Chapter 15: Awakening Progress?

　　As soon as the system finished speaking, someone trotted past Jiang Youtao and the others, including Xu Dazui. Jiang Youtao pulled Gu Nianwei to catch up with her: "Aunt Dazui, where are you going in such a hurry?"

　　According to Xu Dazhui, when she was born, her whole body was small except for her mouth, so her grandmother gave her the name Xu Dazui.

　　Seeing that it was Jiang Youtao, Xu Dazui slowed down her pace and said, "Zhao Chunhua wanted to sell Lin Jianzhong's Wenrong, and was discovered by Wenping and Wen'an. They are making a fuss right now."

　　Zhao Chunhua is Lin Jianzhong's mother and also the mother-in-law who has been tormenting Gu Nianwei in the book.

　　It has been 74 years. The economic situation has been good in recent years. Unless someone is too lazy to grow maggots, few people sell their children, let alone grandmothers selling their children.

　　It has been many years since such an incident happened in Liushugou. Who among them wouldn't want to go and see it after hearing about it?

　　Jiang Youtao remembered that there was this passage in the book. The book said that Lin Jianzhong was unwilling to marry again, and he was particularly opposed to blind dates. Lin Weihong persuaded him many times because of this incident, but it was useless. After this incident came out, he agreed to the blind date.

　　Because he suddenly realized that his mother was vicious and he needed someone to take care of his children.

　　Gu Nianwei's appearance, figure, and family background perfectly meet all his fantasies about women. After meeting Gu Nianwei on a blind date, he changed his previous impatience and perfunctory attitude and became particularly proactive and frank.

　　He spoke so nicely during the blind date. He said that two of the three children had grown up and no longer needed to be taken care of. They could even help take care of the younger ones. They were obedient, well-behaved and sensible. They were not the naughty kids picked up from the village and would definitely not make things difficult for Gu Nianwei.

　　All Gu Nianwei had to do was cook for them and wash their clothes. She didn't have to worry about the rest. As for Zhao Chunhua, she didn't have to pay any attention to her. She could just pretend she didn't exist.

　　The nice things he said before marriage turned out to be disgusting after marriage. Lin Jianzhong was obviously rich, had a position in the commune, and was high enough to live in the commune's family compound, but in order to show his kindness, he gave all his retirement money to the widow of his comrade-in-arms, and he also gave the commune's dormitory to the family with many children in the supply and marketing cooperative.

　　There was no money to build a house in the village, and when Gu Nianwei wanted to use her money to build one, he refused and even said hypocritical words like he was unwilling to use Gu Nianwei's dowry. This moved Gu Nianwei in the book to tears, and also made Gu Nianwei live under the nose of Zhao Chunhua, the evil mother-in-law, for the rest of her life.

　　The three brothers Lin Wenping appear to be well-behaved and obedient on the surface, but in fact they are stabbing Gu Nianwei in the back. If she does anything bad to them, people will talk about her when she goes out.

　　Gu Nianwei was scolded and belittled three times a day in the Lin family. Is this how people live? Don't good people have to be driven crazy by these people? What was Lin Jianzhong doing at that time?

　　He was busy with his career, leaving home early and returning late, and when he came back and found out what happened, he would just hit people with a big stick and yell at Zhao Chunhua. He defended Gu Nianwei, but when he left, those who were beaten and scolded by him took out their anger on Gu Nianwei.

　　Jiang Youtao felt pain in her breasts whenever she thought of the contents of the book.

　　If he wants someone to take care of his son, can't he just hire a nanny? Does he have to find a wife to take care of his son? Aren't you so capable?

　　Gu Nianwei didn't know why, but when she heard that Lin Wenrong was going to be sold, her heart trembled. She grabbed Jiang Youtao's hand and said, "Isn't it his real grandmother? Why would she sell her grandson? How cruel."

　　Xu Dazui pouted, "How can it not be a biological one? My grandmother used to be a midwife. She delivered almost all the babies of the younger generation in our village. Lin Jianzhong was brought out of Zhao Chunhua's belly by her own hands. How can it be fake?"

