Chapter 1

Have you ever watched ‘Autumn in My Heart’? Because right now, Mingxi’s situation is pretty similar to that of the real daughter, who is also the villainess and supporting role of the show.

The real daughter who had been living in the countryside has finally been found after many years. However, she realizes that there is a more outstanding, lively, innocent and delicate young lady at home. For the past 15 years, she had completely replaced her.

The only difference is that I am probably more stupid.

Mingxi lamented.

For the past two years, she tried her utmost best to please this family, even to the extent of remembering everyone’s birthdays and preferences.

She carefully massaged her mother’s shoulders, but her mother only gave an expression full of awkwardness. Then, with a simple, “No need,” she stood up and walked upstairs.

One time, she went to have a meal with her family at a hotel and the server accidentally knocked over the soup. When she saw that the soup was about to spill all over her eldest brother, Zhao Zhanhuai, she immediately blocked it with her body. In the end, when she came to her senses, the whole family had hurriedly sent Zhao Yuan to the hospital because a few drops had been spilled on her thigh.

When she pulled out of her dumbfounded state and belatedly realized that a few drops had burned her face as well, the whole family was gone.

Only the 15-year-old Zhao Yuning noticed it the next day.

Mingxi thought that at least her younger brother, Zhao Yuning, would treat her differently. However, half a month ago, there was an incident whereby only one person could be enrolled in the Chemistry Competition. When Zhao Yuning found out that Zhao Yuan wanted to join, he actually went as far as to steal Mingxi’s application form.

Mingxi then lost the right to join the Chemistry Competition. She also gained a small scar on her face and had been wearing a mask for the past year.

The most recent incident was where Zhao Yuan went to have ice cream at Mingxi’s friend’s shop and accidentally triggered her nut allergy, causing her to be admitted to the hospital. The whole family thought that Mingxi was the one behind this incident and refused to believe her despite her explanations—

She was fine with all this.

She was okay.

She wasn’t angry. After all, she wasn’t easily provoked. If she had to fight back, she would. There were quite a few times when the whole family had exploded in anger because of her.

In any case, the textbooks said that even dripping water could penetrate stones, so as long as she works hard for another couple of years, she would definitely be reciprocated.

In the end, she was wrong. When this family finally seemed to be showing signs of accepting her...

She died of brain cancer at the age of 23.

What kind of a sick joke was this? What was the difference between this and fighting various monsters just to die at the final battle because your device crashed?

After her death, Mingxi realized that she was, in and of itself, a tragedy.

She was actually playing a supporting role in a book.

With regards to the life of supporting character Zhao Mingxi, the summary was as follows:

[Lived in a small, rundown town in the North since she was young. When she was 15, she was found by the Zhao family. Later, due to her jealousy toward the female lead Zhao Yuan, she started to put all her effort into stealing Zhao Yuan’s family from her. After finding out that Zhao Yuan and Zhao Zhanhuai harbored romantic feelings for each other, she got her best friend to create a rift between them… In the end, she died due to cancer. After her death, everyone forgave her.]

?

‘Steal’??

Wait a minute. Wasn’t this family hers to begin with? Also, why did it determine that everything she did in her past life was to ‘steal’ the female lead Zhao Yuan’s things?

Why on earth— Just because Zhao Yuan was a child blessed by the gods, a gentle and fragile lily and a lucky lady?

Also, Zhao Yuan had a relationship with her eldest brother Zhao Zhanhuai?

Mingxi’s expression was similar to that of an old man looking at his phone.

She didn’t know if it was because she died in the wrong position or something, but the point was that after the end of her short 23 years of cannon fodder life, she actually returned to her 17-year-old self.

However this time, she had a ‘Female Side Character Support System’.

System: “You were set up to be a villain with a tragic ending, hence your luck would definitely be in the negatives. When you cross the road, you would be hit by a car. When you drink cold water, your teeth would hurt. When you get sick, it would definitely be a terminal illness. But think about it, what if you could secretly turn yourself into an upright person?”

Mingxi’s mind went blank as she spoke, “What do you mean?”

