Chapter 2: The Eighteen Transformations of Women

Shinianzi Village.

“Lizi, Auntie is doing this for your own good. Think about it, their family raises over a dozen pigs and runs a butcher shop in town; they make a lot of money! Besides being a little older, what’s wrong with them?”

“Once you marry into that family, you’ll have a life of luxury without worries. Such a good family shouldn’t let the good fortune flow to someone else!”

Xia Li smiled broadly, feeling a bit annoyed inside.

Is thirty really considered a little older? It’s more like a lot older!

She locked her wooden bucket, turned around, and showed a wide smile to the middle-aged woman.

“Auntie, you know I’m poor, lazy, and greedy. How could I be worthy of such a good match?”

“I think it’s better to let it go to Yingzhen. She’s lively, and the man is a bit older and more stable, so they would be a good match.”

The woman was momentarily stunned, pointing at her with wide eyes, her expression changing as she spat, “What nonsense are you talking? My Yingzhen is only eighteen! How could she marry that old widower?”

However, Xia Li had already walked away.

With her wooden bucket under her arm, her waist slender beneath her faded shirt, she wore a faint smile, ignoring the woman’s foul-mouthed curses.

It’s not that she couldn’t endure it; Xia Li simply felt that cursing was an art form.

This auntie’s cursing skills were evidently only at an intermediate level. She mainly relied on her sharp tongue and fierce demeanor. If one were to talk about someone who could curse brilliantly, it would be the old lady Cui living next door.

Even with false teeth, she could make several young men cry. If only Auntie could go head-to-head with Old Lady Cui, it would surely be very entertaining.

Xia Li walked towards the small river outside the village, greeting others along the way. “Lizi, going fishing again?”

Xia Li smiled, “Yes.”

The person waved and left.

But out of the corner of his eye, he kept glancing back at Xia Li’s figure, wondering why she seemed more and more attractive lately.

It seems the saying holds true: women undergo eighteen transformations, and there’s indeed some truth to it.

What he didn’t know was that the village girl Xia Li had already undergone a significant change.

Xia Li was originally an ordinary academic achiever in a future society.

Aside from consistently ranking first in her class, being a top student in both science and literature, and casually running a food streaming channel that reached millions, she didn’t have any other standout qualities.

She had to be modest.

So Xia Li always told herself that becoming a wealthy woman at such a young age wasn’t something to be proud of.

Until one day during a trip, she encountered a flash flood.

While rescuing a pair of children, she was accidentally swept away by the water. As she lost consciousness from lack of oxygen, her last thought was that the most painful thing in the world was realizing she hadn’t spent all her money before dying…

Then she found herself in a parallel world, in a small village in the 1980s where material wealth was scarce.

The original host was also named Xia Li, an orphan left destitute after her parents passed away.

The only thing she had was a mud-brick house left by her father before he died, which had long been eyed by her uncle and aunt.

The original host didn’t know that she was in a world centered around a male protagonist, a world of wish-fulfillment stories with luck-based male and female leads.

Unfortunately, she was just one of the many cannon fodders.

The original host had a crush on the childhood male lead, becoming infatuated to the point of madness. After being rejected, she fell into despair and, under her aunt’s introduction, married a small-time thug from the neighboring village.

That thug later became successful in business but cheated on her with three or four different women.

When the original host discovered this, she chose to divorce him and was thrown back to her hometown without a penny. She happened to see the male and female leads sweetly returning to the village together, and out of jealousy, she impulsively took their child away, only to end up in prison and die in despair.

A rather tragic life.

When Xia Li arrived, the original host was nineteen years old and was being introduced to potential suitors by her aunt, Xie Shuangxiu.

After realizing the plot, she sighed and, looking around at the bare walls of her surroundings, acknowledged that she had spoken too soon.

She hadn’t died but found herself in a state of poverty after crossing over, discovering that all the hard-earned money from her original world was now useless, which was quite frustrating.

However, at least she still had her hardworking hands, right?

Since arriving, Xia Li had been feeling very hungry. While the original host could endure not touching meat, she couldn’t. Determined to go fishing, she set out, only to catch nothing after two tries.

She felt as if she was destined to be unlucky with river fish. Today would be her last attempt; if she couldn’t catch even half a fish, she would give up her little fishing rod and head up the mountain for some wild delicacies.

Approaching from the village entrance was none other than the male lead of this world, Wei Qihong.

The male lead was still in his early twenties, not yet having made a name for himself, but he stood out impressively in this small mountain village.

With a slender and refined figure, wearing thin-framed glasses, and a handsome face, he always held a book in his hands, presenting an image of a cultured young man.

Many young girls in the village, just beginning to experience their first crushes, found him very appealing, and would blush when they happened to cross paths with him on the road.

Wei Qihong spotted Xia Li’s solitary figure from a distance; his gaze behind the lenses flickered suddenly before disappearing quickly.

He paused, standing still, naturally waiting for Xia Li to notice him, smiling shyly as he would on other days to greet her.

Xia Li, carrying her small wooden bucket for fish, met his gaze with her fair, jade-like face.

Huh? Isn’t that the male lead?

She was surprised for a second.

Then… she simply walked past him, her steps steady and quiet as she continued on her way.