“Speak, what do you want?” Mother Zhou asked.
Zhao Mingzhu sneered coldly, “We’re both swapping husbands, why do you compensate Meng Zhizhi with a hundred but not me a hundred?”
Mother Zhou found it hard to voice her bitterness.
Her hand that had been pulling favoritism immediately loosened, “Maybe you should just beat Meng Zhizhi to death with one blow.”
Better to beat her to death, then she’d save a hundred yuan.
Meng Zhizhi, “…”
Zhao Mingzhu, “…”
The two exchanged a subtle glance, and Zhao Mingzhu instantly understood, “If you won’t give it, then I’ll marry Zhou the eldest together with Meng Zhizhi.”
Hearing this, Mother Zhou immediately felt she couldn’t go on living. She simply stuck her head under Zhao Mingzhu’s rolling pin, utterly despondent.
“Maybe you should just beat me to death with one blow instead.”
Zhao Mingzhu gripped the rolling pin, barely managing to hold back—she almost couldn’t catch her breath.
Heavens, if she laughed now, everything she’d done earlier would be for nothing.
Zhao Mingzhu faltered, completely unsure what to do.
Meng Zhizhi also knew that for a miser like Mother Zhou, managing to squeeze a hundred yuan out of her was already good enough.
Now demanding two hundred was probably asking for Mother Zhou’s life.
Meng Zhizhi shot Zhao Mingzhu a look, signaling her to know when to stop and quit while she was ahead.
But Zhao Mingzhu misunderstood, thinking her friend thought she was incompetent, unable to even get a hundred yuan.
She immediately raised the rolling pin and placed it across her knee. With a loud crack, the wrist-thick rolling pin snapped in two. She sneered, “Try me and die.”
“Anyway, I’ll never call Meng Zhizhi sister-in-law.”
“And also, why does she get it but I don’t?”
This woman was truly fierce.
That thick rolling pin had broken into two, the splintered wood sharp.
Mother Zhou was so frightened she trembled, only to be pulled behind by Father Zhou.
He took a deep breath, “Give, a hundred each. Meng Zhizhi gets a hundred, Zhao Mingzhu gets a hundred.”
Mother Zhou was unwilling, her heart bleeding. Back then, she could offer that high bride price to marry a daughter-in-law because she wanted to hold a grandchild.
Now that the daughter-in-law was married, she still had to pay a high bride price.
How could she possibly agree to that?
“Old Zhou, the family has no money left. Hongying, Yushu, and Zhou Chuang—one is studying, one has no job, one is drifting in society. None of the three are married yet. If you give all the money away, what about the remaining three children? Will you still take care of them?”
Father Zhou didn’t listen, his expression grim, uttering only one word, “Give.”
Those three children were matters for the future.
They needed to solve the current problem first.
As soon as he finished speaking, Mother Zhou reluctantly went into her room. She took out a rusty biscuit tin from the five-drawer cabinet. The biscuit tin had a small brass lock on it.
She took a string of keys from her waistband and unlocked the biscuit tin. Inside was a box full of money—small bills and larger notes. The reason they could still save so much money after paying three hundred yuan in bride price was entirely because there were many earners in the family. Father Zhou was a master at the cannery, and there were also two soldiers in the family.
The eldest earned sixty-three yuan a month, the second earned fifty-five yuan a month—together they made over a hundred yuan, all of which was sent back home every month.
Plus, her own man earned forty-five yuan a month at the cannery, and the factory also provided some subsidies.
She was helping the children paste matchboxes, and their family’s monthly income could reach one hundred sixty or seventy yuan on a lucky month. In this era, that was truly a solid high-income group.
However, while it sounded like a lot, the expenses were also significant. There were many mouths to feed at home, each person had a fixed grain ration, and several of the children were still unmarried.
These were all major expenses, so Mother Zhou was usually extremely frugal, but when it came to weddings, she would spend a large sum.
In fact, even though Mother Zhou offered high bride prices, she knew how to calculate.
By giving a high bride price, she avoided buying the “three rounds and one sound,” marrying a beautiful daughter-in-law into the family who could then give birth to two healthy sons, serve the parents-in-law above, and take care of the children below.
