A Scummy A, But Bound To A Cutesy-Appeal System - Chapter 4

Pei Xixia was utterly speechless, but she still raised her hand and clicked confirm. With a whoosh, the screen in the air went dark, leaving only the ticking of the clock.

Mobao, wife, little jasmine, sweetie cupcake… They wanted to rely on this to win back Lu Yimo’s heart? Were they looking down on Lu Yimo’s anger?

And she even had to change it up and say them in different ways. Lu Yimo would absolutely think she was using all sorts of fancy methods to provoke her. If she did not smash Pei Xixia’s head open, that would already count as giving her face.

The rewards were strange too. This “Inner-Thought Eavesdropping Card”… what was that?

Pei Xixia pulled up the mission details page and clicked on “Inner-Thought Eavesdropping Card.” The dialogue box displayed in bold: Can read the inner voice of any person other than the target character for 10 seconds.

Pei Xixia smiled. Very good. As things stood, it was completely useless.

She clicked on the “Spring Cherry Couple Set” again. The thumbnail was a clothing icon, and she could not tell what it was. She clicked to enlarge it, and her expression changed abruptly. She immediately closed the interface.

It was a set of thin, stringy sexy lingerie—the kind where you could not tell at a glance how it was supposed to be worn.

The system really was working very hard to push her toward death.

The only thing worth looking forward to was the twenty thousand yuan. Pei Xixia could not help clicking on it, only for two huge red words to pop up:

“Before tax.”

Next time, please just give the post-tax bonus directly, okay?

Pei Xixia felt utterly exhausted in both body and mind. She could not tell whether she was tired or angry, and she was too lazy to argue with Jiaojiao like a human yelling at a machine. Irritated, she lay back down on the bed, and a few minutes later, she was dead to the world.

The next day, Pei Xixia got up early, quickly changed the dressing on her injured arm, and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Lu Yimo, planning to bring it to the hospital later. Lu Yimo had not eaten anything since last night, so she should be starving by now.

As the original author of the script, she knew Lu Yimo’s tastes very well. Don’t be fooled by Lu Yimo’s cool and distant appearance—she actually especially liked sweet little pastries. Pei Xixia baked osmanthus taro paste cakes for her, and the kitchen was filled with the sweet fragrance of pastries.

She was busy moving in and out, baking the pastries, when a girl shuffled lazily into the kitchen in slippers. She had eye-catching red hair, a whole row of bright dangling earrings hanging from her right ear, and even a lip piercing.

Pei Xixia recognized her. This was Pei Xining’s younger sister, Pei Xiyao, a little brat who had not yet completed her differentiation but had already picked up a whole body of spoiled, extravagant, and pleasure-seeking bad habits. She was a living, breathing little delinquent girl.

Sure enough, Pei Xiyao said contemptuously, “Your wife already ran off with someone else, and you still have the mood to bake little cakes here?”

Pei Xixia froze. “What wife ran off with someone else?”

Pei Xiyao slanted a glance at her. “You haven’t checked Weibo? Last night, Lu Yimo and Director Qi went to get a room. Don’t tell me you still don’t know?”

Pei Xixia’s eyes widened, and she quickly took out her phone. Sure enough, the topic “Lu Yimo cheats with Qi Wanbai during marriage” was hanging high on the trending list. She clicked into the topic, and right there was a piece of surveillance footage showing Lu Yimo and Qi Wanbai walking into a guest room together. Qi Wanbai was even very gentlemanly as she carried Lu Yimo’s bag for her.

Pei Xixia’s heart jolted. This was not a plot point in the original text! Hotel surveillance was always managed very strictly. For it to be released so smoothly, it was probably Qi Wanbai’s doing.

After all, Qi Wanbai had been beaten up by Lu Yimo like that. She definitely would not let it go. At the very least, she would drag Lu Yimo down with her—

In this world, people held Omegas to much harsher moral standards, requiring them to be unswervingly loyal to their partners. For any Omega in the public eye, an affair during marriage would be a devastating blow.

Lu Yimo might very well be blacklisted and permanently forced out of the entertainment industry.

