C1 Chapter 1

A wave of sour male body odor hit her. Half-conscious, Liu Wenmei felt someone yanking at her clothes. Pure instinct took over—she flung her arm out and shoved him aside.

“Ow—my ass… you nasty bitch. Didn’t think you’d still have any strength. The stuff must be bad!”

Wenmei forced her eyes open and looked toward the voice. A shifty, rat-faced man—ugly as sin, clothes half undone—was clutching his backside as he scrambled up from the ground. The way he looked at her was leering and vicious.

Her whole body felt limp and weak, and waves of heat kept rolling through her. With what he’d just said, Wenmei knew she’d been drugged. She didn’t let herself think—while she still had a little strength, she grabbed a small stool nearby and swung it straight at his head. After a dull crack, she seized the moment, spun around, and ran.

Her heart hammered like crazy. She didn’t even look around—just tore forward over the loose stones by the riverbank. She was about to go down when someone grabbed her arm and hauled her upright. The coolness of his hand made her crave more; she stumbled into him and started rubbing her face against his chest.

“What are you doing? Get away from me.”

At the sound of his voice, Wenmei’s mind cleared a fraction. She pried her heavy-lidded eyes open, her gaze drifting—she couldn’t make out his face at all. With the last of her strength, she whispered, “Quick… take me to the river.”

Gu Jianjun took one look at the girl in front of him—clothes slightly messed up, cheeks flushed, eyes unfocused—and knew something was wrong. Without another word, he scooped her up and ran for the water.

Her hands roamed over him, and Gu Jianjun’s eyes darkened. The moment he reached the riverbank, he tossed her into the river.

Wrapped in icy river water, Liu Wenmei shivered hard as her awareness snapped back. She lifted both hands, wiped the water from her face, and turned toward the bank. A man stood there in a white short-sleeve shirt and black dress pants, his expression stiff. She thanked him.

Feeling the lingering heat still coursing through her, Liu Wenmei cursed under her breath. “If I find out who did this, I’ll make them pay.”

Sitting in the water and taking in her surroundings, she finally had a chance to sort out what was going on. Wasn’t she supposed to have gone down with the Zombie King? So why was she here?

Her head swam. A rush of memories that weren’t hers slammed into her, leaving her skull throbbing. Through them, she understood what had happened: she’d been dropped into a story she used to read to kill time during the apocalypse.

The original owner of this body had the same name as hers—Liu Wenmei. In the story, she was a supporting character, the pretty girl from Big Willow Village. Because she liked Zhao Haixing, the female lead, Sunn Tiantian, set her up—tricking her into drinking something meant to send a boar into heat. After that, the village punk, Wu Xiaowu, took advantage of her, and she was forced to marry him. After the wedding, Wu Xiaowu felt humiliated by her past crush on Zhao Haixing and treated her like dirt, beating and berating her at every turn. When the Liu family ran into trouble, Wu Xiaowu sold her to traffickers. In the end, she was bought by an old bachelor in some backwoods hollow and used as nothing more than a baby-making tool. Her fate was brutal.

In Sunn Tiantian’s first life, jealousy drove her to use Wu Xiaowu to ruin Liu Wenmei, but Wu Xiaowu turned the tables. Sunn Tiantian ended up being the one forced to marry him. After she got a second chance, she set her sights on the Liu family. First, she stole Liu Wenmei’s husband, Zhao Haixing. Then she went after the Liu family one by one, tearing them apart until they were completely destroyed—finally getting the ending she wanted, living happily ever after with Zhao Haixing.

As soon as those memories settled, a wave of grief and rage surged through Liu Wenmei. She knew it wasn’t just her—it was the original owner’s resentment, her heartbreak. Quietly, Liu Wenmei made herself a promise: she would protect the Liu family, and she would make sure Sunn Tiantian paid for every rotten thing she’d done.

From her memories, Wenmei knew just how much the Liu family had cherished her. In the apocalypse, they’d all died. Now that she’d been given a second chance here, she treasured it deeply. Even without the original owner’s final wish, she still couldn’t let what happened to the Liu family in the book come true.

She let her awareness sink inward and felt that her space was still there. The calm in her chest eased a little. Just as she was about to check what was inside, a child’s voice rang out. Wenmei could only drop it for now.