Chapter 22
Ruan Xin felt a faint chill at the sight of Ye Muyan’s smile and immediately asked, “Why are you smiling so creepily?”
Ye Muyan continued smiling, though it became more teasing. “You don’t like seeing me smile?”
Ruan Xin’s face scrunched up, goose bumps rising all over her body.
She hurriedly stood and pretended to brush off her arms. “That was disgustingly sappy. I’m finished eating, so remember to wash the dishes.”
With that, she hastily brushed her teeth and fled to her room to sleep.
As for the other triggered story event?
She had completely forgotten about it.
…
“Ruan Xin.”
Someone was calling her.
Had the story event started playing automatically?
Still half asleep, Ruan Xin couldn’t make out the voice.
“Hey, Idiot Number Two.”
The voice was flat, but the contempt in it was unmistakable.
“Who the hell are—”
Ruan Xin nearly started cursing, but realization struck and she immediately opened her eyes.
She stared blankly at the woman before her. The woman resembled her by about seventy percent but was dressed entirely in black. Just look at those immortal-cultivator-grade dark circles, deathly pale skin, and an expression that made it seem as though her spouse had just died.
“Ruan Meng?”
Ruan Xin nearly lost her mind.
“Did you want something?”
Ruan Meng looked down at her.
Unlike usual, her black curls hung loose, adorned with a black-and-gold ribbon bow. Perhaps because she was looking down from above, her expression appeared especially gloomy and aloof.
“Ruan Meng…”
Seeing a family member again, Ruan Xin neither burst into tears nor threw herself into her arms.
Instead, the first thing out of her mouth was—
“Screw you!”
Before Ruan Meng could respond, Ruan Xin unleashed a torrent of complaints.
“You massive idiot! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t sent me that awful novel, that rotten system wouldn’t have nearly killed me!”
Ruan Meng tilted her head before replying seriously, “When did I ever send you a novel?”
“How can you say you didn’t?”
Ruan Xin instinctively searched for her phone, only to realize that she wasn’t in her rented apartment.
She was standing in an unfamiliar living room.
She froze again and looked around.
The room possessed an almost excessively cold, minimalist aesthetic. Its Morandi color palette was simple without sacrificing detail. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows were countless plants, and a glass conservatory stood nearby.
Then she looked down at herself.
A ring adorned her finger. She wore a baby-blue knitted dress and white slippers over a pale gray carpet patterned with charcoal geometric designs.
“I…”
Ruan Xin couldn’t understand what was happening. Her apartment looked nothing like this, and she had never liked wearing decorative rings or bracelets.
“Are you still half asleep?” Ruan Meng asked with a straight face.
“Stop talking and give me a moment.”
Ruan Xin covered her face. Her thoughts were in chaos, and she couldn’t tell whether this was an illusion or reality.
Ruan Meng continued speaking anyway. “Did marriage scramble your brain?”
“What?”
Ruan Xin jerked her head up, utterly dumbfounded.
“When did I get married?”
“…”
Ruan Meng gave her a faintly sympathetic look. “Have your wife take you to the hospital.”
“Wife?”
Ruan Xin repeated the word like a malfunctioning recorder.
Then she suddenly laughed and looked Ruan Meng up and down suspiciously.
“Ruan Meng, you enormous idiot! I don’t even have anyone whose hand I can hold, so where would I get a wife? Tell me—did you and your girlfriend plan another prank together? Besides, even if someone was getting married, you’re the one who dragged your girlfriend in front of Mom and Dad and came out. You should be getting married before me.”
Ruan Meng smiled too, but her smile was unsettling.
“I dragged my girlfriend in front of Mom and Dad and came out?”
Ruan Xin was used to that kind of smile and casually replied, “Didn’t you?”
“Did I?”
Ruan Meng’s pitch-black eyes stared into hers. She enunciated every word.
“Wasn’t the person who did that…you?”
“What?”
Ruan Xin stood frozen.
She didn’t know how to react or what expression to make, but her scalp was already tingling and a chill ran down her back.
Her mind went completely blank, leaving only confusion and self-doubt.
She wasn’t someone whose mind broke easily. But after transmigrating and returning to discover that reality and her memories no longer matched…
How could she not begin questioning her entire existence?
“Ruan Xin.”
Another person called her.
Before she could react, a hand caught the back of her collar and yanked her away.
That unbearable voice. That familiar way of dragging her by the collar…
Ruan Xin stiffly turned her head.
The sight nearly blinded her.
“Oh my god!”
She wanted to laugh, but she was equally terrified.
She saw Ye Muyan.
Ye Muyan was wearing an oversized children’s dress in a nightmarish rainbow of rustic colors. Her hair was tied into twin ponytails with Barbie-pink and fluorescent-green elastics.
