Aerial Rain
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GNU Ch.1 Part 3 – Side Character (III)

Now everything has been settled. But since the beginning of second month, Cheng Yujin began to feel inexplicable nervousness, even disturbing he sleep. And last night, she had a long dream.

Before dawn, Cheng Yujin was suddenly awakened, soaked with cold sweat. Unable to fall asleep again, she laid in bed for a long time. It was just a dream, how ridiculous to take the dream as reality. But Cheng Yujin somehow felt that this was not simply a dream, but reality.

In the dream, she saw herself, but not completely herself either. Like a puppet put on a string, she experienced the whole life of ‘Cheng Yujin’.

In her dream, she was also born in the affluent Yichun marquis manor. The madam of the second branch Ruan-shi gave birth to a pair of twin sisters. At this time, the eldest branch madam Qingfu Junzhu had been married for five years but still childless. Instead, the newly wed daughter-in-law Ruan-shi gave birth to two children after only one year. Although it was just a pair of daughters, they were still the auspicious first grandchildren of Cheng family. So old Madam Cheng took the lead and gave the elder twin to her eldest daughter-in-law, Qingfu Junzhu, as a lucky daughter.

Later, the two sisters were named Cheng Yujin and Cheng Yumo.

Cheng Yujin knew from a young age that she and her second cousin were fraternal twins. But she also understood that Ruan-shi was her second aunt and her mother was only Qingfu Junzhu.

Only Qingfu Junzhu.

Cheng Yujin and Cheng Yumo looked alike when they were young. As they grew older and their facial features grew, the gap between the two sisters was also revealed. Cheng Yujin has a better health, more beautiful face, and a calmer personality. On the contrary, Cheng Yumo, because being born as twins already made her weaker than ordinary children, she was also born later, that made her even more weak and thin.

In the family, not to mention old Madam Cheng, Qingfu Junzhu and the other family members, even servants who have been in Cheng family for a long time could tell the difference between the sisters at a glance. But for outsiders, unless they carefully looked at their facial featuresm, the appearance of the sisters from a family was already similiar, plus they were at the same age and girls tend to dressed similiarly, so they often confused.

Cheng Yujin grew up having to explain ‘I am the eldest girl Yujin’ daily, until she was fourteen years old.

That winter, in the heavy snow she rescued a man. The next year, she married him.

That man was called Huo Changyuan.

On the day of the wedding, Cheng Yujin brought ten miles of red dowry, marrying Huo Changyuan with a great fanfare. Sisters still in boudouir envied her for marrying a good husband. Huo Changyuan was already titled marquis at a young age, and as soon as Cheng Yujin married in, she became a Marchioness, staying ahead at least 20 years than her peers. Moreover, Huo Changyuan just made military achievements in the northwest last year. He was in the limelight and had a promising future. Such a husband was actually taken by Cheng Yujin, really made other girls angry.

At the time, Cheng Yujin didn’t know that she had become a villain in other people’s story.

After the marriage, the lives of Cheng Yujin and Huo Changyuan were roughly what she expected. Except that her mother-in-law was a little bit harder to deal, her husband was too stubborn, and the rules of the Huo family were too many. In the past few years, outsiders watched Cheng Yujin’s glory, and thought that her live was very blessed. Only she knew the difficulty she met inside the closed door. But it’s nothing. Every woman had to go through this path. She also didn’t have to serve her mother-in-law and already taking control of the household management, which already better than many women.

Second years of marriage, she was finally pregnant. Huo Changyuan’s father died when he was seven years old and Huo Xue-shi was widowed since then. Over the years, she had been struggling to raise Huo Changyuan, and the mother and son were dependent on each other. Thus Huo Xue-shi had an extraordinary possessiveness towards his son. Ever since Cheng Yujin married, Huo Xue-shi has been hot and cold with Cheng Yujin, disturbing the time the couple spent together. Cheng Yujin had no choice but to follow her mother-in-law’s wish and no longer be intimate with her husband.

