The Daily Life of a Stepdaughter in the 1970s

He Wan transmigrated into He Daya, the daughter given away by the He family of Red Sun Brigade.

At the He household, the hard and exhausting work was hers, while the good food and fine clothes went to everyone else. After she was finally given away, Grandpa He took control of her money and house, accepted a bride price, and sent her far away to marry.

Later, He Shouwang returned from the dead. The He family insisted that it was He Daya's younger sister, He Wenya, who had been given away. She was taken to the capital and married an officer, living a life everyone envied. The house was smoothly passed on to her younger brother, while He Daya was mistreated by her husband's family.

When He Wan arrived, she had just signed the adoption papers. Next, in front of the brigade leader and Party secretary, they were supposed to draw up a contract stating that the house belonged to He Daya and that the money He Shouwang had left behind would go to her.

He Wan glanced at the signature on the adoption papers and scrawled her name on the contract.

He Shouye: Dad will go with you to the commune office to change the name on the land certificate.

He Wan put the contract and money away before he could: No need, Uncle.

With money and a house but no family to weigh her down, He Wan spent her days earning two or three work points while taking it easy, sneaking into the mountains for a decent meal when no one was watching, and writing articles to earn royalties. When she was in a good mood, she'd get under Grandpa and Grandma He's skin. When she was in a bad mood, she'd make trouble for Uncle He. Life was wonderful.

With her stirring things up, the neighbors bickered one day and fought the next, often accompanied by Grandma He's veiled insults. It was quite the show, and He Wan enjoyed it with her meals, eating her fill every day.

One day, she spotted a badly injured man on a mountain path. She was about to steer clear and go down the mountain to get the brigade leader to deal with him. Everyone knew you shouldn't pick up a man by the roadside.

Ji Feng: Save me, and I'll repay you.

By giving yourself to me? Don't make me laugh. That's repaying kindness with betrayal.

Ji Feng: I'll give you a hundred!

He Wan: Who do you think you're talking to? A hundred? A hundred! I'll save you!

Later, he proposed a fake marriage.

Are you crazy?

Ji Feng said helplessly: I'm not crazy. My grandma won't rest in peace unless I get married.

He Wan firmly declined. Their relationship was a pure business arrangement, and marriage was absolutely out of the question.

Ji Feng: Five hundred for the marriage certificate, half my salary and allowances, and a house in the capital if we divorce.

He Wan: Let's get married! Right now!

Ji Feng: Remember, it's a fake marriage. We need to keep our boundaries.

Comrade: I lent him the money. How am I supposed to explain it to your wife?

Ji Feng: I'm the boss in our household!

Ji Feng slowly knelt on the washboard. Honey, I did something that was bad for family harmony and unity.

He Wan: Have I been cuckolded?

My next book will be The Substitute Bride of the Sixties. Please add it to your reading list~

When Sheng Qingmei arrived, Grandma said, "Your uncle's family has it hard." She touched the bruises on her neck, paused for a second, then agreed to marry the paralyzed man who couldn't care for himself in place of her cousin.

Why not?

The early 1960s were a time of famine. Her rural family favored sons over daughters, her grandparents favored her uncle's family, and her parents were pushovers. Each circumstance alone would have been hard mode, and she had them all!

So when she realized she had transmigrated into the doomed cousin of Sheng Qingling, the reborn heroine of a period novel, she agreed to the substitute marriage without hesitation.

In the book, Sheng Qingling happily married after accepting five hundred yuan in bride price. Before long, she got her wish and became a widow. But the paralyzed man's family was no pushover either, and they kept her trapped at home.

A few years later, she and the paralyzed man's family were sent to a farm in the northwest because of their capitalist background. Her life there was bitter and tearful, and she spent her whole life worn down in the northwest.

By contrast, Sheng Qingmei married her childhood friend Yang Qishan and made it through those ten years in safety. She also got close to a brilliant educated youth and rose steadily to success. By the time Sheng Qingling breathed her last on the farm in the northwest, Sheng Qingmei was already an officer's wife, riding around in a car whenever she went out.

After being reborn, Sheng Qingling persuaded her father to marry Sheng Qingmei off to the paralyzed man. She gave her grandma fifty yuan, and the deal was done.

As for herself, she actually hoped to get together with the brilliant educated youth. But he wouldn't be sent to the countryside for another six years. She wasn't confident she could keep Yang Qishan interested for that long, so she planned to wait until Sheng Qingmei was married, then stay by Yang Qishan's side as his confidante and help him get over his heartbreak.

In the book, Sheng Qingling succeeded. But Sheng Qingmei never married the paralyzed man. Her life was miserable, and they still tried to force her into marriage. Unable to take it, she put a belt around her neck and hanged herself.

Sheng Qingmei arrived at this exact point in time.

She could agree to the substitute marriage, but she would decide the terms. All the bride price had to go to her, her dowry couldn't be shortchanged, and the family had to be split up.

They refused? She immediately took off her belt and hung it from a roof beam, ready to put on a live performance of swinging like a pendulum!

She's good at playing on hard mode!

Theme: Take good care of yourself