Chapter 1 I'm quitting acting! (Revised)
[The End]
As an invisible ripple swept across the world, a pale, bone-white hand suddenly broke through the surface of the black river.
Next, the other hand.
Long, jet-black hair floated on the river's surface, and a bloodless face slowly rose to the surface. The woman, like a water ghost, crawled out of the river.
She lowered her head, making it impossible to see her expression, and suddenly chuckled softly.
"Ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha—"
The laughter grew louder and louder, startling the owls in the trees into flight, which let out a hoarse screech.
Not far away, a fisherman saw this scene that looked like a zombie coming back to life. He was so frightened that he dropped his precious fishing rod and ran away as fast as he could, wishing he had two more legs.
The "female ghost" herself didn't care about this. After laughing enough, she lifted the wet hair covering her face, revealing a pair of bright, sparkling eyes.
"I'm not acting anymore!"
Ever since being inexplicably sucked into "The Substitute Bride of the 80s" by a mysterious force, He Changyi has been forced to play the villainous female supporting character in the book.
This is a period drama about marriage of convenience that blossoms into love. Because the older sister is materialistic and runs away from the wedding, the younger sister, the female protagonist, has no choice but to take her place in the marriage to save face for her family.
Unexpectedly, her marriage partner turned out to be a powerful and unassuming tycoon. This tycoon, a man of many talents, fell in love with the kind and pure-hearted female lead, and the two lived a carefree and happy life after their marriage.
He Changyi plays the villainous supporting character who is the runaway bride who is blind to the importance of others.
The male lead's identity as a powerful figure is revealed, and the female lead is deeply loved by him, living the life that the female supporting character could only dream of.
She was filled with jealousy and resentment, and tried to "set things right" by replacing the female lead and becoming the male lead's beloved wife.
To this end, "she" did not hesitate to seduce the male lead, sow discord between the male and female leads, and plot to frame the female lead for having an affair with the male supporting character...
Of course, as the villain in the book, none of her schemes succeeded. Instead, they became a catalyst for the romance between the male and female protagonists, and she was repeatedly humiliated by the female protagonist.
At the end of the original book, the male protagonist, who was obsessed with protecting his wife, easily crushed "her" into an abyss with a flick of his finger, and the female supporting character ultimately chose to commit suicide by jumping into the river in despair.
During this time, He Changyi did consider changing the plot, at least to avoid forcing her to seduce the male lead—
Who would actually like a pretentious, shrewish old man who pretends to be weak but is actually strong?!
But she was like a puppet on a string, unable to make any changes to the original plot, not even to the lines. She could only watch helplessly as events unfolded according to the predetermined plot.
Until she plunged into the icy river, He Changyi finally heard that heavenly phrase: "The End."
The invisible rope suddenly snapped, and He Changyi abruptly floated to the surface, finally breathing his first breath of free air.
She climbed out of the river and walked towards the city she remembered.
As dawn broke, the number of pedestrians and vehicles on the street gradually increased.
In the cold wind, a woman soaked to the bone, with a trail of wet footprints behind her, caught people's attention.
"Whose daughter is this? It's the New Year, how did she end up in such a pitiful state..."
"Did she accidentally fall into the river? Quickly bring me my clothes; she'll get sick in this cold weather."
"Hey? Wait a minute, isn't this the Yang family's adopted daughter?"
"The Yang family? That ungrateful bastard who seduced his brother-in-law?"
"Yes, that's her, the female hooligan who dances cheek-to-cheek with men!"
The kind person who had been holding the clothes to drape over He Changyi suddenly withdrew his hand and spat out a contemptuous spit.
"Shameless!"
As if avoiding a plague, people kept their distance from He Changyi and whispered among themselves.
"The Yang family is really unlucky. How could they have adopted such a shameless bastard?"
"She went dancing with men before she was married and even seduced her brother-in-law. It's clear that her own parents are no good either. She's a born scoundrel!"
"That's why they say you shouldn't raise other people's children... As the old saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and a rat's son will know how to dig a hole. Children born to dishonest parents won't be decent people either. It's just a pity for the Yang family..."
"How could the police release her? This shameless female hooligan should be shot!"
He Changyi ignored them and walked straight through the crowd without looking to the side.
Without warning, a rotten egg suddenly came flying at her!
In the blink of an eye, He Changyi suddenly turned to the side and grabbed the rotten egg with his other hand.
She looked in the direction from which the egg had been thrown and saw a long-haired street thug staring at her in surprise, not expecting that his sneak attack had failed.
