"Cough cough cough ..."

After a bout of violent coughing, Zhao Wenxue couldn't take it anymore and woke up with her eyes open.

Unfortunately, the moment she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a fiery sky, as rampant flames danced and rushed towards her, pushed by the wind!

"Ah!! It's on fire, it's on fire!!"

Zhao Wenxue couldn't help but scream, scrambling to her feet and charging out through her room's door.

The heatwave from behind bombarded her, one wave after another, scorching her scalp until it tingled. It wasn't until she reached the riverbank that the surrounding air cooled down.

Zhao Wenxue collapsed by the river, splashing water on her face several times before finally catching her breath.

Looking back, she could vaguely see thick smoke billowing not far from where she had escaped. The memory of the scene earlier still sent shivers down her spine.

However, the surroundings made her snap back to reality. Where was she?

Wasn't she on a house call when she slipped on a rainy path and fell off a cliff?

How did she suddenly appear here, without a single wound...

At that moment, a wave of unfamiliar memories began to roil in Zhao Wenxue's mind.

This wasn't the real world. It was the world of a web novel called "The Rough Man and Delicate Lady in the 70s", a period-themes erotica.

She had actually transmigrated into a novel!

Transcending into a book was one thing, but becoming the doomed stepping stone for the female protagonist, a vicious cannon fodder side character, was another!

Zhao Wenxue, a benevolent woman who had cured countless patients with her traditional Chinese medicine, was this how the heavens chose to repay her?

As she was coming to terms with this fact, there emerged an unusual sound from the meadow nearby.

She shot up, startled. What was that noise?

Listening closely, it seemed to be some sort of moaning sound, filled with traces of agony…

Intrigued, she slowly got up, crept forward stealthily and drew closer.

Peeping through a gap in the meadow, she saw nothing but a patch of bare skin.

Good heavens!

Were people indulging in a secret... tryst in this place??

Zhao Wenxue subconsciously covered her mouth, wide-eyed, observing the passionately entwined pair on the meadow.

"No —— ah! No more, Brother Xuan~"

So, the noise from before had been made by this woman!

From Zhao Wenxue's vantage point, she could see the woman suavely wrapping her slender white legs around the man.

Though she was pulling the man closer, her hand feigned resistance against the man's muscular waist.

A classic posture of mixed resistance and welcome.

The man, hearing her refusal, only intensified his vigorous assault; his speed was incredibly swift, eliciting continuous tender panting from the woman.

Upon witnessing this, Zhao Wenxue’s face flushed beet red with embarrassment, promptly causing her to duck down.

She had not expected such open behavior between men and women in this era...

Though, considering that this was part of an explicit novel, it wasn't entirely beyond comprehension…

Wait a minute.

Something about the woman looked familiar.

Zhao Wenxue began to recall in detail.

According to the original host's memory, this woman was Shi Rongrong, the female lead of the book, and the man on top of her was likely the male lead, He Gaoxuan.

Shi Rongrong was the biological daughter acknowledged by the Zhao family a few years ago, while the original host was an adopted daughter of the Zhaos, someone who doesn’t know her biological parents and was treated as a surrogate child.

Ever since Shi Rongrong returned, the original host's position in the Zhao family had become awkward.

She detested Shi Rongrong, caused a few major ruckuses, turning the Zhao household upside down.

The Zhao family, unable to bear the disgrace or the original host’s volatile temper, had her sent to the countryside as an educated youth.

Meanwhile, Shi Rongrong, the female lead, had volunteered to come to the countryside as an educated youth.

This contrast made the Zhao family even more discontented with the original host.

Yet, the conflict between them didn’t end there.

The original host, Yuan Zhu, loathed Shi Rongrong to the core, so much so that she devised a plan to implicate her with an old man, He Gaoxuan through a sexual scandal.

When everything was set in motion, she invited a crowd to catch them in unwarranted intimacy, hoping to completely ruin Shi Rongrong's reputation.

Not stopping there, she forcefully married Shi Rongrong's secret crush, Ye Wenjing.

She wanted to shatter Shi Rongrong's world.

However, her plan was discovered by He Gaoxuan. He preemptively proposed and married Shi Rongrong.

Despite his age and numerous children, He Gaoxuan, who was a stalwart owing to years of slaughtering pigs, had a perfectly toned body that no woman could resist.

Shi Rongrong, being the heroine, had a fair complexion, beautiful looks, and a figure with a well-endowed chest, slim waist, and long legs.

When these two joined together, it was as if heaven and earth were colliding - their fascination for each other knew no bounds.

