Chapter 1: Ancient Profound Iron

【Asking for the one thousandth and one time: When will Tang Qiaoqiao leave the entertainment circle?】

【Chasing a male celebrity and getting rebuffed on the street. So embarrassing. Fortunately, Shen Liang wasn't blind. If she had stuck to him, he would have been in big trouble.】

【I really don't understand how Tang Qiaoqiao managed to debut in the first place. What does she have besides her looks? She can't sing or act. She's just a pretty face with no substance!】

【Claiming she's naturally beautiful is a scam. Tang Qiaoqiao's face must have gone under the knife countless times, it’s all hidden behind her heavy makeup. It's so fake, it's laughable.】

【Posting everywhere to create a noble, 'Baifumei' image. But the moment she appeared on the show, she was exposed. Vulgar and ignorant.】

[T/N: 'Baifumei' refers to a fair-skinned, rich, and beautiful woman - a desirable archetype in China.]

【Uh-oh, guys, I've watched the animated clip of Tang Qiaoqiao, showing her being rejected by Shen Liang dozens of times. It's absolutely magical. Maybe she should change her name to Tangpupu.】

[T/N: "Pupu" is a colloquial term, a verb to describe when someone is (figuratively) slapped in the face, and it's used here in a derogatory sense.]

【I've made an emoticon pack, everyone is free to download and use. When-Shen-Liang-puts-his-sunglasses-on,noone-shall-spoil-his-fun.gif. Let’s make Tangpupu a trend!!!】

【I’d say this is the peak of Tang Qiaoqiao's career. She should cherish it because she won't get another chance to make headlines in the future. Hahahaha.】

Netizens had been attacking Tang Qiaoqiao one after another, and the whole internet was filled with a sense of satisfaction. At the same time, the subject of this scandal was watching the animated clip that the entire internet community was mocking.

She kept replaying it over and over again. After a while, she finally accepted the fact that she had entered the plot of a melodramatic novel set in the entertainment industry. This was truly... Incredible!

[T/N: "Melodramatic novels" refer to stories with excessive emotional drama that evoke suffering in readers.]

She was not from this world but from an ancient realm of cultivation. Yet, she wasn’t a Taoist practitioner aiming for immortality. Instead, she was a giant iron ladle in the hands of a highly skilled master chef in the world of cultivation.

She may be the first iron ladle to attain consciousness in thousands of years. Her body was made of ancient profound iron and possessed its own qi.

Constantly surrounded by abundant qi at the Taoist school, it was not unexpected for her to cultivate spiritual consciousness.

However, who knew how many years it would take to progress from having spiritual consciousness to having a human body. Many spirits never managed to achieve a physical form in their lifetimes. This was even more agonizing than not having consciousness at all.

But shortly after gaining spiritual consciousness, a bolt of lightning struck her, transporting her into the novel "Real and Fake Daughter: Loved by the Top Celebrity." She was now Tang Qiaoqiao, the true daughter of the Tang family that got exchanged at the hospital by mistake. While the fake Tang daughter, Tang Rou, was the protagonist.

Despite being the fake daughter, Tang Rou was loved by everyone in the Tang family more than the real one.

Using her powerful protagonist aura, she captivated numerous men. And amongst all the men she had enthralled, Shen Liang, the current top superstar, was the male lead.

Shen Liang and Tang Rou engaged in more than three hundred chapters of infatuation and emotional turmoil, a tangle of mutual pursuit and emotional struggles. They were enmeshed in a love-hate relationship.

The real daughter merely served as a foil to the heroine. Tang Qiaoqiao was narrow-minded, lacked intellect, and envied everything about the heroine, including Shen Liang.

Later in the plot, she even married his partially paralyzed uncle, Shen Yue, in an attempt to get close to the male lead and take revenge on the heroine. The original host devoted herself to sabotaging the relationship between the hero and heroine, but it ultimately led to a tragic ending.

She was abandoned by both the Shen and Tang families, left ruined and full of resentment, completing her life as a disposable side character.

This time, the incident that led to her mockery by netizens happened at the opening ceremony of a hotel. The original Tang Qiaoqiao had some wine and, in her borrowed sense of boldness, tried to confess to Shen Liang, who was about to leave, outside the hotel.

Shen Liang, as a top celebrity, couldn't be seen physically entangled with a woman, so he roughly brushed her hand aside with a face of disgust. The original Tang Qiaoqiao fell to the ground in extreme embarrassment as Shen Liang donned his sunglasses, sat in his sports car, and drove away.

Moreover, everything was recorded by Shen Liang's countless fans and turned into a widely circulated joke.

For the iron ladle spirit—or rather, the now Tang Qiaoqiao—this was quite a debacle.

As Tang Qiaoqiao sorted out the information in her mind, she had only one thought– ‘Thank the heavens and earth, and thank goodness for that thunderstrike!’ Without it, how could she have a human body? And a female one, at that!

Back when she was in the Taoist kitchen, rough and burly men were everywhere, none of the cute and delicate junior sisters ever ventured near the kitchen. At the time, she secretly vowed to become a woman in the future.

Perhaps, her earnest wish had been heard by some higher power, granting her this chance.

"Bang... Bang!" A series of muffled noises from upstairs interrupted Tang Qiaoqiao's thoughts.

She opened the door and saw Aunt Wang rushing down the stairs in a fluster.

"What's going on?"

Aunt Wang panted, "Master isn't eating. He's throwing a tantrum and breaking things."

Tang Qiaoqiao glanced at the second floor. Despite being married to Shen Yue for a month, she hadn't ventured upstairs yet. "I'll go check on him."

Aunt Wang stopped her, "Madam, it's not advisable. Master has said that without his permission, no one is allowed upstairs."

Tang Qiaoqiao raised an eyebrow. "I'm his wife. Can't I go up?"

