The tycoon's wicked wife from the era of literature has been reborn.

Chapter 6: He Made Himself a Burden
In Gao Qinghe's memory, her home was filled with the crisp sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking in the morning, the red earthen walls at dusk, and the yellowed posters pasted on her bedside at night.

Just thinking about it warms my heart.

But that could also be because they've been living a life of luxury for too long and have forgotten the poverty and hardship they experienced in the countryside when they were young.

She stepped across the knee-high stone threshold with great anticipation, but her legs gave way.

Looking down, I saw chicken droppings.

Looking up again, the red earthen wall under the twilight was mottled and worn.

The earthen courtyard that filled with the laughter of my siblings and me during my childhood was narrow and small.

Two large wooden buckets were placed against the north wall, filled with freshly made sweet potato starch from this year.

In the small space left next to the wooden barrel, a rack for drying sweet potato noodles was set up, with the noodles hanging haphazardly on it.

This made the already small courtyard seem even more crowded.

Four low-lying mud-brick houses faced the main gate. To the east was a dimly lit kitchen, and to the west was a small storage room. A lock, which was practically useless, hung on the door.

After stepping in another pile of chicken poop.

Gao Qinghe's passionate heart died instantly.

Before getting married, all the hunger, cold, and poverty that had been buried deep in her memory all came rushing back at once.

My father, Gao Chongyi, was a village primary school teacher. He had worked hard in his position for twenty years but had not been promoted to a permanent position. He only received half of what other teachers earned each month.

It only rose to 40 yuan by the end of last year.

My mother took on all the work in the fields. Even though she was born with inexhaustible strength, aside from the work in the fields, she could only make some vermicelli during the off-season each year to exchange for cash to buy oil and salt.

There are three children in the family, the eldest and second eldest are unemployed.

The third child is still studying in town. He is not considered a laborer, and we still have to subsidize his tuition and miscellaneous fees.

Fortunately, Grandma is in good health and manages all the housework.

This family of six is ​​still managing to get by.

Although we can't have lavish meals every day, at least we're gradually getting enough to eat.

In her previous life, Gao Qinghe never worried about her family's livelihood.

She ate and used the best things until she got married.

Jiang Baohai spends money without batting an eye and doesn't care how she uses it.

She spent money to build a new house for her family and buy them appliances and furniture. She sent money home every month, and life became much better. She could hardly remember the hard times she used to have.

Who would have thought that they would be back to square one overnight? Gao Qinghe's face turned green.

However, all her emotions vanished the moment she saw the spirited old lady emerge from the kitchen.

Only genuine joy from the bottom of my heart.

"grandmother!"

Gao Qinghe called out sweetly and crisply, then opened her arms and rushed over like a child.

"Ouch!" Grandma Gao, Tian Xiaoqiao, stumbled and took two steps back when her eldest granddaughter hugged her.

After finally regaining his footing, he wasn't annoyed. He pulled his eldest granddaughter aside and looked her up and down with concern.

"You're back? Is Bao'er alright?"

Gao Qinghe shook her head, "I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Grandma~"

She slept the whole way, and her complexion improved a lot. When she smiled, she looked like a delicate flower.

The old man felt happy to see it, but when he caught a glimpse of the bruise on Gao Qinghe's forehead, he couldn't help but feel distressed.

He took his eldest granddaughter's hand and led her into the house.

"Knowing you were coming back, I lit the wood-burning stove in advance. It's warm and cozy inside. My baby, sit for a while, and Grandma will go cook for you."

The old lady said to Huang Ying, "I'll take down a hang of the cured meat that was smoked before the New Year. It's rare for the whole family to be together, so I want to give my grandsons some nourishment."

Gao Qinghe's smile became even brighter, "Grandma is the best old lady in the world. With Grandma around, I'll never have to worry about eating meat in my life."

"Your words are so sweet, like they've been coated with honey." The old lady felt incredibly warm inside.

Huang Ying handed the luggage to Gao Chongyi, then set up a ladder and went up to the attic to get the meat.

Gao Qingmiao and Gao Qingya exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with anticipation.

