Chapter 4

Li Fu’s wrist had been gripped so tightly that it had turned bright red.

It took quite a while for the dizziness caused by having an overwhelming amount of memories crammed into her head to subside. When she finally managed to steady herself, she looked up, intending to thank the person who had caught her.

But the moment she raised her head, an extraordinarily beautiful face suddenly filled her vision.

The memories that had just been forced into her mind instantly aligned with the stunning face before her.

Li Fu instinctively opened her mouth.

“Shen Yunqing?”

As though responding to her, or perhaps trying to confirm something, the woman in front of her suddenly spoke, catching her completely off guard with a sentence that sounded almost like a confession of love.

“Ah Fu, I’ve missed you so much.”

Startled by the unexpected declaration of affection, Li Fu took a step backward.

Especially with so many people gathered around them! She really didn’t have some weird fetish for being surrounded by an audience while kissing someone passionately in public!

How was that any different from taking a dump in front of everyone?

Besides…

Having just received both the original owner’s memories and the novel’s plot, Li Fu had discovered that the person whose body she’d transmigrated into was nothing more than cannon fodder!

And villainous cannon fodder at that!

Wait, this couldn’t be right!

Good heavens, are you messing with me?! I thought I was your precious granddaughter!

Li Fu barely needed to sort through the plot. According to the memories she’d received, the original owner was a completely unscrupulous liar who possessed practically every despicable quality imaginable.

The marriage between “Li Fu” and Shen Yunqing had been something she’d obtained entirely through deception.

The two had attended the same high school. Shen Yunqing came from a prestigious family, excelled academically, and was exceptionally beautiful. She was universally acknowledged as the school’s top-tier Omega.

Li Fu, on the other hand, was an Alpha who suffered from a pheromone allergy disorder. Because of this, she was considered an inferior Alpha, and her school days had been far from pleasant.

At first, she’d only wanted to exploit Shen Yunqing’s sympathy to gain a little of her favor. That way, she could afford enough pheromone-blocking spray to at least escape the torment of her allergies.

But later, Li Fu discovered that Shen Yunqing was an extraordinarily compassionate person.

Not only that, she possessed an exceptionally strong moral compass and was practically a chivalrous knight in Omega form.

She was the perfect person to latch onto and live off!

Practically tailor-made for her!

So Li Fu devised an elaborate plan to bind Shen Yunqing to herself.

She began a deception that would last several years, pretending to be a pure, innocent little flower who, above all else, desperately needed Shen Yunqing.

And sure enough, Shen Yunqing fell right into her trap.

After nearly four years of dating, Li Fu successfully married her.

Then she couldn’t be bothered to keep up the act anymore.

The Li Fu who emerged after marriage seemed like an entirely different person.

Or rather, her true nature had finally been exposed.

She was vain, greedy, and a habitual liar.

She squandered Shen Yunqing’s money without restraint, even secretly accumulating all sorts of debts behind her back. She used visiting her wife on set as an excuse to cause trouble during filming, making enemies for Shen Yunqing wherever she went. She’d even casually thrown away the recommendation-based graduate school admission slot that Shen Yunqing had given up for her, deciding on a whim not to pursue further studies because she was now dead set on breaking into the entertainment industry herself…

If Shen Yunqing hadn’t been exceptionally talented and practically free of scandals, all the goodwill she’d accumulated among the general public over the years would have been completely squandered by Li Fu.

Even now, the situation wasn’t much better.

After all, Shen Yunqing’s antis were clearly increasing in number year after year.

By the time Li Fu finished reviewing the memories, she was thoroughly horrified by the shamelessness of her supposed self.

But what frightened her most was the original owner’s ultimate fate in the novel.

Shen Yunqing was someone with an exceptionally strong sense of morality and responsibility. So even after being married for so long, and despite all the disasters Li Fu had caused, she continued doing her best to clean up after her and put things right.

But even the most patient person would eventually reach their limit.

And unfortunately, Li Fu had transmigrated at precisely that point.

The variety show From First Flutter to Everyday Togetherness was something the original owner had secretly agreed to participate in without consulting Shen Yunqing.

According to the plot, Li Fu had originally intended to use the show to demonstrate to the public just how much Shen Yunqing indulged her.

And besides… even negative publicity was still publicity. She was willing to do whatever it took to become famous.

What she hadn’t anticipated was that she would encounter another female lead of the story, Jin Shuyue, on this very show.

Although Jin Shuyue was married, her relationship with her wife was actually a marriage in name only.

In the original plot, Ye An and Jin Shuyue had indeed known each other bailiantales.com since childhood. However, when the Ye family’s business ran into trouble, they used a favor they’d done for the Jin family many years earlier to pressure them into a marriage alliance.

