Crossing Over

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Crossing Over.

A series of impatient knocks sounded, followed by a woman's annoyed voice. "Get up! What time do you think it is?"

Lin Yuzhu struggled to turn over and squinted out the window. Even without pulling back the thin curtains, she could see that it was only just getting light. Lin Yulan, lying beside her, was already grumbling impatiently. "What are you dawdling for? Get up already, or Mother will keep knocking!"

Lin Yuzhu closed her eyes, hiding her irritation. After taking a deep breath, she finally called out, "I'm getting up!"

Only then did the person outside stop knocking and leave disgruntledly.

She could still vaguely make out the muttering outside, but Lin Yuzhu simply pretended not to hear it.

Whenever she got dressed and looked at those straight-cut cloth pants and floral blouses reeking of rural rusticity, Lin Yuzhu's hands would tremble uncontrollably as she held the clothes. They were simply too tacky!

Before she had even finished dressing, another shout came from outside, urging her to hurry up. "Why aren't you out yet?"

Lin Yulan turned over heavily to express her extreme dissatisfaction, then pulled the blanket over her head so she could keep sleeping.

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes, got out of bed and put on her shoes. Beyond the door was the kitchen, and the woman before her was her so-called—

Mother, who had her back to Lin Yuzhu as she kneaded dough beside the chopping board.

Calling it dough was generous. It was really just cornmeal or other coarse grain flour mixed with a little white flour.

As for the taste, it was terrible.

When Mother Lin saw Lin Yuzhu come out, she said irritably, "Why are you so slow? Don't you know everyone has to go to work soon?"

"How did I end up giving birth to someone so lazy?"

Lin Yuzhu quietly walked over to the earthen stove and slowly, skillfully lit the fire. Her feelings were immensely complicated.

Just one month ago, she had been making waves in the workplace. Then, in the blink of an eye, she had crossed over to the 1970s and become a lowly girl whose job was tending the stove.

It really was a case of closing her eyes, opening them, and finding herself in a completely different world.

When she had first arrived here, the scene before her had been the entire family drinking corn porridge. Could anything have been more absurd?

At the time, no one in the Lin Family paid much attention to her. On top of that, her head had been spinning, so she had no time to do anything out of character. She had muddled through and remained with the Lin Family.

She had been muddling along for nearly a month now, yet she had not inherited even a fraction of the original owner's memories. Many things had only been figured out bit by bit through her own exploration.

The original owner ranked fourth in the family. She had an older brother and two older sisters above her, as well as a younger brother below her.

After a month of observation, she had more or less grasped the Lin Family's basic circumstances.

Starting with the siblings, the eldest, Lin Lisong, appeared fairly steady and reserved. He had much the same temperament as Father Lin and rarely spoke unless something important happened.

Lin Lisong was closest in age to the eldest sister, Lin Yumei, so the two had the best relationship.

As for his younger sister, who was six years younger than him, that was another matter. Usually, they could barely exchange a few words.

Her so-called father was an old employee of the Steel Mill. Lin Lisong had been born early enough to catch a good time.

Back then, factories looked after their workers' children. After graduating from middle school, they could be recommended to attend night school and earn a technical secondary school diploma.

As the eldest son, Lin Lisong had a natural advantage. He was also diligent, earned an accounting qualification, and naturally entered the Steel Mill as a junior clerk.

He was a great credit to Lin Xia.

Father Lin and Mother Lin were satisfied with this son in every possible way, except for one thing that worried them greatly.

Lin Lisong had high standards. He was already twenty-three and still had no partner. Every blind date ended with him saying he did not like the woman. Father Lin and Mother Lin had tried to persuade him again and again without success. The Lin Family's eldest daughter, meanwhile, had relied on the Lin Family's uncle to get into the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and even secured herself a permanent position.

In this era, getting into the Supply and Marketing Cooperative was practically like having smoke rise from one's ancestors' graves.

Naturally, any defective goods mentioned within the Supply and Marketing Cooperative were basically all given to Uncle's family. Otherwise, why would the Lin Family's uncle have arranged for her to get in?

Back then, because of this matter, the neighbor's aunt had nearly raised the roof. She still had two nieces from her maternal family without jobs.

In Lin Yuzhu's eyes, the Lin Family's eldest son and eldest daughter were Father Lin and Mother Lin's precious darlings. There was no need to even mention the eldest son's status.

When Mother Lin and Father Lin were expecting their second child, they had hoped for another daughter so they could make up the character for "good." Their wish had come true, and they really did have a daughter. The affection in their hearts was something none of the daughters born later could compare with.

When Lin Yulan was born, Mother Lin had actually been rather disappointed. They already had a daughter, so another one was not particularly treasured. If not for Second Sister Lin's fair looks, sweet tongue, and ability to please her parents, her status at home probably would not have been much better than poor unlucky Lin Yuzhu's.

The person with the highest official position in the family was unexpectedly Mother Lin. She was the deputy director of the neighborhood Women's Federation. In this era, children could inherit their parents' positions. Once Lin Yulan graduated from high school, Mother Lin got her into the organization. She was still a temporary worker now, but becoming permanent was only a matter of time.

That left only the original owner and the youngest brother without jobs. The youngest son, Lin Liyang, was also Mother Lin's darling. Never mind not working—she would even be willing to support him for the rest of his life.

