He Tiantian felt that today the shocks she faced were a little overwhelming!
She had thought herself lucky, to be able to live another life, even if it wasn't in the real world, it was probably in a parallel universe.
But as it turned out, she was actually living inside a novel, not even as the female lead or the Female Supporting Character but just a minor villain, not even close to being the big BOSS.
The Dian Niang Assistant, hidden deep within He Tiantian's sea of consciousness, couldn't help but twitch the corner of its mouth: "Darling, from the tone of your voice, it seems you're rather disappointed not to be the major villain!"
He Tiantian, her expression somewhat blank, followed her parents home and went straight to her room under the guise of doing homework, then she closed the door.
"Husband, although Tiantian seems so open about it at school, she actually really cares about being called a 'liar'!"
Tian Zhenzhen misunderstood, looking at the shut door, she took her husband's hand and whispered.
"...She's still a child!" Who would like being called a liar?
Especially a teenage girl, who's at her most sensitive, vulnerable, and prideful.
He Hongtu sighed deeply.
Actually, not only the daughter, even he, a grown man, felt uncomfortable sometimes when clients' children cornered him on the street, pointing at his nose and calling him a 'liar' and an 'evil spirit'.
"Wife, we've saved up some money over the years, so why don't we—" change our business.
Even setting up a fruit stand or opening a small grocery store would do.
He Hongtu did not rush to respond, as he was already beginning to consider the feasibility of changing their line of work!
He Tiantian had no idea that her momentary daze had led her real parents to such wild speculations and even make a decision to "change careers."
At that moment, she found herself in a strange Space.
To be precise, it was not her physical body, but her Divine Soul. Like entering a dream, she suddenly found herself in a world of nothingness.
"He Tiantian, welcome to Dian Niang Book Library! I am the Dian Niang Assistant."
A mechanical voice, similar to an audiobook narrator, echoed through the Space.
Having experienced this once before, He Tiantian was not frightened this time, instead, she directly asked, "What's going on? How did I time-travel into a novel?"
"Right, you just said 'villain's fate has been rewritten, the novel's plot is completely unlocked', that villain should be me, right? And what was my original fate?"
The Dian Niang Assistant: ... Uh, about that!
"It's a bit complicated to explain, but, you know, there must be a reason for you to enter into the novel world," the Dian Niang Assistant started to act cute.
But He Tiantian was not buying it, "No worries, I'm not afraid of complications, just take your time and explain it to me, I'm in no hurry!"
The Dian Niang Assistant's forehead twitched.
However, it realized that its "writer" was not one to be easily fooled.
After thinking it over for a moment, the Dian Niang Assistant still decided to lay out the situation point by point.
"You're saying, in the original plot, my fate was because my dad and mom were scammers selling health products, I had skewed morals from a young age, cheated classmates at school, deceived boys in high school, and after failing the college entrance exams, followed my parents into selling health products..."
The reason villains were known as villains was that their actions were wrong, and they hurt others.
And the original He Tiantian, with eyes only for money, deceived those poor elderly people suffering from terminal illnesses, tricking them out of their hard-earned life-saving money.
After being swindled out of their money, the elderly were berated by their children, and in despair, they took their own lives.
A life was lost in the chaos, and the children, full of guilt and grief, put all the blame on the deceptive He Tiantian.
Her shop was smashed, parents beaten, and He Tiantian, in the worst luck, was hit in the back of the head with a stick by someone amidst the conflict and died on the spot!
He Tiantian: ...
Why does such a predetermined fate feel so tinged with farce, with absurdity?
She looked again in detail at the original plot that the Dian Niang Assistant presented to her, from beginning to end, and she couldn't help but feel that the writing of the novel seemed naive and arbitrary.
Like someone had just casually written a story without care for the story's background or character portrayal, all very rough.
There was no detailed character description, practically everyone was stereotyped.
Let alone He Tiantian, a minor villain, even the novel's female lead, Zhou Zixuan, was also portrayed as insipid and hollow.
