When she woke up, her vision was a blur.
First, she caught the scent of faint floral fragrance, the aroma drifting past her breath and into her throat. She choked and coughed a few times until feeling returned to her limbs.
Her vision gradually sharpened, the lines of objects and the sunlight clearly reflecting in her mind.
The first feeling Gu Qingjiao had after regaining consciousness was fatigue.
That long, heavy breathing, that weakness where speaking took too much effort, settled within her body for no apparent reason.
She vaguely remembered what had happened.
It was the Lantern Festival, and the entire city was bustling and lively. Some people happily went out to watch the lantern festival, while others rushed home by car and carriage.
However, for Gu Qingjiao, who had once been in a car accident, seeing a wide road made her dizzy, and hearing the screeching horns made her dizzy. Just crossing a single street had caused her legs to go weak uncontrollably.
Sure enough, some people were simply born to be homebodies, lying down, and sleeping, like Gu Qingjiao, otherwise, she had no idea the shadow cast upon her by her previous car accident could be so severe, severe to the point of being hit while just standing still, which probably meant the same thing as the famous saying of lying down and still catching a stray bullet.
Therefore, living another life, she decided to happily stay at home and enjoy a leisurely life.
System: Congratulations to the host for completing the mission!
When the system said these words, Gu Qingjiao happened to be staring blankly at the mirror.
She had originally intended to take a look at what she looked like now, to see what that face, which the system had endlessly praised as drop-dead gorgeous, actually looked like, but:
She saw herself!
This face was completely identical to her own, without the slightest alteration.
She was both startled and overjoyed, could it be that she hadn’t died yet? Was she saved?! Or, was the car accident just a dream?
Gu Qingjiao gripped her chest tightly, deeply moved, a warm wave of bitterness about to well up from her heart.
The system explained in a timely manner: You are now Gu Qingjiao’s twin sister, Gu Qingshu.
“…”
You used to live together with Gu Qingjiao, but because the Gu family declined and couldn’t afford to raise two daughters, Gu Qingjiao was sent to the countryside.
Later, you caught the eye of an old wealthy tycoon, and the old man insisted on marrying you before he would bail out the Gu family. Your mother couldn’t bear to part with you, so she grabbed Gu Qingjiao back to take your place in the arranged marriage.
In the end, this matter was intercepted by Shen Kewen. She happened to need a daughter-in-law, so she snatched Gu Qingjiao halfway and took her to South Manor.
The plot currently retrieved by the system is just this. For more plot details, the host will need to work harder to unlock them.
“Then what am I right now?”
System: You are Gu Qingshu, and you must change your name to Gu Qingshu from now on.
“No way. My real name is Gu Qingjiao. Names are given by parents, how can you just change it like that?” she refused.
System: But…
“Am I the female protagonist?”
System: Yes.
“As the female protagonist, I don’t even have this little bit of decision-making power?”
System: Not really, but… everyone who knows you knows you are Gu Qingshu.
System: Moreover, if ten people say you are Gu Qingshu, and a hundred people say you are Gu Qingshu, then you have no choice but to be Gu Qingshu.
Gu Qingjiao: “Sorry, that’s a bit too convoluted.”
What you said makes a lot of sense, but I’m not listening.
The floral fragrance in the room gradually shifted from light to rich, and Gu Qingjiao was somewhat unaccustomed to the scent.
Moreover, the overall layout and decorative color scheme were constantly reminding her that although her appearance remained the same as before, deep down in her soul, she was no longer that person.
In order to find a trace of familiar atmosphere in this house, she found her way to Gu Qingjiao’s room.
The area here was very small, the space probably only half the size of Gu Qingjiao’s room. However, whether it was the environment or the visual feel, it made her feel comfortable.
She played with the knick-knacks on the desk for a moment, checked out the clothes in the closet the next, and then sat on the bed to stroke the thick quilt. Sure enough, speaking of familiar vibes, only the places where Gu Qingjiao had stayed could make her feel relaxed and cozy.
