Shenjia Village, Qingshi County

The morning sunlight streamed through the cracks in the window, gently falling on the faces of the people inside. The girl's eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

The dimly lit room contained only a few pieces of old furniture. The narrow windows provided no light, making the whole room feel particularly gloomy.

Having dreamt all night, Meng Zhao was still in a daze. When she finally saw what was in front of her, she couldn't help but feel a little desperate.

Today is her third day here. She was originally a moderately famous food blogger on the internet, but because she was bored one night, she read a novel and ended up transmigrating into the body of the male protagonist's wicked sister-in-law.

The original text is a male-oriented novel that tells the story of the protagonist, Shen Qinghe, who goes through many hardships and gradually rises from a peasant student to the most powerful and influential Grand Secretary.

Meng Zhao is just a cannon fodder character, existing in the protagonist's background buff at the beginning. The protagonist comes from an ordinary background, lost his father at a young age, then his brother, his elder sister-in-law was unkind, his birth mother died, and he also had two young children to support.

The original owner of the book took a fancy to the male protagonist's older brother, Shen Qing'an, and used a scheme to marry into the Shen family. On the day of the wedding, Shen Qing'an was conscripted to the border to perform corvée labor, and a few months later news came that he had died unexpectedly.

The original owner, having not been saddened for long after Shen Qing'an's death, turned his attention to Shen Qinghe, simply because Shen Qinghe was even more handsome than his brother.

Because the chaos had just ended and the population had plummeted, the imperial court decided to loosen the restrictions on customs in order to restore the population.

At that time, it was stipulated that if a woman's husband died, she could remarry after fulfilling her filial duties for three years, and her husband's family had no right to interfere.

In other villages, it wasn't unheard of for an uncle to take care of his sister-in-law after the death of his brother; it was just that it didn't have a good reputation.

But Shen Qinghe was, after all, a scholar, and Madam Gu was determined to help her son pass the imperial examinations. How could she agree to something that would invite gossip?

Knowing that the Shen family would not agree, the original owner wanted to force the issue. When she told her parents about her idea, they had no objections at all. In order to cooperate with their daughter, they even found medicine for Meng Zhao.

Who knew that the male protagonist, after taking aphrodisiacs, could remain unmoved by the woman's advances, kicked the original owner over, and soaked in the icy river water all night.

The next day, the original owner found her mother-in-law and demanded that Shen Qinghe take responsibility. The male lead's mother was so angry that she fell seriously ill and resolutely wrote a letter of divorce for her eldest son, expelling the original owner from the family.

However, because of this incident, Gu, who was already in poor health, became depressed and died less than a month later.

After Gu's death, the male protagonist left Shenjia Village with his two younger siblings. From then on, the original owner never saw Shen Qinghe again.

Years later, when news of the male protagonist's top score in the imperial examination reached the capital, the original owner of the body actually brought her entire family to the capital to demand that the male protagonist take responsibility.

Unfortunately, they encountered bandits on their way to the capital, and the entire family perished without a single survivor.

Although it is not explicitly stated in the text, Meng Zhao strongly suspects that Shen Qinghe was behind this.

When she first transmigrated, she tried to fall asleep again, wanting to return to her cozy little house, but she never succeeded.

Although she is an orphan and doesn't have many family ties in modern times, she just set a timed video to be released before going to bed. It was a video she spent a week making, featuring eight ways to prepare fresh fish. She didn't know how her fans would react.

The plum wine she brewed earlier is ready to be opened. She used a new variety and modified the recipe proportions. She wonders if it will taste even better.

Recalling her many regrets, Meng Zhao lay on the bed, feeling utterly hopeless. Could someone please tell her what had happened?

I heard a rustling sound, like a child talking.

"Come in," Meng Zhao called out weakly.

The slightly dilapidated door slowly opened, and a little girl with two buns in her hair peeked in and timidly asked, "Sister-in-law, Mother has prepared the meal. Should I bring it to you?"

"No need, I'll go out and eat with you." She forced herself to get up, her back aching from sleeping on the wooden bed for several days.

"Then I'll go help Mom carry the bowl." The little girl's eyes widened in surprise. After saying that, she turned and ran outside, as if a dog was chasing her.

Before Meng Zhao could get out of bed, a little boy about the same age as the little girl came in carrying a basin of water and slammed it on the table, splashing water everywhere.

He glanced at Meng Zhao sideways, snorted disdainfully, and turned to leave.

Meng Zhao wasn't angry. She walked to the shelf, bent down slightly, and the water was as calm as a mirror, reflecting her appearance.

This was a face she had never seen before. As a minor supporting character with limited screen time, her appearance was not described in much detail in the text.

The girl was sixteen or seventeen years old, with a standard oval face, soft lines, and some baby fat on her cheeks. She had bright eyes and white teeth, and a full forehead. Although she could not be considered beautiful, she was still quite pretty.

After a quick wash, she opened a wooden box in the corner, took out a box of perfume, and applied a little to her face with her fingertips. The perfume had a hint of osmanthus fragrance and was quite moisturizing.

For the past two days, she has refused to accept reality and has hardly gone out, secretly searching through everything in the house.

She focused on examining the jewelry, and even checked every single mole on her body, but ended up disappointed each time.

No space, no system, no cheat codes.

Others transmigrate with four twos and two kings, but she transmigrates with a pair of threes.

How can we play like this? (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻.

But no matter what, since we can't go back, we can't just stay hidden in the house forever; we still have to go out and face this unfamiliar world.

After stepping out of the room, she began to observe the courtyard in front of her.

Before, all she could think about was going home. She only went out to relieve herself and had no time to observe her surroundings.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!