The Street-Smart Daughter I Spoiled

Mu Qin, a third-rate writer, discovered a new app on her phone called My Daughter, Raised to Be a Darling.

The app said she could choose a character she'd written and raise her into an obedient, well-mannered girl, the ideal female lead. Readers would vote, and whoever got the highest overall rating would win ten million yuan.

Mu Qin, whose terrible writing meant she wasn't making any money, immediately thought of Zhong Yu, a supporting character in one of her novels.

Zhong Yu was the youngest daughter in a family that favored sons. Her parents had desperately wanted a boy but never had one, so they raised her as a boy until puberty. She liked pink, pretty clothes, and sparkly accessories, but suppressed her desires and hadn't worn a single cute skirt even by adulthood.

No one understood Zhong Yu's pent-up feelings better than her own author.

Mu Qin believed that if Zhong Yu were given the chance, she would become a woman who met the app's selection criteria.

Mu Qin gave her a new home and gentle parents. They built her a princess bedroom, bought her a whole wardrobe of cute skirts, and practically wanted to sew adorable lace into her very blood.

But in secret, Mu Qin discovered that Zhong Yu insisted on taking the police academy entrance exam, meddled in other people's business, and rushed to help those in danger. She'd even wear a princess dress while trading insults with a bald old man, wishing his butt would burst open and fill with firecrackers. Her language was so filthy that the app kept flashing warnings about prohibited content.

Mu Qin couldn't understand why the character she'd created had not only gone completely out of character, but also seemed to have two entirely opposing personalities. It was as if she'd never really understood the female character she'd created, or at least not nearly as well as she thought.

"What's wrong, Zhong Yu?"

"I just accepted who I am."

Mu Qin tried to set Zhong Yu straight. She wanted to make money off her and create an ideal female lead who would appeal to the majority of readers. So she told Zhong Yu that no one should use such filthy language, whether they were boys or girls.

But Zhong Yu told her to come back and lecture her after she'd gotten all the boys in the world under control.

The app had one outstanding woman after another competing in it:

ancient noblewomen, bold and brash rich ladies, domineering female generals, and cool, aloof cultivators.

After getting to know them one by one, Mu Qin realized that she was the one who'd been utterly foolish.

No matter how they acted in public or in private, these kind, sincere, and brave women had always been wonderful just as they were. They shouldn't have been pitted against one another in the first place.

Content warning: The female lead doesn't go around insulting people, but she will swear very crudely if she's been hurt or sees someone else being hurt. She doesn't care whether the person she's insulting is male or female, young or old. She's just an ordinary, ordinary, but brave girl.

Theme: Accepting yourself for who you are