System: “This means that I want you to freeload on another person's luck. You will certainly not be able to obtain luck from the main characters Zhao Yuan and Zhao Zhanhuai, but you can get them from other side characters who are quite popular as well. After freeloading such luck, who knows, your terminal illness might go away.”

Mingxi slapped her thigh, “I get it now. You want me to make friends with characters who are popular and valuable?”

In every book, aside from the main characters, there will always be characters who don’t appear as much but have high values of character settings and popularity.

The more the readers liked these characters, the more she would appear beside them. If she showed herself more and did a few good things, eventually she would be able to freeload on their good luck.

The system was relieved. “As expected of the poor and pitiful supporting character that I had chosen. You are a fast learner.”

Who wouldn’t want to live? Although she was muddle-headed in her past life and lived like an idiot, since a second chance has been given to her, Mingxi would definitely grasp it well!

Furthermore, the experience of constant vomiting, fevers and losing weight after contracting the terminal illness was not something she wanted to go through again.

System: “Also, after obtaining their luck, the injury on your face should recover quickly.”

Mingxi touched the left side of her face with bright eyes.

Because the area that was burnt was not just anywhere but her face, in order to prevent it from leaving a scar, the doctor advised her to avoid being under the sun until her skin was fully healed.

This caused her to wear a mask for a whole year, covering her originally beautiful face.

The system gave Mingxi a ‘List of People Whose Luck Can Be Freeloaded’. Mingxi gave it a glance and realized that there were quite a lot of names on the list.

But it seemed like the return rate of the top few on the list were a little higher. They were Centennial Corporation’s Fu family’s eldest grandson Fu Yangxi, second grandson Fu Zhiyi and the famous Jiang Xiuqiu of the Jiang family.

Mingxi knew of these three, they were rather prominent personalities in school.

Those further down the list were each year’s hunks and most handsome students. Even the simple-minded monitor of Mingxi’s class, Year Three Class Six, had a rather high position on the list! Mingxi was happy upon seeing this as her relationship with her class monitor was quite good!

…But her monitor was at the 108th spot, and in a bracket behind his name it stated that his return rate was only 0.000001%— Then what was the difference between getting on the list and not getting on the list???

Mingxi suddenly felt exhausted.

She held the life-saving list of names, stood up and poured herself a cup of water to suppress her nervousness. “I feel like what I should do first is to go for a physical examination.”

In her past life, she died at the age of 23. Now she is just 17. What if she hasn’t gotten cancer yet, or she might even be in the early stages of the cancer and can still be saved?

“There is no need for that,” the system said. “I told you that your death due to cancer was not because of your physical health, but because of your luck as a villain. Even if you discover something at the hospital and try to get early treatment, as long as your value of luck doesn’t change, you will still die in the end. Is there a difference between dying due to a car accident and dying due to cancer?”

When Mingxi heard what the system said, she felt a surge of sadness before crying with a loud wail.

So the only way out was this list of names before her.

She heard that Fu Yangxi, who had a return rate of 6%, placing him first on the list, was not someone she should provoke. He was domineering and reckless. If he was placed in another book, he would be the blueprint for iceberg-like school hunks.

However, despite knowing this, everyone still wanted to get close to him due to his identity as the Fu family’s successor.

It would be difficult to even say a word to him.

Mingxi knew to sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat. She looked down the list. Fu Zhiyi was currently studying overseas and she didn’t hear of any rumors that he was going to come back at all.

As for this Jiang Xiuqiu— Based on what she heard, he seemed like a good guy. She also saw him give a gentle speech on stage last semester. He should be the best candidate for a friend.

But why are the return rates of these two only 2%?!! That’s such a big gap!

Nevermind, no matter how small a mosquito’s legs are they are still meat.

Mingxi decided not to choose a target. Whoever she could pull the luck from, she’ll just do it.

“Coincidentally, weren’t your results ranked Top 3 last week? According to your school’s rules, those who are in the Top 5 can change classes as they wish, right?”

Mingxi understood immediately. “You want me to transfer to the International Class which is full of children from noble backgrounds?”

The system said, “Yes. You can receive some luck by merely being in the same class as these people. Although it's not much, it's better than nothing.”

