“Shhhhuaaaa….”
Ruan Jiu Jiu was awakened by the sound of water.
Dazed, she rubbed her eyes and assessed her surroundings.
This was definitely a room in an expensive hotel suite.
Rose petals were scattered over the soft, white bed sheets. A glass of red wine had been knocked over and spilled on the bed, dying the sheets crimson. The bathroom walls were made using semi-opaque frosted glass, so you could faintly see a tall and thin silhouette behind it.
This was—
Ruan Jiu Jiu was now even more confused.
Last night, she had stayed up late binging a trashy rebirth novel. Before she could finish roasting it, she fell asleep. Who could have expected that immediately after awakening she’d unexpectedly find herself in some hotel-looking place. Furthermore…had just checked in?
Ruan Jiu Jiu sat up and suddenly felt that something was off. As a member of the flat-chested society, how come her chest had a feeling of supporting something heavy? And her feet were in the type of stiletto heels that she only rarely ever wore. A pair of long, slender legs sat on the edge of the bed, but the scar from that year, when she was almost six years old, had vanished from her knee.
“……”
She stretched out her hand in disbelief and slowly focused her eyes.
Pale, slender fingers, soft as if boneless, and obviously well cared for. The nails that were painted with a gradient were delicate and beautiful, the fingertips were tender, and the skin was so white you could see pale purple veins on the back of the hand.
A pampered beauty from a wealthy family, this was Ruan Jiu Jiu’s first impression.
She was silent for a moment before lifting the phone and opening the front-facing camera.
The woman in the camera lens had on a thick layer of eyeshadow that looked like dark circles. The eyelashes were already long yet still had on a pair of falsies, and the overall style was the exaggerated, heavily done up western type of makeup, with a pair of purple color contacts, dark, burgundy red lipstick, and hair permed into old-fashioned ajumma curls. Yet under this mess, you could still vaguely see the outline of her gorgeous features.
Except, the styling was ugly enough to make one’s hair stand on end.
In the camera, the woman’s eyes widened. Her frightened face, combined with the large circle lenses, was both terrifying and somewhat funny.
Ruan Jiu Jiu was stunned.
This… wasn’t her face!
Her cell phone fell with a thud. The man walking out of the bathroom took this scene in. He looked young, around 20 years of age. He was rather handsome. Even though he was covered in a bathrobe, one could still see his well-shaped figure.
He looked at Yuan Jiu Jiu. The edge of his lips curled in a cold disgust but his gaze was familiarly warm and sweet.
“I’m done. When are we starting?”
Ruan Jiu Jiu was taken aback. “Start what? Who are you?”
The other party showed clear signs of impatience and walked closer with a disingenuous smile.
“And what, after you divorced Cheng Jun and got your money, you plan on forgetting I even existed? Weren’t you going to take that money and marry me? You can’t be going back on your words again, right?”
He was a good hunter. He knew that every time he provoked this woman in front of him, she would give in and coddle him, so much so that she would even take the initiative to propose marriage to him.
Only, the Ruan Jiu Jiu in front of him was even more docile than he remembered.
Yuan Jiu Jiu stared at the man in front of her. Her mind was a mushy paste.
Wait a second. Wasn’t this the plot from the rebirth story she was reading last night?
The book was called Reborn to Before the Engagement. It was a trope-y feel-good rebirth novel. In her last life, the main character had an unrequited love for her white moonlight Cheng Jun. To chase him, she had cast aside her warm, caring childhood friend. On the day of her engagement, she secretly ran away to the city Cheng Jun was staying.
Too bad reality was cruel. She tried to get closer to Cheng Jun but discovered that he was only a pretty face and had already divorced once. He had a cold personality and always ignored her.
The female lead’s dreams shattered. It was only then that she discovered that her childhood friend had risen to become an esports up-and-coming star. On the screen, she saw her childhood friend hug his lover with a happy, blissful smile. Her heart crumbled. In her despair, she killed herself.
When she came to once more, she discovered that she had returned to three years prior, as if nothing had happened.
The female lead vowed that in this life, she would not stray, tightly latch onto her childhood friend’s big thigh and live a good life!
……
Meanwhile, Ruan Jiu Jiu had transmigrated into a cannon fodder side character with the same name as her.
The book didn’t say much about the original body, only that she was snobbish, dumb, and cruel. She had a loveless contract marriage with Cheng Jun. After the divorce, her life became a mess and she suffered a miserable fate. She was unable to remarry and was the butt of the female lead’s many jokes.
As to why she would transmigrate into this book, Ruan Jiu Jiu suddenly remembered a few words that jumped out in the novel synopsis:
IF YOU WANNA ROAST THIS BOOK, YOU ARE DOOMED TO TRANSMIGRATE AS THE EVIL SIDE CHAR!
DOOMED TO TRANSMIGRATE AS THE EVIL SIDE CHAR!
SIDE CHAR!
*spits*
This was the author’s greatest show of malice!
If she didn’t remember wrongly, the plot had now reached the time of Cheng Jun’s divorce, which also was when the second half of the evil female supporting character’s life began, full of hardship and misfortune.
Ruan Jiu Jiu trembled.
She didn’t want to walk the set path, so she couldn’t get divorced.
Having seen enough of Ruan Jiu Jiu’s twisted expression, her lover Xiang Rong was somewhat out of patience and asked, “How much more time are you planning to waste?”
Ruan Jiu Jiu snapped back to reality, and asked a bit nervously, “I haven’t gotten divorced yet, right?”
Xiang Rong eyed her with indifference, “Didn’t you say you’d sign the papers after returning?”
