Su Nianqiu was jolted awake by a searing, bone-deep pain.
She snapped her eyes open, finding herself lying on the warm brick kang in her family’s home, covered by a thick cotton quilt.
The source of that burning heat was right on her chest: the dragon-patterned jade pendant that had absorbed her body heat. At that moment, the pendant was emitting a faint, glowing light, burning hot enough to make her heart race with panic.
What is going on?
Involuntarily, she reached out to touch it. The moment her fingertip grazed the scalding jade, a flash of blinding white light blinded her vision, and her consciousness felt as though it had been ripped straight out of her body, instantly plunging into a bizarre realm.
It was a world of singing birds, fragrant flowers, and lush green grass. Not far away stood a rustic bamboo building, and right in front of it was a small spring that bubbled busily, puffing out wisps of white steam.
The spring water was crystal clear to the bottom, giving off a refreshing, sweet fragrance that revitalized her senses just from smelling it.
What… on earth is this place?
A thought flashed unbidden into her mind: The Spirit Spring Space!
Holy shit!
A cheat code! Haha, the standard-issue cheat code of the transmigrating protagonist gods!
Su Nianqiu was so thrilled she almost leaped to her feet! With this thing, she could carve out a wonderful life not just in the 1970s, but even in the Stone Age!
Unable to wait a second longer, she hurried over to the spring. Carved into a stone tablet beside it were two ancient seal-script characters: “Spirit Spring.”
She could feel that the water held a fatal, magnetic pull for her.
She had choked on river water and suffered a shock earlier, leaving her mouth parched and her limbs heavy and weak. Without hesitation, Su Nianqiu cupped a handful of the water and brought it to her lips.
As it went down, the water was sweet, crisp, and seemingly infused with a strange, vibrant life force. It slid down her throat and instantly transformed into a warm current that flooded every corner of her body.
The exhaustion from jumping into the river and the pregnancy melted away as if injected with boundless energy. Even the roiling, nauseous churning in her stomach vanished completely.
Her body… felt incredible!
This spirit spring water was a genuine treasure!
With a single thought, Su Nianqiu pulled her consciousness back into her physical body. She opened her eyes to find herself still lying on the kang, as if everything that had just happened was a dream.
Yet the changes in her body were undeniably real—that deep, effortless lightness and internal vigor could not be faked!
She looked down. The dragon-patterned jade pendant on her chest had returned to normal temperature, resting warmly against her skin.
Mentally, she whispered, Enter. The next second, the familiar landscape materialized around her.
She whispered, Exit, and was instantly back in her bedroom.
It was real! Everything was real!
Su Nianqiu was beside herself with joy. With this portable space and the spirit spring, carrying the pregnancy, supporting her family, and even building a career down the road suddenly felt entirely within reach!
Right then, the door creaked open.
Li Xiulan walked in carrying a steaming bowl of brown sugar ginger tea. Seeing her daughter awake, she was both startled and overjoyed. “Qiuer, you’re awake! How are you feeling? Hurry, drink this bowl of ginger tea to chase away the chill.”
“Mom, I’m fine.” Su Nianqiu sat up, taking the bowl as a wave of warmth washed over her.
“Fine? You don’t know—your face was as white as a sheet just now. You nearly scared your father and me to death!” Li Xiulan said, her eyes turning red again.
“Auntie, is the brigade leader home?”
From outside the courtyard gate came a sharp female voice, followed immediately by Wang Chunhua, a shifty-eyed middle-aged woman who barged in uninvited, trailed closely by her husband.
She was Su Nianqiu’s second aunt, Wang Chunhua—infamous in the village for her long tongue and miserly ways.
“What are you here for?” Li Xiulan’s expression instantly darkened at the sight of her.
With a sly, insincere smile, Wang Chunhua glanced sideways at Su Nianqiu on the kang and sneered, “Sister-in-law, what kind of tone is that? I heard Nianqiu had an incident, so I came to check on her. Oh, Nianqiu, girl, how could you be so foolish?”
“You’re young and unmarried, yet you go and get yourself big with child. If word gets out, where is your poor old dad supposed to put his face? You’ve dragged our entire Su family’s honor through the mud!”
Her words sounded like concern, but her eyes dripped with gloating schadenfreude.
Trembling with rage, Li Xiulan snapped, “Wang Chunhua! My daughter doesn’t need your lectures! If you’re here to watch the circus, get the hell off my property right now!”
“Now, sister-in-law, I’m only saying this for Nianqiu’s good!”
Unfazed, Wang Chunhua pressed closer. “If you ask me, this can’t be dragged out any longer. While word hasn’t spread too far, you need to find someone to marry Nianqiu off to immediately! Old Wang the cripple on the east side of the village asked me to matchmake for him just two days ago. Sure, he’s a bit lame and getting up there in years, but he doesn’t mind that Nianqiu’s got baggage, and he’s even willing to shell out fifty yuan in bride-price! You couldn’t find a better deal with a lantern!”
Fifty yuan to sell her off to an old cripple? What a calculation!