　　Zhao Chunhua gave birth to her baby on the kang in her own home, and even if she wanted to change the baby, no one would do so with her.

　　"Zhao Chunhua is the most hypocritical and vicious woman. You will know it after a while."

　　When Jiang Youtao heard the news, she immediately asked Xu Dazui to explain it.

　　Zhao Chunhua's affairs have been discussed by everyone in the past few decades. No one is too lazy to talk about her family's trivial matters. Facing Jiang Youtao, an outsider, Xu Dazui is in high spirits.

　　"Zhao Chunhua and I married into Liushugou at the same time. She married earlier than me, yet I got pregnant with my first child in the middle of the year, and gave birth at the beginning of the next year while she couldn't. She has been quiet ever since. Her old lady is not someone to be trifled with, either. She teases and tortures her every day."

　　Speaking of the past, Xu Dazui tutted her lips and said, "Mother-in-laws in those days were not good. We feel sorry for Zhao Chunhua because she has such mother-in-law."

　　"She was tortured to the point of having no more options, so she sought out a fortune teller from Wangzhuang next door and bought some talismanic water and some folk remedies to eat. She ate a lot of ants, centipedes, and scorpions, and we were all scared just watching." They were young at the time and didn't know how terrible human nature was.

　　When Zhao Chunhua was tortured to the point of being unable to eat, Xu Dazui secretly saved some dry food for her. Now Xu Dazui thought that it would be better to feed the food to a dog than to feed it to her. At least the dog would wag its tail at her, but if she gave the food to Zhao Chunhua, she would bite her back.

　　"When my eldest child was almost one year old, she finally got pregnant. The Lin family has been a single-line family for three generations. Once she got pregnant, she became a big shot in the family. Everyone in the Lin family held her in high esteem."

　　"Once she gained power, she became a completely different person. She no longer cared about any of the sisters who had been kind to her before."

　　"My mother-in-law wasn't a very decent person at that time. One time, I had an argument with my old lady, and Zhao Chunhua happened to pass by. For no apparent reason, she stood on my mother-in-law's side and joined her in bullying me, saying that I was disrespectful to her and was not a good daughter-in-law. She also told about the dry food I gave her."

　　"You don't know how angry my mother-in-law was at that time. Even my husband had complaints about me." It was still the 1940s and 1950s, and every household was poor. A family that could eat only 50% full every meal was considered extremely wealthy.

　　Xu Dazui gave her own food to outsiders. Who wouldn't be angry after hearing this? Her mother-in-law was so angry that she hit her. Her husband was better. Although he was angry with her, he still protected her. But she still paid a price.

　　From that day until she became pregnant with her second child, she keep working in the kitchen, and she was given the least amount of food at every meal. Her husband was also watched closely by the family, and no food was left for her at all.

　　Every day when she couldn't stand the hunger anymore, she just drank water to fill her stomach.

　　It was common to drink water on an empty stomach until one vomited acid. Because of this incident, Zhao Chunhua's popularity in the village was completely gone. Those who had helped her before avoided her like the plague. Who wouldn't be afraid of being the next Xu Dazui?

　　Xu Dazui is not a person who holds grudges, but she has hated Zhao Chunhua all her life.

　　"Zhao Chunhua let the baby grow too big in her belly, and she had a difficult labor, which took a whole day and night to give birth, and she was also injured because of this. After Lin Jianzhong was born, he was taken away by her mother-in-law to be raised. She lived the same life as before she got pregnant, and her mother-in-law beat and scolded her."

　　"But this time no one sympathized with her. No one spoke for her when she was being quarreled by her mother-in-law and her husband." After all, the lesson of Xu Dazui was still in front of them. Although they were young at that time, they were not stupid.

　　"She blamed Lin Jianzhong for her miserable life and injuries. She was particularly mean to him and sometimes acted as if she had never given birth to this son."