She took off her shoes and prepared to take a nap, but at that moment, someone pushed the door open. It was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.
When the girl saw her, she looked extremely shocked and hurriedly asked, “Sister Shushu, why did you come to my room?”
“Your room?” Gu Qingjiao got off the bed somewhat awkwardly, apologizing while putting her shoes back on, “Sorry, I didn’t know this was your room.”
“It’s fine. Actually, this was that Gu Qingjiao’s room, but since she’s dead anyway, Auntie said she’d let me have this room.”
Hearing this, Gu Qingjiao’s movements paused, and she slowly turned her gaze toward the girl. “Kid, you don’t look very old, so why do you call me Sister, but refer to her directly by her name?”
The girl opened her large eyes wide. “Bai Tang and Gu Qingjiao aren’t close, so why should I call her sister? Besides, I heard she was very mischievous in the countryside, her grades were terrible, and nobody liked her. I don’t like her either.”
This remark made Gu Qingjiao feel very uncomfortable.
System: She is your little cousin, Bai Tang.
Gu Qingjiao straightened up and stretched her foot back onto the bed. “Since my cousin doesn’t like her, there is no need to stay here anymore. You can go out and see if there are any suitable hotels.”
“Ah? But Mom and I came over to celebrate the New Year. Does Sister not welcome me?”
“How could I not welcome you? It’s mainly because our Jiaojia always comes back at night to chat with me, and I’m afraid she’ll disturb you.”
Bai Tang was startled. “What?!”
While tucking the blanket neatly over her legs, Gu Qingjiao calmly said, “We have a very good relationship. She even told me last night that she wanted to sleep with me today, so look, I came here to keep her company.”
Bai Tang was so scared she couldn’t speak for a long time. Finally, she gave her a weird look, turned around, and bolted out.
Gu Qingjiao tidied up the bedding, locked the door from the inside, drew the curtains, and went to sleep.
When she woke up, it was already six o’clock in the evening.
Gu Qingjiao walked downstairs toward the living room and could hear Bai Tang throwing a tantrum from far away.
“I won’t! I won’t sleep in there! It’s haunted!”
The woman beside her placed a cake in front of her while gently persuading her, “But there are only so many rooms in the Gu family. Do you want to sleep on the sofa? Or why don’t you sleep with me?”
“No! Only little kids sleep with their moms, I’m an adult already.” Bai Tang snorted.
“You little brat, then what on earth do you want!”
“I want to sleep in Sister Shushu’s room.”
“Her room isn’t even as big as our kitchen.”
“But that’s already the biggest room here.”
As soon as she finished speaking, they heard footsteps coming from the stairwell. The woman hurriedly patted Bai Tang’s arm, signaling her to shut up immediately.
Gu Qingjiao walked over and sat down opposite them, smiling faintly.
The woman couldn’t tell whether their previous conversation had been overheard by her, so she awkwardly cobbled together an explanation: “Shushu, you’re awake? Youth is great, you can sleep a bit longer, unlike us old folks who wake up naturally every day at six o’clock and can’t fall back asleep no matter what. Oh right, today happens to be Bai Tang’s birthday, and your mom was being so polite, she even specially bought her a birthday cake. Come have a bite together?”
With that, the woman cheerfully went to cut a slice of cake and brought it over.
“Thanks. Where’s my mom?” Gu Qingjiao asked.
“She’s still in the kitchen. Bai Tang wanted to eat sweet and sour pork ribs today, so your mom went to make them.”
Bai Tang scooped up a large spoonful of flower cream into her mouth, and after swallowing, she wiped her mouth facing the woman and said, “Mom, I’m full. I don’t want to eat sweet and sour pork ribs anymore.”
The woman pulled out a tissue to wipe her lips and feigned annoyance, saying, “Your aunt is about to finish cooking dinner, can’t you save some room in your stomach!”
Gu Qingjiao stretched out her neck and chimed in with a question, “How old is my cousin?”
“Eighteen already.”
“Oh, so cute, I thought you were only fifteen.”
