Chapter 2

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Before picking up her chopsticks, Sheng Mumu sincerely said "Thank you" to the housekeeper.

The housekeeper was stunned for a moment.

"No need to thank me, madam. This is all part of my job."

How strange.

The madam seems a little different from usual today.

Usually whether the master is home or not, madam would put on an air of superiority towards the housekeeper and servants.

But today she actually said thank you, and seemed...sincere?

Before the housekeeper could figure out why, he heard Sheng Mumu ask again:

"Housekeeper Zhang, have you eaten yet? Do you want to eat a little with me?"

With a full table of dishes, Sheng Mumu felt it would be wasteful to eat alone, so she extended a "friendly invitation".

The housekeeper was honored and quickly shook his head.

"No...no need, madam."

Even stranger.

Could it be that the young master, who is going through his rebellious teenage years, did something to drastically change the madam's temperament?

She's like a whole different person.

Oh right, today is Friday. The young master said he was bringing friends over to play tonight.

The madam seems to be in a good mood now. I wonder if she'll get angry and slam doors later?

Thinking of this, Housekeeper Zhang's eyes showed more sympathy and helplessness.

Sympathy for Sheng Mumu's hardship as a stepmother, and helplessness towards the young master's aloof and difficult personality.

The maid saw that Sheng Mumu had finished her meal, bowed her head slightly and came forward.

"Madam, the bathroom has been prepared according to your instructions yesterday."

Sheng Mumu raised her eyes: "?"

Yesterday?

That must have been the original host's instructions before she transmigrated here.

The maid led Sheng Mumu into the master bedroom's bathroom.

Just a bathroom, yet bigger than the house she lived in in her previous life, about 200 square meters.

Outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows, trees were lush and green. The glass was one-way, so she could see outside but no one could see in.

The bathtub, about the size of a small swimming pool, was filled with water of a comfortable temperature. Faint steam rose up, and a sweet fragrance lingered in the air.

Next to it was a porcelain plate of fresh seasonal fruits.

There was also a bowl of black liquid that looked like melted turtle jelly.

Sheng Mumu picked up the bowl and sniffed it.

The smell was extremely bitter, like medicine. After just inhaling half a breath, her eyebrows immediately furrowed as she pinched her nose and held the bowl farther away.

She couldn't figure out what was in the bowl.

Seeing the lady of the house pinching her nose, the maid timely came up, posture respectful.

"Madam, Chinese medicine is bitter. I've prepared sweet soup for you."

She continued in a lowered voice, sounding slightly mysterious:

"The essential oil used is orange blossom, it has invigorating effects."

"I hope it will help Madam achieve your wish of conceiving an heir soon."

After saying her fawning, flattering words, the maid quietly exited the room.

Leaving behind a suddenly enlightened Sheng Mumu, who blinked her eyes awkwardly.

Invigorating???

Conceiving an heir soon???

So this black water was something like fertility medicine from palace struggle novels...

Looks like the original host thought she'd definitely get Qi Mo to sleep with her last night, and had even considered recuperating afterwards.

Who knew there was a change of heart midway.

Sheng Mumu's lips flattened slightly as she poured the medicine into the pool.

She couldn't help but think of the novel's brief description of how this marriage came about -

By chance, the original host had saved Qi Mo's grandmother who fainted on the street. The old lady took a liking to her and strongly matched her with her grandson.

The original host fell in love at first sight, but Qi Mo was uninterested.

The original host approached Qi Mo and proposed the idea of a contract marriage.

For Qi Mo, marrying her could fulfill his grandmother's wish, so he agreed.

The conditions were a monthly allowance of 500,000 yuan, and a peaceful divorce with a huge sum of money after the old lady's passing in a hundred years.

In front of the mirror.

Sheng Mumu stared fixedly at this face that looked exactly like her own, feeling surreal.

In the past, many people had praised her good looks. Seeing her remain single as she struggled in her career for many years, some even joked:

"With your stunning beauty, you should find and marry a rich man while you're still young, so you can live in comfort for the rest of your life. Working a nine-to-five job when your beauty is a scarce resource is simply not worth it."

