She Is the Offering

She is blood, able to be kept in any vessel.

She is flesh, something to fill your belly or sell for silver.

She is small and strong, and her bone broth is delicious.

She is so lovable, and there is no end to her good qualities.

Who is she?

"Sweetheart..."

"Big sister!"

"Little sister~"

She is the common earth beneath our feet, able to grow common flowers and vegetables, and build a shelter from wind and rain.

This is the prequel to "I Transmigrated to the Republic of China and Became a Scapegoat." You don't have to read "Scapegoat" to enjoy this story. The novel will be around 800,000 characters long. About half of it is already written, and the next part will be revised and finished next year, so feel free to start reading.

I wanted to write a clean, uncomplicated blurb, but I didn't want to disrupt your reading experience with an author's note, so I'll say this once and won't have much more to say afterward.

I've been writing this novel off and on for over two years. Half a year in, I suddenly asked myself what the point of writing it was. I couldn't think of an answer, because I realized there wasn't one. It isn't exciting or passionate, it has no spirit of rebellion, no popular tropes, and it isn't a light, cozy everyday story. It's the sort of thing I wouldn't read even as a reader. I know what its strengths are, but since I chose to write it and share it, I naturally want people to see it. So I know those strengths don't matter. Probably no one will ever see them.

But when I first started writing "Scapegoat," I had an idea: I wanted to give that neglected girl, that quiet, unremarkable girl who devoted herself to others, a complete life before the story began. She isn't just the body the female protagonist inhabits after transmigrating. She's a living, breathing person. Maybe she isn't outstanding or special, but she's still herself.

She deserves a story of her own, and her first half of life deserves to be recorded.

In the end, I gave up looking for some greater meaning and let go of expectations that shouldn't have existed. After all, all I ever wanted was to write a story about her.

There's a lot I want to say to her, but I think I'll wait until the story is finished and tell her properly.

For now, I'll keep it simple: Xu You, somewhere in a corner of another world, I will always love you.

Honestly, I really wanted to ride the wave of popularity, so at first I considered adding the female ensemble tag to the list of main characters. But my original idea was to have only her name there, so that more people would know the name of this quiet, unremarkable girl. As I wrote this just now, my original intention convinced me again. I quietly moved my finger to the character list and put Xu You's name first.

Xu You, I've done right by you again.

Theme: Don't become her!