Bang!
A dull crash rang out, followed by a piercing screech of brakes and shrill screams from the crowd.
Xu Zhaozhao’s last shred of consciousness froze on the weightless sensation of her body being violently flung away, and on the terrified face of the student in her arms whom she had shoved aside with all her strength.
The searing pain never came.
Instead, what flooded in like a tidal wave were fragmented memories belonging to someone else—along with a woman’s sharp, grating curses.
“Pah! Shameless slut! You’ve disgraced our Old Chen family beyond redemption! My eldest brother is a dignified military officer—how did he ever end up marrying a cheap, indecent thing like you?!”
Xu Zhaozhao snapped her eyes open. The blinding sunlight made her squint instinctively.
What greeted her wasn’t the white walls of a hospital, but a low, grayish ceiling beam pasted over with yellowed old newspapers.
Beneath her was a hard earthen kang bed, covered with coarse cloth sheets washed so many times they had turned pale.
She was lying in a completely unfamiliar room, steeped in the unmistakable atmosphere of the 1960s–70s.
At the same time, it felt as if her head were about to split open, as countless memories that did not belong to her came crashing in—
The original owner of this body was also named Xu Zhaozhao, eighteen years old, newly married to Chen Zheng, a deputy battalion commander of a certain regiment in the military district.
Chen Zheng came from a rural background and had risen through the ranks on military merit. His future was bright.
This marriage had been arranged by their parents. Chen Zheng spent most of the year in the army, and there was no emotional foundation between him and the original Xu Zhaozhao.
She was timid by nature, and after marrying in, she had lived cautiously, always walking on eggshells.
Then, a month ago, she was diagnosed as pregnant.
It should have been joyous news—but her belly began to show abnormally fast. At just three or four months, it was already bigger than that of others at five or six months, and rumors quickly spread through the military family compound.
People whispered that she couldn’t endure loneliness, that she had cuckolded Chen Zheng while he was away on a border mission, and was carrying the child of some unknown wild man.
The dark, gaunt woman standing before her now, hands on her hips, saliva nearly spraying onto her face, was Chen Zheng’s younger brother’s wife—her third sister-in-law, Li Xiuhua.
Beside her stood an elderly woman in a patched navy-blue jacket—Chen Zheng’s stepmother, Wang Guifen.
Her eyelids drooped as she watched. She looked as though she were trying to mediate, yet her lips were pursed, revealing a shrewd, cold indifference.
“Xiuhua, say a little less. Your eldest sister-in-law is heavily pregnant…” Wang Guifen said mildly, without warmth or pain.
“Heavily pregnant?” Li Xiuhua’s voice shot up another octave. “More like her conscience is heavy! How many months has it even been? And her belly’s already this big? You think ghosts would believe that? She was clearly unclean before she married in! Poor my big brother—out there risking his life, his head hanging by a thread—while you enjoy comfort at home and raise some wild man’s bastard!”
The stale air, mixed with the acrid smell of cheap tobacco from Li Xiuhua’s mouth, made Xu Zhaozhao’s stomach churn.
She—a top livestreamer of the twenty-first century, with tens of millions of fans and single-session sales exceeding a hundred million—had actually… transmigrated into a book?
Into the very dog-blooded stepmother-era novel she had stayed up late mocking before her death—becoming the cannon-fodder first wife who was scorned by the entire family for carrying a “father-unknown” child, only to die in dystocia, one corpse and seven lives lost!
In the book, Xu Zhaozhao was weak and useless, doing nothing but cry when slandered, ultimately dying miserably in despair.
But she wasn’t the original Xu Zhaozhao!
The violent emotional shock and physical discomfort made her throat itch. She broke into a harsh coughing fit, pain tearing through her lungs.
“Keep pretending! Just keep pretending!”
Seeing her cough only excited Li Xiuhua further. “What, got nothing to say now? All you know how to do is play pitiful! I’m telling you—today you must explain yourself! Whose bastard is this child?!”
Bastard?
Xu Zhaozhao’s gaze turned icy.
She placed a hand over her swollen belly. Inside, she could clearly feel the flutter of life—not one, but many.
According to the memories and the book’s plot, she was carrying sextuplets! That was why her belly showed so early, so large!
This wasn’t a bastard.
This was a miracle of life—children the original owner had paid for with her life!
Just as she was about to speak, a crisp ding suddenly sounded in her mind.
【Strong will to survive and karmic vessel detected.
Binding Multiversal Merit Livestream System…
1%… 50%… 100%. Binding successful!】
【Host: Xu Zhaozhao】
【Status: Pregnant (approx. 16 weeks, sextuplets), malnourished, physically weak】
【Merit Points: 10 (initial value)】
【Functions:
System Shop (locked; requires 100 merit points)
Bullet-Chat Interaction (unlocked; connected to parallel-world viewers)
Temporary Skill Infusion (consumes merit points)】
A translucent light screen appeared deep in her consciousness, like the backend interface of her past-life livestreams—only far more minimal.
Even more shocking, colorful lines of text began drifting across the screen—
【Holy crap! Starting straight in a household-drama battlefield? Spicy!】
【Who’s this old hag? That mouth is filthy—host, roast her!】
【This identity is tragic—pregnant with sextuplets and being called a bastard’s mom?】
【Wait… transmigration, era setting, military marriage, sextuplets… I know this one! Host, aren’t you that cannon fodder who dies in childbirth?!】
【This is hell mode! Host, think fast!】
【Watch that old woman on the right—wrinkled face, shifty eyes. She’s bad news. Be careful!】
Bullet chat? Viewers?
Xu Zhaozhao’s heart jolted—but years as a top-tier streamer had forged an iron mental resilience. She quickly forced herself to calm down.
These comments were coming from parallel worlds? Her “cheat”? They seemed to know the plot—and could even provide real-time intel!
