The Male Lead of the Imperial Exam Novel's Wicked Sister-in-Law (Food)

Chen Lingxi transmigrates into an imperial-examination novel as the male lead's wicked sister-in-law.

In the original story, her husband dies on their wedding day, leaving her a widow burdened with the reputation of being a jinx.

Her husband's family is dirt-poor, and on top of that, she is left with three mouths to feed.

The male lead, Fu Yuanting, is frail and sickly, and a money pit who is still studying. Then there are his two young siblings, Fu Yuanlang and Fu Yuanying, neither of whom comes up to her waist.

The original owner can't bear this inhuman life, so one quiet night she gathers up everything valuable in the Fu household and runs away.

The moment she leaves, the Fu family's world collapses.

To pay for medicine for her gravely ill second brother, Fu Yuanying secretly sells herself. Fu Yuanting doesn't find his sister again until after he passes the imperial exams. By then, she has been so badly mistreated that she has lost her mind. This is Fu Yuanting's greatest regret, and the reason he hates the original owner most.

In the male lead's revenge, the original owner dies on the road to exile.

When Chen Lingxi transmigrates, the original owner has already packed her bundle and is preparing to run away.

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

After hesitating for only a moment, she stuffs the bundle into the arms of Fu Yuanting, who is pretending to be asleep, and "talks to herself": "Old Li says there's been a lot of chicken stealing and petty thievery lately. This is all the money we have, and we still need to buy medicine for Second Brother. We have to hide it somewhere safe."

Fu Yuanting, who had already figured out that "she" was about to run off with the money: "???"

**

It's a disastrous start, but she only has to work hard for a few years. Once the male lead passes the imperial exams, she can enjoy the good life too. Chen Lingxi thinks she has plenty to look forward to. She goes to the mountains and works in the fields every day, full of energy, and somehow manages to make a thriving life for them.

Thinking about the wicked things the original owner did before she arrived, Chen Lingxi is afraid Fu Yuanting will hold her responsible. Whenever she gets the chance, she reminds him: "Your sister-in-law may not be very capable, but I'll do my best to raise you three siblings, and I'll do my best to support your studies too. When you pass the imperial exams and become the top scholar, just make sure your sister-in-law can enjoy her remaining years in peace."

Fu Yuanting, having heard it nearly eight hundred times: "...Mm."

**

She had changed.

At first, Fu Yuanting only suspected it. Before long, he was certain: she was no longer the Chen Lingxi he had known.

He said nothing and simply watched her in silence. He saw that she truly treated the Fu household as her own. She had a few little schemes, but she wasn't bad at heart, so he pretended not to have noticed anything and let life carry on as usual.

Until a well-off classmate starts making discreet inquiries about her, hoping to marry her as his second wife. Fu Yuanting can't sit still anymore...

My next book will be "Those Years Selling Buns in the Imperial Palace"

Blurb:

Zheng Wanyuan, the owner of a steamed bun shop specializing in decorative buns, is steaming the five-red nourishing buns a customer ordered when she is suddenly bound to the "Steam Buns, Not Your Anger" game System.

The System tells her that the character she is bound to was trampled by a princess's carriage three days ago. The character is gravely injured, unconscious, and has only two hours left to live. She is on the brink of death, so Zheng Wanyuan must save herself at once.

By completing the daily steamed bun tasks, she can earn points to exchange for lifespan and other necessities in the System's shop. If the bound character's lifespan runs out, the user will also be erased and will be unable to return to the real world.

Zheng Wanyuan, newly bound to the game and still unclear about what's going on: "?"

If she doesn't steam buns, she'll die?

**

Before, she steamed buns day and night to earn money for her mortgage. Now that she's in the game, she still has to steam buns day and night to stay alive. Zheng Wanyuan feels like a little bitter melon of a person.

Until one day...

Ding! Appraisal value +1. The premium shop is now open, with countless wonderful items for you to choose from. Enjoy the game!

Looking at the dazzling array of treasures and skill cards in the premium shop, Zheng Wanyuan suddenly perks up.

Steam!

She'll steam buns for the rest of her life!

After observing and testing it, she discovers that appraisal value depends on the status of the people who eat the buns in this world. The more prestigious and noble they are, the higher the appraisal value. She tosses and turns all night, then sets her sights on the imperial palace.

When it comes to prestige and nobility, nothing beats the imperial palace.

After scrimping and saving enough points to exchange for a palace entry token, Zheng Wanyuan pushes her bun cart into the palace!

**

She steams layered buns, fermented with rice wine and kneaded with lard. The dough is kneaded just right, making the buns chewy and sweet, with distinct layers. Everyone in the palace loves them. And since the Imperial Kitchen serves the people below them rather carelessly, business is booming.

But her customers are all palace servants and clerks without official rank, or at most low-ranking officials. The appraisal value they bring is rather limited.

But there are so many items she wants to exchange for, so Zheng Wanyuan develops all kinds of decorative buns.

"Poria and five-red buns! Nourish your qi and blood, and eat your way to a healthy glow~~"

A palace official in charge of Chuxiu Palace, passing by with a sallow face and exhausted by palace affairs: "A healthy glow? I'll buy one to try!"

"Five-black black pearl buns! Nourish and protect your hair and your spleen and stomach. Eat your way to a gorgeous head of hair!"

A vice minister at the Court of Judicial Review, losing handfuls of hair over old unsolved cases: "Nourish my hair? Protect it? I'll take some!"

"Yam, red date, and longan buns! Help you sleep and digest, and eat your way to good health~"

A senior official at the Ministry of Revenue, kept from eating and sleeping by his subordinates: "Help me sleep? I'll buy, buy, buy!!!!"

"Rose and seven-white buns! Moisturize and whiten your skin, and keep you looking young~"

A prince who dotes on his wife: "Keep her looking young? I'll take them all! All of them! Send them to the Princess Consort!"

The bun stall offers more and more varieties, and Zheng Wanyuan's purse and appraisal value keep growing. Then one day, as she is packing up, a pale little eunuch in tattered clothes shakily asks to buy a bun on credit.

Business is so good that Zheng Wanyuan generously gives him one.

Before he can thank her, she pushes her cart out of the palace in a hurry. It will be trouble if the palace gates are locked.

As soon as she passes through the palace gates, she hears a ding: Appraisal value +1000

Zheng Wanyuan: "...?!"

Even the Crown Prince's appraisal value is only 10!

Theme: Keep climbing higher, and there's always another step