Chapter 1: Eating Starch Sausage, I Entered the Novel

As a food blogger, Xu Nuo absolutely couldn’t miss the “junk” snack stalls at the school gate and visited them twice a week without fail. This time, she had just turned down her best friend’s invitation for a big meal and, still wearing her flip-flops, rushed straight to the alleyway at the entrance of her high school.

First, she ordered a serving of oden; how could she skip the starch sausage? She also had to get a drink from the affordable and delicious Mixue Bingcheng.

While scrolling through her phone, Xu Nuo bit into the starch sausage, weaving through the crowd of high school students with ease.

“What the heck! Made from bone mud!” While scrolling through Weibo, she saw that the starch sausage had exploded onto the hot search list.

Xu Nuo glanced at the half-eaten starch sausage in her hand, and suddenly it didn’t taste good anymore. Her stomach churned violently, a wave of sourness surged inside her; the unbearable nausea made it hard for her to breathe. Thinking about how she had eaten this stuff almost every day before, she felt the urge to vomit again.

“Hey, lady, what the hell!” A passerby who got splashed was instantly furious and, along with their classmates, blocked Xu Nuo, demanding an explanation.

Xu Nuo was also dumbfounded, her face turning bright red as she tried to suppress the discomfort in her stomach, repeatedly apologizing.

“I’m so sorry! I truly am… Just take off that shirt; I’ll pay you back…”

Before she could finish, two high school students interrupted her, “What? Having money makes you something special? How can you treat this lady like that…” They began hurling insults.

The commotion attracted a crowd of onlookers, and someone even took out their phone to record a video. Xu Nuo found herself in the midst of this crowd, feeling sick, unable to explain herself after years of not facing such a situation.

Suddenly, there was a loud “bang.” Xu Nuo felt something hit her, causing her head to spin. Just as she was about to scream for help, everything went dark, and she collapsed.

“Xu Nuo, Xu Nuo.”

Groggily, Xu Nuo heard someone crying her name. Was it her best friend coming to her rescue? Struggling to open her eyes, she saw a pale, thin woman holding her and crying, while an elderly man in a green robe was checking her pulse.

What was going on? She clearly remembered the moment before she lost consciousness; her head had hit something. Shouldn’t she be in a hospital now? Where was she? As she scanned her surroundings, it was a sparse room with just a bed and an old wooden box in the middle, on top of which was a medicine chest. Most likely, it belonged to the old man, whom she guessed was the traditional medicine doctor from a novel.

“Madam, the young lady has awakened. She is out of danger but is weak and needs to recuperate!” The old man’s words confirmed Xu Nuo’s previous suspicions.

Just as Xu Nuo was about to ask what was happening, her mind flooded with images, as if watching a movie that crammed all the plot details into her head. Her mouth dropped open in shock and then quickly closed as she swallowed hard. She had just been transported into the story!

Wasn’t this the book she had read last night? She must have taken on the role of the male protagonist’s deceased wife, who had died before he managed to make something of himself. The male protagonist was Shangguan Ziqian, a poor scholar who became an eminent candidate in the imperial examinations, eventually working at the Hanlin Academy. He had a cold and stern appearance but was adored by the daughters of many prominent families. Despite this, he remained unmarried, dedicating his life to his career. Others said he was deeply sentimental about his late wife and vowed never to remarry after her death.

What a load of nonsense! From Xu Nuo’s perspective, this was just a cover. The male protagonist was surely a closet gay man; after all, when she read the novel, she had been shipping him and General Xie hard—one literary and one martial, one at home and one in the field, a perfect male-male pairing!

Wang Shi sent off the doctor, peeking in at the bedside where Xu Nuo sat in a daze on the bed. Her red-rimmed eyes overflowed with tears again as she sighed, wiped her eye corners with her sleeve, came to the bedside, stroked Xu Nuo’s hair, and whispered, “Xu Nuo, it’ll be alright once you wake up. Next time, I’ll have your bedding washed by the river. You’ve been unconscious for a whole day; you’ve worried me sick. What would I do if something really happened to you? How could I explain it to Zi Qian!”