Throughout the day, their fond gazes constantly intertwined, sparkled, and their desire was even ignited at simple gestures like Shi Rongrong bringing lunch to He Gaoxuan's workplace.

Nights were far more intense.

Seeing Shi Rongrong's life getting richer day by day, Yuan Zhu could not sit idle.

By this time, she had already married Ye Wenjing, seeing him and He Gaoxuan side by side, she started finding everything about Ye Wenjing distasteful and began to make trouble.

She forced him to leave the village overnight and return to his troops.

She blamed everything on Ye Wenjing, started to throw her weight around in Ye's family, and rubbed the family the wrong way.

When she discovered that she was pregnant, she cursed the baby in her womb as illegitimate and even wanted to abort it.

Ye Wenjing managed to persuade his wife, offering her thirty dollars each month, which finally made her abandon her intention of having an abortion.

With her husband often away, she found herself lonely. She started to yearn for He Gaoxuan, who possessed strong physique.

She spent countless days and nights dreaming of He Gaoxuan.

However, she could only watch and fantasize, she couldn't act on her desires. Therefore, she always positioned herself near the path where Shi Rongrong delivered food, just to admire He Gaoxuan from a distance. The more she saw him, the more she found it hard to control her desires.

After the resumption of the college entrance examination, Shi Rongrong went to university and returned to the city, offering her the opportunity she had been waiting for. She found the opportunity to finally knock on He Gaoxuan's door.

"Gaoxuan~"

She undressed herself, trying to seduce He Gaoxuan.

"Shi Rongrong is not here, don't you miss it? Let me comfort you~"

However, He Gaoxuan didn't even look at her. He immediately threw her out, clothes and all.

This incident intensified the already poor reputation she had.

Her foster parents, unable to bear such a disgraceful daughter, directly wrote a letter severing their relationship with her.

Ye Wenjing also rushed back to divorce her, took their three children, and left with a grim face.

Forsaken by everyone she knew, and constant misfortunes eventually drove her to madness.

Finally, she died in a small grove on a sunny spring day.

Her body was still covered with many traces of abuse.

Recalling all these counter-heavenly plots, apart from shock, Zhao Wenxue wanted to applaud, feeling the original host truly deserved her death.

But, when she thought about becoming this Zhao Wenxue, she couldn't find it in herself to laugh anymore.

"Sigh, since I'm already here, I might as well make the best of it."

Glancing at the male and female leads who were still tangled in romance, Zhao Wenxue sighed deeply and quietly retreated the way she had come.

When she returned to the house that had been set aflame, she found that the fire had almost been extinguished.

Several women stood at the front door, each holding a bucket of water, pointing and discussing among themselves.

Presumably, after she had left, the villagers seeing the thick smoke, had all rushed over to put out the fire. These women must have been the firefighters.

Thinking how these people had helped put out the fire, she should thank them with a few words. As she approached, however, she overheard them seemingly gossiping about her.

"Tsk, do you think the fire could have been set by that madam from the Ye family? Did she want to burn her three children to death?"

"That's highly possible! She's generally not nice to those three kids, always beating or scolding them, never enjoying any luck."

"Poor Wenjun, what sin has he committed, to have such a wife, sigh!"

"I wonder if this fire has burned her to death inside. It would be a good thing if this woman died, at least it would free those three children--"

"If only she was dead inside, wouldn't that be a disappointment for you all."

Zhao Wenxue suddenly interrupted them, smiling falsely, as she pointed at herself.

"Like me, this kind of disaster, I have to live for a thousand years."

Suddenly appearing like this, she frightened those aunts so much that their faces all changed dramatically.

They didn't think that they would be overheard while talking bad about someone else. Immediately, their lips were tightly closed, and they stopped talking.

Zhao Wenxue, considering that they helped to put out the fire, did not say anything, only waved her hand: "Thank you, goodbye."

Upon hearing this, the aunts felt as if they were liberated and quickly ran away.

It was obvious that they regarded Zhao Wenxue as something of bad luck, the faster they ran, the better.

Everyone had left and Zhao Wenxue began to take a new look at her home in front of her.

The kitchen was the place that had just caught fire. Fortunately, the kitchen was an earthen house and did not collapse. It was only charred till pitch black.

She didn't know how things inside were, if they still can be used or not.

In this era of scarce resources, everything is precious.

Just as Zhao Wenxue was about to go in to check, she suddenly saw a figure approaching.

Turning her head, she saw that it was Ye Wenjing, the husband of the original owner.

The pitch-black house was still there, and Zhao Wenxue couldn't help but grasp the corner of her clothes nervously.

Could it be that he had heard the news and was here to hold her accountable?