Chapter 1

The autumn sun was warm and golden that afternoon. A breeze swept through the courtyard, rustling the trees, a perfect lullaby for an afternoon nap.
But Yan Xiao couldn’t sleep.
Her wide, glassy eyes stared unblinking at the ceiling above her bed.
Stars, clouds, and a crescent moon hung from delicate strings. Her gaze fell lower, pink everywhere.
A pink sofa. A pink desk. A pink lamp, pink curtains, pink carpet, pink teddy bear…
It was the dream room of a pampered little princess, every detail dripping with luxury and love.
The wind stirred the curtains, scattering sunlight across her face like a playful sprite, dancing over her forehead, her nose, then swinging mischievously from her long lashes.
Her cheeks, still round with baby fat, glowed with the kind of sweetness that could melt anyone’s heart.
But her tiny brows were furrowed in distress.
Three years ago, right after her college entrance exams, she had suddenly woken up in this world, reborn as the newborn daughter of the wealthy Yan family.
At first, she panicked, crying every day, wishing to go back.
But every time she opened her eyes, hunger screamed louder than homesickness, and she had no choice but to cling to a milk bottle.
Eventually, she accepted her fate.
Sure, it was frustrating to relive life as a baby with adult memories, but being the cherished daughter of one of Rong City’s richest families wasn’t the worst deal.
She’d decided she might as well enjoy it, being a pampered young lady was a win-win situation.
For three years, she’d played her role perfectly.
No one suspected that inside this tiny body lived a twenty-something woman. She was even proud of her acting, privately awarding herself multiple “Best Actress” trophies.
She’d thought her life would stay this blissful forever.
Until, moments ago, as she was drifting off for her nap, a cold mechanical voice had echoed in her head.
It called itself System 007.
And it told her that this world was a novel,
and she was its cannon fodder.
At eighteen, her family would be ruined, and she’d throw herself off a building in despair.
Yan Xiao had stared at the ceiling for a long, long time before her thoughts finally settled.
Then she threw off her blanket, jumped out of bed, and ran barefoot to the mirror.
A tiny girl stared back, porcelain skin, bright eyes, a ribboned bow tied neatly in her hair.
Yan Xiao clenched her little fists, eyes growing red with anger.
In her last life, she hadn’t even lived past eighteen. She’d thought being reborn rich and pretty was divine compensation.
And now she was being told she’d die before eighteen again, and miserably this time? Who could stand that?!
She glared at her reflection, then yanked the bow from her hair and threw it to the floor.
What’s the point of pretending to be cute if I’m doomed anyway?
Then came that voice again:
[There is a way to survive.]
Still fuming, Yan Xiao blinked. How?
[Increase the villain’s hatred value. Once it reaches maximum, you can return to your world.]
It took her a moment to process that.
So, she wasn’t doomed because she’d angered the male lead, but because she’d gotten too close to him, and when the villain destroyed the hero’s family, hers got wiped out in the crossfire.
A textbook plot.
The male lead, Qiu Yan, was the youngest son of Rong City’s wealthiest man, Qiu Chengyi.
He was born a prodigy, drawing masterpieces at two, blessed with the perfect sense of color. The family adored him, grooming him to become a great artist.
But perfect protagonists are boring, so the author gave him a nemesis, his half-brother, Qiu Li, the illegitimate son.
Qiu Li’s mother had tried to use him to replace the legal wife. When that scandal exploded, Qiu Chengyi returned to his marriage, paid off the mistress, and left the boy behind in the Qiu household.
As an illegitimate child born of disgrace, Qiu Li was despised from day one.
His father’s legitimate son, Qiu Zhan, the hero’s elder brother, treated him like dirt. His very existence reminded everyone of the humiliation his mother had caused.
Over time, Qiu Li turned from a quiet, lonely child into a twisted, brooding man, the story’s ultimate villain.
While Qiu Yan basked in praise, Qiu Li lived in shadows.
Jealousy curdled into hatred, and he vowed to destroy everything his half-brother loved.
And he succeeded.
The Qiu family went bankrupt. The father killed himself. The mother lost her sanity. The elder brother died in a car crash. Overnight, the shining family fell to ruin.
Devastated, Qiu Yan clawed his way back up with the heroine’s support, rebuilding his life and sending Qiu Li to prison, closing the story with a happy ending.
The Yan family?
Collateral damage, family friends of the Qius, erased in the chaos.
In short: total cannon fodder.
After the system finished dumping the plot into her brain, Yan Xiao sat there, feeling utterly wronged.
But no matter how unfair the script was, she had only one choice: survive.
“Xiao-xiao?”
Her mother’s gentle voice interrupted her thoughts. The door creaked open, and Chen Ziyi entered, carrying a milk bottle, smiling warmly.
Nearly thirty, yet still radiant and youthful, Chen Ziyi’s beauty was the kind that made people turn heads. When she and her daughter went out together, strangers often mistook them for sisters.
“Awake already?” she asked, crouching down to pinch her daughter’s chubby cheeks. “Such a good girl.”
Normally, Yan Xiao would giggle and burrow into her mother’s arms. But today, she just sat there, blank-faced.
