After completing a full forty days of postpartum confinement, Jiang Lizhu went to find Head Nurse Liu, who also lived in the family quarters.
From the original host’s memories, Jiang Lizhu knew that Xiao Zhou, the person Head Nurse Liu recommended to take over her nursing shift, was the youngest daughter of Head Nurse Liu’s cousin.
Even though the original host wasn’t very sociable at the hospital, she had still heard that Head Nurse Liu’s cousin had married quite well. Her husband was the deputy director of a well-known food factory, and she herself was a minor leader at the street office. They were quite well-off. Against the backdrop of the fervent “educated youth going to the countryside” movement, they would be very willing to spend money to buy a permanent job at the prestigious Number One Hospital for their beloved youngest daughter.
With Head Nurse Liu, who knew both sides, acting as an intermediary, the negotiations went very smoothly. In the week before Jiang Lizhu’s two-month maternity leave was about to end, they went to the hospital together to complete all the procedures for the job transfer and her resignation.
She wasn’t the original Jiang Lizhu after all. Her personality and behavior could only be imitated for so long, not forever. Moving to a completely new environment was the best choice after careful consideration.
In this difficult and unique era, Jiang Lizhu was also unwilling to take her child to live with his rural in-laws. She was used to being independent and was accustomed to a certain level of comfort. She had no desire to deal with either mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships or sister-in-law relationships.
With her slender build, farm work was even more out of the question.
Facing completely unfamiliar interpersonal relationships was inevitable either way, but the military family quarters would surely be better than the countryside home of her in-laws.
Furthermore, the child was born of two people. Until Jiang Lizhu determined that she and her son absolutely couldn’t adapt to life in the military family quarters, her soldier husband also needed to shoulder his responsibilities and obligations as the child’s father.
“Ya!”
“Ah wu wu!”
The baby, who would be a hundred days old in just three days, cried out occasionally. Failing to attract the attention of his drowsy mother, he instead caught the attention of Granny Li, who was busy in the communal kitchen and kept popping her head out to look at him.
Jiang Lizhu’s eyes were half-closed, drowsy from the sun, but also lazily avoiding social interaction.
“Hmm, the telegram I sent to your dad almost a month ago… there should be a reply soon, right?” Jiang Lizhu planned to take her son for a stroll to the nearest post office that evening.
Thinking about this matter reminded her of a huge, gigantic misunderstanding!
From the time the original host discovered her pregnancy right up until she was about to give birth to this son, she never mentioned a single word about being pregnant in any letters or telegrams to her soldier husband, Gu Mingyan.
As far as Gu Mingyan knew, he had been trapped into a hasty marriage a year ago by the daughter of his leader’s old friend. Their correspondence, already sparse in both frequency and length, had dwindled down to just brief letters reporting safety, accompanied by the regular, unwavering monthly remittance of 20 yuan for living expenses.
The memories Jiang Lizhu had inherited from the original host regarding her soldier husband, Gu Mingyan, were pitifully few and faint. Since transmigrating, eighty percent of Jiang Lizhu’s energy had been spent on feeding the child, with the rest dedicated to recovering her health and pondering the details related to transmigrating into the book’s plot.
If she hadn’t been tidying up the desk a month ago and stumbled upon a few envelopes, it wouldn’t have occurred to her that she, too, had forgotten to tell Gu Mingyan about giving birth to his child.
As for why the original host didn’t tell Gu Mingyan about the pregnancy, aside from the shallow feelings between them, she was also afraid that upon hearing the news, he would again demand she join him in the military garrison, or that he would send his never-before-met rural mother to the city to care for her during childbirth.
While working at the hospital, the original host never disclosed specific information about her soldier husband. Among the many reasons, the one that bothered her most was the fear that Xiao Jinzhu, the false daughter, would find out about her husband’s rural origins.
The original host truly disliked the countryside, and her disgust and hatred for her rural foster parents were real. But at the same time, that family had been genuinely terrible to her.
