In 1970, winter in the northern part of Huaguo slowly arrived with howling cold winds.
As if overnight, snowflakes drifted down in a rustling cascade, blanketing the eaves, bending bare branches low, and piling up in thick layers on the ground.
The snow was soft and thick—each step sinking deep as if treading on clouds. The spongy sensation underfoot was a rare bit of fun, but Jian Lu had no time to appreciate the northern snowscape. The weather was freezing, and her steps were urgent.
The young girl had both hands stuffed in her pockets, clenched tightly into fists. She wore a worn-out knitted hat that blocked most of the wind and snow. Her dark navy padded jacket was patched with five or six patches of varying sizes, dark and somber in color.
The jacket had been made new for the Jian family’s eldest daughter when she was around ten. The older one wore it for a few years, then passed it down to the younger—and after all that circulating, the jacket had finally ended up with the fourth-ranked Jian Lu.
The clothing was plain and worn, yet it couldn’t hide the delicate, lovely face that seemed to glow even in the icy snow.
“Lulu, did you borrow cloth coupons for your third sister?” Under the old locust tree, Old Mrs. Liu, who was about to head home, couldn’t help but ask a few extra questions upon seeing the village’s prettiest girl.
Jian Lu exhaled a puff of white breath, and her words seemed to carry ice shards as well. “Yes, Old Mrs. Liu. I borrowed three chi of cloth coupons.”
In another half month, Jian Lu’s third sister, Jian Xin, would be getting married. A bride ought to have a new outfit for her wedding. Today, Jian Lu’s biological mother, Zhang Cuixia, had sent her to the brigade captain’s house with a single egg to borrow cloth coupons.
The Jian family originally had three chi of cloth coupons saved up. Now that they’d borrowed another three, buying six chi of cloth would be enough to make a respectable outfit.
“Once your third sister is married off, you’ll be next soon enough!” Old Mrs. Liu studied the Jian family’s fourth girl carefully. She really was something different!
An oval face, delicate and charming; bright, vivid brows and eyes; peach-blossom eyes carrying a hint of bewitching allure—yet within them was clearly a pool of clear spring water, clean and crystalline. Below a small, upturned nose, her rosy lips were slightly pressed together—who knew if it was from a touch of shyness.
“Old Mrs. Liu, you’re joking. I’m not in a hurry.”
After bidding farewell to Old Mrs. Liu, Jian Lu clutched the precious three chi of cloth coupons and walked to the Jian family’s doorstep.
The Jian family had two buildings in total, both green-brick tile-roofed houses. However, due to years of neglect, they showed signs of decay. To the east was the room of Jian’s father and mother, along with the kitchen. To the right was the main hall, with two rooms on each side. In the past, the four Jian sisters had lived there. After the eldest and second eldest married out, only the third daughter, Jian Xin, and fourth daughter, Jian Lu, remained.
The courtyard in front of the Jian house wasn’t large—just over ten ping in total. In front of the courtyard was a long, narrow private plot. To the east, a crude chicken coop had been built, housing three chickens.
Looking at this house steeped in 1970s flavor, Jian Lu’s steps home grew even heavier.
Jian Lu had grown up in an orphanage since childhood. After enduring hardship for half a lifetime, she’d finally saved up to buy a small two-bedroom apartment at age twenty-six. She’d only been living in it for a week after renovating and moving in before transmigrating to the 1970s. How was she supposed to live like this?
Jian Lu sighed. Life was bitter.
That’s right—she had transmigrated. A week ago, she’d transmigrated into an era novel, becoming the Jian family’s fourth girl in Red Star Commune’s Xingmin Production Brigade in northern Huaguo during the 1970s, sharing the same name and surname as herself.
This era novel, titled “The Pretty Wife of the Seventies,” told the inspirational story of male protagonist Fang Yuanliang, a sent-down educated youth, and female protagonist Dong Danqin, also an educated youth, supporting each other through life.
And the cannon-fodder female supporting character who shared Jian Lu’s name—the original host—was the early-dead first wife of the book’s stubborn male supporting character.
The Jian family had four daughters in total. The original host ranked fourth. Because the first three were all daughters, when the original host’s biological mother, Zhang Cuixia, was pregnant with her, everyone looked at her pointed belly and thought it was a son. But when she was born, it was another daughter—the Jian family’s faces went black. Moreover, because giving birth to her left Zhang Cuixia unable to bear more children, the original host became the Jian family’s “sinner,” subjected to discrimination.
