The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 2

Early in the morning, Xiao San was jolted awake by her alarm clock.

The large bed was incredibly comfortable far more so than the cheap two-thousand-yuan Simmons mattress back at her own home.

But…

Her father was the male lead’s family driver, and she had become a little maid in the male lead’s household.

In typical transmigration novel fashion, this kind of setup usually developed into a “domineering young master falls in love with me” storyline, where the original female lead turned into a vicious supporting character, and the young master’s family vehemently opposed their relationship.

Just thinking about it sent a shiver down Xiao San’s spine.

While the Cinderella-and-prince story was undeniably enchanting, the “prince” in this world was a walking legal disaster, the kind who should be locked up for life. Getting involved with him might not guarantee love, but it would definitely land her on a reality TV mediation show.

“Sigh!”

Since she couldn’t fight it, she might as well enjoy it.

The ever-optimistic Xiao San quickly cheered herself up, swiftly put on her pretty school uniform, and marched to the door. “Mom, take me to school!”

Her tone was so resolute, it was as if she were heading to her execution.

The living room was pitch black and eerily silent. Outside, the night was equally dark, no moon in sight.

Xiao San frowned and checked the digital clock. The glowing hands were inching forward.

It was clearly 5:30 a.m.

Back when she was in high school, she had to leave for school at this exact time every day.

She had gone to bed too early the night before and had woken up at 3 a.m., wide awake. After lying there for hours, staring at the unchanged furnishings in her room, she had finally convinced herself that retaking the college entrance exams wasn’t the end of the world. After all, she hadn’t done well the first time around, and she doubted this world’s version of her was any better. So why stress? Just go with the flow.

But, where was everyone?

Her dear mother wasn’t she supposed to take her to school? This was her first day in this world! Did they really expect her to go alone?

Wait, no.

Xiao San suddenly realized.

Her mom probably didn’t know it was her “first day” either.

She shuffled over to her mother’s bedroom door and knocked softly.

Tap, tap tap, tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap!

“What’s wrong?” her mother’s voice came from inside.

“Mom, can you take me to school?” Xiao San asked cautiously.

Creak! The door opened, and her mother peered at her with a puzzled expression.

“Mom, what if I told you I’m actually reborn, and today is my first day of school in this world? In reality, I’ve already graduated from college, and even though I’m completely baffled by everything right now, I’ve accepted it all because I really like this big house. Would you believe me?”

Her mother reached out and pressed a hand to Xiao San’s forehead. “Sweetheart, you don’t have a fever. Why are you talking nonsense?”

“It’s all your fault. You’re always listening to those domineering CEO audiobooks. Our daughter wasn’t the brightest to begin with, and now she’s even worse,” grumbled Xiao San’s father, stumbling over in his silver silk pajamas, rubbing his sleepy eyes. He spread his arms wide. “Sweetie, do you want Dad to take you to the hospital. Oh wait, no, hospitals don’t treat stupidity.”

Xiao San stared at him blankly. “Are you even my real dad?”

Her father shrugged. “I could be convinced otherwise.”

“You two, father and daughter, never seem to do anything serious all day, just bickering nonstop.” Mama Xiao nudged Papa Xiao. “Go to bed already. You just got back at dawn, and you still have to drive the old master to work in the morning.”

Damn this wretched capitalism.

Xiao San pouted. If it weren’t for the fact that she could still go to school, she’d think she’d time-traveled into some feudal empire that eats people alive.

“You too, hurry up and go to sleep. The school bus picks you up at eight. At your age, still needing someone to fetch you, does the school bus not have room for you anymore?” Mama Xiao’s words were harsh, but her hands gently pushed Xiao San toward her bedroom door. “I know you had a nightmare. Mama will sleep with you tonight.”

“Ah, my wife, off to sleep with someone else now,” Papa Xiao suddenly said with a mournful tone.

Snuggled in Mama Xiao’s arms, Xiao San felt drowsy again.

“Mom, you’re really my mom, right?”

“If I’m not your mom, whose mom would I be?” Mama Xiao stroked Xiao San’s head. “Your dad’s just jealous because you’re closer to me. Don’t let his jokes make you think you were adopted or something.”

“Mom, you’re the best.” Xiao San wrapped her arms around Mama Xiao’s neck, curling up in her embrace just like when she was little.

As long as her parents were here, even if she had somehow crossed into a fictional world, she wasn’t scared at all.

This sleep felt so short.

It was like she’d only just closed her eyes when the sky was already bright.

Papa Xiao and Mama Xiao both thought Xiao San had appeared at their bedroom door because of a nightmare.

As for Xiao San’s talk of rebirth or time travel, neither of them took it seriously, they hadn’t even listened carefully.

“At most, we’ll just listen to audiobooks behind our daughter and son’s backs from now on. Kids these days, taking fictional stories so seriously,” Mama Xiao said to Papa Xiao.

Xiao San didn’t quite understand what had triggered her time travel.

Some people did it by sleeping, others by doing something specific, or through car accidents, drowning, meteors hitting Earth, and so on.

But she had just walked up to the dining table and blown a few kisses to her mom.

Maybe if she figured out the trigger, her world would return to normal.

She left the house, took the elevator downstairs.

The neighborhood layout was no different from before, even the neighbors were the same. The only thing that had changed was her home, it was bigger now.

