Refusing to marry a widower, I went on a crazy spree of sending my children to the army.

A feeling of suffocation came over her, and Qiao Manman opened her eyes to find that the lake water around her was desperately rushing into her nostrils, which frightened her so much that she hurriedly struggled upwards.

However, not far away, a man with yellow teeth and a pungent breath grinned lewdly at her: "Manman, don't be afraid, your brother is here! Hehehe!"

Qiao Manman's vision blurred as she noticed the person getting closer and closer.

A greasy hand reached for her waist, and Qiao Manman felt nauseous, her head spinning even more.

A flood of memories flashed through her mind, giving her a general understanding of her current situation.

Qiao Manman didn't dare to delay. She took a deep breath and sank down. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she dragged Zhao Dahu down to the bottom of the lake.

Seeing a clump of water plants at the bottom of the lake, she quickly grabbed them from Zhao Dahu's ankle.

A faint voice echoed in my mind: "Beep... Dimensional Contract... Host binding in progress... Successful..."

Qiao Manman shook her head and surfaced. After glancing around to make sure no one was there, she quickly got out of the water and headed straight for Old Qiao's house.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to jump down to save the person, Lu Yifeng grabbed his arm: "Come on up! Come on up! Boss, that girl was really strong!"

"Something's not right. I'll go after them and check it out. You stay here and keep watch, make sure nothing happens to Zhao Dahu!"

Lu Yifeng didn't take it seriously: "Zhao Dahu is a good swimmer, how could anything happen to him? If we hadn't arrived a step too late, that girl wouldn't have been frightened."

Lu Yifeng glanced at the slightly calm water and said, "Boss, let's hurry. Maybe something really urgent has happened to that girl. If we run fast, we can get there and help her."

Lu Yuan gave him a meaningful look, didn't refute, and strode off in the direction Qiao Manman had run.

At this moment, Qiao Manman was running wildly while recalling the plot in her mind, feeling like she was in a frenzy.

She was just lying in bed taking a nap, doing nothing wrong, and yet she somehow transmigrated. She even transmigrated into a period novel she had once read.

In the novel, she tragically falls into the water and is rescued by an old widower in the village in full view of everyone. She is then forced to marry him and become Zhao Dahu's third wife.

She was also beaten three times a day because she couldn't get pregnant. The beatings left her skin lacerated and raw, and she couldn't endure it for three years before she passed away.

There was no coffin placed on him; he was simply wrapped in a tattered mat and thrown into the grave.

As for Li Chuncao, who pushed her into the water, she got a sum of money as she wished and married Wang Zhengbao, an educated youth sent to the countryside.

Her dear cousin, taking advantage of her falling into the water, ransacked her mother's belongings and stole a jade bracelet and a silver lock.

Three months later, he went north with the army. In order to get along well with the female lead, who had become the wife of the regimental commander, he took the initiative to give her the treasure.

In short, the three key figures in the Green Mountain Brigade are all just cannon fodder in the book, serving the female protagonist in everything they do.

Qiao Manman cursed him countless times in her heart before running back to Old Qiao's house, panting heavily.

It was early summer, and the villagers were all busy in the fields. The Qiao family was no exception; except for Qiao Zhenzhen, everyone was earning work points in the fields.

I don't know if Qiao Zhenzhen trusted Li Chuncao's schemes too much, but she did something bad by not even closing the front door.

Of course, it might also be related to the prevailing social norms of the time. Locking the door in broad daylight would make people think you were up to something shady.

Qiao Manman pushed open the door and entered, grabbing the door latch as she went, and tiptoed toward the west wing.

As she got closer, she heard Qiao Zhenzhen's smug and arrogant laughter through the slightly ajar door: "Hey, I didn't expect Third Aunt to be quite well-off!"

Qiao Manman saw the gold and silver peanuts scattered on the bed and couldn't resist kicking the door open.

To Qiao Zhenzhen's shock and horror, he swung the door latch and knocked the man unconscious with a single blow.

