Chapter 1: Little Cabbage, It’s You!

When Li Fan woke up, her head was splitting with pain.

She picked up her phone to check the time. The screen still displayed the gossip news she had been reading right before she fainted:

[Han Family’s Fourth Master spotted on a late-night date with a young model—seven rounds of passion, revelry until 4 AM!]

Li Fan casually tossed the phone aside and closed her eyes, heart as calm as still water.

Suddenly, a buzzing current of electricity sliced through the silence in the room.

Li Fan’s eyes flew open. She scanned the room, but the noise vanished.

[Zzzzz… zzzz…] The sound came again.

[System loading 30%… 60%… 99%… Activation complete.]

Li Fan’s eyes went blank. Just then, a knock sounded at the door, in sync with the mechanical voice ringing in her head.

“Madam, are you awake?”

It was Aunt Liu, the housekeeper.

Hearing the familiar voice, Li Fan pinched the space between her brows.
“Come in.”

Aunt Liu carefully opened the door and looked at her with concern.

The phone on the bed was still lit up, frozen on the gossip article. Seeing Li Fan’s current expression, Aunt Liu became even more convinced that her fainting was caused by emotional distress from reading the news.

“I called Dr. Yang. He said you’re fine, probably just low blood sugar.”

Li Fan responded with a soft “mm,” but she knew full well—she did not faint because of low blood sugar, and definitely not because of her husband’s scandal!

She was struck by lightning!

A real bolt of lightning—buzzing, crackling electricity from head to toe.

The fact that she was still alive felt like a miracle.

But if she said that out loud, Aunt Liu would probably think she’d lost her mind from shock.

“I’ll go make something for you downstairs and bring it up?”

Li Fan nodded. “Chicken noodle soup.”

Once Aunt Liu left, that thing in her head popped up again.

[Hello! I’m Gossip System 006. Nice to meet you. Please take care of me.]

Li Fan: “……”
Don’t hit a smiling face—at least this thing was polite.

“What are you?”

[I’m Gossip System No. 006.]

“And what’s a Gossip System supposed to be?”

*[Our mission: to devour all the gossip under heaven and drag every rotting melon in the field!]

Li Fan pinched the bridge of her nose. “So you struck me with lightning?”

[…That was an accident.]

Li Fan let out a cold laugh. She figured Aunt Liu had already called Han Xuzhou crying.

She could already imagine what Aunt Liu said:

“Madam saw the headline today and was so heartbroken, she fainted!”

Li Fan wanted to curse. Han Xuzhou has nothing to do with me. My heart is as calm as still water!!!

Seeing the murderous expression on her face, 006 weakly said:
[Fan Fan, don’t be like this. I’m actually useful.]

“Useful how?”

[All the juiciest gossip in the world—right at your fingertips!]

Li Fan lazily leaned against the headboard, raising an eyebrow.

“Let’s hear it, then?”

[Let me gather my data… Got it! Let’s start with you! Rumor has it that the world you’re in is a novel. And your role is the female… third? Fourth? No—you’re the female cannon fodder. The original wife of the villain who dies early!]

As soon as she heard the words “dies early,” Li Fan shot up.

“Are you crazy or am I crazy? I die early? If anyone should die, it’s Han Xuzhou! That man got in a car accident and lost use of his legs, yet he still flirts around every night! He should die first—I’m waiting to inherit his billions!”

Her voice nearly blew the roof off. Her chest heaved with anger.

That one line from 006 about her being the “early-dead wife” nearly sent her to heaven.

Just as the echoes of her rant still reverberated through the room, the door creaked open…

Aunt Liu stepped in, holding a phone, pale as a ghost.

“Ma… Madam, sir’s on the phone.”

Li Fan’s face was blank. “…My voice just now, it wasn’t that loud, was it?”

Aunt Liu’s expression was hard to describe. Not that loud? Even the neighbor’s dog thought you were yelling at it.

