Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Exhausted after the massive June 18th sales event, Jiang Yiyan collapsed into bed as soon as she got home and fell into a deep sleep.

As she drifted off, her parents' nagging still echoed in her ears. They were saying that so-and-so from the neighborhood was getting married, and now she was the only single woman left in their apartment building of similar age.

They warned that if she didn't marry soon, she'd end up with a divorced man with children, and being a stepmother wouldn't be easy.

Jiang Yiyan was too tired to care; her parents' insistence on marriage was nothing new. She dismissed it with, "Stepmother or not, it's painless motherhood. What's wrong with that? I don't want some unmarried, perfect young man. I want a divorced guy with baggage!"

"You... you ungrateful child..." Her mother sputtered, unable to form coherent words.

Her father glanced at his daughter, who looked like a dog worn out from exhaustion, and felt sorry for her. He gently pulled his wife away.

"Let her get some rest. She's been working late every day recently. She needs it."

Her mother also pitied her daughter but was more concerned about her future.

"She's already twenty-seven. Not marrying yet is one thing, but not even having a boyfriend... We're getting old. How long can we be here for her? She needs a family!"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll have a serious conversation with her..."

Their voices faded into the background, and eventually, there was silence. Without her parents' nagging, Jiang Yiyan finally had a peaceful sleep.

She had said it in jest, but when she woke up, her words had come true.

She slept deeply, waking up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, without any lingering fatigue from her late nights at work.

Still groggy, she sat up and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, calling out "Mom" instinctively. But something felt off, and Jiang Yiyan snapped fully awake.

Where was this place? The bedroom was half the size of her entire home.

Looking at the bed, it was no longer her narrow 1.5-meter bed; this one was at least 2.4 meters wide, big enough for her to roll around in.

There was a semi-circular floor-to-ceiling window and an interior design that screamed "low-key luxury with depth"...

Taking in her surroundings, Jiang Yiyan was utterly bewildered.

"Is... is anyone there?" She cautiously called out, noticing that even her voice had changed.

She used to have a good voice, but years of working in retail had taken their toll, leaving it slightly hoarse. Now, her voice was clear and melodious, as it once was.

Spotting a dressing mirror nearby, Jiang Yiyan rushed over. The face in the mirror was both familiar and strange.

It resembled her, but not quite.

The features were vaguely hers, but they were much more beautiful than she remembered. It was as if someone had applied a beauty filter to her face. Every detail was exquisite.

Jiang Yiyan covered her mouth in disbelief.

What had happened?

After just a nap, how did she become a different person in an unfamiliar place?

She pinched her cheek hard, feeling the pain, which confirmed that she wasn't dreaming.

Before she could investigate further, she heard rustling outside the door.

Hearing someone approach, Jiang Yiyan held her breath and quietly hid behind the door to listen.

A middle-aged woman's voice came through: "Madam should be awake by now, Miss Meimei. Why don't you knock and go in?"

Then a little girl's voice chimed in: "But Daddy isn't home. Will Mommy agree?"

Feng Ma reassured her with a smile: "Miss Meimei, you're your parents' precious gem. Madam will definitely agree." Though she was comforting the child, Feng Ma herself was unsure.

Madam's heart was set on her husband, who was currently out of town. Madam was likely preoccupied with finding ways to join him on his business trip. How would she have time for Miss Meimei's kindergarten parent-child event?

But children were innocent, and she didn't want to burden them with adult complexities.

For now, she would coax her, and if it didn't work, she would appeal to Madam's maternal instincts. After all, Madam was Miss Meimei's biological mother and wouldn't neglect her completely.

Encouraged, Wen Meimei eagerly knocked on the door.

"Mommy, Mommy, open the door. Mommy, Meimei has something important to tell you."

Jiang Yiyan's heart raced. Before she could figure out what was happening, she faced an unexpected situation.

It was impossible not to feel nervous. She was at a loss for what to do.

Despite her experience in handling unexpected situations, this was a first for her.

Just as she was panicking, she noticed the doorknob turning.

From outside, the little girl exclaimed, "Feng Ma, the door isn't locked."

Wen Meimei stood on her tiptoes and used all her strength to turn the doorknob.

Reacting quickly, Jiang Yiyan decided it was too late to pretend to be asleep. Instead, she feigned being woken up and leaned against the door frame, yawning and covering her mouth.

"What is it?" she asked casually.

Seeing her mother, Wen Meimei's eyes lit up.

"Mommy, Meimei has something very important to tell you." The little girl, only four or five years old and still short and plump, stood before the slender and tall Jiang Yiyan, needing to tilt her head up to see her mother's face.

Jiang Yiyan took the opportunity to look at the little girl in front of her, finding her snow-white, doll-like face with large, watery eyes incredibly adorable.

It was then that she realized the girl's name.

"Meimei?" She seemed to have realized something, lightly frowning as she repeated the full name, "Wen Meimei?"