In A High Year Three, which was the school Mingxi was in, aside from the Normal Class, there were classes such as the International Class, the Evergreen Class and the Gold Medal Class.

The latter two were self-explanatory. They mainly consisted of students who excelled in their studies and were regularly chosen for National Competitions.

As for the International Class, it was a place for noble children who were not keen on learning or expanding their skills.

It was also at this point in her past life that she transferred from the Normal Class to the Gold Medal Class.

One of the main reasons was because Shen Liyao, whom she was arranged to be married to since she was a baby, was in the Gold Medal Class.

In her past life, she was quite thick-skinned and genuinely liked Shen Liyao. After all, Shen Liyao was handsome and outstanding in every way, just that his personality was a little cold.

Furthermore, Shen Liyao treated her the same as he did Zhao Yuan— Of course, he was haughty and indifferent toward the both of them.

But this was also something that attracted Mingxi.

However, she failed to pursue him and nothing happened between them in the end.

Mingxi was too lazy to bother about these things anyway. Currently, what was most crucial was her life.

She already died once. Was her family or Shen Liyao of any importance?

“Alright. I’ll apply for it now. I should be part of the International Class starting tomorrow.”

Mingxi had a strong capacity to act. She immediately walked to her study table and turned on her computer. Then, after making minor changes to her already filled in information, which is to replace the words ‘Gold Medal Class’ to ‘International Class’, she sent it to the Dean via email.

After she was done, she took out a luggage bag and opened it on the floor. Then, she began to pack her clothes in it.

It was at that moment that a series of anxious knocks could be heard from her door. Zhao Yuning spoke in a low voice, “Mingxi jie*, Yuanyuan jie has been discharged from the hospital today and just got home. Why are you hiding in your room? While the whole family is downstairs, you should apologize to Yuanyuan jie. Then this whole allergy incident will be over!”

A few days ago, a huge fight took place at home.

Zhao Yuan triggered her nut allergy at He Yang’s family’s chain store. As He Yang was Mingxi’s friend, her family thought that Mingxi had something to do with this incident.

Mingxi was so angry that she went to He Yang’s shop to check the surveillance cameras. But it was not an easy task. In the end, no matter how wronged she felt, she couldn’t prove her innocence.

This was why Mingxi felt like she was an absolute idiot. How was she going to prove her innocence when she didn’t do it in the first place?

Why did she care so much about how her family saw her in her past life? Why was she so afraid that they would hate her?

In the end, she only managed to wrap a cocoon around herself.

Mingxi zipped up the luggage bag and opened the door.

Zhao Yuning almost fell in. Just as he was about to further advise her, he saw Mingxi’s luggage bag. He immediately pulled a face, “Zhao Mingxi, why are you doing this again? Are you running away from home or staying in school this time? You’ll just obediently come back after a few days anyways. Do you really need to go this far because of such a small matter?”

“This is a small matter?” Mingxi had an indifferent expression on her face. The wheels of her luggage bag almost ran over Zhao Yuning’s foot. “Move!”

Zhao Yuning hastily took a step back. When he saw the expression on Mingxi’s face, he was shocked.

Everyone at home either didn’t like Mingxi or distanced themselves from her. When Mingxi first came home, he was about 13 or 14 years old. Thus, he had the closest relationship with Mingxi.

Having lived with her for two years, he had never experienced such a feeling from her. She looked as if she was throwing cold daggers at him and could not wait to draw a line between them— Mingxi had always tried to please him and their family.

At that moment, Zhao Yuning did not think too much about it.

He got angry too, “Isn’t this just a small matter? Even if Yuanyuan jie’s allergy had nothing to do with you— I believe you, alright? But Yuanyuan jie just got discharged from the hospital. Will you die if you say a few caring words? It's precisely because of your stubbornness that the family can’t get along with you!”

“Since we can’t get along, let’s leave it that way.”

Zhao Yuning was so shocked that he stopped walking. He looked at Mingxi’s figure in disbelief.

When Zhao Mingxi said these words, she didn’t carry any emotion in them. It was a plain and simple statement. Her eyes weren’t red and she didn’t even spare him another glance. It seemed different from those words she used to say out of anger.