Pei Xixia hurriedly scrolled down to the comment section. As expected, the contents were unbearable to look at:

“I thought Lu Yimo was the pure and innocent type. Tsk, tsk, tsk. So she comes out to steal a little taste too, huh?”

“An SS-rank Omega like her probably has a huge demand, right? Pei Xining probably can’t satisfy her.”

“As expected, Omegas are all animals controlled by pheromones. But didn’t they say Lu Yimo and Pei Xining’s pheromone compatibility is as high as ninety-eight percent? Even that couldn’t tie her down?”

…

There were also comments that were even nastier and more vulgar. Pei Xixia could not keep reading. She put away her phone and hurried to pack the pastries.

Lu Yimo must have seen these comments too. Her emotions were not stable enough right now. Pei Xixia could not leave her alone at the hospital.

Behind her, Pei Xiyao idly made sarcastic remarks. “That Lu Yimo, huh? She usually looks so quiet and low-key. Who knew she was the type to quietly pull off something big? How does it feel to be cheated on?”

Pei Xixia had not wanted to bother with her at first, but after thinking about it, the family atmosphere had to be rectified sooner or later. She turned back and grabbed Pei Xiyao by the collar. “I’m going to bring Yimo home now. You’d better speak to her with a little more respect. Otherwise, the person this family won’t be able to tolerate will be you.”

With that, she released Pei Xiyao’s collar. Completely ignoring her astonished expression, she rushed downstairs without looking back.

Pei Xiyao was pushed into a stagger, and her whole person was stunned. Although she and Pei Xining did not get along, they had never openly declared war on each other. She had never thought Pei Xining would lay hands on her—and even threaten her!

Usually, she had never seen Pei Xining protect Lu Yimo like this either. Could she have some kind of cuckold fetish?!

Pei Xixia took a taxi to the hospital. The family originally had three drivers, but because they had no money, and because Pei Xize needed to go to work while Pei Xiyao needed to go to school—both requiring dedicated pick-up and drop-off—to cut expenses, they could only dismiss Pei Xining’s driver.

It was not hard to see that the Pei family really was at the end of the road.

When she arrived at the door of Ward 1723, Pei Xixia took a deep breath and summoned Jiaojiao.

“Jiaojiao, I can start acting cute now, right?”

Jiaojiao affirmed, “Yes. The mission has already begun. The host may act freely.”

Then she would give it a small try? She was going all in. Pei Xixia secretly clenched her fist. Enduring her shame, she lightly knocked on the door. “Momo baby, are you awake?”

The room was utterly silent.

At least there was no murderous aura rushing at her face.

But there was also no response about the psychological trauma value fluctuating.

Could it be that Lu Yimo had not heard?

Pei Xixia continued knocking. “Momo baby, I made osmanthus taro paste cakes for you. Do you want to try some?”

The room remained completely quiet.

Pei Xixia figured that if she kept dragging things out like this, Lu Yimo would not open the door, so she threw out the main point directly. “Momo baby, have you seen the comments online? Our current situation is really bad. We need to hurry and discuss our next countermeasure. I know you hate me, but you have to think about your own future too, right?”

Pei Xixia held her breath and pressed her ear against the door. Sure enough, after a moment, soft footsteps sounded from inside the room.

She hurriedly straightened up, fixed her collar, and stood properly as she waited.

With a click, the door lock opened. Lu Yimo was wearing a blue-and-white striped hospital gown, and overnight, she seemed to have grown a little thinner again. She glanced at Pei Xixia with a listless expression, then turned and walked back into the room.

Pei Xixia immediately followed after her like an eager little tail. Carefully, she opened the packaging bag. “Momo baby, osmanthus taro paste cakes. Try them. They just came out of the oven, so they’re still warm.”

Lu Yimo stopped in her tracks, her face full of disgust. “If you have something to say, say it. If you don’t, get out. Stop being so sarcastic and weird here.”

The system gave a real-time reminder: “Detected that the form of address ‘Momo baby’ has taken effect. The target character’s hostile emotions have increased. Psychological trauma value +1. Current psychological trauma value total: 87 points. Host, please keep up the good work!”

