Chapter 1: Do You Want a Wife?

It was a cold winter in 1980, in a narrow alleyway in Kyoto.

Xu An’s hands were tucked into thick cotton gloves, damp from the snow. A woman in front of her, rather rudely, pulled her towards the alleyway.

Xu An followed stiffly and awkwardly.

The woman in front of her, as if afraid Xu An would run away, quickly walked deeper into the alley, her mouth never stopping.

“Young comrade, if you want to stay in Kyoto, there’s no other way than to get married.”

“You’re a girl from a small village in the south, it’s not easy to find a partner in Kyoto. Auntie won’t cheat you, my son has a bit of a temper, but seeing your gentle nature, if you just go along with him, you two can live together.”

“Marry a man, marry a man, you get clothes and food. These days, it doesn’t matter who you marry, just add another pair of chopsticks. When you two split the household later, you can live your own little life, it’s the most comfortable.”

Xu An followed behind her, the woman’s words drifting into her ears, but her mind couldn’t help but call out to the system.

System, system, where’s my reward for completing the task?

A cold, mechanical voice soon echoed in Xu An’s mind.

Host, the task reward has been issued, a Frost-Skinned Jade Bone Pill, you can obtain it at any time.

Hearing the system’s voice, Xu An’s dull pupils flashed with an unusual light. She tentatively moved her stiff fingers.

With this reward, at least her life was saved for now.

Xu An wasn’t the current Xu An. She had an accident while hiking in the future, and when she woke up again, it was in the cold morning of winter, lying at the door of a private hotel, covered in thick snow.

When she woke up in this body, the original owner’s body was already stiff, frozen to death in the Kyoto night.

Xu An found out the reason for the original owner’s death from her memories.

The original owner grew up in a small village in the south, she had a close childhood friend named Gao Jincheng. When the original owner turned eighteen, she started dating Gao Jincheng.

Gao Jincheng wanted to take the college entrance exam, so she supported him, she participated in the exam for several years, and Xu An became an old maid in the village. At the age of twenty-two, Gao Jincheng finally got into college.

Originally, getting into a university in Kyoto was a double celebration, but Gao Jincheng asked Xu An to wait for him to graduate, and promised to return to the village to marry her when he achieved something.

The naive girl naturally obeyed, waiting for Gao Jincheng to study, without complaint or regret, until this year, Gao Jincheng was in his second year of college, and suddenly sent a letter home during winter break, saying that he wouldn’t go home this winter break, he had to study hard.

Xu An, in the village, worried about Gao Jincheng who was far away in Kyoto, begged her family to let her go to Kyoto to find him.

After writing a letter of introduction in the village, the original owner traveled to Kyoto with full of expectations.

The little girl who couldn’t read or write finally found Gao Jincheng’s school, but she stood there, dazed, watching Gao Jincheng walk arm in arm with a well-dressed, beautiful girl in the snow-covered campus.

The simple girl who only had one person in her heart and eyes didn’t even have the courage to walk up to them and pull them apart. She looked down at her own colorful cotton clothes, which her family had pooled money together to buy for her.

Compared to the girl’s warm woolen sweater, soft white scarf, and fashionable checkered coat, it was simply a disgrace.

Snowflakes fell on the little girl’s eyelashes, melting quickly and rolling down her cheeks.

She awkwardly followed the two people, seeing Gao Jincheng’s good temper, seeing the girl’s coquettishness, watching them go to fancy restaurants she had never been to.

She had a glimmer of hope, trying to walk past them, but the one who should have been her childhood sweetheart didn’t recognize her in her heavy, messy clothes.

Until night fell, the two of them walked towards a private hotel.

The intimate and sticky atmosphere made it clear to everyone what kind of night this couple was about to spend.

The original owner finally couldn’t control her trembling voice and called out Gao Jincheng’s name.

Then, in the condescending and disgusted gaze of the girl beside Gao Jincheng, she said she was a fellow villager from the countryside, and in the bone-chilling cold night of Kyoto, her heart finally died.

The girl died in the indifferent and evasive eyes of her lover, in front of a woman who was obviously superior to her, even fighting seemed ridiculous.

Like a small ant, she could only rely on other people’s morality and conscience to survive.

Obviously, her childhood sweetheart didn’t have any, and neither did his companion, so she died.

When Xu An woke up in the stiff body of the poor girl, she was bound to the 001 system, carrying the resentment that the little girl dared only to harbor in her heart and the resistance she didn’t have the courage to do.

Stay in Kyoto, make that man regret it.

At first, Xu An was afraid and terrified, controlling this stiff body. When she passed by a restaurant window, she accidentally saw her face full of bruises, her blue-black lips, and her already dull pupils through the blurry window.

It was a frozen corpse.

She was startled, immediately pulled off her gloves, and saw her own blue-purple fingernails, she panicked, afraid that someone would see her abnormality, she quickly put on the already wet gloves, and dared not take them off again.

Host, you need to complete the task quickly, stay in Kyoto, you can save your life.

Xu An hadn’t taken it seriously, just her own confusion and fear of coming to the 1980s, now she finally understood the seriousness of it.

“If I survive, what about this body that’s neither human nor ghost!”

Anyone with eyes could see her abnormality, how could she possibly stay? Xu An was both afraid and anxious.

Unexpectedly, she really managed to stay in Kyoto.

