Transmigrated into a 1970s Novel: The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Raises a Child in a Military Marriage

Fan Hua, a modern master’s student and co-founder of a design company, falls asleep reading a novel titled "The Celibate Old Cadre Isn’t Pretending Anymore" and wakes up transmigrated into the body of Fan Lihua, a tragic minor character in the book. The date is September 16, 1978. Fan Lihua is an eighteen-year-old village girl with a bad reputation, living in poverty with greedy parents and troublemaking brothers. In the original story, she is tricked by her parents into sleeping with a man named He Siyan to secure a marriage, becomes pregnant with twins, escapes an arranged marriage to an older man, and is subsequently lured south by a fellow villager named Geng Ailing to work as a prostitute, where she dies of cervical cancer at twenty-six. Fan Hua realizes she has arrived just before these events unfold and resolves to change her fate.

Upon arriving at an inn in a nearby city, Fan Hua encounters Geng Ailing, who attempts to recruit her for a job in the south under the guise of hair washing and massage services. Fan Hua recognizes Geng Ailing as the woman who originally led Fan Lihua to her doom. Suspecting she is already pregnant, Fan Hua rushes to a hospital and confirms she is carrying twins, approximately two months along. Determined to raise her children and avoid the tragic path of the original character, she decides to reject Geng Ailing’s scheme but accepts the woman’s company for protection, planning to forge her own path in the south during the dawn of China’s reform and opening-up era. She also decides to stay away from He Siyan, whom she views as irresponsible and untrustworthy, despite his family’s high status.

During the train journey south, Fan Hua displays a sharp and assertive personality, clashing with men who occupy her seat and earning the respect of Geng Ailing, who begins to see her as intelligent rather than dim-witted. On the train, she meets Zhao Yilu, a nineteen-year-old soldier who is actually impersonating his older brother He Siyan, who had originally slept with the real Fan Lihua. Zhao Yilu recognizes her and, believing she is his future sister-in-law, gives her two hundred yuan and essential supplies. Fan Hua, unaware of his true identity, accepts the money as a loan and asks him to keep their meeting secret from his brother. She also meets Zheng Zening, the second male lead of the novel, and his mother Jiang Wenli. Impressed by Fan Hua’s confidence and design skills, Jiang Wenli offers her a temporary apartment in Yangcheng and ration tickets, providing Fan Hua with a crucial foothold in the city.

Upon arriving in Yangcheng, Fan Hua and Geng Ailing settle into the rented apartment. Fan Hua reveals her pregnancy to Geng Ailing, who reacts with concern and support rather than judgment, having lost her own husband and child. Fan Hua shares her plan to start a clothing business, utilizing her modern design knowledge to create fashionable garments in an era where clothing options are limited. She intends to repay Zhao Yilu and build a stable life for her twins, distancing herself from the original plot’s main characters. The story follows her navigation of the early reform economy, leveraging her foresight of future market trends while managing the challenges of unwed motherhood and limited resources in 1978 China.