The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 1

The bustling streets were alive with activity as Nuo Yang walked out of a convenience store, heading home.

A recent college graduate, she was now an intern at a media company, earning a meager 1800 yuan a month—barely enough to scrape by on food, clothes, and rent.

Life had always been tough for her. Orphaned from a young age, Nuo Yang had learned to rely solely on herself.

Today was a rare day off, so she had bought some snacks and drinks from the store downstairs, planning to laze around at home. Lately, she had become obsessed with a novel—clichéd and melodramatic, but undeniably addictive. Even while running errands, she couldn’t resist calling her roommate to rant about it.

“Tell me, isn’t this heroine just stringing two guys along?” Nuo Yang vented over the phone. “She’s got two amazing guys chasing her, yet she’s still indecisive! If it were me, I’d pick the richer one in a heartbeat!”

Her roommate responded with absentminded “uh-huhs” and the occasional “Oh sh1t, I’m dead—cover me while I recall!” Clearly, she wasn’t paying attention.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?” Nuo Yang stopped in her tracks, staring at her phone. “Don’t you think I’m right? Even if not the richer one, at least pick the one who’s good in bed!”

Before she could finish, a burst of static crackled in her ear. Then, the green traffic light before her abruptly turned red.

The crowded sidewalk suddenly emptied. Only the flashing red warning light remained, its glare so intense that Nuo Yang’s vision darkened—and she collapsed unconscious.

——————

“Did you hear? The old lady’s assets are worth billions, but she has no children. No one to inherit her fortune.”

“Damn, what a waste!”

“Not really. Rumor has it she has a distant relative coming today.”

“So those billions will go to her?”

“Talk about luck! If I had that kind of fate, I’d wake up laughing every day!”

“No kidding!”

Groggy and disoriented, Nuo Yang heard voices—some familiar, some not—all flooding her mind at once. The noise pounded in her skull, leaving her pale-faced and aching.

Her name was Nuo Yang, 20 years old, a recent graduate of X University. Currently an intern at a media company, earning 1800 yuan a month, working herself to the bone. Her biggest dream? Owning her own home.

Life was hard for everyone, and Nuo Yang was no exception. But starting today, her life was about to change dramatically…

It was as if someone was murmuring in her head—no actual sound, just images flashing relentlessly behind her eyelids. Only when the visions stopped did she slowly open her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

A woman sitting beside Nuo Yang noticed her pallor and asked with concern, “Feeling unwell? After seeing your great-grandmother, you should head back. We’ll handle the rest here.”

Great-grandmother??

Nuo Yang stared at the woman beside her. She was an orphan with no family—since when did she have a great-grandmother?

Looking around, Nuo Yang realized she had somehow ended up in the cemetery’s memorial hall. The place was crowded with people dressed in black and white, solemnly placing wreaths around the coffin of an elderly woman lying in the center.

“I’m fine,” Nuo Yang heard herself say. “I just… suddenly found out I’m inheriting something, and it’s a bit hard to believe…”

Wait, what???

She was inheriting something???

Whose inheritance? How did she know nothing about this???

The woman beside her sighed in relief. “Don’t worry. The old lady made it clear before passing—all her money goes to you. Consider it some comfort for losing your parents so young.”

It was only later that Nuo Yang understood—she had fucking time-traveled!

And not just anywhere, but straight into the plot of that novel she’d been ranting about on the street earlier!

Seriously? A few complaints and she gets dragged into the story for punishment???

So now she couldn’t say anything at all? Might as well just use her mouth for eating and nothing else????

Finally pulling herself together, Nuo Yang hid in a corner, trembling. She wasn’t someone used to grand situations, and now her hands were shaking, tears welling up—she was this close to collapsing on the floor, bawling for her mom.

“I talked too much, I shouldn’t have complained, it’s all my fault!” Nuo Yang begged the white walls like they were deities. “I’m sorry, so sorry! Please, author, send me back! I have work tomorrow, my monthly KPI isn’t done—if I don’t write five 100K+ viral posts, I won’t get paid! Waaaaah, I swear I’ll never speak out of turn again, just let me out!!!!”

Meanwhile, the mourners watched Nuo Yang sobbing against the wall and sighed in admiration.

“Look how filial she is, crying like that for not seeing the old lady one last time.”

“Exactly. So young, already lost both parents, and now her last relative is gone. Poor thing.”

