My Best Friend and I, the Wicked Mother-in-Laws! [The 1980s]

Coming soon: Raising Kids Abroad in the Eighties

Before transmigrating: How can someone become a mother-in-law and forget where she came from?

After transmigrating: How can someone become a mother-in-law and still remember where she came from!

When Jiang Ruxue found out her best friend had transmigrated too, she grinned with the smug satisfaction of a little villain.

A wicked mother-in-law ought to act the part.

At forty-two, she was at the perfect age to stir up trouble.

Bestie, she's so mean! Let's take her down together!

*

Their wives couldn't stand each other and fought so often that the household was in constant chaos. Political Commissar Zhuang and Commander Lu were at their wits' end.

Then one day, Political Commissar Zhuang's orderly came running over for help. "Sir, they've started fighting! Hurry back and break it up!"

Political Commissar Zhuang: "When aren't they fighting?"

Commander Lu: "You still haven't gotten used to it?"

"It's not the two madams fighting. They've got Commander Lu's mother-in-law pinned to the ground and are beating her up. Commander Lu's brother-in-law happened to walk by, so the two madams started beating him too."

Political Commissar Zhuang: "???"

Commander Lu: "!!!"

Good news: The two women finally made peace.

Bad news: From then on, they became partners in crime.

Day one: They went to the supply office to pick out handsome young guards.

Day two: They used binoculars to watch the military police train at the entrance to the base.

Day three: They took their two daughters-in-law to a nightclub, drank, and ordered cute young men to wait on them.

Political Commissar Zhuang and Commander Lu braced themselves and rushed over, only to discover that they hadn't prepared nearly enough. Not only were their daughters-in-law there, but Old Madam Zhuang and Grandma Lu were too. The two old ladies got so excited they fainted on the spot. Their daughters-in-law and sons were fighting so badly they threatened divorce. The two men turned around to find Jiang Ruxue and Jing Jianyi, the instigators, sitting in a corner with their heads together, whispering about who knew what.

Political Commissar Zhuang and Commander Lu went over to demand an explanation, but before they could say a word, Jiang Ruxue and Jing Jianyi spoke in unison: "Then get divorced!"

*

In middle age, nothing could stir their interest anymore, especially their wives. Political Commissar Zhuang and Commander Lu were the exceptions. They put every ounce of effort and every trick they had into winning their wives' hearts.

But with little to show for it.

In Jiang Ruxue and Jing Jianyi's eyes, friendship between women mattered more than romance between a man and a woman. Courting old men was nowhere near as fun as putting troublemakers in their place and watching the drama unfold.

Reader's Guide:

1. Dual female leads. They're not perfect, and they love themselves and each other most of all.

2. Family life in a military compound in the 1980s. Ensemble cast, no career plotlines, a little middle-aged romance. Just read for fun.

Coming soon: Raising Kids Abroad in the Eighties

[Farming in a foreign country + food and raising kids + everyday family life]

In her previous life, Lin Qingtian got stuck in a rut. She went abroad to study with her husband and accidentally got pregnant. After enduring humiliation, she swore she would make something of herself.

She threw herself into a Chinese restaurant, barely saw her husband, and gradually grew distant from him and even more estranged from their daughter. Seven years later, her husband earned his doctorate and decided to return home to serve his country. Lin Qingtian was firmly against it, and their disagreement turned into a fight that ended in divorce. Lin Qingtian won custody, but her daughter refused to live with her and ran away, only to meet with an accident.

Two years later, the restaurant was deep in debt, and Lin Qingtian declared bankruptcy. She died alone in a cold apartment.

Her husband, meanwhile, spent the rest of his life in exile because of her and died far from home. If she could start over, she definitely wouldn't...

When Lin Qingtian opened her eyes, she was back at twenty-two, nine months pregnant and fighting with her half-brother...

*

The kid-raising arc

An Ziji was highly capable but cold and stern. His professors liked him, but he'd never managed to fit in with his classmates. One day, he brought his Chinese daughter to school. The little girl was two, with black hair and emerald-green eyes, as cute as a doll. She made everyone's heart melt.

How could she be half Chinese and half German? Wasn't An's wife Chinese too?

Before anyone could figure it out, the little girl came running out of the lab, pouting angrily, with An Ziji chasing after her in his white lab coat. He apologized over and over in a soft voice. "Daddy was wrong. Daddy loves you, sweetie. Daddy won't scold you again. Daddy was wrong."

An Ziji picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder, terribly hurt. "Daddy scolded me. I love Daddy too, the most..."

After hearing his daughter say "I love you" again and again, An Ziji regretted it and felt so heartbroken that he ended up crying in her arms.

Everyone: "...???!!!"

*

The food arc

There's a Chinese snack stall in New York with incredible flavors and superb cooking. Whenever it appears, a long line forms. It comes and goes without warning, keeping customers desperate for the owner to open a proper shop.

The owner doesn't want to be forced to work, so she does whatever she feels like. Today she sells Northeast Chinese fried dough twists at a marathon, tomorrow she sells candied hawthorns outside an elementary school. Students at nearby New York University cry with envy over the food, while elementary school kids get into fights over a single skewer of candied hawthorns.

New York University's strictest and most famous biology professor: Lin, could you set up a stall at our school tomorrow?

Lin Qingtian smiles and refuses. "Tomorrow I'm planting tomatoes, chives, long beans, cucumbers..."

Tomato and egg stir-fry, chive pockets, long beans with minced pork, smashed cucumber salad... The professor drools. "Lin, to be honest, I'm excellent at farm work."

Theme: Women should be self-reliant.