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

Bao Ya is most impatient with all those convoluted plots. She doesn't understand why there are so many misunderstandings between the men and women in romance dramas. Do they not have mouths?

"I just want to know how you fell into the river. Auntie Pang said it was an accident while she was washing clothes..."

Jiang Yuan cautiously asked his question. He actually wanted to ask if you really didn't want to marry me. If you really didn't want to, he wouldn't force you.

How should I answer at this point? Just recount what happened? No, no, no. Feelings need to be nurtured. Since we've decided to continue, we can't be so lukewarm. After all, those videos on Kuaishou, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu in our past lives weren't for nothing. See, they're coming in handy now.

Bao Ya was secretly pleased, but on the surface she pretended to be angry and complained:

"You have the nerve to ask me? It's all because of you!"

"I?"

Thunder rumbled in the air! Jiang Yuan wondered if there was something wrong with his ears. How did it become his fault? It wasn't like he was the one who threw it into the water.

Haha, I have to take the blame whether I want to or not. Because I want to deepen our relationship. It's not easy to meet a handsome guy like him, and I can't let him get away. It won't be so easy to find someone else.

"Look at this! Why did you buy so much stuff again? You won't be satisfied until you've driven me crazy, will you?"

Bao Ya looked at him with a face full of grief and indignation, as if she were looking at a heartless man.

Jiang Yuan was even more confused this time. What was going on? The more he talked, the more confused he became. He thought that if he cared about his future wife, he should bring more gifts when visiting his future in-laws.

Seeing Jiang Yuan's increasingly slow-moving mind, Bao Ya took a deep breath and continued, "Do you remember what you brought last time?"

"Oh, two bottles of wine, two packs of cigarettes, two packets of pastries, two cans of malted milk powder, five catties of meat, two cans of food, a piece of cloth, and two fish." Jiang Yuan said mechanically, thinking to himself, "This isn't poisonous, so how could it kill you?"

Bao Ya listened, her brows furrowing. She hadn't seen any of these things; the Lin family had kept them all. Forget the others, she hadn't even smelled the five pounds of meat or the two fish.

The gifts were indeed excessive. Normally, a son-in-law bringing five gifts on his first visit is considered very generous, but these days everyone is struggling financially, so there aren't as many formalities. A few years ago, during the famine, a few pounds of grain were enough to get a wife. However, the large gifts from the groom's family show that they value the relationship, and it also gives the bride's family face.

Jiang Yuan's act of sending gifts to his future daughter-in-law's family as if they were free certainly gave Lin Baoya a lot of face, but the contrast was stark, and he also offended Lin Siya to no end.

"Yeah, do you know what my cousin's in-laws gave us? Two bottles of the cheapest wine and two packs of steamed egg cakes."

Could it be that he delivered it to the wrong address?

Bao Ya continued:

"The two packets of sponge cakes were still covered in green mold. My cousin found that boyfriend herself. She felt she had lost face, so she targeted me in every way and was always looking for trouble. What good could I possibly get? By chance, we ran into each other while washing clothes by the river that day. We argued for a bit, and then she pushed me into the river."

Bao Ya became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and her eyes even reddened. She was truly heartbroken. If the original owner hadn't fallen into the water, she wouldn't have transmigrated. Do you know how big the difference is between going from an era where you could have everything to an era where you can't have anything? What have you been eating these past few days? Flatbread, cornbread, and pickled vegetables—things she wouldn't have even looked at in her previous life. What kind of situation is this?

"Not only did she not admit her mistake when I fell into the water, but she also spread rumors about me everywhere, saying that I jumped into the river myself. Do you even think so?"

Bao Ya looked at the other person with a heart full of grief and indignation. Jiang Yuan's face grew darker and darker as he listened, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. He had indeed suspected the rumors, and he had felt aggrieved these past few days, so he came to ask her. He never expected that she had been framed and wronged. Hearing this, he felt his fists harden.

