Chapter 39 – The Female Supporting Character Whose Life Was Taken Away by a Transmigrated Woman

Wen Xin quickly realized that someone was following her. She looked back at the corner and, as expected, saw Su Quihe.

Wen Xin smiled.

Su Quihe’s appearance was vastly different from the first time Wen Xin had met her. Her face was no longer delicate, and pregnancy had made her body appear bloated. However, her steps were still as agile as those of a young, unmarried woman who wasn’t pregnant.

Seeing Su Quihe like this, Wen Xin knew that she had endured a lot of hardship under Mother Zhou’s scrutiny. Wen Xin was very pleased.

After all, in the Original Owner’s past life, she had married Zhou Wenhai at the age of eighteen. After the marriage, she didn’t accompany him with the army but stayed in the village to take care of her parents. Less than ten days after their marriage, Zhou Wenhai had left.

the Original Owner, having failed to conceive, was often disparaged by Mother Zhou, both openly and secretly. the Original Owner, soft in nature, never took it to heart. When she turned twenty, after Zhou Wenhai returned for a visit, she finally became pregnant. Mother Zhou was satisfied for a while, but soon began to interfere again. She forbade the Original Owner from doing heavy labor, but household chores were still her responsibility, and she had to endure various mockeries and insults.

When the Original Owner’s child turned two, she finally went with Zhou Wenhai to join the army. But Zhou Wenhai was not a particularly family-oriented man. To him, as long as his wife and child were fed and warm, that was enough. He didn’t care about anything else at home.

Therefore, Wen Xin couldn’t understand how the book Su Quihe had been reading could have been written in such a way. How could it twist the facts so much? It even managed to deceive the child, immediately turning Zhou Wenhai into a figure that was taken away as soon as the book’s story began.

Wen Xin quickened her pace. She had just become wealthy yesterday, and the issue with her household registration would soon be resolved. She was in a great mood and didn’t want anything to ruin it. There would be plenty of opportunities to cross paths with Su Quihe in the future.

Besides, what could be more crushing than seeing hope and then having that hope destroyed?

Wen Xin alternated between walking quickly and slowing down, keeping Su Quihe trailing behind her. When she saw the bus to the Provincial Capital, Wen Xin boarded it. The bus driver couldn’t stay at the bus station for too long, so as soon as Wen Xin got on, he closed the door. Su Quihe, only ten steps away from the vehicle, watched helplessly as the bus drove off.

Su Quihe stared at the bus fiercely, and their eyes met through the window, where Wen Xin flashed a smile at her. In a frenzy, Su Quihe tried to chase after the bus, but she could never outrun it. Soon, she was left behind, and the bus sped away.

Su Quihe behind her was fuming, yelling in frustration.

She had been so close, so close to catching up with Wen Xin. Just a few more steps, and the spiritual water pendant would have been back in her hands. Why had she been a few steps too slow? Why?

That vile Wen Xin, why did she have to walk so fast, and why did the driver have to drive so quickly?

Su Quihe vented her anger on everyone around her, even complaining about pedestrians walking by.

Before entering the book, Su Quihe had been a frustrated, unmarried woman in her mid-thirties. At thirty-five or thirty-six, she still hadn’t had a boyfriend. When she was in her twenties, someone had introduced her to potential suitors. Back then, she had high standards, scrutinizing the appearance, jobs, and family backgrounds of the men. Whenever she finally found someone she liked, they didn’t like her back. If they liked her, she always felt they weren’t up to her standards.

At thirty-five, she still dreamed a lot. She would read online novels, fantasizing about the male lead and constantly looking down on the female lead. Any novel she read with a male protagonist would have her nasty comments. In chapters without the male lead, she would always manage to find something to complain about from a peculiar angle, leaving readers frustrated. If she was engaged in a discussion, she would derail it, turning it into a confrontation.

Over time, most of the authors on the website had grown weary of her. Su Quihe vented her real-life frustrations caused by work and life in the comment sections of books. After venting, she felt better and would continue to enjoy the stories, becoming obsessed with the strong, gentle, and handsome male leads in them.

