Chapter 14: Did the Female Lead Reincarnate or Transmigrate into a Book?

“Do you have anything else to do today?” Jiang Hanyan asked, looking up.

“What is it?” Lu Chen knew immediately that there was work for him to do.

“The honeycomb coal is almost gone. Make a few more!”

There wasn't much honeycomb coal left in the house, only enough to last about ten days. There was a pile of loose coal in the corner of the yard covered with a plastic sheet, but she didn't know how to make coal briquettes, nor did she want to. With the current labor available in the house, why should she tire herself out?

“Mm.”

Lu Chen walked over and pulled back the plastic sheet covering the coal pile. Beside it was a pile of yellow earth. By mixing the coal and yellow clay with water in a certain ratio and stirring it well, one could make honeycomb coal using a mold.

There were factories in the county town that sold finished honeycomb coal for thirteen cents a piece, but many people made it themselves, which worked out to be about three or four cents cheaper per piece. Given Lu Chen's stingy nature, he certainly wouldn't buy ready-made ones.

Lu Chen was strong and worked efficiently. In just a few strokes, he had mixed the yellow clay and coal. He dug a pit in the middle, poured in a few buckets of water, and mixed it evenly with a shovel. There couldn't be too much water or too little; if it was too thin, the coal briquettes wouldn't hold their shape, and if it was too dry, making them would be too much effort.

Jiang Hanyan had only seen this in books; she had never seen anyone make coal briquettes in real life. Her orphanage was in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, and she attended university in Shanghai. After graduating, she stayed in Shanghai to work, where they used gas, and honeycomb coal was always bought ready-made.

Lu Chen took out the coal briquette mold from the storage room. It was over a meter tall, with a T-shaped iron rod connected to the bottom of the mold. He pressed it forcefully into the mixed coal mud a few times, then squeezed a button on top, and a complete honeycomb coal briquette was squeezed out. Once dried in the sun, it could be burned.

In just a few minutes, Lu Chen had finished about a dozen briquettes. His movements were brisk. As he worked and grew warm, he simply took off his jacket and sweater, revealing a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath that showed off his knotted, powerful arms. Every time he pressed the mixture into the mold, the muscles in his arms bulged, looking incredibly strong.

They say a man working hard is at his most charming, and Jiang Hanyan deeply agreed.

Lu Chen, working hard to make coal briquettes, was truly captivating.

Especially those killer muscles; she couldn't take her eyes off them. She was truly just appreciating them purely, without a single impure thought—after all, she was a sucker for good looks.

Lu Chen felt someone's burning gaze. His hands didn't stop, but his peripheral vision flickered toward her. Jiang Hanyan was sitting on a small stool, chin resting in her hands, eyes unblinking, with a faint, lingering smile on her lips.

The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and his movements became faster and more powerful.

Dou Dou looked at Auntie Jiang, then at Uncle Lu, his big eyes looking a bit confused. Did Auntie Jiang and Uncle Lu seem a bit strange?

The little fellow tilted his head, thinking about it, but couldn't figure it out, so he ran off to play with his new partner. Although Jin Shan Shan was just a chicken, it was very ambitious and good at reading the room. Sensing Dou Dou's important status, it continuously flapped its wings at the little master to show off its beautiful feathers, and before long, it had cheered Dou Dou up.

The result was that Dou Dou went back to the kitchen to grab three handfuls of rice to feed his new partner. Jin Shan Shan was very satisfied and decided to cling tightly to the little master's thigh in the future.

The sound of knocking interrupted the faint, ambiguous atmosphere in the yard. Jiang Hanyan snapped out of her trance, feeling a bit of regret.

Lu Chen was sweating profusely, his T-shirt soaked through, but the guy stubbornly refused to take it off.

She really wanted to see this stingy man's physique—slim when dressed, but muscular when undressed. It would surely be captivating.

“Who is it?”

Jiang Hanyan asked lazily. Lu Chen's social life was poor; no one had come to visit for the New Year celebrations for an entire month, so it likely wasn't an important guest.

