Chapter 35 : Becoming the Cannon Fodder in the Book

“Alright, Li Gang, if there’s no evidence, then don’t force it. Everyone, go home!” After the captain finished speaking, he gave Yun Siying a deep look and left with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Siying, we really are your biological parents. Why won’t you acknowledge us? Are you blaming your mother for the hospital’s mistake back then? But your mother didn’t know! Can’t you forgive your parents? Are you trying to break your mother’s heart?” Xu Ziying looked at Yun Siying with sorrow and questioned her.

“Aunt Li, do you not understand plain words? If your family keeps pestering me, I’ll have no choice but to call the police and have them investigate the truth behind the child-swapping incident,” Yun Siying said firmly, giving them all a long look.

Then she turned to Nangong Ruochen and said,”Let’s go back. We have to go to the county tomorrow.”

“Alright, let’s head back now.” Nangong Ruochen felt relieved seeing that Yun Siying hadn’t been taken advantage of. He also couldn’t believe a couple like Li Gang and Xu Ziying could have a daughter as beautiful as Siying.

He hadn’t missed the change in their expressions, especially when Siying mentioned that more than two children had been wrongly switched at the hospital. Their eyes had clearly shifted.

“Siying, are you really sure they’re not your biological parents?” Nangong Ruochen asked, still wanting to hear it from her.

“I don’t know. But isn’t judging family just based on appearance what the Shu family does? Right now, I have enough to eat, and I’m free to live as I please. Life like this is pretty good. If I acknowledge them, maybe they’ll try to marry me off to some old man in exchange for a bigger bride price,” Yun Siying said lightly, clearly feeling at ease around Nangong Ruochen.

“You’re right. That family clearly has a lot of little schemes,” Nangong Ruochen said, also having a bad impression of them.

“Oh right, Nangong Ruochen, Han Yuecheng, Chen Banghua can I stay with you guys for a few days until my stove is built?”

Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua of course had no objections. They quickly agreed,”No problem! Actually, why don’t you just stay with us for good?”

“I’m fine with it. Get some rest tonight. I’ll go with you to the county town tomorrow,” Nangong Ruochen  said earnestly, looking at the radiant, fair-skinned girl.

“No, no, just these few days will do,” Siying quickly declined.

After Yun Siying returned to her room, Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua entered Nangong Ruochen’s room with him. Chen Banghua hadn’t missed the couple’s expressions either and couldn’t help but ask with suspicion,”Boss, do you want to investigate the whole child-swapping case?”

“I’ll have someone look into it,” Nangong Ruochen said after thinking for a while. He had a feeling something wasn’t quite right about the whole thing.

Yun Siying returned to her room and lay on the bed, repeatedly thinking about the names of the people she had met since arriving in this time. Finally, she remembered: before the apocalypse, she had read a period web novel with these characters. Though she couldn’t recall the title, the plot had stuck with her.

She remembered the general storyline: the heroine was Shu Ruxue and the male lead was Shen Subai. In the original novel, after the real daughter (Shu Ruxue) was brought back home, she was constantly bullied by the fake daughter (Shu Siying). This caused the Shu family to hate and reject the real daughter. In the end, she suffered terribly and took her own life. Only after her death did the Shu family realize the truth.

Shu Ruxue found a lotus-shaped jade pendant among Shu Siying’s belongings and, by accident, recognized it as belonging to her. She took all the hidden assets of the Shu family, reported them to the authorities under her real name, and severed all ties with the Shu family.

As a result, the Shu family was sent to the Hongxing Brigade in Mayun County, Lingyang Province for reformation through labor. Shu Ruxue, meanwhile, went to the countryside to find Shen Subai. The two supported each other in rural life but were frequently misunderstood due to the schemes of the supporting female character, Li Yanyan. After the misunderstandings were resolved, their feelings deepened, and they got married quickly.

Less than two years after going to the countryside, they were brought back to the city by the Shen family. Shen Subai went into politics, while Shu Ruxue used the Shu family’s hidden wealth to become one of the first to take advantage of the reform and opening-up policies. They became rich and powerful, with many children and grandchildren.

All members of the Shu family died in the countryside, except Shu Chengzhi, who was carrying out a secret mission. Later on, he opposed Shen Subai and Shu Ruxue but eventually died as a result of their scheming. As Shu Ruxue’s fortunes rose, the Li family also rose to prominence and gained a foothold in the capital. With support from the Shen family, Li Minglang’s military career progressed smoothly, and he eventually rose to a top leadership position.

The Shu family and the original owner of the body Yun Siying had taken over were destined to be cannon fodder. Yun Siying recalled the general plot of the novel. It had briefly mentioned Nangong Ruochen, Han Yuecheng, and Chen Banghua. Nangong Ruochen was Shu Ruxue’s first love, her”white moonlight.” According to the story, all three of them eventually died deep in the mountains behind the village.

It turned out that she had transmigrated into a novel and become a minor cannon-fodder supporting character who originally served as the heroine’s stepping stone and gave her a”golden finger” (a term for a cheat or power-up). But now, she had sent Shu Ruxue to the countryside and accidentally taken her golden finger (space ability). Didn’t that mean she had accidentally saved the entire Shu family? Sigh… She didn’t mean to, it was just how things turned out, but thinking about it made her feel stifled.

The next morning, Yun Siying got up, washed, and opened the door. She heard Nangong Ruochen’s voice calling from his room. “Siying, come have breakfast now that you’re up.”

Yun Siying walked into his room. There were two bowls of golden noodles on the table. Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua had already started eating. As soon as she sat down, Nangong Ruochen also picked up his bowl and started eating. In her bowl was a poached egg, which she picked up without hesitation and began eating.

And she had to admit, the noodles were incredibly chewy, with the flavor of both cornmeal and wheat flour. They were delicious. Before long, Yun Siying had finished everything in her bowl, not even leaving a drop of soup.

“Are you full?” Nangong Ruochen asked with concern. Seeing her satisfied expression made him feel better too.

Yun Siying patted her full belly and said contentedly,”I’m full. These noodles you made are amazing.” Then she took the bowl from Nangong Ruochen and said,”Let me clean up.”

“No need, Han Yuecheng will handle it,” Nangong Ruochen said, refusing.

“Yeah, leave the rest to us. It’s getting late, so you two should get going,” Chen Banghua added.

“Come on! I’ll take you to the supply and marketing cooperative to shop,” Nangong Ruochen said casually.

“Uh… is that too much trouble?” Yun Siying asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Not at all. I happen to have business in the county today, so I’m just doing it on the way,” Nangong Ruochen replied as if it were only natural. In truth, he felt that accompanying her was more meaningful than any work. Besides, the three of them rarely worked seriously most of their time was spent wandering the back mountains.