“Oh no, Yun Su has fallen into the sea!”
“What are you staring at? So what if she fell in? Yun Feng, you’re worrying for nothing. Don’t bother. She’ll swim back on her own.”
“Hey, Chunhua! How can you be like that? Don’t you know she’s still sick?”
The one speaking was a young, pretty girl.
She was talking to a dark-skinned girl beside her while anxiously looking out at the sea.
The sea was far from calm at that moment. Waves crashed every so often, making a series of splashing sounds. The sky looked heavy and overcast, like it was about to rain.
These kinds of showers were common by the seaside in June. Those who’d lived by the sea for a long time had seen plenty of them. When the weather turned bad, you just head back to shore. The problem was, they had dragged Yun Su out clamming with them today. Before they’d even gathered much, Chunhua had gotten into an argument with Yun Su.
Right then, a wave came crashing in, and Yun Su was swept into the sea.
Only a few minutes had passed from start to finish, and there she was, bobbing up and down in the water.
As the two were talking, a few other young women who had come clamming with them gathered around.
“Wait, where’s Yun Su?”
They had just been squatting on the beach digging for crabs. How had three people turned into two in the blink of an eye?
Yun Feng stamped her foot and explained what had happened.
As soon as everyone heard that Chunhua had accidentally pushed Yun Su into the sea, they immediately said they should go rescue her.
They all knew Yun Su had been sick for days. The only reason she’d come out today was that they had dragged her along. If something really happened to her, they couldn’t bear that responsibility.
Yun Feng said, “I’ll go down and have a look. I’m the best swimmer out of all of us. You all stay here and keep watch. If things don’t go well for me, hurry back to the village and get help…”
Watching Yun Feng move quickly into the water, everyone’s worries faded.
After all, Yun Feng was known as the most capable girl in their Yun Family Cove Production Brigade. Whether climbing mountains or diving into the sea, she outperformed the men. If it weren’t for the fact that she was a woman, she would have long since joined the commune’s fishing fleet and gone out to sea.
—
Yun Su, the person at the center of it all, was temporarily unaware of the commotion on shore.
Right now, all she could hear was the gurgling rush of water in her ears. The smell filling her nose was salty. Her body floated and sank, as if her breath had been taken away.
Before Yun Su could process anything, salty water flooded her mouth and nose, and the feeling of oxygen deprivation intensified.
Yun Su felt like she was done for.
But it was also this near-death feeling that finally made her realize something.
She knew how to swim.
She didn’t understand why she had been at work one second and then, eyes closed, ended up in the water the next. But that didn’t stop her from acting.
As soon as her mind calmed down, her previously heavy limbs felt light and airy. She paddled with her hands and kicked her legs. In no time, she had steadied herself in the water.
At the same time, she got a clear look at her situation.
Before her was an expanse of sea. She was drifting in the water. Murky waves kept slapping her face, stinging.
And that sting jolted her fully awake. Suddenly, a flood of memories that didn’t belong to her flashed through her mind.
She finally understood why she had been on the verge of drowning for no good reason.
So, she had transmigrated!
—
The original owner was also named Yun Su, eighteen years old. The current time was midsummer, June 1974. She was on a southern island. But that wasn’t what surprised Yun Su. What surprised her was that she had transmigrated into a novel. The book was titled One Pregnancy, Twin Treasures: The Island Beauty’s Rise and Sudden Wealth.
Yes, just hearing the title, you could tell this was a satisfying period drama produced by Tomato Novel. And a very popular kind—a military spouse story set on an island.
The female lead of the book was Yun Feng, and the male lead was Gu Zhengrong.
The story, in a nutshell, was about the beautiful, kind-hearted Yun Feng using her wits to escape her oppressive family and marry Gu Zhengrong, the regiment commander stationed on the island.
After marriage, Yun Feng thrived in the military compound. She got along with her husband’s family as if they were her own blood. She had twins, her husband was promoted, and she revitalized the island’s only state-run seafood processing factory, becoming a respected and admired female factory director.
Later, during the state-owned enterprise reforms of the 1990s, she bought the entire factory and eventually became a famous, wealthy businesswoman.
That kind of plot was incredibly satisfying.
If she weren’t a cannon fodder character in the book.
—
Yes, Yun Su was just one of the many cannon fodder characters in the book. And honestly, she was a minor one at that.
In the book, Yun Su fell into the sea today and was then rescued by the female lead, Yun Feng.
But during the rescue, Yun Feng tore Yun Su’s clothes. As soon as Yun Su got ashore, a loafer grabbed hold of her.
Because of Yun Feng’s rescue action, she happened to be noticed by the male lead passing by. From there, the two began to know and love each other, setting off on their path to wealth and success.
Meanwhile, no one paid attention to Yun Su. She was forced to marry the loafer, endured domestic abuse, and was forced to have one child after another. She eventually died while trying to give birth to a son. After her death, the female lead, Yun Feng, offered a single word of evaluation: “Pity.”
To describe that kind of life in crude terms: it was crap. Yun Su remembered evaluating the novel exactly like that when she read it.
She was busy with work and didn’t really have much time for novels. A friend had recommended this one to her because her name matched the cannon fodder character who appeared early in the book. The thoughtful friend told her to memorize it.
