1 Transmigrated into a Book

"Quick, quick, quick! Jiancheng's wife has fainted! Hurry, get her to the clinic!"

A booming voice rang in Ye Qingzhi's ears, deafeningly loud. Then came a wave of chaotic noise, a persistent buzzing that made her head feel like it was about to split open. Moments later, her consciousness plunged into darkness, and she blacked out completely.

A long time passed before Ye Qingzhi slowly regained consciousness. Staring blankly at the ceiling of the clinic, she felt utterly dazed.

Just moments ago, she had received a flood of memories—or rather, the memories of this body.

Indeed, she was no longer her former self. To use a trendy term, she had transmigrated.

She had been perfectly healthy, her parents were alive and well, she had a doting older brother, and her job was easy and stable. She was a normal, happy person who met none of the typical criteria for transmigration. Yet, transmigrate she did—and into the year 1968, an era plagued by severe shortages of food and clothing.

Even if she had to transmigrate, why did she—a thirty-year-old who had been single since birth—have to become a mother of two? And a widow, no less?

Yes, a widow. A freshly minted widow.

The original owner of this body had fainted from the shock of receiving her husband's final letter, and when she woke up, she had become the new soul in this body.

Alas, the original owner was truly pitiful. She had married Wei Jiancheng at seventeen, became a mother at eighteen, and gave birth to their second child at nineteen. Before she had even finished her postpartum confinement month, Wei Jiancheng had somehow managed to pull strings and leave for the Third Front to work as a temporary laborer.

In the beginning, he sent some money back every month. But after six months, all contact was lost, and she had no way to reach him. Just when she thought he had perished, he suddenly sent a letter back, telling her to stay at home and focus on raising the children, promising to bring them over once he secured a permanent position.

She had waited day and night, only to receive the news of Wei Jiancheng's death.

Ye Qingzhi couldn't help but sigh again. The first sigh had been for the original owner; this one was for herself.

She had been sleeping peacefully at home. How did she end up transmigrating?

Had she died in her past life?

Her parents and older brother would be devastated if they knew, wouldn't they?

Thankfully, her brother was there to support their parents. In any case, she didn't dare attempt suicide to see if she could travel back.

But now she was an uneducated country widow with two young sons. How was she supposed to survive in the days ahead?

"Jiancheng's wife? You're awake? Oh, Second Great-Aunt, come quickly! Jiancheng's wife is awake!" Auntie Lin called out as she walked in carrying a bowl of water and saw Ye Qingzhi's open eyes.

Ye Qingzhi blinked, trying to speak, but no sound came out. Seeing this, Auntie Lin quickly handed her the water.

Taking a few sips of water from Auntie Lin's hand, Ye Qingzhi cleared her throat and asked in a raspy voice, "Auntie, I dreamed that Jiancheng died. It scared me to death."

Auntie Lin looked at her with deep sympathy. "Qingzhi, the dead cannot be brought back to life. You still have two children. For their sake, no matter how hard or bitter life gets, you must carry on."

Ye Qingzhi struggled to sit up, tears streaming down her face. "This can't be true! How could Jiancheng leave the three of us behind? Oh, what will become of us now?"

Thinking of her parents and brother from her previous life, and the happy life she could never return to, Ye Qingzhi wept with genuine grief. Her sorrow was so palpable that it would move anyone to tears; indeed, Auntie Lin was already wiping her own eyes.

"Sigh, she is fine. She only fainted from extreme grief. She just needs to go home and rest for a couple of days," Second Great-Aunt said with a soft sigh after coming in to check Ye Qingzhi's pulse.

Second Great-Aunt was a barefoot doctor in their village. After the founding of the People's Republic, she had been integrated into the state system and became the doctor at the village clinic. She was highly skilled, and the villagers always sought her out whenever they felt unwell.

She was also the cousin of the original owner's maternal grandfather, making her Ye Qingzhi's grandaunt. Being distantly related, she usually took good care of Ye Qingzhi and the two children.

"Jiancheng's wife, stop crying. If you ruin your health, what will happen to your two boys?" Aunt Ye said, helping Ye Qingzhi out of bed. "Come, let's go home so you can rest. I'll ask for time off on your behalf from the production brigade."

