Chapter 1: Reborn into a Dead-End Literary Novel, Starting with Taking Action

Qin Yian was dead.

She floated in the air, looking bewilderedly at the chaotic scene in the room: friends screaming in terror and panic; the cake stained red with blood; she herself sitting alone at the head of the table, her head buried deep in the cake, her skull pierced by the spikes used to secure the cake.

No one had it worse than her. No, she couldn’t find anyone more tragic than herself. Her birthday had become her death day, and to make things worse, she hadn’t even gotten to live in the newly purchased house yet!

As Qin Yi’an lamented her life and cried out in despair, she suddenly noticed that the ancestral black gemstone necklace around her neck emitted a faint glow after absorbing her blood. Curious, she leaned in to take a closer look, but as soon as she got too close to the light, it pulled her in, and she lost consciousness.

July 1976, Jile County.

Qin Yian sat in the dilapidated firewood shed of a small courtyard, looking around at the piles of firewood and miscellaneous items. She lowered her head, looking at her hands covered with calluses, and the patched clothes, feeling bewildered.

“You little slut, open the door! Don’t think you can be lazy and not make breakfast just because you’re about to get married. Get out here! You want to be lazy after a little rain and a little fever? Who in the world is as precious as you?

If I had known that you, such a wasteful thing, were so lazy, I should have drowned you in the urinal when you were born. You should be grateful and obedient for your life, but you ungrateful wretch, open the door!”

The cursing and banging on the door outside sounded like a death knell, abruptly attracting all of Qin Yian’s attention inside the room. She looked over.

??

Is this someone cursing at her?

“Qin Yian, dare you not make a sound? Dagui, Niannian, Jinbao, ram the door! I’m going to beat this little bitch to death today. If I don’t teach her a lesson, she’ll think she can run wild! What will people think of me if she acts like this when she marries into another family?”

Hearing these harsh words, Qin Yian’s mind suddenly flashed with the corresponding people and their identities: her mother (or possibly foster mother), Liu Guifang, who often scolded and beat her?

A wave of familiar yet unfamiliar memories came flooding back.

Damn, it seems like she’s gotten herself into something big—she’s traveled through time!

And it looks like she’s even entered a “book world.”

If there’s a title for her current situation, it would be: ““Shocking! A Woman Dies on Her Birthday Night After Being Pinned by a Cake, Only to Find Herself Transmigrated into a Deadly Literature Novel and Becomes the Cannon Fodder Female Lead of the Era.”

That’s right, she transmigrated into a short-era story that combines elements of alternative “dead girl” literature and fake/real heiress tropes.

Good news: She became the female lead, the real heiress with the same name as hers.

Bad news: She became the cannon fodder real heiress in the deadly literature novel.

Deadly literature, as the name suggests, begins with the protagonist’s tragic death, and the character continues to exist as a ghost in the world of the book.

The story takes place in the 1970s, with the opening scene showing the female lead working herself to death at her in-laws’ home. After her death, her consciousness doesn’t dissipate but instead returns to her birth family, where she can follow everyone around.

The original owner’s consciousness spends a lifetime with this family, learning many shocking secrets.

She discovers she is not the biological child of her current parents. She was the real daughter of the film studio director and the deputy factory director of a clothing factory, both of whom maliciously swapped her with another child.

Her adoptive father is the original owner’s biological grandfather’s illegitimate son, who had been estranged and unknown to others.

Her adoptive mother, when she was young, had feelings for the original owner’s biological father. However, he never remembered her, which caused her to harbor intense jealousy and hatred toward the original owner’s mother.

Through a certain turn of events, the two met and married. The couple quickly bonded, and when the original owner was seven months old, they conspired to steal her away.

The child was lost, and the original mother was heartbroken. While searching and praying to the gods, the adoptive parents noticed and kept a close eye on her, learning the original parents’ temperament and schedule.

One day, on the way back from the temple where she had gone to pray for blessings, the adoptive parents intentionally placed their eldest daughter, who was about the same age as the original daughter, on the path the original mother would take when returning home from the mountain.

The original mother heard the crying of a child and, upon approaching, saw a baby girl about the same age as her own daughter. The baby’s appearance even resembled her daughter a little, which reminded her of the Taoist priest’s words: “There will be a clue after you descend the mountain.” Thinking of her poor daughter, she decided to take the baby with her, not waiting for anyone else to arrive, and raised her as her own.

