Chapter 29 – The Female Supporting Character in the Confession Book (End)

Gu Xiuping had come to find Wen Xin as soon as he arrived in Ji Province. He had traveled from the northwest, taking several days of long rides on a bus filled with all kinds of people and smells, none of which could be described as pleasant.

But to Wen Xin, the smell was reassuring. All the worries, anxiety, and fear she had felt for so long were swept away in that moment.

Wen Xin, overwhelmed with joy, began to cry, her tears wetting Gu Xiuping’s clothes.

By the time Wen Xin had calmed down, quite a bit of time had passed.

Gu Xiuping wiped the tears from Wen Xin’s face. “Do you have class in the morning?” he asked. “If not, let’s go eat. I’ve been traveling for several days, and I’m really hungry.”

The intimate gesture, done in front of so many people and especially with classmates watching, made Wen Xin, even though she was open-minded, feel a bit shy. She lowered her head and quietly said: “The morning class is already over. There’s no class this afternoon either.”

Gu Xiuping took Wen Xin’s hand. “Then let’s go.”

Wen Xin obediently followed Gu Xiuping out of the school. The two of them walked hand in hand, which was a rare sight in that era. As they walked, everyone they passed turned their heads to look at them.

The restaurant was not far from the school. Once they got there, they ordered their food. Wen Xin asked for rice, while Gu Xiuping ordered six large steamed buns.

Before the dishes arrived, the two of them chatted a bit. But as soon as the food was brought, Gu Xiuping forgot everything. He grabbed food with one hand and held a bun with the other, taking bites of both alternately, one after the other.

A bun, the size of a grown man’s fist, was finished in just five or six bites when eaten with the dish. Wen Xin was startled and quickly filled a bowl of tomato egg soup for him.

The soup was still hot, but Gu Xiuping seemed unbothered by the heat. He blew on it a few times, then drank it down in three or four big gulps.

He ate three buns in a row before finally slowing down. Wen Xin breathed a sigh of relief, and Gu Xiuping leaned back in his chair with a long exhale. “Ah, that’s better. Xin Xin, you don’t know how different the food in the southwest is from ours. They love spicy food and boiled dishes. At first, it seemed quite delicious, but after a while, it became unbearable. They don’t grow wheat there, so they only eat rice. Over time, us northern soldiers who go there miss the big steamed buns the most.”

Wen Xin filled his bowl with soup again. “If you want more, eat slower. What if your stomach hurts from eating too fast?”

Gu Xiuping casually replied: “No, no, I’ve trained myself to be as tough as steel. In the mountains and forests over there, sometimes when we were marching or fighting, we had no place to cook, so we ate whatever we could. Honestly, though, there are wild fruits and vegetables all year round on those mountains. If prepared well, it actually tastes pretty good.”

Wen Xin nodded and asked: “Did you eat a lot then?”

“Yes.” he answered. “All of us soldiers eat a lot. During this mission, the Military Unit gave us plenty of rations. Even when we were marching, we didn’t really go hungry.”

Wen Xin didn’t say anything more, but she added several pieces of meat onto Gu Xiuping’s plate. He had lost some weight again since his trip, and his chin had become much sharper.

After the meal, Gu Xiuping felt a bit stuffed from eating too much, so the couple just sat in the restaurant and chatted.

Wen Xin told him about how Ye Xianya had taken time off work to stay with her for a week because she was worried Wen Xin might be feeling down.

After hearing this, Gu Xiuping spoke with a hint of nostalgia and emotion. “When I was little, whenever my dad went on a mission and wasn’t back for a long time, my grandma would always worry that my mom might overthink things. So, she’d go and stay with her, just to talk and keep her company.”

Gu Xiuping’s grandmother passed away when he was not yet sixteen. But whenever he thought of her, he always felt warmth in his heart.

As for buying a house in the Provincial Capital? It wasn’t out of the question.

Over the years, he had been saving his allowance. He didn’t spend much, and occasionally his parents would send him some extra. After all these years, he must have saved at least ten thousand. After they got married, he handed his savings book to Wen Xin, and she wasn’t one to spend recklessly, so the balance had only grown.

Buying a house near the school in the Provincial Capital seemed like a good idea. That way, he could visit whenever he wanted, and Wen Xin wouldn’t have to share a dorm with her classmates anymore. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a good plan.

After Wen Xin finished speaking, he finally said: “Wife, I think Mom is right. We really should buy a place near the school. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be working in the Provincial Capital from now on, and after you graduate, you’ll probably work here too. That way, having a house in the Provincial Capital will be much more convenient for us.”

