Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

It took Wang Guixiang a long time to wake up.

Yes, I woke up naturally. After all, the three men in the house had already drunk too much and fallen asleep.

As the saying goes, every family has its own troubles, but the Zhao family's troubles are even more difficult. They've already reached a dead end.

Going any further might only lead to the destruction of one's family and death.

Wang Guixiang could fall asleep on a bed even when squatting on a fence, but at home she was sleeping on the cold ground with no one to care or ask about her. How could she not be angry?

She was furious.

Wang Guixiang grew angrier the more she thought about it, and cursed, "That jinx Zhao Da'e, I'll skin her alive! I've lived for over fifty years and no one has ever dared to treat me like this."

Then Wang Guixiang nudged Zhao Tingxu, who was still sleeping, and said, "Get up."

Zhao Tingxu swayed a few times and got up. When he saw Wang Guixiang return, he was a little surprised: "Why are you back?"

Wang Guixiang: "..."

This family is unbearable to live in.

"Aaaaaah... I was sent to the barn for more than ten days, and no one redeemed me. How dare you ask me how I got back? Damn it, I don't want to live like this anymore."

Zhao Tingxu was also frustrated. The problem wasn't that he was the one who sent Wang Guixiang to jail. The couple had originally agreed that the passbook was stolen by Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Tingxu felt that the matter should end there.

It was Wang Guixiang who brought the police station...

Zhao Tingxu had no idea, so he thought that Wang Guixiang's arrest was just unnecessary and superfluous.

This doesn't mean Zhao Tingxu believed in the old saying that couples are like birds in the same forest, flying away separately when disaster strikes. Rather, Zhao Tingxu also felt that life had to go on, didn't it?

We're all family, it's normal for us to bicker and argue. But we can't let it end in a complete breakdown.

What's gotten into you this time?

"Am I crazy?" Wang Guixiang's voice suddenly rose. "I've been married into your Zhao family for thirty or forty years, and I've never had a good life. I've been forced into prostitution twice. What the hell have I done for?"

Take the matter of getting the second son to send their daughter away, for example. The whole family was involved, and in the end, I'm the only one who ended up in jail. And about the bankbook issue, you were involved too, so why am I the one going to jail?!

Zhao Tingxu was completely dumbfounded: ? ? ?

So, you, Wang Guixiang, are upset that Zhao Tingxu didn't get arrested and imprisoned? That's a dangerous line of reasoning!

"What nonsense are you spouting? You've gone too far! I'll beat you up if you don't..."

Zhao Tingxu has always been like this; at the slightest disagreement, he adopts the manner of an ancient patriarch. At home, Zhao Tingxu's word is law—at least most of the time.

But it was clear that Wang Guixiang was very agitated and showed no sign of stopping: "Am I wrong? It's because you're incompetent..."

"what……"

……

Another fight broke out at Old Zhao's old house, and the news quickly spread throughout the village.

Zhao Tingming was already furious that morning, but now his own backyard was on fire.

"Grandpa, something terrible has happened! My dad and mom are fighting!" Zhao Tiesheng rushed over and said.

Zhao Tingming was stunned: "Then why did you come to me? You're almost thirty years old. When your parents fight, you don't go to break them up, but you come to me? Besides, your family has too much trouble. How am I supposed to keep my job as village chief? There's nothing of importance to do all day but fight every day."

Even if it's almost Chinese New Year and we're broke, we can't fight every day. If we're fighting every day, I won't be able to keep up with the fighting.

Zhao Tingming was extremely troubled. He had important business to attend to, but his own brother and family did nothing and were in constant chaos.

If we don't go and fight, we'll become a laughingstock.

"Go," Zhao Tingming said, unwillingly. He was a thousand times unwilling.

Zhao Tingming: Damn it, Lao Qi's family is toxic!!!

The Zhao family was a large household in Dongtaizi Village, with many members and numerous branches. By Zhao Tingming's generation, there were seven brothers, and Zhao Tingming actually favored his younger brother Zhao Tingxu the most.

Compared to his brothers, Zhao Tingxu, though not the best-tempered, had the fewest family problems.

I just didn't expect that in the last month or so, there would be nothing but trouble every day.

It caused chaos and disorder.

"Tiesheng, what's the reason? There has to be some reason why they're fighting, right?"

Zhao Tiesheng lowered his head and stammered, "My mom said my dad is useless, and that we won't have enough to eat or drink for the New Year..."

Zhao Tingming: "Um... then you go back, I'm not going."

Zhao Tingming pondered to himself, "How do I get there? There's no solution to a wife's complaint that her husband is incompetent."

No matter how old you are, or whether you're right or wrong, this matter can't be explained clearly.

