Xu Ziyan was diligently working on practice problems in her room when she suddenly heard a system notification.
【Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot: The Female Lead anonymously writes a letter to Fang Lihai, informing him that you mistreat his parents and children, thereby inducing Fang Lihai to return home to visit. Reward: One skill point.】
Xu Ziyan was stunned. ‘What is this? Did Xu Xiuyun write to Fang Lihai?’
Next door, Fang Father and Fang Mother were also a bit confused. Why would Xu Xiuyun write to their son? The two of them didn’t even know each other.
By now, Xu Ziyan had already figured it out. ‘So in the original plot, the reason Fang Lihai suddenly returned to his hometown, and so coincidentally encountered that wild boar, was because Xu Xiuyun wrote an anonymous letter tattling on me, which lured him back.’
‘The supplementary details for this plot point are really thorough.’
Xu Ziyan sarcastically remarked. If she hadn’t angered Xu Xiuyun and provoked her impulse to write the letter—which indirectly led to the reward notification—she wouldn’t have even known this subplot existed. The plot really knew how to omit the crucial points. She had wondered why Fang Lihai, who was perfectly fine at the military camp, would return home outside of any holiday. So it turned out he had been schemed against by Xu Xiuyun.
She understood. In the original plot, the truly kind and beautiful Female Lead certainly didn’t aim to scheme against Fang Lihai. She was surely worried that the Fang family was being bullied by the Original Host and was just kindly reminding Fang Lihai. As for the wild boar, the Female Lead definitely didn’t mean to harm Fang Lihai either. She probably just wanted him to get injured. But why get injured?
Xu Ziyan scoffed. ‘Could it be that she wanted something to happen to Fang Lihai, so that everyone would curse me for being a husband-killer? After all, she herself bore the reputation of a husband-killer and became a widow before even marrying. As her control group, I definitely couldn’t escape the fate of being labeled a husband-killer.
I see now. How could the Female Lead harm someone? Actually, she just wanted to give me a “lesson”. She never expected the accident would kill Fang Lihai. Ugh!’
Fang Father and Fang Mother trembled with anger. How could Xu Xiuyun be so wicked? Their family was perfectly fine. Even if they didn’t get along with the original Xu Ziyan, that was their family’s business. What did it have to do with Xu Xiuyun? In all their lives, they had never met someone so malicious.
Fang Mother was so angry she started crying. Fang Father quickly comforted her in a low voice. “Your health isn’t good, don’t get upset. Isn’t the Great Immortal helping us now? Li Hai definitely won’t be in any danger. Besides, now that we know, we absolutely can’t let this happen.
Knowing in advance is a blessing. This is a good thing. We should be happy.”
Fang Mother wiped her tears and nodded. “Yes, you’re right. It’s just that having someone like this constantly staring at us is too disgusting. I wish I could beat her to death!”
How could Fang Father not be angry? But since the incident hadn’t happened yet, no one would believe them if they spoke out. They could only quickly write another letter to their son, telling him to focus on his training at the camp and that everything at home was fine. This time they would write more, detailing things to put Fang Lihai’s mind at ease. They could also send a telegram or make a phone call. Surely everything would be alright.
Once they calmed down, they both felt something was off. Why did they always refer to Xu Xiuyun as the ‘Female Lead’? Could it be that this was all a story from some opera script?
Thinking carefully, Xu Ziyan’s inner thoughts had never claimed she was the Great Immortal. Instead, she mentioned her past life, family, and living a good life in the big city. Could it be that Xu Ziyan was someone of great merit who, after death, came to their world to save them?
That was probably close to the truth. Xu Ziyan had helped them so much, effectively saving their entire family’s lives. Wasn’t that a great act of merit? It must be a form of cultivation for her, just like how the spirit mediums in the next village over would inexplicably fall ill and then gain the ability to divine. These things were truly mysterious.
In any case, Xu Ziyan was here to help them, which was good. They had to protect her well and not let her secret be discovered. The authorities were still cracking down on feudal superstitions.
The couple found time to sneak into the mountain graveyard to burn paper money for their ancestors, praying for their family’s safety and peace. Then they called Fang Lihai, telling him to stay well at the camp and not to worry about home, as everything was fine.
Fang Lihai was somewhat puzzled. He hadn’t received any letters yet and didn’t know the situation at home. When he got his parents’ call, his first thought was that they could no longer stand Xu Ziyan.
Unexpectedly, before he could ask, his parents said everything was fine, which left him completely baffled.
After that, Fang Lihai grew a little worried at the camp, considering whether to ask for leave to go back and check. Then he received two letters in succession.
One was a thick letter from home. Every family member had written him several pages. The mail carrier was amazed. “Battalion Commander Fang, your family must really miss you to write so much.”
Fang Lihai’s heart leapt into his throat. This much writing surely meant something was wrong, something big, right? He muttered a couple of acknowledgments and hurried back to his dorm to read the letters.
To his surprise, his parents’ letters were written in a calm, even somewhat cheerful tone. They said Xu Ziyan was now making decisions at home, that she had become sensible and was excellent in every way. They mentioned she was very good at taking care of the children, that both kids liked her, and that her reputation in the village had improved. They said many past incidents were misunderstandings, caused by others framing her.
The entire letter praised Xu Ziyan’s transformation, which greatly surprised Fang Lihai. He then read the children’s letters. The handwriting was crooked and included pinyin, but the repeated use of “Mom” showed they really liked Xu Ziyan. The letters said Xu Ziyan had taken them to the city to play, bought them soda and candy, and even taken photos. They were very happy.