Aunt Wang looked conflicted. "Madam, do you not remember? When you first arrived, Master told you not to go upstairs. You even said... that you wouldn't go upstairs even if he were to die. You instructed us to keep you uninformed regarding anything related to your husband on the first floor because it's considered unlucky."

Tang Qiaoqiao was taken aback. "Did I really say such rude words?"

Aunt Wang nodded, a touch of reproach in her gaze.

The original Tang Qiaoqiao seemed to have gone to great lengths to paint herself as the antagonist in all respects.

Aunt Wang added, "Master is in a bad mood right now. No one can calm him down. It's better to wait until he's calmer. Going up now might only worsen the situation."

Tang Qiaoqiao hesitated for a moment and then smiled at Aunt Wang. "Don't worry. I'll just take a quick look and come back down."

Aunt Wang couldn't argue any further.

Tang Qiaoqiao ascended to the second floor and found a mess outside Shen Yue's bedroom, with the dishes and food spilled all over the ground.

'What a waste!'

She cautiously approached the door, but before she could get close, a glass almost hit her face. Luckily, she managed to catch it with her right hand. The timing was perfect; otherwise, she might have been injured.

Inside the room, the man didn't hear the expected sound of glass shattering. He knew someone had come upstairs. "I said I don't want to eat, and I don't need your help. Just leave me alone!"

The man's voice was hoarse and brimming with hostility. Anyone else might have retreated in fear, but Tang Qiaoqiao, a member of the Iron Ladle Clan (albeit the only one in the world), wasn't one to back down easily.

She carefully maneuvered around the scattered food and broken dishes on the floor before stepping into the room. Even in broad daylight, the curtains were drawn, and the lights were off. The only illumination came from the corridor, casting a faint glow on the large bed in the center of the room, where a figure lay with his back turned.

Treading lightly, Tang Qiaoqiao moved closer. As she did, a peculiar scent filled her nostrils, akin to decaying vegetation.

The man inside suddenly tensed at the sound of footsteps. He knew that someone had entered the room. "I said I’m not eating! Get out!"

"If you don’t eat, then how will you be able to recover?" Tang Qiaoqiao's voice was soft and sweet as she moved towards the bed, trying to assess his condition.

"Who said you could come in?” His voice turned frosty. “Get out!" Shen Yue realized that it was not Aunt Wang who came in, but his so-called wife who married him a month ago.

However, Tang Qiaoqiao sensed something wasn't right. His voice was strained, and he sounded short of breath. It was as if he was struggling for air. "Are you unwell?" She hesitated, inching closer to the bed, hoping to get a better look at him.

"Stop right there, don't come any closer!"

Tang Qiaoqiao halted her steps but insisted, "I'm genuinely concerned about you."

It was rather ironic to hear such words coming from her. The original Tang Qiaoqiao had not only ignored Shen Yue's condition after their marriage but also openly ridiculed him in front of the servants.

She often called him a cripple and showed no concern for whether he heard her or not. She even wished for his speedy demise.

Shen Yue doubted her intentions.

He mustered all his remaining strength and moved to the edge of the bed, gripping the bedside table. Unfortunately, the table was already cleared, except for a bedside lamp.

Desperately, he attempted to unplug the lamp. It was as though he wanted to use it as a weapon against her if she dared to get any closer.

Tang Qiaoqiao saw that half of his body was hanging in the air. She paused and said, "Be careful, don't fall.

As soon as she said this, Shen Yue rolled out of the bed.

'Damn woman. She really was here with no good intentions.’

Shen Yue couldn't move his lower body. So he gritted his teeth and used his upper body to climb on the edge of the bed.

"I'll help you." Tang Qiaoqiao walked forward quickly and squatted down beside him. As soon as her hand touched Shen Yue's arm, he clasped her wrist tightly.

The man's fingers were thin but extremely powerful. His eyes stared at her fiercely. Even though the light in the room was dim, she could feel the intensity in his eyes. They were as cold and sharp as a dagger.

Tang Qiaoqiao's wrist throbbed in pain. ‘He hadn't eaten much for several days, so why was he still so energetic?’

"If you don't let go, how can I help you up?" Tang Qiaoqiao wanted to pry his fingers one by one, but she retracted her hand as soon as she touched the back of his hand.

So hot!

She felt his forehead, which was on fire.

Shen Yue didn't expect her to behave like this. When the woman's soft little hand touched his forehead, it brought a brief cool respite, and his body slackened for a while.

In the end, Shen Yue was a patient, gripping Tang Qiaoqiao's hand had consumed all his energy. So when Tang Qiaoqiao pried his fingers again, the man lost his strength completely, and his hand dropped to the ground.

He flopped on the ground like a dying beast, as if at his last breath.

However, when Tang Qiaoqiao tried to help him up several times, he pushed her away.

Tang Qiaoqiao looked at him. "Are you going to lie on the ground like this the whole time?"

Shen Yue gasped and said, "You don't need to pretend to be kind!"

He closed his eyes and thought it was quite ridiculous for this hypocritical woman to feign kindness now.

The two of them didn't speak, and there was only a panting sound in the room for a while. Just when he thought she would excuse herself from this awkward situation, Tang Qiaoqiao spoke with a trace of sternness in her sweet voice.

"As the saying goes, ‘a gentleman should always strive for self-improvement’. As a 5'7’’ foot tall man, how can you easily abandon yourself?"

Tang Qiaoqiao looked at his devastated appearance. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. "Look at yourself. You are not even as strong as a weak little girl like me."

Shen Yue: "..."

Tang Qiaoqiao's next movement made Shen Yue's temple twitch; he originally wanted to be indifferent to her, but was too taken aback to do so....

'A weak little girl?'

'How could a weak little-girl princess carry a man?'

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