The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

"I'm pretty good too, I even managed to swindle fifty yuan from your uncle today."

"It's only fifty yuan, not much at all."

"Ha, you've only been enjoying a few good days and you don't even care about fifty dollars anymore. You've forgotten how penniless you were back then."

"Tch~, I'm still better off penniless than you with your liabilities. Without your stepfather, you'd be bankrupt by now."

"Didn't I leave you with a stepfather?"

"Hmph~"

"You... well, never mind. But be careful, think carefully before you get married, don't let a man fool you, and listen to my mother."

Recalling the marriage and love mindset of people in the 1960s, Lin Qiao kindly offered her advice.

"Come on, what's with all this talk about getting married? You're already a 28-year-old spinster, what's the point of getting married? You're rich and have plenty of free time, have fun first. Getting married isn't fashionable here, and nobody's pressuring you, isn't that great?"

Lin Baoya said nonchalantly. Looking at her smug expression, Lin Qiao mischievously asked, "What about your boyfriend? Don't you miss him? How long have you been dating? Aren't you getting married soon?"

"My fiancé? Oh, you mean that marriage with the Jiang family? My grandma arranged it for me. I met him during the blind date, and we met again during the Dragon Boat Festival, but we haven't spoken yet. My grandma says his family is well-off and the people are nice, so I'll definitely enjoy a good life after marrying into their family. My grandma wouldn't lie to me, so don't worry."

*Pfft! What? This boomerang has hit me! We've met twice, never spoken, and I'm getting married in a few months. I'm the bride.* Lin Qiao was completely devastated.

"He's a permanent employee in the city. The dowry was two hundred yuan, plus a three-turn watch and a radio, and thirty-six legs—it all cost over a thousand yuan in total. He agreed without even blinking. You couldn't find anyone better than him, not just in the countryside, but even in the city."

A little over a thousand yuan—not even enough for a meal in her past life! Looking at Lin Baoya's endless chatter, without seeing her expression, she might have actually believed her nonsense. This girl clearly doesn't want to change back, yet she's looking for a master? Who believes her gibberish!

"Alright, that's settled then. There's no point in saying anything now. You need to take good care of my mom and keep a good eye on your stepfather, so you both don't lose your jobs."

"Don't worry, your stepfather just put a billion yuan into a trust for me and Mom. We won't have to do anything or go hungry."

No, this time she's really tough. She's here to stab me in the back.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Yes, you must take good care of your maternal grandmother, your uncle, and your aunt. And Simao, once you move to the city, you should find him a job too, don't let him stay in the countryside farming..."

Lin Qiao closed her eyes. "I only asked you to take care of one person, and you've given me a whole bunch." She couldn't listen to any more; she was about to explode.

"What about your parents? Don't you need to be filial to them?"

"My parents?" Lin Baoya's expression was strange, and she finally blurted out, "You figure it out!"

Then he turned and left, leaving Lin Qiao completely bewildered.

That morning, when it wasn't too hot, Bao Ya walked home from the brigade's pigsty.

She'd been here almost a month and hadn't smelled meat at all, so she came to the pigsty to see the pigs and hopefully satisfy her craving. But seeing the pigsty immediately dispelled her thoughts of eating meat. Even if the open-air pigsty was cleaned promptly, it still reeked. Okay, she felt nauseous and decided she didn't want to eat meat, especially pork, for the time being.

This period is past the summer harvest but not yet the autumn harvest. Apart from weeding and watering, there isn't much work to do, so not many people need to be on the job. The women also have time to busy themselves with household chores. When passing by the big banyan tree, a group of women were chatting and doing needlework under the tree.

Lin Baoya gradually adapted to life in the village, wandering around every day like a street urchin. Today, she suddenly wanted to see the pigsty at this time of year, so she went out early in the morning with her eldest cousin's wife.

There haven't been many interesting things happening in the village lately, so Lin Baoya, who has consistently topped the brigade's trending topics list, is naturally the most talked-about person.

However, no one has mentioned the incident where she extorted fifty yuan from the Lin family. They thought they would gossip about her behind her back, but no one has mentioned it since. It's quite rare.

She didn't know that, according to the villagers' thinking, the elderly in the family were in charge of the money and food. They thought that if Lin Baoya asked for fifty yuan, she would return it to Old Man Lin. It was just a matter of passing the money from one hand to the other. No one thought that she would keep the money in her own hands.

No one expected that she would take the money to the Su family and hide it away. Old Man Lin wanted it, but he was afraid of upsetting Lin Baoya and causing trouble, so he swallowed this loss in silence.

"Bao Ya, you went to feed the pigs for your sister-in-law again?"

"Yes, Auntie, I'm busy."

Lin Baoya greeted the woman who was talking and continued walking home. She knew that these old women had been gossiping about her a lot these past few days. She liked listening to other people's gossip, but she didn't really like listening to her own.

"Baoya, a girl shouldn't be so strong. Look at the mess you've made of your family. Your grandma and your aunt are only doing this for your own good. Your parents are so lazy, and they all rely on your uncle's family to support them. If you keep causing trouble like this, who will dare to marry a wife like you?"

A woman with slanted eyes and high cheekbones spoke in a shrill voice, then rolled her eyes at her.

Well, here comes another troublemaker. This is... Oh, this is Li Qingcao. Her family is from the same village as Li Jinxiang, and I heard they're even related. No wonder she came out to disgust her.

"Oh, who is this so-called expert? You haven't even sorted out your own family affairs yet, but you're already meddling in other people's business. If you have so much food that you can't finish it, then take it out and share it with everyone. Don't stuff yourself and make yourself sick. You're always spouting nonsense because you're so full."

Lin Baoya retorted in the same tone as the original owner of the body.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't have that much food."

As she spoke, she glanced guiltily at the old woman next to her. The old woman then raised her eyelids and gave her a sharp look. The woman, as if burned, quickly lowered her head and continued with her work.

"No way, I heard from Niu Dan yesterday that you went to the North Mountain in the middle of the night the day before yesterday with a grain sack and a piece of cured meat on your back, and you didn't come back until before dawn."

"You're talking nonsense. Don't try to make up stories about me. It's not true."

The woman spoke in a shrill voice, as if the louder her voice, the more confident she became, and her eyes kept glancing at the old lady next to her.

"You know whether you saw it or not. Not only Niu Dan saw it, but also Simao, Dazhuzi, Erzhuzi, and the others. If you don't believe me, go and ask them yourself. There were seven or eight kids fishing in that ditch over there at night. Or should I bring them over so you can ask them properly?"

"You're lying, I didn't do it, you brat, get out of here, stop trying to frame me."

The old woman behind her stopped what she was doing, grabbed a thick tree branch, and lashed it out at Li Chuncao.

"Oh dear, Mother, I really didn't send anything to my parents' house. Mother, that wretched girl framed me; I really didn't."

Before Li Xiangcao could even put down the shoe sole in her hand, she dodged and ran away.

"If it wasn't sent to her family, could it have been sent by her lover? Staying up so late at night, who knows if she's out having an affair? We need to have a serious talk with Uncle Qian about this."

Bao Ya shouted at the top of her lungs from behind, not intending to miss any opportunity to smear someone.

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