Chapter One: A Balance of Twenty-Eight Cents After the First Swipe

"Sue Nian, with your current status, you’re no longer worthy of me!"

"Let’s break up. You make it official—just say we’re parting on good terms."

Sue Nian opened her eyes to the grating voice of a man ringing in her ears. After working nonstop for thirty-six hours and barely managing a short nap, who was this unfortunate soul disturbing her peace?

Irritated and heavy with resentment, Sue Nian immediately slapped him across the face.

The smack was loud and sharp, snapping her out of her drowsiness and silencing the man before her.

Once she fully took in the unfamiliar face, her eyes widened, and she reflexively grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder in a flawless throw.

Li Ming’en felt as though his body had fallen apart, his screams filling the room.

"Sue Nian, are you insane?"

Sue Nian rubbed her ear, her expression cold and impatient. "Another pretty face sent by the competition? Sallow skin, flat chest like a dog trampled on you—if I’m not mistaken, your height’s a lie too. At least five centimeters of lifts in your shoes, right?"

"Short, ugly, and pathetic—sending me this, your boss must be desperate!"

"I’ll give you three seconds. Get out of here right now, or I’ll have you prosecuted for trespassing and harassment!"

Li Ming’en could never have imagined that he, coming here to break up with the lovesick Sue Nian, would be met with such a reception. He’d expected her to beg tearfully at his feet. Instead, she slapped him, threw him, and now insulted his dignity!

His shoe lifts were only four centimeters, for heaven’s sake! Damn it—Sue Nian knew that was his sore spot; how dare she!

Oh, he understood now. She must have realized he was determined to break up, so she was deliberately acting out of character to get his attention.

"Sue Nian, do you think you’re the heroine of some novel? Let me tell you, I never cared for you before, and I care even less now. Just seeing you disgusts me, you pathetic simp. If you don’t want things to get ugly, sign this breakup agreement now!"

Looking at the man barking like a rabid dog, Sue Nian frowned. Breakup agreement?

She—who cared for nothing but her work, who had become deputy director of an entertainment conglomerate before thirty, a queen of ambition and drive—had never even held a man’s hand. What romance was there to end?

Perplexed, she took the agreement from Li Ming’en. But when she saw the bold names "Sue Nian" and "Li Ming’en" in the contract, her mind buzzed.

She rapidly flipped through the agreement, faster and faster. When she finished, she realized something shocking—she had transmigrated into a book.

She was now living in a romance novel her company had just acquired the rights to, inhabiting the body of a lovesick supporting character doomed to die if she didn’t fall in love.

And both she and the character shared the same name.

The noisy man before her, as annoying as a quacking duck, was Sue Nian’s contract boyfriend and secret crush.

They’d both graduated from the same film academy; Li Ming’en was her senior and once the talk of the school. Sue Nian had chased him for ages, humiliating herself as an obsessive fan. Finally, after she became popular with a web drama and rose to B-list fame, she received the attention of Li Ming’en, who had lingered unnoticed on the D-list.

When Li Ming’en proposed a relationship contract, the lovestruck Sue Nian signed without hesitation, making her manager furious enough to land in the hospital.

For two years, they were bound together—Sue Nian, ever the lovesick fool, acted as housekeeper and ATM, even lowering her own status to star as the female lead in the trashy dramas Li Ming’en meticulously selected.

Thanks to Sue Nian’s tireless self-sacrifice, she managed to push Li Ming’en up to C-list, while destroying her own reputation and career overnight.

Li Ming’en, focused solely on his own advancement, dumped her the moment she was no longer useful.

Now, with all the plot clear in her mind, Sue Nian was silent.

No man was worth it. She must have lost her mind to sacrifice herself for a man, paving his way to success. She deserved the consequences.

Seeing Sue Nian staring at the contract in a daze and no longer acting out, Li Ming’en assumed she’d finally come to her senses.

He cleared his throat. "After all, we’ve been together for two years. It’s understandable if you can’t let go..."

Before he could finish his self-important speech, Sue Nian bit her finger and signed her name in blood on the contract.

She snapped a photo, returned the breakup agreement to Li Ming’en, and said, "Get out. Now."

Li Ming’en had expected her to weep and beg for him back, especially since just yesterday she’d threatened suicide if he broke up with her.

Her sudden decisiveness left him at a loss.

"Sue Nian, don’t do anything drastic..."

He didn’t want to end up in the headlines because of her.

"I’m not heartless either," he added, "Here’s the income card you gave me. I’m returning it."

He set down the card and hurried away, terrified she’d try to extort him if he stayed a moment longer.

Sue Nian glanced at the bank card on the table, thinking at least Li Ming’en still had a shred of humanity left.

Until she went to the bank and checked the balance: twenty-eight cents.

"This bastard belongs in the animal realm. Out of a million, he left twenty-eight cents. Incredible!"

Sue Nian laughed coldly. He dared to swindle her out of money—one day she’d make him pay back every cent!

She snapped a photo of the card, her face dark as she left the bank.

No sooner had she exited than her phone chimed with several messages: a credit card overdraft alert, a hotel bill due, and a monthly payment notification.

Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands...

"Damn!" Sue Nian nearly smashed her phone in rage.

Luckily, she restrained herself—breaking it would just cost more money to fix.

Not only was the original Sue Nian lovesick, she was a spendthrift!

As Sue Nian fumed at her predecessor’s failures and pondered her future, a call came in from "Mommy."

"Nian Nian, your dad’s stubborn as a mule, never listens to anyone. But if you just apologize and admit you were wrong, he’ll restore your monthly allowance to two hundred thousand and hook you up with industry connections."

"How much?" Sue Nian barely heard anything except the words "two hundred thousand a month."

Mrs. Lin Qingyue was puzzled—her daughter, usually impossible to persuade, suddenly sounded excited. Taking this as a good sign, she pressed on, "I know you think two hundred thousand’s not enough. Don’t worry, if you make your dad happy, I’ll help you negotiate it up to five hundred thousand!"

"Okay, Mom, I’ll come home right away. Which do you think is best for an apology—washboard, durian, or a switch?"

Lin Qingyue was speechless. Was her daughter out of her mind?

Half an hour later, with five hundred yuan sponsored by Mrs. Lin, Sue Nian bought two durians and took a cab straight to her family’s villa estate.

As soon as she was welcomed in, she spotted her father, Mr. Su, wearing reading glasses in the living room, reviewing the day’s financial reports.

Sue Nian found her angle, slid to her knees with the two durians on her back, and hugged her father’s leg.

"Dad, I was wrong. I was blind and foolish to ignore your advice and date that toad Li Ming’en from the gutter. If you’re still angry, just smash my head with these durians!"