The female lead is the most spoiled, pretentious, and beautiful woman in the entire novel. She is very delicate and pampered~
The girl who picked up the male lead in his previous life will have no role in the story. She only provides him with a place to stay…
Also, the entire story is told from the female lead’s perspective, and some parts contain exaggerated assumptions and fantasies from her point of view…
Of course, both leads are completely inexperienced!!
Once the male lead falls in love, he will spoil her unconditionally!
The female lead will sometimes act like a scheming sweet girl, so if you are bothered by that, please be patient with her~
The male lead will not appear much until Chapter 3, so please be patient~
The main story will not discuss the relationship between the secondary couple.
(Warning: There is a secondary male-male couple who will only be mentioned briefly in the early chapters.
If you absolutely cannot accept this, please skip the novel~)
Please be understanding about some details that cannot withstand close scrutiny. Some parts are especially exaggerated, so just read them for fun~
We are reading novels to have a good time, after all~
If you like it, please click to encourage updates, bookmark it, add it to your bookshelf, and leave a rating, hehe~
The pace will be very fast, so everyone buckle up~
Brain storage area~
“Taotao, do you want to try this tonight~”
Pei Jin’s voice came from the doorway. His normally cool eyes were filled with desire and excitement.
He loosely hooked a red cord around his slender fingers. Bai Tao was wearing an extremely short white dress that barely covered the tops of her thighs.
Bai Tao was barefoot and slowly backed away while Pei Jin followed her unhurriedly.
“No… no, I still have work tomorrow…”
Pei Jin’s voice was low and pleasant, filled with excitement and anticipation.
“It’s fine, baby. I’ve already asked for your leave. Besides, you don’t have to work anymore. I can afford to support you.”
“What am I supposed to do at home if I don’t work?”
“Keep me company, baby.”
A tear was forced from the corner of Bai Tao’s eye. Her voice carried a hint of pleading and sobbing.
“I really can’t anymore, Pei Jin.”
“Who is Pei Jin? Aren’t I your husband?”
Pei Jin stood behind Bai Tao, his warm breath brushing against the back of her neck. His voice was so low that it sounded as though he were coaxing a child, carrying a possessiveness that made her legs go weak.
Bai Tao closed her eyes, unable to understand how things had developed to this point.
She had only wanted to cling to Pei Jin for support. She never expected him to completely consume her…
Just as Bai Tao crawled toward the doorway, Pei Jin grabbed her ankle the next second and dragged her back into the room.
The floor was cold.
The full-length mirror was cold too.
And so was her heart.
Bai Tao was reborn.
She had been reborn at a moment that left her utterly speechless.
It was the day she was accused of being a fake heiress and the biological heiress came to claim her place in the family. The real heiress was standing outside the door right now.
Even more absurdly, the neighboring Pei Family discovered that Bai Tao was not their biological daughter and decided to test their own son’s DNA as well.
They discovered that her sworn rival, Pei Jin, was not their biological son either.
In her previous life, Bai Tao and Pei Jin had been driven out of their wealthy families one after another.
Back then, Bai Tao had thought she was incredibly clever. She was determined to cling to a rich man, crush the real heiress beneath her feet, and make Bai Zhongjing and Lin Meng beg her to come home.
Wasn’t all she had to do was marry a rich man?
As the Red Rose of Jing City’s social circle, what kind of man could she possibly have trouble finding?
But society taught her a painful lesson.
Beauty alone was not enough.
Previously, people liked her and spoiled her. Whenever she went out, a whole group of friends surrounded her and treated her like a queen because she was not only beautiful but also came from a prominent family.
But once she lost her identity as the Bai Family’s eldest daughter, everyone wanted to take advantage of her, without taking any responsibility afterward.
Bai Tao had studied fine arts. Anyone who studied fine arts knew that without opportunities and a good family background, finding a decent job in this field was extremely difficult.
With no other choice, Bai Tao relied on her beauty to find a job at a bar, hoping to meet a wealthy man there.
But her standards were high.
She had no interest in ugly, fat, or old men. She also had no interest in married men.
She only wanted someone around her age who was ambitious and came from a wealthy family.
And what happened?
She failed to find a rich man to cling to and instead was cornered at the entrance of the bar by his wife.
