The male supporting character was actually myself.

Everyone has a desire to be beautiful. No matter the era or environment, who doesn't want to become more beautiful?

In the past, the clothing styles I made were relatively loose and outdated. When people saw the new styles of clothing that outlined the lines beautifully without being too revealing, many people had the thought that they could look just as beautiful as her if they wore the same style of clothing!

In a single day, a new trend swept through Yanghua Town.

Jiang Chen was very satisfied with the sales figures; finally, he could conceal the source of the funds.

If nothing unexpected happens, he can live a comfortable life in town by maintaining this small garment factory.

"Host, how long have I been asleep?" Three whole days later, the little white cat rubbed its sleepy eyes and lazily got up, habitually rubbing its fluffy face against his neck.

Jiang Chen hurriedly put down the design she was drawing, grabbed the fluffy ball of fur, and gently stroked its fur, asking, "What did you see in the Qiankun Mirror? Why are you so tired?"

"Huh? Am I tired from looking in the mirror?" The little white cat blinked belatedly, then twitched its ears and replied, "It doesn't seem like anything."

The mirror swayed like a pool of water, making it difficult to see clearly.

I vaguely remember seeing Amy, Night Misa, Snow Night... Yes, that's right! I'm certain I saw seven ship girls standing behind me, and then there were many shadows, like Han Ying, Su Ziqing, Yan Mingyue, Tang Xueli..."

As it recalled, it counted many names on its paws, and then, seeing Jiang Chen's somewhat confused look, it explained, "Oh, those are the wives you married in previous mission worlds!"

I remember seeing them all standing behind me in the mirror, a dense, dark mass.

"Oh no! Host, does what I saw foreshadow something?"

"The wives I married in previous mission worlds?" Jiang Chen's lips twitched, looking completely bewildered. "How many did I actually marry?"

The fluffy ball counted on its paws for a long time but couldn't count them all. "I guess basically one wife per mission world. The ship girls are special, there are seven of them who can combine."

That's why there are so many people!

I was worried that scene might be a foreshadowing of a future chaotic battle.

Jiang Chen: ? ? ?

"What if the scriptwriting team turns out to be inhuman and just writes a script that puts all the wives you've ever married into one mission world? Which one would you choose then?"

The more the little white cat thought about it, the more frightened it became. It muttered to itself, "If you marry them all and add them to your harem, you'll be drained dry!"

Jiang Chen: ...

"No, no, I have to go to the forum and ask the experts if the host will encounter a chaotic situation if he marries too many wives in the mission world." The fluffy dumpling skipped off to browse the forum.

He leaned back in his chair and recalled the scene he had seen in the Qiankun Mirror.

"I feel much better these past two days. Let's go see Situ Nan again tomorrow!" After a moment, Jiang Chen made up his mind to go look in the Qiankun Mirror again tomorrow, hoping to make some new discoveries.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Returning to the Village

"Huh? That's strange..." The little white cat looked at the script and found that the original plot was still running and had not been updated, but the host had indeed taken away the protagonist's halo.

What is going on here?

"Host, I've never seen anything like this before. You've stolen the protagonist's halo, and the main system hasn't noticed or updated the script. What do we do now?"

Will the script team notice anything amiss during the update process?

What are your plans?

Jiang Chen rubbed his temples and remained silent for a moment before saying, "The script hasn't been updated yet, probably because it hasn't really reached the point where the protagonist's fate will change. Once I save Xiao Wan from falling off the cliff and dying, the script should start updating."

As for the script team discovering something amiss...

Well, there's nothing we can do about it. If we're going to be investigated, then we'll be investigated.

Now that the spotlight has been taken away, I've noticed that Song Qingshan no longer gives Song Aiguo any education about boundless love. Song Aiguo is now studying hard and is eager to try his luck in a big city.

I plan to go back to Lijiazhuang to see how things are there.