For the sake of her own daughter’s good fortune, and to treat the baby girl in her arms as the clue mentioned by the Taoist priest, the original mother was unwilling to let go of any possibility. Meanwhile, she continued searching for her own daughter.

Thus, the cruel adoptive parents’ eldest daughter became the adopted daughter of the original parents.

The original daughter became their eldest daughter.

To avoid being discovered, the adoptive parents moved from the capital to their old home in the distant southwest.

You might think this is the end, but you’re wrong—this is just the beginning.

This marks the beginning of the original daughter’s tragedy.

Since she could remember, every chore in the house was hers to do. Before she was even tall enough to reach the stove, she used a stool to take care of the family’s needs, doing the hardest work, eating the least, and constantly being scolded and beaten by the other members of the household.

She was the family’s workhorse and the perfect punching bag.

Her sleeping place was even in the family’s firewood shed, where she had to make do with a bamboo frame as a bed.

At twenty years old, another tragedy began for the original daughter.

That year, a friend of her biological parents who had been transferred to work in another place happened to spot a jade safety pendant that originally belonged to the original daughter. Through this, they found some clues.

The adoptive parents had somehow received news ahead of time. Before the real search could begin, they staged a switch—like a fox changing places with a prince.

They had their second daughter, Qin Niannian, who was the twin sister of the baby originally taken in by the original parents, carry the original daughter’s belongings. They even found an expert to copy the red birthmark on the original daughter’s arm and made an identical pattern. With these items and similarities in appearance, they managed to trick everyone into believing that Niannian was the original daughter.

Given the slight resemblance due to a shared bloodline, and with the added items, it was easy for them to succeed, especially in an era without DNA testing.

Thus, the fake daughter took the original daughter’s place, enjoying the riches and becoming the true “daughter.”

Meanwhile, the original daughter’s fate was sealed. The adoptive parents married her off to a lame widower for a dowry of eight hundred yuan.

This family was even worse. Her abusive husband would often lash out, her father-in-law leered at her, and her mother-in-law was sharp-tongued and constantly made her life miserable. The original daughter felt like a helpless lamb trapped in a wolf’s den. In just two years, she was worn out and died from exhaustion.

Her death was not only caused by her in-laws but also influenced by the manipulation of her biological family and the two fake daughters behind the scenes.

Later, one day, due to a dispute over interests, the original daughter’s biological and adoptive families clashed. The truth they had hidden for years was revealed to the original parents. On their way to confront them, their car’s brakes failed, causing a crash that killed both of them and the original daughter’s younger brother.

All of this was tied to the adoptive family.

After the original family perished, the two fake daughters inherited the Qin family’s entire fortune.

The fake daughter who had replaced the original daughter unintentionally activated the space within the original daughter’s safety pendant. The things grown inside the space had spiritual energy and could improve beauty, health, and strength. Using these items, she befriended many powerful figures.

The adoptive parents, stepping on the bodies and blood of the original family, used their wealth to become the most powerful and wealthy family in the country, revered by all.

The original daughter’s consciousness followed this family, witnessing everything. In the end, her soul darkened. Whenever anyone from her in-laws or the adoptive family passed away, she would collect their souls and store them, never letting go of anyone who had directly benefited from the original family’s misfortune.

Perhaps because of all the evil they had done, by the third generation, both families’ descendants ceased to exist.

The original daughter, holding the souls of three generations, began her revenge. Every soul was tortured until it disintegrated into nothing.

After avenging everyone, her power became too great, so she was taken to the underworld to serve as punishment for her unauthorized handling of souls.

And here, the story ends.

Based on her memories, she had just crossed into the moment before the original daughter’s second tragedy began—the day of her wedding, when the identity-swapping and family recognition events were just starting, and the space was yet to be unlocked. Everything was still salvageable.

“Smash it in! Make sure to really tear her apart today!” The voices outside, cursing and banging on the door, made Qin Yian’s fists tighten.

Alright, she was 100% sure now.

The people outside were indeed cursing her, and the names they were shouting were the same ones that had always bullied and beaten her—they were all her enemies. Now that the whole family had arrived, what was there to wait for? Time to fight back!

Tear her apart, huh? Fine, today even if the King of Hell himself showed up, they’d still leave a layer of skin behind before they left!