Naturally, that was an exaggeration. Based on Lin Yuzhu's understanding of Mother Lin, it was unlikely she would truly support her youngest son forever. Besides, Lin Liyang was still young and had only just started middle school.

The original owner was pitiful. She had never been liked by her parents, and she knew it clearly. Her personality had thus become somewhat timid and submissive, which the fierce-tempered Mother Lin found deeply displeasing. Whenever there was nothing else to do, Mother Lin would scold her a few times. The more she was scolded, the more afraid she became; the more afraid she became, the worse she performed; and the worse she performed, the more she was scolded. It was a vicious cycle.

It was easy to see what kind of person the original owner had become. In any case, she was not well liked.

The original owner had just graduated from high school, and it was now 1973. Urban worker positions were saturated that year, so most workers' children could no longer be assigned jobs. Father Lin and Mother Lin had pulled countless strings from the time the original owner graduated until now, but they still could not arrange work for her. Her position at home had become even more awkward. All she could do was handle more housework and make herself as invisible as possible.

The original owner was not stupid. She was anxious too, unable to find work. Her anxiety turned into worry, and worry made her ill. She fell sick.

Mother Lin had been busy at work lately. When she learned that the original owner was sick, she mixed up a bowl of brown sugar water for her and told her to drink it. When one night's sleep did not cure her, no one thought much of it. In those days, when people had a headache or fever, most families did not rush to the hospital.

Although workers had medical booklets and medicine did not cost much, there was still the registration fee of a few cents.

What did five cents mean? Add half again, and you could buy half a packet of matches.

Mother Lin was simply reluctant to spend that money. Why should registration cost money?

She also thought that a child that old would recover from a fever after sleeping. If it really did not improve, then they could go to the hospital.

That delay killed the original owner. If Lin Yuzhu had not crossed over, the original owner probably would have died right at the dinner table.

When Lin Yuzhu arrived, her head had still been muddled and dizzy. It was only after she went to Mother Lin and spoke up that Mother Lin took her to the hospital.

Lin Yuzhu felt that Father Lin and Mother Lin were truly big-hearted. Could they not see how badly their daughter was suffering?

Whenever Lin Yuzhu thought of the original owner's ridiculous cause of death, she felt utterly indifferent toward the Lin Family.

Mother Lin was, after all, a deputy director and an administrative clerk. Salaries were graded back then, and even at the low end, Mother Lin's salary should have been around twenty yuan. Father Lin was also an old factory employee. After more than twenty years, his pay grade had risen several times, and he now earned forty-two yuan and fifty cents.

Although the eldest brother had only worked for a few years, he had a technical secondary school diploma and was a junior clerk. His salary had already caught up with Father Lin's. After deducting cafeteria expenses and his usual pocket money, he gave Mother Lin thirty-five yuan every month.

Because the eldest brother had not married, Lin Yumei's boyfriend had never been able to come and propose. The custom at the time was that the younger children could not marry before the older ones did, so the eldest sister had been forcibly delayed at home. She usually brought food to eat at work at noon and handed over twenty yuan to the family each month. Her salary was twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents, which meant she had one or two yuan more pocket money than the eldest brother.

But do not think Mother Lin was doing this because she loved her daughter. Lin Yuzhu had calculated it privately: the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had internally retained defective goods, which counted as one of its internal benefits.

Those defective goods could not be taken for free, either. To thank Uncle for finding her a job, the eldest sister basically bought several defective items every month and sent them to Uncle's family. That was how she kept Auntie's mouth shut.

So her pocket money rose and fell every month, and averaged over the year, she could not save much private money. She was not nearly as carefree as the Lin Family's eldest brother.

Would Lin Yumei keep buying things for Uncle's family forever?

Of course not. She was not stupid. Once she married and went to her husband's family, she would no longer do this. Otherwise, Uncle's family would be drowned in Lin Fang's spit throughout the neighborhood.

Her niece had already married, yet they still expected her to show filial respect? Where did they get the nerve?

Second Sister Lin was stubborn and cunning, but she still could not escape Mother Lin's grasp.

Temporary workers' wages were generally low—three yuan and fifty cents. Every month, she only got one yuan in pocket money.

Though dissatisfied, she was shut down by Mother Lin every time.

Mother Lin put it this way: "Then stop eating at home. Look at how much pocket money your brothers and sisters give the family every month. Aren't you embarrassed to ask for so much?"

The second sister next door had no strength to argue back. It was not as though she could run away from home!

When it came to the original owner, Mother Lin said directly, "You can't earn money either. You can't just eat for free at home, can you? You're already this old. The people in this family either work or go to school. Shouldn't you do the housework? Shouldn't you help prepare breakfast from now on?"

The other side's reasoning was overwhelming, and Lin Yuzhu had no way to refute it. She simply treated it as the Lin Family raising her as a little maid. There was nothing she could do. Over the past month, she had taken advantage of her spare time to visit nearly every factory, but she had nothing in hand and could only shamelessly try to pull connections.

The information she eventually learned was basically that the factory job openings had all been reserved internally. For a high school graduate like her to get a job, it could only come down to connections.

With nothing else to do, Lin Yuzhu could only wait for an opportunity.