The woman wore sunglasses, with four burly men standing behind her.
She looked Bai Tao up and down and sneered.
“You?”
Then the bodyguards lifted Bai Tao up and threw her into the sea like a piece of trash.
To this day, Bai Tao still remembered the taste of that seawater.
It was bitterly salty and bone-chillingly cold.
And Pei Jin?
That annoying man who had never gotten along with her since childhood was picked up by a girl after he was driven out of his family.
Yes, picked up and taken home.
What was even more infuriating was that after Pei Jin was taken in, it was as though he had activated a cheat code.
In just two years, he had transformed a small technology company that nobody had thought highly of into an industry-leading company.
The Pei Family’s biological son lacked ability and had turned the company into a complete mess, so Pei Shengli knelt and begged Pei Jin to return to the Pei Family.
And Pei Jin?
Not only did he refuse to return, he also brought down the Pei Family and took the company for himself.
Then he turned around and gave the little girl who had rescued him a huge sum of money as repayment.
Up in heaven, Bai Tao had nearly bitten her back teeth to pieces from anger.
“Mom.”
A soft, tender female voice sounded.
Bai Tao suddenly came back to herself.
She instinctively tightened her grip on her phone until her knuckles turned white.
The memories of her previous life receded like a tide, and everything in front of her became clear again.
Voices came from the living room, along with a woman’s soft sobbing.
Bai Tao knew that voice far too well.
Yu Xiaozhen.
The real Bai Family heiress.
Bai Tao took a deep breath.
Unlike in her previous life, she did not rush inside screaming and crying.
Instead, she lowered her head and quickly opened her mobile banking app.
Her fingers moved rapidly.
She was going to transfer every penny in her bank account to WeChat.
When she had been driven out of the house in her previous life, she had only had five thousand yuan in her account.
Five thousand yuan.
That was not even enough to buy the facial cream she used to purchase.
This time, she had learned her lesson.
The transfer page appeared.
Bai Tao entered her entire balance.
A line of text popped up on the screen:
[Daily transfer limit: 100,000 yuan]
Bai Tao froze.
She stared at those words for two seconds before smiling faintly.
Fine. One hundred thousand was one hundred thousand.
It was still better than the five thousand she had possessed in her previous life.
She comforted herself with the thought that one hundred thousand yuan was enough to rent a small apartment, enough to buy food for several months, and enough for her to support Pei Jin for a few months.
Thinking of this, Bai Tao was actually a little moved.
Money that she used to spend on a single handbag now felt like a lifeline.
This was what society’s harsh lessons did.
They were a cure for all kinds of spoiled behavior.
Yu Xiaozhen was still crying as she talked about Bai Tao’s background.
She was the fake heiress who had been switched at birth.
Her biological mother had been a nanny working for the Bai Family, while her biological father was a useless drunkard and gambler.
By the time Bai Tao’s biological mother discovered that she was pregnant, it was already too late to terminate the pregnancy.
So she induced labor, switched the babies, placed Bai Tao in the Bai Family’s crib, then took the real Bai Family heiress, Yu Xiaozhen, and ran back to a small eighteenth-tier city.
Over the years, Bai Tao’s biological mother had made a living by farming and selling vegetables. Life had been extremely difficult.
Yu Xiaozhen had grown up in those circumstances.
She had often gone hungry and cold, and she had also been forced to do farm work.
Last month, Bai Tao’s biological mother collapsed from exhaustion and became bedridden with illness.
Yu Xiaozhen had cared for her day and night.
The old woman had been deeply moved.
Before she died, the former nanny held Yu Xiaozhen’s hand and tearfully revealed the secret she had hidden for more than twenty years.
When the Bai Family first heard about it, Bai Zhongjing had thought that having one more child would not make much difference, and having one fewer would not matter either.
The Bai Family had a huge business empire and certainly did not lack the money to feed another child.
But Yu Xiaozhen said one thing:
“Whenever I see Bai Tao, I have nightmares. Whenever I think about what her biological mother did to me, I start trembling.”
Bai Zhongjing fell silent for three seconds.
Lin Meng fell silent for two.
Then Bai Tao was thrown out of the house.
