In the living room, Zhao Huiru and Qin Huaiyu were sitting on the sofa, enjoying bird’s nest soup delivered from a hotel.
Jiang Yu came downstairs carrying a large foot-soaking bucket. Qin Huaiyu glanced over and saw Jiang Yu’s dripping wet hair and the soap suds still clinging to her neck. Her face lit up with undisguised smugness as she sneered, “What’s with this mess? You look like a complete disaster. No wonder my brother still can’t stand you after all this time! Hurry up and get dinner ready. What will Qin Yan eat when he gets back?”
“Cooking? Can’t you see I’ve brought such a big basin?” Jiang Yu curled her lips into a smile and headed straight for the kitchen.
Qin Huaiyu was stunned and exchanged a puzzled look with Zhao Huiru.
Wait, wasn’t that a foot-soaking bucket? Cooking?
Had Jiang Yu lost her mind?
Zhao Huiru frowned. Indeed, something had been off about Jiang Yu since she returned today. In the past, she’d jump at the chance to do chores whenever asked. But today, no matter what Qin Huaiyu said, it felt like punching cotton, utterly ineffective.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yu entered the kitchen and spotted the central control panel for the water heater and bathroom fixtures. The power cord hung loosely, its three-prong plug tightly secured. It wouldn’t have come loose on its own.
Someone had deliberately unplugged it.
Jiang Yu sneered, plugged the cord back in, turned the water temperature to the lowest setting, and carried the large wooden bucket to the sink to fill it with cold water.
Still not enough.
She tapped her slightly raised chin with a finger, then turned around, opened the freezer, took out a box of ice cubes, and dumped them all into the bucket.
The living room fell silent as Qin Huaiyu and Zhao Huiru exchanged confused glances, unable to guess what Jiang Yu was up to.
Just then, the door at the end of the hallway clicked open. Qin Yan was back.
The mother and daughter both breathed a sigh of relief.
With Qin Yan here, Jiang Yu wouldn’t dare cause any trouble. In front of him, she had always been as humble as dust.
“Qin Yan, you haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Zhao Huiru immediately stood up. “Jiang Yu is cooking. It’ll be ready soon.”
Qin Yan walked into the living room and, as he looked up, caught sight of Jiang Yu wrapped in a bathrobe and wobbling under the weight of a large wooden bucket, emerging from the kitchen.
Qin Huaiyu, with her back to the kitchen, noticed nothing and seized the opportunity to complain, “Brother, you should really talk some sense into Jiang Yu. She’s been back for ages, yet she’s still dawdling and can’t even get dinner ready properly. It’s ridiculous!”
“It’s fine, I’m not hungry.” His words seemed directed at Qin Huaiyu, but his eyes were fixed on Jiang Yu behind her.
For some reason, this woman now gave him a dangerous vibe.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when he saw Jiang Yu quicken her pace, stumble as her left foot caught her right, and send the entire bucket of water flying straight toward the sofa.
“Ahhh—!”
Qin Huaiyu, suddenly drenched in icy water, shrieked as if possessed, hugging herself and trembling from the cold. “Jiang Yu, have you lost your mind?! Are you trying to kill me?!”
Zhao Huiru, soaked from the waist down, tugged at her dripping clothes and bit back her anger. But if one were to look closely at her expression, they’d see the cracks forming in her usually gentle, motherly facade.
Clang!
The bucket hit the floor.
As for Jiang Yu, she had already lunged forward, landing perfectly at Qin Yan’s feet.
Qin Yan lowered his gaze to see the woman’s bathrobe collar slightly askew, her hair damp and clinging with moisture. Her face, exquisitely beautiful as if sculpted by a 3D model, tilted upward, her pitiful eyes meeting his gaze. Clutching his pants like a lifeline, she tried to pull herself up, whimpering, “My legs are weak, my head hurts too… the concussion hasn’t fully healed~”
In that brief moment, Qin Yan’s imagination ran wild.
What kind of act were they putting on?
Jiang Yu’s fall was definitely fake, but the water she’d poured over Zhao Huiru and Qin Huaiyu was real, no mercy shown. He suspected that if he hadn’t returned just in time, she might have even tried to dump the foot-soaking wooden bucket on Qin Huaiyu’s head.
