Chapter 1: Aunt Comes to Snatch Someone Away

“Wuu wuu wuu… I don’t want to be Old Master An’s concubine! Father, Mother, please save me…”
A girl of fifteen or sixteen cried her heart out, wailing in utter despair.

(Character: Ji Jinglan – younger sister of the male lead)

An older woman dressed in a maroon blouse and skirt tightly gripped the young girl’s wrist with her withered, yellowed hand. Her face fierce and angry, she shouted:

“Your sister-in-law already agreed to it, and I’ve already accepted Old Master An’s deposit. It’s not up to you whether you want to or not—you must come with me today.”

(Character: the domineering aunt)

(Female lead: Feng Yuxi, formerly Chu Xiaoqi)

On the brick bed in the west wing, Feng Yuxi’s pale face twitched. She opened her eyes slowly after a pained hiss escaped her lips. She turned her head slightly to take in her surroundings—then quickly shut her eyes again, terrified.

Did she open her eyes the wrong way? Was she hallucinating?

Let’s try again…

She suddenly snapped her eyes wide open—and her brain completely crashed.

The dim room was surrounded by uneven adobe walls. On the south wall was a crack the size of a palm, stuffed with what looked like dried leaves from some unknown plant.

By the broken wooden window stood a table with one leg missing. The broken side was propped up with a large rock, and on top of it lay a stack of books.

Across from the brick bed was a pile of straw on the floor, on which lay a torn pillow and a neatly folded bedsheet.

Feng Yuxi gasped. Her heart turned icy cold, as if it were the dead of winter. Every nerve in her body was tense.

Had she been kidnapped to northern Myanmar? Or sold to some remote backwater village to be some family’s bride for their simple-minded son?

Before she could even purse her lips to cry, an argument outside the room caught her attention.

“Wuu wuu wuu… Auntie, please let Lan’er go! She’s only fourteen, still just a child—how can you make her a concubine?”

Madam Ji held her sobbing daughter tightly in her arms, refusing to let go. “How much of a deposit did you take from Old Master An? We’ll pay it back, okay?”

(Character: Ji’s mother)

“Pah! Your family can’t even afford your next meal—how the hell are you going to pay me back?” The aunt slapped her thigh and pointed at Madam Ji with wild gestures, spitting as she screamed.

Feng Yuxi carefully rolled over and sat up. She reached up to touch the bump on her forehead and immediately winced, muttering:

“Ow ow ow… Who the hell sneak-attacked me?! Once I get out of this godforsaken place, I’m making whoever did this into a lab specimen!”

She scooted to the edge of the bed and hooked her foot into a pair of shoes, slipping them on haphazardly. Still groggy, she stumbled to the door, gently cracking it open to peek outside.

What on earth was going on out there? Was that girl about to be dragged away for organ harvesting?

Wait—what’s with those clothes?

“Cough cough cough… I—I don’t have the money, but I’ll borrow it for you!” Madam Ji clutched her chest and let out two harsh coughs, speaking in gasps.

The aunt burst out laughing like she’d heard the funniest joke in the world. “Hahaha! Oh, Madam Ji, are you trying to kill me with laughter?

Is there anyone in Ji Village your family hasn’t borrowed from?

Go ahead, ask around. Forget money—no one’s even willing to lend you grain anymore.

If I recall, didn’t you still owe Third Sister-in-law two buckets of rice from two years ago?”

Madam Ji hugged the girl tightly, head bowed in silent weeping. Beside her, a middle-aged man’s eyes turned red as he pressed his lips together and stayed quiet.

Then, a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy suddenly rushed up to the aunt. Clenching his fists, neck stiff with rage, he shouted:

“It was Chu Xiaoqi who agreed to this—you go find her! What’s it got to do with my sister?!”

(Character: Ji Jingze – younger brother of the male lead)

The middle-aged man shouted angrily at the teenage boy:
“Jingze, that’s your eldest sister-in-law—watch your mouth!”

(Character: Ji Father – father of the male lead)

The boy, eyes red with rage, yelled back defiantly:
“Dad! Chu Xiaoqi never treated us like family! Today she’s selling off Xiao Lan—tomorrow she’ll sell our whole family!
I don’t want a vicious sister-in-law like her…”

Behind the cracked door, Feng Yuxi squinted, frowning slightly.

Hiss…

Aunt, Ji Lao’er (Second Ji), Xiao Lan, Jingze…

Why did these names sound so familiar?

And this whole scene—hadn’t she seen it somewhere before?

Moments later, Feng Yuxi’s face twisted in horror as she slapped a hand over her mouth.

This…

These people and this setting—weren’t they straight out of the novel she was about to return to the community library?

Had she… transmigrated into the book?

How did she cross over?

Why didn’t she remember anything?

Why her? Was she some chosen one sent by the heavens?

Wait a minute. Judging from the conversation outside, she had become the book’s villainess wife of the male lead—Chu Xiaoqi!

But… Chu Xiaoqi was fated to be killed by the male lead.

She was a dead-end character—what kind of divine mission could she possibly have?

And without the original’s memories, she knew nothing—wasn’t she bound to get exposed eventually?

Could it be that Heaven just sent her here to die, to experience the joy of death?

Outside, the aunt’s screechy voice rang out again:

“Enough nonsense! Ji Jinglan must come with me today—or don’t blame me for tearing this filthy yard of yours apart!”

“No! Noooo…

Father, Mother, save me, please save me…” Ji Jinglan sobbed as she clung tightly to Madam Ji, refusing to let go.

