Xuan Zhixia was frail and sickly from childhood. He couldn’t run or jump, and he had to lean against the wall to rest after walking just a few steps. Such a beautiful lamp, which could be broken by the wind, would need to be carefully protected even in a peaceful and prosperous era, but in the end times, his future was uncertain.
—On the third day after the apocalypse, Xuan Zhixia died alone at home, surrounded by air filled with dust and the smell of decay. The cause of death was difficulty breathing.
Before I died, I only had a fleeting moment of reminiscing, and I didn’t have many other thoughts, except that I missed the fresh air.
His consciousness grew weaker and weaker, but then suddenly became clear at a certain point. Perhaps it was a near-death hallucination, but Xuan Zhixia suddenly felt that the air he was breathing had become truly fresh, and the smell of decay seemed to disappear in an instant.
After a few seconds of unconscious immersion, Xuan Zhixia suddenly paused.
……wrong.
It’s not a fantasy.
Xuan Zhixia opened his eyes and was stunned.
A few seconds ago, he was in his own home, surrounded by terrible dust that even with the doors and windows closed. His house, which had been forced to lose power after the apocalypse, had become a pitch-black cage after nightfall.
But now, Xuan Zhixia sits in a brightly lit, lavish living room with normal air, and the helplessness and despair he felt just moments ago, when he couldn’t breathe, seems like something from a past life.
Not only was the environment unfamiliar, but the people in front of him also left Xuan Zhixia completely bewildered.
”Hurry up and drink it, we have to go to school, do you want us to be late?”
”Hey, are you deliberately stalling for time? If you didn’t want to take us to school, you shouldn’t have made that promise yesterday!”
Xuan Zhixia sat on the sofa, facing two children, a boy and a girl, about four or five years old, both carrying small schoolbags, their expressions and tone very rude.
Xuan Zhixia lowered his eyes slightly and saw a bowl of Chinese medicine on the coffee table in front of him that had no color, aroma, or taste. The two children’s eyes moved between the medicine bowl and Xuan Zhixia, as if urging him to drink the medicine.
The current situation left Xuan Zhixia completely bewildered.
He paused for a moment, about to speak tentatively, when suddenly many images appeared in his mind, like memories and “prophecies”.
The sudden influx of information gave Xuan Zhixia a headache, forcing him to close his eyes and endure the discomfort. Several minutes later, he finally grasped the bizarre situation before he could comprehend it.
He transmigrated into the book.
He transmigrated into a villainous cannon fodder character with the same name in a book. This cannon fodder character forcibly “married” into a top-tier wealthy family by taking advantage of their kindness, and became the legal partner of Shang Shuji, the current head of the family business.
Shang Shuji is the main antagonist in the book. He is cold and indifferent, like a sophisticated business machine. Whether at home or in the company, he is always rational to the point of being almost devoid of human warmth.
Shang Shuji originally had no plans to marry or have children. So, in order for the Shang family to have an heir in the future, Shang Shuji adopted two children from the orphanage half a year ago—the two children who are standing in front of Xuan Zhixia right now, carrying small schoolbags and urging him to drink his medicine.
In the book, Xuan Zhixia has a very bad relationship with his stepson and stepdaughter. His initial attempts to befriend them were unsuccessful. Xuan Zhixia, who was still smug after marrying into the Shang family, soon began to abuse his stepson and stepdaughter in anger. After all, Shang Shuji rarely came home and was not close to his adopted children.
Later, having been in a marriage in name only, the wealthy and idle “Xuan Zhixia” felt lonely and, unable to stay at home, had an affair.
As a result, his affair was exposed, and his abuse of his stepchildren was also revealed. After the scandal broke and he was divorced, the villainous male stepmother, who was kicked out of the wealthy family, faced setbacks everywhere. Not long after, he collapsed from alcoholism and died on a cold winter street due to lack of timely medical treatment.
Realizing this ending, Xuan Zhixia, who had just transmigrated into the book, couldn’t help but sigh.
Even after transmigrating into a book, he still can’t shake off his sickly body.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Xuan Zhixia opened his eyes amidst the two children’s puzzled and dissatisfied urges, and looked at them calmly.
The two children, who had been quite assertive, suddenly fell silent after that one look, sensing that things were about to get out of hand if they continued making a scene…
After a few seconds of silence, the two children realized something was wrong—they had nothing to be afraid of Xuan Zhixia! Who did he think he was!
”What…what are you looking at? Can’t you just drink your medicine? How can you let a child urge you to drink your medicine?!” This was Shang Jingqi, the older stepson.
