”
Zhao Mingzhu looked down at herself. “I don’t think I had a wedding night. When I woke up this morning, my clothes were perfectly neat.” She paused, then added, “And there wasn’t the slightest bit of discomfort anywhere.”
Meng Zhizhi mused, “Then it seems you and Zhou Ye didn’t consummate the marriage.”
The current situation was that she had consummated with Zhou Shechuan, but Zhao Mingzhu and Zhou Ye had not.
Thinking of this, Meng Zhizhi frowned slightly. “I don’t know if you’ve received the memories, but we haven’t just transmigrated; we’ve transmigrated into a book. I was supposed to marry the antagonist of the Zhou family, the second son, Zhou Ye. You were supposed to marry the eldest son, Zhou Shechuan, who is the male lead. But here’s the problem: last night, I slept with the eldest son—Zhou Shechuan.”
“And you were with the second son—Zhou Ye.”
Zhao Mingzhu felt like her head was going to explode. She didn’t like using her brain, especially when she was with Meng Zhizhi. “We entered the wrong bridal chambers?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think we should do?”
Meng Zhizhi wanted to ask for Zhao Mingzhu’s opinion first before making a decision.
Zhao Mingzhu shrugged, her beautiful face full of disdain. “I don’t care. If you weren’t here, I might have run away by now. As for sleeping with the wrong man, it’s done. Either way, it can’t affect our friendship.”
Meng Zhizhi gave her a light hug. “That’s a given.”
“Best friends are like limbs,”
“Men are like clothes,” they said in unison, looking at each other.
Meng Zhizhi was glad that her and Mingzhu’s views were still aligned. She continued, “Ever since we crossed over, the plot has been broken. According to the story, I should have married Zhou Ye and had two children. But because I rarely saw him, I was supposed to mess around with other men. After Zhou Ye’s death in the line of duty, I was supposed to take his compensation money to support a young lover, leaving the two children at home to almost starve to death. Those poor children were then adopted by the male lead, Zhou Shechuan.”
At this point, she looked at Zhao Mingzhu and continued, “You married Zhou Shechuan and also had two children. You were originally a ‘fudi mo,’ constantly subsidizing your natal family. Later, when Zhou Shechuan adopted his brother’s children, it cut into the resources you used to support your family. You fought with him every day until he became disheartened and divorced you.”
Zhao Mingzhu: “…”
Just hearing it, she knew she and her best friend were both on a “cannon fodder” script.
Sure enough, Meng Zhizhi continued, “The real heroine in this book is beautiful and kind-hearted. Because she treats all four children so well, she moves Zhou Shechuan. The two of them get together, form a large family, and live a happy, fulfilling life together.”
Zhao Mingzhu couldn’t help but interject, “Is she a scavenger?”
“What?” Meng Zhizhi didn’t react at first.
Zhao Mingzhu said, “The heroine in the book. Is she a scavenger? Picking up men used by others, raising children born by others, and then having some ‘scavenger’ grand reunion?”
It had to be said, that was a very Zhao Mingzhu thing to say.
Meng Zhizhi had been feeling a lot of pressure, but hearing this, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Essentially, yes.”
“And what happens to the two of us?” Zhao Mingzhu asked.
Meng Zhizhi frowned. “After leaving the male lead and the antagonist, we lost our source of support and grew even lazier. Eventually, we both became beggars, begging in front of the male lead and heroine.”
Zhao Mingzhu: “Who? Begging in front of who?”
Meng Zhizhi: “In front of Zhou Shechuan and Song Mian.” She recalled the plot. “At that time, Song Mian was wearing beautiful, decent clothes. She called out to Zhou Shechuan, ‘Brother Zhou, it’s good that they finally got their karma. But Brother Zhou, they’re so pitiful. Let’s give them a dime so they can have a full meal.'”
What did Zhou Shechuan say back then? “Mianmian, you are so kind.”
Zhao Mingzhu couldn’t listen anymore. Her brows shot up, and her beautiful eyes flashed with fury. “To hell with that! We go begging? In front of the male and female leads? And she ‘grants’ me a dime? Not in this lifetime!”
She knew martial arts, and Zhizhi knew how to cook. Even if things went south, they both held a pile of certifications. No matter how destitute they became, there was no way they would beg in front of the leads.
“That’s how the plot was written,” Meng Zhizhi comforted Zhao Mingzhu. “Since we’re here now, that definitely won’t be our fate.”