“What are you doing?” Ye Muyan blinked her eyes, which were coated in bright blue eyeshadow. She threw Ruan Xin over her shoulder and ran toward the bedroom. “It’s getting dark! Time to pickle cabbage!”
“No!”
Ruan Xin was terrified, thrashing her arms and legs wildly.
She refused to pickle cabbage with a rainbow-colored nightmare version of Ye Muyan!
“Ruan Meng, save me!”
Ruan Xin was nearly frightened to tears, her face deathly pale.
The more she struggled, the darker her vision became. In the end, all she saw was Ruan Meng turning toward them and applauding without expression.
“How loving. How loving. How loving…”
As the phrase repeated mechanically, Ruan Meng’s voice became increasingly shrill and distorted, as though it were playing directly against her ear.
So noisy!
Unable to bear the din, Ruan Xin finally struggled upright.
Her eyelids felt heavy. She blinked repeatedly before realizing that a slender, fair hand was holding an alarm clock beside her ear.
“Is the pig finally awake?”
Ye Muyan switched off the alarm.
Ruan Xin looked up at her dazedly.
Ye Muyan stood with her back to the window. It was already broad daylight, and the weather was beautiful. The sunlight outside looked almost painfully bright.
“Huh?”
Ruan Xin still hadn’t recovered from the bizarre dream. She looked confused and disoriented, swaying as though she might topple over.
“Were you dead asleep? It’s eleven.”
Ye Muyan put down the alarm clock.
“Oh…”
Ruan Xin was still bewildered, but at least she managed to crawl out of bed.
She rubbed her stomach and wandered unsteadily through the apartment. After making a complete circuit, she turned back to Ye Muyan.
“Is there nothing to eat?”
Having just awakened, her voice was as soft as the original host’s. Both her tone and expression looked pitiful.
“No.”
Ye Muyan had seen Ruan Xin use this act countless times. She was already immune to that poor-little-girl expression.
Ruan Xin’s stomach growled. She frowned, visibly displeased by the cluttered table and the scraps of paper scattered across the floor.
Ye Muyan noticed every change in her expression and felt extremely satisfied.
“Ruan Xin.”
Crossing her arms, Ye Muyan asked, “Didn’t you say last night that you would repay me little by little?”
“Yes. What about it?”
Ruan Xin yawned, a bad feeling gradually rising inside her.
“Since you’ve stopped pretending, I’ll stop too,” Ye Muyan said bluntly.
“Sure…”
Dragging her exhausted body along, Ruan Xin went to brush her teeth.
With her mouth full of foam, she mumbled, “That setup was as long and stale as an old woman’s foot bindings.”
Her ominous premonition soon proved correct.
Ye Muyan adjusted her glasses, her voice returning to the same distant, unfriendly tone she had used when they first met.
“I’m not accustomed to living alone. Since you’re already here, you don’t need to move back. You can stay permanently—”
Ruan Xin stopped brushing and interrupted with a grin. “I didn’t know you were so fragile. What, can’t you bear to part with me?”
Ye Muyan gave her a false smile and pinched her cheek.
“You’ll clean the apartment and cook for me.”
“Cough!”
Ruan Xin’s smile instantly froze. She nearly swallowed the toothpaste foam.
She slapped Ye Muyan’s hand away, rinsed her mouth, and protested, “Are you treating me like your housekeeper?”
“Silly child,” Ye Muyan replied. “A housekeeper is an employee. You’re an indentured maid.”
“This is a trap! I refuse!”
Damn that female lead!
If Ruan Xin didn’t rise up today, wouldn’t she truly be reduced to a mere underling?
She was a transmigrator—a woman blessed with a system and her own halo! How could she allow the native female lead of this novel to defeat her?
Ye Muyan arched a delicate brow. “Who was it that promised to repay me last night?”
Fine.
It had been her.
Ruan Xin fell silent, feeling as though she had walked straight into Ye Muyan’s trap.
Ye Muyan pretended to sigh regretfully. “Maintaining the act these past few days has been exhausting. Since you volunteered, start by making the beds and folding the blankets.”
Ruan Xin stared at her in disbelief and disgust.
“You’re unbelievably lazy! You can’t even be bothered to fold your own blanket?”
Yes. The more disgusted she became, the better.
Ye Muyan smiled and smoothly replied, “Did I ever need to fold my blankets when I lived at home?”
“No…”
“What about now?”
Ruan Xin wilted and finally surrendered. “I’ll fold them…”
Ye Muyan smiled faintly and opened the bedroom door. “Clean the room while you’re at it.”
Ruan Xin’s heart overflowed with resentment. The moment she entered the room, she began complaining.
“Trashy Ye Muyan! Your heart is completely black!”
Ye Muyan made a heart with her fingers and displayed her trademark artificial smile.
“That’s right. Pitch-black.”
