Before Xu Ziyan could figure out what had gotten into Fu Qiming, her phone rang. The caller ID showed Ding Jie.
‘The male lead is calling me? He couldn’t be getting anxious because I haven’t proactively handed over the game, could he?’
Li Yun Hui, hearing her inner thoughts, quickly knocked on the car window, signaling her to get out. She pulled Xu Ziyan aside and said, “Xiao Yan, the moment you left just now, your father and I felt terrible. When you get down to it, this matter was really Li Dong’s lack of morals, betraying Xiao Ming and damaging the relationship between you siblings.”
“That Ding Jie, Mom knows you like him, but you’re too naive. He’s just using you. Someone who truly likes you would never let you take such risks. Don’t you agree?”
Fu Dongfeng chimed in, “Your mother and I have done some soul-searching too. It was our fault for not protecting you well enough, letting them deceive you. Any conflict within our family can be resolved. But if you really move out and live on your own, they’ll find it even easier to trick you, and who knows what they might do.”
“So it’s better if you don’t move out. The fact that you told Xiao Ming about Li Dong’s true colors shows that you do care for your little brother, right? When you get down to it, we’re still a family. When your eldest brother and sister get back, we’ll all have a good, open talk and clear up any misunderstandings. With you siblings supporting each other, there’s nothing to fear.”
“That’s right,” Li Yun Hui said. “This social circle kicks those who are down and fawns over those on top. Among those young and ignorant people, there are plenty of snobs. If you move out, they’ll really think you have no one to rely on and will definitely bully you. The more Mom thinks about it, the more she can’t bear it. Let’s not go, alright?”
Li Yun Hui directly pulled Xu Ziyan back toward the house. “You must have spent a lot helping Li Dong pay off his debts, right? Here’s ten million. Take it and spend it. If it’s not enough, just tell Mom.”
Xu Ziyan was just about to refuse when a card was shoved into her hand. The words of refusal were instantly forgotten. When she thought about it, living in this thousand-square-meter mansion, having good food and drink, people who cared about her, and avoiding trouble from the male lead sounded pretty good. There really wasn’t a need to go live alone in that “never-before-seen” little villa.
She smiled at them. “Okay, I promise I won’t be fooled by them anymore.”
She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, ‘What wonderful adoptive parents. How could the author write the Original Host as such an ungrateful wolf? If I had parents this good, I’d wake up laughing from my dreams.’
‘Speaking of which, they really are spoiling their kids too much. Aren’t they afraid of raising a good-for-nothing? But I like being a little rich-family parasite. Hehe.’
Li Yun Hui smiled gently, finding this child quite adorable.
Just as they entered, Ding Jie called again. Fu Dongfeng said in a deep voice, “Answer it. See what he has to say. Don’t be afraid. Mom and Dad will always be your backing. We’ll help you solve any difficulties.”
Li Yun Hui added, “Just remember one thing: people who love you want what’s best for you. They won’t use any excuse to make you do something improper. Remember that, and you won’t be deceived. Always think things through.”
‘So they really think I’m simple-minded and ignorant, deceived by Ding Jie, and they really believe I still care about family ties.’ Xu Ziyan hadn’t expected that returning the game and exposing Li Dong would have such a big impact on them. They were about to kick her out, but now they could just let the matter drop and not dwell on it.
Xu Ziyan wasn’t one to dwell on things either. She nodded and answered Ding Jie’s call.
“Ziyan? Why did it take you so long to answer? I saw the statement Fu Qiming posted. Did it work because of the game thing?”
‘Good grief, this male lead doesn’t even offer a single word of concern. He jumps straight to asking about the game, thinking he has the Original Host completely under his thumb. The Original Host might have been love-struck and an ungrateful wolf, but she gave Ding Jie her heart and soul. He doesn’t have a shred of gratitude for her and was so cruel to her in the end. What a piece of work!’
But the male lead was also key to the world’s collapse. The plot hadn’t deviated significantly yet, and Xu Ziyan still wanted to struggle a bit. So she replied coolly, “Yes. I’m not in the mood to talk right now. Let’s discuss it in a couple of days.”
Ding Jie’s tone darkened. “You know how bad my situation is. Getting this done is the only way to change my family’s opinion of me. Any later, and my eldest brother will crush me. Did they kick you out? Where are you? I’ll come pick you up and take you to a hotel.”
‘The saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. This male lead wants to get something for nothing. He orders people around so righteously without offering any sweetener.’
‘If you’re going to use a love-struck fool, you should at least offer up some of your masculine charms, right? Shouldn’t you take her to your own apartment to settle her? Sending her to a hotel… and who knows who’s paying for that hotel.’
Fu Dongfeng gave a light cough, thinking to himself, ‘This girl isn’t still hung up on masculine charms, is she?’ Ding Jie’s looks were indeed undeniable, having taken after his movie star mother, but his character was no good. Even if you wanted looks, you shouldn’t want that kind.
For a moment, Fu Dongfeng’s mind was filled with all the talented young men he knew, and he began considering if any were suitable for his new adopted daughter.
Xu Ziyan, meanwhile, said to Ding Jie, “I already said I’m not in the mood. It’s too late to get anything done now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
This time, Xu Ziyan hung up directly. System 001 hadn’t figured out how to find a loophole yet, so she’d use a stalling tactic for now. She also wanted to think of a way herself. Not communicating with Ding Jie was the best.