Pei Xixia: “…”

Keep up the good work, my ass. At this rate, before the cake stops being warm, I’ll already be stone-cold dead!

Pei Xixia did not dare improvise anymore. “Okay, okay, Miss Lu Yimo. Um, about the public opinion online… you’ve seen it all, right?”

Lu Yimo stared straight at Pei Xixia. “So? What countermeasure do you have? Pei Xining, you know that I need this job very much. I can’t leave the entertainment industry.”

Indeed, the reason Lu Yimo entered the entertainment industry, as well as a large part of the reason she agreed to marry Pei Xining, was because of her grandmother. She had grown up with her grandmother since childhood. Her grandmother was an N-rank Omega, frail and sickly with poor immunity. Every day, she had to take large amounts of medicine and needed expensive medical care.

In this world, although being an entertainer did not count as a high-paying profession, it still earned more than an ordinary company employee.

Even more so, if Lu Yimo truly got blacklisted because of an affair during marriage, it would probably be very difficult for her to find another job.

Pei Xixia hurriedly said, “That won’t happen. It’s only one video. There’s no substantial evidence. As long as the two of us show off our affection in public a bit more, the rumors will naturally collapse on their own.”

Lu Yimo slanted a glance at Pei Xixia and said directly, “I don’t want to show affection with you. Seeing your face only makes me feel disgusted.”

Pei Xixia: “…”

Had things already reached this point…

Pei Xixia scratched her head awkwardly. “Then do you have any good idea…”

Lu Yimo gave a cold scoff. “I’m going to sue you and Qi Wanbai, so you can both pay the price for your actions.”

…That indeed could be considered a good method. The first choice of a good, law-abiding citizen.

But she did not want to be sued!

Pei Xixia spoke incoherently. “Yimo, calm down. Although Qi Wanbai, uh, although we did something unforgivable to you, in the end, it was still only an attempted crime, right? Even if you sue us, we won’t receive too severe of a punishment. We might even take revenge on you later. Uh, I mean, Qi Wanbai might take revenge on you. Look, she’s already started taking revenge on you now…”

“Pei Xining, I’m not discussing this with you. I’m informing you.” Lu Yimo revealed a cold, stunning smile that made Pei Xixia’s heart tremble. “I’m not even afraid of killing someone. You think I’d be afraid of retaliation?”

This was no good. She could not persuade her at all! Pei Xixia wanted to cry but had no tears. What she liked most was her cub’s firm, unyielding nature. She had never expected all of it to be used against herself!

Pei Xixia could only say, “I know you’re not afraid of retaliation, but you also have to think about Grandma. If something happens to you, what will Grandma do? Who will take care of her?”

Sure enough, when Lu Yimo heard this, her emotions gradually calmed. After thinking deeply for a moment, she still said, “I won’t cooperate with you in showing affection.”

I’m already endlessly grateful that you’re not going to court to sue me! Pei Xining hurriedly said, “You don’t have to cooperate. I can be your one-sided simp!”

Lu Yimo frowned. “Pei Xining, you’ve been acting very strange since last night. Although I don’t know what kind of dirty scheme you’re plotting now, I won’t fall into the same pit a second time.”

Pei Xixia felt bitter inside. “I swear I’m not plotting anything. My conscience just woke up, and I want to become a good person.”

Lu Yimo looked deeply at Pei Xixia. “You’d better be.” She stood up. “I’m going to handle the discharge procedures.”

With that, she got up and walked out of the ward.

Pei Xixia collapsed onto the hospital bed, her eyes rolling back as she was about to faint from despair.

Just then, there was a sudden turn for the better. The cold older-sister voice that rang by her ear even became pleasant to hear: “Detected that the form of address ‘Miss Lu Yimo’ has taken effect. The target character’s hostile emotions have eased. Psychological trauma value -1. Current psychological trauma value total: 86 points. Mission progress: 1/3. Host, please keep up the good work!”

Pei Xixia: “???”

“Miss Lu Yimo”… also counted as acting cute?