Chapter 2: Get Married or Go to the Countryside

Li Hongying’s mouth opened and closed, caught between joy and worry.

The joy came from the fact that her daughter had a boyfriend, and a soldier at that.

Being a military wife was a great honor, and soldiers received allowances.

The allowances for veterans were no lower than those of ordinary workers; if he were promoted to an officer, the pay would be even higher, and he could be assigned a job upon discharge and transfer.

Even before meeting him, Li Hongying was already satisfied with her unseen son-in-law.

But she was worried that Jiang Dahai would not approve of this marriage.

"You child, if you had a boyfriend, you should have said something sooner! Dahai, I didn't know about this beforehand. Look at the mess this has made..."

Looking at Jiang Dahai's grim expression, Jiang Qing said, "We've known each other for a long time. He has always been in the military, so I had no way to bring him to see you, which is why I never mentioned it. He came home for a visit a few days ago, and only then did we discuss marriage. Once he settles his affairs, I will bring him back to meet you."

"Fuck! Jiang Qing, are you fucking doing this on purpose!?" Jiang Peng kicked his stool aside and cursed loudly. "You didn't say anything when you had a boyfriend, but you wait until right before going to the countryside? Are you intentionally trying to screw my sister over?"

Jiang Moli couldn't help but give her younger brother a thumbs-up.

*Little brother, you hit the nail on the head.*

As the reborn female protagonist, Jiang Qing harbored a deep-seated hatred for the original owner—her wicked step-sister. Therefore, the first thing she did after being reborn was to snatch the original owner's arranged marriage partner, a soldier.

On one hand, Jiang Qing saw the potential in the arranged marriage and knew the man would have a bright future.

On the other hand, she used marriage to avoid the tragic end of being sent to the countryside to die.

Thirdly, it was to cut off the original owner's escape route from being sent to the countryside.

An arranged marriage can only have one spouse; by marrying Jiang Qing, the original owner naturally could not marry him.

It was truly killing three birds with one stone.

As the wicked female supporting character, Jiang Moli couldn't stay silent at a time like this, even though she felt nothing in her heart.

"Dad, you are not allowed to give her the household registration booklet to register the marriage!"

After saying that, she looked at Jiang Qing triumphantly: "So what if you have a boyfriend? If you haven't registered the marriage certificate, it doesn't count. You're still going to the countryside!"

Jiang Qing looked at her coldly.

"What are you staring at? Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out! If you want to get married so badly, go ahead—wait until you go to the countryside, find some peasant, marry him, have a litter of country kids, and spend your whole life in the dirt."

Jiang Moli held her chin high with a smug, petty expression, looking so wicked that she wanted to slap herself twice.

"Moli, Xiao Qing, stop fighting." Li Hongying was extremely anxious, fearing that Jiang Dahai would lose his temper with them. "Dahai, Xiao Qing is young and inexperienced; she hasn't thought things through. Don't hold it against her. As for the matter of going to the countryside, we can still find a way."

She had no education, no formal job, and no son to rely on; the only person she could depend on was Jiang Dahai.

Jiang Qing found Li Hongying's submissiveness intolerable.

Yes, Jiang Dahai provided food and clothing for them, gave her a city household registration, and supported her through high school, but they hadn't lived for free.

Since arriving at this house at the age of ten, she and Li Hongying had not only had to serve the father and his two daughters with all their hearts, but also had to endure the bullying and provocations of the siblings, Jiang Moli and Jiang Peng.

Compared to a stepmother and stepsister, the two of them were more like the Jiang family's domestic servants.

She loathed this life of living under someone else's roof. Therefore, in her previous life, she had chosen to go to the countryside without hesitation to escape the Jiang family.

But when she rushed to the Hainan farm full of hope, thinking she could finally live for herself, she encountered a mountain flood and was buried alive by a mudslide.

After her death, her soul returned to the Jiang house.

Before her bones were even cold, the Jiang family had already rushed to organize a wedding, marrying Jiang Moli off to Zhang Jiaming.

Not long after, Zhang Jiaming performed great service in the military and was promoted exceptionally.

Jiang Moli packed her bags to become a military dependent.

Once she arrived at the military family compound, Jiang Moli's bad habits remained unchanged. Not only did she spend her days being lazy and gossiping about everyone, but she was also exploited by criminals to leak military secrets, which caused Zhang Jiaming to lose his position and receive a disciplinary action.

Later, Zhang Jiaming died heroically during a mission. Jiang Moli took the pension and immediately married a businessman from Zhejiang.

She was so unwilling.