Behind the door, Feng Yuxi thought for a moment. This scene in the novel—wasn’t this the beginning of Chu Xiaoqi’s tragedy?

The second branch of the Ji family was known throughout the nearby villages for being dirt poor.

They barely managed one meal a day—if that.

Chu Xiaoqi had been so desperate from hunger that, under the aunt’s instigation, she agreed to sell the male lead’s younger sister to the city.

Before dawn, she tricked Ji Jinglan into going out. But because it had rained the night before, the muddy path was slippery, and Chu Xiaoqi slipped and fell off the embankment.

Ji Jinglan struggled to carry her back home. Before they could even summon a doctor, the aunt barged in and dragged Ji Jinglan away to Old Master An’s house.

By the time the male lead found out and rushed to get her back, it was too late—Old Master An had already forced himself on her.

From that moment on, the entire male lead’s family despised Chu Xiaoqi.

Eventually, after she harmed the novel’s true female lead, Chu Xiaoqi was personally thrown into prison by the male lead and executed.

No, no way. Feng Yuxi absolutely did not want to experience the so-called joy of death.

Even if she couldn’t go back, she had to survive—and live as a kindhearted Chu Xiaoqi.

Outside, Madam Ji sobbed and begged:
“Sister-in-law, I’m begging you, please spare Xiao Lan! I’ll kneel to you if I have to…”

“I don’t care—”

SMACK!

“Ow ow ow—who the hell dares to hit me?! Are you tired of living?!” the aunt screamed, letting go of Ji Jinglan’s wrist and flailing her arm.

Chu Xiaoqi stood with hands on her hips, gripping a wooden pole, pointing it right at the aunt.

“You wretched old hag—it was me, this ‘damned’ woman, who hit you. What are you gonna do about it?”

The courtyard fell utterly silent. Everyone stared at Chu Xiaoqi in stunned disbelief.

The aunt clutched her hand, leapt up, and shrieked:
“You little tramp—you’re still alive?!”

Chu Xiaoqi planted the carrying pole firmly on the ground and leaned on it, afraid she might faint from hunger. This body had only eaten twice in the past three days—if she so much as raised her voice, she was scared she’d keel over and die on the spot.

“You old hag, how old do you think I am? If anyone’s going to die, it’ll be you first. And even if I do die, I’ll drag you down the Yellow Springs with me to keep me company.”

“Pah!” The aunt spat on the ground and sneered, tilting her head arrogantly. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as she snapped:

“Chu Xiaoqi, striking your elders is an act of great disrespect. Are you trying to ruin your reputation even further?”

Chu Xiaoqi rolled her eyes dramatically, scoffing with no concern whatsoever:

“Ha! I, Chu Xiaoqi, already have a rotten reputation in Ji Village—what’s one more label of ‘unfilial’?
Besides, how are you considered an elder of mine?

After Grandfather and Grandmother passed, my father-in-law was only ten when you and Big Uncle kicked him out of the house. At the time, all he got from the family split was half a bucket of millet—not even a bowl came with it.

For years after that, if not for the charity of the village elders, my father-in-law would’ve starved to death.

And once he had his own family, you lot came knocking every few days, demanding repayment for Big Uncle’s so-called years of raising him.

Even if Big Uncle raised him for ten years, haven’t you already leeched off our household for over twenty years in return? When’s that vague, never-ending debt ever going to be paid off?”

Chu Xiaoqi turned her gaze toward the man squatting by the gate, silently puffing on a hand-rolled cigarette. She deliberately emphasized the phrase: “that vague, never-ending debt.”

(Character: Ji Da Bo – Big Uncle, the male lead’s uncle)

Ji Da Bo trembled slightly at her words, but in the end, he said nothing.

The villagers gathered in the Ji courtyard began murmuring amongst themselves after hearing what Chu Xiaoqi said:

“Oh wow, she’s not wrong.”
“If it wasn’t for the village elders helping out with food over the years—this Ji Lao’er would’ve died long ago.”
“Honestly, it’s not an exaggeration to say he grew up eating meals from a hundred households.”

“True that…”
“But I heard Ji Dage used to treat his only brother pretty well before he got married. What changed?”
“Probably scared of his wife. Just look at him—completely henpecked, does whatever she says.”

Ji Father, remembering how he was thrown out by his older brother and sister-in-law as a child, turned his back and secretly wiped away a tear.

Chu Xiaoqi smiled as she turned back to face the aunt and continued:

“All these years, not once have we from the second branch taken even a sip of cold water from your household.

But your big branch? You’ve looted plenty from us—everything from needles and thread to rice and grain.

Everyone in these surrounding villages knows it.

Auntie, when it comes to reputations, you and I are pretty much neck and neck, aren’t we?”

The murmuring from the crowd grew louder. Seeing that the tide was turning against her, the aunt grit her teeth, lunged forward again, and yanked Ji Jinglan’s arm:

“Stop spouting nonsense! Ji Jinglan must come with me to Old Master An’s house today—or I’ll make sure your family pays the price!”

SMACK!

“OWWWW! Chu Xiaoqi, you cursed brat! Did you grow a tiger’s courage?!”

The aunt wailed as Chu Xiaoqi smacked her hand away with the carrying pole. Her hand instantly swelled, and she let out a banshee screech in the direction of the courtyard gate:

“Yanyáng! Yanyáng!”

(Character: Ji Yanyang)

“Move! Move aside! Ma, I’m right here!”

Not long after the aunt shouted, a man as round as a ball shoved his way through the villagers and squeezed into the courtyard. He rushed to her side and grabbed her swollen hand, full of concern:

“Ma, what happened to your hand?!”