When Tang Xin’er woke up, her head throbbed, and there was a sharp, stinging pain in her wrists.
Beside her, a woman was weeping. “Xin’er, how could you be so foolish? Your mother only wanted you to marry in your sister’s place. The Qin family is wealthy, so marrying into it means a life of comfort. Why on earth would you do something so foolish as to slit your wrists?”
Tang Xin’er blinked. …What in the world?
Was the woman calling her Xin’er? Did she attempt suicide by slitting her wrists?
Sure enough, her wrists really did hurt…
“You’re awake? Oh, child, please don’t be so foolish, don’t throw your life away,” the woman said, her face flooded with anxiety upon seeing her open her eyes. “We’ve already accepted 2,888 yuan in betrothal gifts from the Qin family. That money was already used to pay the bride price for your younger brother to get married, and we’ve already booked the hotel for the banquet with the rest. You can’t just abandon your brother like this!”
Seeing the woman’s panicked expression as she spoke, Tang Xin’er realized with certainty that these words were indeed directed at her.
Panic instantly gripped her. Did I just time-travel?
Judging by what was just said, she had landed right in the middle of a heavily patriarchal household. Her mood plummeted instantly.
A flood of unfamiliar memories suddenly rushed into her mind, making her realize the truth: she had transmigrated into a novel.
In this story, the female protagonist was her step-sister, Zhou Youyou.
The original Tang Xin’er’s mother and Zhou Youyou’s father were in a blended family. Zhou Youyou was the daughter from the father’s previous marriage. After the two remarried, they had a son together named Zhou Yaozu.
Zhou Youyou was twenty-two years old this year and the only university student in the village, as well as the novel’s female protagonist. Last year, she met a military man on a blind date named Qin Shiyao. At the time, he was a deputy battalion commander—tall, handsome, and twenty-seven years old. Pressured by his family to marry, he met Zhou Youyou, and both sides were quite satisfied with each other’s background. They decided they would get married as soon as Zhou Youyou graduated from university and found a job.
Two months ago, the Qin family sent 1,888 yuan in betrothal gifts along with the traditional “three golds” (gold necklace, earrings, and ring). The Zhou family used this money to secure a bride for Zhou Yaozu, setting aside 888 yuan as a bride price for a pretty young local girl, while using 1,000 yuan to reserve a hotel banquet. The wedding was scheduled for two months later.
However, disaster struck when Qin Shiyao went on a mission. He was caught in a massive fire and suffered severe burns, with fifty percent of his body scarred and his face disfigured into something terrifying.
When Zhou Youyou went to the hospital to see Qin Shiyao just once, the sight terrified her so much that she immediately wanted to call off the engagement.
Since their relationship was arranged through a blind date, and Qin Shiyao spent most of his time stationed with the military, they had only met three times in total: once for the blind date, once to discuss the marriage, and once to formally introduce their families. Without any deep emotional foundation, she naturally had no desire to marry a disfigured man and wanted out.
Yet, the betrothal gifts had already been accepted, and a large portion had already been spent. If Zhou Youyou backed out now, it meant Zhou Yaozu’s almost-certain bride would slip through his fingers.
Furious, Zhou Yaozu threw a massive tantrum.
Zhou Youyou threw a fit of her own. After all, she was a university student, and in this era, college students were exceptionally valued. Naturally, the entire family scrambled to appease her, even plotting to scrape together every penny they had to refund the betrothal gifts and cancel the wedding. Hearing wind of this, the Qin family added another 1,000 yuan to the betrothal gifts, seemingly sensing that Zhou Youyou was reluctant to marry into their family.
This changed everything. Zhou Yaozu’s young fiancée caught wind of the increased payout and demanded a much grander wedding.
Desperate to satisfy his beloved fiancée, Zhou Yaozu and the family finally hashed out a plan: let Tang Xin’er marry in Zhou Youyou’s place. They even sent a photograph of Tang Xin’er to the Qin family, asking if a substitution was acceptable.
The Qin family proved surprisingly easygoing. Seeing that Tang Xin’er was quite pretty—and knowing that she had only made it to the first year of high school before dropping out, lacking the education of a university student like Zhou Youyou—they figured their son was in no position to be picky given his disfigurement, and agreed to the swap.
Tang Xin’er, however, absolutely refused. After visiting the hospital to look at Qin Shiyao with her own eyes, she suffered nightmares all night, plagued by visions of spending the rest of her life alongside a monster. After a few sleepless days, she told her family she wouldn’t do it. But she held the lowest status in the household.
Even Zhou Yaozu’s name—meaning “glory to the ancestors”—made it painfully obvious how deeply treasured he was.
Even though Zhou Youyou was a girl, she was a university student.
Only Tang Xin’er—neither carrying Zhou blood nor boasting a college degree—was treated as disposable, the ultimate family sacrifice.
Tang Xin’er had wanted to make a fuss too, but unlike Zhou Youyou or Zhou Yaozu, nobody in the house cared about her. Not even her birth mother bothered to give her the time of day.
Driven to despair, she ultimately chose to slit her wrists.
Discovered just in time, she was rushed to the hospital and remained unconscious for hours. When she finally woke up, the original Tang Xin’er was gone, replaced by a soul from another world.
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined transmigrating into this specific novel. She remembered reading it previously and thinking how amusing it was that a minor cannon-fodder character shared her exact name, though she hadn’t paid it much mind since that character barely appeared.
In the original book, the heroine Zhou Youyou’s life journey was truly inspirational. Aside from tacitly allowing the cannon-fodder step-sister to take her place in the marriage, and swiping the sister’s spatial necklace beforehand, the story didn’t have many major plot flaws.
Because the author glossed over those two plot points with a few brief sentences, readers only complained for a moment before getting swept up in the rest of the narrative.
Now, viewing things from the perspective of the cannon-fodder step-sister, Tang Xin’er realized just how utterly shameless Zhou Youyou truly was.
In the original plotline, it was only after the younger sister married in her place that Zhou Youyou accidentally bonded with the spatial item. Because the replacement bride was terrified of her scarred husband, her marital relationship remained icy and distant.
Once Zhou Youyou unlocked the space and discovered the miraculous healing properties of its spring water, she used it as a facial toner and gifted it to Qin Shiyao, curing his burn scars and earning the eternal, heartfelt gratitude of both Qin Shiyao and Tang Xin’er.
In reality, that spatial necklace was something Tang Xin’er had saved up for ages to buy. She originally intended it for herself, but Zhou Youyou fancied it. The moment Zhou Youyou asked, the entire family sided with their precious university student, forcing Tang Xin’er to hand it over as a supplementary dowry gift for Zhou Youyou.
“Xin’er, why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t scare Mom like this—did something happen to your head?” the woman beside her asked, growing increasingly panicked.
Tang Xin’er looked at her. The woman was Zhao Meifang, the original owner’s mother.
Pulling her hand away from Zhao Meifang’s grip, Tang Xin’er said, “I can take her place in the marriage. But since I’m marrying in my sister’s place, shouldn’t my sister return the necklace I previously gave her?”
As soon as those words left her mouth, Zhou Youyou—who had been standing off to the side looking worried—wore an expression of utter disgust.
She had already been given the necklace; how shameless could this stepsister be to ask for it back? Gifts given away were never meant to be returned!
Do you have any specific preferences for how you’d like the next chapter or scene to develop?