Stepdaughter Shang Jingshu followed up, saying, “Are you afraid of medicine? You’re really useless.”
Xuan Zhixia: “…”
Those two brats.
Xuan Zhixia checked the current time again—according to the original plot, it was the second day since he “married” into the Shang family.
The original owner had just moved into the Shangs yesterday. Although he was pleased with himself, he didn’t dare to be too arrogant. He also hadn’t figured out the status of his stepson and stepdaughter in the family yet. So, with a bit of a flattering attitude, he offered to take the two children to kindergarten early this morning.
Among the Shangs, those who had goodwill towards Xuan Zhixia could be counted on one hand. His legal partner, Shang Shuji, didn’t even show up to complete the marriage registration. The adopted children in the family, the brother and sister – Shang Jingqi and Shang Jingshu, had no good feelings towards this newly arrived male stepmother and only hated him.
Therefore, the brother and sister secretly put half a jar of salt into Xuan Zhixia’s medicine bowl, and now, with a “let’s see what happens” mentality, they kept urging him to drink the medicine.
In the original story, although the original owner disliked the tone of the brother and sister, he felt that it meant they didn’t mind being picked up and dropped off by him, so he cooperated by taking a big gulp of water, only to vomit unexpectedly. Thus ended the male stepmother’s feigned kindness towards his stepson and stepdaughter.
At this moment, Xuan Zhixia, who had only been in the book for a few minutes, looked at the brother and sister, then at the medicine bowl on the coffee table, and said softly, “Do you know that putting random things into medicine can kill people?”
The brother and sister were both taken aback.
”What…what do you mean by random things?” Shang Jingshu swallowed hard.
She was still young. Although she came from an orphanage and was a bit more mature than the average four or five-year-old, she couldn’t hide her guilt after being exposed for doing something wrong. Her pretty little face was full of bravado but weakness.
Shang Jingqi’s eyes darted around and his tone was unsteady: “We don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Xuan Zhixia was a bit lazy and didn’t want to waste his breath, so he didn’t pester them anymore. He just said to the maid who was standing guard at the edge of the living room, “Take them to the garage and have the driver take them to school.”
Few of the Shang’s servants liked Xuan Zhixia, the man who had forcibly taken over. However, most of the servants who worked for the Shangs were clear-headed and knew that even if the Shangs didn’t like Xuan Zhixia, it wasn’t their place to give the new wife a hard time.
The maid who was called by Xuan Zhixia nodded and said in a kind tone, “Yes, madam.”
Xuan Zhixia: “…”
This name is truly outrageous.
”No…” Shang Jingqi and Shang Jingshu both widened their eyes, “You’re not taking us to school anymore?”
Xuan Zhixia replied lightly, “You want me to drop you?”
Shang Jingqi frowned: “Who wants you to drop us? I don’t want to see you!”
Shang Jingshu was also unhappy: “I don’t like you either, but… lying will make you grow a nose! You were the one who said you would drop us, and now you’re saying you won’t…”
Shang Jingqi made the final judgment: “You really are a bad person!”
Xuan Zhixia nodded calmly: “Okay, goodbye.”
The brother and sister: “…”
The servants in the living room: “…”
Has the new wife already revealed his true colors so quickly? He’s only been here for two days, and he’s not even putting on an act?
Even if the young master and young lady put something else in the medicine bowl, shouldn’t Xuan Zhixia, as the new wife, act magnanimously and politely? Or at least pretend to be aggrieved, which would be normal. Why did he suddenly act like this?
He seems to truly be a scheming and wicked stepmother who has no intention of treating his stepchildren well…
The brother and sister were both angry and confused, and followed the servant away, looking back every few steps.
”I know!” After getting into the car, Shang Jingshu hugged her little schoolbag and said firmly, “He definitely wants to tell on us! He doesn’t keep his word and doesn’t take us to school, but we put salt in his bowl…”
Shang Jingqi thought for a moment, but then realized something was wrong: “But even if we don’t tell on him, Grandpa, Grandma, and Dad will find out, right? He didn’t take us to school…”
The brother and sister were distressed, and thus disliked Xuan Zhixia, their stepmother, even more.
”Why did Dad marry him? Dad clearly doesn’t like him!”
”I don’t know. Grandpa and Grandma didn’t like Xuan Zhixia either, but they still let him move in…”
”Dad didn’t come home yesterday, I don’t know when he’ll be back…”
“I haven’t seen my dad in so long… He never liked coming home before, and now there’s an annoying bad guy in the house, will he be coming home even less?”
”I don’t know…sigh!”
When the car that was taking the siblings to school left the Shangs, Xuan Zhixia had already walked out of the house and sat in the garden.
