When the Female Lead Cries, the Whole Game Is Lost - Chapter 3

Lin Yiren’s face flushed with embarrassment when she heard Jiang Ning’s way of addressing her. Not knowing how to refuse it, she simply stayed silent and led her downstairs for breakfast.

Lin Yiren had studied drama and performance abroad. She was in her senior year and about to graduate. Since her thesis had already been published and she had completed all her credits early, she had gone to audition for the lead role in a play directed by Hibler. Because the performance was to be held in front of royalty, all participants had their freedom restricted until the show ended.

After learning about the Jiang family’s crisis, she immediately rushed back home. Lin Yiren’s parents hadn’t had a proper chat with her in a long time either. After a simple breakfast, the whole family sat together in the living room to talk. Jiang Ning sensibly excused herself and went for a walk outside.

It was midsummer. Even after the rain, the air was still somewhat hot and stuffy. The sweet scent of osmanthus flowers filled the air. This reminded her of what Lin Yiren had said the night before — that the osmanthus at home made her reluctant to leave. These four-season osmanthus bloomed all year round; she probably never had a chance to leave willingly.

Jiang Ning bent down to pick up a fallen petal, rubbing it between her fingers near her nose. The fragrance, mixed with the morning moisture, was lighter than usual osmanthus but still very pleasant. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around and saw Lin Yiren. She smiled with slightly pursed lips.

Today, Jiang Ning wasn’t wearing lipstick, so her lips were a softer color. Her gentle smile complemented the osmanthus flowers perfectly, giving her a completely different appearance from the night before.

Only then did Lin Yiren realize in a daze that it had been many years since she last saw Jiang Ning. After Jiang Ning went abroad, she had asked people for news about her. But once she learned that Jiang Ning had a boyfriend, she stopped inquiring on purpose. She would only check up on her occasionally when she missed her.

The Jiang Ning she saw last night and today both felt different from the one in her childhood memories. Perhaps through the filter of time, some things had quietly changed.

“Why aren’t you still chatting with them?” Jiang Ning thought she would have to stay outside for a while longer.

“Dad and Mom went for a walk to help with digestion.” In truth, it was because Lin Yiren felt uneasy without seeing Jiang Ning. She was worried she might leave, and even more worried something might happen to her.

In Lin Yiren’s heart right now, Jiang Ning was like a fragile porcelain doll that needed careful protection.

“Do you need to help with digestion too?” Jiang Ning asked softly. She took Lin Yiren’s hand, placed the flower petal in her palm, and asked.

Lin Yiren felt a slight itch in her palm. She had the feeling that Jiang Ning’s fingers had deliberately brushed against her just now. Her eyes flickered as she looked at Jiang Ning, then nodded and led her around the small courtyard for a walk.

Most of their conversation along the way was about casual topics. Lin Yiren wanted to learn more about Jiang Ning’s current situation, but Jiang Ning skillfully avoided every question. This left Lin Yiren feeling a bit disappointed, but she quickly recovered.

“Didn’t you say there’s a dog at home that scratches your door every day?” The housekeeper had indeed prepared milk for Lin Yiren, and the osmanthus in the yard was very charming, but the dog was nowhere to be seen.

“Black Knight got injured a few days ago. He’s at the pet hospital now and should be back in a few days.” Lin Yiren was a little tired from walking. She sat down on a swing nearby and looked up at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning noticed that Lin Yiren really liked wearing white dresses. Today’s dress was a bit shorter than yesterday’s, covering her knees but revealing her beautifully shaped calves. Her long black hair reached her waist and was let down. Sitting on the swing and gently rocking herself, she looked like a princess untouched by worldly troubles.

Jiang Ning continued the conversation, asking why she named the dog Black Knight. Lin Yiren planted her feet on the ground to stop the swing, then looked at Jiang Ning with a smile and answered:

“Because someone once told me that I was a princess and that a knight would come to protect me. But after waiting for a long time and no knight came, I decided to raise one myself — a Black Knight.”

Jiang Ning strongly agreed with the “someone” in Lin Yiren’s words, because she had once held a similar thought. She chose to sit on the stone chair beside her. When she lowered her head, she missed the fleeting look of disappointment on Lin Yiren’s face.

As time passed, the sun became harsh. The two returned to the house. Jiang Ning didn’t mention leaving, and Lin Yiren pretended not to know. After lunch, Lin Yiren went back to her room to discuss some matters with her overseas supervisor. She had returned in a hurry and still had many things to handle.

Back in her room, Jiang Ning received a friend request. It was a verification message from Lin Xiao. It seemed he had noticed that Jiang Ning had deleted him and was starting to panic.

Jiang Ning ignored it and asked the system to send her the plot.

“How does this world originally progress?” Jiang Ning asked while lying on the bed.

【Please wait a moment. Transferring now.】 The system pulled up the world information and transmitted it into Jiang Ning’s mind in the form of a novel summary.

