Chapter Four: The Fool Knows How To Read

Wang Guiying saw the two come back and quickly grabbed the umbrella from them. Seeing that half of Guo Xiang's body was wet and Guo'er was completely dry, she immediately understood what was going on and looked at Guo Xiang with much gentler eyes.

"Quick, I've made ginger soup. Both of you need to go to the kitchen and drink a bowl to avoid catching a cold!" Wang Guiying said quickly.

The two of them responded and walked into the kitchen together. Guo Xiang scooped two bowls of ginger soup out of the pot. Se handed one bowl to Guo'er and kept the other one for herself. The two of them squatted by the stove and started drinking.

Through the steam rising from the bowl, Gu Guo'er saw her sister-in-law's bright eyes. Her delicate face was red. Guo Xiang met her gaze and smiled. Guo'er still felt a little uneasy and turned her face away. 

Guo Xiang could not help but laugh. What an awkward child! 

After lunch, the rain had stopped. Guo Guo'er changed into her rain boots. The road was still very muddy, but she insisted on walking to school by herself.

Guo Xiang did not go anywhere in the afternoon. It was better to stay at home since it was muddy everywhere.

However, in this era, there was no cell phone or computer. The family was poor and did not even have a television. It was really boring.

Guo Xiang flipped through the books on top of the dresser. They all belonged to Gu Zhennan. They were books on oil and machinery. She was very curious. Was he an oil worker?

In her previous life, her father was a professor at the University of Petroleum. She did not expect herself to be involved with oil in this life too. 

She opened the drawer of the dresser and found something that looked like an award. She picked it up and took a closer look, only to realize that it was a marriage certificate. It was the marriage certificate for herself and Gu Zhennan.

In the 1980s, the marriage certificate was just a piece of paper. There was no photo on it. It only stated who got married and when they got married. 

Guo Xiang was puzzled. She didn't know they had a marriage certificate. Wasn't she a fool in the past?

Then again, the marriage certificate didn't even have a photo. Even if they randomly asked someone else to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the marriage certificate, they probably wouldn't know. Either way, they just needed to bring the household registration book for the marriage certificate.

In that case, it would be more troublesome to get a divorce, and they would have to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to do it.

However, as long as Gu Zhennan agreed, it shouldn't be too difficult, right?

Guo Xiang looked at the marriage certificate. Her age was 20, while Gu Zhennan was 25.

Although 25 years old was considered to be old in the 80s, he would still be considered young in the future!

Guo Xiang was 35 years old in her previous life, which meant she was 10 years older than Guo Zhennan. Was she robbing the cradle? Guo Xiang could not help but laugh.

There was a small mirror in the drawer. Guo Xiang picked up the mirror, only to surprise herself when she saw her reflection. She looked quite similar to her previous life, except for the lame clothes and braids. It was as if she wasn't in a foreign body in the first place.

However, it was better this way. Otherwise, it would be very uncomfortable to wear someone else's face.

Having nothing to do in the afternoon, Guo Xiang started reading Gu Zhennan's books. She finished several of them in no time.

Fortunately, she still had a photographic memory. Otherwise, this transmigration would've been for nothing.

Dinner was still sweet potato porridge. Guo Xiang didn't mind having it for breakfast and lunch, but having it for three meals a day was a little too much.

"Mom, do we have rice at home?" Guo Xiang asked.

Her words managed to anger Guo'er. "Are you really stupid or are you pretending to be stupid? In order to marry you, we borrowed lots and money and now we're in debt. How could we afford rice? Feel lucky that we still have sweet potato porridge. There are people out there who can't even afford to eat sweet potato porridge!"

Guo Xiang's face immediately burned up. In her previous life, she had always been pampered and had never suffered. She really did not expect that families in this era would be so poor that they did not even have food to eat.

"You can't blame your sister-in-law for this. She was still stupid back then... she didn't know." Wang Guiying glanced at Guo'er and said to Guo Xiang, "Xiang Xiang, don't blame Guo'er. She's just a little upset. We were originally doing well this year. However, because of your betrothal gift, our family now owe a large amount of debt. You don't have to worry about it. Zhennan will send money back very soon. When he does, we will have money to buy rice."

"You owe a lot of money?" Guo Xiang asked.

"Six hundred yuan!" Wang Guiying sighed.

While eating, she told Guo Xiang about the past.

