“Truly, you are someone blessed by the animal spirits. They still haven’t let me pet them to this day,” the older brother sighed with deep emotion, envious of Hua Lian’s animal-attracting constitution.
The more Hua Lian was praised, the more guilty she felt, and she tried hard to change the subject. Unfortunately, aside from the mother-daughter pair of gray wolves, there was a vast generational gap between them in terms of age and various other aspects. To put it more simply, if they weren’t talking about the gray wolves, Hua Lian would have long since run away by now, or used her usual escape tactic the phone dodge to avoid anything requiring mental effort.
All sorts of chaotic thoughts swirled in her mind. Hua Lian recalled the cold, gloomy expression she had seen on Luo Xizhi’s face in the restroom that morning, and then remembered Luo Xizhi’s defeated state after she had left.
‘Could it be that those people got up and beat Luo Xizhi again? Or did a group of formidable people show up, which is why Luo Xizhi ended up being rescued by the second male lead?’
The man before her didn’t seem to notice that Hua Lian had started to zone out. As he flexed his muscles to show off, Hua Lian remembered something else.
“By the way, big brother, do you know where to find the most reliable coach?”
Hearing Hua Lian address him like that, the older brother felt a bit embarrassed, but still replied with great enthusiasm, “What kind of coach? I don’t know any of those coaches who teach yoga or things like that for young ladies.”
Hua Lian shook her head and explained that her friend had been bullied at school. This unfortunate friend had managed to take down the first group but lost to the second.
“You’re not talking about Miss Luo, are you? She seemed fine to me.”
“She just has that kind of aloof personality, so people often misunderstand her. Look, even if I stepped in, I could only help once. It’s better to find her a coach so she can handle trouble on her own.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier for that girl to just find a boyfriend?”
Hua Lian’s expression remained blank, and she retorted with a hint of anger, “She won’t find a boyfriend.” At this thought, she remembered Luo Xizhi’s so-called harem of dozens of men. But in reality, this dark novel was marketed as a female-oriented harem story that tormented the female lead; the men all had a great time, and the only one who suffered was Luo Xizhi.
The older brother didn’t pay attention to Hua Lian’s odd reaction, simply attributing it to possessiveness between friends. He began scrolling through his phone, looking for candidates who met Hua Lian’s criteria.
“There are a few, but some of them used to be involved in shady business, some were former assassins. Probably not suitable for a young girl.”
“It’s exactly that type of person who teaches well… cough cough, I mean, proper learning is too slow. It would be terrible if she encountered any danger.” Hua Lian hastily made a sharp turn in the conversation, covering up her ambition to train Luo Xizhi into the world’s number one assassin. That way, Luo Xizhi wouldn’t be so passive anymore.
“Then I’ll ask around.”
Hua Lian eagerly added a condition, “If possible, I’d like several teachers, to cover a more comprehensive range of skills.”
“Young lady, are you trying to help your friend defend herself, or are you trying to turn her into a killer?” The older brother finally sensed something off and stopped smiling.
Hua Lian guiltily lowered her head, unsure how to argue. But remembering that this goal would be exposed sooner or later, she quietly explained, “I want her to be able to take charge of her own life.”
The elder brother was amused by Hua Lian’s mix of timidity and self-righteousness. “Then have you asked her? The choice you’re forcing on her now might not be what she wants.”
Hua Lian fell silent again. She had indeed been acting impulsively, forgetting to consider Luo Xizhi’s thoughts.
“Anyway, I’ll help you ask around. I’ll give you an answer by the end of this week at the latest. But you should confirm with the girl first don’t let it turn out that my friends agree but there’s no student.” The elder brother sighed helplessly but ultimately agreed. Perhaps he could tell that Hua Lian held considerable sway in the Hua family, or maybe he was simply curious about how an ordinary person might change after learning among those with special abilities.
The pleasant time passed quickly. At half past one in the afternoon, she reluctantly boarded the car heading to school. The mother-daughter pair of “big gray wolves” were having too much fun to see her off, and although Hua Lian had helped Luo Xizhi and Xiaolin take leave, she hadn’t requested any for herself.
Of course, aside from Hua Lian’s fear of triggering system-related events if she stayed home in the afternoon, there was also the matter of swapping back her Chinese textbook while Luo Xizhi was away.
The first class for Class S was physical education, so the classroom was empty. Although Hua Lian could have waited until after school to retrieve the book, she truly couldn’t bring herself to do such a thing under everyone’s watchful eyes. Now, standing at the classroom door, she felt a heavy sense of guilt, even regretting her decision as she hesitated.
