After learning she was the supporting female character destined to be a foil for her half-sister in a household-intrigue novel, Qiao Youwei finally understood:
Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? Flower arranging and needlework? Why bother competing? She could work herself to the bone and still never outshine her half-sister, Qiao Youshi, who came with a System!
The harder she tried, the more miserable she felt. She might as well lie flat and go with the flow! Her motto was simply, "Just get by!"
Her half-sister stole the spotlight with a dance that captivated the whole city.
Her: Pretty good, pretty good. Six out of ten. Do another one.
Her own mother criticized her for lacking ambition?
Her: That's right, that's right, Mother. This is just how I am. How about a cup of chrysanthemum tea to cool off?
But she never expected that once she became as detached as a chrysanthemum, the whole world would fall for her!
The noble and aloof young heir thought she was "refreshingly genuine and unpretentious"?
The fussy Empress Dowager praised her for being "serene and blessed with good fortune"?
Even the unrestrained young lord of the Duke of Anguo's household came to ask for her hand in marriage?
Later, after Qiao Youwei became the Empress Dowager's adopted daughter and the Duke of Anguo's wife, she heard people say:
"Miss Qiao is the one who really knows how to play her cards! That's what they mean by winning without competing!"
Qiao Youwei pointed at herself, utterly baffled. "Huh??? No, I really wasn't competing!"
[Easygoing, genuinely lazy heroine x Uninhibited, doting young lord who loves to let his imagination run wild]
Theme: Just get by, and somehow life keeps getting better
