Chapter 1: After Self-Destruction, I Traveled into a Book

“No more…”
In the darkness, a trembling voice laced with sobs sounded, delicate and pitiful. It made the red tinge in the man’s eyes deepen. Xie Yu’s grip tightened, leaving five vivid finger marks on the fair skin in an instant.
The woman involuntarily let out a whimper. Perhaps feeling ashamed, she bit down hard on the man’s shoulder.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
The man’s voice was hoarse as his lips brushed lightly against her ear, making the woman in his arms tremble. His gaze darkened for a moment—and became even more intense…

The next day, when Chang Suisui woke up, she had barely moved when she gasped in pain.
Her entire body ached as if she had been beaten. She looked down at her still clean and dry body, and fell into silence.

She was someone from the apocalypse who had transmigrated into a book—
A novel titled “Rebirth in the ’70s: The Fiery Virtuous Wife.”
Even worse, she’d become a cannon fodder supporting character: the female lead’s cousin—Chang Suisui.

In the original plot, the female lead Chang Meili, in her past life, married a city-returning educated youth for the sake of a city quota. But to do that, she forced her cousin to marry her former fiancé.
Turned out, the man Chang Meili married was nothing but a flashy shell—looked good but was useless. She never got pregnant, suffered beatings and scolding from her vicious mother-in-law, and was despised by her husband.

One day, she saw her cousin—who had married the village chief’s son—on TV, now a general’s wife, living in luxury. That’s when she realized what she had given up.
Filled with regret, she cried bitterly—but accidentally burned dinner. Her husband, drunk at the time, beat her severely. In the struggle, she killed him and was sentenced to death.
Before her execution, the now-general came to see her one last time and gave her dignity in death.

Unexpectedly, the female lead was reborn. But this time, it was a bit too late—she had already broken up with the male lead. So, she schemed to ruin her cousin, setting her up to be violated by a scoundrel, while she went back to win over the male lead again.

When Chang Suisui read the novel, she was shocked by the female lead’s twisted morality.
You want to chase a man? Go for it. But why destroy your own cousin?
And it’s not like her cousin even liked the male lead! It was the female lead who insisted on marrying into the city, and the family only asked the cousin to step in to preserve relations between the two families.
And instead of being grateful, she retaliated? Hah! Tui!

Chang Suisui rubbed her sore waist, remembering how she had just arrived in this world only to realize she had been drugged.
In a daze, she had kicked over the scoundrel and run away like crazy.
Then… she ended up in a man’s bed.

This was the 1970s! Casual relationships could get you killed!
And now she couldn’t even remember the man she slept with!
But… he had great stamina, maybe even abs—just not sure about his face…

“You’re awake?”
Suddenly, a deep voice came from the doorway.

Chang Suisui looked up and saw a man with a buzz cut and deep-set eyes sitting in a wheelchair.
His skin was tanned, and he wore a white tank top, muscles taut and brimming with masculine energy.
But… the scratches and bite marks on his neck and shoulders were hard to ignore.

In that instant, Chang Suisui was certain—this was the man she had slept with.

Xie Yu noticed her just staring without speaking. His hand clenched slightly on his leg as he continued,
“My name is Xie Yu. I’m a retired soldier. This year—”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to yesterday! I was drugged—but I’ll make it up to you…”
As soon as she heard “retired soldier,” Chang Suisui’s heart clenched.
She had lived through the apocalypse and held a deep respect for soldiers.
Whether at the start of the end times or before her death, soldiers were always the ones on the frontlines, bearing the weight for others.
Even when the world fell into chaos, there were still those striving to rebuild order…

Xie Yu listened to the girl’s words and suddenly gave a self-deprecating smile.
Yeah, what was he thinking?
How could a pretty educated youth possibly want to marry a cripple like him?
A cripple who was now just a muddy, country bumpkin.

He had thought that, since he’d taken her virginity, he ought to take responsibility as a man.
But it seemed… she didn’t need that.

After a few seconds of silence, Xie Yu wheeled himself over to the bedside cabinet.
He pulled out a box, took out a stack of money and ration tickets, and shoved them into Chang Suisui’s hands.

“In these kinds of situations, it’s always the girl who suffers. Take this money and the tickets—let’s consider it settled. I won’t bother you again. If you have any other requests, I’ll do what I can…”

Chang Suisui looked down at the money in her hand, then back up at the man.
His name was Xie Yu? The novel had mentioned him briefly—as a background character.

Xie Yu, the male lead’s uncle, had once been a prominent figure in the military.
But after a mission left his legs crippled, he returned to the village… and later committed suicide.

After that, his name only came up in the context of being the male lead’s golden ticket.
The connections he made, the debts owed to him—all became stepping stones for the male lead’s success.

The more Chang Suisui looked at him, the more she pitied him.
From what she remembered, he was a rare good man.
If this were still the apocalypse, with her wood-type abilities, healing his legs would be easy.

But now… it was much harder.
She had tried using her powers to detox the drug yesterday, but they didn’t work.
Back in the apocalypse, she had self-detonated her powers, burning through all her energy—and even lost her storage space.

All her supplies, worth billions, gone!
Whoever found her “dropped loot” was probably living large now.

As she was thinking this, she tried using her powers again—and in the next second, all the fatigue in her body vanished.
Chang Suisui: ???
She stared at her own hands—her powers were back?!

There wasn’t much energy, but enough to ease the pain in Xie Yu’s legs.
If she could figure out how to fully restore her powers, she could cure him completely.
That would be her way of repaying him for saving her.

Thinking this, she looked at Xie Yu with blazing determination.

“I’ll take the money—but since you helped me yesterday, I still owe you. I know some medical skills. How about I help treat your legs? What do you think?”

“No need,” Xie Yu smiled bitterly, “I know my condition—it’s beyond saving.”
His expression turned calm again.

His legs had been examined at top hospitals in the capital. All the experts agreed—no chance of recovery.
He once held out hope, dreaming that some miracle doctor would save him.
But after repeated disappointment, he had long given up.

“Comrade Chang, you—”
He had just opened his mouth when he was stunned speechless by what he saw next…