ATM: 【Transfer: 10,000】
Wen Xiao woke up because of the heat.
Her back was sticky, and the hot fabric clung to her skin.
Wen Xiao opened her eyes. Above her was a ceiling covered in garish, colorful wallpaper. The white-painted walls were smeared with greasy stains, and the air reeked of instant noodles mixed with the sour stench of rotting food.
Where was she?
Hadn’t she just finished a grueling day of work and opened a novel called Pampered by Beijing’s Elite, about a couple who married first and fell in love afterward…?
A flood of unfamiliar memories poured into her mind.
Wen Xiao was dumbfounded.
Oh no. She’d gotten caught up in the transmigration-into-a-novel craze!
When she’d seen that the vicious supporting character had exactly the same name as her, Wen Xiao had known she was doomed. Sure enough, the moment she closed her eyes, she’d transmigrated.
“Bzz—”
The latest-model iPhone by the bed lit up. The person she had saved in her contacts as ATM had sent another transfer.
ATM: 【Transfer: 5,200】
The transfer note read: First milk tea of autumn.
ATM: Don’t be mad. Can I make it up to you now?
ATM’s profile picture showed a colorful alcoholic drink against a dark background. Long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles rested casually on the base of the glass.
In the dim light, the hand was a striking, cool white.
Wen Xiao couldn’t help looking at it a few more times.
Who was this ATM…?
Wait. Could this be the male lead, Xie Shijin?
She frantically ran through the novel’s plot in her mind.
Xie Shijin was the only son of the Xie family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Beijing’s elite circles. He wielded immense power, possessed extraordinary intelligence, and had won more awards than he could count. Even several pages wouldn’t be enough to list everything on his résumé. He was a true favored son of heaven.
As a child, he had fallen into the water and been rescued by a little girl. From then on, she had become the white moonlight in his heart, and he had searched everywhere for her.
That’s right. The girl was the heroine, Ruan Zhiqin.
The original Wen Xiao had happened to learn about this episode from the heroine’s past and started telling everyone she had once saved a little boy. By sheer coincidence, she later met the male lead in a game. After questioning her about the details, he began to suspect she was his lifesaver.
After they had spent some time getting to know each other, the male lead accepted the original Wen Xiao’s confession of love.
But the original Wen Xiao had a vile personality. Not only did she impersonate the heroine, she also stole the heroine’s photos to deceive the male lead and swindle him out of money and affection. She even insulted and emotionally manipulated him.
When the truth came out, the male lead sent her straight to Myanmar. Unable to meet her performance targets, she was beaten to death.
The male lead, meanwhile, successfully found the heroine who had saved his life. They married first, fell in love afterward, and had two children within three years.
After the original Wen Xiao was beaten to death, her body was thrown to the dogs. In the end, she didn’t even have an intact corpse.
Thinking about her own miserable future, Wen Xiao burst into tears.
Before transmigrating, she had harshly condemned the original Wen Xiao’s behavior. Now that she had transmigrated, she felt the original Wen Xiao’s crimes hadn’t warranted death…
ATM: Why aren’t you accepting the transfers? Are you still mad?
ATM: 【Transfer: 50,000】
It had started because the original Wen Xiao blamed Xie Shijin for not buying her the first milk tea of autumn. After hurling abuse at him, she had blocked him on WeChat and blocked his phone number.
She had only unblocked him that morning when Xie Shijin’s transfer popped up.
By this point, Xie Shijin had already begun to despise the original Wen Xiao. He had only kept indulging her out of gratitude for what he believed was her lifesaving act.
Imagining wild dogs tearing her flesh off one bite at a time, Wen Xiao shuddered.
She quickly unlocked her phone with Face ID and replied: I’ve already had some.
She didn’t accept a single transfer. Impersonating the heroine as his lifesaver was already enough to get her killed. If she kept swindling him out of money, even nine lives wouldn’t be enough to squander.
ATM: Then is there anything you’d like to eat? I can order it for you.
Xie Shijin really had treated the original Wen Xiao well. No matter how much she acted up or threw tantrums, he always coaxed her patiently, as emotionally steady as a capybara.
After replying to him carefully, Wen Xiao climbed out of bed. Trash covered the floor, leaving her nowhere to set foot.
The original Wen Xiao was unbelievably messy.
Wen Xiao was unbearably hot, so she followed her memories to the bathroom.
She scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on her face. At last, the heat and restlessness subsided. She studied the girl in the mirror: almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, full lips, and fair skin. Her features looked innocent and fresh.
She looked nothing like the photos she had sent Xie Shijin.
The original Wen Xiao had a guilty conscience. Not only had she passed herself off as the heroine who had saved his life, she had even stolen photos from the heroine’s WeChat Moments and sent them to Xie Shijin.
It was the striking resemblance between the girl in that photograph and his memory of his rescuer that convinced Xie Shijin the original Wen Xiao was the person he had been searching for all along.
Thinking of her miserable fate, Wen Xiao couldn’t help biting her finger.
What should she do? How could she turn the situation around?
Confess? No. Xie Shijin already disliked her. If she told him she had been impersonating his lifesaver, he would twist her head off and kick it around like a ball in no time.
Break up? No. If she broke up with him now, when he eventually learned that she was an impostor, he would still send her to Myanmar to be fed to the dogs.
After thinking it over, she could come up with only one plan: keep dating the male lead for now and raise his affection for her. Then, when the opportunity arose, she would break up with him and bring the heroine to his side. Perhaps her good deed would offset her wrongdoing, and he would spare her.
Beijing, Yujing Tiancheng.
“Can you even play this game?!” A teenager with glaringly bright red hair angrily slammed down his phone. “You damn deadweight! Even my five-year-old sister could play better than you with her feet!”
“Fuck, I’ve lost five games in a row!”
“QQ Farm sent you a message. Your crops are dead.”
A syrupy-sweet voice came through the phone. “I think you have such a good temper. Your friends are all swearing, but you haven’t said a word.”
The boy in the black hoodie let out two awkward laughs. “Because I’m the one they’re swearing at.”
The girl with the little-girl avatar fell silent.
The red-haired teenager burst out laughing. “Jiang Zimo, the girl you’re carrying through the game is hilarious.”
Jiang Zimo kicked him, put away his phone, and said, “I’m done playing.”
He turned toward the young man sitting in an armchair. The young man wore a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, a simple outfit made elegant by his exceptionally handsome, refined face.
Peach-blossom eyes, a high nose bridge, thin lips, sharply defined features—a face that could hold its own even in the entertainment industry.
After grumbling about how unfairly Nuwa had played favorites, Jiang Zimo plopped down beside Xie Shijin, sneaked a glance at his phone, and said earnestly, “You’re still dating that girl with the fake, cutesy voice? I’m telling you, you can’t make a girlish voice that awful unless you weigh a good two hundred jin.”