The sun was shining brightly, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the fresh air carried a faint floral fragrance… Xuan Zhixia felt very comfortable.
In the original world, the apocalypse came without any warning. What was once a rare and pleasant environment became a treasure within hours, and water, electricity, gas, internet, and signals were quickly cut off.
Xuan Zhixia, recuperating, lived in a sparsely populated and remote area, beyond the reach of official rescue efforts. Nearby private hospitals were closed, and given his weak constitution and poor air quality, he couldn’t even drive himself to the rescue site…
Although his current situation is bizarre, at least he doesn’t have breathing problems.
As for the fact that he suddenly had a “husband,” that the entire Shang family basically disliked him, that his stepson and stepdaughter even put salt in his medicine bowl, and that the original story ended tragically, none of these things matter.
Xuan Zhixia looked at a cluster of flowers swaying in the wind nearby and pondered the feasibility of filing for divorce now.
Divorce itself shouldn’t be difficult, and once the Shang family finds out he wants a divorce, they should be overjoyed by his “fickleness”.
The problem is that he has nothing now, his wallet is as empty as his health. If he gets divorced and moves out of the Shangs, it will be difficult to find a suitable place to live… Although he has only been married for one day, and the marriage is in name only, the Shangs might be willing to pay some transitional alimony during the divorce?
Xuan Zhixia was still pondering when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching. Turning around, he saw that it was Chen Ma, the old maid of the house.
Chen Ma was one of the few people in the family who still had kindness towards Xuan Zhixia.
”Zhixia, I just heard that the young master and young lady put something in your medicine bowl, you didn’t drink it, right?” Chen Ma asked with concern.
Xuan Zhixia shook his head slightly: “It’s alright, it wasn’t necessary to drink it anyway.”
That bowl of medicine wasn’t for treating illness; it was just a tonic prescription that the original owner had found online. The prescription contained expensive herbs, and since the original owner had just moved into the Shangs and wanted to put on airs, he specifically instructed someone to brew it early this morning before going to bed last night.
Seeing that Xuan Zhixia was so good-tempered and did not make a fuss about the bowl of medicine, Chen Ma was a little surprised.
She thought for a moment, then gently comforted him, “Young Master and Miss are both good children. It’s just that they were adopted after all, and the Master doesn’t come home often, so the two children are inevitably a bit sensitive. But if you treat them well, they will know it. They’ll get better over time.”
Xuan Zhixia politely declined, and felt that although the two children were sensitive in their thoughts, they were very bold in their words and actions.
After Chen Ma left the garden, Xuan Zhixia continued to enjoy the comfortable sunshine and air, pondering how to approach the divorce and when would be the best time to bring it up.
If Xuan Zhixia had money right now, enough to at least guarantee his basic needs for a while, he wouldn’t be so worried. But Xuan Zhixia is currently just a nobody, a nobody with unrealistic ambitions, and poor…
Thinking about this, Xuan Zhixia suddenly remembered something, his expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly opened his phone, but it was too late.
Although he had only been in the book for less than ten minutes, just five minutes earlier several marketing accounts had simultaneously released a bunch of news items—
#Xuan Zhixia, a relatively unknown actress, marries into a top-tier wealthy family#
#Shang Shuji went straight from being single to getting married#
#A beautiful marriage between a domineering CEO and an unknown actor#
#Shocking! The head of the Shang family betrayed his bachelorhood for him!#
…
Although the name “Xuan Zhixia” is not well-known, in the online world, the Shangs and Shang Shuji themselves are full of hype, and with the help of behind-the-scenes people, it is enough for this information to spread all over the internet in just a few minutes.
Moreover, these topics were just the beginning. While netizens were discussing and speculating about their authenticity, a photo of Xuan Zhixia and Shang Shuji’s marriage certificate was leaked. Also leaked were what appeared to be a chat conversation between Xuan Zhixia and his agent, as well as a screenshot of his agent posting on WeChat Moments to congratulate the artist on entering a “new stage of life,” and so on.
Immediately afterwards, someone made a major discovery through the chat between Xuan Zhixia and his agent—Xuan Zhixia told his agent that Shang Shuji had adopted two children, and he became a ‘stepmother’ as soon as he joined Shangjia!
The online gossip progressed rapidly, and soon the hashtag #XuanZhiXiaWillBringHisStepchildrenToPopularChildrenVarietyShow# also rose to prominence…
Xuan Zhixia browsed the internet for a minute, and only one thought remained in his mind—the original owner’s agent, Zhen Cheng, was really unreliable as an agent, but he was quite good at marketing, though his entry into the industry wasn’t precise enough.