In 1968, the collective economy was still in place. As a peasant, she had to work in the fields every day, and missing work required official leave. Ye Qingzhi had never done manual labor in her life. Even with the original owner's memories, she would surely expose herself if she went to work.

She nodded quickly. "Thank you, Aunt Ye."

On the way back, Ye Qingzhi choked back feigned sobs of grief while continuing to organize the memories in her mind.

The original owner was also named Ye Qingzhi. At twenty-five, she was five years younger than her current self, yet she was already a mother of two.

She had been born in Daye Village to an ordinary family. With two older brothers, an older sister, and younger siblings below her, she occupied a middle position and had been neglected since childhood.

In 1960, when the family could no longer make ends meet, they prepared to marry her off to secure a bride price.

In truth, the Wei family was not wealthy either. However, Wei Jiancheng's biological mother had been on her deathbed at the time. Fearing that Wei Jiancheng's father, Wei Youliang, would neglect his son after she passed, she spent twenty catties of grain to secure Ye Qingzhi as a daughter-in-law.

The mother's fears were well-founded. Less than a hundred days after her death, Wei Youliang brought another woman home—a widow with a son only a year younger than Wei Jiancheng.

At that time, the original owner was just over a month pregnant. Yet, for the sake of the widow and his new stepson, Wei Youliang demanded to split the household with Wei Jiancheng, nearly driving the young man mad with anger.

After splitting the household, the young couple might have starved to death if Wei Jiancheng's mother hadn't secretly hidden some grain before she died. From then on, the two households stopped speaking to each other.

This meant she could not rely on her own family, her in-laws were practically non-existent, and now her husband was dead, leaving her to raise two sons on her own...

Ye Qingzhi wept even more bitterly.

"Jiancheng's wife, try to look on the bright side. In times like these, which family doesn't lose a few people? A few years ago, when Jiancheng didn't write, hadn't you already assumed he was gone?" Auntie Lin could not help but offer comfort.

Beside them, Aunt Ye glared at Auntie Lin. *If you don't know how to speak, keep your mouth shut. Who comforts someone like that?*

"Jiancheng's wife, don't listen to Auntie Lin's nonsense. But you do need to pull yourself together. If you cry yourself sick, you'll have to go to the clinic, which costs money, and you won't be able to work to earn work points. What will your two boys do then?" Aunt Ye knew her words were harsh, but they were the cold hard truth.

Wei Jiancheng's children were still so young—the older was seven, and the younger was six. If they lost their mother too, how would they survive?

Finally back home, Ye Qingzhi said softly, "Aunt Ye, Auntie Lin, I've kept you from your work. Please go back to the fields. I'll be fine. You're right—for the sake of the two children, I have to grit my teeth and carry on."

Seeing a spark of resolve return to Ye Qingzhi's eyes, Aunt Ye and Auntie Lin nodded in satisfaction. They hurried off to report for work; if they made it now, they could still get credit for a full day's attendance and avoid losing work points.

Once they were far enough away, Ye Qingzhi quickly pulled the letter out of her pocket. It had been delivered by a commune clerk, who said the factory over there had called to report that Wei Jiancheng had passed away from an illness. The original owner had fainted before she could even read it.

She had to read it carefully. If the man was dead, there had to be some explanation. And what about Wei Jiancheng's savings from the past few years? Surely he hadn't spent every last penny?

"My dear wife, by the time you read this letter, I may no longer be in this world. I have fallen gravely ill, and the doctor says I only have a few days left to live.

When I left, our second child had just completed his first month, and I never even got to hear him call me 'Dad.' As for our eldest, I don't even know what he looks like now.

But the one I miss the most is you, and the one I let down the most is also you. It must have been so hard for you to raise two children all by yourself, yet I could do nothing to help you...

Wife, if I cannot return, you... you should remarry!

Wife, I truly cannot bear to leave you. I think of you and the boys every single day.

Wife, I worked so hard to save money all these years just to buy a house and bring you all here. How could I be dying like this?

