The male supporting character was actually myself.

"I...I don't know what happened, I suddenly felt dizzy..." Her voice trembled involuntarily as she spoke, her whole body shaking slightly as she tried to grab onto something to help him.

With no foothold, he was only holding onto the swaying sapling with one hand and pulling on the other. The two of them couldn't hold on for long!

"It's alright, don't be afraid, I'm here." Jiang Chen stood firmly on the soul weapon, his right hand was just for show.

Otherwise, how could such a small wild sapling possibly support the weight of two people?

"It's all my fault!" Song Aiwan realized there wasn't a single bump on the cliff to grab onto or step on, and tears streamed down her face like beads. "If I hadn't been so eager to get back to the village, I wouldn't have encountered this situation."

If I hadn't felt dizzy for a moment...

"It's not your fault. Blame the motorcycle for breaking down at the worst possible time. Once we widen and repair the mountain road next year and it's open to traffic, we'll install railings around it and we won't have to worry about this kind of danger anymore."

Jiang Chen held her calmly, without even panting.

There was definitely no danger to his life; the problem was how to climb up in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion, right under the little white cat's nose and in front of Song Aiwan.

"The Cloud Ladder, can I use this item, Host?"

The little white cat frantically searched through the space, then pulled out a few more: "Pull back from the brink, climb high and look far, gecko walk... these seem to be useful, but Song Aiwan will discover the clues, what should we do?"

Can you still hold on?

"How about I get you a rope?"

Jiang Chen winked at it, and the little white cat, realizing that its host didn't seem too embarrassed, quieted down and lay on the edge of the cliff, grabbing his arm with its two furry short paws.

“We can’t hold out like this for long.” After crying for a while, Song Aiwan made up her mind and said, “It’s dark now and it’s starting to snow. No one will come by to help us.”

Jiang Chen, let go.

I won't hold you back. You can definitely climb up by yourself!

Thank you for taking care of me. You gave me the most precious love and sense of security in my life.

I was the one who dragged you down before, and even caused you to give up your good fortune for Aiguo, keeping you busy every day without a moment's rest. From now on, forget about me and find a girl who is more worthy of you to grow old together.

I'm just unlucky, I accept it.

But I absolutely cannot drag you down with me again!

Having made up her mind to sacrifice herself to give her beloved a chance to live, Song Aiwan's face was resolute and her heart was calm. She looked up at the cliff face less than a meter away, tried not to make any big movements, leaned over and gently kissed Jiang Chen's cheek, "Farewell."

You must live well, and live a more wonderful life for me!

Leaving her last words, she struggled to break free from Jiang Chen's warm embrace, intending to fall off the cliff herself.

Jiang Chen sighed helplessly and could only hold her tighter to prevent her from falling and touching the soul artifact, thus creating a trap.

"Let me go! I beg you, Jiang Chen, let go!" Song Aiwan struggled to pry his hands off, crying out, "Don't waste any more time, we'll both die when you run out of strength!"

Her fingers ached from being twisted, and Jiang Chen twitched her lips as she looked helplessly at the little white cat wiping away tears of emotion on the edge of the cliff. "Hey," she said, "can you do me a favor?"

"What?" Song Aiwan was agitated and didn't hear what he said clearly. She subconsciously stopped struggling and asked, "Say what you have to say quickly, and then let go..."

Before she could finish speaking, the little white cat, seeing the host's look, suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed a crowbar from the system space, jumped up, and smashed it on the back of Song Aiwan's neck. She immediately rolled her eyes and fainted completely.

"Be gentle! What if you break it?"

"Don't worry, host, I have a lot of experience knocking people out." The little white cat pouted and said unhappily, "Don't you trust your soft and cute little white cat?"

Waaaaah~ I'm so sad, and I can't be comforted!

"Host, you have to give me lots and lots of delicious food..."

"Tie a rope to the rock so I can use it for leverage; we won't even need any props."

"Alright!" The little white cat, while chattering away, didn't stop its claws. It quickly tied the rope securely to a boulder by the roadside and handed it over.