Up until today, Mother Zhou had always felt she was getting a good deal. But now, she had to take two hundred yuan from the savings box to compensate the two daughters-in-law who had already entered the family.
This made Mother Zhou feel as if her heart were bleeding. Clenching her teeth, she counted out ten ten-yuan notes and stacked them into a pile.
Then she counted another ten ten-yuan notes and placed them separately to the side.
Mother Zhou didn’t trust the supply and marketing cooperative, so she never deposited her money in the bank.
Seeing the money she had saved for so long in the box suddenly reduced by half, Mother Zhou couldn’t help but lower her head and wipe away tears. “A curse, a curse. I’ve brought two curses into the family.”
It was truly enough to make her die of anger.
No matter how unwilling she was, she still had to take out the money because people were waiting outside.
She brought the money out, and Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu both looked over at once. No matter how reluctant she was, Mother Zhou had no choice but to hand over the money.
“Here, one hundred yuan.”
Meng Zhizhi took it without a word.
When it was Zhao Mingzhu’s turn, she hesitated a little, feeling that the old lady looked too pitiful at the moment.
Meng Zhizhi lifted her eyelids slightly, her expression gentle. “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it all?”
“After all, this is my selling price.”
It was the first time in the world someone had sold themselves twice.
As soon as she said this, Zhao Mingzhu snatched the one hundred yuan without another word.
Watching the money disappear from her hands, Mother Zhou silently wiped away tears.
Father Zhou was steadier than her. He calmly said, “Now that you’ve taken the money, Xiao Meng, you are officially our Zhou family’s eldest daughter-in-law.”
Meng Zhizhi swiftly tucked the money into her pocket, beaming with a smile and speaking warmly, “Yes, Dad.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take good care of you in your old age.”
Pretty words were easy to say, and they didn’t cost anything.
Father Zhou’s expression softened slightly. He looked at Zhao Mingzhu, who counted the money and snorted, “Whatever she does, I’ll do.”
At least they weren’t fighting anymore.
Father Zhou felt somewhat relieved. Looking at his wife, who wore an expression as if her mother had died, he said, “Don’t collapse just yet. Now that the family matter is settled, we still have to deal with the situation with the eldest and second sons.”
“They still don’t know they entered the wrong bridal chambers or that their wives have been swapped. You need to hurry to the supply and marketing cooperative and send a telegram to the garrison unit, telling the eldest and second sons not to rush into submitting their marriage reports.”
“Even if they do, they must first swap the names of their respective wives.”
“Otherwise, once the marriage reports are submitted and approved, everything will be over.”
Mother Zhou was startled into action and stumbled as she rushed toward the supply and marketing cooperative.
She couldn’t let this mix-up with the bridal chambers ruin her two sons’ futures.
Father Zhou, worried that Mother Zhou wouldn’t explain things clearly, turned to Meng Zhizhi and Zhao Mingzhu and said, “This matter concerns both of you as well. You should go along and see.”
Zhao Mingzhu was reluctant.
Meng Zhizhi, however, was willing. Having only arrived in this era a day ago, she was still unfamiliar with her surroundings. Taking this opportunity to go out and look around seemed like a good idea.
Seeing that she was going,
Zhao Mingzhu, who had been about to refuse, instantly changed her tune. “If she’s going, then I’m going too!”
Father Zhou, “…”
Father Zhou even suspected that if Meng Zhizhi went to eat shit, Zhao Mingzhu would follow.
Meng Zhizhi and Mother Zhou went to the supply and marketing cooperative together. As soon as they stepped out of the compound courtyard, many people greeted Mother Zhou along the way. “Cuihua, taking your daughter-in-law out, are you?”
Everyone knew the Zhou family had held a wedding celebration yesterday. Mother Zhou had managed to marry the two prettiest girls in the neighborhood for her son. It was said her son hadn’t even seen them yet—she had picked them out herself first.
Mother Zhou had once fantasized about walking down the alley streets with her two beautiful daughters-in-law, showing off and being envied by everyone.
In reality, her heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife. Faced with everyone’s compliments, she found it hard to voice her troubles. Meng Zhizhi, however, was naturally sociable, greeting everyone as “uncle” or “aunt” with a bright smile.
