The Male Lead’s Substitute Wife

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When Su Yaya awakened, she found herself in a novel world as the CEO’s Substitute Wife–-a mere cannon fodder. Knowing that divorce and a tragic ending was awaiting her once her look-alike, the President’s first love returns, Su Yaya only trusted one thing: Money.

She curried favor with her husband each day, saved up resources, and served him as a faithful wife. It was better to leave a good impression on him before separation so she could avoid her death flags.

The overbearing President was very satisfied with her and personally gave her his platinum card: “Take it and buy anything you’d like!” Su Yaya happily accepted. Of course, she would take advantage of his pampering before the female protagonist appears!

As the CEO unexpectedly falls deeper despite this transactional relationship, he never imagined that his wife would one day disappear from his side

Associated Names
One entry per line
Xuyên thành cô vợ thế thân của tổng tài
穿成总裁的替身妻
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Avoid the Protagonist! (7)
The Male Lead’s Villainess Stepmother (7)
The CEO’s Villainess Childhood Friend (7)
The Widow “Misses” Her Villainous Late Husband (6)
Apollo’s Heart (6)
Transmigration: Raising the Child of the Male Lead Boss (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Probably read when im bored (some of it)
  2. Read & Loved (BG)
  3. romance for gloomy day
  4. Modern novels I have Read
  5. Completed but kinda meh...?#2

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/29/24 Shanghai Fantasy c17 part3
02/28/24 Shanghai Fantasy c17 part2
02/27/24 Shanghai Fantasy c17 part1
02/20/24 Shanghai Fantasy c16 part4
02/15/24 Shanghai Fantasy c16 part3
02/13/24 Shanghai Fantasy c16 part2
02/12/24 Shanghai Fantasy c16 part1
01/30/24 Shanghai Fantasy c15 part3
01/25/24 Shanghai Fantasy c15 part2
01/24/24 Shanghai Fantasy c15 part1
01/23/24 Shanghai Fantasy c14 part4
01/18/24 Shanghai Fantasy c14 part3
01/17/24 Shanghai Fantasy c14 part2
01/16/24 Shanghai Fantasy c14 part1
01/11/24 Shanghai Fantasy c13 part3
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83 Reviews sorted by


chibiheaven
chibiheaven rated it
November 26, 2019
Status: Completed
A pretty underwhelming novel written with an unreasonably, almost childish, "fluffy" MC and ML. The story didn't set any waves in my heart, it was just a (boringly) calm story that kind of just pieces together a very Mary Sue and cliche story.

One plus point for me was the angst (if I should even call that) during their period of separation was brief enough and not overdrawn.

If you're in this just to kill some time and don't mind reading yet another one of these rehashed stories that don't have much... more>> character development then you shouldn't be too disappointed.

It may be best to take my review with a grain of salt due to the fact that I feel jaded and have read simply too many novels with a similar premise to this novel that I find it much harder to gain appreciation for the story and characters. <<less
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Shiksha_12
Shiksha_12 rated it
April 29, 2021
Status: c20
The FL is so cringe-worthy and irritating. I just read the first few chapters and want to slap her to death.

She has a lackadaisical attitude.

More importantly, it's emphasised repeated repeatedly in her thoughts that all her wishes and dreams are coming true after her transplantation.

Once or twice is alright but reading about how she is happy that all her wishes are coming true every few paragraphs is just too much.
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Bookworm_Sueweetie
Bookworm_Sueweetie rated it
August 30, 2020
Status: Completed
***3.5 ratings***

Honestly, I'm conflicted while reading this. The leads are not perfect and have share of flaws. They got misunderstandings but I like that they able to resolve it. I truly came to like them in the later parts of the story, they really redeemed themselves especially the ML.

Some will not like the MC (Su Yaya) but I really understood her circumstances and find her practical. She knew the ending of the novel and knew that the original host had a miserable ending... so she acted like a sugar baby... more>> (LMAO) and obedient/sweet wife to the ML to use resources and earn money before the original FL (An Yu Tong) came back home. She got her share of faults but the ending made it all.

