Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 26: The 1970s Naive Supporting Girl (26)
Song Susu arrived at the brigade office, a small crowd trailing behind, curious to see what would happen next.
Brigade Leader Cao Guangzhu’s face went pale when he heard what happened, and he stumbled back a step.
“Stop! No one’s allowed to call the police,” he barked. “This can be settled quietly. If word gets out, the reputation of our village is ruined.”
Song Susu raised an eyebrow, her fair face calm and serious. “Brigade Leader, someone like Wang Mazi can’t be left alone. Right now he’s attacking livestock. Next time, it could be another girl. He’s basically a ticking time bomb.”
Hearing her, the others watching nodded in agreement. “That’s true. Our village still has so many unmarried girls, and Wang Mazi isn’t exactly trustworthy.”
“Better to let the police take him away. Teach him a lesson for a while. He won’t dare next time…”
Seeing everyone nod along, Cao Guangzhu remained silent, his expression grim. With the year-end approaching, the township was selecting outstanding village cadres. If this matter caused a stir, he would not only lose his eligibility to participate but might also be criticized.
He shot Song Susu a slightly annoyed glance. This girl had always been quiet before, but now she seemed intent on causing trouble.
Song Susu noticed his look and, without missing a beat, said casually, “Brigade Leader, this concerns my reputation. It has to be clarified.”
Cao Guangzhu pressed his lips together and waved at the crowd in the room. “Alright, everyone, stop gawking. Go on and do your work. I’ll explain things to you later after I’ve spoken with Song ¹Zhiqing.”
Since the Brigade Leader had spoken, everyone respectfully left.
Cao Guangzhu didn’t close the door. He looked at Song Susu seriously. “Song Zhiqing, what Wang Mazi did is disgusting, but he’s nothing but a coward. Even if I gave him ten times the courage, he wouldn’t dare touch a girl. You’re heading back to the City soon. There’s no need to get your reputation tangled with someone like him. Just do it for my sake.”
Song Susu didn’t respond immediately. She smoothed her sleeves and a plan formed in her mind.
The Brigade Leader didn't want her to report to the police, simply because such things wouldn't sound good in the village, and it wouldn't be good for him as a leader. Even if Wang Mazi were caught, he’d probably just get a few days in custody and a stern lecture.
Why not take this chance to handle things at Heihegou Brigade first?
A plan formed in Song Susu’s mind, and she decided to give him some face.
“The Brigade Leader has always been kind to me. For your sake, I won’t report this to the police.”
Cao Guangzhu’s face immediately relaxed into a smile as he spoke warmly, “I knew Song Zhiqing was reasonable. Don’t worry, I’ll clear things up for you with everyone. That Wang Mazi is going straight to the village detention room for a proper lesson.”
That sounded reasonable enough, so Song Susu pretended to hesitate for a moment before adding, “If it’s not too much trouble, could you help me with something?”
Cao Guangzhu was naturally a shrewd man. Seeing the girl give him face, he naturally went along, “Just tell me. If it’s within my power, I’ll help.”
“It’s like this. I have a friend sent to Heihegou Brigade as an educated youth, and I want to visit. I've heard that the local customs there are bad. If anything happens to me, I'd appreciate it if the Brigade Leader could lend a hand.”
After she finished, Cao Guangzhu’s brows furrowed slightly, then relaxed as if he had thought of something.
The little girl was probably just worried about getting bullied by troublemakers over there. She was giving him face, that was all.
“All right. If anyone bothers you, just call the brigade office. I’ll personally go with people to pick you up.”
The reason he agreed so quickly was simple. The two villages had some conflicts in the past, and there were indeed quite a few hooligans and troublemakers in Heihegou Brigade.
He also had his own motives; Song Zhiqing, being so pretty, might get harassed, and if things escalated, hooliganism was a serious offense, and his arch-enemy, that bastard surnamed Tian, would definitely be dismissed.
All in all, it was all benefit and no harm for him.
“Brigade Leader, how about sending someone from the brigade with me? I’ll pay for any lost work time,” Song Susu said, of course with a purpose.
Cao Guangzhu just thought the young girl was being cautious. He hesitated for a moment, then remembered that these City girls weren’t short on money, and going out could even earn them a bit. He decided to have his own nephew accompany her.
“My nephew is seventeen this year. Don’t let his young age fool you; he’s strong and has plenty of strength. Protecting you won’t be a problem.”
Song Susu’s eyes lit up. Knowing it was the Brigade Leader’s own family, she was even happier. She smoothly asked someone to write a note for her trip to visit a friend, then watched it get stamped with the Brigade Leader’s official seal.
Satisfied, she left.
The Brigade Leader handled things quickly. Before long, the loudspeakers broadcasted a scolding of Wang Mazi, along with a bit of praise for Song Zhiqing.