In her previous life, Bai Tao could not accept the outcome.
She believed she was innocent and relied on the fact that Bai Zhongjing and Lin Meng had raised her for twenty-three years. She threw tantrums all over the house.
She cried and made a scene, rolling around on the floor of the Bai Family’s living room.
She pointed at Yu Xiaozhen’s nose and called her a fake, accused her of pretending to be pitiful and acting like a scheming sweet girl, and cursed her for ever coming back.
She cried so desperately that she could barely breathe, and screamed until her voice became hoarse.
And Yu Xiaozhen?
Yu Xiaozhen simply sat on the sofa as tears silently rolled down her face.
She did not say a single word.
She looked so weak that even a gust of wind seemed capable of blowing her away.
Thinking back, Bai Tao felt that her previous self had been utterly embarrassing.
This time, she was not going to act out that scene again.
It was pointless.
Really pointless.
Besides, she had already seen through them.
The people in the Bai Family had always been cold, selfish, and focused on nothing but their own interests.
Bai Zhongjing and Lin Meng were typical examples of parents who favored sons over daughters.
They were experts at oppressive parenting.
The words Bai Tao had heard most often while growing up were:
“Look at so-and-so’s daughter. Look how well she plays the piano.”
“Compare yourself with the child next door. Look how excellent her grades are.”
“Why can’t you be more like your older brother and give us less trouble?”
Her older brother, Bai Shen, was the pride of the Bai Family.
He was the favored child and the apple of his grandparents’ eyes.
Bai Shen had excellent grades, strong abilities, and a handsome face. Wherever he went, he was the center of attention.
And Bai Tao?
In the eyes of the Bai Family’s parents, her purpose was to be pushed into a marriage alliance when the right moment came.
That was why they were willing to invest in her.
They hired the best teachers to teach her painting, etiquette, and foreign languages.
But it was not love.
It was an investment.
It was like raising a flower, hoping that it would grow well enough to sell for a good price.
Bai Tao had not understood it before.
She had thought her parents treated her quite well.
After living another life, she finally saw the truth.
If they truly had feelings for her, how could they have driven her out without even hesitating?
They simply felt that they had gained another daughter, which meant they had another candidate for a marriage alliance.
At eleven o’clock that night, the Bai Family villa was brightly lit.
The Bai Family’s private doctor walked in carrying a medical kit. He wore gold-rimmed glasses.
“Mr. Bai, you want to have blood samples taken for a paternity test, right?”
Bai Zhongjing nodded.
“Draw them. Everyone’s.”
Bai Tao voluntarily rolled up her sleeve and extended her arm.
The doctor glanced at her, somewhat surprised.
Previously, whenever he had drawn blood, given injections, or administered IVs to this young lady, she would complain and whine for half a day.
Bai Tao smiled at him.
“Please be gentle.”
The doctor nodded and quickly inserted the needle and drew her blood.
The atmosphere in the living room was extremely subtle.
Bai Fenglan, Bai Tao’s aunt who had always disliked her, was currently sitting on the sofa with Yu Xiaozhen in her arms.
Before the results even came out, she seemed to have already decided that Bai Tao was not the Bai Family’s biological daughter.
Yu Xiaozhen leaned against her shoulder, crying until her eyes were red and the tip of her nose was pink. She looked incredibly pitiful.
Bai Fenglan patted her back while comforting her.
“Poor child. You have suffered so much… Once you come back to the Bai Family, Auntie will take care of you.”
Bai Zhongjing and Lin Meng sat together on the middle sofa.
Bai Zhongjing held his teacup, seemingly lost in thought.
Lin Meng lowered her head and looked at her phone. The light from the screen illuminated her well-maintained face, but it was impossible to read her emotions.
Before the paternity test results came out, neither of them would make any statement.
So steady.
Very steady.
So steady that Bai Tao wanted to applaud them.
Only Bai Shen was different.
Bai Shen had worked at the company all day. He should have returned home to rest, but this farce had dragged him into the night.
He sat beside Bai Tao.
His suit jacket had already been taken off and was draped over the armrest. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled up to his forearms, revealing a strong, well-defined wrist.
One arm rested along the back of the sofa behind Bai Tao, as though he were loosely holding her.
