“What’s the background of the Li family’s new son-in-law? Ma Yan’er is so smug about it, as if her tail’s up in the sky—and Li Qiao isn’t even her own daughter.”
“Sister Bajiao, is your pickled cabbage ready yet?”
Several women were washing vegetables by the well in the courtyard when Zhang Huaijuan passed by and chimed in.
“Zhang… Oh, Sister Juan, you’re home so early today?” Miao Bajiao forced an awkward smile.
Zhang Huaijuan’s face was cold. “Mind your own business and talk less about others.”
After she left, Miao Bajiao spat, “Pah!” She simply couldn’t stand the sight of petty people gloating.
Tch, selling off a stepdaughter and still not letting anyone talk about it.
So they just tossed me into this Small World like that? Jiaojiao stared at the yellowish cloth hanging overhead.
What if she couldn’t learn the ways of this Small World?
She got up and cleared the trash from the table.
The noise in the room was noticeable, and someone immediately came in from outside.
“Sister, don’t do the work yourself,” the girl said as she stepped forward to help with the trash.
Jiaojiao looked at her, and memories surfaced in her mind:
This was the original host’s younger sister, Li Mai. Looking at her thin, withered appearance and dull, yellowish hair—
even Jiaojiao, who had never paid much attention to her own looks, was startled. She hurried over to where there was a mirror to check her own face.
“Whew, thank goodness.” She let out a sigh of relief. At least she hadn’t turned into a scrawny, ugly fox with dry, yellow fur. Otherwise, she wouldn’t dare call herself a fox spirit. Her own glossy, sleek fur was something even a thousand pieces of gold couldn’t buy.
Jiaojiao scanned the room. It wasn’t exactly shabby—the walls were white but had yellowed in places.
The thin, bony girl beside her waited until she seemed fine before speaking up. “Sister, I’ll be cooking outside. Call me if you need anything.”
Jiaojiao immediately said, “I want meat.”
Of course, it wasn’t just for herself—this scrawny girl needed to eat too. Once she ate, she wouldn’t be so thin anymore.
Back in her clan, the skinny foxes all relied on eating meat to become plump and pretty.
The girl froze, then slowly reached into her pocket. With only a few meat ration coupons left, she gritted her teeth and decided, “Alright, I’ll go buy some.”
After the girl left, Jiaojiao flopped back onto the bed with a soft thud.
System loading successful. Please confirm loading of Plot Data. Countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2…
[Automatically confirmed.]
What was that in her Sea of Consciousness? It sounded a bit like the voice from earlier.
But soon, she had no mind to dwell on it. A flood of Plot Data transformed into memories and surged into her mind.
The original owner of the body she now inhabited was named Li Qiao, an accountant at Textile Factory No. 1.
She was set to marry Chen Yu, a long-distance truck driver, next Monday.
Her stepmother, Ma Yan’er, said Chen Yu was satisfied with her looks, so the original host figured she could be satisfied with his wallet.
Some said Chen Yu had been married before—his first wife was the daughter of a Party secretary at Textile Factory No. 3. But while Chen Yu was away working, his wife rekindled things with her ex-boyfriend.
As luck would have it, one of Chen Yu’s buddies witnessed it. As soon as Chen Yu returned to G Province after his job, the first thing he did was file for divorce.
No matter how much his ex-wife cried, made a scene, or threatened suicide, it was useless. He wouldn’t take her back no matter what.
What outsiders didn’t know was that Chen Yu and his so-called ex-wife had never actually been together in the first place.
The story spread and grew more outrageous with each retelling, causing such an uproar that almost everyone in the industry knew Chen Yu had been cuckolded by some pretty boy.
Openly and behind his back, people mocked him.
The whole mess left the people under Chen Yu in his trucking team unable to hold their heads up for a while.
Even though no one knew how this “sister-in-law” had come about, they still felt embarrassed for their boss.
Chen Yu hadn’t been a driver for long, but having previously been a streetwise hustler, he discovered that driving could indeed earn good money. So he gathered his buddies and formed the Dongjiang Fleet.
Everyone in the industry knew that after Chen Yu was cheated on, people often tried to set him up with potential wives, teasing him about it.
Chen Yu refused time and again, never quite understanding why he didn’t want to marry—until he saw Li Qiao while delivering a batch of goods to a textile factory.
The moment he laid eyes on her, Chen Yu decided he would marry her.
Upon receiving this news, his subordinates sought out matchmakers in the area.
After three or four days of waiting, they finally received a response from the Li family.
Li Qiao’s family was a blended one. When her stepmother saw such a wealthy suitor, she spent the entire night in Li Qiao’s room, trying to persuade her.
Ma Yan’er said that Chen Yu was merely a divorcee, but at least he had no children, making Li Qiao luckier than most.
She was truly afraid Li Qiao would refuse and let this golden bachelor slip away.
She paid no attention to whether her words hit the mark—each sentence felt like a knife, nearly piercing Li Qiao’s heart.
What did she mean by “no children”? Luckier than most?
Exhausted from dealing with Ma Yan’er, Li Qiao agreed.
She thought, if marrying meant starting a family, at least she could openly leave this home behind.
