Lin Jianchun trembled with fear.
Today was supposed to be her joyous wedding day.
The moment her left foot crossed the Song family’s threshold, her mother-in-law had warmly taken her hand in welcome, but before she could utter a word, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
Just as Lin Jianchun tried to step inside with her right foot to help, someone shoved her, pushing her back out the Song family’s door.
Panic crept into her heart. Would she ever be allowed into the Song family’s home again? Was there someone who didn’t want her to enter?
“Mom! Are you alright?”
“Brother, what are you standing around for? Hurry and help Mom lie down in bed. She’s been running herself ragged these past few days preparing for your wedding.”
“Mom gave up the big room for your bridal chamber, but now that she’s collapsed, how can we put her in that windowless little room? Would she even be able to breathe properly?”
After the chaotic flurry of activity, her mother-in-law was settled in the bridal chamber, tucked under the wedding quilt from Lin Jianchun’s dowry.
Finally, her new husband, Song Zhian, remembered her.
They stood speaking across the threshold.
Lin Jianchun looked up at Song Zhian, her eyes filled with unease and apprehension.
Meeting her deer-like frightened gaze, Song Zhian secretly took her hand to comfort her. “Don’t be afraid.”
He had fallen for Lin Jianchun at first sight, and even though she was from the countryside, he had persuaded his mother to accept her.
“Ah Chun, it must be that today is an unlucky day, which caused Mom to collapse. Let’s pick another day to hold the wedding. I’ll take you home for now.”
“Can’t I stay? I could share a room with your sister for the night.”
Lin Jianchun feared the Song family would blame her for her mother-in-law’s fainting spell. If she were branded with the curse of “Curse the mother-in-law” and sent back to the village, she would have no way to survive.
Seeing it was the woman he loved, Song Zhian’s heart softened. “Let me ask if the Lu family next door has a spare room. You can stay there for the night, and once Mom wakes up, I’ll ask for her opinion.”
As long as she wasn’t sent back to the village, it would be fine—she was still young and didn’t want to die. Lin Jianchun resolved that if her mother-in-law refused to accept her the next morning, she would kneel and refuse to leave.
The Lu family had already gone to bed, but Mother Lu, upon hearing the reason, muttered under her breath, “That wretched old woman, always stirring up trouble.”
Song Zhian didn’t catch Mother Lu’s grumbling and pleaded, “Auntie, isn’t my brother Lu away on a business trip? Could my wife stay in his room for the night?”
Seeing the young girl’s anxious and uneasy demeanor, Mother Lu felt a wave of compassion. “Come in.”
Lying in an unfamiliar bed, breathing in the lingering scent of a strange man, Lin Jianchun tossed and turned, unable to sleep as she worried about her predicament.
After what felt like an eternity, exhausted from the long day, she finally fell into a deep sleep.
In the pitch-black night, a figure entered the Courtyard and headed toward the Lu family’s home.
Skillfully climbing through the window into the room, he undressed and got into bed.
As soon as he lay down, he felt someone else in the bed.
Lu Xuanzhou frowned, assuming Little Lu had once again grown tired of his cramped room and sneaked into his.
He unceremoniously kicked “him” in the rear, intending to shove him toward the inner side of the bed.
The moment his foot made contact, the soft, springy texture made Lu Xuanzhou frown. He had only been away for three days—had Little Lu been stuffing himself so much he’d grown this plump? It seemed he’d been stealing food from their mother.
Annoyed, Lu Xuanzhou delivered another kick, increasingly convinced that Little Lu had grown fat from overeating, even down to his backside.
As drowsiness set in, Lu Xuanzhou closed his eyes, thinking he would have to put Little Lu on a three-meal hunger strike.
Lin Jianchun slept restlessly, dreaming that she had transmigrated into a book she read before falling asleep.
In the book, the male lead’s early-deceased ex-wife was also named Lin Jianchun—same name and surname—a vicious supporting female character who was both foolish and adulterous.
That Lin Jianchun had nearly become the female lead’s sister-in-law, but on the wedding day, she caused her mother-in-law to faint and was suspected of “cursing the mother-in-law.” She was sent by the female lead’s older brother, Song Zhian, to stay overnight at the neighboring male lead’s house. Unexpectedly, the male lead, Lu Xuanzhou, returned home late from driving his truck, and the two ended up sleeping in the same bed overnight. The next morning, they were caught in bed together.
Lu Xuanzhou had no choice but to marry that Lin Jianchun. After marriage, however, Lin Jianchun couldn’t forget her old flame and maintained a lingering connection with the female lead’s brother. Once, she happened upon the female lead being harassed by thugs. To win the female lead’s favor, she bravely stepped in to stop them but was tragically hacked to death by the thugs’ chaotic knives.
The female lead had always secretly loved the boy next door, Lu Xuanzhou. After he married Lin Jianchun, she suppressed her feelings, rejecting advances from other men. Eventually, her persistence paid off—she outlived Lin Jianchun. Using the excuse that she had caused the death of Lu Xuanzhou’s wife, she offered herself to him as compensation.
…
While reading this, Lin Jianchun cursed nonstop.
If the mother-in-law fainted right after the daughter-in-law entered the house and was on the verge of death, why wasn’t she sent to the hospital? Was she just lying at home waiting for the wedding and funeral to be held together?
Wasn’t it obvious that the widowed mother-in-law was using this as a tactic to control her daughter-in-law? She just didn’t expect things to go awry, resulting in the daughter-in-law sleeping with her future son-in-law.
If she were that Lin Jianchun, she wouldn’t hesitate to sleep with the male lead, Lu Xuanzhou, first—no way would she let that disgusting female lead’s family take advantage.
Lin Jianchun cursed vehemently, never expecting that she would dream that very night of transmigrating into the book.
True to her word, Lin Jianchun reached her hand into Lu Xuanzhou’s clothes, groping here and there. Not bad—his abs were rock solid.
Her hand wandered aimlessly, from the symmetrical, well-defined abs to the mysterious V-line… She felt like she was about to get a nosebleed.
Lu Xuanzhou frowned tightly, half in a dream, half awake, only aware of a soft, delicate presence beside him. A small hand was haphazardly teasing his body. He wanted to vent his frustration but had no outlet, so he could only hold her tightly from behind, grasping her restless hand.
But with her softness in his arms, in his dream, he seemed to grow even thirstier.
“A-Chun, my mom has made breakfast and is calling you over to eat together.”
Song Zhian’s cheerful voice came from outside the door. “When I told my mom I wanted to pick another auspicious day to welcome you into the family, she scolded me harshly, saying marriage is no joke. She also said she wants to properly apologize to you later.”
Knock, knock, knock.
Song Zhian’s knocking grew louder. “A-Chun, are you still asleep? My mom, despite being ill, got up early to cook breakfast. As a new daughter-in-law, it’s not good to keep her waiting too long.”
“So annoying.”
Lin Jianchun muttered, trying to move, only to find herself trapped in a scorching embrace.
Her mind went blank for a moment. She remembered she had been single her whole life and had fallen asleep alone, hugging her phone the night before.
“Mom, is my brother back? Is the sack in the kitchen something he brought back?”
“Brother Lu is back? When did he return? My wife is still sleeping in Brother Lu’s room.”
Chaos erupted outside the door for a moment, followed by the sound of a door being kicked.
Lu Xuanzhou had been driving his truck for three days straight, his life on the line, not daring to doze off. Finally home for a proper rest, he still couldn’t catch a break.
“Go away and make your noise somewhere else.”
Inside and outside the door, there was a deathly silence.