Chapter 1

All Male Leads Are C-List Characters; Not a Strong Female Lead; Soft-Rice Female Lead; Not a Traditional Matriarchal World Getting Rich... Lying Flat... Living a life free from illness and disaster... Dressed in white mourning clothes, Jiang Manyue knelt before the funeral altar, burning paper money. The villagers who had come to pay their respects stood before her. They comforted Jiang Manyue and told her to grieve less, while secretly sighing for her in their hearts. There had only ever been two people in the Jiang family. Now that her mother had died, Jiang Manyue was the only one left. The poor girl had lost her father when she was young. Before she had even married, she had lost her mother as well. What would she do in the future? With a family like this, would she even be able to find a husband? Jiang Manyue had no idea what the villagers were thinking. At that moment, she was recalling the mission information the system had given her. A few days ago, she had died and been bound to the system. The system claimed to be a Sweet-Pet Strategy System, and her mission was to win over the pitiful male protagonists and help them live sweet and happy lives. “But I don't know how to pamper people. I've only ever raised a dog. My dog really liked me, though~” System: 【...That works too. As long as you're good to them.】 Jiang Manyue agreed. She was already dead anyway, so she might as well consider it doing a good deed. Besides, there were rewards for completing the missions. She would need to complete 99 missions to be resurrected. That was far too long, so she would rather exchange the rewards for money and let her family use it while they were still alive. Jiang Manyue had always been indifferent toward most things. She could also be described as someone with a lying-flat personality. Her philosophy was simply to let things take their natural course. Now that the mother of this body had died, Jiang Manyue simply couldn't cry. So she kept her head lowered and remained silent. Oh, right. This body had been created by the system based on her original appearance, so it looked exactly like her. It was just a little too thin, probably because this family was extremely poor. The villagers mistook Jiang Manyue's silence for overwhelming grief and didn't think much of it. A month later, Jiang Manyue was dressed in a bright red wedding robe as someone helped her onto a horse. She had never ridden a horse before, so she was somewhat frightened. She gripped the reins tightly and didn't dare let go. The family she was marrying into was the Wen family, a well-known wealthy household in their county. Although the Wen family was wealthy, they had always dreamed of entering high society and raising their family's social standing. Seven years ago, they had therefore married their legitimate eldest son, Wen Yusheng, to Wang Qingyun, a poor scholar from the local area who had just passed the xiucai examination. In order to support Wang Qingyun in pursuing an official career, the Wen family had given him money, land, servants, and everything else he needed, hoping that he could devote himself entirely to his studies. Who could have expected that although Wang Qingyun had become a xiucai at a young age, the achievement had made him arrogant and complacent. He stopped striving for further success, spent his days idling around, and neglected his studies. He even looked down on Wen Yusheng for being dull and for failing to bear him a child, so he took several male concubines. Recently, one of the new concubines became pregnant. Unable to endure it any longer, Wen Yusheng demanded a divorce. The Wen family naturally disagreed, but Wen Yusheng remained determined and even threatened to take his own life. With no other choice, Wen Yusheng's mother finally agreed. When the divorce was settled, a considerable portion of the family's property was also given to Wang Qingyun. Only then did he agree to let Wen Yusheng go. After Wen Yusheng returned home, his parents were deeply worried about what his future would look like. He was already twenty-five, considered an older man by local standards, and had been divorced. Who would be willing to marry him now? Wen Yusheng himself didn't seem to care. He openly declared that he had no intention of marrying again. “I can't have children. Even if I marry again, I'll only end up with the same fate.” Without a child of his own, everything he did would ultimately amount to nothing more than making a wedding dress for someone else. And if he happened to meet another man like Scholar Wang, he would be better off staying unmarried. But Wen Yusheng's parents refused to accept that. After all, he still had a long life ahead of him. “If you don't want to marry again, then we'll simply find you a wife who will