A lazy, wicked woman like Jiang Moli could actually enjoy wealth and honor, while she, who had worked diligently and ambitiously, ended up dying a tragic death in a foreign land.

Perhaps because her resentment was so strong, when she opened her eyes, she had actually returned to the day before the registration for going to the countryside...

Pulling her thoughts back.

Jiang Qing did not argue with Jiang Moli; instead, she spoke in a tone that seemed to be considering Moli's best interests

"Uncle Jiang, I know you are reluctant to let Moli go to the countryside. Now, the only way is to let Moli get married as well. Once she is married, she won't have to go."

Even if Jiang Qing hadn't mentioned it, Jiang Dahai had thought of it.

Although he was angry at his stepdaughter for going back on her word, he couldn't bring himself to be the villain who tore lovers apart.

But if his stepdaughter didn't go to the countryside, then his biological daughter would have to.

There were two ways to avoid going to the countryside: one was to feign illness, and the other was to get married.

Given his daughter's stupidity and brashness, feigning illness would surely be exposed; getting married was the safer option.

But whom should she marry?

There were several unmarried youths in the machinery plant, but unfortunately, none of them took a liking to Jiang Moli.

With her bad reputation for being lazy and vain, combined with her restless, beautiful face, no one dared to marry her.

It was driving him to distraction.

...

After dinner, Wang Lianhua from the next room brought over a plate of melon to visit.

Jiang Moli was flipping through a martial arts novel she had scavenged from Jiang Peng.

In this era, where even listening to the radio required specific time slots, the only leisure activities were reading books and newspapers.

Jiang Moli picked up a piece of melon and chewed it listlessly.

The melon wasn't very fresh; the flesh was soft and it wasn't particularly sweet, but it was better than nothing.

Wang Lianhua had come to play matchmaker for Jiang Moli. "...You've met my nephew from my maiden home several times. Aside from being poor, he has no other faults."

Good heavens, isn't being poor a major fault?

Jiang Moli tossed the melon rind onto the table, her words as sharp as her appetite: "Auntie Wang, I have only one standard for a man: he must have money. A house, a car, and cash—none of them can be missing. And after marriage, he needs to give me a hundred or eighty yuan a month for pocket money. That's enough."

*Pah!*

*Are you making a wish?*

*A lazy person like you is lucky if any man wants you at all, yet you're being so picky. Once you're sent to the countryside and suffer, you'll learn your place!*

Wang Lianhua left in a huff.

Before leaving, she took the unfinished melon back with her.

"Hey, Auntie Wang, I haven't finished eating yet!" Jiang Moli shouted shamelessly at Wang Lianhua's retreating back.

The only response was the sound of Wang Lianhua slamming the door.

Jiang Dahai glared at his daughter, caught between anger and helplessness.

He didn't fancy the Wang nephew either. His daughter was already lazy; if she married a pauper, how would they survive?

No matter what, he had to find a daughter with a decent family background, someone who could provide enough food so she wouldn't go hungry.

After much thought, Jiang Dahai thought of the arranged marriage set for his daughter.

He and Zhang Tiesheng were from the same village, their houses were next to each other, and they had been close since childhood, so they had an arranged marriage.

During the famine in 1960, Jiang Dahai had brought his family to the city to beg for food, and later became a worker in the machinery plant.

Zhang Tiesheng, however, had taken root in the countryside, and the gap between the two families had widened.

Whenever he returned to his hometown over the years, Zhang Tiesheng would occasionally bring up this arranged marriage, but Jiang Dahai would always brush it off with a laugh.

On one hand, his daughter was materialistic and refused to acknowledge a rural arranged marriage; on the other hand, he couldn't bear to see his daughter marry back into the countryside to suffer.

"I heard from your Uncle Zhang that Jiaming has already become a volunteer soldier in the army. Volunteer soldiers get a monthly allowance, and he will be assigned a job when he is discharged. It's basically a guaranteed job for life. Providing for you won't be a problem, so stop being so picky."

Jiang Dahai tried his best to persuade Jiang Moli. "If you don't get married, you'll have to go to the countryside. You know how harsh the conditions are back home. You'll have to get up before dawn to cook, feed pigs, farm, plant rice, and carry manure—the work never ends. Life in the countryside will be even harder than this. Can you even survive?"

Jiang Dahai might not have been a good stepfather, but he was certainly a good father.

Jiang Moli had been separated from her parents since childhood and had grown up with her mother and maternal grandmother. The lack of paternal love made it difficult for her not to be moved by Jiang Dahai's affection.

"System, in the book, the original owner was killed by a train. What about Jiang Dahai? What is his end?"