The Sickly Villainous Cannon Fodder Becomes Everyone's Favorite - Chapter 1

“Jiang Zhining!”

The first thing I heard upon regaining consciousness was a deafening roar.

It startled me so badly that my whole body trembled and my heart jolted.

Following the voice, I saw several people standing not far away. I did not recognize any of them.

Every one of them was looking at me with disappointment and anger.

I was utterly confused. I had no idea what was going on.

Hadn’t I died? Where the hell had I ended up?

“Can you stop making a scene?” The same icy male voice rang out again. “Qingran has never owed you anything.”

The speaker was a handsome man.

His features were refined and his bearing extraordinary, but the look he gave me was cold.

It made me nervous.

I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, someone else said, “Give you a little kindness and you really think you’re something?”

“Where did you get the nerve to target Qingran again and again?”

The man’s tone was lazy, his expression impatient.

Another handsome man.

But I did not know them either.

The heavy atmosphere instinctively made me shut my mouth. I said nothing.

I merely observed them in silence.

At last, the woman among them let out a long sigh. “Zhining, why do you always treat Qingran like this? He’s your younger brother.”

“What you said just now was too much. You should apologize to him.”

As soon as she finished, the first man sneered. “Mom, you expect him to apologize? Dream on.”

Perhaps my heart was beating too fast. My chest felt uncomfortable, and my head began to spin.

With my wretched body always acting up for one reason or another, I had always been terrified of getting into conflicts with people.

So even though I had not yet figured out what had happened, I quickly made up my mind.

Who was Qingran?

Most likely the handsome young man who had not spoken or even looked at me.

I immediately turned toward him, my eyes sincere and my tone earnest.

“Qingran, little brother, I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

Please don’t scold me, pleeease don’t glare at me like that. My poor little heart was pounding so hard it could barely take it.

After I said that, I quickly noticed the astonishment on everyone’s faces.

Apparently, it was unbelievable that I had said such a thing.

Even Qingran turned to look at me, raising his brows in surprise.

Then an overwhelming wave of dizziness struck, and I soon lost consciousness.

After that, I had a dream.

I dreamed of the original Jiang Zhining’s life as a cannon-fodder character.

This world was a boys’ love novel full of melodrama and twists.

Jiang Qingran, the protagonist and the bottom in the central couple, was unquestionably everyone’s darling. With his outstanding looks, abilities, and unique charm, he won the affection of his friends and relatives, as well as his love interest, Lu Linchuan, the top.

He and Lu Linchuan went from bickering enemies, to understanding and falling for each other, to confessing their feelings and getting together.

It was the kind of evenly matched romance that made readers exclaim over and over about how good a couple they were.

Unfortunately, that sweet romance had one stumbling block. Without a doubt, it was the original Jiang Zhining.

Narrow-minded and malicious, he became universally despised because he was always targeting and framing the protagonist, Jiang Qingran.

Jiang Zhining had been separated from his family as a child and was not found by the Jiang family until he was twenty-two.

The novel described him as oversensitive and suspicious, quick-tempered, jealous, and sinister.

After enduring too many hard years, he returned to the Jiang family only to discover that he had a younger brother who was deeply loved. His mind gradually became twisted.

He envied Jiang Qingran’s advanced education and exceptional abilities, and the warmth in every interaction between Qingran and the family. It seemed Qingran could win everyone’s affection with ease.

Unlike him, who had only just arrived. No matter what he did, there seemed to be a wall between him and the family, and he could not fit in.

Thus, malice toward Jiang Qingran began to grow in his troubled mind.

He stubbornly believed that Jiang Qingran’s very existence had stolen everything that belonged to him.

He began opposing Jiang Qingran at every turn, competing and fighting with him over everything—even the male lead Lu Linchuan. While the two male leads were freely falling in love, he pressured his parents into replacing Qingran with himself as the Lu family’s marriage partner.

When he could not win fairly, he tried every possible way to frame him.

Of course, he was exposed time and again.

As a cannon-fodder character, the original Jiang Zhining’s fate in the novel was truly miserable.

After turning completely evil, he went mad and committed crimes in an attempt to eliminate Jiang Qingran. In the end, he lost everyone and died alone in prison.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qingran gained both a successful career and a happy romance, and went on to live a blissful life.

When I woke again, I found myself lying in a hospital bed.

I was already very familiar with this situation, so I was not surprised.

I turned over, fidgeted with the blanket, and sorted through the memories in my mind as I considered my current circumstances.

I was now at the point shortly after the original had been brought back to the Jiang family.

Although he had already openly targeted Jiang Qingran several times and made everyone unhappy, things had not yet reached the point of no return.

The room was quiet—a spacious, bright private room with excellent surroundings.

There was no one there besides me.

Before long, a young nurse came in and gave me a basic examination.

It was from her that I learned the Jiang family had said they had something to attend to and left not long after bringing me to the hospital.

“Also, you should get a full physical as soon as possible. The results from that examination just now were quite concerning.”

“Oh…” I answered blankly. “All right. Thank you.”

The room fell quiet again.

I sighed silently, feeling a little lost.

Transmigration was one thing, but why had my body—always plagued by one ailment or another—come along too?

On an impulse, I got up and tottered into the bathroom.

I saw a face that was achingly familiar.

Even the pale mole at the side of my neck was exactly the same as before.

I froze.

Was this me? Was this my body?

Had I become Jiang Zhining?

Then where had the original gone?

Unable to figure it out, I returned to bed and fell asleep again without realizing it.

It was already evening when I woke, and the hospital room remained just as quiet.

The Jiang family must have hated me by now and no longer wanted to take care of me.

With excellent self-awareness, I did not bother them. I arranged my own discharge, then took a taxi home in disgrace.

When I got there, they happened to be about to have dinner.

My appearance froze the atmosphere for several seconds.

I awkwardly met their eyes for a few moments before greeting them one by one.

“Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Little Brother.”

Mom was the first to recover. “Why are you back already? Are you feeling all right?”

She looked behind me in surprise. “And you didn’t ask Uncle Chen to bring you home?”

Uncle Chen was the family’s driver.

Only then did I realize they had arranged for the driver to wait for me at the hospital.

I stood where I was and nervously tugged at the hem of my clothes. “Sorry. I forgot.”

“All right, come eat.”