It was ridiculous that Huo Xue-shi did not let the wife get close with the husband, but still forced Cheng Yujin to give birth to grandson. Cheng Yujin couldn’t even say out her grievance, so at the second year of marriage, when the child arrived, one could imagine how happy she was.

She immediately threw back the household management, and joyfully nurtured her pregnancy. Because she was bored, she invited her sister to visit. Previously, Cheng Yujin had not been closed to Huo Chengyuan, and after pregnancy she didn’t allow him to touch her. During that time, Huo Chengyuan was on leave and staying at home. Cheng Yumo also come to talk to her everyday. Cheng Yujin touched her gradually risen belly, and felt happiness that her child, husband and sister were all around. It was really good years and she had no regrets.

However, the servant girls’ complexion around her became more and more strange. Du Ruo several times tried to speak to her, but after seeing Cheng Yujin’s happy expression, she hesitated. But Cheng Yujin wasn’t a fool after all, she felt something was wrong and carefully asked her servant girls, only to know that when she was resting and nurtured her pregnancy, Huo Chengyuan often chatted with Cheng Yumo with intimate smile and behaviour.

As if there was a thunderbolt in the sunny day, Cheng Yujin stunned on the spot. She ridiculed herself, wasting herself being proud with her so called perfect boudouir, even didn’t notice the water leaked out and making such a ridiculous mistake. Cheng Yujin thought that because she felt lack of energy and couldn’t read the situation attentively as before, so allowed Huo Chengyuan and Cheng Yumo to increase their chances of getting along and commit this kind of scandal. One was her husband and the other was her sister. Cheng Yujin didn’t want to make trouble for either side anyway.

So when Huo Changyuan went to the barracks to train soldiers, she called Cheng Yumo and spoke a lot. She thought that she had kept enough face for both parties, any girl with a bit sensibility and still had some face must be understand what she had to do. Unexpectedly, Cheng Yumo understood her meaning, but she ran away crying and said that Cheng Yujin humiliated her.

Cheng Yujin personality was upright, so she ignored Cheng Yumo. That day, Cheng Yumo was drove out of marquis manor and sent home. Huo Xue-shi sent someone to inquire, but Cheng Yujin just smiled and said nothing, preserving both Cheng Yumo and Huo Changyuan’s reputation.

She thought that as a wife and sister, she was already benevolent enough. She waited for Huo Changyuan to come back and give her an explanation. Unexpectedly, after Huo Changyuan came back from the barracks, when he heard that Cheng Yumo had left, he immediately turned around and chase her. Leaving Cheng Yujin standing alone in front of the servants, unable to react.

After Huo Changyuan came back, he stared at her coldly, saying that she was a ‘poisonous woman’. Until her death, Cheng Yujin still didn’t understand. She took care of family affairs for Huo Changyuan and be patient to her mother-in-law, while he husband had a private affair with her sister. Which part of her a poisonous woman? What did she do wrong?

In depression, Cheng Yujin giving birth prematurely and had dystocia. After her child born, Huo Xue-shi was busily tend to her grandson, neglecting Cheng Yujin who still laying on delivery bed. That day, Cheng Yujin had a heavy bleeding and soon died.

After her dream self died, Cheng Yujin finally broke free from that nightmarish life. But her soul still trapped, floating in Jingyong Marquis manor, watching the story developing further.

It turned out that from another angle, the story was written like this.

 

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10 thoughts on “GNU Ch.1 Part 3 – Side Character (III)”

  1. Pingback: GNU Ch.2 Part 1 – Cancelling the Engagement – Aerial Rain Translations

  2. How can cheaters be lead characters and can be romanticized in OG plot?… It’s actually a “red flag” novel.

    1. Yeah I think I’ve read maybe one “MC was originally a villain/cannon fodder/mob character” Cnovel* where both the original protagonist and ML seemed like actual protagonists. Usually at least one of them is an obvious knockoff.

      *Have read a few Japanese novels where the MC ends up with the OG ML and the OG protagonist joins the MC’s friendship harem**.

      **Y’know, that thing where the MC has a friend group that basically revolves around them.

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