His other hand pressed against his forehead.
His eyes were closed, and the crease between his brows looked deep enough to crush a mosquito.
Bai Tao turned her head and glanced at him.
Bai Shen had very long eyelashes, casting a small fan-shaped shadow beneath his eyes.
His jawline also seemed more defined than it had been the previous month.
After she had been driven out in her previous life, Bai Shen had called her once.
That night, she had been completely drunk in a bar.
The music had been deafening, and her phone had vibrated several times in her pocket before she finally answered.
Bai Shen’s voice on the other end had been very low.
“Do you… need money?”
How had she responded then?
“I don’t need your pity.”
Then she had hung up.
Bai Shen had never called her again.
Bai Tao lowered her eyes, feeling a little bitter inside.
This time, she would treat her older brother better.
The doctor finished drawing the blood, labeled the test tubes, and placed them in the case.
He said the results would be available tomorrow evening.
Bai Zhongjing put down his teacup and finally spoke.
“Until the results come out, Bai Tao is still a member of the Bai Family.”
Bai Fenglan was dissatisfied and snorted.
“Brother, what is there to wait for? The paternity test is just a formality.”
“Look at these two girls standing together. Isn’t it obvious at a glance who looks like a member of the Bai Family?”
“Bai Tao has been disobedient and spoiled since she was little. I always thought she didn’t look like someone from our Bai Family.”
“And now look at what kind of person her biological mother is. What normal person would do something like that?”
Bai Tao listened to her aunt’s words and smiled faintly.
Bai Zhongjing glanced at Bai Fenglan but said nothing.
At that moment, Lin Meng raised her eyes.
Her voice was not loud, but every word was perfectly clear.
“Before the results come out, no one is allowed to say anything carelessly.”
Bai Fenglan curled her lips and fell silent.
The living room became quiet.
Only Yu Xiaozhen’s occasional sobs could be heard.
Bai Tao leaned against the sofa, her fingers unconsciously drawing circles on her knee.
She looked at the crystal chandelier overhead, the expensive paintings hanging on the walls, and the imported carpet covering the floor.
What a pity.
If only she could take these things with her, how much money could she make by selling them?
The last time she left, she had taken nothing except some clothes and a few other things.
Yu Xiaozhen had even stood beside her with the nanny, afraid that she might sneak away with even a single piece of her property.
But it did not matter now.
Bai Tao stared at the 108,000 yuan balance in her WeChat account and suddenly felt much more secure.
It was already far better than the disastrous start she had experienced in her previous life.
If she spent five thousand yuan a month on rent and was careful with the rest, she could find some work and somehow support Pei Jin for two years.
In her previous life, Pei Jin had been picked up by someone else.
This time, she would be the one to pick him up!
Pei Jin was a child the Pei Family had raised by pouring money and resources into him.
He was a young master practically built from mountains of gold and silver.
Unfortunately, Pei Shengli was a shrewd man.
No matter how much he invested in raising Pei Jin, he would never allow a child with no blood relation to him to inherit the family fortune.
So he drove Pei Jin out as well.
When Pei Jin eventually made his comeback, he had casually given the little girl who had rescued him one hundred million yuan.
One hundred million!
Girls, that was one hundred million!
Bai Tao took a deep breath.
This suffering was truly too painful.
Although in her previous life she had thought that the girl who had both acted like his mother and worked as his maid was truly pitiful, Bai Tao had never learned how to cook before she died.
But this suffering…
She would be the one to endure it this time!
With all this commotion, nobody had any intention of returning to their rooms to sleep.
The Bai Family’s living room remained brightly lit.
Lin Meng had already leaned against Bai Zhongjing’s shoulder and dozed off. Bai Zhongjing was also half-asleep, his body swaying slightly.
Only Bai Tao remained awake.
She hugged her phone and frantically posted on various platforms.
She was about to be thrown out of the house, so she needed to find somewhere to live as quickly as possible.
[Help! Girls, does anyone know of any cheap and decent apartments for rent in Jing City? Please DM me ASAP. Preferably somewhere I can move into tomorrow!]
After posting it, midnight arrived.
Everyone who needed to sleep had already gone to bed.
Bai Tao was not in a hurry.
