Caught in a Passing Character's Trap from the Start

[Timid, good-natured girl x ruthless, sadistic boy]

Blurb:

Jiu Yue is determined to save the male lead in the book, but from the start, she ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and falls into a hunter's trap.

After waiting ages for the owner of the trap to show up, she watches as the cold-faced boy, whose heart is even colder, takes one look at her and turns to leave. Luckily, he eventually pulls her out.

Jiu Yue doesn't know the mountain paths, so she follows the boy all the way home. Just as she's about to ask him to escort her down the mountain the next day, a little girl walks out.

Jiu Yue and the little girl stare at each other. "Big sister, are you my sister-in-law?"

Jiu Yue pats the little girl's head and thinks: Silly child, I'm not your sister-in-law. I'm just an unlucky girl your brother rescued from a trap.

They work from sunrise to sunset. In her spare time, Jiu Yue even works up the courage to ask the boy for a little rabbit.

Unfortunately, after a couple of days, the rabbit digs a hole and runs away.

When she sees it again, it's become a pelt in the yard.

The boy, scraping the rabbit hide, looks up at Jiu Yue. "See? Now it can't run away."

So terrified that she has a nightmare that night, Jiu Yue finally remembers what role Gu Jinxing played in the book.

No, she has to get out of here.

Jiu Yue gathers her courage and says goodbye. The next moment, her vision blurs and she faints.

When she wakes, she's lying in a swaying carriage. Jiu Yue touches the back of her head, lifts the curtain, and asks the boy driving, "Why does my head hurt so much? Also, where are we going?"

"Jiandu." After saying this, the boy flicks the reins, and the carriage speeds up, leaving only clouds of dust along the official road.

Male lead's point of view:

The trap I set the day before had been sprung. I thought I'd find a deer or a fox, but when I went over, there was a person inside. A strange-looking girl with red-rimmed eyes who looked pitiful.

Since she wasn't prey, there was no need to bother with her. I could leave her there to attract a tiger.

But she was too noisy.

I stopped again, turned around, and pulled her out.

I didn't expect her to latch onto me and follow me all the way home. Did she want to come home with me?

She really liked the little rabbit I brought back, and often held and stroked it.

When the rabbit ran off, she was very upset. As it happened, I found the rabbit outside the house, having escaped.

If it were dead, it wouldn't run away again.

She said she was leaving to find a man she hadn't even met, and had already packed her things.

Ridiculous. How could I let her leave alone?

I rescued her from the trap, so she's my prey. How could she leave?

Besides, the time has come.

Reader's guide:

1. The heroine is young, cheerful, and a little timid. At first, her goal is to save the original male lead. She fears this story's male lead but also depends on him a little. For various reasons, she has forgotten much of the original plot.

2. The male lead is cold-faced and colder-hearted, and can be called ruthless and cruel. He's somewhat dark and unhinged, and isn't exactly normal early on. He isn't normal later, either; he just learns to disguise it. He gradually regains memories of his past life.

3. The little sister isn't exactly a normal child, either.

3. Strictly speaking, the leads save each other. The male lead's background holds a secret.

Theme: Even when trapped in hardship, keep striving to rise above it.