Looking at Gu Xiuping’s weary face, Wen Xin felt that having a house in the Provincial Capital was indeed necessary. Just like now, if they had a place there, Gu Xiuping could rest at home whenever he was tired. “If you’ve decided, then it’s fine with me.”

“My holiday still has three days left. I’ll go look for a house tomorrow.”

“Alright.” After a while, when their meal had settled, the couple left the restaurant. Wen Xin took Gu Xiuping to the guesthouse.

Gu Xiuping teased Wen Xin for being too eager, but once they got to the hotel, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately from exhaustion.

Wen Xin found a towel to wipe his face and then climbed into bed beside him, reaching out to hold him. Before long, Wen Xin also began to feel sleepy, and the two of them drifted into a peaceful sleep. When they awoke, the room had grown dark, and checking the time, it was nearly seven o’clock.

They weren’t hungry after such a big lunch, so the two of them lay in bed and chatted. Wen Xin asked the question she had been wanting to ask since Gu Xiuping returned: “Xiuping, why did you come back so late?”

Gu Xiuping was casually playing with Wen Xin’s hand as he replied: “I was left behind to do cleanup work. During one of the operations, we were pursued by the enemy. It took a lot of effort before we managed to escape from their pursuit. We were all injured and didn’t return until we were healed.”

Gu Xiuping spoke so lightly of it, but Wen Xin immediately sat up in bed. She reached over to pull at the clothes on Gu Xiuping’s body. “Where are you hurt? Is it serious? Has it healed?”

Gu Xiuping took her hand and reassured her. “It’s just my back, near my shoulder blade. It’s not serious. It’s all healed now.” He obediently removed his shirt so Wen Xin could see.

There was a scar across his shoulder blade. The scar had healed, and fresh pink tissue had grown over it. The scar was about as long as Wen Xin’s two palms. Wen Xin trembled as she gently touched it, her voice cracking with emotion. “How did this happen?”

Gu Xiuping put his shirt back on and replied: “It was a machete wound. I guess I was lucky. The person who struck me didn’t have much strength, so the wound wasn’t deep. My comrades weren’t as lucky as I was. Several of them didn’t make it.”

Gu Xiuping spoke lightly, but Wen Xin’s tears streamed down her face. How much must such a long wound hurt? She herself would be in intense pain even from a small cut with a pencil sharpener.

Gu Xiuping held Wen Xin, and they both fell onto the bed. He began telling her about some of the things he had encountered on the battlefield. Wen Xin listened quietly, gradually calming herself. She remembered the dream she had that day, and her heart skipped a beat. She wanted to tell him about the dream, but looking at the side of Gu Xiuping’s face, Wen Xin decided not to ask. The fact that he had returned alive was more important than anything else.

After their reunion, that night, the two were intensely affectionate.

The next morning, Wen Xin had two classes. When she got up, her whole body ached. Gu Xiuping, who had rested well, was full of energy. He went to the restaurant to get breakfast and returned with the classic combo of baozi, youtiao, and soy milk. After breakfast, Wen Xin went to school, and Gu Xiuping had to return to the Military Unit to report.

Gu Xiuping called his parents to report that he was safe. On the other end, Ye Xianya cried uncontrollably upon hearing her son was safe. After finally calming down, she mentioned that she had asked a classmate to help find a house in the Provincial Capital. Gu Xiuping was also considering looking for a place, so the two of them chatted on the phone for a while. At noon, Gu Xiuping went to the Provincial Capital Hospital to meet Ye Xianya’s classmate.

Ye Xianya’s classmate was very reliable. She had found three houses available for rent.

Two of the houses were near the Provincial University, only a five-minute walk away. The advantage of these two houses was their location, but the drawbacks were obvious. Both houses were bungalows with small two-room layouts and a tiny yard. The total area of each house was estimated to be less than 60 square meters.

The third house was further from the school, about a twenty-minute walk away, but it was quite spacious. It had a large yard, and the bathroom and kitchen were fully renovated. The drawback was the high price—it was being rented for 2,000 yuan.

In the afternoon, after Wen Xin finished school, Gu Xiuping took her to see the three houses. In the end, they decided on the third one, as it was larger and more comfortable.

After selecting the house and paying the rent, they followed the previous owner to complete the transfer of the property. Gu Xiuping then began to renovate.

The walls were scraped with Da Bai, tiles were added to the interior, cement was laid in the yard, and they hired people to make the furniture using the most fashionable designs available in the market.

Ye Xianya knew that the couple had bought a house, so she specially transferred some money to help them purchase appliances. As a result, a refrigerator, washing machine, and television were all arranged.