"Zhennan was admitted to university after the college entrance examination, but his father was sick for years and owed a lot of money. We really didn't have any money, so he decided to give up on university. Zhennan took the initiative and went to the forest farm in Lin Province to work as a temporary worker. He was a stevedore."

"Being a stevedore requires manual labor. It was hard and tiring, and his salary wasn't high. During those two years, he was frugal and paid off some debts bit by bit. Later, there was a big fire in the forest farm. Zhennan worked hard with the others to put out the fire. He saved the country from losses in time and got a formal job, but he was also seriously injured." Wang Guiying's eyes turned red as she told the story.

"Back then, they did an incredible deed. In order to reward them, the organization gave them the opportunity to choose a job. Zhennan chose to be an oil worker thousands of miles away in the northeast because the oil worker's salary was higher than the average person's."

Wang Guiying started to sob a little, her voice shaking slightly, "Zhennan earned this job with his life."

Guo Xiang pursed her lips. The Gu family lived such a difficult life in the past.

"After my brother became an oil worker, his salary was higher. He was about to pay off all the debt soon. However, because of your family, he owes a huge sum of money again. Six hundred yuan. Can you earn that much?" Guo'er's voice was filled with resentment.

"Fortunately, he has a job now. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to borrow so much money," Wang Guiying sighed.

Guo Xiang lowered her eyes. No wonder Guo'er was angry. She felt sorry for her brother.

Guo Xiang thought to herself, silently promising to pay the money back. Although it was not her fault, she was the current owner of this body after all. She had to pay back what she owed so that she could leave with peace of mind.

After dinner, Gu Guo'er put down the bowl and said that she was going to play with the Qin girl next door.

"Do your homework first. I'll check your homework later!" Guo Xiang said as she cleaned the dining table. It was important for kids like her to develop the habit of doing homework before playing. They would become more self-aware that way in the future.

"Can you even read?" Gu Guo'er pouted.

Not many people could read in this era, let alone girls. Moreover, she used to be a fool.

"Of course!" Guo Xiang smiled. She graduated from medical school with a master's degree and even went abroad to study.

However, when she thought of her identity in this life, she realized what she said was a little off. She pretended to tilt her head, "I don't remember things in the past clearly, but I can understand all the books your brother left at home!"

"You're bluffing!" Gu Guo'er looked at her suspiciously. Her brother's books were not ordinary books. They were all professional books, so how could she understand them so easily? There was no way she would believe that. 

Wang Guiying was very happy when she heard it. She originally thought that her son had married a fool. Turned out she was actually educated.

In order to prove what Guo Xiang said was true, Gu Guo'er did not go and play with Qin. She took out her homework and started doing it. When she came across anything she didn't understand, she would ask Guo Xiang. Initially, she wanted to make fun of her, yet Guo Xiang managed to answer all the questions. In fact, she was even better than the teachers at solving the problems.

Gu Guo'er was dumbfounded. Her sister-in-law was actually literate. Wasn't she a fool in the past? How could a fool know how to read? 

Wang Guiying started making cloth shoes as she watched Guo Xiang tutor Guo'er. The more she watched, the more satisfied she was. She could not teach Guo'er since she could not read. Now that her daughter-in-law was literate, she could not be happier.

Before going to bed, Guo Xiang boiled a pot of hot water and took a bath. She had been lying in bed for the past two days and her body was craving for a bath. Not to mention, she was walking in the rain today. After washing her body, she felt much more refreshed.

When she changed her clothes, she realized that she only had two sets of clothes. One was a grayish-blue shirt, and the other was a floral one. The Guo family was really stingy. They had received so much betrothal money, but they did not prepare any dowries at all. The Gu family really suffered a great loss.

Guo Xiang really did not want to wear such rustic clothes, but she had no choice. She decided to make do with it for now. She could always buy new clothes when she earned money in the future.

When she picked up the clothes, she found five yuan under the clothes. Gu Zhennan probably left it for her. 

In her previous life, she wouldn't pick up five Yuan if it fell on the ground. However, in the 80s, meat cost 2 yuan per kilo, and grains only cost 20 cents per kilo. Five yuan was really not a small amount.

Gu Zhennan's salary wasn't even in the hundreds. He was scammed by the Guo family and still left five yuan for her. It seemed that he wasn't a stingy person.

However, life was still quite difficult. The family couldn't even afford to eat properly. Guo Xiang decided to go to the village tomorrow to see if she could find any business opportunities to make a fortune and help her family.