咸鱼继母日常 (The Laid-back Life of a Stepmother) by 明栀
Historical [Chinese] romance published in 2023
Wen Ye, who had worked hard to become a company director in her previous life, was reincarnated as the daughter of a concubine in an ancient aristocratic family after a car accident.
After learning the truth, Wen Ye completely gave up.
She had no interest in the power struggles and favoritism within the household; she just wanted to lie down and be a lazy person, occasionally turning over.
The consequence of her laziness was that she was still unmarried at the age of twenty. Her concubine mother was extremely anxious and pleaded with the main wife.
The usually strict main wife gave Wen Ye three options:
1. A newly minted scholar
2. A cousin from the main wife’s family
3. A widowed Ministry of Justice official with children
After considering for a day, Wen Ye finally chose the third option.
Upon hearing this, the concubine mother grabbed Wen Ye and began to worry: “These days, being a stepmother is difficult. Why are you doing this? I think that new scholar is quite good.”
Wen Ye swallowed the last bite of mung bean pastry and said, “This new scholar has a cousin who grew up with him in his hometown.”
The concubine mother was speechless for a moment: “Then there’s your main wife’s cousin…”
Wen Ye took a sip of tea and said, “There are too many people in that family, with two mothers-in-law alone.”
Moreover, each branch of the family had so many concubines and aunts, and she couldn’t be bothered to serve them.
The concubine mother: “…”
Wen Ye put down her teacup and continued, “This Ministry of Justice official is different.”
The concubine mother: “How is he different?”
Wen Ye: “Both his parents are deceased, he has a carriage and a house, an elder brother and sister-in-law above him, and a son below. When I marry him, I won’t have to manage the household or bear children. As for the little one, I don’t have to worry about him either. As the saying goes, a sister-in-law is like a mother. Mrs. Lu can be considered half a grandmother to the little one.”
The concubine mother: “…”
Mrs. Lu, the sister-in-law who was only twenty-five: “…”
The topic for the TBR Challenge this month is “rizz” which is “romantic appeal or charm” and after thinking about my recent reads, this is the book that most fits. In both a romantic and general sense. The actual title/translated a bit more directly would be “The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Stepmother.” “Salted fish” also being slang – it now means “people who have no intention of doing anything” or “someone who lies there and does nothing.” It started as an insult but was adopted by people in response/as a backlash to overbearing and excessive work culture. It’s very “yay slacker” and to be honest in this world, you have to respect and celebrate it. Writing this review also had me wondering about reincarnation (not exactly something I know about, and people disagree on whether or not you “can” reincarnate into the past, but let’s leave that for another time). Continue reading
Lu Tong went to the mountains to study medicine for seven years. When she returned home, she discovered that everything had changed.
The Wang Family’s child bride Su Wan is a lucky koi.
After her parents passed away, Fan ChangYu faced a string of hardships—her childhood sweetheart broke off their engagement, greedy relatives wanted to seize her inheritance, and with a sickly five-year-old sister to care for, she decided to take a matrilocal husband in name only.
Song ChuZhao, who grew up in the border area and is unrivalled in her skills, exchanged “souls” with Gu FengJian, who lived in seclusion due to an injury in his childhood. Since then, the weak scholar Gu Wulang can ride a horse and draw a bow, and the unrestrained Song Sanniang can debate with scholars. Gu Fengjian was thinking about how to deal with it when he heard something knocking on the window pane from outside. The sound was very light and varied in pitch. It must be a stone. He walked out of the door silently, turned to the side, and sure enough, he saw the person who had been muttering just now on the high wall not far away. The two of them, one tall and one short, looked at each other from a distance, and showed extremely complicated expressions at the face that was extremely familiar to each other. Song Chuzhao’s voice trembled, and he tentatively asked: “Gu…Gu Wulang?” Gu Fengjian nodded quickly. Song Chuzhao was obviously relieved and adjusted [her] posture to make himself more stable. Gu Fengjian: “…” In his life, he never thought that his face would appear in a place like the top of the wall. – Translated from the original book page 
She is the legitimate daughter of the Dou family who lost her mother at a young age. Her status is noble, yet she is like a floating duckweed in the wind, with a pitiable fate. Her past karma remains unfinished, and in this lifetime, she returns to the bustling world, leaving behind the past of the mortal realm, seeking only a peaceful and enduring life like a gentle stream flowing endlessly. But unexpectedly, fate plays tricks, the more she tries to escape, the more she becomes entangled in the mortal world.