Original 

Lin Miaoyin opened her eyes and was feeling uncomfortable all over. She coughed violently and choked on a mouthful of water. Turning over, she vomited all of it. 

“Okay, okay, you’re coming around!”  

“Hurry up and spit out all the water in your stomach!” 

“Go and call the captain’s family.” 

Someone patted her back and helped her vomit. She bent her upper body and lay on the ground; she’s confused. Where was this? Hadn’t she been lying in a hospital bed for several months? Hadn’t the doctor already issued a notice of critical condition?

When she felt a little better in her stomach, she raised her hand to wipe her face and saw that she was surrounded by blue pants, green rubber shoes covered in mud, and some hoes and other tools. 

Then she saw a man standing not far away who was only wearing one shoe. He looked out of place because he was in black pants and leather shoes, with the other foot bare on the wet ground.  

“Make way, Captain Lin’s son is here!” 

The crowd parted, and a man wearing a vest, with tanned skin ran over and picked her up. 

“Yinyin, are you okay?” 

She shook her head subconsciously, and the man said, “Brother will take you to the clinic. Get on.” 

Seeing the man bending down, before she can even move, the surrounding women had already stepped forward and pushed her onto the man’s back.

The man carried her on his back and said to the people around him, “Thank you for all your help today.” 

The people around him said modest words and promised, “Take Sister Yin to the clinic quickly. We’ll definitely keep an eye on Zhang Hui!” 

The man thanked everyone again and carried her away. As she lay on his back, she slowly tried to remember what year, month, day, and place it was. 

She recalled a dream she had over and over again before she died. She dreamt of a plot from a novel. Now, when she combined it with the memories of the original owner in her mind, it all matched—she had traveled through the book. 

This book is set in Huaxia in the 1970s and tells the story of a female educated youth who went to the countryside and a poor rural boy who fell in love and became rich together. 

She became a supporting character, with the same name, Lin Miaoyin. The original owner was the daughter of the production team leader. Her husband, Meng Yuanzheng, was a villain who had no good qualities except for his good looks.

As a male educated youth, Meng Yuanzheng wanted to escape from hard labor but also wanted to get a job, so he married Lin Miaoyin, the daughter of the production team leader, and used the team leader’s family connections to become a teacher in the village primary school. 

However, he really disliked the original owner, believing she was unsophisticated, that they had nothing in common to discuss, that she had a bad temper, and that she was extremely vulgar and unpleasant. He, on the other hand, saw himself as a charming young man who enjoyed being admired by girls. 

The original owner was the youngest daughter in the family. Although she was very favored, she was quite foolish. She was tricked into marriage by Meng Yuanzheng’s sweet talk. When his true nature was revealed, she could only cry and make a scene like a shrew. The two often quarreled and fought. 

Meng Yuanzheng was good at talking, while the original owner was not. He always said outside that the quarrel was caused by the original owner’s bad temper and that he was the victim. Others believed him, seeing his refined, gentlemanly appearance. 

Later, Meng Yuanzheng fell in love with the original female protagonist and wanted to divorce her. The original owner believed it wasn’t her husband’s fault but rather the female protagonist’s for seducing him, so she continued to create trouble for her. 

After the times changed, the educated youths returned to the city, Meng Yuanzheng left, and the original owner was cruelly abandoned. Later, after he became an official, he tried to sabotage the male and female protagonists who were doing business together.

In any case, Meng Yuanzheng’s image in the book was that of a lazy, selfish, lecherous, and cowardly man. 

Lin Miaoyin opened her eyes and looked at the lush green rice fields by the roadside. The sunlight above her head was warm and real, just like her original world. 

How could she end up in such a situation? Although crossing into a book gave her a chance at rebirth, she was still herself, not the original owner. She would not follow the original owner’s path. It was only right that she cherishes the new life that was given to her. 

And it was impossible for her to continue living with this villain husband. Thinking of the ending in the original work made her heart sink. She had to find a way to divorce and stay away from that scumbag. 

When they arrived at the commune clinic, there was only one doctor inside. He asked her to be placed on the creaking bed, gave her a quick check, and said, “It’s nothing serious. You just inhaled a bit of water; it’s fine since you were saved in time.” 

The man asked, “Are you sure? Is there nothing wrong?”

The doctor fiddled with his instruments and replied, “If you’re not at ease, you can stay for further observation.”  

