Chapter 1
"So thirsty."
The woman on the bed murmured, her lips cracked.
Song Shu kept trying to find some water to drink in her dream, but she couldn't find any. After struggling, she suddenly opened her eyes.
It was pitch black in front of her eyes. She sat up with her dizzy head and walked out of bed to turn on the light and get some water. However, she hit a wall after taking a few steps. She fumbled for a switch and pressed it.
The lights came on, dimly, not the bright color she was familiar with.
This was not shocking enough. What shocked her was how her bright and spacious bedroom had turned into such a small and shabby bedroom.
The bedroom in front of me was less than ten square meters. There was a wooden bed against the wall, and next to it was a square dressing table with drawers. There was a tape recorder on the table, and a few magazines were casually placed on the other side of the table. The wall opposite the bed was a little mottled and cracked, with a few large posters stuck on it.
The whole room exuded a strong sense of age and was very unfamiliar to her.
Just as Song Shu was in doubt and wondering if someone was playing a joke on her, a memory that did not belong to her flooded into her mind.
Song Shu kept receiving the memories in her mind. It took her a while to realize that she had crossed into a book. She had become the wife of a male-oriented period novel who indirectly killed the protagonist's niece in the early stage and was finally caught by the protagonist and drowned in the sea.
Song Shu walked over and flipped through the magazines in disbelief. On one of the magazines, she saw a star who was so familiar to her. Next to it was a striking headline, "Kung Fu superstar Jackie Chan's 'Project A' sets the highest box office record in Hong Kong film history." The year was 1983.
Song Shu put the magazine down and picked up another one. The cover of this magazine featured a male singer, but she was not very familiar with him. However, she had listened to the music mentioned in the title many times on her mother's mobile phone.
All I saw was a large title that read, "Hong Kong superstar Chan Pak Keung won the Top Ten Chinese Golden Songs Award for his song "I Just Like You"."
Putting down the magazine, Song Shu picked up the kettle on the table and poured herself a glass of water. After drinking it, she was stunned for a while before she had to accept this result. She really transmigrated into a book, and she became a cannon fodder who died at the beginning.
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Recalling the early part of the book, the original wife was married to the protagonist by his sister-in-law without the protagonist's knowledge.
She was originally a girl from mainland China. After hearing from other sisters in the village that there was gold everywhere on the other side of Hong Kong, she was tempted and took a small fishing boat to Hong Kong hoping to make a fortune.
But this was 1983. According to the arrest-and-release policy implemented in Hong Kong in October 1980, all illegal immigrants would be repatriated to the mainland once discovered, making smuggling more difficult.
In order to solve her identity problem and avoid being deported, the original person made a deal with a woman with a child. She married the woman's brother-in-law and the woman helped her solve her identity problem. The original person agreed.
They got the marriage certificate and held the wedding banquet on the same day, but the male protagonist did not show up. It turned out that she got married with a rooster.
After the ceremony, the original body woke up in the middle of the night and found that her sister-in-law had run away with the rich businessman, leaving her 5,000 yuan and asking her to take good care of her daughter.
But the original body looked at the 5,000 yuan and thought that she came to Hong Kong to make money and didn't want to support a burden, so she ran away with the money in the middle of the night, thinking of finding her little sisters to make big money.
That night, the little girl woke up and found no one at home. She cried and looked for her mother and ran out of the house. However, in her hurry, she did not close the roller shutter of the front room, allowing the little girl to escape easily.
No one noticed it late at night, and when other neighbors found it in the morning, the little girl was gone.
When the male protagonist heard the news, he searched for a long time and almost searched all over Hong Kong but still couldn't find his niece. In anger, he sank the original body that was found into the sea.
After experiencing this incident, the man sold his house and never returned.
It was more than ten years later that the neighbors saw him on TV. By then, the former small-time gangster had become a big boss, known as Mr. Chen.
A reporter once used the phrase "a person tempered in suffering" to describe Chen Zonghao.
Chen Zonghao lost his mother when he was born, because his mother died during childbirth; he lost his father when he was young, because his father died in an accident at a construction site when he was in junior high school; he lost his older brother when he was a teenager, because his older brother was hacked to death on the street when he was in college.