Anyone who saw Meng Zhizhi couldn’t help but praise Mother Zhou for marrying such a good daughter-in-law.
Mother Zhou’s heart ached even more.
Meng Zhizhi observed everything along the way without saying a word. Watching the pedestrians dressed in indigo blue cotton-padded jackets and riding “28-inch” bicycles, she finally felt a sense of reality.
She had truly traveled back to the 1970s.
This era of grinding poverty.
When they arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, Mother Zhou, familiar with the process, asked about the price of sending a telegram. At ten cents per character, it was truly expensive, but circumstances forced their hand.
If it weren’t an urgent situation, they wouldn’t have come to send a telegram.
She counted on her fingers, “Wrong wedding chamber, don’t submit marriage report.”
That was already ten characters.
No matter how you looked at it, it would cost one yuan.
Meng Zhizhi, standing beside her, suggested, “Mom, since sending a telegram will cost one yuan anyway, wouldn’t it be better to make a phone call? At least over the phone, you can explain things clearly. With a telegram, the other party might not even see it.”
That made sense.
“But a phone call costs fifty cents per minute. With long-distance fees added, it would be at least one yuan.”
Meng Zhizhi sighed. “Mom, if you try to save money now, what if Zhou Shechuan and Zhou Ye don’t see the telegram and actually submit the marriage report? Tell me, what should Zhao Mingzhu and I do? Who exactly are we supposed to marry?”
This question truly stumped Mother Zhou.
She had already experienced the consequences of being stingy and suffering greater losses. Silently, she made a decision.
“Comrade Li, I’ll make a phone call.”
The other party was the telegraph operator at the cooperative and also in charge of the telephone.
Xiao Li knew that Mother Zhou had a son serving in the garrison unit, so she quickly adjusted the telephone receiver and placed it facing her. “Give me the phone number, and I’ll dial it for you.”
“I’ll hand it to you once it’s connected.”
Mother Zhou responded with an “ai,” but just as she was about to recite the phone number, Meng Zhizhi stopped her. “Mom, once the call goes through, what are you planning to say?”
Mother Zhou instinctively replied, “I’ll just say they entered the wrong wedding chamber and ask them to change the names on the marriage report.”
“You can’t say it like that.”
Meng Zhizhi got straight to the point. “If you really said that, and if they encounter their sworn enemies in the garrison unit, and someone reports them for engaging in improper relationships between men and women, you would essentially be handing over evidence to them.”
“You’d be harming your own sons.”
At this, Mother Zhou grew doubtful and uneasy. Meng Zhizhi continued calmly, “If you believe me, later just say: hold off on submitting the marriage reports for now, let Zhou Shechuan marry Meng Zhizhi, and let Zhou Ye marry Zhao Mingzhu.”
“Once this news reaches Zhou Shechuan and Zhou Ye’s ears, they will definitely call back to verify.”
“That’s when you tell them the truth.”
To be honest, Meng Zhizhi’s analysis was spot-on, but Mother Zhou was still hesitating.
Zhao Mingzhu had already begun sneering, “Look at you, thinking you’re so clever.”
Mother Zhou, who had been wavering, stopped hesitating the moment she heard Zhao Mingzhu’s mockery.
She now became certain of one thing: whenever Zhao Mingzhu opposed something, it must be feasible.
After all, the two of them were sworn enemies.
So Mother Zhou decisively called the garrison unit. Halfway through the call, as soon as the other end picked up, she stammered, “C-c-comrade.”
She got nervous as soon as she answered the phone.
And completely forgot everything Meng Zhizhi had instructed her to say.
Mother Zhou immediately froze up. With age, her memory wasn’t great either. She raised her hand and tapped her head, somewhat annoyed at her own uselessness.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally handed the receiver to Meng Zhizhi.
Meng Zhizhi wasn’t intimidated either. She took the receiver and spoke gently and calmly, “Comrade, I’m looking for Zhou Shechuan.”
Author’s Note:
Chuanchuan: My wife came looking for me, feeling so happy inside~
PS: Red envelopes from the previous chapter have been sent out. Still asking for favorites, comments, and nutrient solution. Rolling around and acting cute to beg—let me see a glimmer of hope, wuwuwu, I’m counting on you all~ It’s been too quiet and cold, my dear readers.