“Hanyan, it's me!”

A thin, soft voice drifted in. Jiang Hanyan's heart fluttered; this was the original host's feeling. She knew who this person was.

It was the female lead who had snatched away the original host's "golden finger."

Jiang Siyuan.

She was also the original host's cousin, a few months older. In the book, Jiang Siyuan was a winner in life. She grew up in a family that favored boys over girls, but she wasn't brainwashed into being a "伏地魔" (saboteur); instead, she was self-reliant and hardworking, studying hard to get into university and achieving upward social mobility to become a person of status.

But without the Spiritual Qi Space, Jiang Siyuan would have just been an ordinary village girl—ordinary looks, ordinary grades, and even more ordinary abilities, far inferior to the original host.

Jiang Hanyan frowned. She liked to skim through books, so she wasn't clear on some details. She was very puzzled: how did Jiang Siyuan know that the original host's peach pit bracelet was bound to the Spiritual Qi Space?

The book said Jiang Siyuan bought the peach pit bracelet for ten yuan. Afterward, she became increasingly beautiful, and her grades improved. In just half a year of repeating a grade, she got into a very good university. The original host's male lead, Tang Xuehai, was also at that university, and the two naturally ended up together. After graduation, they married and started a company, becoming a model of success that everyone envied and envied.

Looking at it this way, every step Jiang Siyuan took was firm and purposeful, as if planned in advance. Could she be a regressor?

Or was she a transmigrator like her?

“Hanyan, open the door, I have something to discuss with you!”

Jiang Siyuan spoke softly and calmly, completely different from her usual self.

Jiang Hanyan remembered now. This woman had suffered a severe cold and a high fever two months ago. After she recovered, she changed. She spoke softly and acted unhurriedly, and her clothing and style were no longer as rustic as before. Although her appearance hadn't changed, her temperament had clearly become much more composed.

It seemed she was either a regressor or a transmigrator.

Jiang Hanyan sneered inwardly. The original host had no grievances with Jiang Siyuan; she had even lent her money multiple times. Yet this bitch had stolen the original host's golden finger and gained so many benefits, only to stand by and watch while the original host suffered. It wasn't until after the original host had died miserably that Jiang Siyuan rushed back to attend the funeral, saying, "Zhaodi was just too vain, sigh!"

To hell with her!

Seeing her sitting motionless, Lu Chen kindly reminded her, "It's your cousin."

He remembered that this woman had a decent relationship with Jiang Hanyan and had even borrowed money several times.

“I know.”

Jiang Hanyan stood up and walked slowly to open the door. If nothing went wrong, Jiang Siyuan was here to trick her out of the bracelet.

She sneered inwardly. She had arrived at just the right time; she was waiting!

Lu Chen continued making coal briquettes, becoming even more certain that this woman was not Jiang Hanyan—at least, not the original Jiang Hanyan.

The original Jiang Hanyan wouldn't be this cold.

*Creak.*

The door opened. Jiang Siyuan, who had grown impatient, looked displeased, but upon seeing Jiang Hanyan, she immediately beamed, showing no sign of dissatisfaction.

“Hanyan, what are you doing? I've been waiting for so long.”

Jiang Siyuan's tone was a bit dissatisfied, but because she was smiling, it sounded like a joke.

“I didn't hear you. Your voice is so small, like a mosquito buzzing. Jiang Siyuan, why has your way of speaking become so affected? It's so fake!”

Jiang Hanyan made no effort to hide her disgust, because she knew Jiang Siyuan was intentionally or unintentionally imitating the original host—for example, her style of dress and her tone of voice.

The original host's way of speaking was naturally soft and sweet—essentially "coquettish"—but it was innate and not annoying. Jiang Siyuan used to have a loud, somewhat coarse voice, but now she was deliberately using a "fake-cute" voice that made one's skin crawl.

Jiang Hanyan rubbed her arms, rolled her eyes at the visibly displeased Jiang Siyuan, and turned to walk away.

(End of Chapter)