He took off the jade bracelet from her wrist and instinctively put it on his own arm, but the bracelet had vanished.

The next second, the system's voice became clear: "Congratulations, host, on binding with the Dimensional Sign-in System. Would you like to claim your newbie gift pack?"

Qiao Manman replied "yes" without hesitation, and then a lot of things came to mind.

"Congratulations, host, on receiving the newbie gift pack—one cubic meter of supplies, one Renewal Talisman, one Truth Talisman, one Fertility Pill (99% chance of conceiving twins), ten Black Jade Rejuvenation Plasters, and ten fever reducers."

Qiao Manman asked the system, "Can the system space collect resources from the outside world?"

The system replied, "Sure, host!"

Qiao Manman gave a soft "hmm" and reached out to the pile of gold and silver peanuts, preparing to put them into her system space.

Before his fingers could even touch anything, they were grabbed by a large hand.

Qiao Manman was startled and turned her head to look. She saw the man frowning slightly and saying with a sharp look in his eyes, "Little girl, stealing is not a good thing!"

Qiao Manman felt a little pain from being pinched, and struggled a bit, but found that the man was very strong and she couldn't break free at all.

"Let go!" she said angrily.

Lu Yuan not only didn't let go, but tightened his grip. His rough fingers brushed against her delicate skin, and his gaze deepened.

Qiao Manman drew upon her memories and realized that this person was none other than the legendary original male lead, now the second male lead—Lu Yuan.

Recalling the plot about him, a look of disgust appeared on her face: "Let go, or I'll call for help!"

Lu Yuan was confused when he heard Qiao Manman shout, "Help! There's a leak..."

Before the word "rogue" could even be uttered, Lu Yuan dodged three zhang away as if avoiding a plague: "Comrade, you can't just say things like that."

Qiao Manman raised her hand and looked at it; her wrist was red.

She glared at him angrily: "Are you really blind! This is my house, okay? The one who's been stealing is clearly her!"

Qiao Manman tapped Qiao Zhenzhen with her chin, but Lu Yuan showed no expression at all.

Qiao Manman ignored him, reached out and stuffed the gold and silver peanuts on the kang into her pocket, then searched Qiao Zhenzhen's pockets.

Seeing that Lu Yuan hesitated to speak, Qiao Manman directly put the silver locket and 25.36 yuan from Qiao Zhenzhen's pocket into the system space.

He rummaged through the mouse hole a couple more times to make sure there was nothing inside before going out, bumping Lu Yuan with his shoulder as he did so.

"Let's go. What are we doing here? Aren't you afraid that Qiao Zhenzhen will wake up and falsely accuse you of indecent behavior towards her?"

Lu Yuan subconsciously followed Qiao Manman's steps and, seeing that her clothes were still dripping wet, asked, "Aren't you going to change your clothes?"

Qiao Manman raised an eyebrow: "No trade!"

Before receiving the newbie gift pack, Qiao Manman would definitely need to change her clothes.

After all, her thin clothes clung to her body, outlining her beautiful figure, and if other men saw her, it would inevitably lead to gossip.

But now, she has a renewal charm; she just sticks it on her body, and her clothes become clean and fresh.

Lu Yuan stopped her: "It's not good for you to go out like this!"

Qiao Manman scoffed: "What, Lu Zhiqing hasn't even taken responsibility for me yet, and you're already trying to boss me around?"

Without waiting for a reply, Qiao Manman slipped away.

He took out a Renewal Charm from the system space and stuck it on his body. His wet clothes dried instantly and even looked a bit newer.

Fortunately, clothes from that era were all drab and dull, so you wouldn't notice the difference unless you looked closely.

Qiao Manman rushed out the door, and Lu Yifeng, who was standing at the door keeping watch, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

Just as she was about to turn her head, she saw Lu Yuan come out with a dark face. Without saying a word, he chased after Qiao Manman and ran towards the lake.