We're having meat tonight!

Gao Chongyi put his luggage inside and rolled up his sleeves to go into the kitchen to help his mother-in-law.

"Mom, I'll wash the vegetables."

"Okay, there's hot water on the stove. Add some hot water so your hands don't get cold."

"Alright!" Gao Chongyi knew his own limitations in cooking, so he picked up a bowl of cabbage and walked out of the kitchen, then went to fetch some hot water.

Looking up, I saw Gao Qinghe and her two siblings sitting around the stove in the main room, chatting and laughing.

A feeling of happiness welled up inside me.

Who says men who come to your door have a hard life?
The rough men in the village had no idea how wonderful his life was.

Only he himself knows how lucky he is.

Among the educated youth in Xiahe Village, Gao Chongyi dared to say that he was the one who had never suffered hardship.

He has been self-aware since he was a child.

I realized within the first month of going to the countryside that I couldn't do the farm work myself.

Thinking about how many more years of farm work he would have to do, he immediately felt guilty.

He only had two requirements for coming to my door.

First, never do farm work in your entire life.

Second, one of the children takes his surname.

As fate would have it, he caught the eye of Huang Ying, a strong woman.

At that time, Tian's second husband died, and she took her daughter back to the old house left by her first husband, living separately from her stepsons.

At a time when the family needed a man, the two hit it off immediately.

Grandma Tian was very considerate and said that the children would all take his surname, as long as they recognized him as their grandmother.

At the time, Tian Laoniang, who was the head of the women's brigade, said that as long as he got married, she would help him find a decent job that wouldn't require him to work in the fields.

In the blink of an eye, he had been with the Huang family for twenty-one years.

He served as a village primary school teacher for a full twenty years.

Although the salary isn't much, it's stable.

His mother-in-law was reasonable and good to him.

His wife took care of all the work in the fields, so he didn't have to worry about anything.

She was happy to listen to his lamentations about spring and autumn; the couple got along very well.

So even when the educated youth were able to return to the city, their families would send telegrams asking if they wanted to go back.

He doesn't reply.

Looking at the children in the family now that they've all grown up, life is getting better and better.

What makes a person beautiful?

Huang Ying brought over some cured meat and saw her husband washing vegetables while grinning foolishly. Curious, she asked him a question.

Gao Chongyi took the cured meat, put it in the basin to wash, and said with a smile, "I envy neither mandarin ducks nor immortals; my life is as happy as that of an immortal."

Huang Ying didn't understand any of this, but seeing her husband happy, she smiled and continued to listen to him say something about picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and leisurely gazing at the southern mountains.

I just feel that handsome men all have a beautiful voice, like they're singing.

The old lady was in charge of cooking, and the chopped scallions and ginger were poured into the hot oil pan with a "sizzle" to release their aroma.

Then pour in a large bowl of thinly sliced ​​cured pork, stir-fry quickly with a large spatula, and an enticing aroma immediately wafts out.

In no time at all, piles of stir-fried cured pork, stir-fried cabbage with pickled chili, golden-orange scrambled eggs, and tender tofu soup were served one by one.

The younger siblings couldn't sit still any longer and got up to set out chopsticks and serve rice.

As for Gao Qinghe, she could just sit and wait to be fed.

The whole family was used to it, but they would be surprised if she suddenly got up to do chores.

Gao Chongyi specially prepared another bowl of milk powder and handed it to Gao Qinghe.

Although Gao Qingmiao and Gao Qingya were envious, they never competed with their eldest sister.

I just felt sorry for my older sister; she fell and was hospitalized, so she needs to take extra care of herself.

"Sis, have some of this."

Gao Qingya stood in front of the table and forcefully picked up several pieces of cured meat with her chopsticks and put them into her eldest sister's bowl.

Gao Qingmiao placed the whole plate of scrambled eggs next to her older sister, afraid that her hand would get tired from using chopsticks.

Gao Qinghe ate the food her younger siblings fed her, and was so full that she couldn't sleep at night.

I should have taken it easy.

(End of this chapter)