Chapter 1 : I’m in a Book

September 1971

In Lujia Village Brigade, Hongqi Commune, Qingxi County, Shuangshan City, Heijiang Province, a commotion broke out as a group of people ran toward the river, shouting loudly.

In the river, a man dressed in a green military uniform was struggling to swim to shore, holding a drowning woman in his arms.

“Isn’t that the new educated youth, Su? How did she end up in the river?”

“Could it be that she couldn’t handle the hard labor and jumped in? These educated youths are so fragile, they don’t know how to work at all. Even my little Si Ya is faster than them.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Our brigade is up for the advanced brigade evaluation this year. If an educated youth jumped into the river, we’d all be in trouble!”

“Yes, yes. Maybe she just accidentally fell in…” one person quickly added, worried about the consequences.

If the brigade was recognized as advanced, it would mean face and prestige when visiting relatives back home.

“Good thing the secretary’s third son returned and stumbled upon this, or we might not have made it in time.”

“I’ve pulled her out! But… why does she look dead?”

“No way, is she really gone? What do we do?”

Some brave individuals stepped forward to check but quickly retreated in fear.

“She’s really dead! Such a pity, she’s still so young…”

The man in the military uniform, Lu Changzheng, realized the woman wasn’t breathing and immediately began to perform CPR.

“Hey, Lu Changzheng! Why are you touching her chest? Isn’t that hooliganism? Let the girl die with dignity!” Aunt Cuihua, a square-faced woman, shouted indignantly.

“Nonsense!” another young man retorted. “Brother Changzheng is saving her life. Do you even know what it means to be brave and righteous? He’s a proud member of the People’s Liberation Army!”

Ignoring the accusations, Lu Changzheng frowned as he continued chest compressions. Seeing no response, he leaned down to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“Oh my heavens! He kissed her!” Aunt Cuihua screeched, and chaos erupted among the crowd.

—

Su Mo, in a daze, felt suffocated, her head splitting with pain, and the noise around her only grew louder. Just when she thought she couldn’t endure it any longer, a rush of air filled her lungs, and she began coughing violently, expelling water from her mouth and nose.

Before she could feel relieved at being able to breathe, darkness overtook her again.

—

When Su Mo woke up, two days had passed.

For two days, strange memories replayed in her mind like a movie, leaving her confused and unable to fully awaken. Finally, the memories subsided, and Su Mo broke free, opening her eyes to an unfamiliar environment.

The room was small and simple, with three old, mismatched beds. The cement floor was rough, and the yellowed walls bore traces of past repairs.

Portraits of great leaders hung on the wall, alongside slogans like “Build and produce simultaneously to safeguard public health!”

Su Mo took in her surroundings and muttered to herself, ‘So I really transmigrated into a book?’

Names like Su Mo, Yang Suyun, and Su Tingqian surfaced in her mind, aligning with snippets of conversation she’d overheard before losing consciousness.

Piecing it together, she realized she had transmigrated into an entrepreneurial novel she had read before, a story about a classic heroine’s rise to success.

And she, unfortunately, had become the cannon fodder character, Su Mo, who was doomed to die at the very beginning.

But no, now that she was here, things were going to change.

In the novel, the heroine Yang Suyun was a hardworking and ambitious woman. At the dawn of China’s reform era, she seized opportunities, quit her stable job to start a business, and eventually became a trailblazer. Through determination, she accumulated great wealth and became one of the first to prosper in the new era.

Despite her success, Yang Suyun remained committed to her roots, establishing factories, lifting countless people out of poverty, and generously donating to schools and scholarships. She became a celebrated entrepreneur and philanthropist, admired nationwide.

But now, Su Mo was no longer a mere stepping stone in Yang Suyun’s story. Things were about to take a very different turn.

In addition to describing Yang Suyun’s arduous entrepreneurial journey, the book also delves into her emotional entanglement with her high-ranking official husband. The couple divorced due to misunderstandings, and they parted ways. Eventually, with the help of the second male lead, they cleared up the misunderstanding, remarried, and lived happily for the rest of their lives.

In short, it’s a story about how the heroine, Yang Suyun, achieves success in both love and career through her own efforts.

It was originally an inspiring entrepreneurial tale, but there was a significant flaw in the book.