Afterwards, the eldest sister-in-law ran away, leaving behind his only niece who had some blood relationship with him.
However, the niece was kidnapped not long after, and Chen Zonghao was unable to find her even after spending his entire life trying to find her.
In the end, Chen Zonghao never married or had children in his life. There was a rumor that Chen Zonghao had a wife from mainland China, but no one dared to ask Chen Zonghao about it.
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Song Shu sat on the bed and recalled the plot of the book, then sighed. She had now become the cannon fodder wife of the big boss in the book, who had the same name and surname and was drowned in the sea.
Thinking of her tragic fate, Song Shu shuddered. She didn't want to be sunk into the sea.
Fortunately, there is still time. The time she has traveled through is exactly the time when her original body woke up in the middle of the night and found that her sister-in-law had run away, and she was also planning to run away.
Song Shu thought about it and realized that she couldn't run away now, otherwise if the little girl was kidnapped again, she would be drowned in the sea.
She couldn't run away with the little girl either. Who knew if the male protagonist would think she wanted to kidnap his niece when he came back and continue to sink her into the sea.
Moreover, although Hong Kong is now one of the "Four Asian Tigers" and its economy is developing rapidly, life here is not stable. For example, the gangs and gangs fighting on the streets are a huge destabilizing factor.
If she, a girl who was unfamiliar with the place, ran out to wander around by herself, she might end up dead on the street before she could succeed.
Song Shu felt that her previous incarnation took things for granted, believing that she could make a lot of money by relying on a few other girls. Little did she know that there were too many girls from the mainland who were threatened by various societies to act in pornographic movies.
Therefore, Song Shu thought a lot. Her best choice was to settle down in this home and take care of the little girl, waiting for the hero to come back and try to explain things to him. From the book, the hero was not a violent person, and it seemed that his hands had never been stained with blood since his original life.
Considering that he was unmarried and childless and spent his entire life looking for his niece, he is not a heartless person.
What happens next depends on the male protagonist's reaction. If he tells her to get out, she will return the little girl to him and get out as soon as possible.
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At this moment, with a "creak", the wooden door was pushed open a crack.
Song Shu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a small figure appear from the crack of the door. When it noticed her gaze, it quickly shrank back and then timidly showed up again after a while.
Song Shu called out softly based on her memory, "Jiahui?"
The little man didn't answer, but his little hands couldn't help but knock on the door.
Song Shu stood up and walked over to gently open the door, then squatted down, her eyes level with the girl, "Jiahui, are you awake?"
Song Shu spoke Cantonese. Fortunately, the place where her original body lived before also spoke a dialect similar to Cantonese. In addition, Song Shu had lived in Hong Kong for a period of time before. Therefore, even though the words she spoke were not so authentic, it was enough for normal communication.
The girl, Chen Jiahui, looked up at the woman squatting in front of her and speaking softly, and nodded involuntarily, "Yeah."
Song Shu looked at the skinny little girl in front of her. At five years old, her body shape looked like other three or four-year-old children.
The corners of the girl's eyes were a little red, probably because she had been crying. But now she was standing in front of Song Shu, even though she was sobbing, she didn't cry anymore, and was very well-behaved.
Song Shu looked at her timid and dependent eyes, and thinking of her tragic experience of being kidnapped, she couldn't help but feel distressed, "Jiahui, are you awakened by the shock?"
When the little girl heard her gentle question, she couldn't help but tear up again. She pouted her lips and cried, "Mom is gone."
Song Shu felt so distressed when she heard her little sobs. She hugged her and patted her back gently, "Jiahui, don't cry. I'm here. I'm with you. Don't cry..."
After a while, the little guy was tired of crying and fell asleep in her arms, even in his sleep he sobbed from time to time.
Song Shu carried her to bed, covered her with a quilt, and locked the door.
Thinking about the series of events that had happened, I was so tired that I fell asleep next to her.
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In the morning, Song Shu slept until she woke up naturally. Even if she had a lot of things to do, she would still be in a good mood the next day after waking up.
She turned around and saw Jiahui next to her had also woken up, looking at her with her eyes wide open.
Song Shu rubbed her head and said, "Jiahui, sister will take you to get up and have breakfast, okay?"
