Chapter 7: Transmigration

Lai San has been here for three months now. During this time, Shuxin has gradually explored her surroundings and also gained a thorough understanding of the situation in the Liulin Brigade, leading to some shocking news.

She has transmigrated into a book! Yes, it’s a cliché plot—transmigrated into not just one but two books. She had thought she had arrived in a fantasy world.

For three months, she has lived here, and the concern her family shows for her is not fake. Her grandfather, her fierce and serious grandmother, her loving older siblings, and her dear father are all real-life people—not mere paper characters from a novel. Shuxin doesn’t get tangled up in this; as long as she knows she exists in reality, that’s enough for her.

The protagonist’s life doesn’t intersect much with her family in the Liu household. Otherwise, how could it take Shuxin three months to realize she had transmigrated? In both books, her family members are not significant characters.

They are all cannon fodder, appearing for less than two chapters before being written off, offering only a driving force to the plot. In fact, her character never even makes an appearance.

Her older sister is a cannon fodder role in a romantic historical drama called “Era’s Sweetheart.”

The male lead is Liu Fu from the Liu family in the neighboring village, who went to serve in the army at 18 and rose through the ranks, marrying a sweet wife along the way.

The female lead is the youngest daughter of a wealthy family in Shanghai, beautiful and delicate. Due to the historical context, her identity is sensitive, and to protect her family, she marries the male lead and embarks on a journey of happiness through a ‘marriage first, love later’ storyline.

Her cousin, Shulan, is a significant obstacle for the female lead’s happy love story, one that cannot be removed but only circumvented.

Shulan will be taken as a child bride to the Liu family in exchange for grain during a great famine, and the Liu family members treat her decently; they are not harsh on her.

When the time comes to consummate the marriage, the eldest Liu brother dies unexpectedly, and the Liu family, seeing that Shulan is still a virgin, decides to have the elder Liu Fu marry her.

However, Liu Fu is unwilling. Before his elder brother’s death, he wanted Shulan, but his parents objected, saying she had to be given to the elder brother. Now that the elder brother is dead, he believes the family is trying to foist off their ‘scraps’ onto him.

The Liu family doesn’t want to lose out on Shulan; they plan for her to take care of her health so she can bear them a grandson quickly. Thus, Shulan grows more appealing.

Previously, Liu Fu had never been out of the mountain village, and Shulan is indeed someone he likes. However, once his brother dies, he despises Shulan as ‘ruined’ and refuses to marry her.

Taking advantage of a local conscription, Liu Fu leaves for military service, and thus begins his journey towards happiness. However, he doesn’t act like a decent person; before he leaves, he takes advantage of the chaos to sleep with Shulan.

As a result, Shulan loses her purity and must stay with the old Liu family, toiling for them. The old couple in the Liu family initially vents their anger on Shulan, saying she is worthless and cannot hold on to a man. It is only a month later, when she becomes pregnant, that they stop uttering those harsh words.

Thus, Shulan stays home to raise her father-in-law and younger siblings and raises Liu Fu’s son with great difficulty.

As for Liu Fu, he rises in his career away from home, marries a noblewoman, and lives happily, completely indifferent to his old family’s situation and Shulan’s plight after losing her purity.

Over a decade later, Liu Fu’s father dies, and due to overwork, Shulan also passes away. Shulan’s son goes to find his father, only to hear him claim it was unintentional.

Pfft! If it wasn’t intentional, why did you sleep with Shulan before leaving? You not only did that but also ran away and didn’t write home for years, while your ‘brother’ was praised as an admirable man.

With such a big son caught between the male and female leads, the female lead cannot ignore Shulan. Hence, even in their forties or fifties, the two engage in a childish game of ‘you chase me, I hide.’

Shulan’s son serves as a tool to create emotional crises for the main couple at this point, only to be sent back to the old home by Liu Fu. The female lead and her children won’t let him off easily, as he might have the opportunity to take resources from their father.

In the end, Shulan’s son can only die alone and in illness in the village, with no one to claim his body, eventually necessitating state assistance in handling his funeral.

Shuxin cursed silently in her heart, disgusted beyond belief.