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Wen Meimei suddenly became reserved.

Though young, children could sometimes read the atmosphere. At this moment, she sensed something was off.

"Did Meimei do something wrong?" She felt uneasy and tense.

Though her mother could be fierce and lose her temper at times, which scared her, her mother could also be very kind and gentle.

"Meimei knows she was wrong; please don't be angry, Mommy." Not wanting her mother to get mad at her, Wen Meimei apologized instinctively.

Looking at the little girl who suddenly looked aggrieved, Jiang Yiyan fell into deep thought, remaining silent for a moment.

On the other side, Feng Ma was also worried.

With Master not at home, Madam must be in a bad mood. When Madam was in a bad mood, even towards Miss Meimei, she didn't have much patience.

Fearing Madam would lose her temper again with Miss Meimei, Feng Ma quickly intervened: "Madam, Miss has been waiting downstairs for you for a long time. I told her you'd be waking up soon, so she came upstairs. Miss... she does have something very important to tell you."

"Feng Ma?" Jiang Yiyan turned her gaze to the middle-aged woman beside her.

Feng Ma continued to take the blame upon herself, explaining, "There's a parent-child event at the kindergarten, and with Master not at home, only Madam can go. Otherwise... Miss might be laughed at by the other kids."

Having a good idea of what was happening, Jiang Yiyan's mood calmed down.

She smiled gently. "I understand. Go downstairs first; I'll join you after changing my clothes."

Madam hadn't lost her temper and instead seemed in a decent mood, leaving Feng Ma pleasantly surprised.

"I'll take Miss downstairs then." Feng Ma immediately took Wen Meimei's small hand.

Wen Meimei kept looking back as she left.

Jiang Yiyan remained by the door, maintaining a deliberately gentle smile on her face.

Not until Feng Ma had taken Wen Meimei downstairs did Jiang Yiyan let her expression fall.

She immediately closed the door and began pacing around the bedroom in agitation.

What was going on? Could it be that she had transmigrated into a novel?

Normally exhausted from work, Jiang Yiyan, in her free time, preferred to stay at home reading novels and watching dramas. As an avid reader of novels, she was no stranger to the concept of transmigration. However, she never imagined such a thing would happen to her.

Novel becoming reality?

Wen Meimei, Feng Ma... weren't these characters from the novel she had just finished reading?

Though minor supporting characters with limited appearances, they were the most important people to the "vicious" supporting female character, "Jiang Yiyan," in the book. Therefore, Jiang Yiyan had a profound impression of these two characters.

Yes, the vicious supporting female character in the novel she had just finished reading shared her name.

Perhaps because of the name coincidence, she paid particular attention to the parts involving Jiang Yiyan. Even the exclusive epilogue about Jiang Yiyan at the end of the book made her shed tears.

In the book, Jiang Yiyan, the vicious supporting female character, wasn't entirely evil. Her transformation into the current detestable figure had reasons behind it.

The sudden change in her parents' marriage during her youth, her mother's death, and Shu Yao replacing her as the Jiang family's eldest daughter... each one was a devastating blow to her.

Shu Yao was the heroine of the novel called "True Love," who married into the Jiang family when she was a teenager along with her mother. Her biological father was a gambler who not only gambled and drank but also enjoyed domestic violence. Often, after drinking, he would beat them, mother and daughter.

Thus, after remarrying Jiang Yiyan's father, Jiang Cheng, they cherished their new life.

Both mother and daughter were extremely beautiful and had gentle dispositions. Initially, Jiang Cheng didn't pay much attention to his stepdaughter, treating her kindly out of respect for her mother.

But living under the same roof for a long time and seeing how sensible and well-behaved she was, he gradually treated her like his own daughter.

Especially after his ex-wife's death, when his own daughter became increasingly uncontrollable and undisciplined, he found his stepdaughter more obedient and kind in comparison.

Once comparisons and criticisms arose, resentment grew between Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yiyan, father and daughter, making it impossible to return to the past.

From then on, Jiang Yiyan's personality gradually changed.

In "True Love," Jiang Yiyan, the antagonist, existed from the beginning. Her role wasn't significant, but every time she appeared, it was always a scene of self-destruction.

She embodied "fake ugliness," her existence serving to highlight Shu Yao's "true beauty."

Her ending was, of course, not good. The relationship she had fought for couldn't be maintained, and Wen Mochuan, utterly disappointed in her, divorced her. Their daughter Meimei's custody went to Wen Mochuan, and later, she developed a drug addiction, spending several years in prison.

In the epilogue, when she was released, her grown-up daughter was closer to her aunt, Shu Yao, than to her.

In her middle age, she had nothing. Unwilling to have any further connections with her past acquaintances, she lived alone in a small town.

The latter half of her life could be described as peaceful, but in reality, it was impoverished and destitute.

Jiang Yiyan: "No!"