One and a half months after transmigrating into the book.
Ruan Xingmian had banged her head, pinched her philtrum, basked in moonlight, and stayed up nights watching the sky, hoping for a Seven Stars Alignment.
She tried every possible way to transmigrate back.
Though male beauty was precious.
In reality, she had struggled for ten years to become a blogger with millions of followers.
She owned a house, a car, and a career.
Her bank savings had seven zeros, and she couldn’t bear to spend a single cent.
In her dreams, she could still see the original host getting up from the lounge chair.
Wearing her Hanfu.
Living in her small courtyard.
Rummaging through her refrigerator.
It pained her deeply.
In contrast, the original host was a college student who spent every penny she earned each month.
Currently, she only had ten thousand in savings.
Online, she had also bought a computer and accessories worth over ten thousand, planning to give them to the Male Lead for his birthday.
This money wasn’t earned by her as a student either.
Instead, for the Male Lead, she had completely confronted her family and even forced her cousin not to be with him.
Her aunt, concerned about her plans to upgrade from college to university, advised her not to act on emotions.
She was still young, not yet the time for romance.
She quarreled with her aunt, moved out of the house, and demanded the child support her mother was supposed to pay.
In truth, she had no right to ask.
Her mother had never given her any living expenses. It was her aunt, wanting her to live comfortably, who told a well-intentioned lie.
Stubborn and unyielding, she only had eyes for the Male Lead. She posted extensively on social media, complaining about the misery of her dysfunctional family and the bitterness of living under someone else’s roof.
Years of her aunt’s efforts were all in vain, leaving her deeply disappointed, and she gave her thirty thousand.
She moved out of school, spending five hundred to share a rental with others.
The rest of the money was almost entirely spent on the Male Lead.
Stingy with herself.
Extravagant with the Male Lead.
To say the original host loved the Male Lead wasn’t entirely true.
She was just a girl lacking both money and love.
She hadn’t seen the original host transmigrate to her side, eating and drinking every day, never sparing a thought for the men in the book, using her money to flirt with guys in bars or hire male models at clubs every day.
It was as if she had broken free from the plot’s control, living a life of utter freedom.
Returning to the simplest human desires—eating, drinking, and sleeping.
Her life was good.
Ruan Xingmian suffered a huge loss.
Her savings were gone, her account was gone, her carefree life was gone.
Apart from being eight years younger, there were no other benefits.
Three days ago, she vomited badly. Counting the days, her period was a week late.
Her left eyelid kept twitching. After finishing her part-time job, she nervously bought a pregnancy test.
Seeing two red lines.
She shed two silent tears.
It was an absolutely disastrous start, and she fainted on the spot.
Waking up to see the damp ceiling of the rental room, she wished she could faint again and never wake up.
It took three days to sort out her emotions.
Ruan Xingmian made the following decisions.
Since she was here and couldn’t go back, she would start building her account from scratch. With her own hands and feet, Ruan Xingmian could start over and wouldn’t starve.
Since the child was here, she would keep it. After all, excellent genes were rare.
Plus, these past few days, whenever she thought about aborting the child, her heart would ache.
Thinking that she was used to being alone and helpless, having a child connected by blood wasn’t bad. This was her first relative in this world, and though not yet formed, Ruan Xingmian couldn’t help but imagine what the child would look like.
Finally, the child was Gu Xing’s, so she needed to inform this biological father.
Since she couldn’t change her predicament, she would first change her mindset.
Once she figured it out, she canceled the online purchases meant for the Male Lead and got back over ten thousand in savings.
After two days of organizing notes, I bought a selfie stick, splurged on a brand-new camera, and a second-hand computer.
I plan to spend a week defining my self-media entrepreneurship direction.
Starting over from scratch.
On the first day of the new semester, Ruan Xingmian decided to first resolve the matter with the child.
The top-tier university was picturesque, with beautiful scenery at every step.
She wandered around like a tourist, from the cafeteria to the graduate dormitory, then from the graduate dormitory to the library, and back to the cafeteria again. By then, it was already noon.
She was starving, her stomach growling with hunger.
But she still hadn’t found Gu Xing.
These were all places where the original host had stopped Gu Xing and aggressively pursued him.
There was only one explanation.
Gu Xing was avoiding her.
Well, it made sense. Being drugged by a girl and then… that thing—wouldn’t that leave some psychological trauma?
The Second Male Lead was already somewhat melancholic by nature.
The drug was administered by the original host, but it was Ruan Xingmian who slept with him. She couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.
She had to see Gu Xing as soon as possible and properly apologize to him.
People were coming and going all around.
The aroma of food from the cafeteria wafted through the air.
Leaning against a sycamore tree outside the cafeteria, Ruan Xingmian began scrolling through her phone.
