The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 1

A quiet afternoon.

Warm sunlight streamed through the fully enclosed glass, spilling onto a small balcony of about seven or eight square meters. On the far right of the balcony, a gently swaying swing sat, while in the middle stood a small round table. On the left, a girl in a green dinosaur onesie lay sprawled on a pink beanbag sofa.

She lazily rolled over, her delicate nose wrinkling slightly. “Wow, what’s that smell? So delicious!”

Like a hamster catching a whiff of something tasty, her eyes instantly lit up.

It must be her dear mom cooking up something good!

She shuffled out in her fluffy slippers, pushing open the balcony door as she called out, “Mom, what are you making? It smells amazing!”

From the kitchen came the clattering sounds of chopping vegetables and mincing meat.

But louder than those noises was the voice from the phone playing an audiobook novel.

[Zheng Qi could never have imagined that the man she secretly loved would treat her like this. Even though she had heard those words thousands of times, she still couldn’t suppress the heartache.]

[“Zheng Qi, do you even have a heart? Nuanyan is so kind, why would you hurt her? You know I love her! Just to get to me, you’d go so far as to hurt your best friend?”]

[“I didn’t!” A shrill scream tore from Zheng Qi’s throat as she stared painfully at the man she had adored for so long. “Let me explain!”]

[“Tch” The sound of fabric tearing. Zheng Qi struggled to break free from the man’s grasp. The man she had once admired now wore a vicious, terrifying expression, as if she were some loathsome creature in his eyes. Zheng Qi wanted to explain, but all she could do was feebly resist his rough hands as they roamed recklessly. Gradually, her gaze grew hazy, her body unconsciously following the movements of his hands.]

“Goodness, you scared me!” Mom Xiao turned around and saw a green dinosaur leaning against the kitchen doorway. She quickly flipped her phone face down, but not before Xiao San caught the electronic voice’s [moans and gasps] delivered in an utterly unfeeling monotone. Mom Xiao shooed her away mercilessly. “Go change out of that ridiculous outfit. You never dress like a normal person.”

“It’s cute! I’m a dinosaur, the adorable kind!” Xiao San playfully flashed a peace sign, lingering at the edge of the kitchen as she sniffed eagerly at the delicious aromas. “Stir-fried potatoes? I want extra vinegar make it super sour!”

“Get out of here,” Mom Xiao shot her a glare before adding, “And stay away from the kitchen. Don’t get your clothes dirty.”

“Hehe.” Xiao San grinned dopily, watching as Mom Xiao poured in another splash of vinegar. She threw her arms wide and cheered, “I love you, my dearest mother!”

“Get lost.”

Xiao San earned another eye roll from Mom Xiao.

Unfazed, Xiao San shrugged, grabbed the oversized tail of her onesie, and scurried to the couch to sprawl out.

Her life philosophy was simple: if she could lie down, she wouldn’t sit; if she could sit, she wouldn’t stand.

Pursing her lips, she fished her phone out from the belly of her dinosaur outfit and tapped away furiously.

[Mom’s listening to that brain-dead angsty romance novel again.]

[I’ve heard the opening three times already!!!]

[The female lead is such an idiot, every time I think she’s finally gonna fight back, she just ends up sleeping with the male lead!!]

Every time, she would add several exclamation marks to express her indignation.

After a while, the other end of the phone sent a few dots.

[…]

[“Right? I also find it so frustrating.”] Xiao San vented into her phone, then tapped away on the T9 keypad. [“ORZ If I met someone like that in real life, I would’ve called the police ages ago.”]

[…]

Xiao San didn’t mind the silence from her online friend and continued typing.

[“If I were the female lead’s friend, I’d definitely slap her twice to wake her up.”]

[“Is that so”]

After those two words, the other end fell silent again.

Xiao San couldn’t remember when she had added this friend or how they had recently started chatting again.

Though this online friend always responded with very simple words or brief replies, the fact that they responded at all made Xiao San happy.

Staring at the words [“Is that so”], Xiao San felt a strange unease.

She didn’t dwell on it and casually tossed her phone into the pocket on her dinosaur plushie’s belly. She was just venting to someone random, after all.

The novel Xiao’s mom was listening to was called Don’t Run Away, Mrs. CEO: A Love That Pierces the Bone.

A wildly popular genre among women, featuring a domineering CEO and a runaway pregnancy, bittersweet and addictive, leaving Xiao’s mom utterly hooked.

To Xiao San, however, it was just a long, torturous saga of the female lead’s exploitation.

If she were the author, she would never let the female lead be so naive and entangled with the male lead. If she were the female lead’s friend, the moment the male lead tried anything, she’d call the police immediately.

But that was just wishful thinking.

In terms of talent, she was just an ordinary person, lacking the literary prowess. And in reality… how could there possibly be a girl as weak and cowardly as Zheng Qi, let alone paired with someone as sleazy, arrogant, and downright insane as Shen Lin?

“Time to eat,” Xiao’s mom called out as she set the dishes on the table. “Your dad isn’t coming home today, so it’s just the two of us.”

