Chapter 3: 3. Chapter 3: Traveling Back to a Small Village in the Seventies

Chapter 3: Transmigrating to a Small Village in the Seventies

Seeing that everything in her space—food, drink, entertainment, clothing, and shelter—was fully prepared, she began to focus on acquiring a house in the countryside. She spent 380,000 to buy a Chinese-style courtyard, and another 50,000 to hire people to build a platform foundation. She then had the courtyard moved directly onto it. There was no helping it; after buying it, she had tried several times to move the house into her space, but it wouldn't budge. However, once she built a platform that separated the structure from the ground, she was able to pull it straight into the space. After connecting the generator she had purchased, the entire house was brightly lit.

Shen Meng took stock of the items she had bought and checked her remaining bank balance: 1.17 million left. She immediately bought two old modified jeeps, an old Santana, and several electric tricycles. She made several trips to the countryside and stockpiled twenty barrels of gasoline.

Making money is hard, but spending it is like water flowing away. One day, while riding her electric tricycle, Shen Meng was watching a livestream on her phone. A streamer happened to be saying that her brother-in-law’s aunt was having a birthday. On such a joyous occasion, all the "babies" who placed an order immediately would have a chance to enter a lucky draw, and every order would come with a "buy one get eighteen free" deal. Shen Meng prepared to support them with a purchase.

Just as she clicked to pay, a dump truck drove straight toward her. The piercing scream and the sound of screeching brakes nearly shattered her eardrums. Under the intense impact, Shen Meng felt as if all her internal organs had been displaced.

Immediately, her vision blurred, and she plunged into darkness!!!

"Your whole family is sweet-talking but bitter-hearted! You saw my daughter was easy to bully and worked her like an old ox. When the two children got married, you promised you’d treat her like your own daughter. My daughter, in the prime of her life, became a stepmother to your grandson, and now that she can’t move, you’re all eating comfortably. How can you be so heartless?"

As Wang Guizhi voiced her accusations, her tears fell before she could even finish. She was naturally soft-natured, and though she had mustered up a burst of indignation to argue, she didn't look the least bit intimidating.

"In-law, how can you say such things? Ever since Xiao Meng entered the Lu family, we two old folks haven't said a single harsh word to her. Her sisters-in-law respect and honor her, and they listen to everything she says! I never expected—I never expected that our kindness would be twisted into 'sweet-talking but bitter-hearted' in your mouth. Forget it, forget it. A mother-in-law is not a birth mother; no matter how well you treat them, it’s useless."

Liu Sanjin sobbed a few times, using her sleeve to wipe away the tears she had squeezed from the corners of her eyes. Her fragile, delicate appearance formed a sharp contrast with Wang Guizhi.

"You, you, you..."

She pointed at Liu Sanjin, her hand trembling repeatedly. She spent a long time saying "you" without being able to get the words out of her stomach. Meanwhile, the onlookers watching the commotion looked down on her behavior and began to mock her.

"Auntie Wang, the eldest daughter-in-law hasn't woken up yet. Even if you're angry, you need to keep a clear head. The eldest daughter-in-law was clearly hit by the production team's ox; how can you blame us? Everyone in Lu Village, men and women, young and old, knows this!" Zhou Jiaojiao hurriedly stepped forward to support Liu Sanjin, speaking to Wang Guizhi with a hostile tone.

"That's right, Xiao Meng's mother. You two old folks came from so far away without knowing the situation, and you just grabbed Auntie Liu and started berating her. That’s too unreasonable."

"Keep your voice down, don't get involved, or you'll get scolded too. These people are unreasonable, tsk tsk tsk!"

"Exactly. Her own daughter has been unconscious for so long, and all she does is stand here and argue; she doesn't even know to go check on her first. I reckon she sees that the Lu family is living well and wants to extort some money. Auntie, don't you know? The Shen family has a son who is about to get married. Now that they've found an opportunity, they have to..."

Wang Guizhi was trembling with rage, and Shen Fugui was so angry his face turned beet red. She turned and glared fiercely at the few people from Lu Village who were gossiping about them, gritted her teeth, and pulled Shen Fugui into her daughter's room.

It wasn't that she didn't feel heartache for her daughter; it was just that if her daughter woke up, she would definitely take her mother-in-law's side. The brainless thing—the cleverness she had when she was at her maiden home had completely vanished after she got married. She listened to everything others said and had grown distant from her own family.

If she and the old man hadn't been working across the river and heard a girl from their village who had married into this village tell them about it, she wouldn't even have known her daughter had been gored by an ox!

That was an ox!!!

One slip and she could have lost her life. Her daughter was lying in the room, while the Lu family was all sitting in the main room eating, without a single person to tend to her. Those children didn't even know where they had run off to. Looking at the situation, they hadn't even called a doctor.

Wasn't this just letting her daughter wait for death? How could she possibly endure this???

Seeing Wang Guizhi enter the room, Liu Sanjin quickly pretended to be heartbroken and waved her hands at the neighbors.

"Many thanks to everyone. Everyone should go back first. I won't let our family's dirty laundry give you all a headache."

Her words made those who had just witnessed Wang Guizhi's outburst even more dissatisfied. Liu Sanjin was naturally good at handling people, and the villagers were inclined to help their own.

The few gossiping matrons immediately stated that if Wang Guizhi dared to cause trouble, they should come find them. They would definitely help Liu Sanjin and let the Shen family know the strength of Lu Village.

Shen Meng heard the sound of crying in a daze. She struggled to open her eyes, and what greeted her was a dilapidated thatched roof, with several clumps of dirt looking as if they were about to fall off. She turned her head slightly; it was still gray, dusty adobe walls. The newspaper pasted over the wooden window was tattered and covered in two spiderwebs. If she wasn't mistaken, a cute little spider was still working diligently.

Without looking around any further, the stone that had been hanging in Shen Meng's heart finally landed. She had arrived in the world from her dreams. She had always had a premonition that this would happen, so she wasn't very surprised, though the way she arrived was a bit hard to accept. If she weren't an optimistic person who could let things go, she would definitely have been traumatized. It was just... the sound of the painful crying beside her was impossible to ignore.

Shen Meng spoke weakly: "You..."

"Child, my child, you've finally woken up." Seeing Shen Meng wake up, Wang Guizhi threw herself onto her in excitement.

"Ugh!"

Shen Meng painfully gripped the damp, clammy sheet beneath her. It felt like her ribs were about to be crushed!!!