The Sweetness of the Seventies

He Tiantian moved to the city ten years ago, to seek treatment for her husband's leg. Their home was in a small mountain village in Huai City of An Province, where the income from farming was meager, and there were no other sources of income. Expenditures exceeded income, so using all their savings, and borrowing some money from friends and relatives, they opened a marinated meat store in Huai City. She learned this skill while helping a country chef, and after some improvements, the flavor was even better.

Less than half a year after opening, the store began to turn a profit. Because of the good taste, and He Tiantian's diligent work, the shop was sparkling clean and without a speck of dust, and she was enthusiastically hospitable with a sweet mouth. Therefore, the nearby residents liked to buy marinated meat and cold dishes from her shop.

In these ten years, He Tiantian, with her own hands, created a family business and moved from a hundred-yuan-a-month shed area to a clean apartment with three bedrooms and two living rooms.

For all these years, without children, but with her husband's generosity, her mother-in-law's understanding, her sister-in-law's respect, and her nephew's affection, she felt very content. No matter how hard or tiring, it was all worth it.

However, all these were an illusion, a happiness piled up by lies, just like colorful bubbles blown from soapy water, bursting at the slightest touch, leaving only mottled bubble remnants.

The prick that burst the bubble stemmed from a recording pen.

Her nephew, Zhou Zhicheng, was twenty years old this year and attending a second-tier university in the city. Sometimes, to skip classes for gaming, he bought a recording pen to have someone record the lectures so he could listen to them when he had the time.

While tidying up Zhou Zhicheng's room, He Tiantian accidentally knocked the recording pen onto the floor.

Somehow, the switch had been turned on automatically.

Worried that the recording pen had been damaged, she quickly crouched down to pick it up.

Suddenly, the voice inside made He Tiantian freeze.

"Mom, my sister-in-law is really capable. I've heard that she can make two to three hundred thousand a year, which is more than what I earn as a teacher," Qi Fangfang said, "After work, I'll come here for dinner."

"You, you always like a bargain. Have you ever eaten less here?" This voice was very familiar to He Tiantian; it was her mother-in-law's, "Both of you work, and Zhou Zhicheng has grown up here since he was little. Not to mention food and clothing, I even pay for his school fees. You and my son never give money, what more do you want?"

Hearing her mother's words, Qi Fangfang chuckled, "Mom, isn't it because my brother has no children? My brother will never have his own children in this lifetime, so Zhao Zhicheng will take care of you and my brother in your old age. What's wrong with doting on Zhicheng a bit more now!"

Listening to these words, He Tiantian felt uncomfortable inside. Ah, not having children after so many years of marriage was the regret of her life.

Because of not having children, and because it was her fault for being unable to conceive, she had always felt guilty in this family. Even when her husband sometimes got drunk and acted crazy towards her, she did not take it to heart; when her mother-in-law and sister-in-law sometimes said things that made her uncomfortable, she endured it.

"The grandson doesn't carry the Qi surname after all!" Mother Qi sighed, "The Old Qi Family line is going to end."

With her mother-in-law's sigh, He Tiantian felt even more ashamed.

"Mom, although my big brother's legs aren't good, there's nothing wrong with the rest of his body. If my sister-in-law can't give birth, spend some money to have children with someone else," Qi Fangfang wondered aloud. She had thought this way before but kept silent since her mother and brother were fond of Zhicheng. Now that her brother and sister-in-law were older, and after taking so much medicine without having children, they'd given up hope, so she spoke out.

Can't give birth?

These five simple words almost made He Tiantian's world collapse. In her youth, she had taken so much medicine to conceive a child, yet it never happened. As she got older, her mother-in-law and husband had given up the hope of having children.

Spend money to have a child with another woman?

Even if she doesn't divorce and adopts a child, won't the child still be the Qi family's bloodline?

The younger sister-in-law actually had such a thought!

He Tiantian's mouth tasted bitter, so many years of heartfelt devotion only to be met with the younger sister-in-law's such thoughts. Was the respect she showed on ordinary days all fake?

