In the tomato brigade, amidst the corn forest.
"Honghong, just give yourself to me. Don't worry, I will definitely marry you. I'll only be good to you in this life, and you're the only wife I'll ever recognize."
Jun Jiuli lay on the ground, Zhao Shixiao's left hand propped beside her shoulder, while his right hand reached to unbutton her clothes.
Jun Jiuli forcefully pushed his hand away and quickly slapped him twice. Zhao Shixiao, covering his swollen face, looked utterly incredulous.
"Honghong, what's wrong? If you don't want to, fine. I'll take it back. Why did you hit me? That's so rude."
"So what if I'm rude? Zhao Shixiao, I never expected you to be this kind of person. Pervert, shameless. I truly misjudged you. And you're supposed to be educated. Is this how your teachers taught you?"
"Honghong, it's not like that. Don't get agitated. I was wrong, alright? Stop shouting, it'll attract attention."
"Heh, looks like you're just a coward. I, Zhu Honghong, look down on you. Let's break up."
With that, Jun Jiuli gave him a hard push and ran off crying. Zhao Shixiao, unable to maintain his balance, fell directly to the ground. His back of the head hit a rock, breaking open and bleeding profusely.
Zhao Shixiao gasped in pain and swayed as he got up. He searched the field for some *sanxiecao* (bleeding-stopping grass), crushed it with his hands, and applied it to the back of his head.
Afraid the herb would fall off, he kept his hand pressed to his head, stumbling his way home.
As soon as Jun Jiuli arrived home, she was met with Grandma Zhu's scrutinizing gaze. Her eyebrows shot up, and she barked with a fierce expression, "Finished work and didn't come back, what were you doing outside?"
"Nothing, just taking a walk to aid digestion."
"Girls shouldn't wander around aimlessly. Go back, wash your feet, and get ready for bed. Remember to bolt the door after fetching water. I'm going to sleep now."
With that, Grandma Zhu retreated to her room. Jun Jiuli went to the kitchen to fetch hot water.
The original host, Zhu Honghong, also had an elder brother, Zhu Qingjiang. Her parents had passed away a few years prior, leaving only the three of them.
Grandma Zhu was too old to do heavy labor and usually collected cow dung for the brigade, earning three work points a day.
The original host worked in the fields with her brother. The rations they received were enough for the family to live on; their lives were neither particularly good nor bad.
She was currently secretly dating Zhao Shixiao, the son of the brigade leader. Today, she had been deceived by Zhao Shixiao's sweet talk and had given herself to him.
Grandma Zhu, worried about her, waited until she returned before going to sleep. Jun Jiuli had maintained her disguise well, only saying she had met some girlfriends on the way and chatted, hence her late return.
She had always been well-behaved, so Grandma Zhu never suspected she would dare to do something so bold.
She thought she and Zhao Shixiao would get married smoothly, foolishly believing in love. After losing her virginity, she became very uneasy and kept urging Zhao Shixiao to propose at her house.
Zhao Shixiao dealt with her by delaying, and when pressed, he would impatiently show her a bad temper. The original host, lacking experience, didn't know what to do and could only wait.
While waiting, Zhao Shixiao got engaged to Chen Qianyue, the daughter of Secretary Chen from the neighboring brigade. They were even junior high classmates, and everyone praised them as a golden couple.
The original host grew melancholic day by day. Her grandmother and brother noticed something was wrong. After much questioning, she stammered out the truth.
Grandma Zhu and Zhu Qingjiang were furious. This was clearly bullying their family. They took the original host and went to Zhao's house to demand justice.
Zhao's mother was not ashamed but proud. She claimed the original host was not worthy of her son, cursed the original host as a desperate hanger-on, and called her cheap and shameless. She declared their family didn't want such a loose daughter-in-law and told the original host to die.
Zhao Shixiao said nothing, standing silently in support of his mother.
The original host was the belle of the village, fair and delicate. But he was just playing around; he disdained her family's background.
