The maidservant Xiaoyun looked at the plump figure sprawled before her. Setting down the food box in her hands, she said irritably, “Concubine Guan, it’s time to eat.”
Ignoring the maid’s sour expression, Guan Xiyue moved to the small table. Seeing the meal laid out before her—a bowl of coarse rice, two cornmeal buns, a small dish of cold wood-ear mushrooms, a bowl of cabbage, and a plate of tofu—she could not help sighing.
Xiaoyun shot her a sidelong glance and sneered. “What’s wrong, Concubine Guan? Don’t tell me these simple dishes aren’t good enough for you. Back at home, you couldn’t even eat food like this.”
Guan Xiyue paid her no attention. She grabbed a bun and started eating.
She had no choice—she was starving, so hungry that her stomach felt glued to her spine.
In her previous life, she had been a slim beauty, 168 centimeters tall and weighing only 98 jin. Who would have thought that after a car accident, she would wake up in this body?
The height seemed similar, perhaps around 165 centimeters, but judging by how she felt, this body probably weighed close to 200 jin.
Seeing that she was being ignored, Xiaoyun turned and left. After all, she still had the dishes she had secretly withheld from the meal—a bowl of steamed meat among them. She needed to hurry and enjoy them.
Guan Xiyue swept the table clean, finishing every bite. Only then did her stomach finally feel a little better.
Though she dearly missed sweet-and-sour spare ribs, fish with pickled mustard greens, braised pork, and countless other delicacies, she considered herself fortunate.
After all, she had been given a second chance at life.
Since Heaven had not allowed her to die, she intended to live well.
She had struggled to examine her reflection in the bronze mirror. The image had been blurry, but she could still tell that her facial features seemed crowded together, her contours indistinct. In short, she was nowhere near being called a beauty.
So how had she ended up becoming a concubine?
Memories belonging to the original owner flooded into her mind.
The family had been desperately poor. They lived in several crumbling mud huts. Her parents and younger siblings wore patch upon patch of mended clothing and worked tirelessly like beasts of burden.
Above them were the grandparents.
One look at them and the words “harsh” and “mean-spirited” came to mind.
Old Master Guan rarely involved himself in household matters and spent his days with a perpetually gloomy face. Grandmother Wang, meanwhile, was either scolding the children or berating her daughters-in-law.
Among those daughters-in-law, the original owner’s mother, Zhang Shi, was the most pitiful. She endured the most abuse, did the most work, and ate the least food.
Guan Xiyue herself had been an oddity.
In a family that poor, how had she managed to become so fat?
Every meal consisted of little more than coarse grain cakes and wild vegetable soup. How had she managed to put on so much flesh?
But that was not the important part.
The important part was that this fat girl was actually a concubine.
And she certainly had not secured the position through beauty.
The eldest young master of the wealthy Zhou family, Zhou Zhengye, had fallen gravely ill. Medicines and treatments had all failed.
Later, a Daoist priest declared that he needed to take a concubine—a blessed woman born in the eighth lunar month, under the zodiac sign of the Rooster, with an earth-element destiny.
The priest had emphasized the “blessed” part.
The woman must have a prosperous, well-fed appearance and a lucky mole on her temple. According to him, earth signified wealth, and such a person possessed a fortune-filled destiny.
After layers of screening and selection, Guan Xiyue—the girl her family had always disliked—emerged as the winner.
Old Master Guan and Grandmother Wang were overjoyed.
The twenty taels of silver offered as the bride price made them feel as though they had struck gold.
They had always worried that a lazy, overweight girl like Guan Xiyue would never find a husband.
Who could have imagined that she would bring in twenty taels of silver?
Among poor farming families, marrying off a daughter usually brought only five or six taels in bride price, and the family would still have to provide a dowry.
This arrangement was wonderful.
No dowry needed.
Pure profit.
Only Guan Heping, her father, and Zhang Shi, her mother, were unhappy.
The Guan family had always been a respectable farming household. How could they send their daughter away to become a concubine?
But their objections were insignificant.
After being scolded repeatedly by Grandmother Wang, they no longer dared to speak.
All they could do was comfort themselves.
Their daughter really was going to enjoy a better life.
The Zhou family ranked among the wealthiest households in the county.
She was flying from a mud nest into a golden one.
The rest of the family—uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters—were easily won over by tangible benefits.
They ate meat for several meals in a row.
Each person received a new set of clothes.
The fabric, naturally, had all been provided by the Zhou family.
Her cousin Guan Maidong was especially jealous of Guan Xiyue’s good fortune.
Unfortunately, she did not meet the required qualifications.
As for the original owner herself, she was thoroughly satisfied.
She did not care what Zhou Zhengye looked like.
All she knew was that he was only twenty years old—not some old man—and possessed immense wealth.
That already made him an excellent match.
Just the thought of escaping this impoverished household and her constantly snarling grandmother filled her with delight.
She had even said openly:
“I’m going off to enjoy a good life. But you all know I’ll never have the fortune to become the principal wife. Young Master Zhou may be wealthy, but I won’t be able to support all of you. Don’t come pestering me for money later and make things difficult for me.”
Her cousin Guan Maidong could not stand her attitude.
“Look at you acting so proud. Anyone would think you were going off to become an empress.”
Guan Xiyue was never one to tolerate insults.
She had often stood up for her parents when they were mistreated. And now that she was about to leave this place forever?
Without another word, she threw her hefty body onto Guan Maidong and pinned her down.
Then she gave her a thorough beating.
She beat her until she cried for her father and mother, her face bruised and battered.
Ordinarily, Guan Maidong would never have accepted such humiliation.
But this time, she had no choice.
As a “blessed woman,” Guan Xiyue could not possibly enter the Zhou household with injuries on her face.
Thinking of this, Guan Xiyue could not help smiling.
The original owner’s personality was actually rather amusing.