Without the time to think it through, the voice of Mother Qi, accompanied by rustling sounds, came from the voice recorder, "Ah, if it were as you said, that it's your big sister-in-law's fault, I would have driven her out long ago. Why would I still keep her around until now?"

"Eh?" Qi Fangfang's surprised voice came from the voice recorder, "Mom... Mom... if it's not big sister-in-law's fault, could it be that big brother is infertile?"

He Tiantian was also startled. After spending three years married without children, her mother-in-law had taken her and her husband to the county town to see the mother-in-law's niece's son, who was a doctor. They had conducted tests and claimed it was her fault, that her fallopian tubes were blocked and adhered, preventing pregnancy, while her husband Qi Jianguo had no issues.

Why was what Mother Qi saying now different from what they had said back then?

"It's your big brother's fault. When he was fourteen, he fell from a tree and shattered his testicles. Even though we rushed him to the hospital and spent all our family's money, even though it looks fine on the surface and he seems okay usually, in reality, he can't have children." Mother Qi said, "Ah, your big brother will never have his own children in this lifetime."

Shattered his testicles?

Is it possible to understand that as shattering the testicles?

If that were shattered, even if erections were possible, the sperm inside would be dead, and he wouldn't be able to have children in eight lifetimes!

"Then... then why did you take big sister-in-law to the hospital, and the diagnosis said it was big sister-in-law's problem?" Qi Fangfang asked doubtfully. Could she have remembered it wrong?

He Tiantian was also very curious and wanted to continue listening.

"Hehe, it was me who got your aunt's son to help. I told him to say your big sister-in-law couldn't have children." Mother Qi spoke proudly, "If your big sister-in-law knew it wasn't her problem, that it was your big brother's issue, would she still have stayed with your big brother? She wouldn't have worked so honestly in this home, obedient and uncompetitive, letting me manipulate her so easily!"

"Ah..." Once again Qi Fangfang's astonished voice came through, "So... so it was like this... no wonder... turns out there was such a matter in the family that I didn't know about at all."

Qi Fangfang knew her own mother well, particularly astute; with only one male in the family, if the big sister-in-law couldn't have children, the mother would never treat the big sister-in-law with such kindness and pleasure as she did now.

Qing Mother's words, to He Tiantian's ears, were like a bolt from the blue. She could no longer stand, her legs went weak, and unable to support her heavy body, she fell sitting to the ground.

Initially, when she learned she couldn't have children, she felt guilty. Her mother-in-law comforted her, claiming that whether she could have children or not, she was still part of the Old Qi family. Her husband, honest and devoted, continued to be exceptionally good to her. Although he lacked sweet words, he was attentive to her needs, considerate, warm, and cold, so later on, even when her husband mistreated her and sometimes lost his temper, she took it as him being in a bad mood because of his leg troubles and didn't hold it against him; she always endured.

Because her in-laws treated her well, she devoted herself to rural life. She tutored her younger sister-in-law, helping her to get into university, but when her father-in-law fell ill and her husband was dealing with leg issues, she willingly gave up the opportunity to attend university herself, allowing her younger sister-in-law to pursue education while she stayed home working, taking care of her in-laws and her husband, supporting her sister-in-law through school.

Despite the hardships and fatigue, she harbored no regrets. However, today, she discovered the harsh truth!

"You're a young woman; there's a lot you don't know. Your big sister-in-law is beautiful, and your big brother took a liking to her at first sight. But with your big sister-in-law's looks and her being a city girl, why would she have liked your big brother? Your father and I went to great lengths to bring your big sister-in-law and your big brother together." Mother Qi spoke, feeling that even though her son had a hidden condition, she had found him a literate and beautiful city girl, bringing great pride.

This city girl was indeed good, not only beautiful but also hardworking, literate, a rare catch in Qijia Village. She laid another trap, making her daughter-in-law, He Tiantian, believe she couldn't have children, leading her to dutifully stay with the Old Qi family.