She stood at the base of the building, squinting up at her apartment.

Wait.

It suddenly occurred to her, the down payment for this place had already been made, but now it had somehow turned into the Shen family lending it to them.

The down payment!!!

Holy crap!!!

The Shen family had swindled their down payment!!!

“Off to school, Xiao San’er?”

“It’s Xiao San, Granny Wang.” Xiao San turned around, instinctively correcting Granny Wang’s pronunciation.

“Xiao San’er, study hard now. Schooling isn’t easy to come by these days. Back in my time.”

Xiao San slumped her shoulders. There was no point, Granny Wang would never fix her pronunciation.

“Okay, Granny Wang. Got it, Granny Wang. I’m off to school now, Granny Wang.” She trudged toward the gate out of habit. Granny Wang wouldn’t care whether she was listening or not anyway.

By the time Xiao San reached the gate, the school bus had already been waiting for a few minutes. A girl at the bus door immediately waved when she saw Xiao San.

Xiao San squinted. It was a girl with long black hair, big eyes, and a delicate nose.

Her eyes were beautiful clear and bright, as if she were wearing colored contacts.

Her almond-shaped eyes crinkled into crescent moons when she smiled, revealing a neat row of teeth that would part widely before she carefully pressed her lips together again.

By the time Xiao San realized what was happening, she had already been bewitched by the girl’s beauty and boarded the school bus.

“Xiao San, why didn’t you reply to my message yesterday?”

“Message?”

“Yeah! We’re supposed to watch a movie tonight, did you tell your parents?”

Only then did Xiao San realize that the girl in front of her was none other than the novel’s female lead.

Xiao San abruptly let go of her hand.

“What’s wrong?” Zheng Qi looked at her in confusion.

Xiao San’s lips twitched. “N-nothing! I just.” felt shocked.

“Are you feeling unwell? Your face looks a little pale.” Zheng Qi reached out and gently pressed her hand against Xiao San’s forehead. When Xiao San instinctively flinched, Zheng Qi’s gaze darkened slightly. “Do you have a fever?”

“N-no, maybe I just caught a bit of wind earlier.” Xiao San could only offer a vague excuse.

The rest of the ride passed in silence.

Xiao San sat inside the bus with her eyes closed, desperately trying to recall the novel’s plot.

The overarching premise of the story was that Zheng Qi harbored a secret crush on Shen Lin. Zheng Qi, Shen Lin, and the girl Shen Lin liked Lin Nuanyan had grown up together. Wait, no. Lin Nuanyan was actually the daughter of Shen Lin’s family driver. Hold on, had Lin Nuanyan disappeared because Xiao San had transmigrated into the novel? Had she somehow replaced Lin Nuanyan?

But Lin Nuanyan was the one who was supposed to be assaulted and nearly killed!

Sure, Lin Nuanyan eventually turned into a villain and did many terrible things to the female lead, but her early life was tragic.

Xiao San had no intention of becoming Lin Nuanyan’s understudy.

Unfortunately, her mother had never let her listen to the audiobook version of the novel, and she hadn’t had the patience to read all two million words of the original text. The bits and pieces she’d picked up only told her that Lin Nuanyan’s ultimate fate was being sent abroad by the male lead after first enduring assault and faking her death.

Good grief.

Why did old-school CEO novels always insist on writing female leads or supporting characters going through such trauma? Was there really no other way to develop their arcs?

Xiao San was on the verge of tears.

Right, right she had to change the plot.

Maybe if she befriended the female lead, she could avoid that awful fate.

“Wake up, Xiao San. We’re at school.”

Xiao San rubbed her eyes. “Huh? Already?”

She must have dozed off while thinking.

“Yeah, hurry up. We have swimming class this morning, we need to change first,” Zheng Qi said.

“Oh, swim!” Wait, swimming class? Since when did high schools have swimming lessons? Wasn’t she a senior? Seniors still had swimming class?

Xiao San suddenly perked up.

Back in her original world, her grades had been mediocre, landing her in a third-rate vocational college. There, the only “activities” were endless disciplinary checks, mandatory morning runs, and absurd rules like “no wrinkles on the bed,” “no trash in the trash can,” and “no hair on the floor.” The only real events were the New Year’s and Mid-Autumn Festival performances.

But this high school actually had swimming class?

Just what kind of elite institution was this?

When she got off the school bus and saw the school, she finally understood why novels often depicted domineering princes arriving by helicopter. This was a high school? Even her third-rate university couldn’t compare!!!

Of course, she wanted to return to the real world, but the novel world was truly tempting.

But, could her family even afford such a prestigious school?

Her father was an accountant who also worked part-time as a ride-hailing driver. Together with her mother, they had worked their entire lives just to buy a 100-square-meter house in the suburbs. Even without the burden of a mortgage now, this school probably cost tens of thousands a year.

“It’s not expensive, just a little over a million a year,” Zheng Qi casually replied.

“A million? Not a hundred?” Xiao San’s eyes widened in shock.

She had genuinely thought the Shen family had only swindled her family’s down payment and five- or six-years’ worth of mortgage payments. Turns out, the Shens had essentially mortgaged her entire family’s future.

Damn. She’d never be able to pay this off, even if she worked her whole life.

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