Chapter 8: Koi Painting of the Seventies (8)

As for her students, with the exception of Liu Li who could only be considered a beginner, the rest had already completed their apprenticeships. After all, they were already experts in their respective fields, brought in from all corners of the country—and even from places of internal exile—only because she had suddenly announced she would be giving lectures. Indeed, among them were those who had once been persecuted and suppressed, but she had managed to secure their return.

This could be considered a contribution of sorts. Liu Li took the college entrance examination and successfully gained admission to Qin University, majoring in mechanical engineering. While the subjects Chen Ying had taught her were professional, they were practical skills rather than foundational knowledge; Liu Li still needed to learn the basics to truly integrate and master everything.

Fortunately, she had the guidance of her classmates over those years, otherwise, she would have been lost. After all, no one builds a skyscraper starting from the second floor; one must lay a foundation. She was the one who had been building castles in the air without a base.

Thus, when the college entrance examination was reinstated, she took the test, successfully entered the university, and began to lay her foundation anew. By the time she graduated, she had essentially mastered the field. She still held an advantage, however; as a transmigrator who had lived in the 21st century, she possessed foresight regarding technological trends, which provided a guiding direction for her inventions and research, allowing her to know what was feasible to develop.

Over those three years, several of Chen Ying’s research projects incorporated her suggestions, as she knew which technological products could be realized. As it turned out, this was indeed the case. Although the reform had only just begun, the country’s progress in automobiles, trains, televisions, and telephones was advancing at a breakneck pace. By the late 1970s, they were already producing items that had not appeared in her original world until the year 2000.

Later, after Liu Li graduated, under Chen Ying’s guidance, she and a colleague from a research institute co-developed a computer. Although the machine was still somewhat clumsy, it was far superior to what already existed abroad. During this period, she and a senior student from her research group became a couple.

Chen Ying had also discovered some of Liu Li’s secrets. For instance, she noticed that whenever Liu Li set her mind to achieving something, the outcome would invariably be reached through a series of coincidences, with a process that was quite mystical and unfathomable. It was precisely because of this that she had specifically directed Liu Li toward computer development.

Once the computer was successfully developed, her senior proposed to her. Liu Li naturally accepted, and the two quickly set a wedding date.

For their wedding, they invited Chen Ying to serve as the witness. Chen Ying had remained single throughout these years; it was not for a lack of suitors, but rather that she had turned them all away. After serving as the witness, she drank at the wedding banquet, joined the others in teasing the newlyweds, and then returned to her room to rest.

The next day, when Chen Ying opened her eyes—or rather, when Mu Yin blinked her eyes—she sat up abruptly in bed. She clutched a gray, stone-like object that lacked a solid form and pressed a hand to her head. "My god, that was almost a failure."

Mu Yin had previously been cast into the depths of the River of Time and Space. She had nearly been wiped out of existence by the Waters of Law within the river, saved only by the Space-Time Key in her possession.

She had absorbed all the soul pearls within her space, resisting the erosion of the river water. Unexpectedly, this had boosted her soul to the 9th level, reaching the absolute limit and rendering her no longer afraid of the river.

She also discovered the essence of this world. It turned out that the reason their world was plagued by those "vermin" was that their world's Creator God had made a wager with another Creator God. They used their respective worlds as a chessboard, dispatching subordinates to infiltrate the other's world to seize its core.

Whoever gained total control of the other's world would be declared the winner, and that world would belong to them entirely. Those "vermin" were merely pawns of the other side.

The Creator God of the world Mu Yin was in was the deity with the human appearance, while the vermin were the minions of the octopus-like god. From the visions she had witnessed, it was clear that half of their world had already fallen into the enemy's hands.

Just as the alien she had encountered earlier had said, the Main God Space, serving as the world's defense mechanism, had already been seized. The rest of the world falling under their control was merely a matter of time.

She had been unable to enter those other worlds later on because they had been controlled by the aliens, and the worlds themselves rejected her entry—including her own. Knowing this, she was filled with unwillingness.

Why should their world be so easily abandoned by the gods? If it fell into the hands of that octopus god, would they have any hope left? Those who are not of one's own kind are sure to have different hearts; such distinctions exist even among different groups within the same world, let alone between different worlds.

Therefore, she would not give up. If the gods did not care, she did. If the gods did not want this world, she did. She devised a plan: by utilizing the power of the River of Time and Space, she finally managed to enter one of the controlled worlds. However, this world had been completely remodeled.

Remodeled into what? Naturally, a world just like the others—a world dominated by protagonists and main plotlines. While it didn't descend into an endless cycle of reincarnation, whenever one protagonist died, a new one would appear. The world would revolve entirely around the protagonist and the plot, never undergoing genuine development.

Such a world was deformed, but it had one advantage: controlling the protagonist meant controlling the world. After arriving in this world, she had lost her memories due to the world's suppression, but fortunately, her instincts remained, driving her to alter the plot.

This world was a "transmigration, era-themed, lucky-charm" story. The female lead, Liu Li, had transmigrated into a distorted "rebirth, spoiled-girl" novel, becoming the cousin of the original female lead, Liu Xin. Possessing a "lucky-charm" constitution, she used it to improve her family's circumstances and survive the schemes of the original lead, Liu Xin.

The protagonist only recalled the plot after the original owner of her body died. Her feelings toward Liu Xin shifted from mere dislike to hatred, as the original owner, despite helping Liu Xin, had never done anything evil—even helping the protagonist a few times—but simply lacked the wit to judge people correctly.

Liu Li felt that the original owner was a good person who had been murdered by Liu Xin. She sabotaged Liu Xin’s plan to marry the original owner's husband from her previous life and, after several incidents, exposed Liu Xin’s "white lotus" facade. This ruined Liu Xin’s reputation in the village, leading her family to hastily marry her off to someone else.

Later, after the reforms, Liu Li studied and went into business, meeting the male lead—a "red third generation" who had entered the business world. They lived a loving life with a son and a daughter. Because of her intervention, the protagonist did not go into business after her studies but became a researcher, eventually ending up with another researcher.

For a story centered on romance, the romantic arc between the leads is the world's main plotline. Once she dismantled the main plot, the story could not be completed, and the core of essence that had been anchored within the plotline was revealed.

Indeed, in these controlled worlds, their core of essence was no longer at the center of the universe, but hidden within the plotline itself. Only by dismantling the plot could she see it and claim it.