The Illiterate Woman Reborn in 1985

Blurb: Zhou Yan died on the eve of her younger daughter's wedding. She had spent her whole life illiterate, struggling at the very bottom of society. Her husband was spineless, and her in-laws were harsh. After a lifetime of hardship, she finally saw her daughter get married, only for them to fall out over the bride price. When she opened her eyes again, Zhou Yan had returned to 1985. Her parents were still alive. Her eldest brother hadn't been imprisoned for gambling. Her eldest sister, who had married far away in the mountains, and her family hadn't been caught in a flash flood. Her youngest brother, who had been driven to madness by his shrewish sister-in-law, was still healthy and strong. But she was about to get married. To the same man as in her previous life: Li Mingyou, a substitute teacher at the elementary school in the neighboring village. In her previous life, Zhou Yan had been illiterate and hopelessly in love with Li Mingyou, a refined and handsome technical-school graduate. But after they married, she discovered that Li Mingyou was timid and utterly irresponsible. Zhou Yan distanced herself from her family and devoted herself entirely to her own household and their two daughters. She fought with her mother-in-law, her husband's elder brother's family, and the neighbors... In the end, her husband thought she was crude and uneducated, while her daughters looked down on her for working as a cleaner, collecting trash and selling scrap cardboard, and caring more about money than anything else. And she hadn't even gotten to see her parents one last time. Given a second life, Zhou Yan didn't want to repeat the same mistakes, much less watch her family fall into ruin. As the matchmaker droned on in front of her, Zhou Yan was trying to think of an excuse to turn down the Li family's proposal. They had already sent over a bicycle and a sewing machine as betrothal gifts when suddenly she heard a commotion in the courtyard. A tall, straight-backed figure in military uniform strode steadily into the main room. "Sis, Brother Yuanzhou is back from the army." Her younger brother, Zhou Rui, stared uneasily at the tall figure outside the window. "He looks even fiercer than before." At 24, Zhan Yuanzhou was notorious in the village as a bachelor with no prospects. His father had died early, and his mother had remarried, leaving him two dilapidated earthen houses. Even at his age, no girl was willing to marry him. Zhou Yan remembered how, at 16, Zhan Yuanzhou had fought for his house against his uncle as if he didn't care whether he lived or died... Her gaze settled on the man's stern face. This time, let the man provide for the family and the woman manage the household. A scene from their married life: A few years after Zhou Yan married Zhan Yuanzhou. One day, she was sitting in the bedroom of their new house, humming as she put on face cream. Zhan Yuanzhou, holding their little son, had been watching her in silence for a long time. Suddenly, he spoke. "I was born before my mother remarried." Zhou Yan paused, then replied nonchalantly, "I know." The next moment, the usually steady man fell silent, his expression complicated. "If you'd married into the Li family back then, by the rules of seniority, I'd be your brother-in-law..." A broad-cast ensemble story, with a four-year age gap between the male and female leads. Both are each other's first and only. They dote on each other after marriage and heal each other. Theme: Live life positively