The Delicate Beauty in the 1970s Novel Has Returned Again

(My next novel, The Prosperous Sixties' Little Housekeeper, is now underway. The blurb is below. Visit my author page to read it.)

Blurb:

Jiang Lijin has a dream. In it, her family goes bankrupt, their house is sealed by the court, and she is forced to live in a leaky one-story house. Her cousin from her uncle's family stands before her, covered in jewels and looking down on her smugly.

Jiang Lijin and her cousin both have the rare panda blood type. Before giving birth, her cousin has Jiang Lijin seized and demands that she donate blood. Detective Qin Chao saves her. Later, Jiang Lijin and Qin Chao marry and have a son, but she dies in an accident after the baby's first-month celebration.

When Jiang Lijin wakes, she goes to find Qin Chao. As soon as she knocks on his door, she travels eighteen years into the future and sees the events from her dream come true. The Qin Chao of eighteen years later tells her to go back and not die this time.

*

In the 1990s, Qin Chao's unreliable father remarries and leaves him with a pair of twin younger brothers and a younger sister who's just started elementary school. Newly employed and unable to be in two places at once, Qin Chao hires a little housekeeper.

After a few days on the job, he realizes the little housekeeper is far too bold. What kind of housekeeper treats her employer like her husband and orders him around?

As soon as he gets paid, the little housekeeper takes his money. His well-meaning relatives arrange a blind date for him, but the housekeeper at home sabotages it. He chats with a female classmate who's returned from studying abroad, and that night he's kicked out of his own home to feed the mosquitoes. His good friend teases him, "You didn't hire a housekeeper. You hired yourself a feisty wife."

But Qin Chao discovers that ever since the mysterious little housekeeper arrived, his rebellious younger brothers have started behaving, his introverted sister has become cheerful, and even he solves every case he takes on.

The little housekeeper says she likes him, and Qin Chao firmly rejects her once. But after they finally confirm their relationship, Qin Chao accidentally discovers her holding the phone and telling another man on the other end, "When will the Qin Chao of today turn into you? I miss you so much."

Certain he's been betrayed, Qin Chao stammers, "Y-you two... Who is that man?"

Caught in the act, Jiang Lijin says slowly to the Qin Chao on the other end, eighteen years in the future, "You're jealous again. Explain it to yourself."

Blurb for The Prosperous Sixties' Little Housekeeper:

Ai Qiuqiu discovers that she's a supporting character in a period novel who dies as soon as she appears. Everyone knows that in period novels with a reborn heroine, the female lead meets a benefactor, teams up with the male lead, and rises to success.

The System takes Ai Qiuqiu to the jeep where the reborn heroine and male lead are supposed to meet. It tells Ai Qiuqiu to pull off the steering wheel and wait for the male lead to show up, so he'll find the heroine cute and they can begin a period drama about following him to the army and slapping down her enemies.

Ai Qiuqiu thinks the System is talking nonsense. The jeep isn't made of paper. How could anyone pull off its steering wheel? She can't resist giving it a try, and the steering wheel really does come off.

Ai Qiuqiu is completely dumbfounded: ...She didn't do it on purpose. Can she still fix this?

The male lead who is a staple of period novels has arrived.

The Host the System imagined: The bashful Host flusters in front of the male lead, Lu Wenyuan. "I didn't do it on purpose. I'm sorry. How should I make it up to you?"

The real Ai Qiuqiu: She slaps the steering wheel into Lu Wenyuan's arms and accuses him angrily, "It's your fault for not closing the window. You scared me! Your car was already broken. Don't try to blame me."

While the System is away from the heroine, Ai Qiuqiu goes from house to house working as a housekeeper. Whichever family she works for prospers. Her housekeeping career takes off, and even the originally designated reborn heroine makes a 360-degree turnaround and becomes an outstanding factory director.

Lu Wenyuan finds that wherever he goes, he runs into a little housekeeper named Ai Qiuqiu. Every time, she stays a long way away from him, always surrounded by two girls around her age who glare at him as if they are afraid he'll steal their little housekeeper.

Lu Wenyuan gives Ai Qiuqiu a job. Those two exceptionally capable girls come running up, furious. "You dog of a male lead, quit stealing our housekeeper!"

Lu Wenyuan: "???" Somehow, he seems to have gained a few more rivals. Later, he discovers the competition is getting fierce.

Someone comes to borrow the housekeeper every week, each with a different excuse, trying to steal his wife away to work as their housekeeper. Some even knock on his window in the middle of the night to arrange for his wife to climb over the wall and meet them.

Lu Wenyuan: "???"

@Ai Qiuqiu: Actually, I really am only climbing over the wall to work as a housekeeper.

@Lu Wenyuan: ...Who cares if they're male or female leads? She's his wife, not their housekeeper.

Theme: Keep striving, join hands to change your life, and make life better