The weather today was clear and bright, with not a cloud in the sky. Even the early spring breeze felt gentle and soothing against the face, yet a cute-looking girl stood before a bamboo pole used for drying clothes, holding a garment in her hands with a deeply troubled expression.
After absorbing the memories of the original owner, Lu Guoguo had been sighing and lamenting in the small courtyard enclosed by earthen walls for several minutes.
Why was she so unlucky?
Not only was she born an orphan, but on the very day before she was about to enter university and step into the classroom of her own life, she had been crossing the road lawfully at a green light when a drunk driver struck her down. The next time she opened her eyes, she found herself transformed into a malicious cannon-fodder character in a period novel: the troublesome stepsister of the male lead, Lu Zaiyang—Lu Guoguo.
Just one character differed from her own name, but this woman was something else! Her character was exactly the type designed by the author to infuriate readers!
Back when Lu Guoguo had read this period novel, she had wished she could dive into the book and give this female supporting character who shared a similar name—a good beating!
In the book, this girl was not only lazy and greedy but also harbored inappropriate feelings for her stepbrother, Lu Zaiyang. She stole the male lead’s personal belongings, secretly slandered the female lead behind her back, spread all sorts of rumors about her, and bullied the female lead under the guise of being her sister-in-law while the main couple were dating. As a result, she was humiliated by both the male and female leads. Eventually, the female lead, who had reached her limit, orchestrated her marriage to a ruffian, leading to her death by domestic violence…
While reading, the fate of this female supporting character had greatly pleased Lu Guoguo. With the troublemaker gone, although the male and female leads regrettably never explicitly confirmed whether they ended up together, they each shone brightly in their respective careers and made significant contributions.
But now that she had actually become this person, Lu Guoguo felt nothing but misery.
At this point in time, the original owner’s biological mother had been married to Father Lu for less than half a month, and the female lead had not yet arrived as an educated youth sent to the countryside. Yet, the original owner was already stealing the male lead’s clothes!
Just like now.
Lu Guoguo lowered her gaze to the man’s clothes in her hands. If she hadn’t been killed in the car accident and transmigrated here, the original owner would soon be caught red-handed by the male lead, who had been waiting outside the courtyard gate for quite some time. She would then face the humiliating scene of being dragged before her mother and stepfather to be warned!
Thinking of this, Lu Guoguo quickly hung the clothes back on the bamboo pole. As she did so, she muttered loudly, “How were these clothes hung? They weren’t even spread out properly. How are they supposed to dry like this? What a headache! Without me, this household would fall apart!”
With that, she deftly flipped through all the clothes hanging on the bamboo pole before clasping her hands behind her back and following the original owner’s memories back to her room.
After closing the door with a sharp thud, she slid down to the floor against it.
Staring at the bamboo board bed in the distance, which was padded with dry straw, Lu Guoguo’s eyes welled up with tears.
Although she had managed to survive, it was now 1975—a time when even sanitary pads had to be handmade! Not only were supplies scarce, but even going to the county required an introduction letter from the village leader!
Thinking of this, Lu Guoguo covered her mouth and burst into loud sobs. Remembering that the male lead was still outside in the courtyard, ready to catch her in the wrong, she had to cover her mouth tightly to avoid being heard and arousing suspicion. The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt, yet strangely, the tears stopped flowing.
Sure enough, true heartbreak isn’t about making a scene…
Realizing that strange audio snippets were popping into her mind, Lu Guoguo immediately shook them off. She then got up, pressed herself against the wicker door, and pressed her ear against it to listen for any movement in the courtyard.
Standing outside the courtyard gate, the tall young man who had just witnessed the scene furrowed his brows slightly: Could it be that he had been overly suspicious? Maybe the sweat-stained shirt he lost a few days ago wasn’t stolen by this one?
Lu Zaiyang took another look at the clothes drying in the yard. There was no further movement from Lu Guoguo’s door either, so he finally picked up his firewood knife and headed up the mountain to chop wood.
The production team’s spring planting had just ended yesterday, and now nearly every household had someone heading to the back hill to gather firewood. The wood stored since late last autumn had nearly all been burned up over the winter. With the exhausting and labor-intensive spring farming done, most unmarried young women and children were out digging for wild vegetables, spring bamboo shoots, or foraging for spring mushrooms. Meanwhile, the men preferred to gather more firewood to stockpile at home.
Lu Laoba and Sun Zhaodi had gone out early this morning to help a production team family whose two rooms were crushed during the winter to rebuild their house.
The original owner was incredibly lazy. Even during work shifts, she was sluggish and unenthusiastic, let alone on days when there was no work assigned.
She had slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up, then eaten the vegetable porridge her family had left for her in the pot. Originally, she had planned to take advantage of the empty house to steal another piece of her beloved’s clothing, but before she could act, Lu Guoguo took over.
Lu Guoguo’s emotions were complex now that she was here. Where had the original owner gone? Even if this was just a paper-thin character from a book, she was now inside that book, and it felt no different from the real world.