And the marriage arrangement ultimately fell upon Jin Shuyue, who wasn’t particularly favored by her family.

Throughout the variety show, the kindhearted, genuinely good Jin Shuyue was constantly subjected to psychological manipulation by Ye An, which attracted an enormous amount of public attention.

Seeing that someone else had stolen the spotlight she’d been hoping to claim, “Li Fu” grew resentful of Jin Shuyue and deliberately made things difficult for her on numerous occasions during filming.

Ironically, this only ended up drawing Shen Yunqing’s attention to Jin Shuyue.

After the show ended, both married couples divorced their respective partners. Shen Yunqing and Jin Shuyue naturally got together and received blessings from the entire internet.

“Li Fu” had always believed that her own antagonism toward Jin Shuyue was what had caused Shen Yunqing to notice her.

Overwhelmed with regret, she desperately wanted to reconcile with Shen Yunqing.

But then, by sheer coincidence, she discovered that Shen Yunqing and Jin Shuyue had actually worked together long ago, and that Shen Yunqing had always regarded Jin Shuyue as her unattainable first love.

Feeling utterly deceived, “Li Fu” completely lost her mind.

She hired people to stage a car accident in an attempt to run Jin Shuyue over, drugged her…

At the crucial moment, Shen Yunqing arrived.

And so, “Li Fu” was rewarded with a shiny pair of silver bracelets.

Having read through the entire plot, the current Li Fu felt like she was about to lose her mind, too.

She didn’t want to spend her final days miserably dying in prison while singing songs about the sorrow of life behind bars! AHHHHHH!

Therefore, Li Fu immediately made an exaggerated attempt to retreat as far away as possible from the woman standing in front of her.

DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!

She jerked her arm, trying to shake off the hand gripping her wrist.

…It didn’t budge.

That grip was as tight as a crab’s pincers.

Li Fu: “…”

[? What the hell is Li Fu doing now? Why is she dodging her? Never mind the fact that they’re legally married with an actual marriage certificate, that’s SHEN YUNQING! What’s wrong with her?!]

[Wait, hold on. Did nobody hear what Best Actress Shen just said? Did she say she missed Li Fu?]

[I heard it… And she called her Ah Fu… AHHHHHH! I’M DYING OF JEALOUSY! So Sister is actually this affectionate in private?! WAAAAH! Li Fu, haven’t you enjoyed enough of the good life already? Can’t you let me experience it for just two days? (jealous.jpg)]

Li Fu couldn’t hear a single one of the envious comments flooding the livestream.

Even if she could, she’d only want to cover her ears and run away.

Because the system had already issued her a mission.

[Host: Li Fu. Current probability of survival: 0%. To increase your probability of survival, you must complete the following tasks.

1. Complete the plot-related side missions according to the storyline. Estimated increase in survival probability: 10%.

2. Successfully help the female lead, Jin Shuyue, obtain a divorce. Estimated increase in survival probability: 20%.

3. Successfully bring Shen Yunqing and Jin Shuyue together as a couple. Estimated increase in survival probability: 30%.

4. Successfully divorce the female lead, Shen Yunqing. Estimated increase in survival probability: 40%.

Please choose whether to accept these tasks.]

If there had been an actual button, Li Fu would have already mashed it into oblivion.

“YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!”

Was that even a question?!

Her life was on the line here!

But…

Completing the plot’s side missions would only increase her survival probability by ten percent, while simply divorcing Shen Yunqing would increase it by forty percent!

It seemed this marriage absolutely had to end.

Fortunately, as long as she followed the original plot, the divorce was practically guaranteed to happen.

Li Fu was quite pleased with her reasoning, completely forgetting to examine the logic behind it.

If all these tasks could be accomplished so easily just by following the original storyline, why would the system bother assigning them to her in the first place?

Shen Yunqing was certain that the person standing before her was the one she’d longed for day and night.

What she hadn’t anticipated was that the other woman wouldn’t recognize her.

As an actress, her work involved observing the emotions reflected in other people’s eyes every day and responding to them appropriately.

Naturally, she immediately noticed the distance in Li Fu’s gaze.

It was the look someone might give the most familiar stranger in the world.

Shen Yunqing stood there in a daze.

The woman before her was still struggling to free herself from the grip of her five fingers, her face flushed bright red from the effort.

Suppressing the bitterness rising in her heart, Shen Yunqing finally let go.

It was all right.

She’d already endured the hardest part.

At least the person she’d been waiting for had finally returned, hadn’t she?

Shen Yunqing quickly composed herself.