He picked up the photos and looked. Both children were all smiles, and Xu Ziyan looked bright and sunny, quite different from his previous impression of her as somewhat gloomy. Finally, he read Xu Ziyan’s letter. It contained a bit of marital intimacy that made him uncomfortable. In short, she wanted him to come back, or she could come to him, saying a couple shouldn’t be apart for so long. This was much more in line with his impression of Xu Ziyan.
After reading everything, he was confused. There didn’t seem to be any problem. So, the family letter was just to praise Xu Ziyan? He then picked up the other letter. It was anonymous, the handwriting clearly done with the left hand and very awkward. But its contents gave him a shock.
The letter claimed Xu Ziyan bullied the children all day long, disrespected her in-laws, caused such a ruckus that her own family split up, and made her own parents go to the city to sell goods to earn money for her. It said she was lazy and gluttonous every day, sitting in a rocking chair listening to the radio, enslaving his entire family like a capitalist young lady.
The letter also said his parents were so angry they often couldn’t sleep, daring not to speak their anger, serving Xu Ziyan hand and foot. If Xu Ziyan wanted chicken dinner, they killed a chicken. If she wanted white rice, she ate white rice. The children washed clothes and bedsheets, and if they got them a little dirty, she made them stand in the sun as punishment until they got heatstroke.
Fang Lihai found this short letter horrifying. If this were all true, his family was already living in misery. Why would they tell him everything was fine? Who wrote this anonymous letter to him? The signature only said it was from a kind-hearted person who couldn’t stand it anymore. Was it really a kind-hearted person?
Normally, Fang Lihai would ignore such a sneaky, anonymous person. But thinking about how thrifty his parents were, yet they specially called to say everything was fine at home, he felt something was very wrong. And the family letter was full of praise for Xu Ziyan. Could it be that Xu Ziyan forced them to write it?
If something abnormal happens, there must be a reason. Fang Lihai couldn’t set his mind at ease no matter what. He still requested leave and decided to go back and see for himself. Moreover, he didn’t tell anyone, wanting to return to the village suddenly so no one could prepare, allowing him to see the most real situation.
Xu Ziyan spent her days working on practice problems, studying textbooks, and keeping up with current events. The study material from this era was relatively simple for her. Coupled with her increased intelligence, studying became easy after a month, freeing up a lot of her time every day.
Limited by the era’s development, there wasn’t much else she could do. So she simply bought various newspapers, studied the writing styles of published articles, and began submitting manuscripts to newspaper agencies. She used the pen name Yu Kai.
Initially, all her submitted manuscripts sank without a trace or were rejected. Xu Ziyan wasn’t discouraged. She read different newspapers every day, compared the content and styles of the articles, practiced writing, and continued submitting.
Finally, one article was accepted, and the manuscript fee was mailed to her. The agency that accepted it was the most authoritative one.
That article was titled ‘On the Importance of Women’s Education’. It described how the living environment for contemporary women had improved, but the improvement was limited. Patriarchal preferences for sons over daughters still existed. Many parents believed sons should uphold the family lineage and continue the family line, so they should be given priority access to family resources. If there was only enough money for one child to attend school, it would inevitably be the son, not the daughter, regardless of how well the daughter studied.
Parents could also sacrifice everything to buy their sons jobs, prepare wedding houses, bride price, and the “three major items” for marriage. For daughters, they believed education was useless; it was better for them to help more at home and marry off early, with a few quilts as dowry being enough. Many intelligent and studious girls lost their chance for education because of this, hastily marrying and becoming buried in the daily necessities of housework and childbearing.
Xu Ziyan pointed out that for contemporary society to develop, development required useful talent and intelligent people. This should not be divided by gender. Would an incompetent man given an opportunity contribute to society? He would only hold it back. Opportunities should be distributed equally to everyone. The general public must raise their awareness and understand that women could also make significant contributions to society.
Xu Ziyan also cited examples of successful, outstanding women, emphasizing that when the motherland needed talent, everyone, regardless of gender or age, should march forward courageously and contribute to the nation’s development.
The most important reason this article was adopted was that it mentioned the nation’s development needed talent, needed education, and that incompetent people occupying positions held society back. These were topics frequently mentioned in high-level meetings. One could say the article hit the right note.
Furthermore, women’s education was indeed an issue needing attention. The entry point was excellent and eye-catching. Therefore, the newspaper agency not only accepted her article but also published it in the most prominent position. They hoped it would serve as a catalyst, encouraging active discussion from all sectors of society on this issue, paving the way for future announcements of new policies.
The pen name “Yu Kai” became an instant success. Countless literati remembered the name. Even several leaders had an impression of the article, feeling the political consciousness of the masses was quite good and aligned with their own thoughts.
Xu Ziyan had, of course, done this deliberately. These topics were sensitive, and striking the right balance was difficult. She had revised the article over thirty times before submitting it. Fortunately, she succeeded. Living in this special era, of course she had to do what she could. It would start with this article.
She also prepared a serialized novel. Newspapers had previously serialized martial arts novels, which were very popular. What Xu Ziyan wrote was an unpublished genre: stories about everyday family life. Essentially, stories about her and the Xu family.
Just as she mailed the first manuscript from the city, she heard another system notification.
【Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot: Fang Lihai worries about his family and returns home to visit.】