She curled up on the sofa and casually browsed rental guides.
At two in the morning, her phone suddenly vibrated.
A real estate agent with the username Social Wang Bro had sent her a private message.
[Sis, I have a few apartments here. What price range are you looking for?]
Wang Bro had not expected much.
The post had already been up for two hours. Who would still respond in the middle of the night?
But the next second, his phone lit up.
Bai Tao had stayed up all night reading rental warnings and bargaining guides from beginning to end.
She was now full of energy and replied instantly.
[Budget: 7,000 yuan. What kind of place can I rent?]
In reality, her budget was only five thousand.
But this was a new trick she had just learned from the guides.
Start by quoting a higher price so you have room to bargain down.
The other side quickly sent over a pile of photos.
Bai Tao swiped through them one by one, her brows drawing tighter and tighter.
Every apartment looked awful.
The walls were moldy, and the kitchens were so filthy that she got goosebumps just looking at them.
How was this different from what the internet had said?
Unwilling to give up, she picked out several places online that looked a little brighter and sent them over.
Wang Bro replied bluntly.
[Places like these? They cost 12,000 yuan!]
Bai Tao swallowed.
Her butt nearly slid off the sofa.
After steadying herself, she replied:
[Why would it cost 12,000? I think a place like this should be at most 5,000.]
[Tsk. Look at the location! This is Jing City! I’m telling you, places near the Second Ring Road cost 12,000 even if they’re just basements like this.]
Twelve thousand.
Bai Tao did the math rapidly in her head.
At that rate, she might not even be able to support Pei Jin for a year.
She did not dare think about the one hundred million yuan yet.
Five million should be enough, right?
But she really could not live in such a damp and filthy dump.
[Big Brother, I don’t need somewhere particularly close. Do you have anything farther away but with a good environment?]
Afraid that he might be annoyed, she quickly added a cheeky grinning emoji.
The other side was silent for a few seconds before replying.
[You want it clean, cheap, and available for immediate move-in.]
[How about this? I actually have one. I’ll charge you 8,000 yuan in rent. But there’s no bathroom. You’ll either have to go to a public bathhouse to shower or line up for the shared bathroom. Think about it.]
Three photos followed.
One showed a shared kitchen.
One showed a public bathroom, so small that there was barely enough room to turn around, with a lonely showerhead in the corner.
The last showed the room.
It looked like a partitioned unit converted from a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, with each bedroom separated into an independent unit.
There was a double sofa, a coffee table, and a bed behind the sofa.
At the foot of the bed stood a small wardrobe and a desk.
There was also a small balcony where clothes could be dried.
Bai Tao stared at the photos for a while.
Although there was only one bed, she could hang a curtain behind the sofa and separate part of the room.
As for the environment, compared with the moldy apartments she had seen earlier, this one was practically heaven and earth apart.
There was even a small balcony and a small window.
The ventilation looked decent too.
Bai Tao thought about it.
She decided that putting up a curtain behind the sofa was not a bad idea.
It was small, but it had everything she needed.
She did the calculations.
She would be thrown out of the house at noon today, while Pei Jin would be driven out one day later.
Time was tight and there was a lot to do.
She had to secure the apartment quickly.
Bai Tao took a deep breath and replied to Wang Bro.
[Wang Bro, I’ll come see the apartment this afternoon. It’s settled!]
After agreeing on a time to view the apartment that afternoon, Bai Tao let out a long sigh of relief.
She curled up on the sofa like a lazy cat.
Bai Fenglan was already half-asleep with Yu Xiaozhen in her arms, her head bobbing up and down.
Bai Tao glanced sideways and glared fiercely at her.
This aunt was the most materialistic person of all.
Since Bai Tao was little, she had often exaggerated things and stirred up trouble in front of Bai Zhongjing.
Today she would say Bai Tao had no manners.
Tomorrow she would say Bai Tao was immature.
She always found different ways to get Bai Zhongjing to criticize her.
Yet whenever they were in front of outsiders, she acted more affectionate than anyone.
“Oh, our little Tao is so well-behaved.”
“I love this niece of mine the most.”
But behind her back, she called Bai Tao an ungrateful ingrate.
Bai Tao rolled her eyes and could not be bothered to look at her anymore.