I initially didn't like the ML (Chen Xiqiu)... but he really got a good character development and came to like him.

Spoiler

At first, he is really a jerk who only pursued and married the original host for all wrong reasons (70% looks like his 1st love and to get his billion inheritance).I also distasted how he only pampered his wife bc she's "obedient and sweet".... HOWEVER, I like his development, he always trusted his wife and even learned to love her and didn't even hesitate to chose MC and remained indifferent to other girls even his 1st love who arrived from abroad. He also became a good husband who chased and cared for his wife when she was in coma. He also became a good father to Chengcheng. I also like that he learned to forgive his father before his father died.

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I like that MC and ML were seeing their previous lives through the dreams.

Spoiler

ML always got dreams about his life in the novel. Because of this, he was able to save MC's live from an accident... bc he saw in a dream that the original host died when An Yu Ting drove over her.

The twist here is the ML and An Yu Tong (original FL) didn't get their "happy ever after" as painted in the novel. Original FL is a bad person and ML find that she betrayed him. They also got divorce. He also find out about original Su Yaya's miserable death and took revenge on An family plus supported SYY's parents. ML was never loved and married again after even when he died. He only adopted a kid.

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Original Su Yaya did evil scheme but she is not truly bad and she is most pitiful character in this story. She died in the novel world miserably but I like that she got her own happy ending.

Spoiler

MC dreamed about the original host and saw that she now living her life in the real world. After dying, original host was now living in MC's real body in another world. She learned her lesson and now working hard for herself and MC's original father. She also met and fell in love with CEO Zhou Zhengqi who MC also previously admired before transmigration.

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DaBrick
DaBrick rated it
November 1, 2019
Status: Completed
It was a good short read and easy to mtl too.

It's an entertainment novel With lots of sweet and fluffy moments. But even though MC isn't the past cannon fodder anymore, she always thought right from the start she's still the cannon fodder that will be thrown away by the ML because of the ML previous love to the ex-gf.

Personally, I think that the MC is quite heartless and might even be dumb at some point to miss all the hint of doting from ML, to not even think of... more>> the possibility of changes in her life that are not following the previous story.

While for ML, he got swept up by the sweetness MC gave to him that he forgot the Crux of the problem right from the start. But he's still the more proactive one in the story, that's willing to chase MC over and over again and break through MC heart barrier which is really sweet, <3

Although this novel has some minus here and there, it's still a good story to read nevertheless because MC is not the typical got swept up by the overbearing CEO and fell in love with him forgetting the initial contract :v <<less
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otpsfloat
otpsfloat rated it
April 11, 2020
Status: c73
It's... very bland. Can't see the chemistry between MC and ML at all... ML seems like a flat character and MC is just... really pretty... like another reviewer said. Like, the author spends so much time talking about how nice and beautiful MC is... THIS IS IT this is the Mary Sue/White Lotus novel you've been looking for where MC has literally no flaws /s.

One example:

... more>>
Spoiler

When ML teases MC, the author says MC doesn't dawdle anymore and quickly does her skin care routine before going to make food. Is it necessary to put that she did her skin care routine??

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And another example:

Spoiler

MC has never fished before so ML takes her fishing. MC starts screaming while fishing and ends up getting a decent fish. MC is so happy. MC keeps fishing. ML is like aw she's so cute.

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... it feels like ML was made solely as a rich character that circles around MC like a dog. Not my cup of tea. <<less
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clair17
clair17 rated it
November 1, 2019
Status: Completed
I really fond of this novel as it's full of sweet and happiness altho it's unrealistic but who cares! It's a novel born from fantasy for a reason.

What I love about this fluffy novel is that both MC & ML are making an effort for each other albeit both started from a selfish reason ... more>>
Spoiler

ML marry MC for inheritance, MC being nice to ML for the sake of alimony her future.