“Get out of my house!” Pushed past her boiling point, Li Xiulan grabbed a broom by the door, ready to drive her off.
“Mom, don’t waste your energy.” Su Nianqiu stopped her.
After drinking the spirit spring water, her energy was fully restored, and her mind was razor-sharp. Dealing with toxic vultures like this took more than just brute force.
She kicked off the quilt, stood up, and stared coldly at Wang Chunhua. “Second Aunt, I appreciate the thought. But my personal business doesn’t require your worrying. The child in my belly is the golden grandson of the Su family; my parents treasure him, and he won’t be calling an old cripple ‘Dad’ the day he’s born.”
“You!” Wang Chunhua choked on her own spit. “You ungrateful little wretch! Do you think you’re still some pure maiden? Right now, you’re just a sl—”
Before she could finish, Su Nianqiu picked up the bowl of scalding brown sugar ginger tea from the table and made a motion to fling it straight into her face!
Shrieking in terror, Wang Chunhua scrambled backward in a panic, landing hard on her backside with a heavy thump.
“You… you dare splash me?”
Su Nianqiu chuckled lightly, setting the bowl back down without spilling a single drop. “Why wouldn’t I dare? Second Aunt, I was brave enough to jump into a river today, so what makes you think I wouldn’t dare use a bowl of ginger tea to wash your face—and clean out that stinking mouth of yours while I’m at it?”
Her gaze was icy and fierce, completely stripped of its former fragility, sending a genuine chill straight down Wang Chunhua’s spine.
This Su Nianqiu… she jumped in a river and came out looking like a completely different person!
Right at that moment, a rich, mouth-watering aroma of stewed meat drifted out from the kitchen.
Su Jianguo called out from inside, “Xiulan, if Qiuer’s awake, bring her in to eat! I just stewed a chicken to help build her strength back up!”
Stewed chicken?!
Wang Chunhua and her husband bulged their eyes in unison!
Chicken was the kind of rare luxury people only ate during major festivals! Su Jianguo had gone and slaughtered a chicken right now just to feed this disgraceful daughter of theirs?
What gives?!
Reluctantly picking herself up from the floor, Wang Chunhua wanted to keep spouting off, but seeing Su Nianqiu supporting Li Xiulan and walking straight toward the kitchen without sparing her a second glance, she swallowed hard. Saliva pooled in her mouth out of pure envy and greed, while the aroma aggressively clawed its way up her nostrils.
Fuming, she yanked her husband toward the door, spitting out bitter curses as she went. “There’s no justice left in this world! She does something shameful and gets chicken soup for her trouble! I give it a month before this little vixen ruins the Su family down to the dirt!”
Listening to the fading curses outside, Su Nianqiu only offered a faint, dismissive smile.
Oh, we are just getting started.
Once she used her space to turn their lives around, treating her whole family to white rice and fatty pork day in and day out, these toxic relatives would literally drool themselves to death.
Sipping the delicious chicken soup, Su Nianqiu could feel her body steadily repairing itself. The spirit spring water was quietly transforming her constitution; her skin grew smoother and more radiant, and even her hair took on a glossy, raven-black sheen.
After finishing the meal, she walked back into her room and looked at the familiar yet altered face in the mirror. The original owner’s naturally pretty features were now suffused with a striking, vibrant vitality thanks to the spring water—hinting at the dazzling, confident radiance she had possessed in her past life as a top designer.
The reflection looking back at her was almost startlingly gorgeous.
Suddenly, a thought struck her like lightning.
Wait… the plot of the original novel!
She was a transmigrant! And the original owner of this body wasn’t the heroine at all—she was just a tragic cannon-fodder supporting character in the book!
She recalled the setup of this 1970s romance novel: the man who had shared that wild, impulsive night with the original owner—special operations officer He Lin—had returned from a top-secret mission only to find the original owner gone. All he found was the cold reality that she had drowned herself, unable to bear the village gossip over her unwed pregnancy.
In the book’s original design, this tragic past was nothing more than a painful stepping stone in He Lin’s character arc. The original owner had paid with two lives, transforming into a lingering source of guilt and regret deep within the male lead’s heart.
And the sole purpose of that regret was to make this legendary “cold-faced king” shed his icy exterior when he eventually met the real female lead, teaching him how to love and cherish what was right in front of him.
The original owner was nothing more than a disposable stepping stone for the romance!
But now…
Su Nianqiu looked at her lively, striking reflection in the mirror, her heart skipping a beat.
She hadn’t died! Not only had she survived, but she also had the spirit spring space, with a body fit to fight a tiger! She had violently punched a brand-new escape hatch right through the dead-end plot!
So, when He Lin finished his mission and returned, only to discover that the female supporting character who was supposed to be a corpse was not only alive, but living her best life and raising his baby…
The entire plot was going off the rails.
Su Nianqiu rubbed her belly, a playful, amused curve touching her lips. Since the male lead’s “regret” was gone, the upcoming drama wouldn’t be playing by the book anymore!