The next second, a low, mocking voice came through the phone:
“Heh. Inherit my fortune? Quite the ambition.”

Then came the busy tone.

“Fourth Master, Madam…” Chen Ji held the phone, cautiously asking.

Han Xuzhou sat in his wheelchair, long, strong fingers resting on the table. His peach blossom eyes were frigid—like ice and snow hardened in winter—tinged with a cold, predatory sharpness.

“She won’t die.”

Waiting for me to die and inherit my fortune?
Interesting.

Li Fan looked at the phone—already hung up—and pressed her lips together.

“Aunt Liu, just leave the noodles here. In the future, don’t tell Han Xuzhou anything about me.”

Aunt Liu hesitated. “Understood. I was just worried something bad might’ve happened…”

After Aunt Liu left, Li Fan looked at the chicken soup noodles and lost her appetite.

“Continue.”

006: [Continue what?]

Li Fan curled her lips. “Is there nothing else besides ‘dies early’?”

[There is. But it’s about you. Promise not to get mad.]

Li Fan forced a twisted smile. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”

But once 006 spoke, Li Fan realized it was even more shocking than that bolt of lightning.

In Yan City, everyone knew the Shen family had two daughters: one biological, one adopted.

Li Fan had been adopted by the Shen family, yet they never changed her surname. She was raised as an outsider.

When people spoke of her, they praised the Shen family’s generosity, or her own luck.

An orphan adopted by a prestigious family—wasn’t that the definition of lucky?

Even Li Fan herself once believed she was fortunate… until 006 began to reveal the truth.

[The Shen family now controls the Junwan Group. But it was originally the Jiang family’s, founded by Old Master Jiang. Your adoptive father, Shen Guochang, married into the Jiang family. After Old Master Jiang and his daughter Jiang Rou passed away one after another, the group ended up in Shen Guochang’s hands. That’s how the Shen family got to where they are today.]

Li Fan nodded. “That’s not a secret. I’ve known that for a long time.”

[What you think happened is this: Shen Guochang married into the Jiang family. Not long after, Jiang Rou gave birth to a daughter and passed away. Old Master Jiang was devastated and soon followed. Two years later, Shen Guochang brought his daughter Shen Yuwan and remarried Duan Lianxin. They never had any more children but adopted you. Duan Lianxin treated Shen Yuwan like her own, even getting sterilized for her. Everyone praised them, right?]

To the outside world, Shen Yuwan was Jiang Rou’s daughter, yet Duan Lianxin loved her like her own. It was admirable.

Li Fan pressed her lips together. Wasn’t that the truth?

Her adoptive parents really were good to Shen Yuwan.

006 continued:

[In reality, Shen Guochang dated Duan Lianxin before marrying into the Jiang family. But for wealth and power, he abandoned his first love. Duan Lianxin became his white moonlight. His marriage with Jiang Rou wasn’t happy. One day, by chance, he reunited with Duan Lianxin. Sparks flew, and they had a one-night stand. From that, Duan Lianxin gave birth to a daughter. Jiang Rou also gave birth to a daughter shortly after, but died soon after. With Old Master Jiang gone too, Shen Guochang took control and—together with Duan Lianxin—switched the children. A classic case of the fox swapping the prince.]

Li Fan was stunned. “So Shen Yuwan is Duan Lianxin’s biological daughter? That’s impossible! Weren’t they different ages? Wouldn’t that be obvious?”

[Old Master Jiang and Jiang Rou both died. The Jiang family fell into Shen Guochang’s hands. Hardly anyone knew the truth. Shen Yuwan wasn’t shown to the public until she was three. No one could tell the difference.]

Even with the faint gratitude she held toward her adoptive parents, Li Fan couldn’t help but curse, “Bastards!”

She quickly asked, “Then what about Jiang Rou’s biological daughter? Where’s that little cabbage been growing all these years?”

[Little cabbage—it’s you.]