"Ah, MoMo, what could possibly make you so distraught? How could you be at such a loss? Doesn't this just upset your parents?" In the dimly lit room, a middle-aged woman draped in patched-up hemp clothing kept persuading the young girl lying on the bed.
The girl on the bed looked quite young, around sixteen or seventeen. Not knowing whether she was listening to the middle-aged woman, she simply lay there motionlessly with her eyes closed, giving no response.
Seeing she was being ignored, the middle-aged woman could only sigh and say, "Oh well, MoMo, your aunt has some things to do and has to leave now. But, please, think about what your aunt said and consider your parents' feelings."
After she left, Su Mo opened her eyes. She looked around and found the scene before her startlingly familiar, resembling the home of her childhood.
Su Mo checked the calendar hanging on the wall – it was August 5, 1977.
She recalled that during this time in her previous life, her cousin Su Yue snatched away a challenging job connection that Su RuHai, her father, had found for her in the county.
Still angry but helpless, the name was already submitted, Su Yue was about to start work, and everything had been set in stone. There was no turning back now.
In those times, finding a job in the county was not easy, and it was only due to her father, Su RuHai's multiple connections from his days in the army that he could secure a job for Su Mo.
But unexpectedly due to various reasons, this job ended up going to her cousin, Su Yue.
The more Su Mo thought about it, the angrier she became. Even imagining her future seemed bleak, leading her to consider suicide.
Indeed, it seemed that starting from around the age of eight, Su Yue suddenly turned extraordinarily lucky, and whatever she wished for seemed to come true.
In contrast, her family faced an endless string of misfortune, starting with small health problems that gradually escalated to a complete family breakdown.
In the end, Su Mo found herself alone, dying in a dilapidated little house.
It was only at that time, she discovered that her life was being penned in a novel where her cousin Su Yue was the protagonist. The entirety of the book depicted Su Yue's life filled with continuous good fortune and happiness.
Su Mo thought, everything should have ended when she died. But unexpectedly, she found herself transported to another world where she lived for several more years.
Following the principle of ‘what comes, comes; we’ll face it when it does’, Su Mo managed to learn divination and geomancy in the Divine Calculation Sect of the alien world she lived in. She was about to become the sect leader when she suddenly got knocked out by a bolt of lightning from the sky.
Before she passed out, Su Mo thought she was going to die this time. However, to her surprise, when she opened her eyes, she found herself back in her first life at the age of 17.
With the realization that she was merely a supporting character in a book, and her cousin Su Yue, who had been called 'Lucky Koi' since childhood, was the heroine of the book, Su Mo was at a loss for how to feel.
Since childhood, Su Yue was incredibly lucky, as the proverb in the novels of later generations would state, she was simply a favored child with heaven-defying luck. Whatever she desired, she would eventually get.
In contrast, even though Su Mo, as a supporting role, had never thought of going against Su Yue, her life was depicted as miserable.
Su Mo didn't know if this was the author's intentional choice, using her as a contrast to highlight the beauty of Su Yue's life.
However, to her, all these were not important. In her past and present life, she never had the intention to compete with Su Yue. Now that she knew Su Yue had cheat codes given to her by fate, she just had to avoid them.
Su Mo thought to herself that in this life, with her abilities from the alien world, she will help her family to escape the sad fate from her previous life and start a new one.
"Mo Mo, why don't you rest some more?" As Su Mo was deep in thought, Li Qiufen walked in.
Seeing Su Mo up and about, Li Qiu Fen was slightly panicky, wanting her to take more rest but not daring to make significant movements, fearing it might stress Su Mo.
Li Qiufen stood cautiously by the bed, not knowing how to persuade Su Mo.
"Mother." Even though Su Mo knew she had been reborn to her 17-year-old self, she still couldn't believe it when she saw Li Qiu Fen again.
Seeing Li Qiufen looking younger than she remembered, Su Mo flung herself into her arms, tears streaming down her face. "Mother, I thought I'd never see you again."
“Mo Mo, good girl, mother is always with you.” Su Mo's words brought tears to Li Qiufen's eyes. These past few days, seeing Su Mo's spirits down, she was extremely worried, fearing something might happen to Su Mo.
Sure enough, for a moment she failed to keep a close eye on her, Su Mo attempted suicide. As soon as Li Qiufen knew Su Mo had attempted suicide, she collapsed on the spot completely panicked.
Su Mo is her and Su Ruhai's only child. She absolutely cannot imagine what they would do if anything happened to Su Mo.
"Since your cousin has already taken the job, and her name has been reported, let's just let it go this time. Let's wait for a better opportunity in the future," said Li Qiufen, soothingly. It seemed Su Mo was finally coming to terms with it. "If all else fails, your father can leverage his connections again."
"Alright, Mom, I'll listen to you," nodded Su Mo. But she was very clear in her heart that if this opportunity was missed, there would not be another one. The relationships in the county were incredibly complex.
Fortunately, she was reborn from the future and knew that the college entrance examination would be reinstated in three months’ time. This time around, she vowed to seize the opportunity and study hard with the aim to make it into a university.
She remembered looking at those highly educated individuals with admiration and yearning in her past life. And now, she intended to seize the opportunity right from the beginning.
Li Qiufen had no idea that Su Mo had thought so much in such a short time, but she was still very happy to see that Su Mo had finally seen the light.
"Mo, you rest a little while longer. Mommy is going to cook something delicious for you," said the overjoyed Li Qiufen, thinking of treating her daughter to something good.
Su Mo nodded, just about to say something when noisy sounds came from outside.
"Li Qiufen, get the hell out here! Hurry up, stop hiding inside!"
The robust shouts from outside were unmistakably Yao Cuihua's, her grandmother's, even after several decades.
Quite obviously, Li Qiufen recognized it too. Her face flushed with embarrassment, but she still managed to smile at Su Mo, "Mo, lie down for a while. Let me go out and see what's going on."
As soon as Li Qiufen turned around to step outside, Su Mo got up from the bed, slipped into her shoes, and followed her out.
It was only at that moment she suddenly recalled that the biggest tragedy of her past life had actually originated from this incident with Yao Cuihua.
This time, she was determined to prevent it, no matter what.