Chapter 1: Reborn as the Wicked Stepmother, Rescuing the Baby in the Snow

“Wretched girl! Worthless thing! Why don’t you just die? You bring nothing but misfortune—you killed your parents, and now you want to ruin our Zhou family too!”
The sharp, venomous curses pierced Zhou Susu’s ears like needles, pain making her head feel as though it might split open.
She suddenly opened her eyes. What she saw was a mottled, yellowing wall, and tacked upon it, a large New Year print declaring “Labor is Most Honorable.”
A flood of memories, not her own, surged into her mind like a dam burst.
The 1980s. A northern courtyard. She too was Zhou Susu.
A woman notorious throughout the villages for being a “vixen,” she had used her beauty to scheme her way into marrying Lu Zhan, a man with a promising future.
But before their wedding, Lu Zhan returned from his hometown with a three-and-a-half-year-old child named Anan—an orphan left behind by a friend.
The original Susu despised Anan as a burden; from the moment she entered the household, she never treated the child kindly—beatings and scoldings were routine.
Now, the woman howling outside like a shrew was Susu’s own mother, Wang Cuifen.
“Susu, listen to your mother—ignore that little brat! Let her freeze! She’s nothing but a leech, and you really think she’s precious? Lu Zhan’s monthly allowance is barely enough, and it all disappears into this bottomless pit!” Wang Cuifen was still pounding on the door, spittle flying.
Zhou Susu’s heart clenched painfully.
She remembered!
Just moments ago, Anan was burning with fever, crying for her mother.
The original Susu, annoyed by the noise, had thrown the child out into knee-deep snow, locked the door, and left her own mother outside to “educate” the child.
“Damn!”
As a gold-medal pediatric nutritionist from a top-tier hospital in the twenty-first century, Zhou Susu cursed aloud.
This was murder!
“Why do you care about her? She’s a useless girl—Lu Zhan only took her in out of pity. Are you really going to raise her for a lifetime?” Wang Cuifen’s voice was still shrill. “Hurry up, while Lu Zhan’s not home, send the girl back to her cruel grandmother’s house—let them deal with her!”
Zhou Susu’s blood rushed to her head.
She leapt out of bed barefoot, not even feeling the cold beneath her feet, and dashed madly toward the door.
With a bang, she yanked the door open.
Outside, Wang Cuifen stood with hands on hips, caught mid-tirade and startled.
“You… you wretched girl, why are you glaring at me?”
Zhou Susu ignored her, her gaze fixed on the small figure nearly buried in white snow in the courtyard.
It was a little girl, so frail she looked like a bean sprout, dressed in nothing but a thin, faded, tattered shirt.

Her small body curled up in the snow, motionless; her face and lips were blue and purple from the cold, only her tiny hands clutching at the door frame, as if she still hoped to crawl inside.
All around her, the snow was stamped with chaotic footprints—evidence of Wang Cuifen’s recent “education.”
Zhou Susu’s heart felt as if gripped by an invisible fist, the pain nearly suffocating her.
“So vicious from the very start…” she murmured, her eyes reddening instantly.
“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and shut the door—the cold wind’s coming in!” Wang Cuifen reached to pull Zhou Susu back.
“Get out!”
Zhou Susu shoved her hand away with such force that Wang Cuifen staggered.
“You… you dare push me? You’re out of line!”
Zhou Susu had no time for argument. Without even putting on shoes, she ran straight into the snow.
The icy snow wrapped around her ankles in an instant, the biting cold shooting up to her head, yet she paid it no mind.
All she saw was Anan, buried in the snow.
She dropped to her knees and, with trembling hands, dug the child out of the drift.
The small body was as light as a feather, yet as cold and hard as iron.
“Anan? Anan, wake up!” Zhou Susu’s voice shook.
The little one in her arms did not respond, only the faintest, barely perceptible breath proved she was still alive.
Clutching the child, Zhou Susu rushed back inside, slamming the door shut with all her strength, then bolted it, shutting Wang Cuifen’s curses out.
“Zhou Susu, you heartless creature! You lock your own mother outside for a stranger! You’ll get no good in the end!”
Inside, Zhou Susu laid Anan on the bed and quickly checked her condition.
High fever, severe frostbite, weak breathing, purple lips… classic critical hypothermia, her heartbeat could stop at any moment!
“There’s no time to get to the clinic!”
She made a snap decision. Her mind flashed with the sudden appearance of a system when she’d rushed out the door.
With a thought, a translucent interface appeared before her eyes, visible only to her—a modern shop, its shelves packed with everything from fresh produce to daily necessities.
It was the “front shop, back warehouse” she’d just rented before transmigrating, preparing to open a private kitchen, stocked full of carefully chosen supplies worth millions!
No time for excitement now—saving the child came first!
“Antipyretic! Thermometer! Blanket!”

With a thought, an electronic thermometer, a bottle of children’s ibuprofen suspension, and a plush coral fleece blanket appeared instantly in her hands.
She quickly measured Anan’s temperature—39.8°C!
She pried open Anan’s frozen jaw, gently fed her the sweet medicine, wiped her body with warm water to lower her fever, and finally wrapped her tightly in the soft, dry coral blanket, leaving only her pale face exposed.
Having finished everything, Zhou Susu collapsed at the bedside, gasping for breath.
She looked at the small, pitiful life lying on the bed, her heart aching with every beat.
In the original Susu’s memories, this child named Anan had never eaten a full meal, never worn a warm garment, her body always layered with old and new wounds.
She was so small, so gentle, she didn’t even dare cry loudly.
“Don’t worry, you have me now.” Zhou Susu reached out, gently stroking Anan’s thin face, her voice hoarse but full of tenderness. “From today on, if anyone dares to hurt you again, they’ll pay with their life.”
The small Anan seemed to sense the warmth, unconsciously snuggling closer, like a young beast seeking shelter.
Zhou Susu’s heart melted completely.
She hugged the child even tighter, warming her with her own body heat.
Just as exhaustion overtook her and she began to plan her next steps—
“Creak—”
The bolted door was suddenly kicked open from outside.
A fierce gust of wind and snow swept in, and a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark green coat stood in the doorway.
Snow still clung to his shoulders, and he looked like an unsheathed sword, radiating a chilling, deadly aura.
His hawk-like gaze swept over the chaos and locked onto Zhou Susu, cradling the child on the bed.
When he saw Anan’s face—white as paper, lifeless—the warmth in his eyes dropped to freezing, murderous intent thick enough to touch.
This was the master of the house, Lu Zhan.
He had rushed home from another city, only to find his venomous wife holding the child he cherished above all, that child unconscious.
His clenched fists crackled, his voice cold as ice, each word striking Zhou Susu.
“Zhou Susu, what have you done to Anan?”