So, had Jiang Yu really fallen out with the mother-daughter duo?
Or were the three of them conspiring again, putting on a show to trap him, with Jiang Yu using this unconventional method to get close to him?
Only when he felt the unbearable weight on his pant leg did he slowly bend down, though he dared not look down again. Instead, he reached out and precisely pinched the overly loose collar of Jiang Yu’s robe.
Then, he lowered his eyes, using his gaze to stop her from tugging at his pants.
“Mom! Brother! Look at what she’s done! This loungewear set was custom-made and expensive! And my freshly styled hair… Achoo!” Qin Huaiyu’s eyes were red with rage, several of her newly applied eyelashes dangling from her face, and her teeth chattered from the cold. Gnashing her teeth, she turned and pointed fiercely at Jiang Yu on the floor. “Just drop dead!”
With that, she grabbed the porcelain bowl from the coffee table, the one she’d just finished her fish maw soup in, and hurled it with all her might at Jiang Yu’s head.
If that hit, at the very least, it would send Jiang Yu right back to the hospital.
Judging by the angle and speed of the flying bowl, after a series of complex calculations, Jiang Yu felt she should be able to dodge it.
But the system chimed in: 【Don’t count on luck. Your fate won’t let you avoid it.】
Jiang Yu: Got it.
Her body moved faster than her mind. The moment the bowl flew toward her, she suddenly yanked Qin Yan in front of her.
From an outsider’s perspective, it looked as though he had stepped forward, using his tall frame to shield the weak, fallen her.
Qin Yan: ???
He was facing away and hadn’t had time to react before the bowl struck his buttocks with a loud “duang”, then shattered into pieces, scattering porcelain shards everywhere.
Though he struggled to maintain the dignity of a domineering CEO and refrained from crying out in pain, Jiang Yu saw him flinch from the impact. It must have hurt quite a bit.
She guiltily ducked her head: Xiao’er! Did I misunderstand? If my fate won’t let me avoid it, then conversely, Qin Yan’s fate should definitely let him avoid it. How did he still get hit?
System: 【If you hadn’t grabbed him, he would have avoided it.】
It added: 【But look, even though he didn’t avoid it, the bowl only hit his buttocks, the least harmful spot. Your understanding wasn’t wrong at all.】
Jiang Yu: …Right, not very damaging, but extremely humiliating. How will the domineering CEO’s buttocks ever face the world again?
Forcing a smile, she met Qin Yan’s less-than-friendly gaze. “If I said I didn’t mean to set you up, would you believe me?”
Believe you, my foot!
Qin Yan bent down and pulled Jiang Yu up from the floor. He had initially intended to grab her by the collar of her robe and haul her upstairs, but upon realizing that her bathrobe made it inconvenient, he instead slung her over his shoulder like a sack of grain and headed toward the staircase.
“Qin Yan, I can explain!” Jiang Yu panicked. The situation clearly indicated he was about to settle scores with her. Dangling in mid-air, she could only flail her arms and kick her legs. “Put me down, I can walk! Doesn’t your butt hurt carrying me like this…”
Qin Yan completely ignored her.
At the top of the stairs, he glanced back at Qin Huaiyu, his expression icy cold. “Jiang Yu and I have matters to discuss. I’ll leave the mess in the living room for you to clean up.”
With that, he continued upstairs without another look.
Zhao Huiru lowered her head, her expression inscrutable, her tone returning to its usual gentleness. “Jiang Yu might still be emotionally unstable after such a major incident… You two should rest early.”
“No way!” Qin Huaiyu was so furious she felt like pinching her nose bridge to calm down. She stomped her foot and complained to Zhao Huiru, “Why do I have to suffer and do the cleanup? Mom!”
As Qin Yan and Jiang Yu disappeared at the end of the hallway, Zhao Huiru’s face darkened completely. She whispered, “Endure it for now. Once you successfully become the young mistress of the Zhou family and help Xiao Xi take control of the Qin family, let’s see how they dare act so arrogantly!”
—
“Jiang Yu, what exactly are you trying to do?” Upstairs, Qin Yan finally set her down and questioned her sternly.
Jiang Yu pressed herself against the wall, subtly shifting her feet a few inches away. “President Qin, the night is still young. How about I come find you later for a heart-to-heart talk by candlelight?” She hadn’t even had her bath yet, all thanks to that troublemaker Qin Huaiyu ruining everything!
