Chapter 40 – The Female Supporting Character Whose Life Was Taken Away by a Transmigrated Woman

Not long after the autumn harvest, the weather grew cold, and by November, frost had covered the ground. This was the perfect time for weddings.

Zhang Chunhua went on a blind date. She was mostly satisfied with her match and had already decided to get married before the New Year. Soon, she would be married, and she no longer had to do the household chores, so she often came to visit Wen Xin.

After the cold weather set in, Wen Xin began knitting sweaters. She had known how to do this in her past life, and picking it up again in this life was not difficult. Zhang Chunhua learned alongside her.

The cold in the south was different from the dry cold in the north. The mornings and evenings were especially freezing, particularly the hands and feet, which could become numb to the point of losing all sensation.

This was when the importance of the fire pit became apparent. The firewood burned quickly, and just as Wen Xin was preparing to go to the street to buy some coal, He Xiunian brought a cartload of it.

Wen Xin and He Xiunian were so close that it was only a matter of time before they finally broke through the unspoken barrier. Wen Xin accepted the coal He Xiunian had brought with no hesitation. This time, while knitting the sweaters, Wen Xin made one for He Xiunian as well. It was the same color as hers, a smoky gray-blue.

He Xiunian took the sweater and immediately went to the guest room to change into it. It fit perfectly. Afterward, He Xiunian came out to help Wen Xin tend to the fire pit. Wen Xin brought a few sweet potatoes and potatoes to roast in the fire.

Zhang Chunhua hadn’t come. Old Master Qin and Old Zhang had also reduced their usual walking time due to the cold, so at that moment, there were only two people in the house. A few dogs had already gone out on patrol.

The two of them sat by the fire, and the warmth from the fire made them both feel cozy.

He Xiunian asked Wen Xin: “Are you going home for the New Year?”

Wen Xin had been interacting with He Xiunian for a while, but he had never asked if she would go home. But now, with the New Year approaching, the holiday always held a special significance in the eyes of the Chinese.

Wen Xin shook her head. “I’m not going. Are you going back?”

If it had been in previous years, He Xiunian would have definitely gone home to irritate the Zhou Family, but this year, he didn’t want to go back.

“I’m not going. If I go back, no one will be happy, and I won’t be happy either.” He Xiunian said quietly.

He Xiunian’s parents had died when he was three years old, and the childless Zhou Dashan and his wife took him in to raise him. However, their kindness was not without cost. He Xiunian’s family had some assets at the time, and Mother Zhou took charge of those. The house the He family owned was sold by her.

For all the years He Xiunian had been with the Zhou Family, his life had not been easy. Compared to Zhou Wenhai, it was like heaven and earth. Zhou Wenhai was average in terms of academics, but he could attend high school. As for He Xiunian, despite his excellent grades, they didn’t even allow him to finish middle school.

He Xiunian hated the Zhou Family, and even now, he still hated them.

Wen Xin looked at He Xiunian and said: “Then let’s spend it together. When the time comes, you can make lots of delicious food, and I’ll help you.”

He Xiunian lowered his head, his eyes slightly reddened. “Okay, I’ll make a lot, a lot of delicious food.”

“Good.”

And so, the matter was settled.

In the afternoon, He Xiunian returned to the city. He went to a gold shop and bought a gold bracelet, a gold ring, a gold necklace, and gold earrings. He asked the shopkeeper to pack them in a beautiful velvet box.

He placed the velvet box in the inner pocket of his jacket.

When he got home, he took out his bankbook and looked at it.

Over the years, he had earned a fair amount of money. After setting aside the operating capital for his shop, he had deposited the rest in the bank. He hadn’t bought a house yet; he rented one, which didn’t cost much per month.

By now, he had saved up over two hundred thousand.

On the eastern outskirts of the city, there was a newly built villa community. It had only been completed last year, but there weren’t many buyers. He Xiunian was well-informed in his line of work, and he knew that each villa in that community cost 100,000 yuan. They were large, two-story homes with private gardens.

He Xiunian had never considered buying one before, but now, with the idea of starting a family, he thought it was time. He couldn’t very well get married and then make his wife live in a rented house. So, without hesitation, he decided to act. The next morning, He Xiunian went to Wen Xin’s house and invited her to go look at the villas with him. Wen Xin didn’t say much about it when she learned he was planning to buy a villa, but she offered plenty of suggestions while they were viewing the property. By the end of the day, He Xiunian had made the decision and finalized the purchase. He also handed over the villa’s decoration to a designer he knew well. It wouldn’t cost much, but the result would definitely be better than if they had done it themselves.