Xiao San hurried to the table, waving her hand to fan the aroma toward her and taking a deep breath. “Ah, Dad’s missing out! Such delicious food! Oh my, my amazing mom, how are you so incredible?”

She lavished praise on her mother without restraint, accepting the bowl and chopsticks handed to her before sitting down obediently. Then, with exaggerated gestures, she mimed shooting hearts at her mom. “Love you! Mwah mwah!”

Xiao’s mom rolled her eyes. “Stop fooling around and eat. You still have school after this.”

“Huh?” Xiao San looked at her mom in confusion. “Mom, are you hitting menopause or something? I just graduated from college.”

She had already landed an internship, it just hadn’t started yet. Surely her mom hadn’t forgotten?

Pouting pitifully, she stared at her mom. “Wuwuwu, you don’t even care about your precious daughter.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? You’re in your senior year of high school, this year is crucial for you. Study hard, understand?”

Xiao San stared at her mother’s serious expression, then pinched herself hard. The pain made her grimace. “Mom… am I dreaming? Did I reverse-age or get reborn?”

Before she could even feel happy about it, a thought struck her, she’d been reborn in her senior year of high school.

Seriously? Even if she had to be reborn, why did it have to be during high school?

“Even if it’s after the college entrance exams in senior year!”

She stood up abruptly, unwilling to accept it.

It must be a dream. Otherwise, how could she, who had just been happily playing on her phone, suddenly become a high school senior?

Or maybe her mom was lying to her.

“Is today April Fool’s Day? Mom, since when do you celebrate foreign holidays?”

“Are you okay?” Mom Xiao stood up, worriedly touching Xiao San’s forehead.

“You haven’t been studying too hard and lost your mind, have you?”

“Mom, you haven’t been listening to too many audiobooks and lost your mind, have you?”

Mother and daughter spoke simultaneously.

Xiao San stared at her mother’s earnest expression in confusion. Maybe it was just a dream, she’d wake up if she went back to sleep.

She hastily shoveled a few bites of food into her mouth, barely swallowing, before turning to head back to her room.

Her family wasn’t poor, but they weren’t wealthy either.

They lived in an ordinary three-bedroom apartment of about 90 square meters, one room for her, one for her parents, and one for her younger brother.

But now…

Who could explain why this 200-square-meter mini villa had replaced their cramped balcony, which used to barely fit a swing and a beanbag chair, with a spacious 20-square-meter one? Now, it held a swing three or four times larger than the old one, big enough to lie down on, a transparent glass side table, and a pink beanbag chair that had transformed into a full-sized leather sofa.

Seriously, wouldn’t the leather sofa get ruined in the sun?

And the living room and dining area, which used to be practically merged, were now separated by a curtain. This was a mansion!! A mansion!!!

“Mom, I really hope this isn’t a dream. Tell me quickly are you secretly a wealthy heiress?”

Mom Xiao raised her hand and lightly smacked the back of Xiao San’s head. “What nonsense are you spouting? We’re just an ordinary family.”

“Ordinary family? Mom, do you even hear yourself? This house, this setup since when can ordinary families afford this?” Xiao San rubbed the back of her head, gesturing at the expensive furnishings with her chin.

“Of course we can’t afford it,” Mom Xiao said irritably. “This house was given to us by Master Shen. Otherwise, how could we ever live in such a nice place?”

“Master Shen?” Drawing from her years of immersion in novels, Xiao San made a wild guess. “Don’t tell me it’s Shen Lin’s father, that Master Shen?”

“What are you talking about?” Mom Xiao was now convinced Xiao San must be sick. “What ‘Shen Lin’s father’? It’s Young Master Shen and Master Shen. If not for Master Shen’s kindness, do you think your dad, that lousy driver could’ve gotten us into a place like this?”

Same old tone, same old phrasing.

Her dad used to drive for ride-hailing apps after work.

Her mom’s affectionate nickname for him was always “that lousy driver.”

Well, now her dad wasn’t a ride-hail driver anymore, he was Master Shen’s personal chauffeur. Yet the nickname remained: lousy driver.

This dream,  probably started when she was lying on the sofa earlier.

Maybe when her mom called her, her body hadn’t woken up. Plus, before falling asleep, she’d heard her mom listening to another audiobook, so her subconscious must have woven it into her dream.

That had to be it. There was no other explanation.

“Hey, Xiao San, where are you going? You only took one bite aren’t you going to eat more?”

Xiao San didn’t even think about turning back, she was convinced this had to be a dream.

Since it wasn’t April Fool’s Day, it could only be a dream. She needed to go back to sleep, and when she woke up, she’d be back in her old home.

Ding dong.

Xiao San picked up her phone, it was a message from a friend.

Zheng Qi: Xiao San, tomorrow night at 8, the cinema. Don’t stand me up~

Xiao San stared at the name Zheng Qi, scrutinizing it for a long, long time.

This had to be a dream. Once she woke up, everything would go back to normal.

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