Besides, what if he gets extorted if he goes there? Because of Zhao Dage's series of actions, Zhao Tingming's tricycle ran over the county hospital, and he had to take out three or four thousand yuan from the village's meager savings to pay for the medical expenses.

Dongtaizi Village is actually quite poor now. The village's collective property is long gone, leaving only a mountain of debt. This year is alright; only a few debt collectors have come. In previous years, there would have been hordes of debt collectors. In the dead of winter, Zhao Tingming has to hide away, or he'll be disturbed by their clamor.

So, as the village chief, he hadn't received a salary for a very long time. Zhao Tingming calculated that it had been about 11 months without a single penny.

The family was already struggling financially, and their son was about to graduate from university. However, his son was studying medicine, which is different from other majors. Graduates of other majors would simply find employment. In that case, Zhao Tingming's life would be much easier.

However, medical graduates are required to complete a three-year hospital internship. During these three years, they receive virtually no salary. Furthermore, the amount varies depending on the location; some receive a small living allowance, while others not only receive no pay but also require the student to pay for their own food and lodging. Zhao Tingming didn't know how to handle the situation, but the fact remained that his son wouldn't be able to earn money for the next two or three years.

The family's harvest was limited, and supporting a college student left them with little money to spare. But his brother, Zhao Tingxu, was in even worse shape...

The family was already poor, and the constant bickering and arguing made things even worse. Besides, it was the dead of winter, and the Lunar New Year was just around the corner; even if Zhao Tiesheng and Zhao Tiegang wanted to go out and work to earn some money, it would be impossible.

Having no income and no money for the Lunar New Year is especially difficult.

Many customs in the North are indeed different from those in the South.

In the North, there's a unique custom: a small plot of land at home, a wife and children, and a warm kang (heated brick bed).

However, if this small plot of land cannot support a wife and children, the warm bed will be gone, leaving only endless arguments and complaints.

Having money doesn't necessarily make someone kind, but being poor will definitely make someone petty and calculating.

Some people are so poor that they dare not argue with outsiders, so they can only bully their own family.

For example, Zhao Tingxu...

In this era, wife-beating is common. Couples fight frequently. The vast majority of these fights occur in winter, around the time of the Lunar New Year.

Other families have plenty to eat and drink, with lots of meat and fish. Meanwhile, your own family has nothing to eat or drink, not even enough flour to make dumplings for the New Year. It's easy to feel resentful. And unlike in later generations, even if you're destitute in the countryside, it's very difficult to turn your life around.

It would be difficult to turn things around without the efforts of several generations.

Although we now have a market economy, very few people are willing to go out to work. They remain stuck with their small plots of land, relying on the weather for their livelihood year after year. This likely leads to a growing sense of pessimism.

Zhao Tingming had lived in the countryside for fifty or sixty years, and had been poor for all that time. He knew his brother, who loved to act like the head of the household, caring about face and showing off. However, Zhao Tingxu was muddle-headed and had given all the family's money to his youngest daughter, who then refused to acknowledge the debt. This had also caused some estrangement between him and his two sons, Zhao Tiesheng and Zhao Tiegang.

Otherwise, given Zhao Tiesheng's personality, he should have gone to mediate the fight, instead of coming to me to do so...

This isn't a war that can be fought for a day or two. How long can a couple fight?

In one hour, everyone was killed.

It'll probably only be a short fight. Zhao Tiesheng ran away, most likely because he genuinely wanted some peace and quiet. Since his son doesn't want to get involved in the fighting, Zhao Tingming naturally doesn't want to get involved either.

What if things get complicated and Zhao Tingxu asks for money?

Although they are brothers, Zhao Tingming really didn't want to help Zhao Tingxu anymore.

This job has no end in sight.

It can't be fixed.

"Tiesheng, go ask your third uncle and your fourth uncle. I'm busy right now. I really can't go."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Tiesheng left helplessly.

Zhao Tingming sighed: What's going on? It's never quiet.

Just when they were at their wits' end, Guo said, "Sixth brother is about to start winter vacation. Yesterday, I don't know what happened to Da'e, he just stuffed two hundred yuan into my hand. I haven't told you yet."

Zhao Tingming was stunned: "Where did Da'e get the money? And why did she give you so much?"

"I don't know. I absolutely refused to take it, and then she threw the money in the cabinet. I couldn't catch up with her, and she ran away." Guo sighed and said, "Da'e said that her uncle has always been in poor health and doesn't eat well. And she heard from somewhere that our son might bring home a classmate this winter vacation... umm, I guess a girlfriend."