She had Gu Xing’s phone number, but he had already blocked her.
After much thought, she could only call the Male Lead.
In a daze, Ruan Xingmian caught sight of a face that bore some resemblance to hers.
“Sis?”
Their fathers were identical twins, sharing the same face.
So, as cousins, their facial features were somewhat similar.
However, Ruan Xingyue had a cool and elegant style—long, flowing black hair, a white maxi dress, and a face free of makeup, like a pristine white lotus. Unblemished by the mud, unadorned by the clear ripples.
Coupled with her aloof demeanor, her reserved and unsmiling nature, and her preference for wearing white, she resembled a snow lotus from the Tianshan Mountains even more.
As for Ruan Xingmian today, her outfit was casual.
No exaggerated eyeshadow or hair color, just simple jeans and a black cropped T-shirt.
Her hair was slightly wavy, reaching only to her collarbone.
She had only applied moisturizer to her face. Recently, she had been vomiting badly, suffering from insomnia and frequent nightmares, and worrying about her ten million every night. Her complexion was pale, with dark circles under her eyes.
Because she usually indulged in snacks, the plump chin her aunt had helped her cultivate was gone.
Standing under the sycamore tree, she looked like a malnourished, skinny bamboo shoot.
“Xingmian, little sister,” the first to call out to her was a man dressed in expensive clothes, with an arrogant look in his eyes but rather unremarkable facial features. “What are you doing here?”
Ruan Xingmian wanted to ask, “Who are you? What’s it to you? My sister hasn’t even spoken yet. Why are you butting in?”
This man’s eyes were overly expressive, his two beady eyes darting around as if they knew each other.
Ruan Xingmian felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
She found Lu Tian’s phone number and dialed it, giving her sister a faint smile.
The next second, the man’s phone rang for three seconds. He picked it up, glanced at it, and hung up without showing any emotion.
“These scam calls are everywhere nowadays.”
As soon as he hung up, Ruan Xingmian’s phone emitted a busy tone.
Lu Tian’s dead-fish-like eyes stared at her, carrying a hint of warning.
“Xingyue, since we’ve run into your sister, why not invite her to have lunch together? Let’s book a table outside the school. It’s a good chance to be honest with your sister about our relationship.”
He tugged at Ruan Xingyue’s sleeve while giving Ruan Xingmian a threatening look.
If Ruan Xingmian still didn’t know who this guy was at this point, she would have lived all these years in vain.
In the original story, it only mentioned that the Male Lead, Lu Tian, came from a well-off family—his mother was a company executive, and his father was a renowned professor and dean of the computer science department at a top-tier university.
Tall, with long legs, and handsome in appearance.
What “handsome in appearance”!
This was just average-looking at best, hardly worth a second glance.
Standing next to her sister, he was the perfect example of a toad lusting after swan meat!
No wonder he was making things difficult for Gu Xing everywhere.
Just one look at Gu Xing’s face, and he’d already lost. A man’s jealousy could be deadly…
“Ruan Xingmian, come here.”
This was the first sentence the Female Lead said to her.
In a deserted corner.
Ruan Xingyue glared at her through gritted teeth: “I’m already with Lu Tian. Give up on him.”
Ruan Xingmian: “Yeah, I’ve already given up.”
She was clearly the type who made trouble because she was ugly. If he was handed to her, she’d immediately sell him off for recycling.
Not a second to waste.
“Since you’ve given up, my mom signed you up for an online Upgrade from college to university course. Move back home so you can attend the classes in the evening.”
No wonder the original owner had rebelled.
Her aunt was like a strict, unforgiving nun, always talking about studies, future prospects, and homework.
The sister in front of her was no different from a head teacher.
Mother and daughter were exactly the same.
They always spoke coldly and harshly.
Even words of concern came out stiff and rigid.
“Sis, I still have something to do. Let’s talk about studying another day.”
She hadn’t even attended high school—how was she supposed to Upgrade from college to university?
Ruan Xingmian made a quick escape.
Not far away, she received a call from Lu Tian.
He started yelling angrily on the other end: “Ruan Xingmian, didn’t I tell you not to come looking for me in front of your sister?”
“No, Brother Lu Tian, I came to find Gu Xing. Where is he?”
Ruan Xingmian was almost sickened by her own tone.
But she still had to pretend to be the original owner for a while longer.
“You should’ve said so earlier,” Lu Tian’s tone softened. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. Go to the computer laboratory on the second floor of Duxing Building. He’s there.”
He moved aside and lowered his voice, “As long as you chase after him and ruin him, I’ll break up with your sister and be with only you.”
Ruan Xingmian hung up the call and turned off the call recording at the same time.
She couldn’t help but curse a few times.
Turning around.
What building was it again?
She opened the recording, listened to it again, and headed toward Duxing Building.