Chapter 001

The faded curtain swayed slightly in the breeze.

The kitchen was steaming hot, filled with the rich aroma of meat.

Flames licked the edge of the wok, searing the diced pork belly to a golden crisp, sizzling with oil.

Chopped shiitake mushrooms and minced garlic were tossed in and stir-fried, releasing an even more mouthwatering fragrance.

Two girls, both wearing twin braids, lifted the gray cloth curtain, instantly hit by the intense, savory smell.

They couldn’t help themselves—just the scent had their mouths watering.

The one with shorter braids asked, “Chu Xia, what are you cooking this time?”

Every time she was in the kitchen, it was filled with irresistible aromas.

Chu Xia stood at the stove, carefully pouring the prepared sauce into the sizzling pork. She turned and smiled lightly. “Zhajiang noodles.”

The girl with the longer braids swallowed hard. “You even brought your own sauce from home?”

Chu Xia moved behind the stove to add firewood, keeping the sauce on a low simmer. “Yeah, Brother Han Ting loves the zhajiang noodles I make, so I brought some with me.”

The two girls were tempted by the smell and wanted to get a closer look, but they knew that seeing without tasting would be even more unbearable, so they resisted and left after chatting for a bit.

Chu Xia stayed focused on the noodles and paid them little mind.

Once the meat sauce was done, she washed the wok, added water, and brought it to a boil. She briefly blanched shredded cabbage and carrots, then cooked the freshly made noodles.

She scooped the cooked noodles into a large porcelain bowl decorated with red flowers and green leaves.

She topped it with the blanched vegetables and generously spooned the fragrant meat sauce on top. A bowl of vibrant, savory zhajiang noodles was ready.

Chu Xia leaned in and took a gentle sniff, a bright smile appearing on her lips and in her eyes.

In her heart, she thought: It smells so good. Brother Han Ting will definitely love it.

A joyful anticipation bubbled inside her.

Suddenly, a low rumble of thunder rolled across the roof, loud enough to seem like it was right above them.

Chu Xia glanced out the window.

The sun hadn’t fully set—it didn’t look like rain was coming.

But she remembered the locals saying today was Jingzhe—the time when spring thunder awakens the land and all things begin to stir.

Chu Xia wasn’t really interested in traditional solar terms.

She sat by the table, eagerly waiting for Han Ting to return.

Just as happiness swelled in her chest again, another roll of thunder rumbled across the roof.

This time, the sound was different—after two muffled booms, it suddenly cracked open like an explosion.

Startled, Chu Xia froze. Before she could react, another thunderclap struck, and this one felt like it hit her square on the head, shaking her to the core.

Her whole body went numb. Her mind went completely blank.

Then, suddenly, a torrent of bizarre information surged into her brain.

Her head throbbed like it was splitting apart, every nerve wracked with unbearable pain.

She wanted to scream—but couldn’t.

She didn’t know how long it lasted, but eventually, she heard someone calling her name: “Chu Xia.”

The voice was distant, as if from another world, but gradually it became clearer.

With the final call ringing in her ears, she snapped back to reality.

The person calling her—was the very one she had been waiting for: Han Ting.

She didn’t know when he had come back, but now he was sitting across from her, reaching out to take the big porcelain bowl from her hands.

He looked at her and asked, “What were you thinking about?”

Chu Xia stared at Han Ting, still rattled.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest, each beat shaking her entire body.

She blinked at Han Ting and abruptly pulled her hand back.

In the same motion, she also snatched back the large porcelain bowl of zhajiang noodles.

With the sudden emptiness between his fingers, Han Ting was momentarily stunned.

Before he could react, Chu Xia had already picked up the bowl and chopsticks and dashed out of the kitchen.

Han Ting: “?”

What’s gotten into this girl all of a sudden?

The aroma of zhajiang noodles still lingered in his nose as he blinked at the swaying curtain.

Chu Xia, bowl in hand, quickly walked out of the fenced yard.

She didn’t stop until she reached the secluded riverside where no one was around.

Her headache was gone now, but her mind was in chaos—as if it had been completely reshaped.

She sat down on a stone by the river, lowered her head, and closed her eyes.

One hand trembled slightly as she held the heavy porcelain bowl, while the other clutched tightly to her chest, trying to still her pounding heart.

She didn’t know exactly what had happened after the thunderclap, only that a flood of strange, surreal information had appeared in her mind.

And unlike dreams that fade upon waking, the more conscious she became, the clearer those memories grew.

She took a deep breath and finally raised her head.