Upon returning to the village, Su Quihe quickly went to the Wen Family, eager to tell Wen Chengzhi about seeing Wen Xin get on a bus to the city.

Wen Chengzhi waved his hand dismissively, indicating he knew, and sent her away.

By this point, Wen Chengzhi had already lost most hope of finding Wen Xin. Knowing she was now in the city, Wen Chengzhi’s eyes lit up. He decided to go to the city the next day, hoping to sell some mushrooms his family had picked from the mountains before June.

Su Quihe saw this and walked away with satisfaction.

Huang Xiangqin came out of the kitchen and looked at Wen Chengzhi. “Chengzhi, are you going to look for Xiao Xin?”

Wen Chengzhi glared at her. “Of course I’m going. I’ve raised her this big, and now she just leaves without a word? I haven’t even gotten anything from it, how can I let this slide?”

Huang Xiangqin opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. Wen Chengzhi, urging her to hurry up with the meal, made her go back to the kitchen.

Not long after, Wen Little Brother entered the kitchen and squatted by the stove. “Mom, did you find my big sister?”

Huang Xiangqin shook her head. “No.”

Wen Little Brother sighed and quietly said to her: “Mom, Dad is really bad to my sister.”

Huang Xiangqin fell silent.

It was true. What kind of father treats his daughter like that? When Huang Xiangqin married Wen Chengzhi, Wen Xin was almost eight years old. At that age, she was as thin and small as a five- or six-year-old.

The Wen Family wasn’t exactly poor. After all, Wen Xin’s birth mother, Zhou Yi, had come from Beijing as an Educated Youth and had some money. This was evident when Wen Chengzhi married her, and the family’s situation visibly improved.

Zhou Yi had passed away, but she surely left behind some money. This was evident from the 50 yuan bride price Wen Chengzhi paid when he married her.

After marrying Wen Chengzhi, Huang Xiangqin had considered treating Wen Xin well, but whenever she showed kindness to Wen Xin, Wen Chengzhi became very dissatisfied. After a few instances of this, Huang Xiangqin realized what was happening, so she grew cold toward Wen Xin and began assigning all the household chores to her. Sure enough, Wen Chengzhi’s attitude toward her improved significantly.

At that time, Huang Xiangqin was still young and felt she had to comply with her husband, but she only grew distant from Wen Xin. She never mistreated her, though. As long as there was food on her own plate, she made sure Wen Xin didn’t have to drink just porridge. When her two sons were born, she worked in the fields while Wen Xin took care of the children. This led Huang Xiangqin to subtly encourage her husband to treat Wen Xin a little better, since her own children depended on Wen Xin for care.

Wen Chengzhi, in the end, valued his sons. He didn’t say much, so Huang Xiangqin started making two pieces of clothing for Wen Xin every year.

Wen Xin was about to reach the age for marriage. The thought of her marrying into the Zhou Family made Huang Xiangqin happy, but she never expected that such a good match would be snatched away.

When Wen Xin ran away, Huang Xiangqin felt a sense of relief. Now that Wen Chengzhi knew Wen Xin’s whereabouts, she sighed. If that child was caught and brought back, given what she knew about Wen Chengzhi, Wen Xin might never marry a young man like He Xiunian.

As a fellow woman, Huang Xiangqin felt sorry for Wen Xin’s future fate.

In the afternoon, Wen Zhicheng went out, and Huang Xiangqin began cleaning. She needed to move the bed to sweep underneath, as she had been hearing rustling sounds under the bed lately, likely from mice building a nest.

When she moved the bed, she found indeed a mouse nest. Holding back her disgust, Huang Xiangqin threw out the newborn mice. She continued sweeping, and when she reached the corner of the room, she suddenly noticed a loose brick. Huang Xiangqin swallowed nervously and glanced outside. Wen Chengzhi had gone somewhere, and it seemed he wouldn’t be back for a while. Her two sons were out playing and wouldn’t be home until dinner.

Her heart raced as she pried the brick loose. Inside was a small, dark, square box that wasn’t locked. Huang Xiangqin opened it, and the first thing that caught her eye was a photo of a woman.

