The maid Xiaoyun looked at the plump figure, set down the food box in her hand, and said irritably, “Concubine Guan, it’s time to eat.”
Guan Xiyue ignored the maid’s expression and moved closer to the small table. Seeing a bowl of coarse rice, two cornmeal buns, a small plate of cold mixed wood ear mushrooms, a bowl of cabbage, and a plate of tofu, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Xiaoyun glanced at her sideways and sneered, “Concubine Guan looks down on this simple fare? Back at your home, you couldn’t even eat this.”
Guan Xiyue paid her no mind and picked up a bun to gnaw on. She had no choice—she was starving, so hungry her stomach felt like it was stuck to her back.
In her previous life, she had been a slender beauty, 168 cm tall and weighing 98 jin. Who would have thought that after a car accident, she would transmigrate into this body? As for height, it seemed to be around 165 cm, but she estimated her weight to be about 200 jin?
Seeing that she was ignored, Xiaoyun turned and left. The food she had skimmed off earlier included a bowl of steamed meat—she had to hurry and eat it.
Guan Xiyue swept all the food clean, finally feeling some comfort in her stomach.
Although she missed sweet and sour spare ribs, pickled fish, braised pork, and so on, she felt that she was already quite fortunate to have gained another life.
Since heaven didn’t let her die, she would naturally live well.
She tried to look at her reflection in the bronze mirror. It was blurry—her features seemed crowded together, her outline unclear. In short, she had nothing to do with being a beauty.
Then why had she become a concubine?
Memories of the original owner flooded her mind. The family was extremely poor, living in a few shabby mud houses. Her parents, younger siblings, all wore patched-up clothes and worked tirelessly like beasts of burden.
Above them were the grandparents, both with sharp and mean expressions.
Grandfather Old Guan didn’t care much about anything and spent his days with a gloomy face. Grandmother Wang, on the other hand, was either scolding the children or berating her daughters-in-law.
Among the daughters-in-law, the original owner’s mother, Zhang, was the most humble and pitiful—she was scolded the most, worked the most, and ate the least.
Guan Xiyue herself was quite an odd existence. In such a poor family, she had somehow managed to become so fat. Every meal was just coarse grain cakes and wild vegetable soup—how did she manage to gain so much flesh?
But that wasn’t the point. The point was that this fat girl had actually become a concubine.
Naturally, she hadn’t relied on beauty. It was because the young master of the Zhou family, Zhou Zhengye, had fallen gravely ill and no medicine could cure him.
Later, a Taoist priest said that he needed to take a concubine—someone born in August, under the zodiac sign of the rooster, with the element of earth, and blessed with good fortune.
He specifically emphasized that this “fortunate person” must have a plump appearance and a lucky mole at the temple—symbolizing wealth and prosperity.
After layers of selection, Guan Xiyue, who had always been disliked by her family, was chosen.
Old Guan and Wang were overjoyed. Receiving the twenty taels of silver as a bride price felt like a huge profit.
They had originally worried that Guan Xiyue, lazy and fat, wouldn’t even be able to get married. Who would have thought she could bring in twenty taels of silver?
After all, in such poor families, marrying off a daughter would only bring in five or six taels at most, and they would still have to provide a dowry.
But now, not only did they not need to prepare a dowry, they made a pure profit!
Guan’s father, Guan Heping, and her mother, Zhang, felt that their family was at least a proper farming household—how could their daughter become a concubine?
But their voices were insignificant. After being scolded several times by Wang, they no longer dared to speak.
They could only comfort themselves—at least their daughter was going to enjoy a better life. The Zhou family was one of the wealthiest households in the county. She was flying from a mud nest into a golden one.
The other uncles, aunts, and siblings were easily bought over by tangible benefits—several meals with meat and new clothes for everyone, with the fabric all provided by the Zhou family.
Her cousin Guan Maidong was quite jealous of Guan Xiyue’s good fortune, but unfortunately, she didn’t meet the requirements.
As for the original owner herself, she was extremely satisfied.
She didn’t care what Zhou Zhengye looked like. She only knew he was twenty years old, not an old man, and immensely wealthy. That already made him a good match—far beyond ordinary people.
Thinking about escaping this poor home and her constantly scowling grandmother made her feel delighted.
She even said bluntly, “I’m going to enjoy a good life, but you all should know I don’t have the fortune to be the main wife. Although Young Master Zhou is rich, I won’t be able to support you, so don’t come begging—it’ll put me in a difficult position.”
Her cousin Guan Maidong couldn’t stand her attitude and said, “Look at you acting all proud—I’d think you were going to become an empress.”
Guan Xiyue was not someone to be trifled with. She often stood up for her parents when they were bullied, let alone now that she was about to leave?
Without a word, she used her plump body to pin Guan Maidong down and gave her a solid beating, beating her until she cried out in pain, her face bruised and battered.
Guan Maidong usually wouldn’t take such a loss, but this time she had no choice. As a “fortunate person,” how could Guan Xiyue enter the Zhou household with injuries?
Thinking of this, Guan Xiyue couldn’t help but smile—the original owner’s personality was quite interesting.