After Father Su brought them to the educated youth residence, he distributed this month’s grain rations to them, informed them that they would officially start working the next day, gave a few more instructions, and then left.
Inside the educated youth residence, the oldest educated youth there, Zhao Guoqiang, saw the four newcomers standing in the courtyard looking lost, so he walked over and said, “Hello, my name is Zhao Guoqiang. I was the first one sent here to the countryside, and I’m basically responsible for most things at the educated youth residence. If you need anything, you can come find me.”
Zhao Guoqiang then introduced the situation at the residence. “There are already six educated youths here. Adding you four makes ten altogether. Right now there are six men and four women, and there are three rooms, so the four female comrades will share one room, while the six male comrades will split between two rooms.”
He pointed toward the kitchen, where a female educated youth was cooking over the stove, and said, “That’s the kitchen. Before this, we’ve been eating together as a group. The men are responsible for gathering firewood, and the women are responsible for cooking. If you want to join the communal meals too, then just put your grain together with everyone else’s.”
After briefly explaining everything, Zhao Guoqiang told them to return to their rooms and unpack before coming out later for dinner.
The day passed quickly.
That night, Su Wan heated water for a bath and then happily climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.
In her dream, everything was covered in white mist. Su Wan stood there in confusion, not understanding why she was having such a strange dream. Carefully, she walked forward and discovered a faint light ahead, as if it were guiding her toward it.
While waving away the white mist before her, Su Wan walked toward the source of the light. When she arrived, she realized it was a book emitting the glow, almost as though it were attracting people to open it.
Curious, Su Wan looked at the book and saw the title written on the cover: “The 1970s: The Lucky Koi Female Lead’s Pampered Daily Life.”
The corner of Su Wan’s eye twitched. It had been a long time since she had seen such a bizarrely cliché title.
She opened the book and flipped through a few pages. Looking at the ridiculously melodramatic plot, Su Wan suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity. Why did this feel like something she had seen before?
The more she flipped through it, the more familiar it seemed. Suddenly, she slapped her forehead.
Wasn’t this the novel she had casually read in her previous life to pass the time?
At the time, the author had only written a few dozen chapters, and because the plot was so absurdly dramatic, she had stopped reading it.
Thinking of that, then looking at the book before her and remembering all the transmigration web novels she had read in her past life, Su Wan’s vision darkened. What else was there not to understand? She had transmigrated into a novel!
And she was not even the main character!
She vaguely remembered that the female lead’s name had three characters.
Su Wan looked utterly hopeless as she tried to remember her role in the story, but she could not recall anything at all. She quickly opened the book and carefully started reading.
The book stated that the female lead, Liu Rongrong, came to Dahe Village in Qingshan Commune as an educated youth in 1970.
Wasn’t that this year?!
Thinking about the two female educated youths she had seen during the day, could one of them be the female lead?
Continuing to read, she found page after page describing the female lead’s lucky-koi fortune. Wild chickens foolishly ran in front of Liu Rongrong and stopped moving. When encountering wild boars, instead of attacking her, the boars would suddenly charge straight into trees and knock themselves unconscious…
Finally, she came across a plotline related to herself, but she only appeared in other people’s conversations.
“The production team leader’s daughter had a high fever yesterday. They sent her to the hospital, but she still couldn’t be saved.”
“How did she suddenly get a fever? Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.”
“How pitiful. Such a fine young girl, gone just like that. She was supposed to get married after the New Year…”
Her name did not even appear.
At this point, Su Wan was completely depressed. She was not even considered a background extra. At least a background extra got to appear standing on stage and show their face!
If this were modern times, Su Wan really would have shouted, “Good grief! Seriously, good grief!”
If she had not wanted to see whether there were descriptions of her parents, brother, or Han Rui, she truly would not have been able to continue reading another sentence.
Further on, she saw that after her death, Liu Rongrong became the elementary school teacher. Then there was a scene where Liu Rongrong encountered a snake on the mountain. The snake had originally been heading toward Liu Rongrong, but before reaching her, it suddenly turned sharply and bit a female educated youth behind her instead — someone Liu Rongrong did not get along with.
Before the male lead appeared, Liu Rongrong fell into a river and was coincidentally rescued by Han Rui. She became attracted to Han Rui’s tough and steadfast personality, but was rejected. Later, Han Rui died while carrying out a mission…
After that, the male lead appeared. The rest of the story consisted of the male and female leads flirting, taking the college entrance exams, returning to the city, and building their careers together. Beyond that, there was nothing more. Su Wan guessed that the author either had not finished writing it or had abandoned the story altogether.
As for her parents and brother, they were not mentioned at all. Apparently, they were nothing more than background characters.
After quickly reading through the book, Su Wan was left with only one thought:
There was absolutely no benefit in opposing the female lead. It was either death or disaster!
Su Wan jolted awake and lay motionless in bed, expressionless, looking completely detached from worldly desires, though inside she was already crying rivers of tears.
She had thought she had been given a second life with a peaceful and happy future, only to be struck head-on with the truth that she had transmigrated into a novel — and such a ridiculous one at that.
The more Su Wan thought about the plot, the more irritated she became.
The female lead was basically a walking weapon of mass destruction!
Both she and Han Rui were cannon fodder characters!
What was she supposed to do now?
Su Wan rubbed her head anxiously, rolling back and forth on the bed in frustration without any clue what to do.
Did she have to avoid the female lead forever?
But even if she and Han Rui avoided her, her parents and brother were still here. What if the plot changed and they somehow came into conflict with the female lead? Then they would be in danger too!
Suddenly, Su Wan thought of something and stopped moving.
“If only the female lead didn’t have that ability anymore,” she muttered to herself. “Did the book ever explain how Liu Rongrong got those powers?”
Su Wan carefully searched through her memories.
The book seemed to mention that the female lead wore a black jade pendant around her neck. Its shape was strange, resembling a fish. Because Liu Rongrong always wore it and never removed it, one of the educated youths sharing her room had once curiously asked to look at it. Liu Rongrong reacted with extreme nervousness and firmly refused.
Her reaction shocked the other educated youths, who were used to her gentle and soft personality.
At that moment, Su Wan understood.
That black jade must be the source of her lucky-koi abilities. As long as the black jade was destroyed, the female lead should lose those strange powers.
Su Wan did not know where Liu Rongrong had gotten such a bizarre piece of jade. This was not some lucky-koi constitution at all — it was clearly a harmful and sinister ability! Who knew how many people had been harmed because of the female lead? Even the author who wrote this novel had twisted morals and a completely warped mindset.
Now, all she needed was an opportunity to get hold of Liu Rongrong’s jade.
Having found a solution, Su Wan finally relaxed. Seeing that it was still early, she lay back down to continue sleeping.
After tossing and turning for most of the night, she could finally get some proper sleep, Su Wan thought before drifting off again.