With his feet hovering in the air atop the Soul Artifact, Jiang Chen pretended to climb back up the winding path at the top of the steep cliff with the "help" of the fluffy ball.

"Host, you must be exhausted. Sit down and rest. I'll get her some medicine."

After the little white cat finished cleaning up and erasing all traces on the cliff, it took out a small medicine bottle from its space and held it under Song Aiwan's nose for a few seconds. Song Aiwan's neck slumped down and she fell into a deep sleep.

Jiang Chen took out the script and glanced at it. Sure enough, there was an update that hadn't been posted in a long time. Seeing the velvet ball looking sneaky, he asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Give her some sleeping pills!" After confirming that Song Aiwan was fast asleep, the little white cat put away the medicine bottle and explained, "This is a little bottle I swiped from the place where that bug Situ Nan lives. It's very useful and will definitely make her sleep for five or six hours."

Otherwise, she would have woken up in ten minutes or so after the blow I gave her.

It's dark, snowing, and the roads are slippery. The motorcycle is broken. If she wakes up, the host will have to walk such a long way through the mountains. How tiring! What if something unexpected happens on the way?

So just let her sleep, then use a teleportation item to get directly to the entrance of Lijiazhuang Village, and carry her back.

You won't be noticed, you won't be tired, and you won't have to worry about any unforeseen changes—it's a win-win situation!

He looked at the fluffy little ball squatting with its hands tucked in its sides in surprise and praised, "My little white thing is getting more and more capable. It's even thought of what to do next!"

"Of course!" Praised, the little white cat proudly put its hands on its hips and wagged its big tail. "The soft and cute little white cat has been working hard to grow and help its host. I will be even more powerful in the future!"

"Hmm, very good. It would be even better if you didn't swat my neck with the tip of your tail when you were showing off. Now that you've planned this, bring over the teleportation talisman. It's dark and cold outside, so don't freeze here."

"okay!"

…………

A few seconds later, Jiang Chen carried the drowsy Song Aiwan into the village.

"Brother Jiang?" Li Changgeng had just returned from checking on the pig farm. They were preparing to slaughter large, fat pigs at the end of the year for a prosperous New Year, so he needed to make preparations in advance. He saw Jiang Chen carrying someone on his back and hurriedly went over to lend a hand. "What's wrong? Are you sick or tired? Should I help you go and call the old Party Secretary to take a look?"

Jiang Chen waved his hand and said, "No need, she's just asleep and not sick. My motorcycle broke down on the cliff, but I walked here by myself. I'll get it repaired tomorrow."

"What a mess! How did the motorcycle break down?" Li Changgeng breathed a sigh of relief.

In winter, the biggest fear in a remote mountain village is getting sick.

In the past, the village was poor and had no food, drink, or warmth. In addition, there was a lack of medical care and medicine. When people got sick, they could only ask the old village secretary, who knew a little about medicine, to prescribe some herbal medicine. Whether they could get better depended entirely on their luck.

Although people can now eat and dress warmly, the new housing that Jiang Chen planned is not yet completed, and everyone is still living in dilapidated mud houses, which is troublesome when they get sick.

Lijiazhuang Village is large and populous. There was no planning for building houses or alleys, and the land was divided up. The houses were built against the mountain, and the streets and alleys were not properly organized and were winding and twisting.

Jiang Chen specially planned a new living area for future transportation convenience.

Back in the summer, the foundations were laid with newly fired red bricks, and preparations were made to build new houses uniformly. The new houses would be allocated uniformly according to the demolition and relocation principles.

Drainage and various pipes have been planned inside, and centralized heating will be available next winter.

In a few years, advanced facilities such as electricity, toilets, solar showers, and televisions can be installed all at once.

If we can get through this winter, the living conditions in Lijiazhuang will improve dramatically!

"Oh dear, why did you have to carry this child back? Hurry up and put him on the kang (heated brick bed), you must be exhausted. I'll start a fire and cook something for you..." Song Qingshan was both surprised and flustered when he saw the two of them enter the door, and he paced around in circles.

"It's nothing, I'm not tired. There was a little accident on the way, and Xiaowan just fell asleep."

After settling Song Aiwan onto the kang (heated brick bed), Jiang Chen remained by her side.