She felt like she was still herself, yet also someone entirely different.

The explosion of information in her mind revealed that the world she lived in was actually a novel—a male-protagonist-centric story.

And the male lead in this story was none other than Han Ting, the neighbor boy she had admired since childhood.

But she wasn’t the heroine of the novel. She was merely a supporting character—an emotional prop designed to enrich and complete the male lead’s life. A lovestruck side character whose world revolved entirely around him.

As the main character, Han Ting was destined for a life of drama and glory.

In his youth, he was carefree and flirtatious. He had a sweet and innocent first love during his school years. After breaking up with her, he met a passionate and intense soulmate during his time as a sent-down youth in the countryside. He experienced every shade of love amid the turbulence of the era.

After burning through his youth and passion, Han Ting finally returned to a life of stability. And she, the devoted side character, was still waiting quietly beneath the gray tiles and blue eaves of the courtyard house.

That was when Han Ting finally “saw” her, was moved by her, and married her.

After marriage, Han Ting no longer indulged in romance. He focused on building a successful career. She sold the family’s restaurant and courtyard house to fund his business venture.

Later, Han Ting achieved great success and spent most of his time away working.

She, in turn, stayed home as a full-time housewife—alone, faithfully caring for his aging parents. In the end, she even helped raise the illegitimate child he had with his former soulmate.

By the time she had sorted through all of this, Chu Xia felt a wave of revulsion rise that she could no longer suppress.

Up until now, her life’s goal had indeed been to marry Han Ting. Achieving that had always felt like her ultimate fulfillment and happiness.

But at this moment, all she felt was bone-deep disgust.

Maybe it really was those thunderclaps that snapped her awake.

Now, whether she recalled her own past or examined the version of Chu Xia in the novel, all of it felt like the life of someone under a curse—an empty vessel without independent thought.

Another low rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.

Chu Xia, now hypersensitive to the sound, jolted back to herself.

As she did, she heard the nearby chorus of frogs begin to croak.

The last traces of sunset slipped behind the reeds. Frog calls awakened the chirps of insects, and as Chu Xia listened to the soft, persistent hum, a strange yet vivid sense of “spring awakening” bloomed in her heart.

It was a new and unfamiliar feeling—because in the past, she had never paid attention to anything outside of Han Ting. She had never experienced this kind of emotional renewal.

After the frog songs and insect hums, she caught another scent—the savory aroma of the zhajiang noodles in her bowl.

This time, when she looked down at the bowl in her hands and smelled the rich meat sauce, her thoughts didn’t go to how happy Han Ting would be eating it. Instead, she thought of her own growling, empty stomach.

Her stomach let out a loud grumble.

Chu Xia swallowed, took the chopsticks with her right hand, lifted the bowl to her face, and started mixing the noodles, meat sauce, shredded cabbage, and carrot slivers together.

The moment the sauce was evenly mixed, she couldn’t hold back anymore.

She twirled a bundle of noodles, lifted them to her mouth, and took a huge bite.

As she chewed and swallowed, her eyes suddenly lit up.

The springy noodles combined with the savory sauce and crisp vegetables danced on her tongue, bringing an overwhelming sense of pleasure and happiness.

She was stunned.

It wasn’t that she had never eaten something this delicious before—but this was the first time that delicious food alone made her feel such genuine satisfaction and joy.

A feeling she had never known before.

She had always loved experimenting with food and could easily tell good from bad—but she’d never felt happy just because something tasted good.

Only when Han Ting smiled and gave her a thumbs-up after tasting her food did she feel fulfilled, like her efforts meant something.

This brand-new and astonishing emotional experience filled Chu Xia with delight.

She ate another bite, then another… and soon, the entire large bowl of zhajiang noodles was gone.

In the two weeks since arriving at the Tanxi Brigade, this was the first time Chu Xia had eaten to the point of being full—stuffed, even.

She looked at the empty porcelain bowl in her hands, let out a satisfied burp, and sighed with a kind of comfort she’d never known. It felt like the past eighteen years of her life had been completely wasted.

She set the bowl and chopsticks down on a nearby rock.

Letting her whole body relax, she slowly savored the satisfaction that warmed her from head to toe.

The reeds along the river swayed gently in the wind. The symphony of frogs and insects continued, as if composing a melody just for her.

If it weren’t still so chilly in early spring, Chu Xia would’ve dipped her feet into the water to splash around a little.

As she digested the feeling of fullness and satisfaction, she was also trying to process the strange influx of information in her mind.