Lin Miaoyin lay on her back, “Brother, I’m fine.” 

After walking all the way, her clothes were dried in the sun. Apart from feeling a little weak, she was fine. 

“Okay, let’s go home. Oh, that reminds me, you have to tell me what happened. I just heard that you fell into the pond. I almost dug my foot with my hoe when I heard it.” 

The man came over and carried her on his back. He said his thanks to the doctor and walked back. Lin Miaoyin said nervously, “I can walk by myself. You can put me down.” 

“It’s okay. I’m strong. What’s wrong with carrying my sister on my back?” 

Today, their parents went to the city to do some work. The original owner had specifically waited for this day when her parents weren’t home to create a scene. Previously, when she talked to her mother about Meng Yuanzheng, her mother always advised her to endure it and instilled in her the idea of submitting to her husband after marriage. 

Nowadays, women’s thinking was still quite feudal. 

If the original owner could have tolerated it, she wouldn’t have decided to go all out and create a scene. 

When they arrived at the Lin family, the man went back to work in the fields, since the fields could not be left unattended. 

She went to boil hot water to wash herself clean, found an old piece of clothing belonging to her mother to change into, and returned to the room she slept in before marriage, not caring that it had been vacant for a long time and had a layer of dust. She just collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.  

When she woke up, it was already dusk, and the room was filled with rosy light. She sat up and felt much better. Just then, her sister-in-law, Cui Fen, came into the room to see how she was doing. 

“Yinyin is awake; are you thirsty?” 

She poured a cup of hot water from the kettle and brought it over. 

Lin Miaoyin took a sip from the enamel cup and pursed her lips. “Sister-in-law, what happened to the others after I left with Brother?” 

“Zhang Hui was sent to the Public Security Bureau.” 

“And Meng Yuanzheng?”  

Cui Fen said, “Him? At that time, there were only some old women around, and none of them could swim. If he hadn’t pulled you out of the water, you would have lost your life. So, Father and the brigades secretary decided to offset his merits and demerits and not punish him.” 

Lin Miaoyin raised her head from the cup and said, “I fell into the pond because of him, but he didn’t face any punishment?” 

“It can’t be helped. To be honest, I don’t like this dishonest man either. But saving a life deserves recognition. That merit is much greater than the mistake of him holding hands with a girl.” 

In the original story, the original owner was rescued by someone else, but it took quite some time, so she had to go to the hospital. 

After waking up, she caused a huge scene. The original owner wanted to sue Zhang Hui for attempted murder and for having an affair with someone else. 

Meng Yuanzheng knelt down and begged her, crying, swearing that he would only be good to her in the future. Finally, she softened her heart and pleaded with the secretary, so Meng Yuanzheng only write a self-criticism. However, the “vixen” Zhang Hui was not so lucky and was given a serious warning. 

“Oh, that reminds me, Zhang Hui said she wanted to sue you for beating her.” 

Lin Miaoyin smiled, “Beating someone? Who saw it?” 

Her father was the team leader of the production team. Those who wanted to stay in the team did not dare to come out to testify that she beat Zhang Hui. She knew very well how high the status of a team leader was in that era; her father was in charge of the production and life of the entire team. 

“But the wound on her face…” Cui Fen wondered what would happen if Zhang Hui brought up the wound on her face. 

Lin Miaoyin was putting her feet into her old cloth shoes. She stood up and walked a few steps. She felt uncomfortable with the handmade soles; it hurt her feet. She looked up and said decisively, “Meng Yuanzheng beat her.” 

Cui Fen didn’t process it at first. Meng Yuanzheng beat Zhang Hui? 

Lin Miaoyin added, “There was a conflict between the two of them. Meng Yuanzheng beat Zhang Hui and the the people around can all testify to this. I went to stop the fight, but Zhang Hui pushed me into the pond instead.” 

“This is not going to be easy. They will definitely refuse to admit it.” 

“Don’t worry, Meng Yuanzheng will definitely admit it.” Lin Miaoyin smiled with a confident look. 

“Why?” 

“If he doesn’t admit it, we’ll make things difficult for him. Doesn’t he hate working? Let him choose: either admit to hitting someone or do more work than everyone else.” 

“You’re right. If he beats someone, he just needs to write an apology and a self-criticism. Anyway, he can’t escape the criticism for what happened between him and Zhang Hui.”