The Beautiful Stepmom Changes Her Fate Through On-Screen Comments [The 1970s]

Before she transmigrated into a book, Jiang Nuan was a food blogger with over a million followers.

After transmigrating into the book, she becomes a despised, vicious stepmother who abuses her stepson and betrays her husband. In the end, she freezes to death on the street, serving as the evil counterpart to the original heroine and a disposable character meant to make the protagonist’s happy life shine all the brighter.

When she opens her eyes, her three-year-old stepson is glaring at her as if she were his enemy.

A line of scrolling comments appears before Jiang Nuan:

[Here comes the iconic scene. Jiang Nuan’s about to get hot liquor thrown in her face. She’ll hit the kid and cement her reputation as a vicious stepmother.]

She dodges to the side. The little brat misses her and lands face-first on the ground.

The comments explode: [Holy crap? This isn’t what happened in the original book. Did the author rewrite it?]

After calmly assessing the situation, Jiang Nuan realizes she can’t get a divorce.

Her original family is full of awful people. The night she divorced, her parents would sell her to an old bachelor in the neighboring village.

Her husband by marriage, Lu Huaizhou, is a young and promising regimental commander, handsome and wealthy. If it weren’t for her original parents’ scheming, she wouldn’t have landed such a good marriage and become a stepmother to a ready-made child.

Jiang Nuan has plenty of ways to deal with a brat, especially since she also has a crowd of “helpful viewers” giving her live spoilers

[Your sister-in-law’s going to steal your dowry!]

Jiang Nuan lies in wait and catches her red-handed.

[Your husband’s first love is coming over tomorrow!]

She turns around and posts evidence that the woman is dating three men at once.

She makes a good life for herself with her cooking skills, and the comments go from a wall of insults to getting more and more hooked:

[This version is great. It’s way more satisfying than the original.]

[Keep it up. I want to watch Jiang Nuan win all the way!]

The plot has completely fallen apart, and Jiang Nuan’s family is doing even better than the original heroine’s. But now the comments start spoiling something else:

[Seriously, with Lu’s build, looks, and… well, size… wouldn’t it be a bit of a waste not to sleep with him?]

Jiang Nuan: That does make sense.

The next day, Jiang Nuan gets out of bed after a long night, rubbing her sore waist. She glares at the comments, whose little faces have all turned yellow, and grits her teeth in frustration.

A recommendation for my upcoming story, The Marquis’s Little Cook:

Shen Tang transmigrates into the body of a low-ranking kitchen maid in a marquis’s household. Her father is dead, her mother is sick, and the original owner is a doormat everyone can push around. Her life is miserable.

The woodshed nearly catches fire, and the housekeeper accuses Shen Tang of neglecting her duties. She takes the blame.

The head chef burns the Eight-Treasure Duck, and the housekeeper pins the blame on her. She takes the blame again.

Shen Tang: …???

She looks at the charred duck in front of her, takes a deep breath, rolls up her sleeves, and makes another one.

She uses honey instead of caramelized sugar to give it color, dried tangerine peel and hawthorn to remove the gamey smell and cut the grease, then fries it slowly at a low temperature so the skin turns crisp and the meat stays tender.

The marquis can’t stop praising it after he finishes and rewards her with five taels of silver.

Shen Tang only wants to keep her head down, save enough money to buy her freedom, and leave.

But the marquis’s household is a den of vipers. The legitimate daughter is bullied by a concubine, and none of the illegitimate children are easy to deal with. The marquis only cares about enjoying himself and couldn’t care less what happens in the inner quarters. One scapegoating after another lands on Shen Tang.

Then she’ll just have to work her way up!

From kitchen maid to first-class personal maid, from head of household affairs to a sixth-rank female official, from the Court of the Imperial Stud to the Ministry of Works: one day, the people who once made Shen Tang take the blame won’t even be worthy of looking up at her.

And what about the Crown Prince, who is said to have no interest in women?

He just happens to pass by the marquis’s residence, happen to taste her yam and pork rib soup, and happen to never forget it.

Theme: A happy life must be built with your own hands, and a harmonious family brings prosperity.