Chapter 3: So It Was Transmigrating into a Book—She Knew She Wasn’t That Lucky
The little boy holding the soup bowl looked at Wen Nuan Nuan’s incredulous expression and thought she still hadn’t recovered from the shock of marrying into their family. After exchanging glances with his two younger brothers, he placed the bowl on the stool beside the bed and urged, “Sister-in-law, this is Fleeceflower Root that’s several hundred years old. We couldn’t bear to sell it. Please remember to drink it.”
Seeing that Wen Nuan Nuan showed no reaction, the three of them reluctantly backed out of the room, glancing back repeatedly before closing the door behind them.
Once they had left and shut the door, Wen Nuan Nuan could no longer hold back. She quickly reached out and opened the refrigerator door.
All the ingredients in the fresh-keeping section came into view.
The first shelf was neatly stacked with vegetables.
The second shelf held a variety of fruits, candies, and snacks.
The third shelf contained pumpkin, corn, and sweet potatoes…
Starved and weak, Wen Nuan Nuan hurriedly grabbed a piece of White Rabbit Creamy Candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. The rich milky flavor that filled her mouth made her truly realize this wasn’t a dream!
After eating several pieces of candy in a row, she finally regained her strength. As she peeled and ate an orange, she began to ponder her current situation.
She looked around the room—a spacious Brick-and-Tile House, clean and tidy. This family shouldn’t be doing too poorly.
But judging by the three bean sprouts who had just called her sister-in-law, they were clearly emaciated from hunger, looking as if a gust of wind could knock them over. It didn’t seem to match the Brick-and-Tile House at all.
In her understanding, no matter the era, families who could afford to live in Brick-and-Tile Houses shouldn’t be struggling too much—at the very least, they shouldn’t be starving.
Why was this family unable to eat their fill?
Wen Nuan Nuan’s gaze drifted to the half-bowl of dark, thick medicinal soup on the wooden stool by the bed. She realized this was likely the source of the bitter taste in her mouth when she first woke up.
Remembering the intensely bitter and astringent flavor, Wen Nuan Nuan’s face reflexively scrunched up.
Then she recalled what the eldest boy had said: “Sister-in-law, this is Fleeceflower Root that’s over a hundred years old. We couldn’t bear to sell it. Please remember to drink it.”
Fleeceflower Root over a hundred years old?
Couldn’t bear to sell it?
Sister-in-law?
Wen Nuan Nuan felt all the blood in her body rush to her head, her mouth and eyes widening in shock.
She finally understood her current situation!
So she hadn’t just traveled through time.
She had transmigrated into a book!
Into the book she had been following, “The Chief Grand Secretary’s Overwhelming Power,” as the wife—or more precisely, the ex-wife—of the male lead, Leng Xiao.
This was a classic male-oriented power fantasy novel. The male lead, Leng Xiao, suffered a sudden family tragedy in his childhood: his father died, and his mother fell ill and grew weak. Treating her illness drained the family’s last coin and left them in debt. Abandoned by his newlywed wife, he lived in a thatched hut with his three younger brothers, enduring hunger and cold while surviving on coarse food. Then, in the third year, Leng Xiao achieved the top honors in the imperial examinations, rising to prominence in one fell swoop!
After that, it was as if he had unlocked cheat codes—he advanced step by step, overcoming obstacles and accumulating immense power on his path to becoming a high-ranking official.
On this journey to power, countless stunningly beautiful women threw themselves at him.
They were utterly devoted to the male lead!
They recognized only him!
“Drunk on the knees of beauties, awake to wield power over the world”—this was the most accurate portrayal of Leng Xiao.
If you asked which woman the male lead loved the most, sorry, he didn’t love any of them.
Don’t ask—the answer was cold and ruthless.
And who was she? She was Wen Nuan, the woman Leng Xiao married in a pre-arranged union to bring good fortune to his ailing mother. Yes, she shared the same name as Wen Nuan Nuan. It was precisely this coincidence that had drawn her, a girl, to read this male-oriented novel in the first place!