He Changyi suddenly smiled, and in the instant the other party was stunned, he suddenly exerted force with his wrist, and the rotten egg flew out of his hand, aiming straight for the street thug's face!
With a cry of "Ouch!", a rotten egg smashed into the street urchin's head, leaving his face covered in bruises.
The foul-smelling egg yolk smeared right into his eyes. The street urchin was in a sorry state, haphazardly wiping his face with his sleeve, but the more he wiped, the less he could see.
He Changyi looked around, and everyone whose gaze swept over her subconsciously hid the rotten vegetable leaves and moldy tomatoes in their hands.
For a moment, there was an awkward silence.
He Changyi scoffed, raised his head in the cold wind, and strode away.
In the distance, I could hear snippets of conversation from the crowd behind me.
"Neuropathy……"
"Crazy woman..."
On the other side of the city, the Yang family.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, when Yang returned to her parents' home, her father specially asked an acquaintance to buy a sheep from the village, which he would use to entertain his son-in-law today.
In the original book, the female protagonist Yang Fangfei and the male protagonist Jiang Weiguo sat at the head of the round table. Yang's father diligently served meat to his son-in-law, while Yang's mother was busy in the kitchen.
Brother Yang, his face flushed, stood up and toasted Jiang Weiguo with a full glass of wine.
"Brother-in-law, thanks to you, I've finally been promoted to deputy section chief. I must toast you this! Please help yourself, I'll drink it all!"
After saying that, Brother Yang tilted his head back and poured the whole glass of wine down his throat. Jiang Weiguo picked up his glass, moistened his lips slightly, and then put it down.
Sister-in-law Yang affectionately took Yang Fangfei's arm and whispered some heartfelt words to her.
"You've been married for so long, any good news yet?"
Yang Fangfei blushed slightly and whispered, "Not yet..."
Sister-in-law Yang asked with concern, "How can you manage without a biological child? Is it because your brother-in-law is getting old and not very good in that area? I know an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor who specializes in treating kidney deficiency..."
Jiang Weiguo, with his sharp ears, overheard their conversation. He gave Yang Fangfei's fingers a suggestive squeeze, looked at her teasingly, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
Do you think I'm up to the task?
Yang Fangfei shyly gave him a light punch.
Just as the Yang family was celebrating, suddenly, the door slammed shut, and a gust of cold wind blew into the house.
Backlit, a slender figure stood in the doorway, looking down at the people at the round table.
"Oh, what bad luck, I'm late. You've already started eating."
Everyone in the room was stunned. They didn't expect her to dare to come back, especially when the whole family was there.
Yang's father noticed his son-in-law's displeased frown out of the corner of his eye, and hurriedly slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
"Why are you here? Who let you in? Get out! You're not welcome in this house!"
He Changyi walked forward slowly with his hands behind his back.
"What, can't I go back to this house? If I remember correctly, I paid half of the money for building the house. Why don't you pay me back first?"
Yang's father was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected He Changyi to dare to speak to him like that. The person in front of him was so unfamiliar that it was as if he had never met him before.
Seeing that Yang's father remained silent, Yang's elder brother stepped forward.
“Yang Daniu, this money is what you owe our family! We adopted you, fed you, provided you with food and drink, and even sent you to school. After all these years, it’s time for you to pay us back!”
Hearing the incredibly rustic name "Yang Daniu," He Changyi's lips twitched.
“Yang Zhiguo, save your breath. You refused to go to the countryside in '78, so I went in your place. Your family is really heartless. I had only graduated from elementary school back then, and you were about to get married. You made me go to the countryside in your place. Weren’t you afraid something would happen to me? Even if your family did me a great favor, you should have repaid it all that time.”
By 1978, the "Down to the Countryside Movement" was nearing its end, and educated youth across the country spontaneously returned to the cities. However, since the central government had not yet officially issued any documents, some regions continued the original policy and organized unemployed youth to go to the countryside.
The Yang family has three children. Theoretically, the eldest son, Yang, should be sent to the countryside, but Yang's parents couldn't bear to part with their own son, so they pushed Yang Danu, who had just graduated from elementary school, to go instead.
Although the policy stipulated that the main group sent to the countryside were primary and secondary school graduates who could not continue their education or find employment in the city, primary school graduates were still children, and normal families would not feel at ease with them. Only the Yang family could do such a thing.
Brother Yang, his face flushed, argued, "You're alright, aren't you?!"
He Changyi rolled her eyes.
