Wang Cuihua stared suspiciously at Lin Tingwan for a long time. Could it be that this wretched girl had been deeply shocked after hearing about Zhou Huaijin and Qiao Shuran?
At that moment, Zhang Mei from next door heard the commotion and hurried over. She chimed in sarcastically, “Sister Cuihua, you really need to keep an eye on your daughter in law. She looks like she has taken quite a shock. But with all those wicked thoughts of hers, what if she loses her mind and tries to steal Comrade Qiao’s man? Then your Ji family would be completely disgraced!”
Wang Cuihua’s expression darkened even further. She glared fiercely at Lin Tingwan.
“Let her try. I will break her legs!”
After saying that, she rolled her eyes at Zhang Mei.
“Xiaomei, why are you sticking your nose into my family’s business again? I heard your Changfu’s marriage proposal was rejected again. He is short, ugly, has no job, yet he still wants to marry a pretty city girl. What a joke! Take my advice and find a blind country girl to marry into your family!”
Zhang Mei was furious.
“Sister Cuihua, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“Am I wrong? What about you? Who was the one laughing at me back then for marrying a country daughter in law?”
Before Lin Tingwan had transmigrated into the book, she had been working overtime late into the night for nearly half a year, sleeping only three hours a day. After finally transmigrating into the book, Zhou Huaijin had completely drained what little strength she had left. Now that the deadlock had finally cracked open, and the factory was closed for the day, she decided to sleep as much as she could first!
As for her mother in law and Auntie Zhang, as long as they did not fight themselves to death, she would let them argue all they wanted.
“Your Awen might have been handsome, but he was still a short lived man!”
“At least my Awen managed to marry a wife. Your Changfu is destined to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life!”
“Marry a wife who brings death to her husband? Whose son died on his wedding night? He did not even get to touch his wife before he died, leaving her free to sneak around with other men!”
“Xiaomei, my Awen died in the line of duty. He was a heroic worker whom the factory held a memorial service for. How can you slander him like this?”
“Hero? If his technical skills had been good enough, would he have died? If you want to talk about a hero, that would be Director Zhou. He saved everyone’s lives. Your Awen could not save anyone else, nor could he save himself. The factory honoring him as a hero was already giving him more credit than he deserved!”
“You say another word and I will tear your mouth apart!”
“Come on then! We will see who tears whose mouth apart!”
The two women continued arguing until they ended up in the corridor.
Soon, a group of older women came out to watch the spectacle. It was only when they saw that the two women were about to start fighting that they stepped in and pulled them apart.
Everyone in the compound was already accustomed to watching Zhang Mei and Wang Cuihua bicker every day. If the two of them ever went a day without arguing, they would actually feel that something was missing.
Normally, Zhang Mei and Wang Cuihua would finish arguing in the morning and make peace again by the afternoon, without truly falling out with each other.
But this time was different.
“Xiaomei, I swear I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!”
“Sister Cuihua, you are completely ungrateful. I cannot be bothered with you anymore!”
The two women returned to their respective homes and slammed their doors shut.
“Bang!”
The moment Wang Cuihua closed the door, she burst into tears.
She argued with Zhang Mei every day, but Zhang Mei had always known where to draw the line. This time, she had actually brought up her dead son.
It was too much!
She had only one son, and he had died in the line of duty. How dare Zhang Mei use him as a weapon against her?
Put simply, was Zhang Mei not bullying her because she had lost her husband last year and her son this year, leaving not a single man in her household?
Wang Cuihua cried until both her eyes became swollen.
Eventually, crying made her hungry, and she suddenly remembered that the wretched Lin Tingwan had not gotten up at all!
She stormed into Lin Tingwan’s room and saw her sleeping more soundly than a pig, even snoring!
Good grief, she might as well strangle her!
Ever since this woman had started dating her son, everything in her family had gone wrong!
Last year, before Lin Tingwan had even married into the family, her own husband had passed away, turning her into a widow at only forty!
This year, just after Lin Tingwan married into the family, she had caused Awen to die on their wedding night!
And now, here she was, a forty year old widow raising a twenty year old newly widowed woman!
Life was truly miserable!
“You wretched girl, you have not eaten or drunk anything all day. Are you planning to sleep yourself to death?”
Wang Cuihua pulled Lin Tingwan out of the bed.
In Wang Cuihua’s eyes, Lin Tingwan had clearly been badly shaken.
“I am warning you, if you dare let outsiders laugh at our Ji family, I will break your legs!”
Lin Tingwan was actually still not fully rested.
Her eyes hurt terribly.
But when she saw Wang Cuihua’s swollen eyes, she froze.
“Mom, have you been crying?”
Wang Cuihua had originally been about to start scolding her, but she quickly turned her face away.
“What a joke. Do you think I would cry? If you want to starve yourself to death, I will not stop you!”
Wang Cuihua angrily went to cook.
Wang Cuihua had a bad temper, and she had constantly argued and even fought with the original owner in the past, but she handled all the cooking and housework.
