Chapter 1: Transmigrated Into a Book

On a bustling street, a crowd had gathered in a circle, pointing and gossiping about the girl lying on the ground.

“She’s got a pretty face, but such a waste—only knows how to seduce men.”

“Exactly. Of all the things to do, she had to go and seduce her sister’s fiancé? What a vicious heart.”

“Hey, I overheard someone say the man’s an officer in the military!”

“Really? No wonder she went as far as kissing him in public and pulling all those shameless moves.”

“Right? These days, everyone’s scared of being poor. The moment they see someone rich or powerful, they just want to climb up.”

“Lucky that guy had some sense and pushed her away. Otherwise, this little slut would’ve gotten her way.”

“Say, she’s been lying there for a while now—do you think she’s faking it or really unconscious?”

“Who knows. Girls like her are full of tricks! Honestly, I wish that officer had reported her to the police. Lock her up so she doesn’t keep ruining other people’s lives.”

A middle-aged woman passing by with groceries overheard the commotion and slowed her steps, curious to hear more. The more she listened, the more ashamed and angry she became.

In this era, people’s mindsets were conservative. Even a slightly inappropriate interaction between men and women could get someone charged with indecency.

To think someone would actually try to kiss a man in public—shameful! No wonder people were talking.

Standing on tiptoe to peer through the crowd, the woman saw that the girl was still lying there, and not a single person had stepped up to help.

A few of the watching men looked tempted—after all, Su Tangxue’s face was quite stunning. But no matter how tempting, the surrounding criticisms were enough to make them suppress their thoughts.

The older woman felt both angry and sympathetic. A young woman like this being gossiped about in public, lying helplessly on the ground, and yet not one person offered her a hand?

Thinking of her own daughter at home, the woman couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Sweetheart, wake up!”

With a few shakes, Su Tangxue opened her eyes. Her vision spun, and it took a while for the world to come back into focus.

She saw a group of people surrounding her, all with contempt on their faces. Blinking in confusion, she took a moment before widening her eyes.

Looking around at the distinct retro setting, she thought she might still be filming a period drama.

“Excuse me… ow… sorry, could you tell me where the restroom is?” Su Tangxue asked as she licked at the cut on her lip.

The woman holding her hand looked pained and spoke gently, “Silly child, you should hurry home.”

Su Tangxue stared, baffled. What kind of extra responds like this? She asked where the bathroom was, and the woman told her to go home?

Was that part of the script?

Then she heard the continued cursing and gossip around her and finally realized something was off. She thanked the woman and dashed away through the crowd without looking back.

She had heard someone call her “Su Tangxue”—her real name. Actors aren’t allowed to use their real names while filming. Which meant… those people weren’t extras.

And she was actually injured.

None of this made sense. These people weren’t actors, yet they were dressed completely out of fashion. Something was seriously wrong.

Afraid it was some new human trafficking scheme, she ran until she found a quiet alley.

There, she finally began to sort out her tangled thoughts. Strangely unfamiliar memories slowly started to flood her mind.

She—

Su Tangxue—

Had transmigrated into a book.

Into a novel she had stayed up all night reading.

It was one her best friend had recommended, and it had been trending on the hottest novel list for a while. Her bestie had joked that if she ever transmigrated, at least she’d be somewhat prepared from reading it.

Driven by curiosity, she’d clicked on it.

And now here she was.

In the book, Su Tangxue wasn’t exactly a classic “villainess,” but her fate was tragically miserable.

The title of the novel was “Love in the Seventies: The Cold Military Officer’s Deep Devotion.” The heroine was her stepsister, Ning Honglian.

In the story, Su Tangxue’s mother had died, and her father remarried. The stepmother brought along a daughter—Ning Honglian, who was older than Su Tangxue.

The Su and Lu families had a marriage arrangement. Lu Qinglin, the male lead, had asked Su’s father for his daughter’s hand.

But Su Tangxue, terrified of marrying him, begged her father to send her stepsister instead.

Su’s father, being fond of his daughter, knew marrying Lu Qinglin would ruin her life. So he went to Ning Honglian and asked her to take Su Tangxue’s place, citing the years he’d raised her.

Out of gratitude, Ning Honglian agreed.

Still uneasy, Su’s father arranged for Su Tangxue to be matched with the son of a textile factory director before Lu Qinglin returned from the military. The man—handsome, capable, and kind—made a good impression, and Su Tangxue was pleased.

They planned to marry quickly so that by the time Lu Qinglin came home, she would already belong to someone else.

With no other choice, Lu Qinglin married Ning Honglian.

Ning Honglian reluctantly followed Lu Qinglin to the countryside, expecting a life of hardship—only to find out he was being promoted to battalion commander. She quickly packed up and followed him to live as a military wife.

It was after that their romance bloomed. Lu Qinglin doted on Ning Honglian endlessly, shielding her from all harm and even driving away women who had designs on him.

He handed over all his pay, did all the housework, and occasionally bought little gifts to cheer her up.

He transformed her from a plain village girl into a pampered flower.

Readers gushed in the reviews: “Lu Qinglin’s tenderness is for one woman only. His endless love is hers alone.”

Their life was pure sugar, with everyone in the military compound envying them.

Meanwhile, Su Tangxue thought she had escaped her fate—only to fall into a deeper pit.

Her new husband, Liu Zhipeng, though decent-looking and well-mannered, turned out to be a complete mama’s boy.

She didn’t know that until after marrying him. His mother, deeply rooted in outdated traditions, had total control over him.

Right after the wedding, her mother-in-law began pressuring her to have children. Liu Zhipeng was too spineless to object, and even sided with his mother.

Under constant pressure, Su Tangxue soon got pregnant.

Her first child was a boy. In a time when sons were prized, she thought she could finally breathe.

But her mother-in-law immediately started pushing for another.

“Women exist to bear children,” she’d said.

Su Tangxue went on to have three sons in total.

But the Liu family only demanded births, never helped raise them. After years of child-rearing, Su Tangxue was exhausted, her appearance worn down, her body weak, and her spirit on the edge.

Still, her mother-in-law wasn’t satisfied and kept pushing for more.

Su Tangxue resisted, refusing to be a baby-making machine. She thought if she just said no, it would stop.

But Liu Zhipeng, coward that he was, secretly poked holes in the contraception—causing her to get pregnant again.

This time, her belly grew much bigger than before. At the hospital, the doctor said it was triplets and that the delivery might be life-threatening.

Liu Zhipeng smiled. Su Tangxue panicked, crying day and night.

The author never finished the novel, so Su Tangxue in the real world didn’t know if her character lived or died.

But judging by the story’s trajectory, survival seemed unlikely. Given the medical limitations of that era, triplets posed a serious risk to both mother and children.

And if there was a cliché “choose the mother or the baby” scenario?

With a mother-in-law like that, they’d definitely choose the babies.

Which meant she’d almost certainly die.

Even if the author never finished the book, Su Tangxue could already see where it was headed.