She leaned back.
The next second, her eyes suddenly widened.
Wait.
What had she just been thinking about?
She could take advantage of the fact that nobody was paying attention to her and go upstairs to pack some things!
Bai Tao immediately stood up and quietly tiptoed up the stairs.
The moment she left, the person whose arm she had been resting her head on opened his eyes.
Bai Shen turned his head and looked at the spot on his arm where she had just rested her head.
It was a very faint feeling.
Like an illusion.
He lowered his eyes.
He did not move or make a sound.
He simply remained quietly against the sofa as though nothing had happened.
Second floor.
Bai Tao pushed open the door to her walk-in closet.
The entire 100-square-meter dressing room was filled with designer handbags hanging neatly along all four walls, stacked several layers high.
Clothes hung inside the wardrobes on both sides. Many still had their tags attached.
They were all colorful and from the latest collections.
In the center of the dressing room stood a large jewelry cabinet.
Bai Tao walked over and opened a drawer.
From the time she was little, the Bai Family had bought her jewelry, relatives had given her gifts, and she had accumulated pieces from various occasions.
Rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets lay quietly on the velvet lining, sparkling beneath the warm yellow lights.
She had originally thought that after getting a second chance at life, she would not feel this sad anymore.
After all, she was going to be driven out anyway.
But as she looked at these things that had once been proof that she had been cherished, tears still welled up uncontrollably in Bai Tao’s eyes.
Twenty-three years of family.
And they could simply decide they did not want her anymore.
She quickly wiped her face with her sleeve.
Then she pulled her largest suitcase out from the corner and began stuffing things into it with her head lowered.
Rings. In.
Necklaces. In.
Earrings. In.
Handbags were more valuable, but they were too large. One bag would take up half the suitcase.
Not worth it.
As she continued packing, Bai Tao’s hand suddenly stopped.
At the very back of the drawer lay a red box.
She had almost forgotten about it.
Bai Tao’s eyes instantly reddened again.
This red box…
It had been given to her by her grandmother.
Bai Tao gently opened the lid.
Inside lay a pair of imperial green jadeite bracelets.
The green was rich and deep. Under the light, they radiated an astonishing and luxurious beauty.
She had received them during the summer vacation of the year she was accepted into university.
She had not wanted to remain at home under so much pressure, so she had gone to stay with her grandmother in the suburbs for several days.
When she left, her grandmother had secretly stuffed the box into her hands.
“Take them. They can be your dowry.”
Her grandmother had smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. Her wrinkles were filled with affection.
“Don’t tell your parents. This is our little secret.”
Her grandmother had loved her the most.
Among all the elders in the Bai Family, she was the only one who had genuinely cherished Bai Tao since childhood.
Not because Bai Tao was obedient.
Not because she had good grades.
Not because she could be used for a marriage alliance.
She loved her simply because Bai Tao was her granddaughter.
But Bai Tao had not even been able to see her grandmother one last time.
Her grandmother had quietly passed away during the year Bai Tao was a sophomore in university, while Bai Tao was away on a school-organized trip.
Bai Tao took a deep breath and carefully placed the red box into the hidden compartment at the bottom of her suitcase.
She pressed it down and made sure it would not be damaged.
“Grandma…”
she whispered softly, as though afraid someone might hear her.
“I miss you so much.”
If you knew that Little Tao was not your biological granddaughter, would you still love her so much?
After packing the jewelry, Bai Tao hurriedly stuffed some underwear, skincare products, essence, sunscreen, foundation, and lipstick into the suitcase.
These things were expensive to buy outside.
She would take as much as she could.
Ten minutes later, she quietly returned to the sofa.
Nobody had noticed that she had left.
Bai Shen had his eyes closed.
Bai Zhongjing was dozing.
Lin Meng was leaning against his shoulder.
Bai Fenglan was still holding Yu Xiaozhen as she slept.
Everything looked exactly as it had before Bai Tao left.
Bai Tao leaned against the sofa and slowly exhaled.
Her phone lit up.
Wang Bro had sent her a message.
[Boss, two this afternoon. Don’t stand me up.]
Bai Tao curled her lips into a smile and typed a reply.
[Don’t worry. I’ll be there on time.]