Chapter 30 – The Female Suporting Character Whose Life Was Taken Away by a Transmigrated Woman

The Original Owner and Wen Xin experienced a world similar to their last one. In this world, Wen Xin remained the same, but a woman named Su Quihe appeared. 

Su Quihe was the Original Owner’s best friend. The two had grown up together, sharing a deep bond. the Original Owner, having no close family, entrusted her joys and sorrows to Su Quihe, who did the same in return.

According to the Original Owner’s life trajectory, Su Quihe was destined to be her lifelong friend. They would encourage and accompany each other throughout their lives. In their old age, they would even leave behind all family matters and embark on a spontaneous trip together.

However, Su Quihe had been transmigrated. The current Su Quihe was the Transmigrated Female Protagonist. 

After her arrival, she continued to act as the Original Owner’s friend. Though the Original Owner noticed changes in Su Quihe, she never suspected anything supernatural. Least of all, she couldn’t have imagined that her best friend would covet her fiancé.

Two months ago, the Original Owner’s fiancé, Zhou Wenhai, had returned home to visit his family. He came to the Wen household for a visit and ended up drinking a bit too much during dinner. 

That night, he stayed over at the Wen residence. Su Quihe, for reasons unknown, also drank a considerable amount that evening. 

The next morning, the Wen family discovered that Su Quihe and Zhou Wenhai had spent the night together.

That day was a chaotic blur in the Original Owner’s memory. The Wen, Zhou, and Su families were all at odds, shouting and arguing with one another.

Wen Chengzhi, the Original Owner’s father, demanded to call off the engagement. 

Zhou Wenhai’s father, Zhou Dashan, was unwilling to agree. 

Meanwhile, the Su family felt indignant, believing that Su Quihe had been wronged. 

In the end, the three families reached a consensus: the Zhou family would compensate the Su family with 200 yuan, and the relationship between the Wen and Zhou families would remain unchanged.

After that incident, the Original Owner grew distant from Su Quihe, and her feelings toward Zhou Wenhai were no longer as favorable as before.

A month later, Su Quihe was pregnant. The Zhou family, having only one heir for generations, was overjoyed by the news. 

For Su Quihe to conceive after just one night with Zhou Wenhai was a cause for celebration. 

Zhou Wenhai’s father personally went to the Wen family, lamenting and pleading for forgiveness. 

He also offered another 100 yuan as compensation. 

The Original Owner’s father, Wen Chengzhi, accepted the money and gladly annulled the engagement with the Zhou family.

The 200 yuan previously given to the Su family now became Su Quihe’s bride price. Su Quihe and Zhou Wenhai successfully married, fulfilling their wishes.

If it were just that, the Original Owner might have been able to endure it. But for reasons unknown, Su Quihe developed the habit of frequently visiting the Wen family to find Wen Xin, saying things like: “I’m sorry, Wen Xin.” and apologizing repeatedly. 

The Original Owner, already devastated by the situation, had her heart further stabbed by Su Quihe’s words just yesterday when Su Quihe intercepted her on her way home from the fields. 

That evening, the Original Owner returned home and fell ill from the stress.  

Before the Original Owner could recover, Su Quihe showed up again, repeating the same—overused phrase. 

Wen Xin didn’t even need to guess what she was about to say next.  

“Xin Xin, let’s reconcile, okay? Please don’t be mad anymore.” Su Quihe pleaded pitifully, her eyes brimming with hope as she looked at Wen Xin.  

Wen Xin didn’t respond. Instead, her gaze fixated on the red string around Su Quihe’s neck. Dangling from the string was a teardrop-shaped jade pendant. 

This pendant had belonged to the Original Owner’s biological mother and was one of her most treasured keepsakes. After the Original Owner’s mother passed away, she left the pendant to the Original Owner, who later lost it. 

The Original Owner had searched for it for days and was heartbroken when she couldn’t find it. As her closest confidante, Su Quihe had even helped her search for the pendant for days, offering endless words of comfort.  

But how could the Original Owner find the pendant when it had been stolen by Su Quihe?  

In the book that Su Quihe had read before transmigrating, that jade pendant was revealed to be a rare treasure capable of producing “spiritual water.” 

This spiritual water not only enhanced beauty but also promoted plant growth and significantly improved crop quality.  

Thus, the first thing Su Quihe did after transmigrating was to take advantage of Wen Xin’s trust and steal the pendant. 

