The moment Lin Yanan woke up, she realized something was slipping from her palm. Before she could react, the object fell heavily to the floor with a loud clatter, and the once noisy and bustling hospital room fell instantly silent.
Qin Feng, the young man standing nearby, was the one who suffered the consequences. Porridge from the bowl had splashed all over him, and even a few grains of rice had landed on the front of his hair. When he finally realized what had happened, Qin Feng looked at the person in the hospital bed in disbelief. His eyes quickly welled up with tears. He never expected that after running back and forth all day, he would still be treated this way; a wave of resentment welled up inside him.
Just as tears were about to spill over, he forced them back down. He turned away from the person in the bed and bent down to clean up the mess on the floor.
“What on earth are you up to now? What have the kids done wrong? You’re sick and in the hospital, and the young couple has taken time off work to take turns tending to you here. No matter what you ask for, they’ve never refused—what more do you want? You’re sick and in pain, but do you think it’s easy for the two of them to look after you? It seems you just can’t rest easy unless you’re causing trouble. You have to break their hearts—will you be satisfied only when they send you to a nursing home… ”
Before Lin Yanan could even think of how to respond, she was berated by Lin Mu, who had been watching the entire scene. Lin Yanan simply pulled the blanket over her head, looking as if she refused to listen to any advice.
“Sigh…” A long, helpless sigh escaped her lips.
“Uncle, please stop. Let Mom rest.” Qin Feng grabbed his uncle, who was about to say something else, signaling him to stop wasting his breath. He’d said this countless times before, but she never listened; continuing now would be pointless.
After the two of them cleaned up the trash on the floor, they walked out of the hospital room together. Only after hearing the door close did Lin Yanan slowly pull the blanket down from her head. She peeked out to check the situation, and upon seeing that Qin Feng and Lin Mu were truly gone, she quietly let out a sigh of relief. With no one to disturb her, Lin Yanan gradually drifted off to sleep, absorbing the original host’s memories along the way.
The original host was the youngest daughter in the family, with an older brother named Lin Mu—the very man who had just scolded her. As the youngest child, she had been the apple of her parents’ eye and the object of her older brother’s care. She had always been allowed to have whatever she wanted, which had cultivated a selfish and self-centered nature. As a result, when she grew up, she wanted to marry a man who was, to put it bluntly, a drifter—a homeless man with no money and no fixed residence. While others would have run a mile from such a man, she was determined to marry him.
No matter how much her family pleaded with her, it was to no avail. She remained adamant. With no other choice, her family locked her up to prevent her from running off with him. In the end, the bum left on his own without waiting for her. Because of this, she remained in a cold war with her family.
About three years later, the original protagonist heard through the grapevine that the man had been imprisoned for stealing a large sum of money. Upon hearing this news, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief; if she had actually run off with him, she dared not imagine the consequences.
Knowing what had become of that man, the young woman’s relationship with her family gradually improved. She heeded their advice and married Qin An, a carpenter from the same village. He wasn’t the wealthiest suitor, but he was the most accommodating. He handed over his earnings without question and never asked where the money went.
The couple had a son and a daughter, and life was simple and stable. Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last. As the years went by, the original host grew increasingly annoyed with Qin An. She felt he was clueless with words, unable to cheer her up, and only pushed him to go out and earn money, while she freely squandered his hard-earned money to indulge in immediate pleasures.
Even after their children came of age, the original owner began secretly seeking “thrills.” While Qin An was out working, she would sneak out to flirt with other men, generously picking up the tab herself. Of course, mindful of her reputation, she refrained from any physical intimacy, but her words and gestures were undeniably provocative. The villagers were well aware of her behavior and frequently gossiped about it behind her back.
Over time, Qin An began to hear the whispers. Though he had no concrete evidence, their arguments grew more frequent. Eventually, after one particularly heated fight, Qin An stormed out late at night to drown his sorrows in alcohol. On his way back, he was involved in a car accident and did not survive.
After this incident, the original owner behaved herself for a while, but it wasn’t long before she fell back into her old ways. She frequently stayed up late and ate without restraint. After some time, she suffered a stroke. The first time, it was detected early; she spent half a month in the hospital and then recuperated at her son Qin Feng’s home for a few months, after which she was fine.
But once she returned to her hometown, she started acting up again. Especially after her “first love”—that homeless man who had been in prison—came looking for her, she couldn’t resist his persistent coaxing and sweet talk, and the two of them got back together. Before long, the original owner was swindled out of all her money, and her old condition flared up again, sending her back to the hospital. This time, however, she wasn’t so lucky; the entire left side of her body lost sensation. After a month in the hospital, she hired a special patient transport van to take her back to Qin Feng’s home.