Bao Ya didn't dwell on the answer; instead, her eyes fell on the things hanging on the handlebars: "Are these things you gave my family again?"

That expression seemed to say, "You're trying to harm me again, aren't you?"

"Oh, you, weren't you sick? I, I just wanted to buy you something to help you recover."

Jiang Yuan looked like he had done something wrong again, and he even stuttered as he spoke.

"Hmm, shall I handle this?"

"Okay, it was meant for you anyway."

Bao Ya smiled at him and called Simao over to take the things hanging on the handlebars.

Wow, quite a lot of stuff: pork, malted milk powder, canned goods, pastries, and candy.

She opened the bag of candy, gave each of the children two pieces, then tied the bag back up. She put the meat, malted milk powder, candy, a can of food, and a bag of snacks into her basket, handed the basket to Simao, and hung the net bag with only a can of food and a bag of snacks back on the handlebars.

After thinking for a moment, he took out the candies from the basket, put two large handfuls into his own pocket, and put a lot into Jiang Yuan's pocket.

Jiang Yuan was about to tell her that he didn't need to give it to him when she said, "Keep it for now, I have a use for it."

"Sis, sis, I can fake this too! I can fake this!"

Dog Egg leaned closer, his pockets bulging, and stared at her longingly.

"You'd better stay out of here, or you'll grow up to be greedy."

Then he turned to Simao and said:

"Take this back to my grandma and keep it. I'll take Comrade Jiang to her house first, and then we'll have lunch at your place."

"Okay, I'll go back and tell my grandma right away."

After saying that, Simao picked up his things and headed home. Gou Dan tried to follow, but Bao Ya pulled him back.

Although the two of them were already engaged, it was inevitable that gossip would arise if they were just the two of them together, so they decided to bring their younger brother along to avoid some trouble.

Niu Dan and the other two children looked in the direction of Simao, then looked at Gou Dan, and finally followed Gou Dan, after all, Gou Dan was their best brother.

Bao Ya didn't take Jiang Yuan directly to the Lin family. Instead, she led him to a place where some villagers were chatting. There had been rumors circulating about her in the village these past few days. But for Lin Bao Ya, who had been dominating the top spot on Nanshan Village's trending topics for years, one more rumor wouldn't matter. However, it was a bit much to spread rumors that she had jumped into the river and committed suicide, and have people come to ask her about it.

Those in the village who don't work are mostly elderly people who lack labor power or whose families have more able-bodied men, or young married women who are pregnant and want to chat after finishing their chores at home. There are only a few such spots; Bao Ya could find them with her eyes closed.

Everywhere they went, Bao Ya started her whitewashing mode:

"What, jumped into the river? No, no, it was Siya who pushed me in. She even threw stones at me and wouldn't let me get up... Didn't my uncle compensate my family with fifty yuan?"

"Why? It's all because of the gift my accountant's wife sent! Oh, you don't know, that chicken cake is all moldy, and the chickens won't eat it..."

"Yeah, who knew she was so stingy? Accountant Shi is usually such a kind person. Sigh, it's true what they say, even the best men have the worst wives..."

"Grandma Liu, if anyone ever says I jumped into the river again, you'd better pinch their mouth shut for me. Do you think I'm such a coward?"

"Sigh! There's nothing we can do. Siya has already dragged Ishikawa Sho into the cornfield. The family had no choice but to arrange this marriage for him. Otherwise, how could my aunt have even looked at his family..."

"Oh, oh, Seventh Grandpa, this is my girlfriend. She came to see me. Have a piece of candy to sweeten your mouth. If your wife talks bad about me again, you'd better keep an eye on her..."

"Sigh... who can argue with that? Siya is just too impatient. Look at the family my aunt found for Daya's husband, they're not stingy at all. Even the gifts Second Sister received when she went back to her parents' home for the holidays weren't that meager..."

Bao Ya felt no qualms about making up stories about Lin Siya, the culprit who caused her to time travel.