Chapter 1: The Arrival of the Salted Fish

The 1960s

Jingcheng

The spring breeze brings warmth, the peach and plum blossoms vie for beauty, and the walls are covered in slogans of striving and progress.

Cao Cao Weiguo carries a bag of corn flour, humming a tune as he walks into the Sihe Academy.

In the blink of an eye, he has been in this world for a year.

A sudden car accident a year ago sent him to this world.

The identity the system arranged for him is that of a martyr's surviving dependent.

His father sacrificed his life on the battlefield six years ago, and his mother passed away from illness three years ago.

Left alone and helpless, Cao Cao Weiguo lived on a pension and relief from the neighborhood office.

Two years ago, eighteen-year-old Cao Cao Weiguo graduated from high school.

That same year, he took over his mother’s seniority and began working in the staff canteen of the Red Star Rolling Mill.

A year ago, due to a high fever that wouldn't break, he was possessed by a soul from another world...

Cao Cao Weiguo crossed through time and space to arrive in this world.

Time moves forward like the wheels of a cart, and he has drifted with the tide, quickly integrating into this era.

"Ding! Daily check-in successful!"

"Obtained 1 jin of White Rabbit Creamy Candy and 10 jin of peanut seeds!"

Listening to the crisp mechanical sound in his mind, Cao Cao Weiguo feels delighted.

"The five-star red flag flutters in the wind, how loud the song of victory rings..."

Cao Cao Weiguo hums a song all the way, walking with a cheerful pace.

When he reaches the middle courtyard, he sees the First Master washing vegetables.

"First Master, you're busy."

"Cao Weiguo, you're back."

"I heard you passed the Grade 8 cook assessment. Congratulations."

"Thank you, First Master."

The First Master’s name is Yi Yi Zhonghai, and he is a Grade 8 fitter at the rolling mill.

After exchanging greetings, Cao Cao Weiguo continues walking into the courtyard without stopping.

This Sihe Academy was once the residence of a high-ranking Qing Dynasty official; now it has become a crowded tenement house, home to over a dozen families.

To coordinate neighborhood relations, the neighborhood office elected three respected old workers, known as the "Three Masters."

Whenever a neighborhood dispute arises, it is resolved through the coordination of the Three Masters.

Regarding the First Master, who claims to be a "moral benchmark," Cao Cao Weiguo feels not a shred of affection.

This First Master has never once helped Cao Cao Weiguo.

Cao Cao Weiguo has no desire to have much interaction with him either.

"Sigh!"

The First Master watches Cao Cao Weiguo’s retreating back, shaking his head and sighing.

"How did I never notice this kid before?"

"Forget it! Having Seeing Shazhu is enough!"

Passing by the water basin, a plump woman is washing clothes.

Dressed in a blue work uniform, her bent-over posture forms an alluring curve.

"Cao Weiguo, you're back!"

Seeing Cao Cao Weiguo, the woman trots over.

Her large, captivating eyes are filled with sorrow: "Cao Weiguo, my family has run out of food. Can you help your sister?"

"Comrade Qin Qin Huairu, let's not talk about helping for a moment. You need to hurry up and pay back the 10 Brother Yuan you borrowed. It’s been so long; you aren't planning on welching on the debt, are you? That is my hard-earned money, earned with sweat and blood, and I’m counting on it to get married."

Cao Cao Weiguo shows no pity for her beauty; instead, he pulls a long face and holds out his hand to collect the debt.

Looking at the pitiful, pretty widow before him.

Cao Cao Weiguo cannot help but recall the past when he first transmigrated.

The first time he saw Qin Qin Huairu, Cao Cao Weiguo’s heart had skipped a beat.

Everyone loves beauty, and Cao Cao Weiguo, being a man, is no exception.

Because of Qin Qin Huairu’s beauty, Cao Cao Weiguo had once thought about having a taste.

Both the former "Cao Cao Weiguo" and the current Cao Cao Weiguo had provided relief to Qin Qin Huairu.

But later, the appetites of Qin Qin Huairu and Jia Jia Zhangshi grew larger and larger.

Borrowing a jar of salt today, a few jin of flour tomorrow, and asking for money the day after...

Their demands were endless, and they never returned what they borrowed, as if they wanted to empty out the Cao household.

This made Cao Cao Weiguo grow weary and wake up to reality.

Gradually, Cao Cao Weiguo began to avoid Qin Qin Huairu.

Even if she were to put on the skin of the Thirteenth Aunt, Cao Cao Weiguo would not want to throw his money into the water again.

But this woman, Qin Qin Huairu, is truly thick-skinned; whenever they meet, she will approach him, pleading for help with a pitiful look.

Of course, this isn't because Qin Qin Huairu has taken a fancy to Cao Cao Weiguo, but because of her mentality of casting a wide net to catch many fish.

The lechers at the rolling mill, Seeing Shazhu in the Sihe Academy, Xu Xu Damao, Cao Cao Weiguo... these are all her targets.

Regardless of whether there are dates or not, she’ll take a swing at the tree first.

"Qin Qin Huairu! Do you still want any face!"

"Why is a widow hovering around a bachelor!"

"Get back here right now!"

"If you dare to do anything that brings shame to the Jia family name!"

"I’ll skin you alive!"

Jia Jia Zhangshi, sitting at the door mending a shoe sole, points at Qin Qin Huairu and curses angrily.

Her shrill voice rings throughout the Sihe Academy.

Qin Qin Huairu’s face turns pale from the scolding, and her large, captivating eyes quickly fill with tears.

Cao Cao Weiguo watches the aggrieved and pitiful Qin Qin Huairu with cold indifference.

He has long since become accustomed to such things.

"Sigh, some people are just black-hearted!"

"They have money at home but don't know how to help their suffering, starving neighbors!"

"It’s no wonder they ended up an orphan!"

"A stingy miser who eats alone!"

"They won't have a good end!"

Following this, Jia Jia Zhangshi’s vicious mouth begins to spew insults.

Cao Cao Weiguo’s face turns green with anger, and he looks at Jia Jia Zhangshi with cold, icy eyes.

"Good people don't live long, but pests live for a thousand years!"

"Some people don't accumulate virtue, and as retribution, they curse their husbands to death and their sons to death!"

"Maybe one day you'll curse your grandson to death too."

"And when you're old, you'll fall into a cesspit and drown!"

"People act, and Heaven watches. You old hag, you'd better go out at noon, because sooner or later you'll face retribution!"

"Be careful that when you walk at night, someone doesn't put you in a sack and throw you into a mountain ravine to feed the wild boars."

"Or maybe the wild boars will take you as a wife and produce a litter of piglets!"

Cao Cao Weiguo is not a person who suffers in silence; he will not let Jia Jia Zhangshi curse him at will.

Carrying the corn flour, he walks while retorting, every word stabbing fiercely into Jia Jia Zhangshi’s heart.