Not a character with flesh and blood, lifelike and three-dimensional, but just a prop with a "I am the female lead" label on her head!
Most importantly, the book was left unfinished.
After He Tiantian died in the story, there was nothing left.
He Tiantian seriously suspected that the author of this novel bore a grudge against "He Tiantian."
The purpose of the author in writing this book seemed to be to torment He Tiantian to death within the novel.
It's just that she might have just started writing, lacking experience and writing power, and she didn't construct how despicable He Tiantian was; she just kept stressing: He Tiantian is a liar, He Tiantian deserves a bad death!
He Tiantian: !!!
"Could the author of this novel be Zhou Zixuan!"
He Tiantian had reasons for such a guess.
Throughout the entire novel, only "He Tiantian" and "Zhou Zixuan" coincided with the names of people in the real world.
He Tiantian didn't think this was a coincidence.
She just couldn't understand why Zhou Zixuan hated her so much, to the extent of writing a whole book to insult her as a liar and to kill off her character.
How big of a grudge would that require?
In the real world, He Tiantian and Zhou Zixuan barely interacted at all.
If there were to be a friction between the two, it was simply He Tiantian's envy and jealousy of Zhou Zixuan—
Zhou Zixuan was simply someone else's accomplished child.
Fair and lovely, from a harmonious family, good at studies, and even capable of writing articles—submitting occasional pieces to magazines and newspapers, sometimes getting them published.
At their County's No.1 High School, Zhou Zixuan was known as the Beautiful Writer and had even participated in the county television station's program recording.
And He Tiantian—
Abandoned by her parents as a child, living with an aunt of ill repute, her academic performance hovering below average, lacking any special skills in arts or sports. Shunned by classmates, disliked by teachers, she was just a nobody hiding in the corner of the classroom.
He Tiantian racked her brain but couldn't come up with a reason she had offended Zhou Zixuan, making this famous Beautiful Writer go to the trouble of writing a novel targeting her!
Forget it, if it doesn't make sense, no point thinking about it.
Since this is the world within the book, then she should have a chance to return to the real world.
She can thoroughly investigate after she returns!
"The pen name of the author of this novel is 'Beauty Xuanji,' real name Zhou Zixuan!" the Dian Niang Assistant answered truthfully.
Guessed right!
He Tiantian nodded silently to herself, suddenly asking, "Do I get any reward!"
Dian Niang Assistant widened its eyes. "Huh? Reward? You just guessed the author's name of the novel, not something that important, why should you want a reward?"
"No, what I meant was, you just said that I 'unlocked a part of the plot'—isn't that like completing a very important task?"
He Tiantian rolled her eyes, seemingly somewhat contemptuous of a certain assistant's stupidity.
Dian Niang Assistant: "You changed the villain's fate and unlocked the plot, this, this benefits you directly. You can rewrite a brand-new life and no longer be bound by the tragic fate that was supposed to be yours!"
It was helping He Tiantian, okay!
How could He Tiantian have the nerve to turn around and ask for a reward.
"I indeed gained benefits, but for you, or rather, for the Dian Niang Book Library you represent, it should also be valuable!"
He Tiantian was raised by a pair of shrewd parents and her mind was exceptionally quick.
If her real mother and father were exacting, He Tiantian was definitely the cream of the crop.
The Dian Niang Assistant remained silent; clearly, He Tiantian had hit the nail on the head.
Exactly, the book had been left unfinished; although a world within the book had formed, it wasn't complete. The Dian Niang Book Library couldn't draw energy from it.
Therefore, there were "writers," who time-traveled into the world of the book, unlocked the plot, and perfected the story, forming a complete world within the book.
Only then could a steady stream of energy be provided to the Dian Niang Book Library.
And as a "writer," unlocking each part of the plot was deemed completing a task for which a reward was due!
Only, very few people could realize this immediately and directly ask for their rewards.
He Tiantian was definitely the first to do so!