This meant that she hadn’t signed them yet.
Ruan Jiu Jiu stood up straight. The skinny 10 centimeter heels really made it difficult to stand steadily, so she simply tossed away that pair of heels, taking out the hotel’s provided slippers to wear instead. All her actions expressed an intention to leave.
Xiang Rong’s face collapsed, and he blocked Ruan Jiu Jiu’s way. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not getting divorced anymore, it’s over for us, OK?” Ruan Jiu Jiu couldn’t be bothered to put on appearances with him, but he suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Xiang Rong was strong, she couldn’t overcome him and was thrown onto the bed.
“What, you’ve learned how to throw tantrums already?” He supported himself with one hand, the other going to loosen his belt. His words were full of ridicule. “Or you’ve changed your preferences?”
Their eyes stared at each other, their faces almost close enough to be touching.
Xiang Rong unexpectedly saw, on that extremely vulgar and garish face, a hint of the quiet before the storm.
“Hey. Has your mom never taught you not to treat women so roughly?”
Right after those words, the woman lying on the bed suddenly lifted her leg and kicked his crotch. His face immediately changed colors, alternating between dark and pale, and twisted with pain. He curled up, protecting his vitals, and huddled on the ground.
Ruan Jiu Jiu grabbed her coat and purse, and took out a few hundred yuan bills to throw on him.
“Money for the hotel room. If you think it’s not enough, I’ll transfer you the money on Alipay.”
“You!”
The evening sky was gloomy, heavy and dark like ink. Heavy rain, as cold as ice, washed over the jungle of steel buildings.
Ruan Jiu Jiu stood outside the hotel entrance, the large plane of glass showing the reflection of the short, lacey dress she was wearing. It exposed her cleavage, drawing the attention of passing men who secretly glanced over. She immediately buttoned up her coat, drawing up its collar.
She smoothly found the address of her residence using one of the delivery apps in her phone, and called a taxi.
The distance between that address and the hotel wasn’t far. Ruan Jiu Jiu sat in the back seat, thinking over her next moves. Even though her thoughts were in a jumble, as if desperately trying to grab a life-saving rope, she still forced herself to calm down.
Suddenly transmigrating into the world of a novel and not knowing when she might return, she had to make preparations for herself.
Text messages from her lover Xiang Rong fired off rapidly, one after the other. Ruan Jiu Jiu couldn’t be bothered to reply and directly blacklisted him.
The taxi driver turned a corner. “We’ve arrived.”
It was just like in the novel. Cheng Jun wasn’t filthy rich like the overbearing CEOs in the other novels. He lived in the downtown area. It was convenient to get around, but his neighborhood wasn’t considered top-tier.
The neighborhood buildings weren’t new and were at least ten years old. Good thing the green urban planning was done well.
The rain was still pitter-pattering nonstop. Ruan Jiu Jiu couldn’t bother caring for money. She propped her Louis Vuitton bag on her head as a makeshift umbrella. She only wanted to make sure that her makeup didn’t run on her pretty face and scare passerbyers.
She had keys in her bag. Thankfully she didn’t have to key in some number or else she would have no way of getting in.
The house wasn’t big. It was a little short of 100 sq. meters. Ruan Jiu Jiu opened the lights and looked around. There were two bedrooms, a dining room, and a living room. One of the bedroom’s doors was open. The other one was shut. The room with the open door was full of women’s products. She didn’t have to guess and knew that the two didn’t sleep on the same bed.
Yuan Jiu Jiu opened the closet and picked out a normal T-shirt and pair of jeans to change into. She sat on the chair and removed her makeup with a cleanser. Just when she was in the middle of it all, the lock turned.
A lean figure walked in. Ruan Jiu Jiu mentally prepared herself before looking up, but even so she still was taken aback.
She thought, “No wonder the book described him as just a pretty face. No wonder he would become Xu Bing Yi’s unrequited love. No wonder why such a strong woman like the female lead would never forget such a love and spend so many years of effort just in the hopes of having him turn to look at her once.”
The man in the doorway was tall and slender. His hoodie was soaked and his complexion was white from the cold. The plastic folder in his hand was protected very well though. It was still dry.
His gaze was lowered as he changed into house slippers.
His black hair was wet and a little messy. It contrasted against his white skin. He had a pair of unique-looking almond eyes. When his eyelids were lowered, he looked gentle and harmless, and even a little sleepy. It was as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
His jaw cut sharp and his lips were pale in color. His face should have been disarmingly handsome, yet because of those eyes his charm was neutralized a good amount.
Ruan Jiu Jiu stared. She suddenly understood why Cheng Jun would be unmoved by the female lead’s earnest pursuit. Could a woman even look better than him?
Only
“…..”
Cheng Jun didn’t sense Ruan Jiu Jiu’s silent verbal jab. Under her gaze, he walked to his bedroom, opened the folder, and placed the contract on the table. From start to finish, he never even looked her way.
There were two divorce agreements on the table. If it wasn’t for this matter, he wouldn’t have come back so late.
Ruan Jiu Jiu’s gaze followed after Cheng Jun until he walked into the kitchen.
*Clatter*
The door of the fridge opened, and Cheng Jun took out a bowl of instant ramen as if he did this often. He had changed his clothes, and his hair was still damp, the dark strands of wet hair stuck together dripping, looked very cold. His back was turned towards Ruan Jiu Jiu, still standing in the same spot. The white tiles, white fridge, and black countertop. A lonely black figure, in black and white world, without a single hint of life.
Looking at his back, Ruan Jiu Jiu stood up.
“I’m not divorcing anymore.”
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