1.
After Miểu Miểu started elementary school, I used the system to learn more about the female lead, Bạch Nhược Hàm, and what her life was like at that point.
Her family circumstances were very similar to the original host's. Both were children from the mountains.
The difference was that she was the female lead, and unlike the original host, who played an evil stepmother, her character was a good person.
Resilient, hardworking, and optimistic.
Even before the main plot began, she had already endured plenty of hardship.
Time and again, she faced adversity, but it couldn't defeat her. Instead, it made her gentler and more steadfast.
Bạch Nhược Hàm's father died when she was young, and her mother worked tirelessly to raise her alone.
To scrape together enough money for her tuition, her mother went into the mountains to pick mushrooms to sell. She fell and died in an accident.
I wanted to help her.
I bowed my head and decided to sponsor the female lead's education under the name Từ Quý.
Sweetheart, don't worry. Just focus on your studies.
Knowledge is the only thing without limits.
2
That day, Từ Sâm and I still didn't get our marriage certificate.
We brought our household registration booklet to the civil affairs bureau, only to discover that it was the weekend and the office was closed.
Từ Sâm tossed and turned all night, unable to understand why the civil affairs bureau wasn't open 24/7.
3
At the wedding, Miểu Miểu and Bùi Minh walked ahead of us as the flower girl and ring bearer.
The original host's parents and Từ Sâm's parents stood onstage, watching us with tears in their eyes.
Amid the guests' applause, we kissed.
The system watched the wedding on a screen like it was in a Dolby theater, weeping so dramatically that I couldn't help getting distracted.
Từ Sâm wasn't pleased. He kissed my eyes and asked, “Why are you distracted?”
So I answered him with an even more passionate kiss, and the world suddenly fell silent.
We held our breath, listening only to each other's heartbeats. “Forever” seemed pale beside the three minutes we spent kissing.
I let my love grow without limit, so my heart would never rust.
4
Even after we got married, Từ Sâm still seemed unhappy.
But he wouldn't tell me why.
It was because he was jealous of Miểu Miểu.
Why did his wife always care more about Miểu Miểu than him?
Why did Miểu Miểu want to sleep with his wife again tonight?
She was already a big elementary school girl. Shouldn't she have learned to sleep by herself?
5
I completed my mission without a hitch.
Miểu Miểu was no longer the gloomy, twisted little girl from the original story.
She had become a radiant, courageous young woman.
The one thing that hadn't changed from the original plot was that her grades were still terrible. Luckily, she had a gift for art.
Bùi Minh had also strayed from the original plot, pursuing Miểu Miểu from elementary school all the way through high school.
Every time Bùi Minh confessed his feelings, Miểu Miểu firmly turned him down, saying she wanted to get into the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
I watched Miểu Miểu try her hardest and still get only 28 points on her test, and sighed.
I was already wondering how I would comfort Miểu Miểu when she failed the entrance exam.
Then, in the first semester of her junior year of high school, Miểu Miểu suddenly seemed to get a cheat code, and her grades skyrocketed.
Every day, after school, she'd come home, eat, and then disappear, saying she had to study with a new friend.
By the end of the semester, Miểu Miểu had gone from the bottom of her class to placing in the top 200 in her grade.
I invited Miểu Miểu and the friend who'd been helping her study over for dinner.
Bạch Nhược Hàm wore her school uniform. Slender and graceful, she had beautiful eyes that shone with gentleness and resolve.
The first time she saw me, she smiled brightly.
The first thing she said when she greeted me was, “Thank you, Auntie Từ Quý.”
6
Later, Từ Sâm asked me whether we would have met and fallen in love if we hadn't happened to begin with a contract marriage.
I answered without hesitation, “Of course.”
A person's nature would make me fall in love with the same person again and again, in different places and at different times.
Từ Sâm told me that he felt this life was far too short.
Half joking and half serious, I told him that even if he went to a different time in his next life, I would still find him.
Từ Sâm believed everything I said.
He believed every word I said.
I loved that about him.
“How will you find me?”
“The universe will bring us together.”
7
[A Letter to Miểu Miểu]
To Miểu Miểu, my eighteen-year-old girl:
Miểu Miểu, happy birthday!
Today is an important milestone in your life. You're about to step into a bigger, brighter world.
As your parents, our purpose isn't just to give you a comfortable, secure life. It's also to make sure that when you think of us, you feel strength welling up inside you, or warmth in your heart—so you'll have the courage and ability to overcome hardship and find true joy and freedom in life.
Your parents are only one corner of your picture. The rest still holds endless possibilities.
Of course, as you face the world, you'll encounter obstacles and discover that it may not be as beautiful as you imagined.
As a woman, I hope you'll have the courage to explore the beauty of the world.
Along the way, you may hear voices urging you to make yourself smaller:
“What does a girl need to go out for?”
“Girls shouldn't be so strong. They'd be better off being a little more vulnerable and gentle.”
“Girls don't need to work so hard.”
Some voices will tempt you to make yourself less.
But I hope you'll have the courage to stay true to yourself and keep walking your own path.
When you run into difficulties, I'll be the first to tell you not to be afraid.
You'll always have somewhere to go to recharge—come back to me.
I'll always be here, waiting for you to come home for a condensed-milk sandwich.
[THE END]