Xu Nuo stirred from her stupor. As an orphan, she had never experienced the care of a family. Looking at Wang Shi’s worried eyes, Xu Nuo smiled and said, “Mother, I’m fine now! Don’t worry too much. I promise I’ll be up and bouncing around tomorrow.”

Seeing Xu Nuo still joking around, Wang Shi couldn’t help but chuckle, secretly vowing to love this daughter-in-law even more in the future. Compared to her icy-faced son, she increasingly felt that her daughter-in-law was just adorable. How great it would have been if they had a daughter instead!

“Still bouncing around, huh? You need to settle down! I’ll make you some chicken soup; the doctor said you need to take good care of yourself, your little body is too weak.” Wang Shi laughed as she lightly tapped Xu Nuo’s forehead with her finger.

“Mother, you look so beautiful when you smile!” Despite having weathered many hardships, Wang Shi’s skin was still delicate and white as jade. She wore no jewelry but exuded an elegant aura. If she were in today’s entertainment circle, she would definitely fit the image of a mature, refined woman.

The book did not describe Wang Shi’s appearance, but considering that she had a handsome and stern son, her and her husband’s traits could not have been lacking. Xu Nuo was looking forward to seeing her so-called husband and getting a glimpse of his looks. As someone who used to be a fan of their pairing, she never thought she’d be so close to him in real life!

Wang Shi knew she was still good-looking and had often received compliments from her family and elders since childhood. Even her late husband had fallen in love with her at first sight, but being praised by her daughter-in-law was a first for her. Her face turned red. “You little girl, always teasing me! If I’m beautiful, then our Nuo Nuo is a little fairy!”

After saying that, she tucked the blanket around Xu Nuo and went out to cook.

Xu Nuo smiled wide, not taking Wang Shi’s words to heart; it felt so good to experience family care for the first time! She considered the title of “little fairy” simply as her mother trying to cheer her up.

While her mother was out cooking, Xu Nuo took the opportunity to examine the room’s layout. The walls were bare, but there was not a speck of dust, and the beddings were clean and fragrant. Taking a deep breath, she could smell the scent of sunlight. It was just starting over again, and that was fine! As a hardworking person from the 21st century, she was determined to make a living in this era.

First, she planned to enjoy a warm and comfortable life despite her impoverished background. She didn’t seek great wealth or strive to become the richest person in the country. Xu Nuo knew her limits; as long as she could snag a suitable husband and secure a reliable future, it would be a great achievement, allowing her to prepare for a life of leisure. After all, having a “big fat leg” to rely on was crucial for her quality of life for decades to come.

“Open sesame!”

“Hey, why isn’t it working? System, come out!” After waiting for a long time, Xu Nuo didn’t detect any changes. Unlike others who transmigrated with complete abilities or at least a spatial dimension, she felt completely devoid of anything.

Xu Nuo remained skeptical and, emulating characters from novels she had read, pointed to the sky and started cursing, “Dog system, come out! Hurry up and open a space for me…”

She yelled until her voice was hoarse, her arm aching from the effort. Her ears perked up, yet she didn’t hear the expected mechanical “ding” of the novel’s system. Instead, she heard Wang Shi’s concerned voice, “Nuo Nuo, what’s wrong? Is your head still hurting?”

Xu Nuo immediately fell silent. The ferocity of her earlier intentions to give the system a piece of her mind crumbled, “Uh, mother, it’s nothing. I was just… um…” After thinking for a long time, she blurted out a reason she didn’t even believe herself, “I was just singing out of joy, and I can’t wait to drink the chicken soup tonight!”

“Good! Just be mindful of your voice. I’ve already prepared the old hen; tonight we will make sure you get properly nourished.”

Currently, Xu Nuo was just thinking about her frustrations. She felt cheated; aside from getting a “cheap” husband, she had nothing else. If she wanted to get rich, it all depended on her—a point that forced her to rely on the wisdom of a modern-day individual.