By the time she turned toward the camera, a calm, gracious smile had already settled on her face.

“I’m sorry for arriving late. I had a prior commitment that was arranged quite some time ago, so my flight only landed this morning. I hope I haven’t held everyone back. I’ll make sure to attend all the remaining filming sessions on time. Once again, thank you all for your understanding.”

The first few sentences were primarily an explanation for the viewers who’d been eagerly awaiting her arrival, while the latter part conveyed her apologies and gratitude to the production team.

She’d covered every consideration so thoroughly that no one could find fault with her words.

Naturally, neither the production team nor the audience watching from behind their screens had any intention of being too hard on her.

[It’s okay, it’s okay! Sister, you don’t need to apologize! Just getting to see you is enough to make us fans happy!]

[This is Shen Yunqing’s very first variety show appearance! I hereby declare that I will spoil her endlessly and forgive absolutely everything!]

Watching Shen Yunqing handle herself so effortlessly in front of the cameras, Li Fu felt a little of her earlier guilt fade away.

Perhaps she’d struggled too violently when trying to break free just now, but she could have sworn she’d caught a fleeting glimpse of disappointment in Shen Yunqing’s eyes.

It must have been her imagination.

According to the plot, Shen Yunqing should already have started growing sick of her by this point, right?

But then what had that “I’ve missed you” been about?

Was Shen Yunqing trying to establish a particular public image on the show?

Li Fu thought about it for a long time, but that was the only explanation she could come up with.

It wasn’t that she was deliberately assuming the worst of Shen Yunqing. After all, cultivating and maintaining a certain image was part of an actor’s profession. As long as it didn’t harm anyone else, it could hardly be considered a particularly terrible flaw.

She pondered this with her head lowered, gently rubbing her wrist.

A vivid red ring now encircled her fair skin, making it painfully obvious just how much force Shen Yunqing had used earlier.

Still, considering that she’d caught her before she fell, [stolen content]Li Fu decided not to make an issue of it.

With that thought, she tucked her arm behind her back and discreetly rotated her wrist a few times.

Nothing serious. Everything was still perfectly fine.

While she was making these little movements, someone beside her suddenly gave her shoulder a gentle nudge.

Li Fu glanced up and discovered that it was the tall woman who’d brought in that enormous collection of exercise equipment for senior citizens.

“Are you okay?”

The tall woman was Jiang Yu.

Now that Li Fu had received the original owner’s memories from yesterday, she could finally match all the guests’ names to their faces.

Jiang Yu seemed reluctant to let anyone else notice their conversation. She barely moved her lips when asking the question.

In truth, Jiang Yu hadn’t wanted to get too involved with Li Fu.

That was why she’d instinctively taken a step backward earlier, especially since she’d also assumed Li Fu was pretending to faint.

But when she’d seen the agonized expression on Li Fu’s face, she’d realized that, at the very least, she herself wouldn’t have been capable of acting that convincingly.

And now, looking at her up close, she could still see beads of sweat on her forehead.

This only made Jiang Yu more convinced that Li Fu really had almost fainted earlier.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that her reaction had been far too cold and inconsiderate.

Li Fu could more or less guess what she was thinking, so she answered while barely moving her lips as well.

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Jiang Yu hadn’t expected her to say thank you.

She froze for a moment before quickly replying, “You’re welcome! But do you want to try out some of my exercise equipment? It’s really good for your health!”

Li Fu gave a small, extremely earnest nod.

Then, with an equally serious expression, she replied, “I do.”

From now on, she was going to become a regular visitor to that little collection of equipment.

But the very next second, something seemed to occur to her, and her eyes suddenly widened.

Oh, no!

According to the original owner’s memories, she bailiantales.comreally hadn’t prepared any gifts for the other guests!

That whole idea of “even negative publicity is still publicity” was seriously going to be the death of her!

Li Fu lowered her head so far that she practically wanted to bury it inside the waistband of a pair of padded winter pants.

Unfortunately, at that exact moment, the director responsible for guiding the show’s proceedings suddenly spoke up.

Whether it was intentional or not, she had no idea.

“All right, now that Best Actress Shen has arrived, let’s continue with our gift exchange. Just now… I believe it was Ms. Li’s turn, wasn’t it?”

Li Fu was convinced that she must have raised her head too quickly and too violently earlier.

Otherwise, why did it suddenly feel as though all the blood in her body had rushed straight to her head, leaving her ears ringing?

She awkwardly forced a smile onto her face, her mind racing as she desperately tried to come up with something to say that wouldn’t make her seem quite so shameless.

Then a cool, clear voice sounded.

“I have her gifts right here.”