"I was lucky to be alive. Besides, the policy of sending people to the countryside was about to end. If we had delayed it, we might not have had to go at all. Your parents were afraid that it would affect their own family, so they packed my things and sent me to the countryside without saying a word. If it weren't for the other educated youths taking pity on me because I was young and protecting me, I would have been dragged away by the old bachelors in the village."
This was the first time Yang Fangfei had heard about this, and she stared in astonishment.
Jiang Weiguo looked at He Changyi suspiciously. It was clearly the same person, but he felt that something was different from before.
He Changyi ignored them and went straight to Brother Yang:
"Yang Zhiguo, if you had gone to the countryside back then, this old bachelor might have been able to experience the taste of a man, don't you think?"
These words were incredibly offensive, and Brother Yang was so angry he was practically fuming, unable to even hold his wine glass properly.
Yang's mother rushed out of the kitchen and stood in front of the two men from the Yang family.
"I should never have picked you up in the first place! I should have let you freeze to death at the train station!"
Sister-in-law Yang echoed her mother-in-law's sentiments.
Even if your parents have made mistakes, they raised you from infancy to adulthood, enduring countless hardships and toil. You should have a conscience!
He Changyi couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Conscience?"
She abruptly stopped laughing, her expression even appearing somewhat cold.
“Your Yang family adopted me, but from the time I can remember, I have never gone a day without being beaten or not having to work. I was a slave, cooking, washing diapers, and taking care of the children. Later, my grades were good enough to go to high school and then to university, but you wouldn’t allow it and forced me to go to a nursing school. When I graduated and started working, you said you would save money for me and took all my wages.”
Sister-in-law Yang said awkwardly, "How can we be so particular about family members... Look at my younger sister, even if she is our parents' biological daughter, she still has to do chores at home, doesn't she?"
She became more and more self-righteous as she spoke.
"Big sister, you say the family has wronged you, but how can you face your little sister? The wedding was almost here, and you just ran away, forcing your little sister to marry in your place. Luckily, your sister-in-law is good, otherwise, wouldn't you be ruining your sister's life?!"
He Changyi gave a half-smile.
"I ruined her? Wasn't it because you refused to give up the buyer's bride price that you had no choice but to sell your own daughter?"
Sister-in-law Yang glanced at Jiang Weiguo, whose face was ashen, and quickly said, "What do you mean by selling or not selling? Don't say such unpleasant things..."
He Changyi interrupted her rudely.
“If Jiang Weiguo hadn’t been willing to offer a high dowry, would you have agreed to marry your daughter to an old man with a child? If he had had a child a few years earlier when he got married for the first time, he could have had a daughter as old as Yang Fangfei by now.”
Yang Fangfei's face was pale, and she pursed her lips tightly.
Jiang Weiguo, who had been observing from the sidelines, now had no choice but to speak out.
"Yang Danu, please watch your words. Some things shouldn't be said carelessly."
Having held a high position for a long time, he spoke with an air of authority that commanded respect without anger, and was quite intimidating.
He Changyi, however, didn't care at all and said dismissively:
"Come on, you accomplice. Yang Fangfei was just an adult when she married you, not much older than your son. You can still do this to an old cow eating young grass. Have some shame, you old bastard."
Jiang Weiguo, losing face, angrily retorted, "You—"
Yang Fangfei finally couldn't hold back anymore, and stood up abruptly, her eyes blurry with tears.
"Big sister, you just can't stand me! You complain about Wei Guo, but you've been seducing him behind my back, and you've even tried to get me and Wei Guo to divorce. You just regret running away from your wedding and not marrying Wei Guo!"
"Well……"
He Changyi was truly speechless now.
It's so embarrassing. Even though she didn't do it, she's stuck with the villainous supporting character label, and now she's being unfairly blamed. She can't clear her name.
"Well, this matter is a bit complicated. Let me explain..."
Jiang Weiguo grabbed the sobbing Yang Fangfei and said coldly:
"Yang Daniu, you can't ruin my relationship with Fangfei. I advise you to have some self-respect."
He Changyi showed no politeness to Jiang Weiguo and immediately scoffed.
"Pedophilia".
Jiang Weiguo's face darkened once again.
"Enough!"
Yang's father finally regained his tongue and, in doing so, his authority as the head of the family was restored.
"What exactly did you come here for today?!"
He Changyi stretched out his hand and said two words with righteous indignation:
"I need money."
A note from the author:
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A new article has started!
This time, I'm writing about a cool girl who juggles her career and relationships for a bit of fun. Feel free to save this if you like!
The column has posted pre-orders for my next book. If you're interested, feel free to add it to your favorites: "An 80s Kid Ventures to America" and "A Young Man Arrives at the Film Studio [70s]".
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