Ruan Xin nearly exploded.
As she made the bed, she shouted, “Ye Muyan, I’ve discovered that you aren’t human! When we return to school, I’m going to tell everyone about this! I’ll make sure they all know you’re someone who never cleans!”
And then you’ll no longer have any romantic rivals?
Ye Muyan shook her head, feeling troubled.
Ruan Xin, why must you be so obsessed with me?
Ruan Xin naturally had no idea what was troubling her.
As far as Ruan Xin was concerned, she had become this world’s Ruan Xin and therefore had no choice but to shoulder the original host’s mistakes.
Rather than secretly scheming and fighting with the female lead, she preferred settling things through a straightforward fight—or peacefully, if possible.
Fine. It was only cooking and cleaning.
The female lead was human too. She needed to eat, just like everyone else. She wasn’t some immortal fairy. Every person had a few bad habits…
Ruan Xin kept hypnotizing herself until she abruptly recalled that the original novel repeatedly described Ye Muyan as extremely clean, to the point that she eventually developed mild mysophobia.
But looking at this bed and the cluttered dressing table—
Ruan Xin raised her head and stared at Ye Muyan.
Good lord.
The female lead’s character setting had collapsed.
Ye Muyan casually found a black elastic and tied back her hair. Turning around, she asked, “What is it now?”
Female lead, you’ve disappointed me. Do you realize you’ve completely shattered your Germaphobe Queen persona?
Ruan Xin looked regretful, though she wasn’t sad in the slightest.
In fact, she almost wanted to laugh.
She hadn’t coined the nickname Germaphobe Queen. The readers in the comments had.
Ruan Xin enjoyed reading comments alongside each chapter. The arguments became especially entertaining whenever readers opened threads to tear into one another.
The Germaphobe Queen nickname arose because the female lead was overly fussy and arrogant. In one chapter, an admirer even declared that a certain fabric was no longer worthy of touching Ye Muyan’s body and that wearing it would defile her skin.
The comment section immediately erupted with readers mocking him for being a shameless bootlicker. After that, some readers simply began calling Ye Muyan the Germaphobe Queen.
Around fifteen minutes later, Ruan Xin finished cleaning and called out, “Ye Muyan, I’m starving!”
Ye Muyan checked the time. “Then make lunch.”
Ruan Xin waved her hand, signaling for Ye Muyan to do it.
Ye Muyan tapped the table. “Xinxin, have you forgotten who’s responsible for cooking?”
Ruan Xin ignored her. She flopped onto the sofa, buried her head beneath a cushion, and whined weakly, “No food means no energy. No food means no energy. No food means no energy…”
As she repeated herself, she began growing sleepy.
Logically, she shouldn’t have been tired after sleeping for so long. But if anything was to blame, it was that dream. It had ruined her sleep…
Ye Muyan came over and ruffled Ruan Xin’s hair.
Ruan Xin burrowed deeper beneath the cushion, whimpering softly as though she had suffered some terrible injustice.
Ye Muyan hadn’t truly intended to use a child as hard labor.
She found a jacket, picked up her keys, put on her shoes, and left.
An unknown amount of time later, she returned carrying two large bags of snacks and some takeout.
“Ruan Xin.”
Ye Muyan tossed down her keys, set the food on the table, and patted Ruan Xin.
Ruan Xin mumbled incoherently and continued sleeping.
“You’re becoming more piglike by the day.”
Ye Muyan shifted her aside and found a place to sit.
Ruan Xin rolled over. Even through her drowsiness, she caught the scent of food.
She instantly came alive as though someone had fully charged her battery. The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was search for something to eat.
“Ye Muyan, did you win the lottery?”
She didn’t need to search at all. A massive pile of food sat directly in front of her.
Ruan Xin rummaged through it and discovered that everything was something she liked. She couldn’t help chuckling happily.
It might have been embarrassingly easy to win her over, but she genuinely wasn’t good at holding grudges.
Folding blankets and cleaning rooms?
Those were trivial matters!
“Cuifang.”
She nudged Ye Muyan with her elbow and waggled her eyebrows.
“You’re actually a pretty nice person.”
Ruan Xin’s moods changed faster than the weather in June.
Ye Muyan believed she understood Ruan Xin all too well.
She removed her glasses and replied evenly, “No. I’m a blackhearted person.”
“So petty. You’re still holding a grudge?”
Ruan Xin snorted, opened a tin of candy, and rummaged through it.
“You can have the strawberry ones.”
She grabbed several and handed them over.
“Yes, I’m angry.” Ye Muyan pretended to be upset, though she still accepted the candy.
Ruan Xin suddenly made a puzzled sound and caught Ye Muyan’s hand to examine it.
“There’s a red mark on your hand.”
Ye Muyan froze. A moment later, she jerked her hand away as though she had touched burning coal.