If possible, start by making Li Family Village wealthy as the story progresses! Even if the script team tries to force a change in direction by updating the story, they won't be able to do anything about it.

"Hmm, I hope everything goes smoothly and I don't get any more complaints," the fluffy ball muttered softly, licking its fur.

The clothing store was doing brisk business, and Song Aiwan, as the financial manager, was extremely busy. On the other hand, Jiang Chen was relaxed and carefree, and apart from occasionally replenishing the warehouse with some fabric and drawing a few design sketches, he didn't have much to do.

So the next morning, after breakfast, he set off for the small courtyard where Situ Nan lived.

Surprisingly, the wooden gate to the courtyard was locked, with a huge iron padlock hanging on it.

He peeked through the crack in the door; the tea table was still under the flowering tree, but the birdcage was nowhere to be seen.

"Host, I checked the house and everything is in good order, except the birdcage is missing. Situ Nan probably went out to walk the bird." The little white cat jumped onto his shoulder and suggested, "He doesn't have any neighbors to ask, so let's just wait here?"

Jiang Chen shook his head thoughtfully, "I'm afraid he moved away. No wonder he said 'it's up to fate' that day and told me to try my luck. He probably already calculated that I wouldn't have the chance to see the Qiankun Mirror a second time."

"Xiao Bai, can you do me a favor?"

He took out the note that Situ Nan had written that day from his pocket; it had several addresses written on it.

Apart from this small courtyard in Yanghua Town, his other residences were all located in bustling areas of big cities. In those days, transportation was very inconvenient, and if you wanted to buy a car, you had to go to the city, so Jiang Chen never had the chance to buy one.

The white cat is fast and not limited by traffic conditions, making it the most convenient tool for scouting locations and finding people.

"I need to mark these places on the map first. Host, just wait for my good news!" The little white cat copied it down, then hopped away and disappeared with the national map in its mouth.

After returning, Jiang Chen took the prepared supplies and rode his motorcycle to Lijiazhuang.

The spring atmosphere in the deep mountains is becoming stronger, and you can smell the fresh fragrance of fresh soil and tender green shoots everywhere.

Wild apricot trees in the mountains are covered with scattered blossoms, clusters of which look like smoke and mist from afar, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene. The rare natural atmosphere lifts one's spirits.

"Brother Jiang is back!"

"Brother Jiang brought back some good stuff again!"

Before he even reached the village entrance, young people working in the fields saw the fully loaded motorcycle and hurriedly waved to signal him.

Li Changgeng jogged up to him, his face beaming with excitement. "Brother, the well has water! We really dug a well for the village! Come and see, the water we drew up is so sweet!"

The last time I came back, the well-digging work wasn't going well. If it weren't for the white rice and flour I brought as rewards, several young people would have lost their motivation.

I didn't expect to hear such good news when I came back a few days later!

Jiang Chen parked his motorcycle directly at the edge of the field. Not far away, there was a pile of damp soil left from digging a well on the wasteland, and many people were looking down into the circular pit.

"It's strange, but our village has tried to dig for water many times over the years, but we couldn't get any water out of it. However, this well was really difficult to work on in the first few days. It was full of gravel, and we couldn't do much work in a day."

Who would have thought that water would overflow so quickly after the well was completed, the clear water almost reaching the rim of the well. Li Changgeng was flushed with excitement; this was the first major event since he took office as village chief!

If Jiang Chen hadn't chosen such an auspicious location and provided good food and drink for everyone to dig a well, the village would probably still have to fetch water from a distant river.

Now things are much better, there's a well right at the entrance of the village!

It's convenient for villagers to fetch water, and even more convenient for irrigating the fields!

"Brother Jiang, how are you so amazing? How did you know we could dig up water here?"

"That's right, our village has organized so many well-digging attempts before, but none of them were successful. Brother Jiang is truly amazing!"

"It's good to have water! We'll never have to worry about spring drought again!"