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There is no cliche and time-consuming misunderstanding as they quickly tackle the main problem.

ALSO! I really love this novel as it also give readers an insight of what happened to the MC's original world/ body
Spoiler

and how the supposedly villainess living very well in that world

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as closure for both souls and both couple.

The only minus point for me is actually the unnecessary ML's rivals (bees around MC), cuz they are really unnecessary that it doesn't really affect the plot. But, it is still worth 5 stars for me >< <<less
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hippiez
hippiez rated it
November 1, 2019
Status: Completed
I MTL'ed this story.

I really like this kind of story.. It has that cliche kinda plot with MC transmigrated into a novel and join in the movie industry.. FL turns black and etc.. But all in all, the story itself is cute and sweet. There's not much twist and scheming in this story, which I quite like. The MC is cute and realistic, the ML is sweet and domineering.. Both of them are cute together.

I also like the side story about the Original MC at the end. The ending of... more>> MC and OMC are satisfactory for me. <<less
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Mapara
Mapara rated it
September 5, 2020
Status: Completed
I like this story, I think it is one of the few where MC and ML can have a relationship where the two try to understand each other to have a happy ending

I look forward to the end of the translation so I can read it again

... more>>
Spoiler

Regarding the issue of r*pe... I think what the author is trying to express is how MC has an internal struggle that she is only having s*x for pleasure because she does not fall in love with him until later, and this she feels that not well
and it seems to me that the author tends to fail to describe the scene of when she leaves.
I think that many Chinese authors do not express that the MC can enjoy s*x without the need for affection because it is frowned upon, and honestly there are few (if not any) novels in which the Chinese author does not put a minimum once when they have s*x the MC put resistance
because it is not understood how she (Mc) can live with all that all the time
so I suppose all this (for this and other novels) seem to be something more than domestic violence, as they always try to justify some reason for MC to get carried away by passion through insistence.
I only put this to understand why this is something so recurrent in Chinese novels, because if you remove those paragraphs and really put that she gets carried away by the moment and the atmosphere one would feel much better and it would be understood why she falls in love from him to the end

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FlufflyLittleRabbit
FlufflyLittleRabbit rated it
July 3, 2020
Status: Completed
I have seen this here a few times before, but I never paid much attention at first, since I had already encounter a lot of this type of novel. But who knew, when I decided to read the summary I felt familiar then I decided to read a few chapters. After that, I realize that I had read the raw of this novel through MTL.

Lol, I never thought that someone translated this novel into English. Thank you translator-sama for picking this up. I really like this story and very enjoyable... more>> to read.

Spoiler

The MC is quite funny especially she act like a gold-digger wanna be. Haha :D

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Five star for me. <<less
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mazeoflife28
mazeoflife28 rated it
March 10, 2020
Status: c64
Hm.. I think given the situation, the route the FL chose to take is more for survival, especially knowing what she knows.

... more>>
Spoiler

Do people think she can just break off with husband and flourish in the entertainment industry without his backing?

If the plot went in that direction, that's more Mary sue than her attempting to adapt into her situation and keeping the mindset of making the best of her situation by keeping her husband happy, all the while accepting the fate that he'll fall for the female lead anyway. She may as well enjoy what she can while it lasts.

She also chose a more proactive route that she should be more hardworking and be more focused on her career to build up what resources and connections she can to reach a comfortable end in this world without disturbing the leads and keeping her transmigrated life at peace in the long run.

She's not exactly quick on the uptake but as far as I've read she hasn't done anything too irreversibly s*upid either. Yes she likes luxurious things and is especially happy when he showers her with expensive gifts. She didn't get to enjoy that in her regular life. I don't see what's so bad about her deriving joy from it.

The ML is originally a scumbag for sure marrying her only to get the fortune while still carrying a torch for the actual FL of the story. But because his feelings change when the soul transmigrated........ well, we all know where it's going.

