Luohé Brigade, fishing village. Inside a dilapidated thatched hut, a rural mother and son, dressed in coarse cloth, were staring at Shen Suyu lying on the bed—her body wet but her delicate beauty still apparent.
“Tsk! Son, being a young educated youth in the countryside is different! This kind of good looks you can’t find in ten villages around! She’ll definitely have beautiful children in the future!”
“Son, you really have to seize this! Don’t let her get away!”
The noisy chatter in her ears made Shen Suyu slowly open her heavy eyelids. The rough, black hands of the woman roamed over her, and the cloudy eyes were filled with greed. Shen Suyu stiffly raised her head, gradually taking in her surroundings.
The place was bare, with mud walls and a low house with a muddy floor. Sunlight pierced through the leaking thatched roof, casting a harsh glare. Shen Suyu’s head throbbed as she heard the excited chatter of the woman beside her.
A young man looked smug. “Don’t worry, mother! This time she won’t be able to escape!”
Escape? Where was she? Shen Suyu raised her hand to block the glaring sun and finally saw clearly. She was lying on a filthy kang (heated bed) in a 1970s coarse cloth outfit. The mud walls and floor were impoverished, and the few broken jars were in tatters. Beside her, a man and a woman were attentively watching her.
“小玉! You’re awake?!” The man, wearing a sweaty undershirt, his skin dark and emaciated as if malnourished, hurried to her side. “Xiao Yu, today was so dangerous, you know? If I hadn’t been such a good swimmer and jumped in without hesitation to save you, you’d probably…”
“But don’t feel any burden. I saved you willingly! Even if I died, I’d never let anything happen to you!” The man’s eyes were full of affection, yet his words were endless self-praise.
Shen Suyu frowned. This speech sounded familiar. Before she could react, the woman beside him chimed in, “Xiao Yu! Our Zhong Yao risked drowning to save you, he only worries that someone sees… it would ruin a girl’s reputation.”
“You know how gossip spreads. If you agree, our Zhong Yao will take responsibility for you!” The woman smiled obsequiously, her cloudy old eyes darting around, implying she wanted Shen Suyu to be “responsible.”
Shen Suyu froze and looked at her reflection in a bowl of water. Her hair was wet, her face thin from labor but still adorned with beautiful phoenix eyes, a small nose, naturally red lips, and delicate, refined features that carried a scholarly aura of a young educated youth in the countryside.
Seeing this face, a flood of chaotic memories surged into her mind. She realized she had transmigrated into a book! Moreover, it was a male-oriented harem novel, and she had become Zhong Yao’s long-suffering primary wife!
The setting was the summer of 1975. In the original book, the male lead Zhong Yao was just a phoenix man from the countryside. Because Shen Suyu feared water, Zhong Yao tricked her onto a pearl-gathering boat under the pretense of “courage training,” deliberately rocking it to make her fall into the water. He then “heroically” rescued her, winning her heart. The original Shen Suyu also believed Zhong Yao had saved her and, under his sweet words, naively gave herself to him. She even handed over her university recommendation and stayed in the village to serve the mother and son, giving money and resources without expecting anything in return, coexisting peacefully with Zhong Yao’s harem—a peak example of a love-struck fool!
“Hehe, thanks for saving me! But responsibility? No need!” Shen Suyu glanced at the scheming pair before her, smiled awkwardly, and tried to get up. Zhong Yao had planned to drown the original Shen Suyu to kidnap her and brainwash her with his mother’s help—but she wasn’t the naive original. How dare he flaunt himself in front of her!
“Hey, hey! You stubborn girl! If you go out like this, what will people say? Doesn’t a girl’s chastity matter?” Zhong Yao’s mother panicked when Shen Suyu didn’t fall for it. “Don’t blame me if I say this: a girl without chastity, no man will want her!”
She grabbed Shen Suyu’s arm, which made her furious. This modern woman couldn’t stand such words!
“Excuse me, ma’am? Are you some kind of feudal remnant? People used to bind feet, now you want to bind brains?” Shen Suyu shook off Zhong Yao’s mother, lips curling into a cold smile, her aura turning suddenly fierce.
“A modern woman should enjoy equal social status with men!”
“Our chastity is never defined by men, nor do we need to depend on anyone!”
Zhong Yao’s mother froze, and even Zhong Yao was startled by Shen Suyu’s sudden transformation. This… was still Shen Suyu? The original Shen Suyu, though a rural educated youth, was bound by the rules and thoughts of a 1975 woman—gentle and obedient. But the current Shen Suyu was entirely different.
“小玉, my mother is only concerned for you! The outside world speaks harshly, and I only saved you to protect you. Besides, didn’t you used to like me too?” Zhong Yao tried to recover, stepping forward with a tender expression. “Xiao Yu, I’ll take responsibility for you. We’ll have several children together, and I’ll always be good to you!”
“Ugh!” Shen Suyu immediately vomited at his oily declaration. What an unbearably greasy man!
“小玉!” Zhong Yao tried to speak again, but she silenced him with a hand. “Stop! I feel sick!”
“If you really care about me, you should send me to the youth work point or a hospital, not bring me back here!”
After throwing up, Shen Suyu wiped her hands in disgust. Zhong Yao’s face flushed red with anger.
“Cheap bitch! Don’t push your luck!” Zhong Yao’s mother flew into a rage, finally dropping her act. Her pitch-black claws reached out to grab Shen Suyu. “I’m telling you—whether you want to or not, you have to agree today!”
“Everyone saw you get on the boat with my son and then end up at our house. I’ll tell people you slept with my son on that boat—let’s see who would still want you!”
Zhong Yao’s mother’s hideous expression made Shen Suyu’s stomach churn. She quickly turned aside, nimbly dodging the attack, and kicked her hard in the lower abdomen!
Bang!
Zhong Yao’s mother was sent sprawling to the ground. Furious, she sat there wailing and rolling around. “Oh heavens, I can’t live anymore! The educated youth sent to the countryside has no shame—she sneaked around with my son and even dares to hit people!”
An accusation like “adultery” in the 1970s was practically lethal. With the whole village spitting on her, she could be drowned in saliva alone. What a vicious tactic.
Shen Suyu crossed her arms and looked down at Zhong Yao’s mother with a cold laugh. “Fine, fine! I was so busy ‘cleansing’ things that I forgot to deal with you!”
“Go ahead and shout if you want. But let me warn you—if you dare spread this nonsense, I’ll report your precious son for rape tomorrow!”
“Oh, and by the way, a bit of science for you—rape, in this era, means immediate execution by firing squad!”
Shen Suyu was beautiful, her eyes curving when she smiled, but now she lowered her voice, enunciating every word slowly, like a seductive yet dangerous rose.
The moment she finished speaking, Zhong Yao’s mother’s wailing came to an abrupt halt, and tension flashed in Zhong Yao’s eyes.
He had no intention of being executed by firing squad over a Shen Suyu.