“Seeing her cry makes me want to cry too, wuuu…”

As Nuo Yang wept in the corner, the kind-hearted crowd couldn’t take it. They rushed to comfort her, worried she might do something drastic in her grief.

That night.

Nuo Yang sat on a chair in the memorial hall, eyes swollen from crying, voice hoarse. The cemetery staff watched her with pity, murmuring about what a ‘devoted granddaughter’ she was—to cry so hard for a great-grandmother she’d never even met! What a good girl!

Only Nuo Yang knew the real misery in her heart.

Great. One minute she’s walking down the street, the next she’s trapped in this damn novel. Nuo Yang hung her head, utterly lost.

How was she supposed to get back…?

Buzz—

Just then, her phone chimed from her bag. It was a message from the woman who’d accompanied her earlier. Checking the contact’s name, it read: Lawyer Chen.

Lawyer Chen: Nuo Yang, don’t grieve too much. Please accept my condolences. The notarization of your great-grandmother’s will is complete. I’ll bring the contracts to the memorial hall tomorrow for your signature. Once everything’s processed, her 800 million in assets will be yours. I understand your pain, but you must stay strong…

Nuo Yang: …

Nuo Yang: ???

Wait???

800 million???

Nuo Yang’s sadness vanished instantly as she sprang up from the sofa. She scrutinized the document carefully—yes, it clearly stated 800 million.

With that kind of money, Nuo Yang suddenly felt energized.

After crying all day, she finally remembered: there was indeed a supporting character in the book who inherited 800 million, sharing her exact name. This character was a colleague and friend of the female lead, later appearing as an intern in the epilogue after the lead got together with her love interest. In the author’s sequel, this woman inherited a fortune worth hundreds of millions, becoming a wealthy heiress who lived happily ever after—a character who barely had any presence, mentioned in just a few hundred words throughout the entire story.

Nuo Yang fell silent. But then it struck her—wasn’t this actually a good thing?

Eight hundred million! Even if it was just in a book, she could live comfortably for the rest of her life.

Taking a deep breath, she reasoned that in her previous world, she had been an invisible nobody—no parents, no relatives, hardly any friends. If she had died there, no one would have even claimed her body. How was that any different from her current situation in the book?

At least here, she stood to inherit hundreds of millions.

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Hugging her knees, she cried a little longer—a farewell to the life she had lost.

……

Eventually, exhausted from crying, Nuo Yang went to the bathroom to wash her face.

The world in this book was quite similar to her original one, so many customs remained unchanged.

In Nuo Yang’s world, there was a tradition: after death, the deceased had to lie in state for three days and nights in the mourning hall for relatives to pay respects before cremation and burial. The same applied here.

Though the old lady didn’t have many relatives, her lifetime of charity had drawn crowds of people she had helped, all coming from afar to send wreaths.

So even without many family members, the mourning hall didn’t feel desolate.

As the old lady’s only living relative, Nuo Yang naturally had to keep vigil for three days and nights until the burial.

Leaving the bathroom, she started heading back.

After a day of crying, she had come to terms with things—she would take it one step at a time and figure out how to return.

But as she walked, drying her hands, she noticed a girl in a black miniskirt sitting across the mourning hall.

Her jet-black hair gleamed, and her all-black attire made her blend into the corner where she sat, silently watching the hall with an inexplicable eeriness.

This mourning hall was empty, with only two cheap wreaths provided by the cemetery—part of their standard service—and no others in sight.

Nuo Yang found it strange. Despite crying all day, she vaguely remembered that the opposite hall had been set up just as long. Why hadn’t a single visitor come?

Just then, the girl in the corner lifted her head, locking eyes with Nuo Yang.

Her dark, amber-like gaze was icy, but her delicate features and porcelain skin left Nuo Yang stunned.

This girl was breathtaking…

Though still youthful, her face and figure promised extraordinary beauty when she grew older.

Nuo Yang probably also felt it was impolite to keep staring at someone else’s mourning hall. After nodding to the girl, she turned and went to her great-grandmother’s side. As she took her seat, she stole another glance at her through the doorway curtain, only to see her bow her head again, lost in thought.

It wasn’t her place to meddle in other people’s affairs. Checking the time, Nuo Yang saw it was already past midnight. While other mourning halls had small groups keeping vigil, only she and the girl across the way remained, each keeping solitary watch over their empty, lonely memorial spaces.