However, even the marriage of celebration brought no effect. Leng Xiao’s mother still passed away, leaving behind three frail younger brothers and a poverty-stricken household that could barely put food on the table for Leng Xiao.
How could Wen Nuan Nuan, who had been doted on since childhood, willingly marry into such a family? How could she resign herself to guarding this hopelessly poor home and living a life of destitution?
Naturally, she planned to escape and rid herself of these people.
In truth, on their wedding night, Wen Nuan Nuan was unwilling, and Leng Xiao did not force her. Instead, with a cold expression, he promised that after he achieved success in the imperial examinations and entered the capital, he would, as her elder brother, arrange a good marriage for her and send her off to wed.
This was also a repayment to Wen Nuan Nuan’s parents, who, despite Leng Xiao’s poverty and hardship, were willing to honor their promise and marry their daughter to him for his mother’s marriage of celebration.
Leng Xiao had already shown utmost benevolence and duty. After all, in a small place like Tongcheng, it would be difficult for Wen Nuan Nuan, as a married woman, to conceal her past and find a good husband.
But entering the capital was different. With the vast distance between heaven and earth, the two of them, having never registered their marriage with the authorities, would not be considered husband and wife.
However, Wen Nuan Nuan did not see it this way. She believed this was merely Leng Xiao’s delaying tactic. How could he, who found her beautiful in every way, possibly bear to let her marry someone else?
Moreover, could he really achieve success in the imperial examinations just because he said so?
Tongcheng, this small place, had not produced a single successful candidate in the imperial examinations for over a decade. She refused to believe that the impoverished and struggling Leng Family could produce a dragon or phoenix!
In the book, it was during this time that Wen Nuan Nuan protested by refusing to eat and was saved by a century-old Fleeceflower Root that the Leng Family had coincidentally unearthed. However, she did not credit the Leng Family for this but believed it was her fate not to die. After recovering her strength, she gathered every last coin of her dowry and moved to the city to live.
Meanwhile, the Leng brothers, who had hoped to sell the century-old Fleeceflower Root to repay their debts, were unable to settle their obligations. They could only watch helplessly as their three-room Brick-and-Tile House was sold to others at an extremely low price.
This forced the four brothers to live in a thatched hut, eating chaff and wild vegetables, enduring hunger and cold, and leading a life of utter misery.
Initially, Wen Nuan Nuan lived comfortably and freely in the city with her substantial dowry. However, upon learning of Leng Xiao’s immense power and influence, she foolishly sought him out. Using her parents’ act of keeping their promise by marrying her into the impoverished Leng Family for the marriage of celebration as leverage, she made a scene and eventually managed to stay.
Then, seeing how tall, lean, and overwhelmingly powerful Leng Xiao was, she found him perfect in every way and refused to let go, determined to have him!
Needless to say, could someone who becomes the great male lead in a male-oriented novel be ordinary or use ordinary means?
Wen Nuan Nuan had once abandoned them to their fate and fled alone. Now that they had achieved wealth and honor, she shamelessly returned to throw her weight around and cause all sorts of trouble. Not to mention Leng Xiao, even an ordinary person would find this unbearable.
Moreover, Leng Xiao was no ordinary person. He was the ruthless and meticulous Chief Grand Secretary.
In the end, Wen Nuan Nuan died a miserable and silent death.
Her body, battered and bloody, was buried in the wilderness.
Wen Nuan Nuan shuddered at the thought of the description of her death, and even the food in her mouth lost its flavor.
Wuwu, she didn’t want this, she refused.
She was wrong; she shouldn’t have been greedy. Indeed, someone who had never even picked up more than ten yuan since childhood must be mentally prepared when suddenly encountering a windfall.
Just look at her—transmigrating into this absolute male-lead novel as a minor, insignificant antagonist cannon fodder.
She was practically a side character meant to deepen the male lead’s hardships and pad the word count by amplifying the hatred.
What should she do?
Good heavens, if she returns the refrigerator and goes back to her old life now, do you think she still has a chance?