Wife, since this illness of mine cannot be cured, I won't waste money trying. I have remitted all my remaining savings to you. You... you and the children must live well."

Ye Qingzhi raised an eyebrow. The letter was masterfully manipulative: first playing the emotional card with the children, then expressing how much he missed her, followed by a suggestion to remarry, yet repeatedly calling her "wife." Given the original owner's devoted nature, she would definitely never remarry after reading this.

But Wei Jiancheng had sent money?

Ye Qingzhi shook the envelope, and a remittance slip slipped out. It was made out for exactly one hundred yuan. It wasn't a fortune, but it was enough to solve her immediate crisis.

If her memory served her right, the original owner had been dirt poor, with only a single yuan left in the house. She even owed the production brigade a significant amount of grain, which could only be repaid during the next distribution. Still, for a single woman to keep two children fed was already a remarkable feat.

"Mom! Mom!"

Ye Qingzhi looked at the two young boys running toward her. They were the original owner's sons: the older one was named Wei Anmin, and the younger one was Wei Anjie...

Wei Jiancheng, Wei Anmin, Wei Anjie, plus her own name, Ye Qingzhi...

Ye Qingzhi froze. She hadn't just transmigrated; she had transmigrated into a book.

It was a novel set in this era that she had read just two days ago. The female protagonist was named Su Nuan, a child of high-ranking cadres, and the male protagonist was her childhood sweetheart. The second male lead was Wei Anmin, who harbored a silent love for the female lead. The book also featured a major villain who was ultimately sent to prison by the male lead—and that villain was Wei Anjie.

From their names alone, it was clear that Wei Anmin and Wei Anjie were brothers, and their mother was named Ye Qingzhi. Because she shared the mother's exact name, the detail had left a deep impression on her.

Ye Qingzhi quickly recalled the plot. In the original novel, Wei Jiancheng hadn't died at all. He had merely faked his death to climb the social ladder. He changed his name, married Su Nuan's mother, Su Mengwan, and used the Su family's influence to climb the ranks, living a life of luxury and power.

Meanwhile, the original owner had behaved exactly as Wei Jiancheng anticipated. She never remarried and endured endless hardships to raise their two children. Yet, just as they graduated from college, she collapsed from exhaustion and died without enjoying a single day of comfort.

Wei Anmin became a university lecturer and met Su Nuan when she was still a student. He fell in love with her warm, sun-like personality, only to eventually discover that she was his half-sister—and in the process, he unearthed the secret of Wei Jiancheng's faked death.

The male protagonist also found out. Fearing that exposure would hurt Su Nuan, he wrote a letter reporting Wei Anmin for harassing a female student.

Wei Anmin's reputation was ruined. He was dismissed by the university, lost his mind from the shock, and was hit and killed by a car while crossing the street.

Having lost the brother he depended on, Wei Anjie turned completely to the dark side. In his quest for revenge against the leads, he was thrown into prison by the male lead, where he eventually died.

Ye Qingzhi looked down at the two brothers clinging to her arms and crying. Heavens, the original owner's fate had been too tragic, and these two children were far too pitiful.

No, she was the most pitiful one—because she was the one who had to deal with all of this now!

"Mom, I heard Fugui's dad say that our dad is dead?" Wei Anjie asked between sobs.

Ye Qingzhi pulled them close. Perhaps because of the original owner's memories, or perhaps due to maternal instinct, she quickly accepted the two boys as her own.

"It's alright. Mom is here."

"Yeah, it's fine. We didn't have a dad around before anyway, and we got by just fine. Mom, don't worry. With me and Anjie here, we can support this household." Though Wei Anmin was small, he spoke like an adult.

Anjie nodded his small head, his eyes red. "Mom, you have me and big brother."

Looking at the sensible brothers and thinking of their tragic fates, Ye Qingzhi felt a deep surge of disgust for Wei Jiancheng.

If he wanted to climb the social ladder, why couldn't he just get a divorce? Did he have to fake his death? His selfishness had caused the original owner and her two sons to die tragic, unnatural deaths.

And he expected her to remain a widow for him? In his dreams! She would go on a blind date tomorrow, change her sons' last name, and have them call another man "Dad." That would show him.