The Steel Mill's Vain Little Wife [The 1980S]

Director Lu of the steel mill has been having a serious headache lately. His son, Lu Xiangdong, spends every day hanging around the streets with a bunch of no-good friends. He loves eating, drinking, and living it up. If he keeps this up, he'll squander the family fortune sooner or later, then get caught in a crackdown and shot. Director Lu heard that Song Qinhe, the eldest daughter of the Song family in the countryside, was tough and capable, running the household inside and out. If his son married her, she'd surely whip him into shape. And once they had a child, maybe Lu Xiangdong would settle down and work hard. On the day they met, Song Qinhe was hardworking and efficient, dressed simply, and quite pretty, too. Director Lu liked her more and more the longer he looked, so he quickly prepared the betrothal gifts and brought her home as his daughter-in-law. Who knew that the very next day after the wedding, Song Qinhe would start to lie flat and enjoy the good life? “This tenement building is way too cramped. I want a standalone Western-style house. This trendy gold necklace is too light. I want a big 100-gram bracelet instead. I can only ride a bicycle when I go out? No way. I want a four-wheeled car.” Director Lu was dumbfounded. He'd thought he was bringing home a daughter-in-law, but he'd actually brought home an ancestor. It was bad enough that she didn't keep his son in line. She even dragged him into eating, drinking, and having fun. Song Qinhe had known all along that she'd become the cannon-fodder female character in a period novel. No matter how frugally she lived or how much money she saved, it would all end up in the hands of the novel's male lead. Even the man she married was an antagonist destined to die tragically for opposing the male lead. Since she'd transmigrated here, Song Qinhe decided she might as well stop pretending. “I can only live the good life. Hand all the family's money over to me. Spend it now and enjoy it now. It's not like you can take it with you when you're born or when you die.” Watching his daughter-in-law spend money like there was no tomorrow, Director Lu decided his son wasn't so bad after all. ** Street loafer Lu Xiangdong: “My wife spends even more than I do. What am I supposed to do?” To fund his wife's lavish spending, Lu Xiangdong had no choice but to roll up his sleeves and get to work. Who knew that before long, he'd work his way up to become the factory director, with every prospect of climbing even higher? Theme: Instead of pushing yourself harder, push others harder.