CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 1: THE CANNON FODDER SISTER OF THE HEROINE (PART 1)

"Task completed, unexpectedly, the task progress is one hundred percent."

Little Buding happily counted the reward money just sent over, spat and counted it again and again, his voice full of undisguised joy.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for? Wake up, there’s work to do."

Jiang Lai yawned, leaned back on the sofa at the transit station with her eyes closed to rest. She seemed to be exhausted, even her voice was incredibly weak.

"What’s the next task?"

"I don’t know either, it’s randomly assigned. I can only know the difficulty level in advance. Let me see... medium difficulty, a bit harder than the last world. You’ll have to work hard."

"Alright, let me sleep for a bit and then I’ll start."

After saying that, Jiang Lai fell into a deep sleep. As her consciousness drifted away, she seemed to hear that familiar voice again, gradually calling her name.

So hoarse, so obsessive.

Jiang Lai frowned, wanting to get rid of that voice, but as her consciousness became more scattered, that face became increasingly clear.

Later, she seemed to have a dream.

In the dream, Shen Liao turned into an unfamiliar appearance, aloof and reticent, rigid and indifferent, living a lonely, brief life.

He only lived to be in his fifties, just in his prime when he was informed by the hospital of early-stage lung cancer, because he smoked heavily, but fortunately, it was discovered in time and could be treated.

However, the man didn’t take care of his illness, didn’t quit smoking, nor did he receive any treatment, tormenting himself into a skeleton-like appearance in the remaining year.

Shen Liao died, died on a certain morning.

Jiang Lai’s dream also ended, and she completely fell into darkness, losing all consciousness.

——

When Jiang Lai woke up, she was lying on a bed, dry-mouthed trying to grab something to drink when her hand fell emptily, the feeling of weightlessness of half her body instantly woke her up quite a bit.

Opening her eyes, the low ceiling beams and the cobwebs hanging from them stunned Jiang Lai for a moment, followed by Little Buding’s voice.

"A new world has begun, prepare to receive the general information of this world."

The information in the content told Jiang Lai she had entered a novel called "Rebirth of a Beautiful Wife in the 1980s," and her identity was the protagonist’s younger sister, a complete supporting character, Jiang Lai.

This was 1980s Hua Country, a small and remote countryside, Hetao Village.

The original character was the third daughter of Jiang Family, a prominent family in the village, with an elder brother and sister. Her father, Jiang Sheng, was the captain. Her brother Jiang Qiuhe wasn’t good at studying but had a sharp mind, currently running a bamboo weaving business in the village, earning some money and recently renovated their house.

The original character’s sister, Jiang Qu, the protagonist of the book, gained a rebirth opportunity after a period of unhappy marriage, returning from twenty-five to ten years old, dramatically changing her spoiled personality, becoming the gentle and sensible girl praised by the elders.

Under her shadow, as the younger sister, the original character was increasingly unable to compare to her one-year-older sister, thus becoming more and more extreme and harsh, sensitive and irritable, always the least favored girl in the village.

At seventeen, the protagonist encountered the male lead, He Xing, who had returned home after his military service. With memories of her past life, Jiang Qu knew this man, who seemed fierce and strong now, would become an excellent entrepreneur, establishing his appliance brand after trading second-hand appliances and becoming a top leader in the appliance industry in twenty years.

He Xing, at twenty-three, came from a poor family, with no parents and only a grandma who always dragged him back. The family had three acres of land neglected because of his military service, turning into a weed-covered wasteland, coupled with poor past family background, villagers subconsciously looked down on him, leading to He Xing being unable to find a partner even at twenty-three.

At this time, the protagonist appeared in He Xing’s view, not only not minding his background but also actively taking care of his sick grandma, and with excellent cooking skills, she would cook for He Xing daily, gradually making him develop a liking for this kind and gentle girl. Just as the two were about to develop further, an accident occurred.

Jiang Lai, while cutting pigweed up the mountain, accidentally fell into a trap set by He Xing, tearing her clothes. Just as He Xing rescued her, a misstep caused them to fall to the ground.

At this moment, a big-mouthed woman from the village saw the scene. After returning, the village started buzzing with the story of Captain Jiang’s youngest daughter and He Xing being intimate on the mountain.

The Jiang family’s reputation was damaged, and Jiang Sheng, in order to preserve Jiang Lai’s reputation, had to agree to marry Jiang Lai to He Xing.

At this point, the original character’s tragic journey began.

Jiang Qu was unwilling to give away the man she liked, and He Xing was interested in her, so when Jiang Lai visited for the first time, he deliberately made the house shabby, had grandma pretend to be severely ill and paralyzed, and stood in the yard shirtless, slaughtering chickens and geese, leaving blood all over the yard.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Lai was so frightened her legs went weak, retreating repeatedly, and rushed back to tell her sister Jiang Qu about it.

Jiang Qu then persuaded her to think carefully, kindly advised Jiang Lai how miserable life would be after marrying He Xing, saying that He Xing was savage, unreasonable, and even had violent tendencies, having once broken someone’s leg in the village.

After hearing this, Jiang Lai utterly refused to marry him, crying, fussing, and threatening suicide. Jiang Sheng almost severed ties with her because of this, and after falling seriously ill, he finally compromised, bringing gifts to the He Family to apologize and cancel the engagement.

He Xing naturally agreed, although it was intentional, it still made the upright man Jiang Sheng feel apologetic towards him, while also increasing his dissatisfaction with his youngest daughter’s thoughtlessness.

Because Jiang Lai’s reputation was ruined, Jiang Sheng was eager to marry her off quickly, desperately arranging blind dates for her, and then met a small accountant in the village who ate commodity grain, Zhang Wei. Though Zhang Wei’s family had eight sisters and was terribly poor, his job was stable, and he looked decent enough, Jiang Sheng secretly spent quite a bit of money to subsidize Zhang Wei, ultimately marrying Jiang Lai off.

A year later, Zhang Wei was arrested for embezzling village land subsidies and sentenced to fifteen years, dying of illness in prison after just one year. Pregnant Jiang Lai was isolated and helpless, not only devoid of any income source but also subjected to verbal abuse by Zhang Wei’s eight sisters, ultimately dying of dystocia because there was no one to care for her during childbirth.

The day Jiang Lai died, because no one noticed, the child in her womb was also suffocated.

It wasn’t until three days later, when an old lady who had lent Jiang Lai a stool walked into the house and discovered Jiang Lai dead on the bed.