“If that won’t work, then what if I beg~?”
“My head hurts so much…”
Wen Ranran’s head throbbed painfully, and her whole body felt as if it had been soaked through. Dazed, she opened her eyes only to find herself lying in an unfamiliar room.
The walls were plastered with yellow mud, and inside the small room were several narrow bamboo beds. Even the calendar hanging on the wall clearly read 1974!
Wen Ranran instantly felt as though she had been struck by lightning. She realized that she had transmigrated—into a novel, no less.
Last night, she had been lying in bed listening to an old-era novel she had already read once before. She had just gotten to the part where a female educated youth with the same surname as her fainted from heatstroke when she fell asleep. Yet after waking up, she had actually become the character in the book.
In this novel, the heroine was named Jiang Yue, an educated youth who went to the countryside in response to the nation’s call.
Jiang Yue was hardworking, brave, kind-hearted, and full of a rebellious spirit. After arriving in the countryside, she happened to meet the male lead, Zhou Musheng, and the two fell in love at first sight. However, his family refused to accept their relationship.
Even so, the two remained devoted to each other and never abandoned one another. After enduring countless hardships and setbacks, they both got into junior college, caught the wave of economic reform, and eventually lived a happy, wealthy, and fulfilling life together.
As for the original owner…
The original owner only had a surname in the novel, no given name, and appeared only twice. Once, she went to the countryside together with the heroine and was harassed because of her beauty, with the heroine stepping in to save her. The second time was this incident, when she fainted while working in the fields, prompting the heroine to go to the county town to buy medicine for her, where she accidentally met the male lead.
In short, the original owner didn’t even qualify as cannon fodder. At most, she was just a nameless tool character used to highlight the heroine’s image and push forward the romance between the male and female leads.
Wen Ranran held her aching head, utterly speechless. She had been a rich beauty for over twenty years—when had she ever been reduced to a mere tool character?
If she had known she would transmigrate into a novel, then even if she had stayed awake that night, she would have thrown piles of money at the author and demanded an overnight rewrite—giving this female educated youth surnamed Wen a great family background, incredible luck, and a smooth life where she could have anything she wanted.
Other things she might lack, but money? She had plenty of it!
Just as Wen Ranran was trying hard to recall the plot and dig up more information about the original owner, the door was suddenly pushed open.
“Educated Youth Wen, you’re finally awake. You suddenly fainted in the fields this morning—we were all scared to death.”
Jiang Yue was holding a bowl of water. When she saw that Wen Ranran had already woken up, a flicker of surprise crossed her face.
In her previous life, Wen Ranran had fallen into a coma after suffering heatstroke. Seeing that she never woke up, Jiang Yue had gone to the production team leader’s house and asked for half a day off under the excuse of buying medicine for Wen Ranran.
It was the height of the busy harvest season, and under normal circumstances, the team leader would never have approved leave at a time like this.
But coincidentally, just a few days ago, a female educated youth from the neighboring Hongqiao Brigade had died from untreated heatstroke. The incident had caused quite a stir and directly affected the brigade’s chances of being selected as an advanced production team.
So when Jiang Yue went to ask for leave, although the team leader hesitated a little, he ultimately approved it.
He had even specifically instructed her, “Educated Youth Jiang, go ask at the hospital first, but don’t buy medicine there. I’ll write you an introduction letter—go to the pharmaceutical factory in the county instead. I know someone there, and the medicine will be cheaper. Remember to go early and come back early, and be careful on the road.”
Thinking of this, Jiang Yue blushed.
It was precisely because of this that she had accidentally run into Zhou Musheng again at the pharmaceutical factory’s social gathering. Overcome with passion, the two of them had spent the entire afternoon tangled together.
When she returned that night, her legs were still weak!
Men really were at their strongest when they were young!
Jiang Yue’s face flushed red, and Wen Ranran also recalled this part from the novel.
The male and female leads were blazing with passion, practically shooting sparks from their eyes with a single glance. Back when she was just a reader, Wen Ranran had found it rather thrilling. But now that she had become “Educated Youth Wen,” her feelings were completely different.