Zhao Yuning didn’t know why but a sense of foreboding appeared in his heart.

He followed her downstairs.

When Mingxi pulled her luggage bag downstairs, the family members who brought Zhao Yuan home pulled a long face.

Her father was still at the company while Zhao Mu was filming overseas.

Sitting on the sofa, her mother had a supportive arm around Zhao Yuan who had just been discharged from the hospital. She looked at Mingxi in annoyance, “What are you trying to pull this time? Can’t you just behave yourself for a few days?”

Aside from Mingxi and Zhao Yuan, there were five others in the Zhao family.

Her father was fully dedicated to his job, so he seldom bothered about what happens at home.

Her second eldest brother, Zhao Mu, was a little-known actor in the entertainment industry. He never liked Mingxi, hence he would always ridicule and use abusive language against her. The good thing was that due to his schedules, he was always flying around, so he would only be home for a few days in one year.

Aside from her younger brother Zhao Yuning and her mother who were pretty much always at home, there was also her eldest brother Zhao Zhanhuai who was in charge of a company.

As the male lead, he had an outstanding aura and abstinence, but his personality was still quite gentle. However, after finding out from the system that later on he would have a romantic relationship with Zhao Yuan, Mingxi could no longer look him in the eye.

As her mother didn’t really like Mingxi and Mingxi was too lazy to speak to her anymore, she walked straight to Zhao Zhanhuai and took out two papers. “Help me sign these.”

Zhao Zhanhuai could feel a headache coming. “Mingxi, be reasonable. This time—”

Mingxi cut him off, “Just sign them. I’ll be staying in school.”

Her eyes were clear, calm and indifferent. It was a stark contrast to how she used to cry at moments such as this.

Zhao Zhanhuai keenly noticed that there was something different about Mingxi today, but he couldn’t put a finger on what it was.

“Sign it for her!” Her mother’s face was filled with anger. “She only knows how to create a bad mood at home everyday. If she wants to live in school, let her! We’ve already compensated you for what we owed. What else do you want?”

Zhao Zhanhuai was actually a tolerant person. He never blamed Mingxi. He felt like Mingxi was a child who refused to grow up. Her rebelliousness was all because she wanted to take away the attention the family had on Yuanyuan.

But humans were beings with emotions. The relationship they had with Zhao Yuan for the past 15 years was not something that anyone could take away.

Maybe Mingxi should be allowed to go through some hardships at school. After a while, when she realizes what went wrong, she would obediently return to them.

If she stops trying to take them away from Zhao Yuan, Zhao Zhanhuai could still treat her as his biological younger sister.

Zhao Zhanhuai signed half-heartedly.

There were two application forms, one was to stay in school while the other was to change classes.

He had heard from Zhao Yuan that Zhao Mingxi was always bothering the Shen family’s kid in school. It seemed as if she wanted to transfer to his class.

After he was done signing, Mingxi pulled away the papers and walked out of the Zhao family home with her luggage in tow.

The air in September was a little cold, but all she saw was a field of gold. Mingxi took a small breath and put on her mask. She still had time and she could still change her fate. In this life, she would no longer waste her time on pleasing this family. It was not too late.

When her mother saw her attitude, she was so angry that she felt a headache coming. “Just you wait. This brat will definitely come home crying after a few days.”

As Zhao Zhanhuai was closing the cap of the pen, he felt that something was off. He asked Zhao Yuan, “Didn’t you say that Mingxi wanted to transfer to the Gold Medal Class?”

“Yes, ge*.”

Zhao Yuan who had been silent since just now took her head out of her mother’s embrace. “Mingxi has always been running after Liyao gege*. In school, rumors of what she did… All in all, none of them were good. I think the reason why Liyao gege hasn’t been coming over to our house recently is because he wanted some peace and quiet.”

“Then why did it say that she was applying to transfer to the International Class in the application form?”

Zhao Yuan and Zhao Yuning were shocked. “That’s impossible.”

Glossary:
jie - elder sister
gege - elder brother
ge - short form for gege