Yu An had stayed up all night reading a novel, and ended up dozing off at the school sports meet the next day.
It would have been worth it if the novel had been any good, but halfway through she discovered the book was a complete bait-and-switch—and the protagonist even shared her exact name.
At first, Yu An had picked it up for the slice-of-life farming in an ancient-style yuri ABO novel, only to realize partway in that “farming” meant nothing of the sort—this was straight-up smut.
The kind with one protagonist and a whole harem of love interests.
She’d liked the second female lead’s characterization, but the woman’s screen time was even scarcer than the third and fourth leads’. Once she finally understood what kind of novel this was, Yu An dropped it without hesitation.
She’d quit at two in the morning. After barely four hours of sleep, her roommate shook her awake.
Today was the school sports meet, and she had several events: the 100-meter dash, the long jump, and the 4×100 relay. She’d spent the whole morning running with decent results across the board, and had just settled in for an after-lunch nap when a classmate woke her.
“Were you out burgling houses last night? We’re on deck soon.”
Bleary-eyed, Yu An answered reluctantly, “Got it.”
With that, she closed her eyes again. Seeing her drift off, the classmate sat down beside her and nudged her twice.
“How are you still sleeping? Your race is in half an hour—we need to head over now…”
Getting no reaction, her classmate asked with concern, “Yu An, are you feeling unwell?”
Arms crossed over her chest, Yu An leaned back in her chair. She could hear her classmate calling her, but it was as if she were locked in a nightmare—unable to move, unable to do anything.
Her classmate’s voice and the noise of the sports field drifted farther and farther away, while other voices—men’s and women’s alike—drew closer, growing louder and more chaotic.
“Isn’t that the Alpha from the Yu family?”
“That’s her. Heard she lost another bet—someone must’ve taught her a lesson.”
“Tsk tsk. She does nothing but evil all day. She had it coming!”
Does nothing but evil? Taught a lesson?
Who? Her?
Beyond the gossip, Yu An heard a woman crying. The voice was right beside her, and its owner was shaking her body. “Sister Yu, what’s the matter with you? Sob, sob…”
Struggling to open her eyes, Yu An found a girl of fifteen or sixteen kneeling at her side, dressed in a pink, high-waisted ruqun, crying so pitifully she looked like a pear blossom drenched in rain.
Quite a crowd had gathered around them, men and women alike, pointing and whispering.
The moment the girl saw she was awake, her tears gave way to a smile, her voice soft and bright. “Sister Yu, you’re finally awake…”
But before she could finish, Yu An heard footsteps approaching from behind the crowd—five or six people by the sound of it.
The crowd parted, and Yu An saw the man at their head bellow in a rough, gravelly voice, “Where is Yu An???”
The moment her eyes met the man’s, she froze. The girl beside her pushed at her frantically. “Sister Yu, run!”
Given this setup, Yu An was genuinely dumbfounded.
She had literally just been asleep—how had she woken up lying by a river???
There was no time to think it through. She rolled to her feet and bolted in the direction opposite the crowd.
When it came to speed, few could catch a sprint specialist like Yu An—especially not with her running first.
But these clothes were seriously slowing her down.
It wasn’t just that crowd wearing strange, outlandish garments—the outfit on her own body was strange too.
If not for the unfamiliar restriction when she ran, she wouldn’t have noticed her clothes had changed. Looking down, she found herself in a jujube-red, round-collar robe with embroidery.
Yu An fled ahead with pursuers at her heels. As she passed the crowd, the man who had led them seized the girl who’d been kneeling beside her and roared, “Disgraceful! Get your ass home!”
With a violent fling, he threw the girl to the ground, and she wailed harder than before.
Yu An had no time to spare for any of that. She ran from the riverside all the way into the village, where the crisscrossing alleys made her dizzy. She picked a fork at random and kept going.
As she ran, she tried to work out her situation.
She thought for a while…
Couldn’t figure it out. Better to keep running first.
Unfamiliar with the roads, Yu An kept circling the village. She was fast, but there were too many pursuers—and besides, everyone here knew her face.
“Isn’t that Yu An? Did somebody beat her up again?”
“Doesn’t look like it. Didn’t you see the Village Head chasing her just now?”
Hearing their gossip as she darted past, Yu An skidded to a stop and doubled back. “Who did you say was chasing me?”
Perhaps recalling Yu An’s fearsome reputation, the gossiping pair flashed her a smile and bolted into their own homes. The speed at which those doors slammed shut left Yu An dumbstruck.
The road ahead was a dead end. She turned to switch routes—only to come face to face with the very people chasing her.
Putting two and two together from that couple’s exchange, the man at the head had to be… the Village Head?
A title both familiar and foreign.
Foreign, because Yu An—a twenty-first-century soul—had heard of village chiefs, town heads, township heads, everything except a “Village Head.”
Familiar, because the novel she’d read just yesterday… had mentioned Village Heads many times.
Combined with the “Alpha” talk she’d heard upon waking, and the Village Head…
Yu An suspected she had most likely transmigrated into a book.
She raised a hand in front of herself and said evenly, “Sir… Village Head, shall we talk this over calmly?”
The Village Head was so taken aback by this that he forgot to respond.
Seeing her chance, Yu An continued, “There must be some misunderstanding between us…”
“A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding could there possibly be? I’d recognize you even if you turned to ash.” The words had clearly set the Village Head off—he puffed his beard and bulged his eyes, glaring as though he wanted to devour her whole.
“Yu An, you’re forever running over to my house every couple of days. Don’t think I don’t know exactly what you’re scheming!” With that, the Village Head stepped forward, and the men behind him followed.
From the looks of it, no matter what she said today, a beating was unavoidable.
Other than running, Yu An couldn’t think of a single way out.
She pushed off the ground, ready to bolt—but the villagers closing in from every direction blocked her instantly.
They were all villagers. Though none seemed intent on beating her, their disdain was thick. With that many bodies standing in the way, Yu An couldn’t have escaped if she tried.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. “Look at the Yu family’s Alpha, all dressed up like a proper person. Every day it’s either the brothel, or bullying young wives, or toying with young widows.”
“Oh, and those unwed Omega young ladies too—like the Village Head’s own daughter.”
The gossip bored into Yu An’s ears, erasing her last sliver of doubt. She truly had transmigrated into the scumbag Alpha of last night’s smut novel.
Yu An had no comeback. None of it was her doing, but right now, she was the scumbag!
Just as she was about to drown under the spray of their tongues, a path suddenly opened through the crowd, and a woman in a white ruqun came walking slowly toward her.
Yu An stared, transfixed, and in her distraction, the Village Head’s men shoved her to the ground. She didn’t struggle, her eyes glued besottedly to the approaching woman.
The fabric of the white ruqun was nothing special, but the woman’s skin was fair with a rosy glow, and her eyes were clear yet bewitching—her expression merely a touch aloof.
Dazzled by that beauty, Yu An registered none of this. She only thought the woman’s voice sounded ever so gentle.
“Uncle Cao, what wrong has my Qianjun done to warrant such an uproar?”
—
[T/N: 乾君 (Qiánjūn) — In an ancient ABO setting, this is the title a 坤泽 (Kūnzé / Omega) uses to address or refer to their wedded 乾元 (Qiányuán / Alpha) partner. It serves the same marital role as “husband” or “head of the household,” but without the male-specific character for husband (夫).]