As for the Original Owner’s heartbreak over the lost pendant? That wasn’t her concern. 

Su Quihe had disliked the novel’s protagonist, Wen Xin, ever since reading the book.  

To her, Wen Xin was too much of a doormat—weak and overly kind. 

If it weren’t for the golden finger (the jade pendant), Wen Xin would have had no redeeming qualities. 

Su Quihe believed Wen Xin wasn’t worthy of the dashing and heroic Zhou Wenhai, let alone the doting love he showered on her after their marriage.  

After finishing the book, Su Quihe had written a lengthy review accusing Wen Xin of being unworthy of the male lead. 

Her post was quickly refuted by other readers, leading to a heated online argument. 

Fueled by indignation, Su Quihe became so worked up that she accidentally knocked over a water glass onto a power strip. 

Before she could react, an electric shock ran through her body, killing her instantly.  

When she opened her eyes again, Su Quihe found herself in the world of the book as none other than the protagonist’s best friend, Su Quihe. 

Overjoyed, she resolved to make Zhou Wenhai her husband and use the jade pendant to build her fortune.  

But something had gone terribly wrong. In Wen Xin’s hands, the pendant could produce three or four drops of spiritual water a day, but in Su Quihe’s hands, getting even a single drop was a luxury. 

Moreover, the spiritual water she managed to extract was far inferior to the original—its effects were limited to enhancing beauty and had no impact on plant growth or quality improvement. In short, all of Su Quihe’s dreams of wealth and prosperity had come to nothing.

What made things even worse was that if Su Quihe didn’t interact with Wen Xin for two or three days, the pendant wouldn’t produce any spiritual water at all.  

Even though the spiritual water was practically useless, in the 1990s, when skincare products and cosmetics were still scarce, having even a small supply was better than nothing. 

So, Su Quihe forced herself to stomach her disgust and visited Wen Xin every day, striking up conversations just to trigger the pendant’s effects.  

The Original Owner had returned home the previous night with a fever. Though the medication had brought her fever down, she still had a pounding headache. 

Irritated by Su Quihe’s presence, she rasped in a hoarse voice: “Get out.”  

Outside, Huang Xiangqin, the Original Owner’s stepmother, was sweeping the yard. Hearing her stepdaughter’s voice, she smiled faintly and walked into Wen Xin’s room, broom in hand. “Qiuhe, our Wen Xin isn’t feeling well. She can’t entertain you today. You’d better head home.”  

Huang Xiangqin had married into the Wen family and given birth to two sons. Though she neither beat nor scolded the Original Owner, she wasn’t particularly kind to her either. Growing up, the Original Owner had to shoulder all the chores expected of village girls, with no special treatment from her stepmother.  

Huang Xiangqin didn’t particularly like Su Quihe, but since Wen Xin wasn’t her biological daughter, she didn’t bother to intervene much. Now that Su Quihe had ruined Wen Xin’s engagement, Huang Xiangqin felt only a vague disappointment about losing Zhou Wenhai’s potential influence. Still, she decided to step in this time because she was genuinely fed up with Su Quihe’s constant visits.  

Su Quihe glanced at the time. She’d spent enough time with Wen Xin to trigger the pendant’s effect, so she left without hesitation.  

The Zhou family’s house wasn’t far from the Wen family’s, so it didn’t take long for Su Quihe to return home. 

Once inside, she shut the door, eagerly pulled the pendant out from under her clothes, and placed it into a small white glass bottle. 

After a short wait, a single drop of clear spiritual water dripped from the pendant into the bottle.  

Su Quihe waited a while longer, but the pendant didn’t produce anything more. She carefully screwed the bottle’s lid back on and tucked the pendant back under her collar.  

Rumors had been circulating that the Wen family was searching for a match for Wen Xin. If Wen Xin got married, Su Quihe wouldn’t be able to see her every day, and no interactions meant no spiritual water. That was unacceptable.  

Sitting on her bed, Su Quihe stared blankly into space, pondering ways to stay close to Wen Xin.  

Just then, the sound of lively chatter came from outside. Su Quihe stood up and looked out the window. She saw a young man with a slim figure and pale complexion trailing lazily behind Zhou Wenhai’s mother as they entered the house.  