Seizing the opportunity, she swiftly pulled open the door to her guest room, slipped inside, and cracked it open just enough to say to Qin Yan, “Don’t worry. With others around today, I’ll come to your room later to put on a show with you.”
With that, she closed the door completely.
Qin Yan: …
Who wants to have a heart-to-heart talk with you?
Back in her room, the water in the bathtub had turned cold. Jiang Yu refilled it, this time standing under the shower to rinse off before finally sinking comfortably into the warm water. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, but soon grew restless again. Reaching for her phone by the sink, she began scrolling through it.
Jiang Yu: ??? What’s this?
On the first page of her home screen, an unfamiliar app called “Xiao Tiancai” had appeared at the bottom. It seemed to be the system’s doing.
System: 【Yes, Host. This is our official Xiao Tiancai app. From now on, you can use it to receive tasks, check your luck points, access various information, and even enter the system mall. The mall is already linked to all your personal bank accounts. Every purchase you make there will be automatically rationalized by the system, so you have nothing to worry about.】
Jiang Yu: Impressive.
She opened the app and eagerly clicked into the mall interface, only to find a variety of product icons… all grayed out.
System: 【Once you complete the beginner tasks, the Level 1 mall will unlock. By consistently completing weekly tasks and others, higher-level malls will gradually become available to you～】
Jiang Yu: So complicated?
Let me see what’s going on.
She exited the mall and opened the task panel, feeling as though a multitude of tasks were rushing toward her—
「Beginner Mission 2: Spend 3 hours with the task target, Qin Yan (Incomplete)」
「Beginner Mission 3: Cook a meal for mission target Qin Yan (Incomplete)」
「Beginner Mission 4: Share a bed with mission target Qin Yan once (Incomplete)」
…
Followed by a series of blurred, unlocked missions.
Jiang Yu: Hey, Er, this doesn’t seem right, does it? These missions make me feel like I’m trying to win over Qin Yan. Maybe I should just die instead. I don’t want to be a self-aware simp.
System: 【No way, host! I’m a high-level Destiny-Altering System. All missions are designed to gather luck points from nearby sources. Stay focused, host. If you die, you’ll lose everything.】
Jiang Yu detected a tone of earnestness in the system’s voice.
But she remained stubborn and unmoved: Hey, Er, once you’re dead, you won’t care about any of that nonsense anymore. Just let me die.
System: 【…】
For a moment, it wasn’t sure whether “Hey, Er” was an insult, calling it an idiot, or just referring to its serial number, 002.
And now it was in a tough spot. The host seemed quite eager to die. But if she really died, what would happen to it? If the female lead died, the novel couldn’t proceed, the entire small world would collapse, and everything within it, including this unfortunate working system, would gradually vanish.
Jiang Yu narrowed her eyes, seeing through it and calling it out: If I die, you’ll be in trouble, won’t you?
System: 【…】 Its fate was being squeezed by a villain.
Sure enough, Jiang Yu’s next words were: How about you give me some perks to beg me not to die?
The system struggled for a long time before finally giving up: 【What do you want?】
If its form could be visualized, it would definitely be scowling right now.
Jiang Yu: There must be others in this small world with high luck points besides Qin Yan, right? Even if they can’t compare to him as the chosen one of luck, they’re definitely luckier than me. So, shouldn’t I be able to gather luck from others, too, not just Qin Yan?
The system started struggling again: 【That’s against the rules! You’re the female lead, so you should always be by the male lead’s side. How can you look for others? If the main system finds out, we’ll both be punished!】
Jiang Yu: If neither of us says anything, who will know? Or… I’ve hidden a few gold bars. I could melt them into a gold brick and smash it against my head! How many hits do you think this broken head of mine can take?
System: 【No, no, no! You can gather luck from others. I’ll open a special channel for you. As long as someone has a positive opinion of you, meaning their favorability toward you is positive, you can gather luck from them. The higher the favorability, the faster the conversion rate. Satisfied?】
Jiang Yu nodded: I think Beginner Missions 2 and 4 look good. I can complete both tonight.
She wasn’t really planning to die, just tricking the silly system a little.
If you enjoy my works and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi. Thank you for your support.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152