From childhood, the original host consistently ate little but worked hard, enduring frequent hunger and beatings. Before she was even fourteen, she was nearly married off to a remote mountain village in exchange for a bride price for her foster brother.
If it weren’t for accidentally discovering her true origins, and seizing leverage over that family, causing a stir and relentlessly pursuing her way back to Suzhou regardless of the cost, she might not even have survived to become a proper person.
If Jiang Lizhu were the original host, she would feel the same hatred, the same disgust, and the same unwillingness to acknowledge such evil-hearted foster parents.
Jiang Lizhu could completely understand the overwhelming sense of injustice and resentment within the original host. Compared to those terrible, detestable foster parents, how proud and enviable were her elegant and learned Chinese literature professor father in Suzhou, and her beautiful, intelligent doctor mother!
And these wonderful parents rightfully belonged to her. She demanded things be set right. How was it unreasonable for her to insist that Xiao Jinzhu shouldn’t enjoy any of the family’s benefits?
If not for the turbulent times and the separation from her biological parents, causing the original host to both gain her dreamed-of life and then lose it again, she might not have become so extreme as to end up in the situation depicted in the book.
The original host hated her foster family, and by extension, she strongly disliked the countryside. After marriage, upon learning that her “carefully chosen” soldier husband was also from a rural background, her impression of him plummeted instantly.
Gone was the initial “good impression” from their first meeting. But the irony was that she had actively schemed to marry him. Plagued by this awkward contradiction, she was reluctant to rely on this husband deep down, to the point that even when she was about to give birth, she never told him.
Fortunately, the original host was a nurse, and everyone living in these family quarters was either a doctor or a nurse. The hospital was right in front; she could just shout and someone would come.
Her pregnancy, bumpy as it was, never actually encountered a situation where contacting family was absolutely necessary.
The day after Jiang Lizhu transmigrated, she decisively asked Head Nurse Liu, who came to visit her, to find a relatively reliable worker’s wife, Aunt Mei, to specifically take care of her during her confinement month.
After completing the forty-day confinement period, Jiang Lizhu continued to have Aunt Mei come to the house for two hours each day to help with chores and errands.
Jiang Lizhu had the savings the original host had accumulated, the 600 yuan betrothal gift from Gu Mingyan, the 2000 yuan dowry Ruan Yumin had given her, plus her own monthly salary and the 20 yuan living expenses her husband sent her every month. It was fair to say she was quite well-off.
For the current Jiang Lizhu, any problem that could be solved with money wasn’t a problem. Within the limits of her means, she would never shortchange herself or her son.
A month ago, Jiang Lizhu had sold her job, netting another 800 yuan. Once her husband Gu Mingyan replied and the procedures for joining him in the military garrison were completed, and she had dealt with the fate of the larger furniture in the house, she could set off to join him anytime.
Given the still hot weather in July and August, and the unavoidable mentality of avoiding a stranger husband, Jiang Lizhu wasn’t in a hurry to join the garrison. Before now, and even currently, not receiving a reply telegram didn’t bother her much.
And since Gu Mingyan was the male lead in another era novel about a stepmother, Jiang Lizhu wasn’t too worried about his personal safety for the time being.
For Gu Mingyan, the “tool-man” male lead and “workaholic” “Grim Reaper” who was always going on missions, it was perfectly normal to contact his family only once every one, two, or even three months.
The telegram Jiang Lizhu had sent Gu Mingyan a month ago contained only a dozen or so words: “Son born safely on May 5th. Suzhou City wife.”
After Jiang Lizhu braced herself and sent that telegram, her mentality immediately switched to its current state of “letting things be.” She didn’t want to think about the potential “flood and tsunami” of shock Gu Mingyan might be experiencing.
Five days ago, Gu Mingyan returned from a mission, only to be constantly congratulated by his comrades on “the happy arrival of a son,” while he himself looked utterly bewildered.
Gu Mingyan initially thought it was a prank his comrades had cooked up together against him, until he saw with his own eyes the telegram Jiang Lizhu had sent him.
So, “the whole world” knew he had a son, but he himself was the last to find out.
