TBIJWFB: Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1: Transmigration into a book

Autumn, 1970.

On a tranquil island, wisps of cooking smoke curled from the chimneys of every household, painting a picture of peace. The tide lapped against the reefs along the shore, sending sprays of sea foam into the air. Suddenly, a heart-wrenching scream shattered the calm, erupting from the compound near the army barracks.

"Someone, come quick! Wang Hao's wife has drunk pesticide! Go get the doctor! She's foaming at the mouth!"

At the cry, the island's residents spilled out of their homes to see what the commotion was about.

Gou Dan Ma called out, "Dawang Niang, where are you off to in such a hurry?" She broke into a jog to catch up.

Dawang Niang yelled back without stopping, "Didn't you hear? Someone drank poison! I'm going to have a look!"

In an instant, a crowd had gathered around the small yard.

The island's self-appointed gossipmonger asked, "Li Dasao, was that you shouting? What happened? How could she have drunk poison?" She craned her neck to peer into the courtyard.

"How should I know?" replied Li Dasao, patting her chest to calm her racing heart. "I came over to bring the kids some tomatoes and found her lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth! She nearly scared me to death!"

Inside the house, a man in a coarse green army uniform looked at the doctor beside him and asked, "Well? Did she really drink this pesticide?"

The doctor, holding a green bottle up to the sunlight for a closer look, sniffed it, and then set it down. As he removed his gloves, he said, "Brother Hao, from what I can see, your wife didn't actually ingest much of the pesticide. This bottle has been washed out. As for why she was foaming at the mouth... the bottle wasn't cleaned thoroughly, and a small residue of the chemical remained."

The man's face darkened as he glared at the woman lying on the bed. He should have known. It was just another one of her tricks. But he never thought she would go so far as to use the threat of suicide to scare him.

"So, she'll be fine? Why hasn't she woken up yet?"

The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose. "Even a small amount can cause temporary shock in the patient."

"I understand. Thank you for your trouble. You can head back now."

The doctor patted Wang Hao on the shoulder, replying with weighty concern, "Alright. We'll be on our way. Call us if anything comes up."

Once everyone had left, the man paced the room, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. Finally, unable to contain his fury any longer, he slammed the bedroom door open.

There she was, propped against the headboard, staring blankly at the clock on the wall.

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The man pointed a trembling finger at her, his anger erupting. "Han Wen! Haven't you caused enough trouble? I never knew you could be so vicious! What did those children ever do to you to deserve such cruelty?" Wang Hao's chest heaved violently.

"You were the one who agreed to marry me! When we met, I told you straight out I had two sons. I said if you were okay with that, we'd get married. And you had such fine words then! You promised you would treat them as your own! And what was the result? After we married, what did you do to them behind my back?"

"If you want this marriage, then act like it! If you don't, we can get a divorce right now and be done with it!" Having spat out these words, the man in the olive-green uniform stormed out, the door crashing shut behind him.

Han Wen sat there, utterly bewildered. What was going on? She had just worked overtime late last night, gone home in a daze, and fallen asleep. How could she wake up being screamed at like this?

Oh, my head! Han Wen clutched her skull, pounding it lightly. Then, she felt a strange blankness in her mind, followed by a sharp, stabbing pain as a flood of memories rushed in from all sides.

She saw a woman—herself, in this body—standing with hands on her hips, shrieking at two children: "You two little brats! Born of a mother who didn't want you! I feed you and clothe you every day, and you dare tattle to your dad? What good does it do you if we fight? You just hate me, don't you? You probably wish I were dead! Well, what does it matter? You still have to call me 'Mom'!"

The scene shifted. The same woman stood, jabbing a finger repeatedly against a little boy's forehead. "How can you be so stupid? I told you to wash the bowls, and look how many you've broken!" As she spoke, she began hitting and pinching the small boy.

The boy whimpered softly, "M... Mom, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

The woman gritted her teeth, her high cheekbones protruding sharply from her thin face. "Stop your crying! You want everyone to hear, is that it? No lunch for you!"

The scene changed to the evening. The man who had just yelled at her was there now. The man in the green uniform saw the crying little boy, crouched down, and wiped the tears from his face. "Be good, Xiao Long. Did that woman hit you again?"

The little boy said pitifully, "It's my fault, Dad. I broke some bowls, so Mom got angry." The man's hand accidentally brushed against the boy's arm, revealing patches of bruised, purplish skin. He finally lost his temper.

Wang Hao stormed into the kitchen, pointing at the woman cooking. "Look what you've done to the child! Just because he's not your own flesh and blood, you think you can mistreat him like this? How old is he, and you already have him doing all these chores?"

The woman retorted, "What chores? How is this mistreatment? He and his brother call me a 'tigress' and a 'wicked stepmother' behind my back! Why don't you say anything about that?" She threw the bowl in her hand to the ground, shattering it.

"Would they say those things if you hadn't gone too far? Look at other people's children, then look at ours! Don't you have any sense of shame?"

"Why should I feel ashamed? Why should I care for children who aren't my own?"

A sound came from outside the door. "Brother! What's wrong with your arm? Why is it all bruised? Did that woman pinch you? That vicious witch! I'll make her pay!"

With a loud bang, the little boy kicked the kitchen door open. "How dare you bully my brother! I'll beat you to death, you evil woman!" He tried to charge at her.

The man held the younger boy. "Hu Zi! Calm down! She... she's your mother!"

"She is NOT my mother! My mother died a long time ago! What does she count for? Look how this vicious woman treated my brother! Are you blind?!" He strained, trying to kick her. "If you stop me now, you're not my dad either!"

The woman sneered, "You see? This is your son! An ungrateful wretch! No matter how well I treat him, it's never as good as his real mother. Ugh!"

The argument was so loud it soon attracted the neighbors. They gathered in the yard, pointing and whispering about the woman. "Look at Wang Hao, such a good man, but he has no luck with wives. His first wife was lazy and neglected the children. Now this one, chosen so carefully, shows her true colors after marriage! Look at his two children, so thin and malnourished from her abuse. She even hits them!"

The woman, her face burning with humiliation under the crowd's judgmental fingers and stares, couldn't take it. She ran back to her room. When Li Dasao came to check on her later, she found she had drunk the Chucaoji. In truth, she had only meant to scare her husband, having washed the bottle clean beforehand. She never imagined that the tiny, residual amount would be enough to kill her.

And so, Han Wen had undergone Chuan Shu. The original soul was dead, but everyone else thought she was just faking it and paid her no mind.

Wait... This scene felt familiar. Where had she seen it before? Ugh! I'm so stupid! My memory fails me at the worst times! It felt so familiar, yet she couldn't place it. She hit her head in frustration.

I! I! I remember! This was that fictional period-era novel she had read before! No way! Could she have… transmigrated into a book? She had only sympathized with the malicious female supporting character's miserable life a little! Was it really that easy to end up in the story yourself?

Han Wen lay on the bed, her face a mask of utter despair. She had only been venting her frustrations in her mind! Was it really necessary to make her come here and clean up this mess?!

(End of Chapter)