The New Year was quickly approaching. Old Master Qin and the others had all gone home, but before leaving, they spent several more days at Wen Xin’s little courtyard.

During this time, they had been eating vegetables grown in Wen Xin’s garden, and their health had improved significantly. They weren’t fools and knew exactly what had contributed to this, but they all silently kept it a secret, not saying a word to anyone.

However, when they left this time, both of them planned to take some vegetables with them, so there were a lot fewer vegetables left in Wen Xin’s garden.

After the two elders left, it was already the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, and Zhang Chunhua’s wedding was on the twelfth day of the month. As her good friend, Wen Xin, of course, had to attend.

When Wen Xin arrived at Zhang Chunhua’s house, she ran into Zhang Chunliang at the gate. As soon as Zhang Chunliang saw her, his face turned bright red. His lips moved for a long time, but he still couldn’t say anything. Wen Xin smiled and gave him a nod, then walked past him and entered the house.

The flush on Zhang Chunliang’s face faded, and a hint of sadness appeared in his eyes. Zhang Chunhua saw this and felt a little sad herself. She then pulled Wen Xin into her room and, jokingly, said: “Wen Xin, you’re still single. How about I introduce someone to you?”

Wen Xin rolled her eyes at Zhang Chunhua. “Cut it out. You know exactly what’s going on with me.”

Zhang Chunhua often came to visit Wen Xin, and she was familiar with He Xiunian. She was sharp and clever, so she certainly knew about the situation between Wen Xin and He Xiunian.

Besides, the whole village had heard the rumors—Wen Xin had a boyfriend, and he ran a shop in the city.

Zhang Chunhua sighed. “I won’t hide it from you anymore. This is actually my second brother asking me to inquire on his behalf.”

Wen Xin had visited the Zhang family many times, and she knew about Zhang Chunliang’s feelings for her. She had never felt the same way and had always avoided him.

Now that Zhang Chunhua was being upfront about it, Wen Xin wasn’t surprised. “Please help me turn him down.”

Zhang Chunhua nodded and didn’t continue the topic.

The Zhang family was busy preparing, and with Wen Xin’s help, Zhang Chunhua changed into her wedding dress. The dress was a red, gold-embroidered qipao, and she wore red artificial flowers in her hair. Wen Xin did her makeup, enhancing her beauty even more.

At eleven o’clock, the wedding banquet started. Wen Xin and Zhang Chunhua ate together in the room, and soon after, the groom arrived. Zhang Chunhua was carried by her older brother to the vehicle waiting to take her to the wedding ceremony. Wen Xin didn’t follow the procession but stood outside the door to watch the car drive off. Afterward, she briefly spoke to the village chief’s wife and then went home.

He Xiunian was already at home.

Wen Xin talked about Zhang Chunhua’s wedding, and He Xiunian listened attentively, asking about many details.

Once Wen Xin had finished, He Xiunian asked what kind of wedding Wen Xin wanted. Wen Xin looked at the fire and said: “The kind of wedding doesn’t matter. As long as I’m with the person I love, that’s enough. But I would like to wear a wedding dress.”

In her previous life, when she got married, their wedding was done decently, but because of the limitations of the times, she hadn’t been able to wear a wedding dress. Later, when she and Gu Xiuping celebrated their golden wedding at the age of seventy, they did follow the trend and held a celebration. But by then, they were both old, with wrinkles so deep they could trap a fly. Though the wedding was festive, it felt a little out of place.

In this life, Wen Xin wanted to wear a wedding dress.

He Xiunian was already thinking about which shop in the city had good wedding dresses. But since he had never paid attention to that before, he couldn’t come up with anything. After some thought, he decided he would ask around and gather information.

On the 18th of the twelfth month, He Xiunian gave his workers their wages and let them go home for the New Year. Wang Zhuang was the last to leave, and before going, he insisted on dragging He Xiunian to Wen Xin’s house for a meal.

On the 20th of the twelfth month, He Xiunian had to return to the city to handle some matters. The village seemed no different from before. Wen Chengzhi had spent many days in the city looking for Wen Xin but hadn’t been able to find her. After the weather turned cold, he hadn’t been out again.