The core of this world was a story titled The Beauty Pines Alone. Just from the title, it was clear that the female lead was Lin Yiren. She came from an excellent family. The Lin family stood as one of the three major powers in Jiang City alongside the Xiao and Chen families. Since she had an older brother to inherit and manage the family business, there weren’t many restrictions on Lin Yiren’s choice of major.

After high school, for some reason she didn’t choose a domestic university but went abroad to study drama and performance. Her unique acting style won her mentor’s favor. This year, she was supposed to represent her college at a major performance competition in Country M. With Director Hibler’s support, her career was smooth sailing. Yet upon learning of Jiang Ning’s situation, she gave up this rare opportunity and rushed back home.

In the original plot, Jiang Ning had already committed suicide. While investigating, Lin Yiren discovered that the male lead, Xiao Yisheng, had suppressed the Jiang family’s company, driving Jiang Ning to despair and causing her to jump into the river. This hatred caused Lin Yiren to turn against Xiao Yisheng and oppose him at every turn. She first signed with the original Jiang Tian Entertainment, intending to reclaim it through special means. Unexpectedly, the male lead took a liking to her and began pursuing her.

At first, Lin Yiren refused. But Xiao Yisheng’s defenseless attitude gave her a new plan. She agreed to date him, secretly passing confidential information to the Chen family — the Xiao family’s mortal enemy — during their relationship. She hid all of this from her family so the revenge wouldn’t involve them.

However, she later discovered that the car accident that killed Jiang Ning’s parents was orchestrated by the Chen family. Compared to them, Xiao Yisheng, who had only acquired the company, was not the true culprit. After all, businessmen prioritize profit — no one would let go of a piece of meat they had their eyes on. But the Xiao family wolf had still succeeded. Whether Lin Yiren admitted it or not, her deception and excessive suppression over the past year had gone too far.

Moreover, Xiao Yisheng’s personal charm slowly made Lin Yiren fall for him. She wanted to end the cooperation with the Chen family and come clean with him, but Xiao Yisheng learned the truth through other channels. They had a fierce argument and broke up. After returning to the country, Lin Yiren had lost her white moonlight. Having witnessed so much darkness during her revenge, she had just recognized her true feelings only to lose her love. It was impossible not to cry.

What was even worse was that the Chen family’s ambitions were huge. They tried to use this to attack the Lin family. In order to retaliate against Lin Yiren, Xiao Yisheng chose to cooperate with them. The latter half of the story involved even more severe suppression against Lin Yiren. Overall, The Beauty Pines Alone was an urban story of cruel romance — the first half focused on the entertainment industry, and the latter half on the business world.

If Jiang Ning were just reading this as a novel, she wouldn’t be interested at all. But after interacting with Lin Yiren, she found it hard to imagine that this girl who blushed even when holding hands would eventually become a vengeful queen. She didn’t know whether it was superb acting or whether the original owner’s love ran too deep.

From the current perspective, the plot was still favorable to Jiang Ning. As long as she cut off the first fuse and saved her own life, many of the later events wouldn’t happen.

【Host, you shouldn’t underestimate this world. The original owner was supposed to die. Inheriting her body may also make you susceptible to the world’s consciousness.】 Meaning even if Jiang Ning didn’t commit suicide, others would still try to take her life.

Jiang Ning was silent for a moment. Was this world consciousness poisoned? It wouldn’t stop until the female lead cried?

“Every time the female lead cries, I have to lose points?” Looking at her remaining 1,000 points, at last night’s rate, ten more times and she could pack up and leave the Space-Time Bureau.

The system silently lit a virtual cigarette, feeling melancholic. It was confirmed — when it had explained the rules before, Jiang Ning must have blocked it out!

Before the system could finish showing off its invisible dominance, it heard Jiang Ning’s cold voice: Don’t smoke in front of me.

System:？？？

System: You smoked right in front of me last night!

Jiang Ning sneered: Did I blow the smoke into your brain?

The system paused, silently mourning its lost authority, threw away the electronic cigarette, and opened the work manual.

【There are standards for judging when the female lead cries. For example, last night’s five-star extreme grief deducts 100 points. Other deductions are calculated based on her emotions. If her emotions are controllable, there’s a chance to reduce the points deducted. For instance, if she cries from pain, as long as you promptly divert her attention or make her smile, only one-fifth of the points will be deducted.】

100 points might not sound like much, but according to the Space-Time Bureau’s exchange rate, it equaled 100,000 yuan.

Jiang Ning read through the rules. They weren’t completely inhumane. After all, as a normal person, it was impossible not to cry. Even the coldest person would have moments of heartbreaking sadness that couldn’t be controlled.

“I have one question about the rules you just mentioned. What if the female lead cries from happiness?”

【This situation is not recorded in the system, because the female lead’s life is quite miserable. Whenever she cries, it’s due to negative emotions such as sadness, loss, anger, etc.】

Jiang Ning finally understood why this position had remained vacant for so long. The previous task-takers had probably all been cried to death.