“Is this your child? So cute! Is it a boy or a girl?”
A young woman’s voice came from the left front, accompanied by a question demanding a reply. Jiang Lizhu’s attempt to avoid social interaction failed, and she had to open her eyes and turn her head to look.
It was Xiao Jinzhu, the false daughter female lead, whom Jiang Lizhu was encountering face-to-face for the first time in the three-plus months since she had transmigrated.
Jiang Lizhu sneered inwardly. If Xiao Jinzhu hadn’t come specifically to see her, dogs wouldn’t eat bones.
The eastern small courtyard of the family quarters where she lived was quite dilapidated and remote. Xiao Jinzhu wouldn’t need to pass by here to visit any “friend” in the family quarters. Otherwise, living in the same quarters, they wouldn’t have met officially only today.
Xiao Jinzhu didn’t seem to expect an answer from Jiang Lizhu. Her gaze was soft, as if looking at a willful child, and her tone was earnest and sincere.
“I heard you quit your job at the hospital. That was a permanent position. Mother Jiang… Auntie Ruan went through a lot of trouble back then to secure it for you. Before Auntie Ruan left, I promised her I would look after you. If you encounter difficulties in life, you can come to me, rather than giving up on yourself…”
Jiang Lizhu’s posture remained languid and comfortable. Her slightly narrowed fox eyes watched Xiao Jinzhu, radiant with the glow of kindness, with great interest.
To be honest, Jiang Lizhu felt that both her past self and the original host were much better looking than this female lead.
Over the past few months, eating, sleeping, and recovering well, Jiang Lizhu’s naturally similar features had gradually approached about eighty percent of her appearance from her previous life.
In front of her bright and beautiful self, Xiao Jinzhu’s demure, “small family” looks were as bland and unremarkable as plain tofu.
“Oh, so you promised my mother to look after me? Then we can’t have you breaking your word. Find me another job then. I’m not picky; I could even do a temporary job in the finance office,” Jiang Lizhu said with a slight smile, equally considerate and understanding.
Jiang Lizhu might not go out often, but Aunt Mei, the worker’s wife, came to her house every day to work. She had overheard plenty of gossip, big and small, from the hospital and the family quarters.
Xiao Jinzhu had started her internship in the audit section of the hospital’s finance office on the third of this month. Every day, she was picked up and dropped off by her fiancé, the son of Dean Lin’s family. The unmarried couple appeared together everywhere, the envy of many.
And Jiang Lizhu’s choice to resign had clearly surprised many. As soon as the news spread, the female lead Xiao Jinzhu couldn’t help but come looking for her.
Xiao Jinzhu suddenly fell silent, her expression stiffening. It seemed she hadn’t expected Jiang Lizhu to actually ask for something.
The original Jiang Lizhu would indeed have been like that, hating Xiao Jinzhu too much to ever ask her enemy for help. The current Jiang Lizhu naturally had no such psychological burden.
As everyone knew, a temporary job in the audit section was even harder to come by than a permanent nursing position. Nursing work often required pulling all-nighters, and many patients and their families could be difficult to handle. In comparison, the audit section only had day shifts, simpler interpersonal relationships, higher pay, and better benefits and subsidies.
A year later, when Xiao Jinzhu officially joined as a university graduate, her starting monthly salary would be higher than that of an ordinary nurse with ten years of seniority.
“You’ve enjoyed so many benefits from the Jiang family in the past. It’s time to give back. It’s just a temporary job, after all. Tsk, look at your face… Forget it, I didn’t really think you’d be willing anyway. You can leave now. You’re blocking the sun for me and my son.”
Jiang Lizhu gently rubbed her son’s plump little belly. Her lazy, half-moon smile completely vanished. Her slightly narrowed fox eyes stared coldly at Xiao Jinzhu. Her light brown pupils were like mirrors, seemingly reflecting the depths of one’s heart.
Now that Jiang Lizhu had become the Jiang Lizhu of this world, there was no way she could ever look kindly upon Xiao Jinzhu, who had taken advantage of almost everything.