After marrying Chen Yu, life indeed became much easier. Once the bride price was paid, the Li family’s fortunes also rose.
One day, Li Qiao’s younger sister, Li Mai, was kidnapped. The traffickers demanded a ransom of 50,000 yuan. The original host sought out Chen Yu, who was always on the road driving, for the money. Without a second thought, he gave it.
But the traffickers took the money and didn’t return the girl. No matter how much Li Qiao spent trying to find out what happened, there was no trace of her sister. She never saw her again before she died, leaving it as a lifelong regret.
She always believed her sister was kidnapped because she had been too ostentatious.
They say wealth should not be flaunted—she felt she had harmed her sister.
Depressed day after day, the original host’s health deteriorated less than five years into her marriage. She was eventually diagnosed with stomach cancer and died in the hospital.
Li Qiao’s wish: “Prevent my sister from being kidnapped.”
After receiving the Plot Data, Jiaojiao screamed inwardly, “I’ve been tricked!”
As expected, meat pies don’t fall from the sky—only thunderbolts do. Wuwuwu… Being struck by lightning was already tragic enough.
She thought she was here to have fun, but who knew there were tasks? It’s all a setup.
The System could hear her thoughts and immediately came out to explain: “Host, this task is very simple. Just think of it as experiencing a different life.”
Jiaojiao’s eyes filled with sorrow as she asked, “What are you?”
“I’m your System! My name is Tuotuo, as in ‘guaranteed stability.’ I’m from the Star River Management Bureau.”
Seeing her on the verge of tears, the System’s heart ached.
This was the beautiful fox it had chosen.
Jiaojiao said discontentedly, “I don’t care what kind of ‘tuo’ you are. Send me back right now. I don’t want to do any tasks.”
“But the contract has already been sealed. If the Host tries to change it, your soul will be erased, and you’ll have to be reborn,” the System said, looking at her innocently.
Realizing she couldn’t go back, Jiaojiao sat on the bed sulking, especially since her Demonic Power was gone.
System: “Should Tuotuo apply for compensation for you?”
“Compensation won’t help. If you have the ability, restore my Demonic Power,” Jiaojiao said, utterly frustrated. She had really messed up this time.
That was Demonic Power she had cultivated for hundreds of years!
Jiaojiao lay on the bed: “Don’t call yourself the ‘tuo’ for stability. Call yourself the ‘tuo’ for a lump of *.”
Beep! Detected inappropriate language. Content has been censored.
“Don’t be like that, Host.” The System looked at the blocked word and had already guessed it probably wasn’t a good term.
Seeing her lying there in a defeated slump, the System worried she might resist the mission and pulled out the Wish List Jiaojiao had written earlier.
On it were only four large characters: “Top-tier man.”
“Host, the mission target’s husband definitely qualifies as top-tier, no matter which aspect you consider.”
The System searched the forum for definitions of a top-tier man.
“If you’re not satisfied, you can also use the Items in the System to make adjustments.”
At this, Jiaojiao perked up: “Really?”
The System nodded vigorously: “Really, really. These are all minor matters; the Host’s mission is the important thing.”
It stared blankly at the Host’s somewhat dazed o_o? expression.
Can human sadness disappear that quickly? Wait, the Host is a fox.
“Fine then, I’ll reluctantly accept your promise. But I want to go see that Chen Yu—you lead the way.” Jiaojiao had the original host’s memories.
The original host had seen Chen Yu, but that had nothing to do with her; she wanted to see for herself.
From the plot, it seemed he was remarried? But something felt off; she needed to go ask for clarification.
If he really was secondhand goods, no matter how top-tier, she wouldn’t want him.
The System was now at her beck and call, immediately pulling up a map to take Jiaojiao to find him.
It was just a newly appointed little System, and this was its first assigned world—it hadn’t even passed its probation period yet.
If the mission in this world failed, it didn’t know how long it would have to wait for a restart.
Li Mai saw her come out and poked her head out: “Sis, where are you going? Dinner’s almost ready.”
“I’ll be back soon.” Jiaojiao went to the kitchen, saw the meat, and left satisfied.
As the saying goes, with a stepmother comes a stepfather; the Li family was no exception.
Li Qiao’s stepmother was a beautiful woman, five years younger than Father Li. She gave birth to a son in her third year of marriage into the Li family.
That year, Li Qiao was twelve. From then on, she and her sister, who had been raised as Father Li’s doted-upon daughters, seemed to be wrapped in a membrane—no longer Father Li’s treasures, with everything prioritizing the son.
In outsiders’ eyes, the stepmother wasn’t exactly vicious,
but she made the two sisters, Li Qiao and Li Mai, feel like outsiders in their own home, like regular guests.
Once job assignments stabilized, she moved out of the Li home, taking Li Mai with her, citing convenience for work and Li Mai’s schooling.
To avoid gossip, the two sisters returned for a meal every week.
On the way, the System cautiously asked: “What does the Host consider a top-tier man?”
Jiaojiao thought for a moment. “Don’t know. I’ll know when I see one.”
Before being struck dead by lightning, she had been in seclusion in her Abode for hundreds of years—hadn’t even seen a male mosquito.