Great Zhou Dynasty, First Year of Zhengsheng, summer. Early in the morning, when the sky was just getting light.
Zhaozhai Village, in the bedroom of a peasant household, a good drama was playing out.
Sun Mei and Zhao Dong both woke up almost simultaneously. At that moment, they were sitting on the bed, staring at each other, big eyes to small eyes, neither speaking first.
Finally, Sun Mei couldn't hold it in, she read the most novels, and at that moment had figured out the situation, she had time-traveled!
A glint flashed in her eyes, and she immediately reached out to hold her head, weakly saying, "Oh, my head hurts so much, what's happened to me, where is this place? Who are you, and who am I? Why can't I remember anything?"
Looking at Zhao Dong, who was baffled just moments ago, his heart went from anxious to at ease instantly after seeing the woman's 'acting skills': "Wife, it's me, I'm your husband."
Sun Mei was still acting: "Ah, are you my husband? But I don't remember, what happened?"
Zhao Dong: "..."
Quietly watching his wife perform for a while, Zhao Dong finally couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted her: "Alright, wife, stop acting. With your runaway performance, I recognized you at once. Honey, it's me, Dongzi."
This familiar way of speaking made Sun Mei's heart settle instantly, and she exclaimed excitedly: "Husband! You have time-traveled here too! That's great, I thought I was the only one who did, I was scared to death."
She wasn't lying; while she longed for time travel when reading novels, really being transported to an unfamiliar place, there's nothing but fear and helplessness.
Just after the two realized each other's identity, a familiar sound of a child's crying suddenly came from beside them, changing their expressions as they looked toward the sound.
It was a four or five-year-old child sitting at the bedhead, crying and wiping tears, calling for mommy and daddy.
"It's Tongtong, it's our Tongtong!" Seeing this, Sun Mei was overly excited.
But Zhao Dong was quicker to act, picking up their daughter and patiently coaxing her.
In this unknown world, meeting again as a family of three, Zhao Dong felt it was a huge stroke of luck; as long as his wife and child were there, he wasn't afraid of anything.
After comforting the frightened Zhao Zhitong, their memories of their original selves gradually started to recover.
They were currently in a dynasty called Zhou, which appeared to be a time of peace, with no wars or chaos.
Their family's names hadn't changed, and they were just an ordinary peasant family in Zhaozhai Village.
The family of three familiarized themselves with the room's environment and aligned their speech and forms of address, especially Zhao Zhitong, who was repeatedly told by Zhao Dong that she could no longer call them daddy and mommy, but had to say father and mother.
Thanks to the original's memories, the adjustment wasn't too difficult, but Zhao Zhitong's mind was still muddled from the shock of the memory impact.
Just as the three were exchanging information, someone suddenly knocked fiercely on the door, followed by the scolding voice of a woman.
"Aren't you up yet! What time is it already, you lazy lot!"
At the familiar scolding, Sun Mei instinctively flinched; this was her current body's mother-in-law, Mrs. Wang. In her memories, the original was often beaten and scolded by her mother-in-law to set things right, so she hurriedly responded: "Mother, we're getting up."
Then there was more scolding from outside, followed by the sound of knocking on the door next to them.
"Truly like mother, like egg, a family of lazy gluttons! Hurry up and move out today, don't think you can keep leeching off me."
Mrs. Wang banged on their door and then went back to her room cursing.
"We better get up." Sun Mei sighed and quickly reached for clothes: "Seems like today is the day we're supposed to move out."
Her mother-in-law was Zhao Dong's stepmother, always making life tough for both Zhao Dong and his elder brother's families.
Recently, Zhao Dong's brother went missing during a hunting trip up the mountain, and when Zhao Dong went to search for him, he accidentally injured his leg. With two main laborers out and still needing to be fed, her step-mother-in-law grew even more unpleasant.
Sure enough, she finally convinced Old Zhao to divide the family yesterday.
In Sun Mei's view, the division was a good thing, as she didn't want to live under the mother-in-law's constant scorn.
Sun Mei and the other two quickly got dressed and went out the door.
Opening the door, they saw Ms. Zhu, Zhao Dong's sister-in-law, standing in the yard with her three children.
Sun Mei politely nodded to her, but the other woman remained expressionless, even turning her face away, making Sun Mei feel awkward.
Just then, Mrs. Sun, the fifth sister-in-law, came out of the kitchen. Seeing Sun Mei, she kindly smiled and said, "Second sister-in-law."
Before Sun Mei could reply, Mrs. Wang's shrill curses started behind her: "You wretch, hurry and make breakfast! Smile, smile, smiling for what? Even prostitutes aren't as diligent as you."
Mrs. Wang's words were as harsh as any could be, causing Mrs. Sun's eyes to turn red as she hurriedly went to fetch water with her head down.
"Cry, cry, can't even lay an egg, just know how to cry!"
Goodness, Mrs. Wang had a curse for everything.
Sun Mei widened her eyes; knowing Mrs. Wang was unreasonable was one thing, actually hearing it was another experience entirely.
"And you, what are you standing there for, get to moving, stop thinking you can freeload off me,"
Just as Mrs. Wang turned her frustration towards Sun Mei, a loud voice of a woman came from the entrance, "Ha, I say in-law, no sooner had I arrived at your gate than I heard you howling in the yard. Someone would think there was a death in your family!"
Instinctively, Sun Mei looked over and saw a woman in her thirties or forties, standing confidently at the door with her arms akimbo, and Sun Mei's eyes widened instantly: "Mom... No, Mother!"
She almost slipped her tongue out of shock; the main reason being that this woman looked nearly identical to her mother in her previous life!
The woman's expression softened when she saw Sun Mei and she rushed over, grabbing Sun Mei's hand protectively like a mother hen: "Don't be afraid, Mother's here to stand up for you!"
Saying that, she gave Mrs. Wang a sideways glance and snorted coldly, "We have our own family to back us up, and we'll never let anyone bully us."
Mrs. Wang's nostrils flared in anger: "Zhao Guifen, you can't ever say anything decent. This is my house, why are you here acting superior! A whole family of shameless people."
Zhao Guifen ignored her, first comforting Sun Mei, before putting her hands on her hips and loudly saying: "Listen, Mrs. Wang, you constantly make life hard for my son-in-law's family, working him like a horse, often underfeeding him, making him do lots with little food, making him slave all day. I said nothing; even though you're the stepmother, you're still his mother, and they treated it as filial piety.
But now, what is this? My son-in-law has just injured his leg, and you couldn't wait to kick them out of the house. Zhao Family head, don't hide in the house; he's your real son, aren't you afraid of people talking behind your back?"
Mrs. Wang might be unreasonable, but Zhao Guifen was no easy opponent either; her lips moved rapidly and her words flew like beans, leaving Mrs. Wang unable to counter.
Especially when she was reminded she was the stepmother; her face grew darker at this painful jab, and she started cursing: "Zhao Guifen, you filthy old woman, married daughters are as good as spilled water, how dare you come to my house early in the morning to scold me..."
Zhao Baishan from inside couldn't sit still anymore; his face was sullen as he came out: "Alright, alright! Early in the morning, what's all the noise about? Neighbors will come to watch if you don't stop, don't you find it embarrassing?"
Mrs. Wang was instantly dissatisfied, raising her voice to complain: "Who's making noise, it's that shameless Zhao Guifen coming here, not only are you not siding with me, but you're also scolding me. Zhao Baishan, are you still a man! Boohoo, why is my life so miserable, I don't want to live anymore..."