The Laid-Back Foil Wins Without Lifting a Finger After Her Family Hears Her Thoughts [1970s]

Lu Tinglan transmigrates into a world where several novels have merged, becoming the lazy daughter of the village chief in 1970s Lu Family Village. The good news? Her whole family is full of high achievers. Her eldest brother is a soldier, his wife is a doctor at the county hospital, her second brother is the village's only prospective college student, and her third brother quietly runs a thriving little business. Everyone for miles envies the Lu family's good fortune.

The bad news? Every one of them is a foil to a novel's protagonist. Her eldest sister-in-law is tricked into giving her family heirloom to her best friend. Her lovestruck second brother hands over his college place. Her third brother is betrayed by his business partner and sent to prison as a scapegoat. And the original Lu Tinglan is lured south for work, never to be heard from again.

When Lu Tinglan arrives, her lovestruck second brother has already decided to fall out with the family and give his college place to his true love. Sunflower seeds spill from her hand as she screams inwardly:

Second Brother Lu, you absolute sucker! That happy couple was laughing at what a lovesick lapdog you are in bed last night.

Her second brother freezes. "What happy couple? I'm the other man?"

The rest of the Lu family exchange peculiar looks over his head.

When her third brother brings a friend home for dinner, Lu Tinglan clutches her sunflower seeds, her eyes widening like saucers. Seeing her keen interest, her brother considers setting them up.

He looks so honest, too. Who would guess he's swallowed every penny in their accounts? My poor third brother's about to take the fall.

Lu Tinglan regards him with pity. Better eat up. The food won't be this good in prison.

Murder flashes in her third brother's eyes. What did you just say?!

He doesn't come home that night. A week later, his "friend" has a broken leg, and Lu Tinglan has a new watch.

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As a mere foil in these novels, Lu Tinglan wants nothing more than to stay out of the plot and live a life of comfortable idleness. But before she can work out how, she notices something strange: Where have all the heroes and heroines gone?

Somehow, she's won without lifting a finger.

The protagonists, soundly outplayed by the Lu family they were supposed to overshadow, are on the verge of tears. "Give us back our protagonist lives! And don't expect us to pay for them!"