On the day they moved into the new house, Wen Xin invited all her classmates from the dormitory, and Gu Xiuping also called several of his close comrades.

After a lively housewarming party, Wen Xin moved out of the dormitory and became a day student, while Gu Xiuping returned to the Military Unit to continue his work.

Wen Xin also began to focus on writing. She was working on an ancient detective novel, and the story began with the mysterious disappearance of a prince from a royal mansion.

As she designed the main character of the novel, Wen Xin unconsciously turned him into a young Taoist priest.

After finishing the novel, Wen Xin read through it again, and suddenly smiled. After the smile, she felt a tinge of regret.

“If only I could see what you look like…”

Wen Xin sighed, then mailed the manuscript to a newspaper in the Provincial Capital.

It wasn’t long before Wen Xin received a payment for her manuscript along with a letter from the editor. The editor hoped that Wen Xin would expand the story into a full-length novel.

Wen Xin thought for a moment and felt that it wouldn’t be difficult. After all, she had lived for so long and had heard about countless strange cases.

So, in her spare time, Wen Xin began to write it out.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, four years had passed. Wen Xin graduated from university and began preparing for pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Luo Manzhen, who had served five years in prison, was released. The Luo family had sent a letter to cut ties with her after she was imprisoned, so on the day of her release, no one from her family came to pick her up.

The prison gates closed behind Luo Manzhen. She held a small bundle in her hand and, feeling somewhat helpless, looked at the blinding light outside.

After five years in prison, she had grown unaccustomed to the outside world. Surely, things had changed by now with the reforms and opening up, hadn’t they?

Luo Manzhen walked out, and at the entrance to the prison, Sun Haowen tossed the cigarette in his hand and stamped it out with his foot. He strode toward her.

Sun Haowen had been out of prison for several years, and he had also been waiting for Luo Manzhen for many years.

He grabbed Luo Manzhen’s chin. “Bitch, you’re finally out. I’ve been waiting for you for so many years. Now tell me, what do you have to say about the report you made on me back then?”

“What report? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Luo Manzhen replied, trying to walk around Sun Haowen. But he grabbed her and forced her into a bus.

“Luo Manzhen, you ruined my life. Now you’ll spend the rest of your life making it up to me.” The prison sentence had changed Sun Haowen significantly. He had learned to drink and had come to enjoy getting drunk. After drinking, he would often lash out, beating and cursing others as if it were an everyday occurrence. Domestic violence became the defining feature of the second half of Luo Manzhen’s life.

She tried to escape, but no matter where she went, Sun Haowen would always find her.

Wen Xin had long forgotten that Luo Manzhen had been released from prison this year. She was overjoyed today because she had finally become pregnant.

She called Gu Xiuping’s office, and less than an hour later, he returned home.

By now, Gu Xiuping had been promoted to the youngest chief of staff in the military district. When he arrived home, he still hadn’t changed out of his training uniform.

When he saw Wen Xin, he happily picked her up and spun her around several times.

Wen Xin’s pregnancy symptoms were mild—she could eat and sleep well. Nine months later, she gave birth to a baby boy, naming him Gu Jin.

After giving birth to her child, Wen Xin’s novel was also published by the publishing house, and she found joy in writing. In this lifetime, she wrote many detective novels, each of them a classic. Many of her cases were even adapted into films.

The development of the Wen family was very different from the original two lifetimes. This time, with Wen Xin’s help, Big Brother Wen and Second Brother Wen seized the opportunity brought by the reform and opening-up. The two brothers teamed up to enter the clothing industry, and today, their clothing factory had become a well-known domestic brand.

In this lifetime, Wen Xin lived to be 80 years old. She passed away, and not long after, Gu Xiuping followed her.

In the last moment of Gu Xiuping’s life, he remembered everything.

“Little Koi, it was you all along~~~”

---

Wen Xin didn’t know how long she had been asleep. When she woke up again, she was lying on a bed, and the arguing voices outside gave her a splitting headache.

She closed her eyes and blocked out those sounds. Finally, she gained the original body’s memories.

It turned out that she was the female lead whose life had been stolen by a transmigrated woman, and she herself had ended up as the tragic Female Supporting Character in the story.

Before she could fully digest the memories of the original body, a girl in a yellow long dress rushed to Wen Xin’s bedside, crying as she spoke. “Xin Xin, please believe me, I really don’t know how I ended up sleeping with Brother Ren. He is your fiancé, and even if every man in the world were to die, I would never get involved with him. We’ve been friends for so many years. Don’t you believe me?”

—end of World 1, beginning of World 2