Jiahui nodded and said, "Okay." She remembered what her mother had told her before she left, that she should listen to her aunt.
Song Shu stood up and led her to the bathroom. The bathroom was not big, and there was no space left after Song Shu and Chen Jiahui walked in.
There is a shower on the left side of the bathroom, and opposite it is a toilet. Next to the toilet is a washbasin with a small mirror hanging on it. On both sides of the mirror are two rows of wooden shelves, on which are placed toothbrushes, mouthwash cups and some miscellaneous items.
There were several towels hanging opposite the sink, and underneath the towels was a large, faded red bathtub placed upside down against the wall.
There is a small four-pane window made of frosted glass on the wall opposite the door, and the morning sunlight shines in through the window.
Song Shu quickly took in the scene in the bathroom.
Chen Jiahui, who was standing by, didn't need her help. She stood on tiptoe to pick up her own mouthwash cup and toothbrush, then stepped on a small stool and brushed her teeth skillfully.
According to her original memory, Song Shu picked up her toothbrush, stood beside the sink, and looked up at the face reflected in the mirror.
Seeing what she saw in the mirror, Song Shu was so frightened that the toothbrush in her hand almost fell into the sink. The face reflected in the mirror was exactly the same as her own in her previous life, except that she was a little thinner and looked pale.
At this moment, the pair of almond-shaped eyes in the mirror were wide open, the naturally slightly curled mouth opened into an O shape, and even the mole at the corner of the eye came to life.
"What's wrong?" A childish voice sounded beside her. Chen Jiahui stared at her motionless face in the mirror with confused eyes.
Song Shu came back to her senses, rubbed her face, and forced a smile, "Nothing."
Since such a miraculous thing as traveling through a book has happened, it is not surprising to have the same face as her original self. Moreover, the familiarity of the same face makes her more comfortable.
After Song Shu finished washing up, she took her towel and handed it to her under Chen Jiahui's instruction. After she wiped her face, she hung up the towel for her again.
Looking down at her frizzy long hair, she curled her lips and said, "Sister, can I give you a hairstyle?"
Chen Jiahui raised her head, and the timidity in her eyes disappeared a little. It was obvious that the one night and one morning together had invisibly brought the two closer. She pointed at Song Shu's hair and said, "Can you do it like Second Auntie?"
At this time, Song Shu had two thick black braids on her shoulders.
Song Shu nodded, "Of course."
Then she picked up the comb and hair rope on the sink and squatted down. While combing his hair, Song Shu started to negotiate with her: "Jiahui, can you call me sister from now on?"
The main reason was that Jiahui's call of "Auntie" put too much pressure on her. Song Shu was scared when she thought of her husband in the book who was still a gangster.
Young and Dangerous, those young and dangerous guys in Hong Kong movies of later generations who would fight and kill each other at the slightest disagreement. How could she, a young person who grew up in a peaceful era, have ever seen such fights?
Song Shu thought the villain would ask why, but Jia Hui just nodded and said obediently: "Okay, sister."
Song Shu couldn't help but pinch her face gently. The little girl was so well-behaved.
In a short while, she had tied two little braids for her, which were fluffy and very cute.
Although Song Shu was a fashion designer rather than a hairstylist in her previous life, she was still very skillful and she liked to dress up, so braiding hair was no problem for her.
Song Shu looked at her results for a while and was very satisfied with her results. She picked up the comb and combed her bangs.
Although the little girl didn't have much flesh on her cheeks, she had big watery eyes and a straight little nose. She was definitely a little beauty. My sister-in-law in my memory was also very pretty. The girl obviously inherited her mother's good genes.
"Okay." Song Shu stood up again.
Chen Jiahui stepped onto the small stool, held onto the sink with her little hands, looked at herself in the mirror, and said softly, "Thank you, sister."
Song Shu looked at her cute appearance as a ball of sesame dumplings and almost couldn't help but hold her in her arms and stroke her. Is this the joy of raising a little angel? Song Shu, who was a single youth in her previous life, is so charming.
After they took care of themselves, Song Shu went back to the room to get some Hong Kong dollars and prepared to go out for breakfast.