Thinking this, Lu Guoguo knelt on the floor and kowtowed several times toward the bamboo board bed, murmuring softly, “I don’t know where you’ve gone, but since I’ve taken your place, I’ll burn incense and make offerings to you during festivals and holidays…”
After waiting in the room a little longer and seeing no movement outside, Lu Guoguo cleared her throat softly, trying to appear as natural as possible. She opened the door, took a bamboo basket hanging on the wall by the main room entrance, picked up a sickle, and walked toward the courtyard gate.
As she walked, she silently bolstered her own courage: Don’t panic. The original text said Lu Zaiyang got up at the same time as Lu Laoba and the others. He had already carried back four big bundles of firewood before quietly observing for a moment outside the gate.
She had rehung the clothes, so the male lead probably wouldn’t suspect that his shirt was in her possession anymore. As diligent as a busy bee, he must have already left.
Thinking this, Lu Guoguo put on an act as she reached the courtyard gate, looking left and right. Sure enough, there was no sign of anyone.
She sighed in relief, considering whether to put the bamboo basket and sickle back. Then she remembered that when Sun Zhaodi left in the morning, she had called out outside the original owner’s door, saying there was no fresh food at home and asking her to go to their private vegetable plot later to pick something for lunch.
So, Lu Guoguo pulled the door shut and headed straight for the nearby vegetable plot.
Each household had a one-mu (around 0.067 hectares) private plot where they could grow grains or vegetables. The produce from the production team’s larger collective land whether grain or vegetables was used for paying taxes, and whatever remained was sold to state-run stores by the team leader based on demand. At the end of the year, village meetings were held to distribute money and grain according to each household’s work points.
When Lu Guoguo reached the vegetable plot, she found that part of it was planted with scallions, garlic, green vegetables, Chinese cabbage, and cabbage. The rest of the land had been tilled and planted with other vegetable seedlings.
Lu Guoguo wasn’t a city kid who didn’t know the difference between the five grains. She grew up in an orphanage—not one in a big city, but in a town. The orphanage matron rented several plots of land to save costs, and these fields were tended by both children and adults from the orphanage.
The orphanage had been built by someone from their town who had made good. On the very night it opened, she was left at the entrance.
The matron often said that she was as old as the orphanage.
Lu Guoguo pulled some scallions, cut four large handfuls of green vegetables, and placed them in her basket before heading back.
With nothing else to do, Lu Guoguo washed the scallions, chopped them into sections, and made a cold dish. She also washed the green vegetables, chopped them finely, and placed them in a wooden basin. After coming out of the kitchen, she sat in the yard, propping her chin with her hands, soaking up the sun while calming her nerves.
“Sigh.”
“Sigh.”
“Sigh.”
After sighing countless times, Lu Guoguo got up, went over to the water vat, and scooped up a ladle of cold water to wash her face.
Even though she had just narrowly avoided that humiliating situation, she still hadn’t actually interacted with the original owner’s family.
She wondered if they would notice she was an imposter.
Lu Guoguo stared at the reflection in the basin and suddenly widened her eyes!
Wha-what was going on?!
Why did the original owner look exactly like her?!
Lu Guoguo swallowed hard and reached out a small hand to touch the water’s surface. The water rippled with her movement, and the reflection distorted slightly with the waves.
Before she could fully process this, a mechanical ding-ding sound suddenly echoed in her mind.
[Ding-ding-ding! The Check-in System is activating. Checking if host is bound… Already bound! Please open the screen to view tasks, yo.]
The emotionless mechanical voice, even with the added yo, held no cuteness. Instead, it felt rather eerie.
Lu Guoguo stared at the water, unmoving.
After about a minute, the mechanical voice in her mind repeated the same words.
[Ding-ding-ding! The Check-in System is activating. Checking if host is bound… Already bound! Please open the screen to view tasks, yo.]
Lu Guoguo took a deep breath, plopped down on a nearby wooden stool, and wiped the cold sweat from her face with her hand, trying to calm herself down. Having read so many novels over the years, what couldn’t she accept? She only regretted not listening to the suggestions of the sisters in the comment section and memorizing the entire book when she was reading this period novel!
“View Check-in System?”
She tentatively spoke aloud.
No response in her mind, and no transparent task board like those described in novels appeared before her eyes.
Lu Guoguo blinked. “View Task Board?”
Still nothing.
She racked her brain to recall exactly what the mechanical voice had said. When her inner monologue repeated the phrase Please open the screen to view tasks, yo, the mechanical voice finally reacted.
[Command error, yo.]
Lu Guoguo was silent for a moment. This time, she didn’t speak aloud. Instead, she silently recited in her heart, [View Task Board?]
Then, a black, square interface resembling a game inventory screen appeared before her eyes.
Lu Guoguo stared at the words on it. The top displayed the date.
1975, February 16.
Below was a line of small text: Complete check-in tasks at designated locations to receive all sorts of goodies!
Lu Guoguo’s current mood could be perfectly described by the saying: Just as the path seemed lost, the willows clustered and the flowers bloomed bright—a village appeared!
Although she had become a paper character, she now possessed a seemingly decent Check-in System! Filled with excitement, Lu Guoguo looked at the red text below, which displayed today’s check-in task.
[Today’s Check-in Task]: Go to Lu Zaiyang’s room and take one of his pants.
Lu Guoguo closed her eyes, then opened them again to read it once more.
Seeing that the red text indeed remained unchanged, she closed her eyes again, expressionless.
Pah!
**