Word spread fast through the village about Wang Mazi’s ridiculous behavior. When Song Susu was mentioned, most people were impressed she had the guts to slap him.
That afternoon, Jiang Xiaoli hurried back to the village and heard about the commotion surrounding Wang Mazi.
Her face lit up with excitement, and she felt a surge of satisfaction. Seeing everyone talking about Wang Mazi, she stepped forward with a fake, concerned expression, “Sigh, although I'm Susu's good friend, Susu is indeed at fault. She shouldn't have let herself fall into this mess. It's such a pity.”
The others looked at her, confused. “Jiang girl, what are you talking about?”
Jiang Xiaoli froze for a moment, then blurted out, “Wang Mazi and Song Susu are together, aren't they?”
The crowd immediately changed their expressions.
“Tsk tsk, Jiang Xiaoli, you're supposed to be good friends with Song Zhiqing? You and your family have taken a lot of benefits from her, and you still have the nerve to say these things?”
“Exactly. Song Zhiqing may be a bit fierce, but Wang Mazi got what he deserved. How could you randomly try to pair them up? Even girls from this village wouldn’t look at Wang Mazi, let alone a city girl.”
Everyone chimed in, criticizing her from all sides.
Jiang Xiaoli’s face turned red and then dark, completely confused. She hurriedly tried to defend herself, “It was a misunderstanding. It's all the fault of the others for not explaining clearly. I misunderstood. I'm so sorry.”
After saying that, she awkwardly ran home.
Later, when Jiang Xiaoli heard the full story from her mother, she was so angry she smashed an iron teacup on the ground.
“That idiot Wang Mazi! He can’t do anything right!”
He not only failed to expose their scandalous affair but also dragged himself into it, wasting a great opportunity.
“Ouch! This iron teacup was new! You spendthrift! How could you just throw it away like that?”
Jiang Jian’e picked up the iron teacup from the ground, brushed off the dust with heartache, looked at the dented corner, and gave her daughter a reproachful look.
Seeing her mother like that, Jiang Xiaoli rolled her eyes. “What’s so valuable about this stupid teacup? When I have money, I'll buy you a set of teaware for rich people.”
In rich city families, small delicate porcelain cups sat neatly on the tea table. Who would bother with some broken iron teacup?
Jiang Jian’e didn’t get mad at all. She happily went over and rubbed her daughter’s shoulders, praising, “That’s my girl. I’ll be looking forward to enjoying the good life with you one day.”
“I’m so fed up, Song Susu really is a troublemaker.”
Jiang Xiaoli was usually soft and gentle, but these past few days had really pushed her over the edge.
Song Susu had been nothing but a loyal follower behind her, and suddenly, she started biting back—and it hurt like crazy.
Jiang Jian’e gritted her teeth thinking about that scoundrel. “Wang Mazi is a useless coward. You have a cousin who married into the Heihegou Brigade. I heard her husband’s family—the eldest daughter-in-law of the Tian clan—died this year. That son used to be a hoodlum. I'll try to go there in a couple of days and have Song Susu marry him as his second wife. Maybe she'll be beaten to death by domestic violence too.”
Jiang Xiaoli’s eyes lit up. “Mom, tell me exactly what happened. I don’t remember having a cousin like that.”
“That’s a girl sent away by your great-aunt’s family. I only found out about her a couple of years ago. Not long ago, I heard…”
……
Meanwhile, Song Susu and her group were on their way to Heihegou Brigade.
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Glossary:
¹“Zhiqing” (η₯ι) literally means “educated youth” in Chinese. It’s a historical term for young people who were sent from cities to rural areas during the Cultural Revolution in China to work and “learn from the peasants.”
So when someone is called Song Zhiqing, it’s not a personal name—it’s more like saying “Song, the educated youth” or “Song, the city youth sent down to work in the countryside.” In translations, it’s sometimes kept as Zhiqing to preserve that historical and cultural context, though you could also translate it as “Song, the educated youth”.
In this story, using Song Zhiqing feels natural in dialogue or narration because villagers would likely address her that way instead of just using her personal name.
(P/S: I'll fix the earlier chapters and put this glossary there too.)
…..
T/N: Yup, that’s exactly how it ended in the RAW text. As a translator, if nothing major happens, I won’t change anything. I always stay true to what the author wrote. Sigh, I love this novel. It’s simple and easy.
As you can see, it’s gone back to one chapter per day for these two novels. Why? Because The Tyrant’s Drama Queen Empress has insanely long chapters! π I honestly didn’t realize how long they were when I read the RAW text. A few of the earlier chapters weren’t this long though.
Oh well. Whatever, I’ll just keep translating them until they’re finished, as usual. ✌️
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