Because of her partial paralysis and the inability to afford a caregiver, the heavy burden of caring for the original owner fell on her daughter-in-law, Li Xue. Not only did she have to attend to her every need—from eating and drinking to personal hygiene—but she also had to take her for acupuncture every day, rain or shine. Three months later, her condition showed significant improvement. Even though her left hand and left leg remained uncoordinated, she could sit up, feed herself, and use a cane to go to the bathroom. Logically, this should have relieved the rest of the family of the need to watch over her constantly—they’d only need to cook meals at mealtimes.
But the original owner refused to let that happen. Having grown accustomed to her daughter-in-law’s meticulous care, she no longer wanted to lift a finger herself. This put Li Xue through hell—shuttling between work and home while also picking up and dropping off the children. In a short time, she began to lose weight at a visible rate. Qin Feng had tried to reason with the original owner, but to no avail—she refused to listen and continued to overwork Li Xue. With no other choice, Qin Feng took over some of the household chores to lighten Li Xue’s load as much as possible.
What Qin Feng didn’t expect was that one day, when he came home from work, he found Li Xue preparing to swallow a large dose of sleeping pills. Terrified, he snatched the bottle from her, pulled her into his arms, and comforted her gently. At that moment, Li Xue just stared blankly, showing no apparent reaction.
Later, Qin Feng learned that Li Xue was facing immense psychological pressure. Not only was the original host critical of her, speaking harshly and frequently beating and scolding her, but her work wasn’t going well either—she was often harassed by her boss. With nowhere to vent her frustrations, this is what drove Li Xue to take such drastic action.
Qin Feng dared not take this lightly. He sent the original owner back to her hometown immediately, asking his younger sister Qin Huan and his uncle Lin Mu to look after her. Even though the original owner was unwilling, she couldn’t change that fact. In reality, she was already able to walk on her own by then, but unfortunately, she was simply afraid. She didn’t dare to put away her crutches and didn’t want to endure the hardships of rehabilitation; she just wanted to rely on others for care.
After sending the original owner away, Qin Feng sold the house and moved out of the city with his wife and children. At first, he would still call to check on her, but as she remained unrepentant and constantly accused his family of only looking out for themselves while neglecting the elderly at home, his calls grew fewer and fewer over time. He simply sent money back on time every month. He never saw her again until her death. Only in her final days did Qin Feng return a few times, only to be sent away again by her scolding.
“So what is her wish this time?” Having gained a general understanding of the original owner’s life, Lin Yanan began to ask the system, Zero.
Zero was the system’s name.
[She hopes to have a healthy body.] Unlike other mechanical voices, Zero’s voice carried a hint of warmth.
“That’s it?”
[“That’s it!”] Zero replied clearly.
Lin Yanan recalled the original host’s final days, confined to bed, and it wasn’t hard to understand why she would make such a request. However, the original host hadn’t mentioned her own son, Qin Feng, or the Lin family who had cared for her all along!
“Zero, why did you choose me again?” Lin Yanan had worked with Zero before; after accumulating enough points, she had chosen to return to her original reality. But just as she was about to pass away, Zero had brought her back.
[“Precisely because we’re familiar with each other, our collaboration is more pleasant. Besides, you have some regrets, don’t you? I don’t sell regret pills, but I can offer you a second chance.”]
When it comes to partners, familiar ones are always more reliable. Zero, of course, wouldn’t tell Lin Yanan that after parting ways with her, it was precisely because of choosing the wrong partner that all sorts of problems kept cropping up during missions. This resulted in not only failing to earn mission points but actually losing a huge sum, leaving it unable to upgrade to a Level 1 System even now. This made Zero extremely cautious when choosing future partners, afraid of getting scammed again. Seeing that a familiar partner could return, Zero naturally chose Lin Yanan.
Lin Yanan certainly had regrets; otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen to come back. Previously, when Lin Yanan left the system and returned to the real world, all her skills and cheats vanished completely, leaving her nothing more than an ordinary person. Therefore, when she saw her son tragically diagnosed with cancer in her later years, she was powerless to help and could only watch as her son passed away before her. If she could make up for this regret, she would naturally be willing to do so.
“Zero, what kind of ‘golden finger’ do I have this time?” Last time it was a small pocket dimension plus random inter-dimensional trading. Now that I’m practically a long-term employee, the perks should be a bit stronger, shouldn’t they? Like spiritual spring water, a cultivation space capable of nurturing all things, or various cultivation techniques—anything would do; she wasn’t picky.
[“……”] Hearing Lin Yanan’s words, Zero’s only response was silence.
She’s dreaming big. But forget about those high-end perks—he doesn’t even have the little pocket dimension he gave her last time, because he’s already lost it all. But he daren’t say that outright. What if Lin Yanan quits on the spot? That would be a real headache. So Zero could only brush her off: [“I’ll go find you something good. Don’t worry about the ‘golden finger’ just yet.”] With that, it cut off the communication channel and slipped away, tail between its legs.
Lin Yanan: We’ll see how far you can run. If you don’t give it to me next time, I’m going on strike!