　　"It was three years later that she got pregnant again. This time she gave birth to another son. She spoiled him to the heavens. Lin Jianhua was still breastfeeding when he was ten years old. It was said that he was still sleeping in the same bed with her when he was fifteen."

　　Every household in Northeast China sleeps on a Kang (a traditional Chinese kang), and in order to save firewood, unmarried children usually sleep on the same Kang as their parents. But when children grow up, they sleep in separate quilts.

　　A 15-year-old boy has semen that can make a woman pregnant, and he sleeps in the same bed with the mother. Who wouldn't laugh at this?

　　There are cases of mothers having affairs with their own sons in this area.

　　They also privately speculated whether Zhao Chunhua had ever deflowered her son.

　　Although Xu Dazui did not mention how hypocritical and vicious Zhao Chunhua was, Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao were fascinated by the gossip.

　　As they were talking, they arrived at the Lin family.

　　In the countryside, every household has a big house. The Lin family's house is a typical northern courtyard, with five main rooms, three side rooms, and a vegetable garden in the middle, where some seasonal vegetables are planted.

　　It was just the time to get off work, and the Lin family's yard was full of people. Some of them were holding farm tools, while others were holding bowls or dry food.

　　The protagonists in the center of the yard are divided into two groups. One group is the Lin Wenping brothers who protect their younger brother behind them, and on the opposite side are Zhao Chunhua and two well-dressed middle-aged couples.

　　Zhao Chunhua was short, no more than 1.5 meters tall, but she was very plump and had a waist as thick as a bucket. In this age when most people could not get enough to eat, it was a rare talent for her to be able to feed herself so much while making her family members look so skinny.

　　Normally, fat people tend to look friendlier, but Zhao Chunhua is just the opposite. She has high cheekbones, a flat nose, narrow triangular eyes, and her eyelids droop in the middle. She always looks a little mean when she looks at people.

　　This is the person in the book who tortured Gu Nianwei to the point where she almost lost half her life.

　　Jiang Youtao turned to look at Gu Nianwei and found that Gu Nianwei's gaze fell on the three brothers again, with a hint of pity in her eyes.

　　"Zhao Chunhua, who allowed you to buy and sell human beings? What qualifications do you have to sell Wen Rong?" A woman squeezed into the crowd and went towards Zhao Chunhua.

　　Gu Nianwei said, "It's Aunt Wei Hong."

　　Lin Weihong's workplace today was quite far away, and before she returned to the village she heard that Zhao Chunhua was going to sell Lin Wenrong. She ran home immediately, and when she saw the couple behind Zhao Chunhua, her head exploded.

　　Zhao Chunhua was unhappy when she heard this: "What are you saying? Can you speak properly? Human trafficking is illegal. How can I do that? I just found a father and mother for Wenrong. Didn't you say that it's hard for Jianzhong, a man with three children, to find a wife. I'm trying to reduce his burden, but it doesn't work? You are a married woman, like spilled water. Don't come here to make trouble. Go back to where you came from."

　　Zhao Chunhua and Lin Weihong, the sister-in-law, didn't get along with each other from the first sight they met. They always did the opposite of each other. Zhao Chunhua hated Lin Weihong.

　　Later, Lin Weihong married in the village and saw Zhao Chunhua every day. The two of them disliked each other. If it weren't for Lin Jianzhong's children, they would have stopped talking to each other long ago.

　　"Bullshit, you love to lighten the burdens of others, why don't you lighten the burden for your Jianhua? Doesn't he have two sons too?"

　　The onlookers heard this and agreed, "Wei Hong is right, Chunhua, you can't be so biased. Jianhua will hate you, won't he?"

　　"Yes, these two people are from the county town. Once the child is sent there, he will be a city dweller. What a good thing. Why didn't you let Jianhua's son go? That way, he will have someone to rely on when he grows up."

　　Jiang Youtao looked around and found that those who said these words were all women about the same age as Zhao Chunhua, and among them, Aunt Jiang Si spoke the most.