But back then, she’d only read the beginning, then skipped to the end. After cursing that it was crap, she’d tossed the novel to the back of her mind.
Who would have thought she’d actually be unlucky enough to transmigrate into this book? If she’d known, she would have memorized the whole thing, even if it killed her.
Feeling her body still floating on the sea, Yun Su put aside organizing her memories.
What she needed to do right now was save herself. Otherwise, according to the plot, the female lead Yun Feng would soon come to “rescue” her.
She had no interest in that kind of rescue. After all, the book’s opening had already delivered a killing blow to her, the cannon fodder. She had no desire to be a tool for the female lead’s fame.
Thinking this, Yun Su took a deep breath and prepared to swim toward shore!
She refused to believe that fending for herself would still leave a loophole for the female lead to exploit.
…
But sometimes, fate is truly mysterious.
Just as Yun Su was struggling to swim toward shore, the clouds overhead grew darker and heavier. She didn’t need to look up to feel that a storm was about to break.
The sea wind felt cold on her face. The water, which had been warm just moments ago, was turning chilly. The strong wind made visibility poor. Murky sand swirled in the sea. These conditions were not good for staying in the water any longer.
Yun Su worried that this body’s strength wouldn’t hold out until she reached shore.
And then, at that moment, she felt her foot bump into something.
This was the nearshore area. There shouldn’t be any large, dangerous animals like sharks. Probably just some marine debris. Yun Su took a deep breath and submerged herself completely.
Through the murky water, she saw a human-shaped object.
Yes, it was a person.
If she hadn’t known she’d transmigrated into an island military-spouse rags-to-riches story, Yun Su might have thought she’d stumbled upon a crime scene.
…
After considerable effort, Yun Su finally managed to rescue the person and position him in front of her. This would have been a perfect spot for first aid, but unfortunately, there was no solid ground anywhere nearby, and the waves were growing larger.
Yun Su could only struggle to keep herself steady while reaching out to check the person’s breathing.
Fortunately, his breathing was still there, and quite strong. He probably hadn’t been in the water for long.
Yun Su sighed in relief and was about to continue heading toward shore with him when her ears caught the sound of a woman’s voice calling out.
The sky was even darker than before, and the sea was very rough. Yun Su couldn’t see where the voice was coming from, but she guessed it was the female lead, Yun Feng, calling for her.
She glanced toward the nearby shore. People were gathering at the water’s edge one after another. Visibility was so low she couldn’t make out who they were, but she could see several military-green figures moving quickly toward the shore.
“You hang in there. I’m taking you back right now.”
With that, Yun Su took a deep breath and prepared to keep moving forward with the man. But the next second, she heard the man she was holding give a faint response: “Okay… thank you!”
He had woken up at that moment! And he was surprisingly polite!
Yun Su was overjoyed. He had been on the verge of drowning just moments ago, and now, within minutes, he was conscious. This man’s physical condition was clearly excellent. And he was remarkably calm.
Otherwise, most people, waking up in this situation, would panic.
“You don’t know how to swim, is that right?”
The man nodded at her words, then seemed to realize Yun Su probably couldn’t see him and managed to say, “Yes.”
“Alright then… Don’t be nervous. Try not to go stiff. We’ll make our way slowly toward shore. I can see people on the beach already getting ready to come rescue us…”
…
“Yun Su… Are you okay!”
Yun Su was still struggling toward shore when the shouting nearby grew louder. She turned her head and saw Yun Feng, the female lead, not even two meters away, staring dumbfounded at her and the young man she was holding.
“You… you two…”
Yun Su ignored her and looked behind her instead. Over there, a small boat was rowing toward them. The boat wasn’t large, and with the waves as high as they were, it looked quite unsteady. But Yun Su broke into a wide smile.
Why? Because the boat belonged to her family. The hull still had their family’s identification number painted on it. And rowing the boat was none other than the original owner’s older brother, Yun Huaimin.
This scene hadn’t been in the original plot. Yun Su set aside the question of why. She shouted toward the boat, “Big brother… Big brother…”
“What were you thinking, ending up in the sea like that? If little Ya hadn’t been smart enough to run back and raise the alarm, you sisters would have been done for.”
Yes, the female lead Yun Feng was Yun Su’s cousin.
Yun Su heard the urgency in her brother’s voice and obediently climbed into the boat. Yun Feng and the man she had rescued also got into the small boat.
Once seated, Yun Su carefully watched Yun Feng’s movements. She had no intention of letting Yun Feng tear her clothes like in the plot.
As the boat drew closer to shore, Yun Su could clearly see who had gathered on the beach.
There was the production brigade captain, the party secretary, several uncles and aunts-in-law, a few other villagers, quite a few half-grown girls and boys, and several People’s Liberation Army comrades.
Seeing these comrades, Yun Su suddenly felt Yun Feng’s body tense up beside her.
Noticing this, Yun Su couldn’t help but narrow her eyes slightly in thought.
Because of this little distraction, she failed to notice that someone had been looking at her several times. Then, his ears burning red, he leaned over and whispered a few words to Yun Huaimin, who was rowing the boat…
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