Reborn in the 70s: The Fiery Daughter-in-law CH1

 

Chapter 1: A Different Kind of Transmigration

 

"You say Zhou Shixun is such a good person, how could he end up with a woman like Sheng Anning?"

"Exactly, I heard that this Sheng Anning has a lover in the city, and she hasn't even shared a room with Zhou Shixun to this day."

"Really? Then poor Captain Zhou, marrying a woman and not even being allowed to touch her, making her seem so precious."

"I think it's because Captain Zhou is too nice. This kind of woman deserves a beating, a few hits and she'll become obedient."

"Right, right, right, 'the wife you discipline is like the dough you knead,' she deserves a good beating!"

Sheng Anning stood emotionlessly behind the door, listening to the unrestrained gossip of several women outside. Who would have thought, two hours ago, this body had undergone a core change?

She had just returned from an international medical academic exchange and was on her way to the airport when she encountered a car accident. When she woke up, she found herself soul-transferred into the body of this little wife also named Sheng Anning.

She spent two hours reluctantly accepting the fact that she had traveled back to the year 1977, an era lacking in many things, possibly even facing the problem of not having enough to eat.

Immediately after, she had to accept the reality of being already married.

The original owner of the body was twenty years old, a girl from the city, who had married Zhou Shixun three months prior. He was responsible for security at a nuclear facility and lived in the mountains, over two hundred kilometers from the city center, where the marital relationship was cold.

Sheng Anning recalled the original owner's memories, feeling that 'cold' was an understatement to describe their relationship. It was more like daily skirmishes.

Zhou Shixun came from the countryside, and the original owner looked down on him, feeling that he reeked of the countryside, showing disdain openly, and being sarcastically cold whenever she spoke.

She wouldn't allow the man to share her bed, nor let him dine at the same table with her.

Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would throw tantrums, breaking things and cursing people, while Zhou Shixun would silently leave, never having a direct confrontation with the original owner.

The original owner's relationship with the neighbors was also complicated!

Since they lived in a small residential compound with Zhou Shixun's colleagues, many of whom had wives from rural backgrounds, the original owner naturally looked down on these "country bumpkins," almost snorting in disdain whenever she saw them.

Sheng Anning thought about the original owner's arrogance and how Zhou Shixun never lost his temper, making him seem like a saintly good man.

No wonder the women outside were talking about her so loudly.

Another thing that Sheng Anning couldn't understand was, given how tumultuous things were, why didn't the original owner divorce?

Sheng Anning felt overwhelmed as she looked around the room, which was divided into an inner and an outer room. The inner room belonged to the original owner, containing only a double bed, a bedside table, and a three-drawer desk with no other furniture.

The outer room, near the mountain wall, had a single bed covered with a neatly folded military-green blanket, which was Zhou Shixun's living space.

Next to it was a cupboard and a stove, with a small dining table.

 

Accompanied by the gleaming mud floor, it was very simple and humble.

Sheng Anning sighed deeply. In this era where going out required permits and eating required ration coupons, with sugar and oil being rationed, she had no idea how to survive.

The women outside started discussing what to eat for lunch, and Sheng Anning felt her stomach grumble. It seemed like the original owner had thrown a tantrum last night, skipped dinner, and went to bed, not getting up in the morning.

And then she woke up as Sheng Anning.

Sheng Anning rubbed her stomach, pondering that her entry into this body might have been due to the original owner's habit of not eating on time and having a fiery temper, leading to temporary cardiac ischemia and shock. During this gap, she had traveled through time.

As an excellent surgeon, Sheng Anning never mistreated her body. Since she might temporarily reside in this body, she decided to take good care of it, eat well, and then consider how to live on.

Thinking this, she shivered; the northwest was still very cold at the end of March. Despite the melting ice and snow outside, the house without a fire felt as cold as an ice cellar.

She went to touch the cold stove. Having grown up in a wealthy family, Sheng Anning had no idea how to light it.

After some thought, I decided to ask someone else.

Turning around to open the door, the slanting sunlight coming in was somewhat dazzling, making me involuntarily close my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw several women sitting not far away basking in the sun getting up, some even hurriedly leaving with their children in their arms.

The two who stayed behind also looked at me with wary eyes.

Sheng Anning felt a headache. Although she couldn't recall their names, the original host had quarreled with these people. The woman wearing a blue floral cotton-padded jacket was a neighbor living next door. Just because she fried dry chili peppers during cooking, which choked the original host, the original host splashed a basin of water on her neighbor's window and cursed vehemently.

Another woman, holding a child and with a short bob haircut that framed her round, seemingly honest face.

Because the child was fussily crying for a nap at noon, disturbing the original host's nap, the original host unreasonably cursed at them in the courtyard, saying harsh words like the child is better off thrown away if not properly cared for, threatening to strangle the child if the crying didn't stop.

Due to the fear of Zhou Shixun's high position, these family members didn't dare to argue back with the original host, but probably tore her apart in their hearts, otherwise, they wouldn't discuss her with such resentment.

The original host had caused too much trouble, and Sheng Anning didn't know how to start.

Seeing that Sheng Anning, upon opening the door, didn't start cursing at them, the two women exchanged glances, quickly took their children and stools, and hurried back to their homes.

They even slammed their doors shut as if Sheng Anning was some kind of flood beast.

Sheng Anning stood in the courtyard, squinting at a row of houses, eight in each row, each family allocated two rooms, with a small courtyard in front of the house. The neighbors to the left and right had already cleaned the snow in preparation for planting vegetables when the weather warmed up a bit more, and there were chicken coops with chickens.

The small courtyard of the original host's home was in disarray, cluttered with branches and sticks, and some coal chunks were placed near the window by the wall.

Sheng Anning took a deep breath. Since there was no one to ask for help, she could only rely on herself.

 

Although she had never made a fire before, she had watched plenty of wilderness survival shows. As long as she could light the wood sticks and then add coal chunks, the coal would catch fire, and the room would warm up.

Thinking of this, she rolled up her sleeves to clean up the branches and sticks in the courtyard, brought them back to the house, and started to prepare for lighting a fire with matches.

The branches and sticks were too wet, and Sheng Anning, lacking experience, couldn't even ignite the newspaper. Finally, she had a brainwave and poured the last bit of cooking oil from the enamel jar onto the branches.

This time, it did catch fire, but thick smoke quickly filled the entire room.

Sheng Anning, unaccustomed to such hardship, coughed incessantly while wiping away tears and throwing coal chunks into the stove.

"Boss, your house is on fire!"

On the way back home with his colleague, Zhou Shixun saw black smoke rising from the direction of his house from afar, frowned, and ran home with his lunchbox.

 

Although Sheng Anning didn't really want to live a sincere life with him, it was his responsibility to take care of her due to the promise made back then.

 

He couldn't let anything happen to her here.

 

Kicking the door open, he was greeted by thick smoke, and then he saw Sheng Anning squatting on the ground, looking at him with tearful eyes like a calico cat.

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