She simply turned off her phone for some peace and quiet. Turning her head, she saw Fu Dongfeng and Li Yun Hui and suddenly remembered that the Original Host was the one who kept helping Ding Jie screw over the Fu family. Now that mess had become her burden, which was somewhat awkward.
It was Li Yun Hui who saved her from the awkwardness. “Now that you know he’s not trustworthy, that’s enough. Let’s consider this matter over. It’s late, go back to your room and rest. You fainted today, you need to sleep early.”
Xu Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she felt the Fu family was too indulgent with their adopted daughter, she was the one benefiting now. Of course, the more indulgent, the better. She happily went back to her room for a fragrant bubble bath.
She thought about today’s events—leaving and then coming back—and the mission reward hadn’t been taken back. This indicated that as long as the so-called plot was nominally completed, going back on it afterward didn’t matter. However, judging by Ding Jie’s tone, he didn’t know she had returned to the Fu family. So this was a private matter, not made public, and wouldn’t affect the outside world. If it were a plot point with significant impact, she didn’t know if this method would work.
She silently analyzed this with System 001.
‘Now there’s a chance to test this: give the game to Ding Jie, then find a way to get it back, and see if that counts as completing the plot. But how could Ding Jie possibly return something once he gets his hands on it? Too difficult.’
‘What if I tricked Ding Jie with a different game?’
‘Probably wouldn’t work. Ding Jie has now connected with Li Dong. He’d confirm the game’s details with Li Dong and expose me in minutes.’
‘Sigh. If only I could implant a virus or something in the game. Then even if Ding Jie got it, he couldn’t succeed and would even get screwed over. But I know nothing about games. I can’t do that. 001, what if I went to find Fu Qiming? Do you think he’d agree to rig the game?’
Fu Qiming’s room was right next to hers, separated by just a wall, allowing him to hear her inner thoughts clearly. Hearing this, he stopped typing code, frowned, thought for a moment, pulled up the previous game, and seriously considered the possibility of rigging it.
Xu Ziyan continued, ‘Implanting a virus definitely wouldn’t work. Too obvious. If Ding Jie found out I’d screwed him over, he might immediately have someone kill me. I’d rather have the world collapse than die a miserable death at his hands—having my hands broken, my mouth sealed, and being drowned alive in a filthy ditch, all because the Original Host slapped Bai Qingqing and cursed at her. Too horrible. No, no.’
Fu Qiming’s brow furrowed tightly, and he clenched his fist. Ding Jie was absolute scum, using Xu Ziyan and then treating her like that? Xu Ziyan was also an idiot, vicious and cruel to her family but a complete moron in front of Ding Jie.
What kind of logic was this stupid book using? The villainess was dumb and evil, so the protagonists could use her as they pleased and then casually kill her? They couldn’t submit to this kind of plot!
After venting to System 001, Xu Ziyan went to do her skincare routine and then threw herself onto the soft, big bed. Fu Qiming, however, finished the coffee in his cup and decided to research all night. He was determined to create a subtle bug in the game!
Smelling the fragrant bedding, Xu Ziyan smiled and said to System 001, ‘Do I talk too much? I keep chattering away to you.’
001 replied, ‘No, I like listening to you talk. It’s also a way to decompress and helps you relax. It’s just that when I selected you, you didn’t seem to like talking much.’
Xu Ziyan rolled over on the bed. ‘My previous life wasn’t good from childhood, so I didn’t trust others much and didn’t like talking about things with people. But you’re different. I can talk to you in my mind. And coming to this unfamiliar world, only you and I are one. We rise and fall together. Instinct makes me feel closer and more dependent, I guess.’
‘001, I can trust you, right?’
‘From now on, we’ll depend on each other, work hard together, live better and better, for a long, long time, right?’
001 quickly said, ‘Right. We’ll think of a way to survive.’
Xu Ziyan said with a laugh, ‘I hope the good deeds from my previous life bring me a little bit of good karma, so I can become a very capable tasker. If I do well, you’ll do well too. Then you’ll become a very powerful system, famous in your realm.’
‘The universe is so vast. For us to meet must be fate. I’ll cherish you.’
001 was very moved and immediately promised, ‘Host, don’t worry. I will definitely work hard to apply for benefits, work hard to find loopholes for you to exploit, and safeguard your journey. I will definitely protect you!’
Xu Ziyan said, ‘Then I’m reassured. Love you, mwah. Goodnight.’
Xu Ziyan hadn’t rested since waking up. Having just relaxed in the bubble bath and now lying on the super soft, comfortable bed, she fell asleep the second she said goodnight.
001 was still feeling excited when it saw the host enter a sweet dreamland. It immediately swallowed back a whole lot of words and went back to searching for plot loopholes.
Next door, Fu Qiming couldn’t help but chuckle. That was full of tricks—wasn’t that just the typical heart-to-heart, painting a grand future routine that superiors used on subordinates? The system was the most naive one, sold out but still counting money for Xu Ziyan.
He went to brew another cup of coffee. Passing by Xu Ziyan’s door on his way back to his room, his steps paused. Suddenly, he felt this wasn’t so bad. The annoying older sister had been replaced, and life seemed to have gained a lot more interest.
Now they were truly grasshoppers tied to the same string. He would help Xu Ziyan realize her ideas. Let’s see if they could try to resist the plot!