A Scummy A, But Bound To A Cutesy-Appeal System - Chapter 7

Night, Songge Manor.

Lu Yimo was in poor physical condition. As soon as she returned home, she shut herself in her room and turned off the lights early. She was probably already sound asleep by now.

On the other side of the wall, Pei Xixia lay in bed. After running around all day, the wound on her arm had begun to ache faintly again. Bathed in the clear moonlight, she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

On top of that, two huge problems kept bouncing back and forth in her mind, making her even more restless.

The first was naturally how to establish credibility and seize power at Jiaqi, then restore its former glory.

The second was that the verification conditions for this Cutesy-Appeal Self-Saving System were strangely suspicious. So, was there any possibility that she could cleverly exploit a loophole and complete everything in one go?

It was not impossible, right?

If she successfully revived Jiaqi Entertainment, broke free from the system early, and returned Lu Yimo’s freedom, shaking off the double shackles of money and conscience, then her life would simply be too wonderful!

Pei Xixia’s life in her original real world had not been very good.

Her mother died when she was in middle school, and her father remarried. In two years, he had three more children, unlocking a brand-new poor-life expansion pack for her.

On one hand, her father did not value her. On the other hand, there truly was not much spare money at home for her.

She had been forced to start taking customized writing commissions in high school to earn living expenses. Her writing skills were quite good, and she could handle all kinds of styles. On top of that, she had no bottom line when it came to making quick money, so she soon gained a small reputation in the circle.

However, the key high school she attended had an intense study schedule. She did not have much time or energy to allocate to writing, so her earnings could only sustain her basic living expenses. They were nowhere near enough to make her rich.

After finally getting into university, she wanted to return to her old trade, but who would have thought that the originally promising yuri market would run into an industry winter? The entire track was barren, leaving her with no room to show her abilities.

After she finally endured until policies loosened and landed the script commission for The White Moonlight Redemption Guide, with the manuscript fee about to arrive any moment, she transmigrated into this damned place.

To put it simply, that was Pei Xixia’s extremely short and poverty-stricken life.

To her, financial freedom truly was important.

Actually, considering her own abilities, the safest method was to return to her old trade and write short drama scripts to earn money. In this world’s setting, the entertainment industry was relatively behind in development. Everyone was still stuck at the stage of deep, abusive romance and dramatic hatred-born-of-love plots. They had never tasted the sweetness of satisfying short dramas before. If Pei Xixia could open up this track one step ahead of everyone else, then the money prospects would be limitless.

The difficult part was that she did not know how to move aside the huge stumbling block known as Pei Xize.

This older brother was conservative and stubborn. He really was far too annoying.

He would absolutely never agree to invest in such a different kind of script.

As for winning over other investors, Pei Xixia had no connections.

This really was a dead end.

Out of nowhere, Jiaojiao’s voice sounded in her mind. “Friendly reminder, host. By completing the corresponding missions, you can obtain a Connection Card, which will help the host solve the current difficulty.”

“There’s such a good thing?” Pei Xixia’s heart leapt with joy. But in the next second, she felt that something was wrong and reacted. “Wait, why is it you? Are you eavesdropping on my inner thoughts?”

For once, Jiaojiao’s voice carried a trace of confusion. “Eavesdropping? No. Host, you have not turned off real-time monitoring mode. All of your thoughts and words are directly monitored by the system.”

Pei Xixia: “…”

Excuse me, how was this any different from running around naked?

“You never told me that!”

“You never asked.”

“So you know all of my thoughts?” Pei Xixia asked, clinging to one last trace of hope.

“Yes. Your recent in-depth thinking on how to cheat and earn points was also detected by the system. You may receive a yellow-card warning shortly.”

Pei Xixia said, “How did I think about it in-depth? I didn’t find any usable method at all!”

“If you had found one, you would have received more than a yellow-card warning.” It was still a businesslike tone, but somehow, it made Pei Xixia feel like she was being mocked.

“All right, thank you, that’s enough, I understand, I’m turning off real-time monitoring mode now. So how do I turn it off?” Pei Xixia only wanted this noisy system to shut up.

“The off button is in the settings section of the control panel. Warm reminder: host, please remember to turn on real-time monitoring when carrying out missions. Otherwise, data changes will not be recorded by the system.”