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It's story is not unpredictable. But it's an easy read and I like the face slapping that happens. <<less
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chocolatechipcookie
chocolatechipcookie rated it
February 2, 2020
Status: --
Mary-sue ish.

Im not very fond of the MC and the ml, both are shallow.

I mean shallow people are okay sometimes, but they just dont clicl with me.

... more>> Was gonna give it a 2 but well, I read c141-148 and boy was the fluff real. To make it clear, others are saying that it’s the life of the MC if she did not transmigrate which is W.R.O.N.G.

c141-148 displays what happened when villainous Su Yaya transmigrated into the real world in our mc’s body

note : there are two Su Yayas

Real world su yaya = our mc

so called villainous su yaya = the side female character that was originally married to ML, our MC transmigrated in her body

its not really that much of a spoiler lol
Spoiler

The story shown in those few chapters is the life of og villainess (the original soul of the body which the MC transmigrated into) in the body of our MC.
(Basically, since MC transmigrated into a body, the soul of the body transmigrated into mc’s body. In short, their souls switched)

Anyways, before the c141, we learm how wronged and miserable the villainous was. The ML s**ked ass.
villainous Su Yaya’s was definitely wronged.

c142-148 showed the happy ending that villainous Su yaya deserved. She was able to find true love after working hard in that world. Her ending was so cute, she got married to this guy and had children. If anyonw wants to know the full details, yall should visit the spoiler forum for this novel

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I would‘ve given this a 2 star, but reading c141-148 just made me so happy. That little side story there was much better than the main story, no joke. <<less
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sofea A.C
sofea A.C rated it
October 21, 2019
Status: Completed
The level of sweetness between MC and ML almost cost me diabetes! When MC try to please ML in everyway so she will not turnout like OMC, she was so sweet! No wonder ML fall hard for her.
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Honefuusen
Honefuusen
October 19, 2019
Status: c49
So far the story is very mary sue I think. The MC is really ordinary and the ML is very OP. MC plot armor is very strong.

MC is kind of cute but she's not all that special. Just I guess she's quite clear headed while being unbelievably dumb in occasion, especially when it has to do with the ML. I think it's pretty obvious ML is falling in love with her but she kept her preconceptions that ML will be together with his white moonlight, this will probably blew up... more>> on her face spectacularly. But I guess for the sake of drama the author will keep it that way. Again, the MC seems to be set as a clear headed person but she's dumb, it's weird, lol.
Spoiler
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It's a refreshingly light story. Not really my kind of story but when you have nothing to do and want to read something brainless, this novel is okay. <<less
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Counterattacking Scums rated it
January 7, 2022
Status: Completed
I must say this novel is just for passing time. It follows the typical stereotypes: ML contract marriage with MC and then falling in love, breakup, pregnency, and back together. It pushed the supporting female lead to a female lead and the original FL became a deranged villain as they normally do. I would have loved it more if they didn't make AYT still so persistent. Perhaps they could have showed that she was also a transmigrated woman who actually knew SYY in her previous life.

MC was shown a helpless... more>> woman who couldn't solve her problems most of the time and it became the stage for ML to rise and become her saviour every time.

Don't expect alot from this novel. Just a sweet timepass if you want to see and some sticky romance. No proper emotional and chracter development shown. <<less
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luckyneko rated it
April 1, 2021
Status: c22
This is my third time trying to read this novel and I just can’t.

Another transmigration isekai where FL becomes a side character in a novel and overthrows the female lead. My biggest qualm with this story is that the FL and ML seem to lack any real depth, and seem to be wholly superficial people in the entertainment circle. This is a lighter/fluffier version of Hidden Marriage, yet the ML-FL relationship is basically just a s*xual exchange (similar to Bringing the Nation’s Husband Home).