Su Quihe’s eyes lit up instantly. That man was Zhou Wenhai’s cousin, He Xiunian. After losing his parents, He Xiunian had been taken in by the Zhou family, who planned to raise him as their own son. However, just a few days after his arrival, Mother Zhou discovered she was pregnant. A year later, Zhou Wenhai was born.  

Villagers often whispered that Zhou Wenhai had brought good fortune with him, and Mother Zhou only became pregnant after adopting He Xiunian. 

They also gossiped that the Zhou family had taken in He Xiunian along with all of the He family’s remaining assets. Sending He Xiunian away now would surely provoke criticism from the villagers.  

Su Quihe’s mind began racing with ideas.

Due to the pressure of public opinion, the Zhou family had no choice but to continue raising He Xiunian.  

After He Xiunian reached adulthood, the Zhou family arranged for him to live separately in a small house at the edge of the village. He didn’t farm or work in the mountains and frequently returned to the Zhou family home to mooch off them.  

As Su Quihe stared at He Xiunian, her eyes gleamed with excitement. 

Could there be a more suitable match for Wen Xin? 

Wen Xin belonged with a man like this!  

If Wen Xin married He Xiunian, Su Quihe would become her sister-in-law. Visiting Wen Xin every day would then be perfectly natural, and no one would have any reason to comment on it.  

The more Su Quihe thought about it, the more delighted she became. She decided to propose this brilliant idea to the Zhou family that evening. 

As for whether the Wen family would agree, of course, they would! After all, Wen Xin’s stepmother, Huang Xiangqin, was already indifferent, and her father, Wen Chengzhi, didn’t care about her at all.  

Wen Chengzhi only cared about one thing—getting a bride price. In the novel, the Wen family constantly hindered the male protagonist, proving themselves to be truly awful relatives.  

Feeling as if she could already envision a future with a steady supply of spiritual water, Su Quihe’s face lit up with joy. Once Mother Zhou, looking thoroughly annoyed, sent He Xiunian out the door, Su Quihe followed her. Taking her time, she began sharing her idea with Mother Zhou.  

As Su Quihe spoke, Mother Zhou’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. Finally, Mother Zhou clasped Su Quihe’s hands and beamed. “Qiuhe, you really are the best daughter-in-law I could ask for. I’ll discuss this with your father-in-law right away.”  

Mother Zhou hurried off, and Su Quihe watched her retreating figure with a satisfied smile.  

After Su Quihe left, Huang Xiangqin didn’t stay long in Wen Xin’s room either and left early.  

———

Meanwhile, Wen Xin lay on her bed, attempting to summon spiritual power. Unlike the last time, she succeeded quickly this time. 

It wasn’t surprising, really—this small world already had miraculous spiritual water from a jade pendant, so a little spiritual power was nothing extraordinary.  

Thinking back to her previous life, Wen Xin’s thoughts turned to Gu Xiuping. 

After fulfilling the Original Owner’s final wishes in her past life, Wen Xin had gained some merit power. To refine this merit, she had spent many years in the riverbed.  

So much time had passed that even the deepest emotions had faded into a calm indifference. 

Yet, whenever Wen Xin recalled the sweet moments she had shared with Gu Xiuping, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.  

Before refining the merit power, Wen Xin had made a wish using the Koi Fish Clan’s unique ability—the Koi Fish Wish. 

She had wished for Gu Xiuping to live a life of peace and prosperity in every lifetime.

Wishes granted through the Koi Fish Wish usually came true, so Gu Xiuping was likely leading a smooth and happy life now.

That was good.

Wen Xin spent the rest of the day resting in bed and only got up to eat when it was mealtime.

Huang Xiangqin’s two sons, born after she married into the Wen family, were now ten and eight years old. Wen Xin had essentially raised these two boys herself, so their relationship with her was relatively close.

At the dinner table, Wen Chengzhi glanced at Wen Xin but said nothing. 

Huang Xiangqin, however, managed to say a few words to her.

After finishing the silent and awkward meal, Wen Xin returned to her room.

Later that evening, Zhou Dashan and his wife came to the Wen family home. 

They sat with Wen Chengzhi in the main hall, discussing something important. 

Meanwhile, Wen Xin’s youngest half-brother, Wen Yuan, sneaked into her room, his face brimming with excitement.

“Big Sis, Big Sis, Big Sis!” he exclaimed, his voice a hurried whisper. “The Zhou family is here to arrange a marriage for you! They’re offering a bride price of 150 yuan to marry you off to He Xiunian!”