Meanwhile, Huang Xiangqin had inquired about Zhou Yi’s situation with the villagers. There had been six Educated Youths who had gone to Danxi Village, three men and two women. Aside from Zhou Yi, the rest had all returned home. As for how Zhou Yi ended up marrying Wen Chengzhi, no one knew. They just knew that one day, Zhou Yi suddenly married Wen Chengzhi.

Wen Chengzhi was an orphan. His parents had passed away long ago, and by the time he married Zhou Yi, he was already twenty-three and still single. After marrying Zhou Yi, he quickly moved into the brick house they now lived in, and their family’s condition improved.

Zhou Yi had Wen Xin in the second year after marrying Wen Chengzhi, claiming that Wen Xin was born two months premature. After Wen Xin’s birth, Zhou Yi and Wen Chengzhi didn’t have any more children. Wen Xin’s marriage to Zhou Wenhai was also simple.

That year, Mother Zhou had gone into labor in the field. Zhou Yi had just arrived to join the village and was assigned to a team with Mother Zhou. When she saw what happened, she called for someone to send Mother Zhou to the hospital and even paid for her medical expenses. It was then that Zhou Wenhai was safely born. Later, when Wen Xin was born, the Zhou family took the initiative to establish the relationship.

By that time, Zhou Yi’s health was already poor. In order to ensure that her daughter would be cared for by the Zhou family in the future, she agreed to the marriage.

Huang Xiangqin had learned all of this and basically confirmed that Wen Xin was not Wen Chengzhi’s child. But if Wen Xin wasn’t his child, whose child was she?

After Wen Chengzhi had gone out to visit someone, Huang Xiangqin crawled under the bed, took out one of the letters, and with her son’s pen, copied down the address on the envelope before placing the letter back in the small chest.

When her eldest son came back from school that evening, Huang Xiangqin pulled him over and pointed to the characters on the paper, asking him to read them aloud.

Her eldest son, who was in fifth grade and could recognize most of the characters, glanced at the address, then said: “Beijing Military District, 398th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Xiao Liangcai.”

After reading the address, Huang Xiangqin’s son wasn’t interested in what it meant and quickly ran off to join his friends, leaving her to herself.

Huang Xiangqin then tossed the paper into the fire. As the flames consumed it, her mind drifted back to something she had learned: before Zhou Yi married Wen Chengzhi, a tall soldier had come to see her. Zhou Yi had introduced him as her brother, saying he had come to visit her. The soldier’s last name was Xiao.

It seemed that this man was Wen Xin’s biological father. But why hadn’t he come to find Wen Xin all these years?

Huang Xiangqin couldn’t make sense of it. Despite discovering such a significant secret, she still felt compelled to tell Wen Xin. She wasn’t a good person, but Wen Xin had grown up under her watch. She was obedient and sensible and had never caused her trouble. If Huang Xiangqin hadn’t discovered this secret, she could have let it go, but now that she had, she couldn’t keep it to herself. She felt guilty for not telling Wen Xin.

Besides, if Wen Xin found her biological parents, even if Wen Chengzhi eventually found her, she wouldn’t end up married to any of those unsuitable people.

But how could she tell her? After all, Huang Xiangqin had no idea where Wen Xin was. Just then, He Xiunian returned. After thinking for a couple of days, Huang Xiangqin decided to approach him and ask him to pass on a message.

The villagers didn’t know much about He Xiunian’s matters outside the village, but Huang Xiangqin’s eldest sister was married into the Wang family in Wangjiaba, and she knew a little about He Xiunian’s situation in the Provincial Capital.

When Huang Xiangqin arrived, He Xiunian was preparing to leave for the Provincial Capital. Huang Xiangqin had been rehearsing in her mind for a long time on the way there, and had even considered backing out twice. But now that she was here, she finally decided to speak up.

“Xiunian, I’m your Aunt Wen, from Wen Chengzhi’s family. Our daughter, Wen Xin, ran away last year, and someone said they had seen her in the Provincial Capital. Her father looked for her for many days but couldn’t find her.”

“Auntie just wanted to ask if you happen to see her, could you pass along a message for me? Tell her to come back and see me. I have something for her—it’s her mother’s keepsake.”

He Xiunian quietly looked at Huang Xiangqin. She felt a little embarrassed under his gaze. She knew that, as a stepmother, considering how her family had treated Wen Xin in the past, it might sound somewhat suspicious for her to say this now.