　　Xu Dazui stuffed a handful of pumpkin seeds into Jiang Youtao's hand and whispered to her, "Have you noticed how unpopular Zhao Chunhua is in our village? Look at your Fourth Aunt Jiang. Zhao Chunhua almost broke up her family."

　　Jiang Youtao gave half of the melon seeds to Gu Nianwei and widened her eyes: "What's going on, Aunt Xu?"

　　This matter is not a secret in the village. Xu Dazui said: "Your Fourth Aunt Jiang was pretty when she was young. She was the prettiest among the young girls and wives of my generation. Zhao Chunhua was ugly and was particularly jealous of her. She told everyone that she was restless and even spread rumors that she was sneaking into the cornfield with someone. When your Fourth Aunt Jiang's husband heard this, he had five fights in two or three days. You should know that before this, your Fourth Aunt Jiang and her husband were well-known for their love in our village."

　　Xu Dazui clicked her tongue and said, "Your Fourth Aunt Jiang is almost divorced. Since this incident, her relationship with her husband has been very bad. Even though she knows that all the rumors were spread by Zhao Chunhua, it's useless to save the relationship."

　　Once a man's suspicion is planted, it may take root and sprout at any time. A thorn was planted in the heart of Aunt Jiang's husband, and he never let it go in the years that followed. Aunt Jiang and Zhao Chunhua became mortal enemies.

　　Aunt Jiang spared no effort to make things difficult for Zhao Chunhua. Just like now, she not only provoked the relationship between Zhao Chunhua and Lin Jianhua, but also made the faces of the couple behind Zhao Chunhua become very ugly.

　　What are the most feared things when adopting a child? The most feared thing is that the child will still have ties with the previous family, and the child will be entangled by the previous family.

　　The couple looked at each other, and the woman said to Zhao Chunhua, "Sister, why did you ask us to come here if you didn't discuss it before? That's not how you do things. Old Wu, let's go."

　　The couple walked out together. Zhao Chunhua's face changed and she quickly held her back: "Sister, what are you talking about? I have the final say in my family. Don't worry about these people. They are just jealous. Just go over and take the kid away."

　　Zhao Chunhua gave birth to two sons and three daughters, breaking the awkward situation of the Lin family's three generations of single inheritance. As she gave birth to more and more children, her voice in the Lin family became more and more powerful. When her mother-in-law was alive, she had to avoid her edge. When she was young, Lin Laozhuang, who followed her mother to harass her, was completely subdued by her over the years.

　　The two daughters-in-law dared not say a word under her guidance. The Lin family was ruled by Zhao Chunhua alone.

　　The people around were also discussing it. Jiang Youtao was confused and asked Xu Dazui, "Aunt, didn't they say that Lin Jianzhong's father was the only son in three generations? Aunt Wei Hong was adopted by his family?"

　　"No, the legend in their family says that there is only one male child in each of the three generations. Girls don't count in their family. Wei Hong's parents gave birth to two daughters before Lin Lao Zhuang was born. The two daughters before were drowned by Lin Lao Zhuang's grandmother in the chamber pot. It is said that they blocked the way for the old Lin family to have a son."

　　Xu Dazui pouted and said, "There are many families that favor boys over girls, but there are not many that can do it to the extent of the Lin family. If Lin Laozhuang hadn't been born before Wei Hong, Wei Hong probably wouldn't have grown up."

　　Jiang Youtao was born at the end of the 20th century and grew up in the 21st century. It was not uncommon for boys to be favored over girls, but this was the first time Jiang Youtao had heard of a family like the Lin family.

　　She was amazed. The evil and stupidity of human beings were fully displayed in the Lin family.

　　Lin Weihong didn't look at Zhao Chunhua. She went to the yard, picked up Lin Wenrong, and said to the two brothers Lin Wenping, "Let's go home with aunt."

