Chapter 14: That Wretched Girl Must Marry the Fool

Maybe it was because she was too tired today.

After watching a bit of the movie, Lin Xiaodou fell asleep.

Half-asleep and half-awake…

She felt a tiny thing crawling on her face.

It tickled.

Confused, Lin Xiaodou opened her eyes—

And met a pair of shiny black mini-sized Kazeslan-style big eyes.

With a coat of brown fuzzy fur, long fluffy little claws, and a body only about the size of a fingernail—

It was perched right on her nose, looking tiny and adorable.

Thanks to her innate affinity with animals, Lin Xiaodou had never been afraid of them.

She quickly recognized the little creature—it was a jumping spider.

Lin Xiaodou gently moved it into the palm of her hand and gave its furry little head a playful poke.

Her eyes curved like crescent moons as she spoke in a doting tone:

“Hey, little thing, how did you end up here?”

“Zee zee zee~”

The little guy flailed its legs and began to protest.

Turns out, it had noticed Lin Xiaodou earlier when she was in the grove.

It had admired her tremendously when it saw her dominate the battlefield.

When it realized she was about to leave, it quickly jumped onto her and tagged along home.

But as soon as they got back, Lin Xiaodou had stripped off her clothes and tossed them in the washing machine.

It had to use all its strength to escape from that terrifying whirlpool.

Afterwards, it searched the entire house for her and, utterly exhausted, finally found her in the study.

It didn’t expect that when it finally found her, she’d already be sound asleep.

The little spider was deeply aggrieved.

It had chosen her as its master and nearly lost its life just to meet her—yet she hadn’t even noticed!

In a huff, the little spider had jumped onto Lin Xiaodou’s face.

It scratched her nose a few times with its claws and gave her a couple of kicks before finally starting to calm down.

Lin Xiaodou rubbed her nose.

No wonder it had felt itchy while she slept—this little guy had been throwing a tantrum.

Still, Lin Xiaodou was rather surprised.

While she did have a natural bond with animals and had awakened the ability to communicate with them—

Usually, animals without developed intelligence wouldn’t actively seek her out.

Even the rats in her previous life had only gained a touch of sentience after a long period of companionship.

Yet here she was, newly arrived in this world, and she’d already met one.

Lin Xiaodou asked it, “You want to follow me, is that it?”

“Zee zee zee~”

The little jumping spider leapt wildly in her palm,

Its fluffy little claws bouncing high into the air,

As if shouting over and over: Yes! Yes!

Seeing how excited the little guy was, Lin Xiaodou laughed.

“I don’t keep freeloaders. What can you do to earn your stay?”

Back in her past life, those rats at home had taken care of all her leftover food.

When they had nothing else to do, they even helped clean the house—

Clearing out cockroaches and mosquitoes, carrying rags in their mouths to wipe dust from windowsills and corners.

Hearing Lin Xiaodou’s request,

The little spider tilted its head in confusion.

After a moment, it nuzzled her palm with its fuzzy head.

Then it blinked those big, dramatic eyes at her, looking pitiful and pleading to be kept.

Seeing that display, Lin Xiaodou’s heart nearly melted.

Oh my god! So. Freaking. Cute!

“Nope! Acting cute doesn’t count!”

Lin Xiaodou forced herself to hold back the urge to squeal, deliberately teasing it.

The little jumping spider immediately panicked.

Ever since it had gained awareness, it had found its kind dull and the world unbearably boring.

Every day had been the same repetitive grind—it was driving it crazy.

Finally encountering a human she was interested in, the little jumping spider was determined to follow her!

“Squeak squeak squeak~”

The little jumping spider kept chirping away.

It was saying: I’ll do whatever you ask me to do!

“You’ll do whatever I say? Alright then…”

Lin Xiaodou grinned, picked up her phone, opened a video, and held it up in front of the little spider’s eyes:

“How about you show me the dance in this video?”

In the video—

…A dog was dancing the ‘Subject Three’ routine.

Little Jumping Spider: ???
I have to learn to dance just to find a human companion?

In the end, it gave in.

After struggling for a full hour, the little jumping spider finally learned the dance.

Under Lin Xiaodou’s guidance, it reluctantly performed a short segment, and even got recorded on video.

Though it had no idea what a video was, its new owner explained—

That this was its “black history,” and if it ever misbehaved, she would pull it out for posthumous public shaming.

The little spider didn’t quite understand what “posthumous public shaming” meant, but it sounded terrifying.

It silently swore in its tiny heart that it would be its owner’s good little darling and never upset her.

…

Lin Xiaodou gave the little jumping spider a name: Tiao Tiao (Jumpy).

As her first pet in this new era, of course it had to receive top-tier treatment.

Tiao Tiao was tiny—no bigger than a fingernail.

Lin Xiaodou made it a DIY mini luxury villa.

With blue exterior walls, fresh green grass, glittering lights—it was cozy and dreamy.

Tiao Tiao loved its little home, gleefully hopping all over the place.

After playing with it for a while, Lin Xiaodou was about to prepare dinner when she sensed movement outside the space.

She stepped out and heard voices coming from the living room.

It sounded like Lin Father, Lin Mother, and Lin Dawei had come.

Lin Xiaodou raised her eyebrows.

They’d only stayed in the hospital for one day—surely their injuries weren’t healed yet?

Could something have happened?

Her gaze swept to the still-hopping Tiao Tiao and she called out:

“Tiao Tiao, come here. Your first mission has arrived.”

…

In the living room—

Lin Dawei moved his father, who was in a wheelchair, onto the sofa and asked, confused:

“Dad, you just had surgery on your leg. Why are you in such a hurry to come back? What’s going on?”

“Exactly, Old Lin, my facial wounds haven’t even scabbed yet. How am I supposed to go outside like this…”

Lin Mother muttered with discontent.

She hadn’t been particularly beautiful before, but at least she hadn’t been ugly.

Now, with an ugly scar running across her face, she was devastated.

She had originally planned to stay longer in the hospital to see if the doctor could reduce the scarring.

But her husband had suddenly insisted on rushing back, completely disrupting her plans.

How was she supposed to go out looking like this?

If those gossipy women who already disliked her saw her now, they’d laugh themselves to death.

Ugh, just thinking about it made her furious.

“When I went to get my medication today, I happened to run into Matchmaker Wang.”

Lin Father glanced at the two and said slowly:

“She said it seems like the fool’s family doesn’t intend to marry into our family anymore. They’re looking for another girl.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Mother instantly panicked:

“That won’t do! Didn’t we agree she’d marry over once her leg healed? How can they go back on their word!”

Lin Father: “Probably because they caught wind of something and think that brat won’t be easy to control, so they’re looking for a replacement.”

“Replace who?! We must get that 300 yuan betrothal gift!”

Lin Mother’s eyes widened viciously as she growled:

“That damned girl must marry that fool. Otherwise, I’ll never get this rage off my chest!”