You’re a naval officer but can’t even explain the situation back home? No one would believe that story. You just want someone to take care of your parents while you’re off doing your own thing.

Dressing up and pretending not to recognize people? If you have the ability to control your own lower half, then why are you acting like a sleazy person? You want someone to support your parents while you also crave for someone’s body. You’re acting like a prostitute and still trying to maintain a façade of virtue.

Later, Shuxin encountered Liu Fu from the neighboring village on the mountain. She vented her frustrations by throwing a sack over him, and that still didn’t satisfy her. After a few more encounters, Liu Fu was too afraid to come back to the mountains altogether.

Speaking of Shulan, we must also mention her older brother, Liu Jianguo, who is another cannon fodder character in a different book. However, compared to her cousin, her brother is a bit better off.

Her brother is a supporting character in “Our Youthful Days in the Countryside.”

The original plot is as follows:

The female protagonist is the daughter of a factory owner. Due to the government’s policy sending youth to the countryside, she is described as a frail beauty, often surrounded by backup suitors—three or four of them, while her brother doesn’t even count as one.

The male lead is the only son of a capitalist. Later, to escape disaster, he comes to the Liulin Brigade and is quite handsome, cultured and refined, charming the entire village. The female protagonist is not to be outdone, as she becomes infatuated with him.

The female lead draws blood from her backup suitors to boost the male lead’s vitality. When the college entrance examination is reinstated, they hold hands and return to the city to live happily ever after, oblivious to the suffering of the many who were drained.

Her brother, in the eyes of the female protagonist, is barely a supporting character. During a quarrel between the male and female leads, he tries to express himself to the female lead, only to be seen by the male lead, who becomes jealous. This helps him realize his true feelings, leading to misunderstandings being resolved and a sweet relationship with the female lead. He is nothing but a catalyst for the romance between the leading characters.

However, her grandmother is quite clear-headed. She knows her son has his eyes on that delicate city girl, and having invested quite a bit of resources into it, she’s not at all pleased.

After Liu Jianguo is rejected, she doesn’t say much but drags him to the youth association to stir up a scene, and afterward quickly finds him a wife.

Thanks to having a good grandmother, her brother avoids becoming the female lead’s bloodsucker and following the path of a cannon fodder. At first, her brother is reluctant to marry anyone else, but her grandmother is not an easy-going person. Even for her beloved grandson, she expects respect and obedience.

Grandma Liu doesn’t coddle him; she beats him three times a day. In less than ten days, her brother gives in. So, it seems a bit of a beating does wonders for communication.

Compared to her brother’s situation where he has Grandma keeping an eye on him, life isn’t so bad. The cousin, on the other hand, has it much worse. As a married woman, her family can only provide some support for her; they cannot interfere with the Liu family affairs.

If it weren’t for Liu Fu keeping secrets and not telling his family about going to the army while trying to present himself favorably to his cousin, things might have been different.

When Liu Fu wanted to get closer to her in order to consummate the marriage early, Shulan ultimately chose to comply after careful consideration; otherwise, she wouldn’t have easily given herself to Liu Fu.

As a child bride, it would be hard for her to find another good family after leaving the Liu family. Even if she claimed to be pure, no one would believe her after staying under the same roof with two young men for weeks while claiming nothing happened. The gossipy old women in the village surely wouldn’t trust that.

So when Liu Fu showed willingness to marry her, she decided to follow him, knowing that with the elder Liu brother dead, if she didn’t secure Liu Fu now, the old Liu couple wouldn’t treat her well in the future.

But who could expect Liu Fu to behave so poorly? He didn’t plan to marry her and still took advantage of her, then he ran away, not returning home for over a decade.

What could Shulan do? Her purity was gone, her reputation was ruined, and on top of that, she ended up pregnant. She couldn’t bear to let a life vanish, so she was left bound to the Liu family, toiling like a beast, leading to an exhausting and early demise.

However, with Shuxin here, she wouldn’t let her cousin end up with that tragic fate.

She would gather supplies to ensure they could survive the famine, with the determination not to let her sister become a child bride just for a sack of grain.