Xuan Zhixia sighed softly, then made a phone call to his agent, Zhen Cheng.
But the line was busy and the call couldn’t be connected.
Xuan Zhixia had no choice but to leave a message on WeChat: 【Stop for a second. If you keep this up, the Shangs will kick me out of their house.】
Fearing that Zhen Cheng wouldn’t believe him and would continue to add fuel to the fire, Xuan Zhixia simply made it sound even more serious.
Since Zhen Cheng did not reply immediately, Xuan Zhixia calmed down and recalled the plot of the original book.
As a nobody star with lofty ambitions and a crazy desire to become famous, the original owner only had a pretty face, an unlikable personality, no acting skills as an actor, and no singing or dancing skills as an idol. He entered the entertainment industry entirely because he was picked up by an agent, which was his only bit of luck. In addition, he had no family background to provide resources or financial backing. In short, he had been in the industry for two years and was still unknown.
He meticulously planned to marry into the Shangs by taking advantage of a favor. Even before they had officially registered their marriage, the original owner and his agent, Zhen Cheng, devised a series of marketing strategies, determined to profit from this marriage and gain fame and resources.
The original owner got his marriage certificate and moved into the Shangs yesterday, and Zhen Cheng started working on it. It all came to a head early this morning, giving those who had just opened their eyes and were still not fully awake a bombshell.
If things continue like this, according to the plot of the original book, Xuan Zhixia will not gain any benefits. Not to mention appearance opportunities, his path in the entertainment industry will be completely cut off.
After a moment of thought, Xuan Zhixia really didn’t understand the original owner’s actions—Instead of leveraging a past favor to secure a marriage—only for it to turn into a hostile relationship used for profit—why not simply leverage that favor right from the start to demand resources from the Shang family?
Perhaps the original owner had too high a level of understanding, thinking that marriage was a one-time solution without considering the actual situation.
But all in all, this is unreliable.
Xuan Zhixia checked his phone again; Zhen Cheng still hadn’t replied to his WeChat message. He dialed the number again, but it was still busy.
For some reason, Xuan Zhixia had a bad feeling.
However, upon careful recollection of the original plot, aside from the frenzied marketing and the widespread rumors of piggybacking on resources, there shouldn’t have been any other additional “gains.”
In the original story, this marketing blunder did bring Xuan Zhixia some fame, but it didn’t bring him any substantial gigs. After the Shangs found out about it, Xuan Zhixia was forced to leave the entertainment industry and went on to be the Shang’s “wife.”
According to the original owner’s logic in the book, if the Shangs hadn’t forbidden him from entering the entertainment industry, leaving him unemployed and merely a figurehead in this family, he wouldn’t have secretly abused his stepchildren out of boredom, and later committed adultery…
The online uproar continued and intensified, and Zhen Cheng still didn’t reply to Xuan Zhixia’s WeChat messages. When Xuan Zhixia called Zhen Cheng for the third time, the line wasn’t busy this time, but no one answered.
An hour later, Zhen Cheng finally called Xuan Zhixia.
Upon answering, Zhen Cheng exclaimed excitedly, “Zhi Xia! Great news!”
Xuan Zhixia: “…”
At this point, the “good news” Zhen Cheng mentioned is probably not anything good.
”The second season of our company’s wildly popular children’s reality show, ‘Travel Diary with Parents,’ has really contacted you! I happened to be at the company, and as soon as the news broke online, the production team contacted me to confirm the information. They said if you can really bring those two kids from the Shangs to the show, we can sign a contract right away! I just went to sign the contract!”
Xuan Zhixia frowned slightly.
This is not the original story. There was no such thing as signing a contract for a variety show in the book… Even if his transmigration caused a butterfly effect, it shouldn’t have affected things so quickly, right?
Not hearing Xuan Zhixia’s response, Zhen Cheng, who was still excited, didn’t care and continued to chatter: “I was too busy just now. First, I answered the phone, and then I signed a contract with the program team without stopping. I didn’t even have time to check my phone. I only saw that you called me several times but I didn’t answer. Did you also send me a WeChat message? I haven’t had time to check it either.”
Kindly buy me ko-fi {If you love the work, or if you have any message for translator, do comment there…} https[:]//ko-fi[.]com/rs0081
”Zhixia, you’re too hasty. You can rest assured when Brother Zhen handles things! There’s no need for constant nagging and questioning…Zhixia? Are you still there? Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you too happy to speak?”
Xuan Zhixia felt somewhat helpless and asked the most urgent question: “How much is the penalty for breach of contract for this program?”