Following the bullet-chat’s hint, her gaze flicked toward Wang Guifen.
Sure enough, the old woman’s eyes darted about. She looked like she was mediating, but in truth was indulging it all—there was even a trace of smug satisfaction hidden beneath.
“Cough… cough…”
Xu Zhaozhao coughed twice more, propping herself up with effort. Her whole body felt limp—this body was far too weak.
Li Xiuhua thought she was about to fight back and grew even more vicious.
“What? Want to hit someone? Come on! Let everyone see just how arrogant you are, you shameless slut! If you don’t hand over that wild man today, I’ll—”
“And what will you do?”
A weak voice, edged with icy frost, cut her off.
The room fell instantly silent.
Li Xiuhua and Wang Guifen froze, staring in disbelief at the woman on the kang who had always swallowed her grievances.
Xu Zhaozhao finally sat upright against the head of the bed and lifted her eyes.
Her face was deathly pale, lips cracked—but her eyes were no longer timid or murky. They were clear, cold, and razor-sharp, like a blade tempered in icy depths, stabbing straight at Li Xiuhua.
“Y-you… what did you say?” Li Xiuhua stammered, her confidence faltering under that gaze.
“I said,” Xu Zhaozhao enunciated slowly, her voice soft but striking every heart,
“Li Xiuhua—you keep shouting ‘bastard’ and ‘slut.’ Where is your proof?”
“Proof? Your belly is the proof!” Li Xiuhua screeched, pointing at her stomach. “Who’s four months pregnant and this big?!”
“Oh?” Xu Zhaozhao raised a brow faintly, a trace of mockery curling her lips.
“Just because you’ve never seen it, it doesn’t exist? A frog at the bottom of a well dares judge the vastness of the Milky Way?”
The cultured phrasing landed like a brick. Li Xiuhua was stunned.
“You… you’re calling me a toad!” she yelled, face flushing.
Wang Guifen frowned and finally stepped forward, speaking with heavy-handed “kindness”:
“Zhaozhao, Xiuhua’s words are crude, but her reasoning isn’t wrong. Your belly… does invite gossip. Zhengzi isn’t home. As elders, we must keep an eye on things for him. If you’ve been wronged, or… if there really is some difficulty, say it. Mother will stand up for you.”
It sounded like mediation, but every word pushed her deeper into the accusation of infidelity.
【Ugh! White lotus! Zero acting skills!】
【Host, don’t believe her—she’s fishing for words!】
【Host, quick! The bullet chat says she hid the cloth ration ticket Li Xiuhua stole—right pocket!】
A bold, red-highlighted comment seized Xu Zhaozhao’s attention.
Cloth ration tickets? Those were precious commodities in this era!
Her mind raced, but her expression remained calm as she looked at Wang Guifen with frightening composure.
“My difficulty?” she said coolly. “My greatest difficulty is being pregnant with Chen Zheng’s children—and still being slandered and trampled by his own family!”
She emphasized “Chen Zheng’s children.”
“Who’s trampling you?!” Li Xiuhua shrieked.
“Aren’t you?” Xu Zhaozhao’s gaze swept from her to Wang Guifen.
“Third sister-in-law shouts ‘bastard’ every other word. Mother, every sentence you speak implies I’m unchaste. Are you desperate to pin this green hat onto Chen Zheng’s head? Onto the Old Chen family? If this gets out, can Chen Zheng still hold his head high in the army? Can the Chen family still show their faces in this compound?”
Wang Guifen’s expression shifted.
Li Xiuhua, however, only screamed louder, “Stop twisting words! You’re the one who’s indecent!”
“Indecent?” Xu Zhaozhao suddenly smiled—a pale smile, fragile yet devastatingly beautiful—as she turned to Wang Guifen.
“Mother, if we’re investigating, let’s investigate thoroughly. But before we investigate me—shouldn’t we first clean house?”
Wang Guifen’s heart skipped. “What… what do you mean?”
Xu Zhaozhao’s gaze landed precisely on the bulge in Wang Guifen’s right pocket.
“Yesterday, I saw Sister Xiuhua secretly slip the family’s two-foot cloth ration ticket to you, saying it was… to thank you for covering up the time she broke the thermos?”
Her tone was slow, lightly inquisitive.
“That ration ticket was sent back by Chen Zheng last month, wasn’t it? I remember—it was meant to make clothes for the unborn children.”
Boom!
Li Xiuhua’s face drained of all color.
Wang Guifen reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, clutching her pocket instinctively. “Nonsense!”
【Holy crap! Host’s reflexes are insane!】
【Reversal! Absolute comeback!】
【Look at those two old hags’ faces—white, then green, then purple!】
The bullet chat exploded.
Xu Zhaozhao merely leaned back weakly, one hand gently stroking her belly. Her voice was tired—but every word struck like a blade.
“Whether it’s nonsense or not—Mother, just take what’s in your pocket out and show everyone. Or we can go to the family committee and ask the leaders to judge. We’ll see whether I, this ‘indecent’ pregnant woman, should be interrogated—or whether those who embezzle supplies and stir up rumors should be dealt with.”
Dead silence filled the room.
Sunlight streamed through the broken window lattice, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air.
Li Xiuhua stared at Wang Guifen in panic.
Wang Guifen clutched her pocket, fingers tightening. Her face alternated between green and red as she looked at Xu Zhaozhao—who now seemed reborn—and for the first time, genuine fear flickered in her eyes.
This Xu Zhaozhao… was she a completely different person now?
Xu Zhaozhao closed her eyes, no longer sparing them a glance.
In her mind, the system’s notification sounded once more:
【Ding! Successfully countered malicious slander and protected personal and fetal reputation.
Merit Points +10. Current total: 20.】
First battle—victory.