The Cat-Demon Stepmother of the 1980s Has the Commander at His Wits' End

[Eighties era + transmigrate into a book + cat-demon stepmother + spoiled troublemaker wins by doing nothing + contrast character + marriage first, love later + hilarious, sweet romance]

The thousand-year-old cat demon Miao Xiaona fails her tribulation and transmigrates into a book set in the eighties as a wicked stepmother.

Her husband, Lu Hansheng, is thirty-six, a stern and ascetic military district commander. Her stepson, Lu Xun, is rebellious and defiant.

In the original novel, she's kicked out for abusing her stepson, while the hardworking and virtuous Jia Zhenzhen next door becomes a model stepmother.

Miao Xiaona scoffs: “Before I'm kicked out, who gets the passbook?”

When faced with her rebellious stepson, she doesn't wash clothes or cook. If Lu Xun flips the table, she confiscates his pocket money. If he complains about her, she clutches her heart and falls into Lu Hansheng's arms.

Lu Xun: “Dad, she's faking it!”

Miao Xiaona looks up, all fragility: “He's right. I can keep pretending a little longer.”

Later, everyone waits for her to be driven out of the Lu family.

But as they keep waiting, Lu Hansheng gets promoted, her stepson makes something of himself, and Miao Xiaona becomes a rich woman by scooping up bargains.

A reporter asks, “I hear your wife is delicate, loves spending money, and never does housework. Don't you mind?”

Lu Hansheng looks over at Miao Xiaona, who is directing their son as he carries boxes, and smiles faintly. “No. Her staying at home is already more than I could ask for.”