Listening to the Sea's Seventh Book

A rural rebirth story set in the 1980s / marriage first, love later / devoted country husband / female entrepreneurship / passing down traditional crafts / an ensemble portrait of the era. In her previous life, her wicked stepmother drained the last drop of blood from her, and she starved to death in a cramped woodshed. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in 1980. She was now an educated youth sent to the countryside, weighing just eighty-two jin, and on the verge of being sold by her stepmother to an old bachelor for bride-price money! Faced with such a hellish start, she turned around without hesitation and crashed into the arms of the toughest battalion commander in the entire village. The village gossips all watched, eager to laugh at her. “That bony little jinx will be kicked out by that cold-faced devil sooner or later!” But who could have guessed that her rough-and-tumble husband wouldn’t kick her out? Instead, he cherished her like a treasure in the palm of his hand. He fed her brown sugar eggs and fine grains in every variety, pampering the pitiful, scrawny girl until she blossomed into a rosy-cheeked darling of a wife! She didn’t hide her talents, either. With memories of her previous life and her rare skill in embroidery and tailoring, she opened Peach Blossom Shop. She took custom orders and sold ready-made clothes, and before she knew it, she had become the richest woman of the 1980s, leaving her awful stepmother and jealous green tea rivals grinding their teeth in envy. Just as business was booming and their days were sweeter than honey, the stern battalion commander, rumored to have no interest in women, pinned her in a corner of the shop at night, his voice husky. “Wife, now that I’ve spoiled you so much, don’t you think it’s time we had a baby?”