Sensing something wrong, Chen Ziyi scooped her up. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Still sleepy?”
Yan Xiao bit her lip. “No.” She hadn’t slept at all.
“Then you must be hungry.” Her mother chuckled softly, eyes curving like crescent moons. “Here, Mommy warmed your milk.”
The bottle appeared in front of her mouth.
Yan Xiao instinctively leaned back.
No more bottles. No more pretending.
Her mother mistook her hesitation for fussiness and kissed her cheek. “What’s wrong? You don’t want your milk?”
Yan Xiao was just about to argue, maybe it’s time to retire the bottle, when a familiar voice called from downstairs.
“Sis! Is Xiao-xiao awake?”
“She is,” Chen Ziyi replied.
Moments later, Aunt Chen Zilu came bounding up the stairs.
“Oh my,” she teased at the sight of the pouty little girl, “who made our princess upset?”
“Don’t tease her,” Chen Ziyi scolded lightly.
Chen Zilu crouched beside her niece and winked. “Xiao-xiao, drink your milk quickly. When you’re done, Auntie will take you to the Qiu family’s house. Don’t you love playing with that little genius boy?”
The Qiu family?
Yan Xiao’s eyes lit up instantly.
Seeing that reaction, both women laughed. Such enthusiasm!
“Finish your milk first,” her aunt urged. “Then we’ll go.”
Without another thought, Yan Xiao snatched the bottle and gulped it down. When she finished, she wiped her mouth with a flourish and declared, “Let’s go!”
The two women couldn’t help laughing.
“Not so fast,” her aunt said, tugging gently at her messy hair. “Let’s fix this little nest first.”
Yan Xiao was practically vibrating with impatience. She wanted to see the infamous villain with her own eyes.
But there was no winning against an adult.
By the time she was finally dressed in a yellow pinafore dress, hair tied into neat pigtails and a tiny green candy-filled backpack slung on her shoulders, she was ready to burst.
As they headed toward the Qiu residence, Yan Xiao focused all her thoughts on the mission ahead, on how to make the villain hate her.
Yan Xiao quickly realized there was a major problem.
Qiu Li might have been the story’s villain, but for someone so important, there was barely any information about him, just a simple character note: “The Qiu family’s illegitimate son. Traumatized in childhood. Dark, cold, ruthless, merciless. Hates the entire Qiu family. Devotes his life to revenge.”
After reading that line, Yan Xiao’s tiny face wrinkled up like an old tree bark.
How was she supposed to deal with that?
If she didn’t even know what he liked or hated, how was she going to raise his hatred points?
The car rolled to a stop in front of the Qiu family’s grand estate. Yan Xiao took a deep breath, clutching the straps of her candy-green backpack, her expression grave as she waited for her aunt to unbuckle her from the child seat, her little arms were too short to reach.
As soon as she was lifted out of the car and set on her feet, System 007 screamed in her head like a siren:
[TARGET DETECTED!]
The sudden noise startled her so much her knees nearly gave out. She almost ended up kneeling before her aunt.
But she didn’t have time to panic. Scrambling on all fours, she darted out from behind her aunt’s legs, and froze.
There, just outside the glass conservatory, stood a boy about six or seven years old, wearing a tiny vest and drinking milk under the sunlight.
He must’ve sensed her stare, because he lifted his head and met her gaze.
For a moment, Yan Xiao forgot to breathe.
He was an exquisite-looking child, with delicate features and dark, glassy eyes, like polished gemstones. But those eyes were far too cold.
That chill in his gaze stripped the softness from his pale face, leaving only a quiet, distant gloom no child his age should ever carry.
So this…is the villain?
Before the thought even finished forming, the system answered bluntly:
[Correct.]
Yan Xiao felt a mess of emotions swirl inside her.
She looked down at her own small, pudgy hands, bit her lip, and sighed.
He was only six! How was she supposed to “antagonize” a six-year-old?
And one that looked this difficult to approach?
The system’s monotone voice cut through her hesitation:
[Then you die.]
Yan Xiao hesitated for just a second before charging forward on her stubby legs.
No way she was dying. She’d just…test the waters. Figure out what kind of behavior actually increased his dislike value, while making sure she didn’t scar the poor boy for life, or get herself killed.
In a blink, she stood right in front of him.
Qiu Li didn’t move. He didn’t even blink, just quietly continued drinking his milk. His straight nose glinted faintly under the sunlight, and his half-lowered eyelids hid whatever sharpness lingered beneath. Still and composed, he looked almost gentle, if you didn’t know better.
Staring at the villain who seemed to regard her as invisible, Yan Xiao’s little face stiffened.
All right then, if you love milk so much…
She reached out, grabbed the milk carton from his hand, and threw it straight onto the grass.
The milk splattered across the ground.
When she looked back up, the boy’s expression had changed. The faint tremor in his lashes, the subtle furrow of his brows, the flicker of disbelief in those dark eyes, even at six, he managed to look both startled and quietly furious.
Yan Xiao: “…”
Qiu Li: “…”

Author’s note:
Baby Qiu Li: Oh… no more disgusting milk. What a relief! (#^.^#)
[Reverse Operation +1]