She was wearing a checkered outfit, playing with the hair that fell in front of her chest, and smiling charmingly at the camera. Huang Xiangqin recognized her; she was Wen Xin’s mother, Zhou Yi.

Under the photo, there were several letters. Huang Xiangqin had attended literacy classes, but her grades had been poor back then, and she could only recognize the word “Beijing” written on the envelopes.

Below the envelopes, there were several remittance slips, which Huang Xiangqin could read. Each remittance slip had a date, ranging from 1967 to 1972, with a payment made every month. Sometimes it was thirty yuan, sometimes fifty, varying in amount.

After 1972, there were no more remittance slips. In addition, there were some pieces of jewelry: a gold necklace, a ring, and a jade pendant.

Huang Xiangqin knew these must have been sent by Zhou Yi’s parents. She carefully packed everything back into the box, returned the bed to its original position, and acted as if nothing had happened.

That night, as Wen Chengzhi was drowsy, Huang Xiangqin brought up Zhou Yi. The moment Zhou Yi’s name was mentioned, Wen Chengzhi immediately lost his drowsiness.

He stared at Huang Xiangqin with sharp eyes. “Why are you asking about her?”

Huang Xiangqin’s heart skipped a beat. “Didn’t you say earlier that we have news of Wen Xin? It made me think of her mother, so I wanted to ask a few things. What’s the problem? Can’t I ask?”

Wen Chengzhi stared at Huang Xiangqin for a long time. When he saw she wasn’t avoiding his gaze, he finally lay back down and continued to sleep.

Huang Xiangqin trembled as she turned off the light. In the darkness, she couldn’t fall asleep. Suddenly, she realized—Wen Xin and Wen Chengzhi didn’t resemble each other at all!

Wen Xin had gone to the city, heading directly to a newly constructed apartment complex in the eastern suburbs. The complex had just been completed, and many of the units hadn’t been sold yet because it was far from the city center and the prices were low.

Holding 120,000 yuan in her hands seemed useless; with the current cost of living, she could easily live without food or drink for three to five years. But simply holding onto the money wouldn’t make it grow, so it was better to buy a property now, let it appreciate over time.

Wen Xin had both cash and a household registration book, so she moved quickly to buy a property. There were no purchase restrictions, and the provincial capital of Xiang Province wasn’t yet as developed as it would be in the future, so property prices were still low. She bought two two-bedroom apartments, each in a three-story building. The direction of the apartments was good, and while the layout wasn’t as nice as the ones in later years, it was still quite good for the present time.

She paid the money, got the keys, and within a week, the property certificates were ready. She could now transfer her household registration.

The total cost for the two apartments was over 50,000 yuan, leaving her with 80,000 yuan. Wen Xin then looked at some commercial properties, but compared to housing, shops were quite expensive. The smallest 10-square-meter shop was priced around 100,000 yuan, which was beyond her budget.

Reluctantly, Wen Xin returned home.

Her home had become a new hangout spot for Old Qin and Old Zhang, who had been spreading the word about it. Every day, they would wander over a few times, and seeing that Wen Xin had more vegetables than she could eat, the two old men suggested paying her for some.

At market prices, a bundle of vegetables could sell for 1.2 yuan, but Wen Xin didn’t need the money, so she just gave them away.

Since Wen Xin wouldn’t accept their money, Old Qin and Old Zhang often brought her some nutritional supplements, and she couldn’t refuse them.

A week later, Wen Xin received her property certificate and went to register her household. That afternoon, she bought a duck, planning to cook it to celebrate.

Just as the duck was stewing, Old Qin and Old Zhang arrived on their daily walk. They smelled the aroma coming from the yard and didn’t want to leave. Not long after, He Xiunian returned as well.

He was carrying bags filled with clothes, scarves, daily necessities, and food.

“Wen Xin, I’m back.”

Wen Xin smiled at He Xiunian and said: “Welcome back! The duck I’m stewing is almost ready. Go wash your hands, and let’s eat.”