Pei Xixia’s eyes shifted. Then if I keep real-time monitoring off the whole time, wouldn’t that mean—

Jiaojiao immediately sounded an alarm. “Detected again that the host has a tendency to cheat—”

Pei Xixia said, “I was just thinking it! I can’t even think? Hurry up and withdraw already!”

She swiftly clicked the “off” button. Jiaojiao’s voice came to an abrupt stop, and the world of her thoughts finally fell into true silence. The chirping of insects outside the window became clearer than ever.

After tossing around like this, Pei Xixia finally felt a little sleepy. Hugging the blanket, she sank into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Pei Xixia was woken by the clamor downstairs. Listening carefully, it was Pei Xiyao and Pei Xize arguing. More accurately, it was Pei Xiyao throwing a tantrum.

As vacation was approaching, the elite academy Pei Xiyao attended was holding another club activity. This event was on a huge scale. Students who signed up would be sent to a private island, where staff would set things up in advance, using the latest technology to simulate all kinds of extreme conditions indoors. They would also design various sand table simulation games, allowing students of different genders to experience resource allocation, crisis response, class cooperation, and so on. They said it was to help students better integrate into society in the future, but in reality, it was just a massive money-grabbing operation.

Of course Pei Xize would not agree to let Pei Xiyao go. One trip would cost hundreds of thousands, which was far too much money to burn. Besides, Pei Xiyao had not completed her differentiation at all. Even if she went, it would be useless. There would be no way for her to experience the activity in a targeted way.

Pei Xiyao stomped her feet and howled, “I don’t care! I want to go! The people I hang out with are all going. If I don’t go, they’ll definitely laugh at me!”

Pei Xize kept rubbing the space between his brows. “Stop making a fuss. It’s not like you don’t know the family’s situation. We don’t have money for you to squander.”

Pei Xiyao threw a fit. “How can there be no money? I saw that our family’s collection room still has some jewelry and haute couture hidden away. If you sell those, won’t we have money? Registration ends this afternoon! The slots over there are one-on-one. If we don’t register now, it really will be too late! Money can be earned again, but I only have one youth!”

Pei Xixia: …Why did that weirdly make sense?

But she absolutely could not let her go.

In the original book, Pei Xiyao had taken advantage of her family’s inattention to sell several sets of jewelry. She signed herself up and successfully went to the island during summer vacation, only to differentiate during the activity. The organizers claimed that they provided round-the-clock monitoring pods for undifferentiated students, but in reality, they were nothing more than empty showpieces. Pei Xiyao’s pheromones went out of control, her mind became muddled, and in the end, she drowned on the island.

Although this little delinquent girl was extremely annoying, Pei Xixia still could not just watch her court death and do nothing.

Leaning against the stair railing, Pei Xixia could not help speaking up in support. “If he’s telling you not to go, then don’t go. Why are you throwing a tantrum? The family’s collection was gathered by Mother with great effort while she was alive. You think you can sell it just because you say so?”

Pei Xiyao raised her head and cursed angrily, “Pei Xining! You have the nerve to criticize me? The person in this family least qualified to say anything about me is you! Back when you were in high school, which club activity did you ever miss? Why is it not allowed when it’s my turn?”

Pei Xixia said, “Because I had a good life and happened to catch the time when the family had money.”

“You disgusting cuckold fetishist!” Pei Xiyao was burning with rage and was about to go upstairs to argue.

Pei Xixia was stunned too. Cuckold fetishist? Was she talking about her? How did she have a cuckold fetish?

Just then, there was a creak as the door to Lu Yimo’s room opened. Lu Yimo appeared wearing a light purple acetate low-cut nightgown. Her hair curved loosely to one side, and her eyes were narrowed from sleepiness. Looking sickly, she propped the door open with one hand. “Why are you arguing outside someone else’s door so early in the morning?”

Uselessly, Pei Xixia swallowed a mouthful of saliva and explained stammeringly, “N-no, no. Pei Xiyao was being ignorant, so I was just saying a few words to her.”

Pei Xiyao shouted, “I’m ignorant? I’m just fighting for the rights I deserve!”

What rights did she deserve? She was clearly rushing to get herself killed. Pei Xixia pushed her downstairs. “I already told you the family has no money. Go do whatever you’re supposed to do. Don’t disturb my cub’s sleep.”