She wasn’t rejecting Ruan Xin. It had merely been an instinctive reaction. She wasn’t accustomed to anyone holding her hand.
Ruan Xin flinched as well, only then realizing that she had grabbed Ye Muyan.
Ye Muyan’s discomfort with other people holding her hand had been obvious during the Asuka-in arc. She was always the one who took someone else’s hand. No one else was permitted to grab hers.
If anyone dared, she could crush them beneath her high heel in seconds.
The thought of high heels reminded Ruan Xin of blue-haired Ye Muyan.
Ugh.
She shuddered, still remembering those twelve-centimeter heels.
Being stepped on by those would be…
Compared with blue-haired Ye Muyan, the black-haired version was practically an angel.
“Idiot.”
Ye Muyan flicked her forehead.
Returning to her senses, Ruan Xin blurted out, “Ye Muyan, I suddenly think you look prettier with your long hair loose.”
Prettier?
Prettier meant she liked it.
In other words, Ruan Xin liked her long hair?
Ye Muyan frowned slightly and began considering cutting it short.
“Let’s eat the rice noodles.”
Ruan Xin quickly took out the two portions. “Are these from the place we visited last time?”
“Yes.”
Ye Muyan helped remove the packets of broth.
“Oh.”
Ruan Xin gave a small acknowledgment, then silently prepared the food with her.
They were never in sync at any other time.
Only when food was involved.
“Sister Xin, something terrible happened!”
They had barely finished eating when a young boy’s shrill voice came from downstairs.
Ruan Xin knew he was calling for her. She rushed downstairs and found several injured boys staring at her anxiously.
“What happened?”
Her expression immediately became serious.
These were underlings she had recruited over the past few days. They were decent fighters and ranked among the toughest delinquents at their schools.
If someone had beaten all of them this badly, the situation couldn’t be simple.
One boy said, “We ran into someone tough this time. None of us could beat him. Someone already went to get Yu Qiaotian, and the rest of the guys stayed behind to keep watch!”
Ruan Xin was puzzled. “Who’s strong enough to beat all of you? What does he look like, and how did the fight start?”
The boys followed behind her as they explained.
“We had just left the internet café when we heard some bastard was asking around about you. We thought he was either looking for trouble or trying to use you to get close to your sister.”
Ruan Xin didn’t even need to think.
It was definitely the latter.
“And then?”
“We went to confront him. The idiot was wearing a suit and looked unbelievably arrogant. We asked what he wanted, and he said he was looking for you…”
“Wait. A suit?”
Ruan Xin’s heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she wondered whether they had attacked An Chen.
But that made no sense. An Chen already knew where they lived.
“Yeah, a suit—a Western-style school uniform,” the boy confirmed. “Of course we weren’t going to tell him where you lived. We warned him to stop asking questions, but then that bastard started attacking us.”
Who could it be?
Ruan Xin’s expression darkened.
She couldn’t determine which male supporting character it was. There were at least a dozen or two with significant roles, not to mention the countless minor characters who appeared briefly.
She had skimmed much of the novel. Some characters she had forgotten, while others she had never properly noticed.
She vaguely remembered several male supporting characters possessing supernatural abilities or expertise in ancient martial arts.
If it was one of them, things could become dangerous…
Ruan Xin quickened her pace. The group reached the scene as quickly as possible.
“Hey.”
Yu Qiaotian arrived at almost the same time and casually greeted her.
He looked completely unbothered and leisurely sipped his drink, clearly believing there was no possibility of losing.
Evening was approaching, and the scene made Ruan Xin feel as though she had stepped into an old-fashioned high school drama.
The setting sun was bloodred. A group of boys lay injured on the ground or struggled unsteadily to their feet. Amid their disorderly forms, one person remained standing with his back perfectly straight.
That was—
The sunlight was dazzling. Ruan Xin narrowed her eyes for a closer look.
The boy was indeed wearing a Western-style school uniform. He was tall and slim but appeared fairly young. His face was fair and clean-cut, yet one hand rested in his pocket while the other supported a steel rod across his shoulder. Disdain covered his handsome face.
He really did look arrogant.
Ruan Xin’s fists began itching, and the urge to fight rose inside her.
“Were you looking for me?”
The boy turned toward her. “Ruan Xin?”
“Who are you?”
He studied her for a moment before removing a sheet of pink paper from his pocket.
Well, well.
So he wanted her to deliver a love letter for him?
“Come here.”
Ruan Xin sneered, waiting for him to approach so she could beat him up.
The boy did exactly that.
He held out the love letter, lowered his head, and declared loudly:
“Ruan Xin, please accept my love letter!”
Everyone stared blankly, freezing in place.
“What did you say?” Ruan Xin asked, utterly baffled.
Ye Muyan, who had just arrived: “???”
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