"This year's grain harvest is bountiful, and each household will receive a larger share. We can eat steamed rice cakes several times during the Lunar New Year. Just thinking about it makes me happy!"

…………

When the village got its first well, everyone was overjoyed, and even the old village chief smiled so much that his face was covered in wrinkles.

"Well done, everyone!" Jiang Chen looked at the clear well water and instructed, "The water is deep and dangerous. After lunch, get some bricks to raise the well rim. It would be best to put a well cover on it so that dirty things don't fall in."

I brought some fish fry to our village this time.

After dinner, Chang Geng, select a few strong and capable men, and let's dig some fish ponds to raise fish.

I even bought a textbook. If we follow the scientific methods, we can raise our own fish in a few months and at least add some meat to our meals.

"That's wonderful!" Li Changgeng slapped his thigh excitedly.

There is a river in the mountains, but the water flow is not large and the water is not deep. In the summer, naked children would go into the water to catch fish and shrimp, hoping to get more food.

The river is only about two meters wide and knee-deep. It's enough for the villagers to drink water, so how could there be any big fish?

Often, after fishing for half a day, you can only catch a few small fish about an inch long, not even enough to fill a tooth gap.

"As the saying goes, those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near water live off the water, but we live in a poor mountain and poor water, with nothing to eat!" The old village chief sighed, pointing to the barren rocky mountain not far away while smoking his pipe. "Other people have rich mountains, where they can hunt and eat meat; they can pick wild fruits to fill their stomachs."

We can't just eat rocks in this poor mountain area, can we?

Jiang Chen is worldly-wise and quick-witted. First, he dug a well, then he led everyone to raise fish. If they do a good job, they can have a prosperous year!

"Grandpa, Brother Jiang also contributed a batch of wheat seeds to our village. After the dry rice is harvested, everyone will plant them. As long as the wheat seedlings can survive the winter after two rounds of watering, we can harvest a batch of wheat next summer to grind into flour!"

Li Changgeng's bright eyes swept over the vast fields that had just been plowed in the spring, filled with hopeful imagination, "Then, we'll be able to eat steamed buns made of white flour every day!"

"Plant wheat?" The old village chief frowned and muttered, "It gets very cold in winter in this mountain valley. I'm afraid the wheat seedlings will freeze to death. I don't think you can do this. You'll just be wasting perfectly good grain."

Chapter Twenty-Six: Poor Mountains and Bad Waters Produce Troublesome People

"Is there wheat readily available in the village?"

“Our ancestors never grew wheat, and we don’t know how to take care of that delicate thing. It would be such a waste if we planted it and it froze to death. Why don’t we divide it up now!”

"Yes, yes, at least after the division, each family can still have two meals of wheat flour!"

"Wheat is being distributed! Jiang Chen brought back wheat for our village to share. He's such a wonderful person!"

"Great! Quickly wash the stone mill at the village entrance clean, then divide the wheat, grind it into flour, and steam buns to eat!"

…………

In his excitement, Li Changgeng let slip that the villagers were immediately ecstatic, their eyes reddening as they all gathered together, clamoring to share the wheat seeds.

Even some village women wearing patched-up cotton clothes started loudly discussing how to cook the wheat they got home to make it taste better!

Jiang Chen frowned slightly as he heard shouts growing louder and louder, "If we can't grow wheat in the mountains, we might as well share the food."

No wonder Lijiazhuang was always dirt poor. Even when the protagonist Song Aiguo returned to help with the construction in the original story, he suffered a lot of hardship, talked himself hoarse, and endured so many grievances.

These people are ignorant and uncultured; they only care about the present and never consider the future.

It seems that my poverty alleviation work has a long way to go!

"Brother, what should we do?"

Li Changgeng had never dealt with this situation before. As more and more people gathered, clamoring for the distribution of wheat, and even some carrying sacks, he shrank closer to Jiang Chen and whispered, "Judging from this, I'm afraid our fish won't grow big before these people steal and eat them all!"