After All That Wooing, the Arrogant Hero Turns Out to Be a Hopeless Romantic

[A New Sweet Treat Is Here: The Wife Cast Aside by the Male Lead of a Harem Novel]

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Jiang Chouyu had spent over a decade living by the motto of being a couch potato. Never in a million years did she expect to wake up one day and transmigrate into a book, especially a classic male-oriented novel she hadn't read in eight hundred years.

Her role was marginal: the sickly childhood friend of a domineering hero, as delicate as Xi Shi.

Her fate was tragic: she willingly dies to secure the male lead's bid for supremacy, and he takes the world with tears in his eyes.

[Those are tears full of love! What a beautiful romance!] the System exclaimed.

Jiang Chouyu, sprawled on her bed and ready to catch up on some sleep: "..."

Oh, and to top it all off, she got a System with a 24-karat, incurable case of lovesickness.

[I guarantee it: the male lead will offer you a rose with all the devotion of a pure-hearted lover. You have nothing to lose by giving it a try.] The System tried to brainwash her.

Jiang Chouyu rolled her eyes, turned away, and pretended not to hear.

System: [...You leave me no choice. Complete the mission and you can return to your original world. Mission codename: The Call of Home.]

Jiang Chouyu sat up in the blink of an eye. Actually, doing a mission wasn't out of the question.

She brought him meals, soup, and warmth.

She took bullets, swords, and blows for him.

How could he not fall for her after all that?

*

Later, during a battle between two armies, the villain took Jiang Chouyu hostage.

Secretly delighted, Jiang Chouyu prepared to sacrifice herself for the male lead's cause, just as the plot demanded, and make a graceful exit from the story. Before the blade could reach her neck, Xu Heng shot it apart with an arrow.

He said, "I won't let you."

Jiang Chouyu: "? Don't be like that, man. Actually, I'm willing."

But the other man's corruption meter shot up, and the System's warning rang in her head, making it ache. Her heart gave a lurch as she suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Wait, dude, why didn't you say so earlier?

So you're the lovesick one?

Bonus Scene:

Xu Heng: "The weight of power means nothing to me. It's lighter than you."

Jiang Chouyu blinked at the System. "I think he's gone out of character."

System: [...Sometimes I really hate how hopelessly oblivious you straight women are.]

A couch-potato heroine who looks like a lovesick fool vs. a domineering hero who believes in true love above all

Also known as The Ultimate Showdown Between Two Lovesick Fools

---Preorder: Is My Mother Not Everyone's Least Favorite? Please add it to your collection!

Qin Shiwei was born into an ancient world and opened her eyes to find herself a fatherless child. Her mother was famous for miles around, wielded a butcher's knife, and went wherever she pleased. No one dared cross her.

Yet this tough mother loved reminiscing about the old days. She always said she'd been the talk of the capital, making noble young men fight over her, repeatedly winning the flower-viewing banquet, and even, "coming this close to becoming empress."

Qin Shiwei's eyes lit up. A hidden powerhouse! She eagerly asked, "So am I the daughter of some powerful official?"

Her mother glanced over casually. "Not at all. Your father... was a subordinate of my husband. He's been dead for eighteen years. His body is probably in a mass grave. If you go to the capital, stop by and burn some incense for him. Do your filial duty."

Qin Shiwei: "?" Did I hear that right?

Undeterred, she asked again, "Then why were you sent to this manor?" The capital was a hundred thousand miles away. What kind of grudge would it take for someone to send her here?

Her mother smiled. "I got bored of the capital. And once you came along, your maternal grandfather's family sent me here. Mostly because your aunt thought I was annoying and called me a troublemaker."

"Oh, right. My husband was originally engaged to her."

Qin Shiwei: "...I need a moment."

She got it. Her mother was just like those universally despised female side characters in storybooks: stealing her sister's fiance, causing a scene in the capital, being unfaithful, and ultimately getting banished to a manor...

But her mother had truly loved her. Whatever Qin Shiwei did, her mother would watch with a smile from her chair, as if she were the only treasure in the world.

So, before her mother passed away from a serious illness, she told her, "Go to the capital."

Qin Shiwei nodded without hesitation, then felt guilty because she didn't have what it took to avenge her.

But her mother slowly added, "I just remembered, I think I arranged a marriage for you before I left the capital..."

After burying her mother, Qin Shiwei packed a small bundle and the jade pendant that would prove her identity, then set off for the capital, ready to face the tragic fate of being the daughter of a universally despised woman.

First stop: burn incense at the mass grave.

Male Lead's Perspective:

Zhang Yingshu first heard the name "Qin Shiwei" from his close friend, who said she was some distant country relative with no real connection to him, coming to the capital to seek his help.

At the time, he paid it no mind.

Only later did he happen to learn that his friend had lied. She wasn't some distant relative at all. She was his friend's legitimate fiancee.

By then, there was no way to change what had happened.

He looked at Qin Shiwei, who stood before him with tears streaming down her face, pretending to have fainted. He felt a slight headache coming on.

He had never been able to bear seeing a woman cry, and in this matter, his friend was indeed in the wrong.

For once, he reached out and awkwardly patted her back in consolation.

"Don't cry," he said in a low voice. "I'll do it."

The woman in his arms lifted tearful eyes and choked out, "...Do what?"

He looked into her glistening eyes and calmly said:

"Marry you."

Theme: Live positively, and never give up hope because of the outside world.