After saying that, she turned back and looked at Lu Yimo ingratiatingly. “Momo, later I’ll take you to the family’s collection room. We’re attending an event tomorrow night, so go see if there’s any jewelry you like. You haven’t been to my family’s collection room before, right? My mother had a lot of niche collectibles. They’re pretty interesting. I guarantee you haven’t seen them before.”

On the surface, these words were meant to show goodwill toward Lu Yimo, but in reality, they were meant for Pei Xiyao to hear. The meaning was that Pei Xixia would be staying with Lu Yimo in the collection room for a long time, so Pei Xiyao had better not get any crooked ideas.

Sure enough, Pei Xiyao immediately panicked and loudly protested, “No! She, she can’t go into our family’s collection room! Other people might not know, but I know very well that you two are only in a contractual marriage. She’s basically an outsider! How can you give Mother’s collection to her?”

Pei Xixia said shamelessly, “It’s true that it’s a contractual marriage, but have you never heard of a phrase called marriage before love? Ah, there’s no helping it. Momo is just so cute. Right now, I love her so much I can’t control myself. I want to give her everything. Do you have a problem with that? Besides, we’re only borrowing some things. Momo isn’t like you, you little wastrel, spending all day thinking about the family’s money.”

Pei Xiyao was simply stunned. Her mouth opened, but she discovered that she could not say anything. Not only were there so many things to complain about in that speech that she did not know where to begin, but was the person in front of her really her older sister, the fickle scumbag Pei Xining? Why was her whole body radiating the holy light of someone in the terminal stage of love brain? Had she been cursed, or had her personality split?

Pei Xixia thought she had successfully intimidated Pei Xiyao. Very satisfied with her own performance, she smugly threw Lu Yimo a flirtatious wink.

That wink was no small matter. Only then did she see that Lu Yimo had her arms crossed, brows tightly furrowed, and was looking her up and down from the corner of her eye with an unfriendly expression. Her whole body was surrounded by an indescribably low pressure.

Pei Xixia could not help shivering.

Pei Xiyao did not have time to look deeply into the flirtatious glances between the two of them. Her mind was full of the club activity. Now that her hope of secretly selling jewelry had completely fallen through, she had to hurry and think of another way. Scraping together that much money in such a short time would not be easy.

“Nutcases. I don’t understand what you cuckold fetishists find satisfying!” she spat hatefully, then turned and ran downstairs.

Pei Xixia: ???

So what exactly was this cuckold fetish joke about?

She turned awkwardly toward Lu Yimo. “Momo, sorry. I disturbed your rest… I just…”

Lu Yimo tilted her head, lightly arched her delicate brows, and lifted her chin slightly. Her emerald eyes stared at Pei Xixia playfully as her lips parted. “You just?”

This expression was way too unfair! Pei Xixia’s brain slipped for a moment, and once again, her mouth seized the high ground. “I wasn’t talking nonsense! I really will treat you well!”

The moment she finished speaking, her brain caught up. So frightened that she quickly closed her eyes, afraid Lu Yimo would come over and slap her.

After a long while, nothing happened.

Pei Xixia opened one eye and peeked.

Lu Yimo was still where she had been, maintaining the same posture as before. If Pei Xixia had to find a difference, then it seemed like… her expression was a tiny bit softer than before?

Was it just her imagination?

“Childish.” Without leaving Pei Xixia too much time to think, Lu Yimo dropped those two cold words, then turned and went back into her room.

Wait…

Childish?

She was sure it was not “greasy,” but “childish”? Yesterday’s review had still been “creepy.” Although Lu Yimo’s tone was cold, this was already a qualitative leap!

Pei Xixia’s heart blossomed with joy. It seemed she was actually pretty good at talking. See? Hadn’t she won Lu Yimo over in minutes? The mission progress should have made a new breakthrough too, right?

With considerable confidence and a slightly affected bashfulness, she coughed lightly. “Ahem, well, Sister Jiao, Momo’s hostility index toward me should have dropped again, right? I couldn’t have accidentally completed the mission again, could I?”

Several seconds passed without any response.

Pei Xixia said, “Sister Jiao?”

She tried to touch the control panel, but received no response at all. In the darkness, only one red button flashed dazzlingly.

Pei Xixia’s delighted expression instantly froze, looking somewhat comical.

Oh no! She forgot to turn it on!