marry into our family.” Wen Yusheng's father asked a matchmaker to find a suitable wife who would marry into their family. This time, they didn't have many requirements. The woman only needed to be honest and responsible, not look down on Wen Yusheng for being unable to have children, and agree not to take any male concubines. In the future, they could adopt a daughter from one of the concubines' branches of the family. And that was how Jiang Manyue was chosen. When the matchmaker brought her to the Wen residence for a visit, she didn't get to meet Wen Yusheng. Wen Yusheng's parents were fairly satisfied with her. Jiang Manyue had a delicate and obedient appearance. Although she looked a little pale and undernourished, she could recover with proper nourishment. They had already heard about Jiang Manyue's circumstances from the matchmaker. Her family was poor, and she was the only one left. She would be very easy to control. Jiang Manyue was also quite satisfied with the Wen family's conditions. Her own household was so poor that they could barely afford to eat. She had already reached her limit just trying to survive until now. Understanding Jiang Manyue's difficult circumstances, the Wen family even gave her ten taels of silver to help her in an emergency before she left. As for the betrothal gifts and other wedding necessities, the Wen family would prepare everything themselves. They would deliver them to her home the day before the wedding to make the occasion look respectable. When Jiang Manyue received the silver, she was practically moved to tears. She could finally afford to buy some meat! Time flew by, and before she knew it, the wedding day had arrived. Jiang Manyue was helped down from the horse. Amid the lively crowd, she walked toward the bridal sedan and extended her hand. The person inside didn't make her wait long. The curtain was lifted, and a fair, jade-like hand reached out and rested lightly on Jiang Manyue's hand. Compared with Jiang Manyue's hand, his was noticeably larger, with distinct knuckles and a slender, bony appearance. Wen Yusheng wasn't particularly satisfied with this marriage, so he merely placed his hand lightly on hers. Jiang Manyue didn't notice his reluctance at all. She simply grabbed his hand and helped him out of the sedan. “Your hand is so cold.” There were many people around them, so Jiang Manyue lowered her sleeve, covering both of their hands. Inside the sleeve, she used her small hand to hold Wen Yusheng's large, icy hand. Women in this world were generally much taller and more robust than women in the world Jiang Manyue had come from. Jiang Manyue was using her original body, so she appeared especially petite here. That was also one of the reasons Wen Yusheng was dissatisfied with her. Beneath the red bridal veil, Wen Yusheng could only see Jiang Manyue's feet. Even her feet were so small and delicate. Judging from that, she couldn't possibly be very tall either. Still, she seemed quite considerate. He just didn't know whether she would remain this considerate in the future. At the matchmaker's urging, the two held hands and walked into the main hall. Since this was Wen Yusheng's second marriage, the Wen family didn't make a grand affair of it. Everything was kept simple. As a result, Jiang Manyue quickly finished dealing with the guests and made her way to the bridal chamber. The room was extremely quiet. By the time Jiang Manyue entered, Wen Yusheng had already washed up and was sitting on the bed reading a book. Although it was supposed to be their wedding night, there was none of the usual romantic atmosphere. Only the festive decorations in the room served as proof that this was supposed to be a happy occasion. Jiang Manyue didn't care about any of that. After all, she didn't particularly want to consummate the marriage with Wen Yusheng either. It wasn't that she disliked him. It was simply awkward to be intimate with someone she had never even met before. Besides, she still didn't know what Wen Yusheng looked like. When Jiang Manyue saw the table full of food, she immediately put meeting him out of her mind. She would fill her stomach first. She had barely eaten anything earlier and had mostly been drinking wine. Wen Yusheng raised his head from his book and looked toward Jiang Manyue. In fact, from the moment Jiang Manyue entered the room, Wen Yusheng had been observing her. He wanted to use these seemingly careless behaviors to test Jiang Manyue's character and temperament. Through a gap in the folding screen, he could see Jiang Manyue sitting at the table, happily eating her fill. Her face looked a little rounder than when Wen Yusheng had secretly seen her during her first visit. She had a small nose and a small mouth. Overall, she wasn't particularly unattractive.