At that time, she had scoffed at them.

Yet she didn't expect that after transmigrating into a book, she really became the kind of person they described.

In the mirror was a melon-seed shaped face the size of her palm.

Alluring fox-like eyes, a dainty, perky nose.

In the steamy bathroom, her cheeks were slightly flushed, making her snow-white skin even fairer.

When she smiled, her eyebrows arched into a curved slope, and two little pear vortexes sank in, neutralizing the aggressiveness of her stunning looks.

The woman in the mirror knitted her brows slightly.

Thinking of the original host's miserable ending, Sheng Mumu let out a sigh.

"Alas."

The original host's tragedy was because she was blinded by love, and wanted with all her heart to become the real Mrs. Qi.

Fortunately the current her was not lovesick.

As long as she didn't make trouble between her fake husband and stepson,

She should be able to avoid the tragic ending and live an uneventful life as a rich widow, right?

Thinking of her stepson, her expression became more solemn. She then opened her phone with a serious look on her face.

Cramming hastily, she read various posts to learn knowledge she did not possess.

【The Six Principles to Follow Between Stepmother and Stepson】 【As a Stepmother, How to Handle Family Relations Properly? 】

【How Should a Stepmother Get Along With a Rebellious Child?】

A few hours later.

Sheng Mumu was tired from reading, so she went to the kitchen to get a bowl of bird's nest and returned to her room.

Just as she reached the second floor, she suddenly heard several energetic youthful voices coming from the entrance.

"Young Master Qi, your house is so big. This is my first time here."

"Young Master Qi, your stepmother isn't home today right?"

"I haven't met your stepmother yet. I heard she's only eleven years older than you?"

Hearing the voices, Sheng Mumu stopped in her tracks, leaning against the railing on the second floor. She stirred the small silver spoon in her hand, curiosity aroused.

She had read many novels and watched lots of TV shows.

She wondered what the male lead of the novel, Young Master Qi, would look like.

The Qi residence was huge. In the time it took the high school students to take off their shoes at the entrance and walk in, they had already made many guesses about Young Master Qi's stepmother.

"Young Master Qi's stepmother must be very beautiful right."

"I don't know if she's beautiful or not, but she must be very scheming, definitely not someone to provoke easily."

"That's what I think too. Maybe the more beautiful she is, the more vicious."

Amidst the idle chatter, a handsome youth appeared in her line of sight.

Among the group of sixteen, seventeen-year-old high school students, Qi Shaobai stood out strikingly.

He had the standard face of a campus novel male lead.

Delicate features with a hint of arrogance and defiance. Cold, piercing eyes. He looked to be at least 183cm tall.

He wore a simple charcoal gray t-shirt with minimalistic branding, a red headband around his forehead. He looked melancholy yet bold, perhaps the trendy Japanese-style fashion for youths in this world.

Ha.

Observing Qi Shaobai, Sheng Mumu laughed silently in her heart.

Looks like not all novel male leads appear in their peak state right from the start.

The male lead in his teens, no matter how good-looking, had a slender figure.

To her he was still just a little rascal.

Amidst her thoughts, another soft, trembling voice floated up:

"Umm... Young Master Qi, will your stepmother be very fierce? I'm a little scared..."

Sheng Mumu frowned and looked towards the voice.

The speaker was a girl with long black hair. She had an innocent look but her gaze was not innocent at all. She was timidly wringing her fingers as she looked at Qi Shaobai.

Seeing this, Sheng Mumu's scam radar started beeping, issuing an alert.

Someone replied to the girl:

"What's there to be scared of? I heard Young Master Qi's stepmother comes from an ordinary family. How dare she yell at Young Master Qi?"

Another person chimed in:

"That's right, this is Young Master Qi's home. Does she still want us to watch her face? No way!"

"Well said. Later if we run into Young Master Qi's stepmother, I absolutely won't acknowledge her. This shows that I firmly stand with Young Master Qi."

"Me too."

"Me too."