Now, the Jian family’s first two daughters had both married out. The third would be married in another half month. Only the original host remained, with no marriage prospects.
The original host was the commune’s acknowledged prettiest girl, with a gorgeous, striking appearance. Anyone who mentioned her would praise her good looks. Yet her personality was timid and self-abasing.
She had secretly liked the original book’s male protagonist, the educated youth Fang Yuanliang, and even wanted to save her own rations to give him cornbread. But she witnessed the female protagonist Dong Danqin, also an educated youth—the book’s male and female leads had an ambiguous pull between them. The original host, possessing only beauty yet feeling inferior down to the dust, could only bury this secret crush in her heart.
Later, she was noticed by Hong Qiang, who had grown up in the village eating from a hundred families’ tables after being orphaned. Hong Qiang directly negotiated with Jian Hualin to become a live-in son-in-law. Jian Hualin would gain a free son—someone to carry his coffin and provide for him in old age—fulfilling his dream of having a son. Hong Qiang would successfully win the beauty. Anyway, he had no parents, and others disdained being a live-in son-in-law, but he didn’t care—as long as he could marry the original host.
In the book, Hong Qiang got his wish and married the original host, becoming the Jian family’s live-in son-in-law. But he accidentally learned that the wife he’d dreamed of actually liked the original book’s male protagonist—the educated youth Fang Yuanliang. Hong Qiang, already violent by nature, couldn’t tolerate this. He immediately found people to fight, thus forming a feud with the book’s male and female leads. Later, because he’d become a live-in son-in-law, he was constantly the subject of the commune members’ gossip. Combined with his suspicion that the original host still harbored feelings for Fang Yuanliang, his psychology grew increasingly twisted. In the end, he vented everything on the original host—beating and scolding her at every turn. Slapping her face, throwing punches—these were everyday occurrences.
Even when the original host was pregnant with their first child, because she felt unwell and cooked dinner a bit late, Hong Qiang kicked her in the belly. The child was kicked away. Even after the original host’s health was damaged, she still had to dress, cook, and serve Hong Qiang.
Perpetually subjected to Hong Qiang’s domestic abuse, her body often covered in bruises, with a father who bullied the weak and feared the strong, and a mother who dared not speak—the original host ultimately couldn’t bear the abuse and threw herself into the river on her thirtieth birthday.
After the original host’s death, the violent male supporting character Hong Qiang continued to oppose and trip up the book’s male and female leads everywhere. Instead, this made the two of them even more devoted to each other. In the end, they joined forces to deal with him.
When Jian Lu had read this novel, she’d sighed in regret for this cannon-fodder female supporting character who shared her name. She never imagined that one day she’d wake up and become her.
Fortunately, the time she transmigrated to was before the original host’s marriage—everything could still be saved! As for the book’s male protagonist and the stubborn male supporting character, to hell with them all!
She had to stay far away from these people to stay safe!
“Lulu, you’re back?” Third sister Jian Xin spotted her fourth sister at the door in the courtyard, raised a hand in greeting, and strode over in a couple of steps to pull her inside to warm by the fire. “You must be frozen. Come warm up quickly.”
The room had a fire going. The moment you stepped inside, you felt a cozy warmth—as if it were a different world from the freezing cold outside.
Jian Lu took off her unraveling hat, removed her padded jacket, and handed the three chi of cloth coupons to her third sister. “Third sister, mission accomplished.”
Across from her, the delicately pretty Jian Xin smiled brightly, brushed the stray snow off her fourth sister’s shoulders, then took the cloth coupons and praised her, “I knew I could count on you.”
Jian Lu and Jian Xin looked about forty to fifty percent alike, though Jian Xin was more refined and elegant, while Jian Lu’s features were more voluptuous and striking. When they smiled together, their brows and eyes curved—you could tell they were family.
“Third sister, when you got engaged, was the matchmaker brother-in-law found someone named He?” Jian Lu sat on the edge of the kang and asked Jian Xin. The original host hadn’t interacted with people much, so she didn’t know about many things.
“That’s right, Auntie Hongmei. Basically everyone in our brigade goes to her for matchmaking.” Jian Xin answered casually, not understanding why her sister suddenly asked about this. “Why?”