"Sigh... I'm just a woman, I don't know how to put this. Bringing female classmates home is a bit inappropriate. Besides, they haven't graduated yet, so dating isn't really a good idea." Guo's thinking was naturally not as open as that of later generations, and she always felt that if her son hadn't graduated from university yet, dating was too early.

"So, Da'e said that since it would cost money, she gave me two hundred. I didn't want it, but she insisted. You should return the money to her later. You can't take her money."

Guo took out the money, but Zhao Tingming didn't take it. He said in a low voice, "Just put it there. Take it if she gives it to you. She must have something else she didn't say. That girl Da'e is so clever for her age. Who knows what trouble she's gotten into, or what she needs me to deal with. By the way, if Tie Gang comes over later, don't interfere. Lao Qi's family is fighting again."

"They're fighting again? Who's fighting whom?" Guo's face darkened. "Their family is quite the drama. They're fighting every day."

"I heard about it back then. Wang Guixiang came back. She went to the eldest son's place, but her daughter-in-law kicked her out. When she got home, she got into a fight with the seventh son." Zhao Tingming sighed. "With the New Year approaching, their family is going to be anything but peaceful. Don't get involved; I can't even handle it. They fight every other day, treating their fights like it's nothing. The old ones don't act like old people, and the young ones don't act like children. The whole family is just a bunch of troublemakers."

Guo sighed and shook her head.

……

Zhao Tingxu and Wang Guixiang were fighting fiercely, but since there were no spectators, the intensity of the fight subsided.

Everyone loves a good show, but if it's a fight every day, nobody will watch it anymore.

Moreover, this time was different from the previous times. The previous times were special circumstances that caused a great deal of trouble. In addition, there were people who intervened and pleaded for leniency when Cheng Jinxiang went back to her parents' home or when Wang Guixiang wrongly accused Zhao Dage.

Because Zhao Da'e and her mother Cheng Jinxiang are very well-liked.

Cheng Jinxiang is honest and down-to-earth. Although Zhao Dage is young, she is relatively sweet-talking. The elders all like her, so many people tried to break up the fight.

When it was Zhao Tingxu and Wang Guixiang's turn to fight, the couple had been oblivious to everything else for years, focusing solely on being lazy and good-for-nothing, so no one was willing to come and break them up.

It's not that the villagers have become indifferent, but rather that everyone feels it's unnecessary.

So, with no one to break up the fight, Zhao Tingxu and his wife stopped fighting after a while.

The two then regained some of their senses. Zhao Tingxu went to the next room and pulled Zhao Tiegang, who was pretending to be dead, up: "Is your wife coming back? It's almost New Year's, go and call her."

Zhao Tiegang yawned: "No way. She'll fight me when I get back. What's the point?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Go and call your wife back. We'll figure out how to build a house next year."

"???" Zhao Tiegang immediately perked up: "What? Dad, you said you're building a new house next year? You've got the money?"

Zhao Tingxu didn't answer: "Just say it like that."

Zhao Tiegang thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll go back to sleep then."

Upon hearing Zhao Tingxu's words, Zhao Tiegang guessed that the matter was unreliable and a fabricated story. Whether Zhang Cuilan returned or not was unimportant; Zhao Da'e had said that Zhang Cuilan was practically useless, as her three brothers were still unmarried.

She can't stay still.

That's the custom in rural areas; sometimes it feels really fake.

This "pretending" refers to the fact that many times, even when it's not one's true feeling, one still pretends.

For example, when Zhang Cuilan went back to her parents' home, she really couldn't stay for too long. This was because Zhang Cuilan's mother had passed away, her father was a bachelor, and all three of her brothers were bachelors.

This presents a significant problem: if someone were to introduce a potential partner to Zhang Cuilan's brother, upon inquiry, it would be discovered that Zhang Cuilan frequently visits her parents' home.

This alone is enough to give Zhang Cuilan a hard time.

When Zhang Cuilan's brother's wife returns to her parents' home, she'll say something like, "Hehe, I learned this from Zhang Cuilan. Like father, like son."

Zhang Cuilan simply cannot bear the consequences.

Therefore, bound by morality, Zhang Cuilan couldn't really get away with anything.

As for Zhao Da'e's mother, she had no worries. Zhao Da'e's uncle had been married for many years, and Zhu Yufeng couldn't very well go back to her parents' home with a big mouth and say, "My sister-in-law loves to go back to her parents' home, I learned it from her..."

That would be a laughing stock.

Therefore, this subtle moral constraint in rural areas gave Zhao Tiegang a sense of security. Moreover, his current ambitions are not great: to build a new house.

Whether Zhao Tingxu and Wang Guixiang have money or not is irrelevant. Anyway, they're the ones who squandered the money. If they won't build a new house, then they can just lie there and... shirk their responsibilities.