The starting capital for Yang Suyun’s business came from her deceased “good sister,” Su Mo. Without this initial capital, Yang Suyun’s success would have been impossible.

After becoming successful, Yang Suyun expressed gratitude to everyone who helped her. Every time she was interviewed by the media, she would thank those who had supported her, but she never mentioned Su Mo or the Su family, who had provided the start-up funds except for occasional, vague recollections in her memory.

This omission caused much disagreement among readers, who felt the author had mishandled it. Given Yang Suyun’s grateful nature, she should have acknowledged Su Mo.

The original owner, Su Mo, was from Hai City. Her family had red capitalist roots. Her father, Su Tingqian, was a university professor, her mother, Mo Yurong, was the director of a food factory, and Su Mo herself worked as the propaganda officer of a textile factory.

Su Mo’s grandfather had secretly supported the current political party during the Anti-Japanese War. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he responded to the call for public-private partnerships and donated much of his property to the country. He was a red capitalist who had received attention from many important leaders.

Su Mo’s uncle, Su Tingde, had joined the current political party and participated in the revolution in his youth. He was now the division commander of a military region in Guangxi Province.

Logically, in a family like this, Su Mo, as the only daughter, should not have ended up in the countryside.

However, due to special circumstances, Su Tingqian was framed and suspended for investigation. As the situation worsened, he severed ties with his daughter publicly to protect her and arranged for her to be sent to the countryside as an educated youth.

In a state of panic, Su Mo was sent to the countryside with a new batch of educated youth.

When they arrived, it was the autumn harvest season in the area.

Su Mo, a pampered city girl, found it impossible to adapt to the strenuous physical labor. On top of that, she was worried about her parents. After enduring for more than half a month, she finally fell ill.

Unable to continue, she asked the team leader for half a day off to go to the commune clinic and get some medicine.

At this time, she received a letter from Yang Suyun, learning that her parents had been sentenced to be sent to the countryside for reform. The original owner was devastated and dizzy on the way back. When crossing a bridge, she lost her balance and fell into the river.

In the original story, the original owner died there.

Upon receiving the news, Yang Suyun was heartbroken and rushed to the countryside to collect the body of her good sister, Su Mo.

While sorting through the original owner’s belongings, Yang Suyun found a large sum of banknotes, two huge passbooks, and deeds to several villas in Hai City hidden in the interlayer of the suitcase.

The original owner’s parents were later informed of her death and were deeply saddened. They followed her to the place where they had been sent and died within two years.

The original owner’s uncle, having repeatedly intervened on behalf of his younger brother’s family, was eventually implicated by his opponents and demoted.

After the chaos was rectified, the family returned to their original positions, though they lost their former prestige. Later, during the war, the original owner’s uncle volunteered to go to the front lines to make merit, and they all perished on the battlefield.

After the Su family was destroyed, the things left by the original owner were naturally passed on to the Yang family. When Yang Suyun decided to start her own business, she used that money as her starting capital.

At this point, it could be said that Yang Suyun’s success was a result of good deeds being rewarded.

But in the book, every time the heroine achieved something, she would remember Su Mo and contrast her own success with how glorious the Su family had once been, often leaving a line like, “Thinking about how glorious the Su family was in the past, but now it’s fallen apart.”

Su Mo didn’t understand the heroine’s mentality, but as someone sharing the same name, she felt somewhat disgusted.

The most absurd part was in the extra chapter of the book, where the heroine’s father, on his deathbed, confessed that he was the one who had reported the Su family’s downfall. His original intention had simply been to teach his good friend, Su Tingqian, a lesson. He never expected it would lead to the Su family’s ruin.

Thinking of this, Su Mo clenched her fists.

This was outrageous!

She didn’t care what happened in the original story. Now that she was here, the Yang family would never take advantage of the Su family again.

She would protect the original owner’s family.

She recalled that the place where the original owner’s parents had been sent was in the neighboring brigade, separated from the Lujia Village Brigade by a mountain.

She would find a way to send them food and supplies regularly. As long as they could survive these few years, everything would be fine.

Thinking of time-travel novels she had read, where travelers often had golden fingers, Su Mo became excited. She wondered if she too, had one.