“Nothing, just asking.”
“You don’t have someone you like, do you?” Actually, Jian Xin had vaguely noticed something. When they were working in the fields before, she’d realized her sister’s gaze seemed to always drift toward the educated youth Fang, who’d been sent down last year. “Tell me the truth—is it Fang the educated youth…”
“No!” Jian Lu immediately distanced herself. She wasn’t joking—the male protagonist in the original book belonged to the female protagonist!
She’d have to be crazy to get involved with them.
She was asking about the matchmaker because she planned to find time to look for a partner herself. Finding a good partner on her own was better than being schemed against by Father Jian!
“Nian Di, Lai Di, what are you two doing in there? All you know is how to slack off!” Zhang Cuixia’s voice drifted in through the cracks in the wooden door, interrupting their conversation.
“Coming, coming!”
Jian Lu’s brow furrowed slightly. She found the names grating—what kind of feudal superstition names were these? But before she could say anything, her third sister pulled her outside, and they headed to the kitchen to busy themselves.
Three days after transmigrating, Jian Lu had already mastered rural life skills. The wide stove opening was piled with burning firewood. She picked at it with a wooden stick, fanned the flames with a summer palm-leaf fan, and the fire blazed up, heating the iron pot on the stove. A faint aroma of softening sweet potatoes wafted out.
Dinner was simple as usual: half a cornbread bun per person, half a boiled sweet potato, a bowl of boiled cabbage. There was still a month until the New Year, and the family’s old cured meat wouldn’t be touched until New Year’s Eve. They’d have to endure.
“The cloth coupons are borrowed. In a few days I’ll go with Lai Di to the county town to buy fabric.” Zhang Cuixia bit into her cornbread bun and turned her slanted eyes to her prettiest youngest daughter. “Nian Di, are you coming?”
Zhang Cuixia’s feelings toward her youngest daughter were the most complicated. Jian Lu was the prettiest, yet she was the culprit behind Zhang Cuixia’s infertility. If only the fourth child had been a son back then—someone to hold up the household, to let her hold her head high before her man and mother-in-law. Such a handsome son would surely have been easy to find a wife for too…
Unfortunately, it just had to be a daughter!
Jian Lu suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, feeling her ears suffer greatly. But reasoning with them was useless—only scare tactics worked. “Mom, we’re in the middle of Destroying the Four Olds right now. You keep saying ‘Lai Di’ and ‘Nian Di’—aren’t you promoting feudal superstition? Careful the Red Guards don’t hear and report you…”
She didn’t finish, but it was enough to scare Zhang Cuixia. She’d heard about how severe things could get, so she only muttered, “It’s just a name. Why would they report me?”
Jian Hualin’s hand holding his chopsticks stiffened. He hadn’t expected his usually quiet, unsociable youngest daughter to say such things. He spoke in a low voice to reprimand his wife. “You too—no ideological awareness at all. What times are these, and you still haven’t changed how you address them?”
“I know.” Once the family head Jian Hualin spoke, Zhang Cuixia didn’t dare say more, only calling them “Xinxin” and “Lulu.”
Jian Hualin wasn’t tall but was full of vigor. Perhaps his excellent status as a third-generation poor peasant made his back especially straight. Unfortunately, he had no son. When commune members gossiped behind his back, he could only endure it.
Fortunately, his youngest daughter was pretty—a renowned beauty within ten li and eight villages. The line of people wanting to marry her stretched all the way to the brigade headquarters. But the moment a live-in son-in-law was mentioned, everyone was unwilling again.
These days, who could bear such humiliation? A live-in son-in-law was not easy to be.
Still, naturally there were those blinded by lust. Jian Hualin had already settled on a candidate. Taking advantage of his third daughter’s impending marriage, he announced, “Lulu, in a few days go to the city with your mother and third sister. Buy a few extra chi of cloth while you’re there. You’re grown now—make yourself a new outfit.”
This was strange. Even Zhang Cuixia was puzzled. She knew her man disliked their youngest daughter most. “What’s going on? Why suddenly make clothes for Nian… Lulu?”
Jian Hualin thought of soon having a son and his face creased with smiles. “Lulu’s grown. It’s time she married. I’ve found her a match—Hong Qiang from our production brigade. He’ll be our live-in son-in-law.”