Maintaining the Villainess’s Dignity

After being reborn, Wen Shuangmu learns that she lives in a sweet campus romance novel. Every male character in the book could have been plucked straight from the hottest Jinjiang romance, so the heroine is caught in an endless love rivalry every day. For instance, there’s the aloof top student and male lead, Su Qiyan. He never studies before exams, but one day he suddenly organizes his notes just so he can hand them to the heroine. Then there’s the arrogant, headstrong second male lead, Zhou Yu. He does whatever he wants, but one day he takes off his black earring, puts on a neat white shirt, and gives the heroine a bouquet of white daisies. Then there’s the gentle, restrained third male lead, Shen Zhiting. He tutored the heroine until she achieved the top score on the high school entrance exam, and secretly helped her apply for scholarships and living expenses. Then there’s the sunny, upbeat fourth male lead, Liu Yiheng... The fifth male lead, who can be either a wolf or a sweetheart... They all dedicate the purest feelings of their school days to the heroine. The more Wen Shuangmu listens to the System’s introduction, the more something feels off. She raises a hand to interrupt. “Wait, why don’t I know the second and third male leads you mentioned? And I’m sure I’ve never received daisies. My family isn’t poor, either. When did I need a scholarship?” System: “?” System: “Maybe it’s because... you aren’t the heroine?” Wen Shuangmu: “...” Reader’s note: The heroine is Wen Shuangmu, and the male lead is Lu Jing. They both have Systems and are bound to each other. Lu Jing’s System: Change that villainess for the better. Wen Shuangmu’s System: Raise that antagonist. Coming soon: The Tyrant Is Still Young, Drive Him Away While You Can. Please add it to your reading list! When Kong Lingjia was twelve, her father brought home an eight-year-old boy. The family was so poor they could barely put food on the table, and her younger brother and sister were still too little to feed themselves. Kong Lingjia assumed Chang Xuanyu was the illegitimate child her father had brought home after a fling. She forbade her younger siblings from getting close to Chang Xuanyu. In winter, she made him wash clothes in freezing well water. In summer, she made him cook over a fire in the stuffy, airless kitchen. She took the money he earned from his chores and tore up the letters his mother sent him... Kong Lingjia never imagined that Chang Xuanyu, who had always endured everything without complaint, would one day become a brutal tyrant feared throughout the land. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he purged his political enemies. Everyone who had ever offended him met a miserable end. Some were put on display on the city walls; others were subjected to the ten most horrific tortures. The court was gripped by fear, and everyone lived in terror. Kong Lingjia fled overnight with her younger siblings, playing a cat-and-mouse game with Chang Xuanyu for half a year. They lived worse than pigs and dogs, while Chang Xuanyu took pleasure in watching them cling to life day after day. One day, she was reborn as a twelve-year-old. A month had passed since Chang Xuanyu had been brought through the Kong family’s doors, and she had been bullying him for that entire month. It felt as if there was still time to make things right, and yet as if it was already too late. Kong Lingjia spent the night in a daze, lying in bed. When she opened her door at dawn, she remembered that she had ordered Chang Xuanyu not to sleep the night before and made him chop wood in the yard all night. On that cold winter morning, his long robe was soaked with sweat. Hearing the door open, Chang Xuanyu turned to her. His eyes were timid and eager to please. “Big sister, I’ve finished all the work.” There was someone else standing in the yard: the young daughter of the wealthy neighbor, Chu Qiuying Chu Qiuying was beautiful and kindhearted, and had always helped Chang Xuanyu. The warm buns in his hands were the ones Chu Qiuying had just bought him. As Kong Lingjia caught the scent of the meat buns, she suddenly remembered that the day she starved to death was the day Chang Xuanyu married Chu Qiuying in a grand wedding procession. Theme: Take control of your own destiny