"You'd wonder why a good man like Zhou Shixun chose to be with a woman like Sheng Anning," someone said.
"Indeed, I heard that Sheng Anning has a lover in the city and hasn't even shared a room with Zhou Shixun till now," another replied.
"Is it true or false? Poor Zhou, his wife won't even let him touch her, yet she seems so precious and valued," a third commented.
"In my opinion, Zhou is just too nice. This kind of woman deserves a beating, a few solid hits will straighten her out," the first speaker said.
"Yes, you're right. Just like dough to a loaf, she needs a hard kneading!"
Sheng Anning stood emotionless behind the door, listening to a few women outside recklessly gossip. Who would have thought, two hours ago, this body was possessed by a different soul?
She had just returned from an international medical conference and met a car accident on her way to the airport. Upon her awakening, she realized she had taken over the body of a woman also named Sheng Anning.
In two hours, she reluctantly accepted that she had time-travelled back to the year of 1977 —a time of scarcity, where even food was an issue.
Additionally, she had to accept the fact that she was already married.
The original body was a 20-year-old city girl, who three months ago, married Zhou Shixun, a man in charge of security at a secret nuclear plant. They lived in the mountains 200km from the city center, leading a cold marital life.
Sheng Anning recalled the memories of the original body and felt that the term 'cold' was an understatement to describe their relationship; it was rather a constant battle.
Zhou Shixun was a country boy, which the original body looked down upon, thinking that he reeked of a rustic stench. She wore her disdain on her face every day; sneering and scorning each time she opened her mouth.
She didn't allow her husband to share her bed or even eat a meal at the same table.
When in a bad mood, she would make a scene, shouting and breaking things. Zhou Shixun would always leave silently, never arguing with her directly.
Don't even start on the relationship between the original body and the neighbors — it was beyond words!
Because everyone living in this small residential compound worked in the same unit as Zhou Shixun, and many of their wives were from rural areas. The former owner naturally looked down upon these "country bumpkins", every time she met them, she barely resisted the urge to turn up her nose at them.
Sheng Anning was a little troubled thinking about the original owner's usual arrogance and domineering behavior, yet Zhou Shixun never once lost his temper. He really was a patient man, akin to a ninja-like turtle.
It’s no wonder the women outside are gossiping loudly about her.
Another thing, she couldn’t understand was, why hadn’t the original owner divorced with all this mess?
Sheng Anning looked at the room with a bit of a headache, just two rooms, inside, it was the original woman's living space. Apart from a double bed, a bedside table, and a three-drawer desk, there was no other furniture.
Against the outer room’s wall was placed a single bed with military-green bedding neatly folded, where Zhou Shixun would sleep.
Next to it, there were some kitchen cabinets, a stove, and a small dining table.
The place, filled with shiny mud floor, was quite simple and impoverished.
Sheng Anning sighed deeply. In this era where one needed a ration coupon for food and essentials like oil and sugar were rationed, she really didn’t know how to survive.
The group of women outside the door started discussing what to eat at noon again, reminding Sheng Anning that her stomach was growling. It seemed that the original owner had thrown a tantrum last night and didn't eat dinner before crawling into bed. And she didn’t get up this morning.
When she woke up again, she had become Sheng Anning.
Sheng Anning rubbed her belly, speculating that her transmigration into this body might be due to the original host's wrongful lifestyle of skipping meals and having a short temper causing an ischemic heart attack. Taking advantage of the downtime, she had crossed over.
As an excellent surgeon, Sheng Anning would never abuse her own body. Since she might be temporarily living in this body, she would take good care of it, eat well, and then carefully consider how to live next.
With that thought, a chill ran through her body. The end of March in the northwest was still very cold. The ice and snow outside melted away, but without heating, the room was as cold as an ice cellar.
She reached out and touched the freezing stove. Raised in a wealthy family, Sheng Anning had no idea how to start this thing up.
After some thought, she decided to seek advice from others.
She turned around to open the door. The oblique rays of the sunlight were somewhat blinding, causing her to instinctively shut her eyes. Upon reopening them, she saw a few women who had been sunbathing nearby hurriedly rising, with a few even rushing away with their children.
Of those who remained, they watched her with full vigilance.
Sheng Anning felt a bit of a headache. She didn't know these women's names, but she had quarreled with them before. The woman in the blue floral print cotton jacket was their neighbor who lives next door; because she was cooking with chili peppers, which irritated Sheng Anning, she splashed water on her window and verbally abused her.
The other woman with the child had neat, ear-length hair and a round face that gave an impression of being kind-hearted.
Sheng Anning had berated her because her child was misbehaving and crying loudly at noon, disrupting Sheng Anning's nap. She had harshly said things like if she couldn't raise her child, she might as well abandon it, and if the child were to cry again, she would strangle it to death...and so on.
Out of respect for Zhou Shixun's high position, these family members did not dare to curse back at Sheng Anning. However, their feelings toward her were probably not pleasant, otherwise, they would not discuss her with such hatred.
Sheng Anning had caused so much trouble in the past that now she did not know how to speak up.
Seeing that Sheng Anning did not scold them upon stepping out the door, the two women exchanged glances, gathered their children and stools, and quickly retreated to their respective homes.
They even shut their doors loudly, as if Sheng Anning was some kind of devastating flood or ferocious beast.
Sheng Anning stood in the yard, squinting at a row of houses. There were eight homes, each divided into two rooms. Each house consisted of a small front yard. The neighbors on the left and right had swept away the accumulated snow, preparing to plant vegetables once the weather warmed up, and also raised chickens in chicken coops.
Then there was Sheng Anning's house. Her small yard was a disordered mess, filled with a pile of branches and sticks. Coal blocks were piled in a corner by the window.
Sheng Anning took a deep breath. Since no one was willing to help her, she would have to rely on herself.
She had never made a fire before, but she had seen many survival shows. All she had to do was to light the sticks and then put coal blocks into it. Once the coal blocks caught fire, the room would become warm.
As she planned, she began to tidy up her yard, collecting the tree branches and sticks and bringing them inside. She then began to prepare a fire using the matches she had found.
The branches and sticks were too damp, and Sheng Anning had no experience. Seeing that the newspaper couldn't catch fire, she finally had a bright idea and poured the last bit of cooking oil from the enamel pot onto the branches.
This time it did ignite, but thick smoke filled the whole room in an instant.
When had Sheng Anning ever suffered like this? She choked and coughed continuously, wiping away tears as she threw lumps of coal into the stove.
"Boss, your house is on fire!"
Zhou Shixun and his colleague were on their way back home when they saw black smoke billowing from the direction of his house from afar. Frowning, he hurried home clutching his lunchbox.
Although Sheng Anning didn't really want to spend her life with him, taking care of her was his responsibility because of a promise made in the past.
He certainly couldn't let anything happen to her here.
With a kick, he opened the door, and a wave of thick smoke rushed towards him. Then he saw Sheng Anning squatting on the ground, looking at him with red eyes, like a little kitten.
