Chapter 1: Transmigration

Dawn was just breaking.

Gradually, sounds began to stir in Osmanthus Alley.

People were already waking up to start their day’s work.

There were over a dozen households living in Osmanthus Alley. Most of the residents worked at various shops, so they usually rose quite early.

From one of the doors came a creaking sound — [creak] — as it opened, and a boy of about seven or eight peeked out before cautiously stepping into the alley.

As the boy extended his hand, it was obvious that his sleeve was too short, revealing his thin and bony wrist.

Some people, hurrying to work, glanced at the boy with sympathy. One of them even stuffed a steamed bun into his hand. “Eat something to pad your stomach — how else can you last the day?”

The boy wanted to refuse, but the person had already run off. In the end, he withdrew his hand.

He pursed his lips slightly and returned to the courtyard with the bun. Not long after, he came out again holding half the bun, stuffed it into his mouth in a few quick bites, and closed the door behind him.

He ran quickly, afraid of being late and getting scolded by the teacher.

Inside the house, Pu Jiaojiao opened her eyes, feeling utterly hopeless. She never imagined she would actually transmigrate into a novel.

What was worse — she’d become the stepmother of the villain, and not just any stepmother, but a wicked one.

She had heard the noises in the courtyard just now, but she was still in shock and didn’t want to move.

What kind of sin had she committed? She used to be a lifestyle influencer with over a million followers, and now she’d somehow ended up in a cliché sweet-romance novel.

Suddenly, Pu Jiaojiao sat up straight as a terrifying realization struck her — the villain’s stepmother had a tragic ending.

Because the villain had been abused by his stepmother as a child, he eventually grew up twisted and unstable. Once he gained power, the very first thing he did was peel her skin and tear her bones apart.

Pu Jiaojiao shuddered. If she jumped into a well now, could she return to the modern world?

Sure, murder was illegal in ancient times too, but people with enough power treated human lives like dirt.

The villain was destined to become a high-ranking and powerful official. If he wanted someone dead, it would be as easy as flipping a hand.

She was on the verge of tears. Although the villain would eventually fall to ruin due to fighting the male and female leads, she wouldn’t even survive long enough to see it happen. Wasn’t that even worse?

But right now, the villain was still a child. Could she still be saved?

From the original host’s memories, her family had been fairly well-off. They ran a general store, and she’d married the villain’s father because he had once saved her.

One time, while she was burning incense at the temple, she ran into a lecher. She was unable to fight him off and was saved just in time by the villain’s father.

After discussing the situation, her family decided that since her reputation was ruined anyway, she might as well marry him to repay the favor.

Thankfully, the villain’s father was at least a constable, a somewhat respected figure.

However, from the moment she got married, the original host had been sluggish and resentful. She had once been engaged to her childhood sweetheart, but after that incident, he broke off the engagement, deeming her impure.

From Pu Jiaojiao’s inherited memories, it was clear that when the villain’s father proposed, he had stated outright that he was only looking for a wife to help care for his two children.

After the wedding, the villain’s father left on a long assignment and hadn’t returned since.

The original host had gone from an unmarried girl to a stepmother of two overnight. Naturally, her mood was far from good, and she began treating the children harshly.

When the villain’s father was home, she could at least keep up appearances. But when he was away, it was either beatings or scolding.

Right now, it had only been a short time since the wedding, and the villain’s father had just left on his trip.

It must have been urgent, because he left in such a rush that the two of them hadn’t even consummated the marriage.

And the original host, in her foul mood, had already beaten and scolded the children several times.

Pu Jiaojiao’s vision went dark for a moment as she trembled and got to her feet.
Was it still possible to make up for things?

She opened the door, just in time to see a little girl playing in the courtyard turn her head to look back at her.

The girl’s twin hair buns were crooked, obviously done by someone with no skill in hairdressing.

She was playing with mud, her face covered in grime, and her clothes soaked and stained with muddy water.

Pu Jiaojiao felt her vision go even darker. As someone who had a mild case of OCD, she really couldn’t stand the sight of such filth.

She forced a smile and tried to make herself seem kind and gentle. “Yiyi, come here.”

Jing Xiaoyi — the villain’s younger sister, his one soft spot, and her cheap husband’s youngest daughter.

Upon hearing her call, Jing Xiaoyi silently tried to hide the mud behind her back. Pu Jiaojiao nearly fainted on the spot.

Her mouth twitched, and she decided to spare herself the headache by simply ignoring it. She turned and went into the kitchen.

The kitchen was so basic and messy that she felt a chill in her heart.

With a grown man raising two kids alone, she shouldn’t have expected the kitchen to be clean or organized.

Pu Jiaojiao couldn’t bear to look at it any longer. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work boiling water and cleaning the place up.

Thinking about the filthy little child outside, she dumped all the water from the storage jar into the pot and began boiling a whole large pot of hot water.

The alley where they lived shared a well with the neighboring alley.

When the man of the house was home, he would go fetch the water. But when he wasn’t, it was always the little villain… hmm, Jing Hongyi, who carried the water on his small shoulders.

Thinking about this, Pu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.
The reason the villain became so twisted wasn’t because he was born that way — it was because he was forced to grow into someone dark and brooding from a young age.

The female lead eventually became his unattainable white moonlight precisely because he was a child starved of love his whole life.

Pu Jiaojiao sighed.
Fine — since she was here, she’d make the most of it. She refused to believe there was any situation she couldn’t handle.

At the very least, she wouldn’t treat the villain the way the original host did. That way, she wouldn’t end up being skinned and dismembered in the future, right?

With that thought, Pu Jiaojiao was suddenly filled with energy.
Her personality had always been cheerful and optimistic — otherwise, how could she have become a successful lifestyle influencer with millions of followers all on her own?

Once she finished cleaning the kitchen, the pot of water had come to a rolling boil.

She found a wooden basin in the storage room and moved it into the courtyard.

Then, carrying a bucket, she prepared to fetch more water from the well. She had used all their water to boil the bath, and there wasn’t a drop left in the jar.

Luckily, the well wasn’t far — just at the end of the alley. Before leaving, she repeatedly reminded little Yiyi not to go outside, then left with the bucket.

After walking a few steps, she still felt uneasy. She returned and locked the door.

It was well known that child kidnappers were rampant in ancient times. If some blind fool really did snatch the child, forget whether Jing Hongyi would hate her forever — she would never forgive herself.

Right now, she was grateful that she had been a lifestyle vlogger — she had tried almost everything herself. Otherwise, just the task of drawing water might have stumped her completely.

Unfortunately, this body had never done physical labor. It didn’t have much strength, so she could only manage to carry back half a bucket at a time.

She tested a full bucket but really couldn’t lift it.

Thankfully, the house wasn’t too far from the well. After making several trips back and forth, she finally filled up most of the water jar.

By then, she was drenched in sweat.

Jing Xiaoyi, to her credit, had stayed quiet and continued playing with her mud.
Whether it was because she had listened to Pu Jiaojiao’s instructions or because her older brother had warned her beforehand, she wasn’t sure.

After washing out the basin and mixing the hot and cold water in the kitchen, Pu Jiaojiao finally carried little Xiaoyi over and began stripping off her clothes.

Jing Xiaoyi clearly looked surprised.
She didn’t even resist — she just stood there in a daze as Pu Jiaojiao took off all her clothes and plopped her straight into the wooden tub.