Zhao Mingzhu still couldn’t let it go. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. “So in this book, we’re basically just delivery services? We spared the heroine the pains of childbirth and handed her a happy family reunion on a silver platter?”
“Pretty much,” Meng Zhizhi nodded.
Zhao Mingzhu paced back and forth, anxious. She had no desire to be cannon fodder. “So what do we do now?”
Meng Zhizhi had already thought of a plan. Now that Zhao Mingzhu was here, it added to her leverage. Perhaps she didn’t have to be as passive as before.
“We respond to changes by remaining unchanged. First, we establish ourselves in the Zhou family, then we plan our next move. If we can find work, we find work. If not, we’ll temporarily accompany the army and live off the male lead. After all, there are still five years before we’re written out of the story. That means we have five years of good times ahead of us.”
Hearing this, Zhao Mingzhu stopped pacing. She counted on her fingers. “It’s 1974 now, right?”
Meng Zhizhi nodded. “Technically, it’s the winter of 1973.”
Zhao Mingzhu looked like she wanted to die. ” I was an English major, and you were a German major. Zhizhi, do you think with our majors, we can find work in the seventies?”
Meng Zhizhi: “…”
She had truly forgotten. For this era, language majors were the most useless. In fact, they were the kind of majors where even opening your mouth could get you into trouble.
Meng Zhizhi pinched the bridge of her nose. Her skin was very fair, and her features were usually relaxed, but now they were knit together in worry. “Mingzhu, in our last life, we were worried that graduation meant unemployment. In this life, it’s even better—we’re unemployed right out of the gate.”
They couldn’t escape the fate of unemployment in either life. In their previous life, she had hoped Zhao Mingzhu would get rich and support her, while Zhao Mingzhu hoped Meng Zhizhi would get rich and support her. In the end, before they could get rich, they transmigrated together. Truly a pair of unlucky souls.
Zhao Mingzhu remained silent, counting on her fingers. “Five years until we’re written out. Someone will support us for five years?”
Meng Zhizhi quickly changed her strategy. “How about we just live like this for now? Given the current situation, I’ve slept with the male lead, and you’ve slept with the antagonist. These two are big shots in the book. Let’s cling to their thighs and get through these difficult years first. Once the policies improve later on, our majors will be peerless in this era. We’ll save money, buy houses, get our household registrations, and then we’ll divorce and live together. As for the male lead, let him have his ‘happy reunion’ with the heroine! The two of us will spend our lives together and grow old together.”
Zhao Mingzhu was very tempted by this proposal. “Let’s go with that then.”
Just as they had settled on their goal, there was another knock at the door—a door that was already on the verge of collapsing.
Mother Zhou was shouting, “Meng Zhizhi! Zhao Mingzhu! Take it easy with the fighting! Don’t dismantle my house, that all cost money!”
Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu looked at each other. Having confirmed the situation, Meng Zhizhi asked, “The ‘arch-enemy’ personas can’t be dropped?”
Zhao Mingzhu nodded. “Can’t be dropped. If we drop them, we won’t be able to explain how we suddenly became best friends. Besides, being a ‘troublemaker’ is great—troublemakers get to eat and drink well without any moral bottom line. They get all the benefits. I’m proud to be a troublemaker.”
The two of them shared a devious grin. Then, they began “fighting” again, back and forth.
Mother Zhou was pacing in circles. Since the door was already broken, she had someone kick it open. When the door opened and she saw the mess on the floor and the overturned furniture, Mother Zhou cursed as she started picking things up. “You two spendthrift women! These stools and tables cost money!”
Before she could finish her scolding, she turned and saw Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu on the bed, pulling each other’s hair.
Mother Zhou: “…”
What a sin. She must have committed a great sin in her past life to end up with such daughters-in-law. And two of them at once. It was going to be the death of her. How could she be so unlucky?
Mother Zhou was just about to put her hands on her hips and start screaming.
Suddenly, Meng Zhizhi let go, turned, and ran to Mother Zhou, grabbing her arm and crying, “Mom, you have to settle this! Setting aside the bride price for a moment, I slept with the eldest son and she slept with the second son. How are you going to fix this for us?”
Before Mother Zhou could speak, Zhao Mingzhu crossed her arms, arched an eyebrow, and let out a cold laugh. “How about I just give Zhou the second back to you?”
Meng Zhizhi wailed, “I don’t want a man you’ve discarded! I’m not a scavenger!”