I'm Cleaning Up Abusive Romance Novels by Going Insane

Jiang Lisheng, originally named Jiang Zhaodi, was born into a poor rural family of pig butchers. From childhood, she endured abuse from her parents who favored her younger brother. At sixteen, she was sold into marriage to an old bachelor, but she fought back, accidentally causing his death. This led to the revelation that she was not their biological daughter but a child purchased sixteen years prior. She was returned to her wealthy, high-born biological parents, the Jiang family, but found no acceptance there. Treated as an outsider and constantly compared to her adopted sister Jiang Nuonuo, she adopted a delinquent persona—dyeing her hair red, smoking, and fighting—to mask her pain. Her life became a time loop reset every August 18, her birthday. For hundreds of years, her body was possessed by transmigrators attempting to follow the plot of an abusive romance novel in which she was the tragic female lead. Each transmigrator failed, either by rebelling against the script or by being discarded by the family, until Jiang Lisheng’s own consciousness finally awakened.

Upon awakening, Jiang Lisheng is bound to System 08, which tasks her with completing the novel’s storyline to prevent her personality from being erased. The system demands she maintain a persona of a timid, ordinary, and pitiful girl who never fights back. However, Jiang Lisheng negotiates a crucial concession: she demands the restoration of her original intelligence, arguing that the character’s stupidity was an artificial plot device. The system agrees, lifting the IQ restriction. Jiang Lisheng realizes that while she must adhere to the external appearance of the submissive female lead, she can interpret the actions in her own way. She decides to play the role of the "salted fish"—appearing weak and compliant on the surface while secretly manipulating situations to her advantage. Her first test comes when her father demands she apologize to Zhao Ming, the son of a business partner, for injuring him. Instead of the meek apology prescribed by the plot, Jiang Lisheng uses her wits and evidence she had secretly purchased days earlier to reverse the narrative.

Jiang Lisheng arrives at the Zhao residence and, rather than cowering, performs a theatrical apology that subtly exposes Zhao Ming’s true nature. She presents surveillance footage that proves Zhao Ming attempted to harass her, framing it as her own naive misunderstanding. By acting overly sensitive and self-deprecating, she manipulates the Zhao parents into feeling guilty. Madam Zhao, pitying the "poor, mistreated" girl, offers Jiang Lisheng expensive jewelry, cash, and a shopping spree. Jiang Lisheng accepts these gifts graciously, further cementing her image as a victim of circumstance while securing material wealth. She also has her red hair dyed black and cuts it, transforming her appearance from a rebellious delinquent to a delicate, obedient girl, which endears her further to Madam Zhao. This strategic pivot not only fulfills the plot requirement of being "pitiful" but also turns a potential disaster into a significant gain.

Back at the Jiang villa, the arrival of luxury goods causes shock. Jiang Nuonuo, who had been intercepting Jiang Lisheng’s allowance and gifts, is exposed when Jiang Lisheng publicly asks when she received her money. The family dynamics shift as Father Jiang, pleased with the strengthened business ties with the Zhao family, begins to treat Jiang Lisheng with unexpected warmth. Meanwhile, Jiang Ansheng, her biological twin brother, remains distant but observant. He had previously expressed disdain for her lack of intelligence, but her sudden competence intrigues him. Jiang Lisheng continues to navigate the treacherous waters of the Jiang family, using her restored mind to outmaneuver Jiang Nuonuo’s schemes. She maintains the facade of the weak, abused sister while systematically reclaiming her rights and resources. The story follows her journey as she balances the demands of the System with her own desire for autonomy, setting the stage for a confrontation with the novel’s male lead, Huo Bai, and the eventual unraveling of the toxic family structure that has defined her existence.