2:43 a.m.
Shen Jin slumped on the beanbag in her rented apartment, the blue glow of her phone screen reflecting off a face that screamed defeat. “Just one more chapter, then sleep,” she told herself.
Then she read ten more.
As a textbook 996 corporate drone, Shen Jin’s only entertainment was lying in bed after work and bingeing web novels. Tonight she had just finished an ancient romance — the title already forgotten, only remembering the heroine: a marquis’s daughter, clever and beautiful, who soared through life and ended up as empress.
But what stuck with Shen Jin most was the cannon-fodder side character — Shen Jinshu, daughter of General Shen.
Her name differed from Shen Jin’s by just one character.
And Shen Jinshu was a disaster. Born into privilege as the general’s legitimate daughter, with a father who was the empire’s great commander, she had everything. Yet she insisted on marrying the crown prince — who didn’t even like her, his heart belonging to the heroine.
So Shen Jinshu came up with a rotten plan: drug him. Except she drugged the wrong man. The crown prince never drank it; the second male lead did.
Xiao Heng, heir to Marquis Dingyuan, nephew of the emperor, devastatingly handsome — but still the second male lead, the heroine’s backup.
After one fateful night with Xiao Heng, Shen Jinshu refused to let go. She cried; she screamed until the whole capital knew what she’d done. In the end, ashamed yet unwilling to marry him, she hung herself with a white silk cord.
When Shen Jin read that part, she threw her phone onto the bed in fury.
“Are you stupid?! You slept with him and then refused to marry him — what were you thinking?! Xiao Heng is gorgeous, and you’re rejecting him? He’s the second male lead! In other novels, that’s basically the male lead treatment! Couldn’t you just marry him quietly instead of courting death? You’re driving me insane!”
The more she ranted, the angrier she got. She grabbed her phone again to keep venting. “If it were me, I’d never do that. Marrying Xiao Heng would be perfect! General’s daughter and marquis’s heir — a perfect match. And he’s so handsome! The book even says he’s ‘a face like carved jade, eyes like bright stars,’ ‘the most beautiful man in the capital.’ What more do you want?!”
Rolling her eyes, Shen Jin shoved the phone under her pillow. “Forget it. None of my business. Sleep.”
She closed her eyes, still thinking about the novel. Drowsiness crept in, and suddenly the noise from the late-night food stalls downstairs vanished.
Too quiet.
Unnaturally quiet.
Then she smelled something fragrant. Her consciousness blurred. Her last thought was: *This isn’t the scent of the takeout I ordered.*
She woke in heat.
Shen Jin felt like a furnace was hugging her from behind, warm breath tickling the back of her neck. A man?
Her mind was foggy, eyelids too heavy to lift. It had to be a dream.
After all, she was a 25-year-old single office worker who had never even held a man’s hand, let alone been embraced like this. This only happened in novels.
Wait — she had been reading a novel before bed.
“Ohhh,” she thought, “daydreaming at night, dreaming of the story.”
Since it was a dream, why be shy? She turned over — and faced a man’s face. She couldn’t see clearly in the dark, but the outline was striking. Her hand moved on its own: high nose bridge, sharp jawline, thin lips. Thin lips meant fickle love, the books said. But he was too handsome to care.
“It’s just a dream,” she whispered, “so I won’t hold back.”
She kissed him.
Hot. Soft.
Her heart skipped.
Too real.
So she kissed him again. And again. And again… Until his eyes suddenly opened. Star-bright, cold as jade, staring straight at her.
Shen Jin froze. But then thought — it’s just a dream. Why be afraid?
She boldly met his gaze and even pinched his cheek. “Really handsome. Skin, bone structure… tsk tsk.”
His expression stiffened. She didn’t notice, already tracing his collarbone.
“This collarbone could hold water… chest muscles, abs—”
Her hand was caught.
“Enough.” His voice was low, rough, restrained.
Shen Jin blinked, then grinned. “Dream male leads are all this cold?”
She straddled him, looking down. “You think you can stop me? This is my dream. My rules.”
His eyes shifted — shock, disbelief, then something she couldn’t read.
But she didn’t care. Dreams weren’t for restraint. She wanted to experience everything she’d missed in 25 years of singlehood. “Listen,” she whispered in his ear, “in real life I’ve never even held hands. But tonight, in this dream, I’m going to—”
Before she finished, the world flipped. He pinned her beneath him, gaze deep enough to drown. “Are you sure?” he asked softly.
Her heart raced, but she answered without hesitation: “Absolutely. It’s just a dream. I won’t get pregnant.”
He paused. Then smiled. “As you wish.”
Shen Jin didn’t know how long the dream lasted. Only that every detail felt too real — every touch, every breath, every sensation.
But it had to be a dream. She was a lifelong single, after all.
So it was a dream.
Definitely.
Her last thought before sinking into darkness: *This dream is way too high quality.*
Morning. Not a gradual dawn, but sunlight stabbing her eyes open. She frowned, wanting to roll away — but couldn’t.
Something heavy pressed on her waist.
A man’s arm.
Long, strong, elegant fingers.
Shen Jin: *???*
She turned her head. A man lay beside her. Not just any man — an absurdly beautiful one. Black hair spilled across the pillow, sharp brows, sculpted nose, thin lips relaxed in sleep.
But the real problem— He wasn’t wearing clothes.
Neither was she.
Memories flooded back. The warmth. The kisses. Her bold words. Her reckless actions.
And then— She had been thoroughly, repeatedly… done.
Her brain crashed.
Not a dream. Not a dream!!!
At that moment, foreign memories surged into her mind.
Shen Jinshu. General’s daughter. Fifteen. Loved the crown prince. Drugged the wrong man. The man she slept with last night wasn’t ordinary.
It was Xiao Heng. The marquis’s heir. The second male lead. The one Shen Jinshu ruined herself over.
Her lips trembled. She had transmigrated into the cannon-fodder girl who drugged the wrong man, caused a scandal, and hanged herself.
And worse— She looked at the marks on her body, then at the sleeping man. She hadn’t resisted. She had been *very* proactive. Very, very proactive.
Shen Jin shut her eyes. She wanted to die. But the original had already died. She couldn’t. She had to live, even if it was inside a novel.
As she spiraled into panic, the man stirred. His deep eyes opened, meeting hers.
Silence.
“Awake?” His voice was husky, devastatingly beautiful.
Shen Jin’s mind screamed only one thing: *What do I do?!*
She opened her mouth, brain scrambling, and blurted out: “Um… about last night… sorry, I mistook you for someone else.”
Xiao Heng’s expression— cracked.