While wandering aimlessly, she was stopped by the woman who was now pulling her along.

Xu An was completely covered up, only revealing a pair of lifeless, dull eyes. She looked dazed and silly, but someone called out to her, wanting to introduce her to their son.

She wanted to say, “Your son doesn’t deserve this,” but she still cooperated with the woman’s interrogation, like checking her household registration, driven by the desire to survive.

Knowing that she was a girl from the south, the woman was even more satisfied. She couldn’t wait to take Xu An, whose face she hadn’t even seen clearly, to get a marriage certificate.

It was absurd.

Dozens of low-rise buildings in the alleyway were crammed together haphazardly, crisscrossing, with bare branches in the winter, the leaves all gone.

The woman led her through twists and turns, finally arriving at the entrance of a small courtyard. At the entrance, she pulled Xu An inside. The courtyard was crowded and cramped with piles of miscellaneous items.

Xu An was led into the main room. Sensing the presence of people inside, she was afraid that her inhuman and ghostly appearance would be discovered, and she would be treated as a monster. Xu An silently lowered her dull eyes and kept quiet.

She didn’t speak, but Pan Hehua had a lot to say.

She brought Xu An in, and with a hint of smugness, she glanced at the few people in the room with surprised expressions. Finally, her gaze fell on a young man who was leaning against the door carelessly. She pushed Xu An towards the man and said in a kind voice,

“Second son, this is the wife I found for you with great effort. Don’t be a fool, you two should live a good life together.”

After she finished speaking, Xu An clearly felt a frivolous gaze scanning her from head to toe, finally settling on her face, which only revealed her eyes.

It was offensive and provocative. Xu An couldn’t bear such a scrutinizing gaze, and couldn’t help but look up, falling into a pair of dissolute and frivolous black eyes. A distinct scar ran along the sharp end of his eyebrows, making him look fierce.

Xu An almost subconsciously frowned, disliking this abrupt gaze, as if she was being examined like a piece of merchandise.

Sure enough, the next second, she heard the man say nonchalantly, “The wife you found for me? Where did you find this kind of trash?”

Pan Hehua frowned, trying to reason with him, “Second son, you’re not young anymore, you’re twenty-two. You… this condition, it’s really hard to find someone in our alley. The girl is willing to marry you, and you’re still picky.”

The man crossed his arms, sneering, “What, you want to get rid of me after only being back for a few days?”

Pan Hehua felt a little guilty, “What do you mean get rid of you? Your elder brother is married, and Shuwen has a partner. I’ve been searching the alleys for your marriage these past few days, and no one else has taken a fancy to you. Your mother is just worried about you.”

Zhou Yu ignored Pan Hehua, his eyes glancing at the woman in front of him, who was bundled up like a ball.

“Want to marry me?”

Zhou Yu’s words were frivolous and disrespectful. Xu An gently bit her lip, not speaking.

But the man didn’t intend to let her go. He bent down, his gaze level with Xu An’s, his eyes wandering over her, “I’ve been in prison, and I’m a cripple, you know that.”

Xu An raised her eyes sharply, with a mixture of shock and astonishment.

Before she could say anything, she was pulled aside by Pan Hehua, her voice becoming sharper, “Prison is a thing of the past. And your leg is just a little lame, it doesn’t matter.”

She rubbed her hands and looked at Xu An, “Besides, the certificate has already been issued for you two. You’re going to stay in Kyoto anyway. If he wasn’t lame and had been in prison, you wouldn’t have been able to get together, right?”

Xu An’s body stiffened. She was pulled by Pan Hehua, almost falling straight down. When she recovered, she heard Pan Hehua’s words.

The meaning was clear. If Zhou Yu wasn’t problematic, she, a girl from the south, wouldn’t have been able to find a marriage like this.

No wonder they didn’t even care what she looked like, afraid she would run away, they grabbed her and went to get the certificate.

The certificate had already been issued, she had to stay in Kyoto. Xu An raised her eyes and realized that Zhou Yu’s gaze had been fixed on her.

Xu An’s gaze uncontrollably moved to the man’s leg, which was loosely resting on one side, not putting any weight on it. She heard a light sneer from above.

She looked up, the man’s gaze was full of mockery, and harsh words poured out one after another.

“Now you know? Get out.”

Hearing Zhou Yu’s vicious words, Xu An’s heart sank, exploding in her mind.

Wuwuwu, system, can I return the reward to you first? Can I find another way to stay in Kyoto?

Zhou Yu is just a gangster, I can’t afford to offend him, I’m afraid I’m going to die sooner or later.

The system’s cold, mechanical voice echoed.

Reward revoked, the host’s letter of introduction is valid for three months.

But this body can’t last that long, the host will turn into a cold corpse tonight.

Xu An, who was about to celebrate, froze. She quickly chose to save her life without hesitation, between fear and survival.

After making up her mind, she slowly raised her eyes, using those dull and lifeless eyes to look at the ferocious man in front of her with utmost sincerity, her voice earnest.

“I know, I’m going to marry you.”

The man’s originally frivolous black eyes suddenly turned dark and deep, his pupils contracted, and the thick black eyebrows that had been locked in annoyance slightly loosened, revealing a hint of imperceptible astonishment.

His cracked lips moved for a moment, his throat rolled, and he uttered a few vulgar words in a frustrated silence.

Damn, she’s really annoying.