　　Lin Wen'an took Lin Wenping's hand, and the two followed closely behind Lin Weihong. When Lin Wenping saw Gu Nianwei in the crowd, his tears immediately flowed down. Jiang Youtao hurriedly looked at Gu Nianwei, and sure enough, the look of heartache in her eyes became even more intense.

　　The crowd watching the fun consciously made way for them. Lin Weihong walked to the gate. She turned around and looked at her brother Lin Laozhuang, who had been sitting at the doorstep with his head in his hands and not saying a word.

　　"Brother, Jianzhong is also your son. You just let Zhao Chunhua abuse your grandson like this. Aren't you afraid that Jianzhong will come back and not let you go?"

　　Lin Weihong left after she finished speaking, but Lin Laozhuang remained in the same posture as before, without moving at all.

　　When Zhao Chunhua saw Lin Weihong carrying Lin Wenrong away, she was so angry that she was shaking all over. She had always felt that her sister-in-law was here to collect debts, and she had been against her in the past and was still against her now.

　　Before she could do anything, the couple who came to hold the child took her legs and left.

　　Zhao Chunhua immediately chased after them, explaining as she chased them that they couldn't afford to offend these two people. Her nephew from her mother's side was promising and worked in the county town. These two people were neighbors of his leader, and it was his leader who arranged for them to come and pick up the child. If they left like this, how could her nephew, who had arranged for them to do so, be safe?

　　The couple kept walking and soon walked out of everyone's sight.

　　Without the excitement to watch, the onlookers dispersed spontaneously.

　　Jiang Youtao and the others can share the same journey with Xu Dazui.

　　Xu Dazui continued to tell them what he had just left unsaid: "Zhao Chunhua is not a good person. Jianzhong used to be in the army, and his wife was bullied by her in her hometown. Jianzhong clearly sent a lot of money home, but she and her children still lived a miserable life."

　　If other new wives encountered such a thing, Xu Dazui would have given some advice, but this was Zhao Chunhua's family's business, so she didn't intend to intervene, not to mention that Lin Jianzhong's previous wife was not a capable woman. So she didn't intervene in her family's affairs, or else she would end up getting herself into trouble.

　　Thinking of this, Xu Dazui glanced at Gu Nianwei next to Jiang Youtao.

　　Gu Nianwei is so beautiful. She hasn't caused any trouble in the more than one year since she came to Liushugou. She is also quite hardworking. It's a pity that such a grown-up girl would marry a man like Lin Jianzhong.

　　Even if Lin Jianzhong was a cadre and was paid and fed by the government, what was that? He was already so old, had three sons, and had a mother like Zhao Chunhua. Even if he had good conditions, he would still suffer grievances if he married into the family?

　　That family is no different from a fire pit.

　　With a hint of reluctance, she continued, "Zhao Chunhua has always felt that Lin Wenrong was not Lin Jianzhong's child. After all, Lin Jianzhong had only been back for a week at that time. It was not easy for him to get her wife pregnant."

　　"Lin Jianzhong's wife suffered a lot from her. She had a difficult delivery because Zhao Chunhua asked her to wash clothes in the middle of winter. It was so cold in winter that water would freeze into ice in a short time. She slipped and fell, and the baby was thrown out. After the baby was born, she also had a heavy hemorrhage and died. Zhao Chunhua didn't even let her go to the hospital, saying that every woman would bleed during childbirth and that going to the hospital was a waste of money."

　　"As a result, Lin Jianzhong's wife died before the baby was even three days old." As they are all women, Xu Dazui felt a little sad to see someone die in childbirth.

　　She added: "I heard that Lin Weihong is now looking for a wife for Lin Jianzhong. I don't know who is so unlucky. Not only does she have three sons after marrying, but she also has to put up with such an old woman. Lin Jianzhong is not a good man either. He can't even protect his own wife."

　　"If he had protected his wife a little more, his mother wouldn't dare to mistreat her like that." Lin Jianzhong was the most promising son in the Lin family. Even for the money in his pocket, she didn't dare to go too far.