Before the script was updated, no one could have imagined how the script team would arrange things to make the plot more compelling.

I heard from Little White Cat before that in order to help the main character rise to the top, the supporting character had to fall and die. So, they had to protect him in every way to ensure that nothing went wrong.

Song Aiwan slept until the early morning of the next day.

When asked about falling off the cliff, Jiang Chen brushed it off lightly.

Years later, when the two of them, with white hair, sat in rocking chairs basking in the sun and reminisced about the past, she still blamed herself for being too cowardly and fainting like that. Fortunately, Jiang Chen was young and strong and was able to carry her up the stairs...

..............................

postscript.

[Final Mission: Help Lijiazhuang Village escape poverty and achieve a moderate level of per capita income. Reward: 1 Medal]

It seems the scriptwriters behind this script were rather laid-back; after discovering that Lijiazhuang was developing rapidly and that Song Aiwan was still alive and well, they immediately wrote a sequel.

"After going through thick and thin together with Song Aiwan, Jiang Chen, who had been secretly plotting something, suddenly realized his mistake and resolved to contribute to the development of rural areas." The little white cat hugged the new script and laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Host, the script team really knows how to go with the flow! They've given your character a complete reversal in just one sentence!"

The script has finally turned out the way we wanted!

Jiang Chen watched the subsequent plot with satisfaction and nodded, saying, "That's more like it. Everyone works together to create a better home, and it's a harmonious and happy ending. I like it."

The plot directly sets the tone for what follows.

Unlike Song Aiguo's tragic storyline of suffering and begging the villagers to make changes, the protagonist ultimately stayed at the Capital Academy of Sciences as a dedicated researcher, and three years after graduation, he married his first love—a classmate and the school beauty.

The two were a harmonious couple, supporting each other in life and work, and both made significant contributions to their respective research fields.

The Li family village, which secretly implemented the new plan, had a prosperous year in its first year. All fifty large fat pigs raised in the first batch of the breeding farm were slaughtered and distributed to all villagers according to their profit-sharing levels.

The fishpond also saw its first bumper harvest of large fish;

The wheat seedlings in the fields are covered with thick white snow, waiting to awaken and prepare for the spring harvest.

The new brick houses, designed with practicality, look neat and beautiful from afar. Construction can resume once the weather warms up after the New Year.

In addition to the large number of eggs produced daily, the chicken farm also slaughtered some roosters to contribute to the profit sharing.

The fruit trees in the orchard are still small, but with careful care, they will grow into large fruit trees bearing abundant fruit in a few years. By then, the winding mountain paths will be replaced by wide highways, and the bountiful harvest hidden deep in the mountains will bring the villagers a lot of money.

Amidst the sounds of firecrackers during the New Year, Jiang Chen, with the help of the old village chief as matchmaker, finally settled on a wedding date with Song Qingshan.

"Starting to write invitations so early?" Song Aiwan asked curiously as she watched him diligently writing the invitations under the candlelight. "Our wedding is still more than three months away. Isn't this a bit early?"

"It's getting late, and we might not even be able to find anyone!"

Jiang Chen responded, put the dozen or so invitations he had personally written into envelopes, stretched, and sighed, "I wonder if that guy will come."

"Who is it? Why such a grand invitation?"

"You'll know how important this person is when you meet him."

"Here we go again, playing hard to get! Oh, right, Aiguo is bringing his girlfriend back, let's go to town together to take pictures, a family photo!"

"Yes, and let's take our wedding photos too..."

…………

A letter containing a wedding invitation flew from the green satchel of the postman in Lijiazhuang to all parts of the country, landing in mailboxes at doorways.

The 20th day of the third month in the lunar calendar is Grain Rain.

It is an auspicious time for marriage, travel, and prayer.

Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, Jiang Chen, dressed in a modified Zhongshan suit with a large red flower tied to his chest, welcomed his bride into the house.

Although the wedding was to be held simply in accordance with the policy, Jiang Chen, a successful entrepreneur with excellent interpersonal relationships, still set up a large banquet in the courtyard, with guests filling the room and toasting each other in a joyous atmosphere.