After all, the original owner was both lazy and malicious, and she could not be bothered to do such things.
Wang Cuihua had no choice but to cook while cursing.
Lin Tingwan heard her cursing her dead husband, then cursing her short lived son.
“Ji Fugui, I must have committed some great sin in my previous life to marry you. Ji Fugui, what a joke. You were neither wealthy nor fortunate, and you were short lived too! That would have been bad enough, but you even passed your short lived fate on to my son. A whole family of short lived ghosts!”
By the time Lin Tingwan had finished getting ready, Wang Cuihua had already prepared dinner.
Dinner consisted of steamed rice, stir fried meat with water spinach, and a bowl of vegetable soup.
It had been half a month since Ji Chongwen died, and Wang Cuihua had cooked vegetables every day. The original owner had grown thin from hunger and had argued with her about it more than once.
But Wang Cuihua controlled the family’s finances. Even the one thousand yuan compensation from the factory had been taken by Wang Cuihua. The original owner’s own salary was spent on dressing herself up, so she had no choice but to swallow her complaints and continue eating vegetables with her.
Wang Cuihua focused only on her own meal and did not speak to Lin Tingwan.
Lin Tingwan felt that her mother in law was simply too strong willed. She had actually treated the original owner fairly well. What kind of daughter in law could be lazy every day without doing any housework?
“Mom, I was immature before. From now on, if you tell me to go east, I will not dare go west.”
After all, the two of them would be living together for a long time. It was important to improve their relationship. Lin Tingwan had never really argued with anyone before.
Wang Cuihua looked at her in shock.
“Wretched girl, did your personality change after sleeping? I am warning you, do not try to scheme against me.”
“I know, I know. From now on, you cook and I will wash the dishes.”
“Really?”
Wretched girl, she really had been badly shocked. Even her personality had changed.
“Of course.”
Lin Tingwan took the initiative to handle the dishwashing.
She really missed the modern dishwasher.
Unfortunately, her hand slipped, and the bowl shattered!
Crash!
“Wretched girl, did you do that on purpose?”
Wang Cuihua stormed into the kitchen, furious!
Her poor bowl!
“Mom, I really did not do it on purpose.” Lin Tingwan hurriedly apologized.
Wang Cuihua angrily clutched her chest.
“I do not care. You broke my bowl, so you have to pay for it.”
Lin Tingwan said, “Fine, fine. How much did the bowl cost? I will pay you.”
Wang Cuihua said, “One yuan.”
It had originally cost only thirty cents for a coarse earthenware bowl.
Lin Tingwan said, “Fine, Mom. Do not be angry. I will go get the money.”
Something was not right.
That wretched girl must be plotting something.
In the past, even when she had done something wrong, she would stubbornly refuse to admit it.
Wang Cuihua stared at her suspiciously.
Lin Tingwan returned to her room to get the money.
The original owner earned twenty seven yuan a month, but normally spent it all on clothes and Snow Flower Cream. She had not saved a single cent.
Lin Tingwan searched through every drawer and cupboard, but in the end, she could only scrape together thirty cents.
“Mom, I only have thirty cents. Can you let it go this time?”
Wang Cuihua took the money and glared fiercely at her.
“From now on, if you dare touch my bowls, I will break your hands.”
“Fine, fine. I promise I will not touch them again.”
Not having to wash dishes was great.
Actually, the original owner’s mother in law was only sharp tongued. She had never really done anything to physically harm the original owner.
In the book, Deputy Factory Director Li Jianguo liked her. His wife had passed away several years earlier, while his only son had become bedridden in a vegetative state after developing a high fever and had remained that way for several years. He had to be both father and mother to the child, and his life was quite difficult.
During the second half of the previous year, he had asked matchmakers to arrange a marriage several times, but Wang Cuihua had refused every time. When she became ill in her later years, there was not even anyone by her side to care for her, and she eventually died of thirst.
Sigh, the original owner’s mother in law had a rather miserable fate too.
Lin Tingwan said, “Mom, you have already sacrificed enough for the Ji family. The people in the Ji family never liked you anyway, so there is no need for you to remain a widow for them. I think Deputy Factory Director Li is a pretty good man. Why do you not consider marrying him?”
“Wretched girl, what nonsense are you talking about?” Wang Cuihua was furious. “I am telling you, in this life, I belong to my children’s father while I am alive, and I will belong to him even in death!”
“Tsk, he is already gone. Why bother preserving your chastity for him?”
“Wretched girl, I am telling you, you have to remain a widow with me for the rest of your life too! If you dare go outside and fool around with another man, I will break both your legs!”
“Fine, fine, I will remain a widow.”
Two widows together. That was rather interesting.
Lin Tingwan left the kitchen and took the initiative to sweep the floor.
She began missing her robotic vacuum cleaner again.
Damn it, how was she supposed to get back?
What if she secretly went to Zhou Huaijin’s dormitory and searched for a way to return?
If you fall somewhere, you have to get back up from the same place!
By the same logic, if she had transmigrated into the book at Zhou Huaijin’s place, then she had to return from there too!