My Ex-Boyfriend is the Male Lead of Another Book

Jiang Shining is a woman who transmigrated into a melodramatic novel titled The Runaway Wife Returns with a Secret Child Twenty Years Later. In the original story, she was the secret child of a poor single mother, Jiang Wan, and a wealthy CEO, Gu Yan. The plot was tragic, ending in the deaths of both mother and daughter. Having experienced a life of relying on others before transmigrating, Jiang Shining is determined to avoid the original host's fate. She currently lives in a rundown apartment with her gentle, sickly mother, who works tirelessly at a street food stall. To survive and eventually reunite with her wealthy biological family, Jiang Shining has entered a relationship with her next-door neighbor, Qin Wang, a young, taciturn, and ruthless local gang leader. Her primary goal is to secure her place in the wealthy Gu family, but she faces a significant obstacle: Qin Wang refuses to agree to her repeated requests to break up.

The core conflict arises from Jiang Shining's dual life. She must maintain her relationship with Qin Wang to ensure her and her mother's safety in the dangerous neighborhood while simultaneously positioning herself to meet her biological father. Qin Wang is intensely possessive and emotionally volatile, reacting with anger and desperation whenever Jiang Shining mentions ending their relationship. Despite his fearsome reputation as the local gang leader, he shows a soft side only toward her, often going to great lengths to protect her, such as violently beating up thugs who harass her mother. Jiang Shining, however, views him as a necessary means to an end and remains focused on her ultimate goal of escaping poverty.

A key turning point occurs when Jiang Shining works a part-time job handing out flyers at a shopping mall. She is forced to wear a hot, stifling frog mascot costume. There, she encounters Gu Yan, her wealthy biological father, who is the target of an assassination attempt by a rival company. Without hesitation, Jiang Shining pushes Gu Yan out of the way of a knife, taking the blow herself. The thick mascot costume protects her from serious injury, but she collapses from heatstroke. Gu Yan, struck by her resemblance to his lost love, Jiang Wan, and her selfless act, becomes deeply concerned. He discovers her surname is also Jiang and learns her mother's name, confirming his suspicion that she is his daughter. He begins to investigate her background and their connection.

Meanwhile, Jiang Shining's life with Qin Wang becomes increasingly complicated. After the incident at the mall is posted online, Qin Wang becomes frantic with worry, leading to a tense confrontation on a bridge where he threatens to jump if anything happens to her. This event deepens his emotional investment in her, and he gives her a blessed cinnabar bracelet for protection. Jiang Shining experiences a series of lucky escapes, including avoiding a serious injury when a ladder collapses, which she attributes to the bracelet. She continues to work part-time, gaining popularity at a café where Qin Wang occasionally visits, drawing the attention of social media users and further increasing her visibility. Gu Yan, having seen a social media post about the beautiful waitress, decides to visit the café, setting the stage for a direct encounter between father and daughter. The story moves toward the inevitable collision of Jiang Shining's two worlds: her dangerous, possessive relationship with the gang leader and her emerging connection with her wealthy, influential father.