"Zhu Honghong, can you stop making things difficult for me? I'm already engaged. We can never be together again."
Grandma Zhu was not one to be trifled with. She declared that if the Zhao family didn't acknowledge the original host as their daughter-in-law, she would report Zhao Shixiao for hooliganism.
Zhao's mother immediately turned to shamelessness, "What evidence do you have? Your granddaughter is so shameless. Who knows which boy she slept with to blame it on my son? I'm telling you, as long as I'm alive, this little slut will never dream of entering my house."
Zhu Qingjiang's face turned red with anger, "You're slandering us! You know perfectly well who your son is. Zhao Shixiao, you're a grown man, hiding behind your mother. If you have the guts, come out and admit it."
"Why are you shouting nonsense? Who knows who she's been involved with. Our Zhao family won't acknowledge her. A badly raised little slut, truly born without a mother. She's cheap herself and wants to ruin my Shixiao, don't you see if you two are a good match?"
The original host could only cry and then attempt to jump into the river. She was rescued, and in a twist of fate, she was pregnant.
Under these circumstances, Secretary Chen naturally did not want his daughter to marry into that family, and the engagement was canceled.
Zhao's mother cursed incessantly, openly and implicitly mocking the Zhu family. Even her distant cousins suffered because of this, and they deeply resented the original host's shamelessness.
The villagers kept pointing fingers at her, mocking her openly and indirectly. Many young people even used her in crude jokes.
But they seemed to have forgotten that it was Zhao Shixiao who had defiled her. This was not solely the original host's fault; she was merely a pitiable woman deceived by a scumbag.
The original host lived in shame and humiliation, eventually not even daring to leave her house. With her pregnancy, Zhao Shixiao was forced to marry her.
No one in the Zhao family, from top to bottom, looked up to her. Zhao's mother, in particular, tormented and humiliated her relentlessly. No one spoke a word for her.
Influenced by the societal norms of the era, Grandma Zhu and Zhu Qingjiang believed marrying Zhao Shixiao was the original host's best path.
They advised the original host to endure minor issues and made a fuss at the Zhao family's house to support her on major ones. Even so, the original host's life remained difficult.
Because of her situation, Zhu Qingjiang remained unmarried, and she felt immense guilt. More often than not, she kept her grievances to herself, not wanting to cause them further trouble.
A few months later, she gave birth to a son, which briefly improved her standing in the Zhao family.
She devoted herself to raising this son, thinking that she would have support once he grew up. But accidents always happened so suddenly; Chen Qianyue got divorced.
After her engagement to Zhao Shixiao fell through, Chen Qianyue married a canned food factory worker in town.
Unexpectedly, that man turned out to be abusive. Secretary Chen, upon learning of this, went to their home with his son, beat the man up, and took his daughter back, divorcing her.
The Chen family doted on Chen Qianyue, but over time, her three sisters-in-law inevitably developed some resentment. She did nothing at home, and her sisters-in-law, returning from work, had to cook and serve her.
Even a celestial being would become annoying under such circumstances. They often whispered complaints to their husbands. Instead of receiving understanding, they were accused of being petty. Who could tolerate that?
Conflicts became frequent, and Chen Qianyue was also very depressed. She thought she might as well get married again, so she set her sights on her former fiancé.
Zhao Shixiao was not a gentleman to begin with. Chen Qianyue beckoned, and his soul followed.
As the saying goes, the grass outside the fence always looks greener.
The original host found out and argued with him. She was beaten by everyone in the Zhao family. They confined her to the house, afraid she would spread rumors.
His sister, Zhao Nuancheng, also constantly praised Chen Qianyue in front of her, highlighting how inferior the original host was in comparison. She even accused the original host of being shameless and clingy, claiming that without her pestering, Chen Qianyue and her brother wouldn't have had to be so secretive. Chen Qianyue was meant to be the sister-in-law, and the original host should die and stop taking her place.