桑秋站在村口老槐树下，摸了摸口袋里那本泛黄的老菜谱，嘴角勾起一抹笑。回村这几天的功夫，她肺都吸坏了，在这闷热的三伏天里，简直就是受罪。不过一想到明天就能在这老宅里开个小铺子，心里就踏实得不行。

Analogous to that old saying, life always gives you lemons. She had an opportunity to go back to her hometown. Her hometown? Chengguan Village. A place that had been in her memory for over a decade. She vaguely remembered that before the reform and opening up, life in the village was hard, but after the reform and opening up, new changes had taken place. Now, the old saying goes that rich people and poor people can't get together, so she decided to go back to the village, change her fate, and build a future.

“秋儿，你回来啦？”一个熟悉的声音从身后传来。桑秋回头，看见婆婆刘氏提着个小篮子，笑眯眯地站在门口。

刘氏今年五十出头，看着比实际年龄要憔悴些。头发也花白了不少，但那双眼睛依旧亮晶晶的，透着一股子精明劲儿。她是村里少数几个认识外面世界的女人，丈夫早些年在外打工，沾染了些见识。

“哎，婆婆。”桑秋赶紧上前，接过篮子。上面放着一碗鸡蛋面，煮得面的香气扑鼻。

“路上累坏了吧？快进来歇歇。”刘氏拉着她往屋里走，“你王叔他们都在呢。”

桑秋跟着婆婆进了屋。老宅子是典型的八十年代农村民居，土坯墙，木窗户，但收拾得干净整齐。正屋的炕上坐着几个人，都是村里的街坊邻居。