Although Bai Tang felt a bit shy inside, she constantly reminded herself that she was already an adult, and adults couldn’t act childish like little kids. She took a sip of milk tea and said somewhat bashfully, “Although I’m a year older, I still miss the joyful times of my childhood.”
This feigned depth of speech caught twenty-something Gu Qingjiao somewhat off guard. She quickly got up to pour two cups of strong tea, handed one of them over, and said, “That’s right, adults drink strong tea, only kids drink milk tea. Congratulations on coming of age, cousin, here.”
Bai Tang’s face darkened, and she was somewhat reluctant to accept it. She didn’t like drinking tea at all!
“It’s my birthday today, does Sister have a gift for me?” Bai Tang made a funny face at her.
Gu Qingjiao answered honestly, “No.”
The mother and daughter in the living room felt a bit awkward.
At this moment, Mother Gu walked to the dining table carrying the sweet and sour pork ribs. Since it wasn’t far from the living room, she arranged the tableware and chopsticks while speaking loudly in this direction, “Your Sister Shushu is just teasing you! How could there be no gift? She specially prayed for a Guanyin pendant last time and said she was going to give it to you.”
As soon as Bai Tang heard this, she perked right up, almost springing off the sofa. Her two round eyes looked at Gu Qingjiao. “Really? Sister Shushu is so good to me!”
Gu Qingjiao broke out in a cold sweat.
Regarding all of this, she was completely clueless as well.
She moved her seat closer to Bai Tang and said earnestly, “Cousin misunderstood. As the saying goes, men wear Guanyin, women wear Buddha. I prayed for a Guanyin, so how could it possibly be for you?”
Bai Tang looked completely shocked. “I’ve never heard of such a saying, and Auntie just said it was a gift for me. Is Sister regretting it now?”
“No, I don’t regret it,” Gu Qingjiao said, then picked up a pen and simply drew a Buddha on her hand. “Blessing you to grow tall and eat your fill.”
Bai Tang’s face fell, and she muttered softly, “You’re so childish.”
The woman sitting nearby joined in on the family gossip, leaning over to follow up on the topic, “Does Shushu have a boyfriend? Who did you pray for that Guanyin pendant for?”
Gu Qingjiao’s heart sank.
She asked the system: Where is my handsome hubby?
System: Hmm?
Gu Qingjiao: Where are the promised handsome hubby, wealth, and golden finger? Where are they?
System: Those all need to be acquired through the host’s hard work!
Gu Qingjiao was dumbfounded.
All that talk about the female protagonist’s halo earlier, it turned out to be just pie in the sky drawn by the system.
Seeing that she didn’t speak for a long time, the mother and daughter tacitly assumed she was just bragging and probably trying to figure out how to continue making things up.
Bai Tang gave a snort of opportunistic amusement and said, “Sister Shushu probably doesn’t have a boyfriend. She’s probably just purely unwilling to give the pendant to me, which is fine.”
Gu Qingjiao: “Boyfriend? I have one, my husband is Shi Lijin.”
“???”
“Who???”
Hearing this from across the dining table, Mother Gu hurriedly pulled her hands out to wipe her apron, and while no one was paying attention, she took off the jade bracelet from her wrist.
She handed the bracelet to Bai Tang and said gently, “It’s our fault for not asking around beforehand and not knowing that the Bodhisattva is meant for a man to wear. Here, Tangtang, take this jade bracelet as a make-up birthday gift.”
As for that pair of mother and daughter, they no longer cared about this small favor; because of Gu Qingjiao’s previous sentence, their facial expressions were more dramatic than the last.
Bai Tang: “Shi Lijin? The master of Shi Family South Manor? Hahaha… Sister, haven’t you woken up from your dream yet?”
“Shushu, Auntie knows you haven’t been feeling well lately, but you shouldn’t just run your mouth and talk nonsense. What kind of person is Shi Lijin? Even our Tangtang wouldn’t be able to reach that high.” After the woman finished lecturing in a serious tone, she tilted her head to gossip between the two of them. “Besides, I heard he’s gone completely crazy lately.”