Translation quality: very good

2 stars
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Naylim Tsunyi
Naylim Tsunyi rated it
May 2, 2020
Status: c85
The story begins to be boring, narrates events or very irrelevant or simply this novel is very boring, it is not that I wanted drama... Also note that the love story of the protagonist and the ML is very superficial, the protagonist always has to be pleasing and pleasing the ML what is tired and on several occasions it is noticeable that the ML sees it as its only great strength, which makes me think, I mean man, you chased her first and then you hope that it pleases you... more>> as A maid, where is the love story here?, although I knew it was not true love at first I feel that the ML is cheating and will stay with the protagonist mistakenly thinking that he loves her, just because she does not treat him badly, for that's what I say this "love story" is shallow shit. <<less
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s1003
s1003 rated it
April 21, 2020
Status: c81
Very shallow novel - FL is vain and conceited, only cares about money, clearly a gold-digger. ML is vain and conceited, seems to like the fact the FL sucks up to him all the way. Their relationship is very superficial. There's no character development whatsoever so far and I'm not sure where the plot is going.

Can't help but feel this story is an "ideal romance" written by a teenager who has no experience with relationships.
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Ejsama
Ejsama rated it
November 30, 2019
Status: Completed
Honestly, this story is a complete rollercoaster. I mean its not too sad or depressing but just okay (?).

The book and reality Su Yaya's switched so they both got good endings.

The antagonists got what they deserved.

... more>>
Spoiler

There was like 4 male supporting characters because they fell for the sweet and cute SYY (I think 1 didnt really like her but just as friends and the other 1 tried) but their love got deflated when they found out her backing is ML. At least one had guts but thats because they're half brothers.

Family conflicts - thank the lord the Author didn't dwell in that.

the book ML somehow got his past life's memories. It was kinda neat I guess.

ML found out all the bad deeds the antagonists did to SYY and he had his revenge. In the story he adopted a girl but we never found out about her at the end.

I find the reality SYY kinda s*upid. Like I get you're preparing for the worst when his past love comes back but like if the ML is already doing something different from the novel, you'd realized that you have already changed the story line but nooo she just gotta hurt him. She was the one who chose to yield and act cute to him. The affection she gave but turns out it was all a lie surely would have hurt the ML. She was selfish and all she thought was herself. She could have stayed and fought in a different way than novel SYY. At least she came back under the MLs begging and accidental pregnancy. Anyways, she turned for the better. I guess.

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Overall, its a good story and plot twists. I agree on the person who said it had too many chapters. Author kinda made 4 or less chapters about ML playing with 3 supporting MLs which surprise! ML wrecked them :) <<less
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Sauramon
Sauramon rated it
November 27, 2019
Status: Completed
This story has too many chapters. It should be at most 70 chapters but it was inflated with the celebrity nonsense and a LOT of fluff (it was the first time I couldn't stand reading fluff). But even with it being this long it still managed to drop some plotlines and have unsatisfactory endings for others.

But the FL is good. Although I don't care for how skilled she is in acting just because, she has a good mindset and I appreciate that. The ML is... Tragically funny at first. But... more>> then he gets his sh*t together.

The funny thing is that I was anxiously waiting for the white moonlight to come wreck havock but the poor thing didn't even do anything and was kicked to the sidelines. Really too many chapters. <<less
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aovel
aovel rated it
December 1, 2022
Status: Completed
this story isn't for everyone. If you come to it with close minded intentions then you'd be uncomfortable with some parts of the story that makes it what it is. Just to be clear, everyone is harping about toxic masculinity and the MC being s*upid but seriously most 'ceo' type stories fall on this trap. It wasn't that bad as some make it out to be, to be honest. The story needed it and it worked.

this is light and fluffy story with not much conflict. If you read it just... more>> for the sake of reading it and enjoyment then it's quite a good read. But if you're reading it with the intention of trying to analyze humans, give insight on empowerment and all that, then move to the next story. All in all, this was entertaining.",) <<less
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