The Real Heiress's Laid-Back Days (Food)

[Next up: “The Male Lead’s Wicked Eldest Sister-in-Law in an Imperial Exam Novel,” sunshine girl x sweet on the outside, dark within]

Mu Zhaochao transmigrated into a book, becoming the cannon-fodder biological daughter in a novel about a real and fake heiress.

In the original story, the fake heiress was beautiful, talented, and the most admired woman in the capital. Her childhood-sweetheart romance with the male lead, her cousin, was the envy of all.

Raised in the countryside, Mu Zhaochao couldn't compare with the fake heiress in any way, yet she constantly went against her and even competed with her for the male lead. In the end, she was abandoned by everyone and died in misery.

Her only purpose was to highlight the fake heiress's kindness and virtue, and to make the leads' relationship stronger and deeper. She was just a whetstone on their path to love.

As the System kept reminding her that her biological parents were the leads of a doting-romance novel, her older brother was the male lead of a possessive-love novel, and her whole family were protagonists while she alone was cannon fodder, Mu Zhaochao thought, “?”

She had a spiritual spring provided by the System and a head on her shoulders. Why stay stuck in the Mu family?

She was done being cannon fodder. The heroine could have her own happy ending. Mu Zhaochao was going to lie flat and focus on getting healthy.

With land to farm and a spiritual spring, Mu Zhaochao knew she was living in a world cobbled together from a bunch of different novels. Still, she happily farmed and gossiped about all the various leads, living a comfortable and interesting life.

Then her older brother returned to the capital, accompanied by a young page.

She looked at the page's unusually refined features and sighed. At last, someone else was cannon fodder like her, and a major villain at that, with an even worse ending.

Out of sympathy, she started giving him snacks now and then.

As she kept feeding him, one day the villain suddenly gave her a peachwood comb.

Just as she was about to take it, she heard the young man's deep voice: “A peachwood comb is a gift for someone you love. Ah Tang, do you have feelings for me?”

The boy had outgrown his awkward youth. His clear, limpid eyes turned to her, making her heart skip for no reason.

Mu Zhaochao: “?”

He seemed terribly nervous. When he spoke again, his voice trembled. “If you don't like the comb, I'll make you something else...”

Mu Zhaochao: “…”

Born into a lowly family, Nie Xun had seen plenty of cruelty in the world.

One day, Miss Mu handed him a tangerine, roasted until it was black and hot to the touch.

Thinking she was humiliating him like everyone else, he frowned and glared at her coldly, only to meet her unusually clear eyes.

“It helps with coughing,” she said with a gentle smile. “I just heard you coughing badly.”

Nie Xun, his violent temper surging: “...”

For the first time, he felt that perhaps the world could be so warm.

Farming, gossiping, and happily lying flat vs. a beautiful but tragic little stray

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Blurb:

Chen Lingxi transmigrated into an imperial exam novel as the male lead's wicked eldest sister-in-law.

In the original story, her husband died on their wedding day, leaving her a widow branded as a husband-killer.

Her in-laws were dirt poor, and he had left her with three mouths to feed.

There was the male lead, Fu Yuanting, a frail, sickly student who was a huge drain on the family finances, and two young siblings, Fu Yuanlang and Fu Yuanying, who barely came up to her waist.

The original owner couldn't bear this hellish life and waited until the dead of night to gather the Fu family's valuables and run away.

When she fled, the Fu family was plunged into chaos.

To buy medicine for her seriously ill second brother, Fu Yuanying secretly sold herself. Fu Yuanting didn't find his sister, who had been driven out of her mind, until years later, after passing the highest imperial exam. It became his greatest regret and his deepest hatred of the original owner.

Under the male lead's revenge, the original owner died on the road to exile.

When Chen Lingxi arrived, the original owner had already packed her belongings and was about to flee.

Noticing a pair of eyes watching her from the darkness, Chen Lingxi: “...”

After only a moment's hesitation, she shoved her bundle into the arms of Fu Yuanting, who was pretending to be asleep, and said to herself, “Old Li says there have been lots of chicken thieves and burglars lately. This is all the money we have, and we still need it for Second Brother's medicine, so we have to hide it well.”

Fu Yuanting, who had long since realized she was planning to run off with the money: “???”

It was a disastrous situation from the start, but she only had to work hard for a few years. Once the male lead passed the imperial exams, she could enjoy the benefits too. Chen Lingxi thought she had plenty to look forward to. Every day she went up the mountain and worked in the fields, full of energy, and managed to make their life flourish.

The original owner had done some wicked things before Chen Lingxi arrived, and she was afraid Fu Yuanting would hold her responsible. So whenever she had the chance, she drilled this into him: “Your sister-in-law may not be very capable, but I'll do my best to raise you three siblings and support your studies. When you become the top scholar one day, just make sure I can enjoy a comfortable old age.”

After hearing it nearly eight hundred times, Fu Yuanting said, “...All right.”

She had changed.

At first, Fu Yuanting only suspected it. Before long, he was certain: she wasn't the Chen Lingxi he had known.

He said nothing and simply observed her in silence. He saw that she truly treated the Fu family as her own. She had her little schemes, but she wasn't a bad person, so he pretended not to notice anything and let life go on as usual.

That is, until a well-off classmate started hinting around to ask about her, hoping to marry her as his second wife. Fu Yuanting could no longer sit still...

Theme: Love life and work hard to prosper