She had been waiting at the educated youth dorm for medicine that might save her life, while the heroine had been busy fooling around with the male lead. By the time Jiang Yue returned, the original Wen Ranran’s body might already have gone cold.
Moreover, the team leader had originally arranged for someone else to fetch the medicine. Jiang Yue had volunteered herself, and considering that she was a female educated youth unaccustomed to such heavy farm labor, the task had been reassigned to her.
Wen Ranran’s expression suddenly stiffened. She remembered that when Jiang Yue and Zhou Musheng first got married in the novel, all five educated youths from the dormitory attended the wedding banquet.
But aside from Jiang Yue herself, there were clearly six educated youths in Qingshui Brigade!
Seeing that Wen Ranran remained silent for so long, Jiang Yue’s thoughts raced rapidly. Although she didn’t understand why Wen Ranran had woken up on her own in this life, it didn’t really affect her.
She set the bowl on the table and walked over, intending to touch Wen Ranran’s forehead.
“Educated Youth Wen, if you’re still uncomfortable, then rest in bed a little longer. I’ll make lunch for you later, and after we eat, I’ll go ask the team leader for leave and head to the county this afternoon to buy medicine for you.”
Jiang Yue tried hard to put on a worried expression, though inwardly she was scheming.
Back when she first signed up to go to the countryside against her family’s objections, she hadn’t understood just how brutal farm work really was until she arrived.
Women were worked like men, men were worked like beasts, and beasts… beasts at least got to lie around in the animal shed without doing much work.
She admitted that she truly couldn’t endure the days of harvesting rice and transplanting seedlings.
Even being scolded at home while washing clothes and cooking for a large family every day would have been better than working in the fields.
So in her previous life, although she had claimed she wanted to buy medicine for Wen Ranran, she had actually intended to use the opportunity to rest for half a day.
After all, during this hectic harvest season, not only had her hands blistered and callused over, but her back was also nearly bent beyond straightening.
Unfortunately, she had been reborn too late. If she had reincarnated earlier, she definitely would not have chosen to go to the countryside again.
Though she felt some resentment, Jiang Yue quickly thought otherwise. Perhaps Heaven had allowed her to be reborn after coming to the countryside precisely so she could make up for the regrets of her previous life and have a perfect beginning with Zhou Musheng.
This was the destined bond of two lifetimes!
Jiang Yue’s face was full of shy delight as she fantasized about avoiding all the detours of her previous life—kicking aside Zhou Musheng’s mother, trampling his father underfoot, controlling all the troublesome relatives of the Zhou family, and directly living a happy life with Zhou Musheng: wealthy, carefree, and blessed with both sons and daughters.
By now, Wen Ranran had already pieced together the situation and completely lost all goodwill toward Jiang Yue. Only when the knife was about to stab her did she finally understand what pain truly meant!
Wen Ranran leaned back and directly avoided Jiang Yue’s hand.
“Educated Youth Jiang, I really am still feeling a bit unwell, and I’m a little homesick. Back on the train, I think I lent you a carved wooden gourd pendant. It was a gift from my grandfather. Can you return it to me?”
The handmade gourd itself wasn’t valuable. Before, Wen Ranran might not even have bothered asking for it back. But now, she absolutely would not allow Jiang Yue to keep it!
Jiang Yue froze, completely unprepared for Wen Ranran to make such a request.
That gourd might not have been some priceless treasure, but three years later, it would produce a drop of immortal dew every seven days. It could be applied externally or taken internally, effective for healing injuries and whitening the skin.
In her previous life, Wen Ranran had never once asked for the gourd back before dying. Why was she suddenly bringing it up now?
Jiang Yue scrutinized Wen Ranran suspiciously, wondering if she had also been reborn like herself. But after probing a few times, Wen Ranran remained flawless in her responses. In the end, she only insisted on one thing: returning the item.
Jiang Yue pursed her lips and forced out a smile, pretending to think of Wen Ranran’s best interests.
“Educated Youth Wen, it’s not that I don’t want to return it, but you gave that gourd to me because I helped you on the train. If you ask for it back now and other people find out, wouldn’t that look rather bad?”