　　The bad relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is mostly due to the inaction of the man. Just like in her family, wasn't her mother-in-law also powerful before? Her husband protected her, and generally she would not do anything too excessive.

　　"Okay, I'm go home, you guys can also go now." Xu Dazui waved goodbye to Jiang Youtao and the others and went home.

　　Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei continued walking towards the educated youth site.

　　Jiang Youtao organized her words and spoke to Gu Nianwei: "Weiwei, did you hear what Aunt Xu said just now? You and Aunt Weihong go to work together every day. Did she tell you who she has her eyes on as her niece's wife?"

　　The whole village has heard that Lin Weihong wants Gu Nianwei to be her niece's wife. Gu Nianwei works with her every day. Does she know about this?

　　Gu Nianwei looked around and whispered to Jiang Youtao, "She told me that she wanted to match me up with Lin Wenping's father, but I refused."

　　Although Gu Nianwei liked the three brothers Lin Wenping, she had been single for so many years and had grown up with so many ups and downs. She didn't want to be someone else's slave or stepmother. She refused at that time, but Lin Weihong still didn't give up and kept saying how good Lin Jianzhong was whenever she got the chance.

　　Originally, Gu Nianwei didn't like Lin Jianzhong. After seeing and hearing so many things today, Gu Nianwei kept her distance from Lin Jianzhong.

　　She warned Jiang Youtao: "Don't tell anyone else, otherwise it will be so embarrassing in the future."

　　Jiang Youtao felt that Gu Nianwei was too naive. She said to Gu Nianwei, "The news that Lin Weihong likes you has spread all over the village. I heard the aunts discussing it this morning."

　　"Just now I thought you didn't know, so I reminded you. The Lin family is not a good family. You just heard it. If you become their daughter-in-law, you might die that day. We are young, beautiful and youthful, so it's not the right time for us to become stepmothers."

　　Jiang Youtao said this very seriously.

　　Gu Nianwei felt warm at heart when she saw Jiang Youtao's serious expression.

　　Maybe because of what happened in her childhood, she has always been very inferior in her heart. She is not willing to make friends when she grows up. Even her roommate who she lived with for four years in college did not keep in touch with her much after graduation.

　　After graduation, she stayed at home and worked as a landlord. She even collected the rent through WeChat and Alipay. Her greatest pleasure was playing games and shopping online. She had very few friends in real life.

　　She had long given up on having friends, and she didn't expect to have good friends after traveling to this era. Jiang Youtao came in unexpectedly.

　　At first, she thought Jiang Youtao was pretty so she took better care of her, but she found it surprisingly easy to get along with her, and now, she already treated her as a friend.

　　Gu Nianwei promised: "Don't worry."

　　Jiang Youtao was worried. After observing for the past few days, she found that Gu Nianwei, who was usually very normal, became a different person when she saw the three children from the Lin family. Her IQ was even at the level of mental retardation.

　　She decided to wait and see, and use some extraordinary measures if necessary. In any case, she couldn't let Gu Nianwei follow the same path as described in the book.

　　[ Ding~~~ Complete the melon-eating mission in key plot 1, random rewards: 100g fruit candy, 3 meat buns, 250g original melon seeds. System rewards are distributed to the system backpack, please accept the rewards. ]

　　The reward from the melon-eating system arrived, and Jiang Youtao's mood immediately improved, especially the meat bun as a reward, which really touched her heart.

　　Entering the Youth Point with a happy mood, the melon-eating system sounded a reminder sound again: [ Ding ~~~ The host has changed the original key plot, Gu Nianwei's awakening progress is 0.5, and the reward is melon coin X1. Please accept the reward again. ]

　　Jiang Youtao's raised right foot stopped.

　　Hmm? Gu Nianwei's awakening progress? Jiang Youtao hasn't even finished digesting what this awakening progress represents.

　　There were bursts of exclamations from the educated youths' camp: "Zhao Yonglan, what are you talking about? You want to live with the villagers?"