She lingered at the entrance, mustering her courage. But the moment she opened the door, she saw a black cat plushie smiling at her. Yes, the plushie was even larger than she was, with a grin that seemed to say, “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Though Hua Lian adored black cat plushies, she quickly realized this one, draped in a black cat’s guise, was nothing but the cold, business-minded system.
“You… why are you here?”
“Why aren’t you hugging me?”
Of course, it was Luo Xizhi pretending to be the system. She wasn’t injured at all. Seeing Hua Lian head to school, she followed, only to find Hua Lian lingering outside Class S, unable to muster the courage to enter.
“Don’t use your cuteness to tempt me.” Hua Lian stared at the adorable cat-like appearance, feeling a loss of control. But the thought that the system’s presence surely meant a new task left her with no desire to indulge. Instead, she gritted her teeth in frustration at seeing it now.
“Fine then… Let’s get to business. Host, you’ve triggered a new task: take the female lead’s eraser and make sure she discovers it.”
Hua Lian felt a strange mix of emotions, unable to comprehend why such a childish and pointless task existed.
“Don’t you want to see me again?” Luo Xizhi already knew what worked best on Hua Lian. With a slight movement, she assumed the stretching pose of a cat Hua Lian’s favorite. The fluffy black fur was perfectly soft, a delight to touch. Even though Hua Lian had spent the entire noon cuddling the “big gray wolf” mother and daughter, she still struggled to restrain her emotions.
In the end, under the cat’s irresistible allure, Hua Lian managed to speak with difficulty. “Does something like this even matter? Will Luo Xizhi really fall into corruption because of it?”
Luo Xizhi was taken aback for a moment, feeling somewhat pleased that Hua Lian had finally shown her true colors. She continued to spin her tale: “Doing this is just to make the female lead aware of your danger. This time, it’s an eraser; the next step will be her notebook and then.”
She spoke with conviction, but since Luo Xizhi didn’t actually know what a true pervert was like, she could only talk nonsense with a straight face. After explaining, Luo Xizhi felt a bit flustered. Fortunately, Hua Lian was completely oblivious to it all.
“I think this is too slow. How about I go all out take her backpack and threaten her directly?” Hua Lian, however, took it a step further, exuding the aura of a true villain. Luo Xizhi felt that Hua Lian was getting the hang of it, but she also sensed that, given the girl’s cunning nature, she might be looking for some loophole.
But Luo Xizhi was currently playing the role of a system and couldn’t comment on Hua Lian’s every little thought. So, she nodded in agreement.
Of course, to make her act more convincing as a system, she used the points she had earned from eliminating transmigrators to purchase a few things.
[Host, please complete the mission take Luo Xizhi’s backpack and personally threaten her.]
The content left no room for Luo Xizhi to have someone else do it, yet even so, Hua Lian showed no hesitation.
Upon seeing this mission appear, Hua Lian seemed to relax, wrapping her arms around Luo Xizhi again. Luo Xizhi winced from the impact, not understanding why Hua Lian was so fond of animals.
“Stop rubbing.”
Watching Hua Lian indulge in her “cat-loving trifecta” again, Luo Xizhi felt awkward. But since she was only cuddling like a cat, Luo Xizhi couldn’t bring herself to push her away.
“You have no idea how soft your belly is.”
“…”
Luo Xizhi silently lowered her head, feeling utterly speechless at the area Hua Lian had designated as her “belly.” But thanks to their height difference, she could easily reach out and pat Hua Lian’s head.
Hua Lian seemed stimulated by this and suddenly looked up. Luo Xizhi thought she only liked taking the initiative, but instead, she saw Hua Lian’s eyes sparkling, clearly delighted by the head pats, and she began to act even more coquettish. It was this feeling that made Luo Xizhi realize once again how young this transmigrator truly was a genuine seventeen-year-old.
‘Maybe I should wait until she turns eighteen to kill her?’
In fact, Luo Xizhi even entertained a new idea: raising Hua Lian until she turned eighteen, so she could act without any reservations. Of course, during this time, the girl would likely “fall in love” with her. After all, everyone who played Hua Lian’s role ended up falling for her, like some ironic curse.
But that kind of love was never healthy. Luo Xizhi had seen all sorts of transmigrators go mad for her. Even now, the mere mention of the word “love” made her want to vomit.
“Cat paws are so nice. I suddenly want to raise a big cat. What do you think about a black panther?” Hua Lian, completely unaware of Luo Xizhi’s thoughts, had barely finished speaking when Luo Xizhi wrapped her in a bear hug, squeezing her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“How dare you!”
The threatening voice whispered in her ear, sending an inexplicable shiver down Hua Lian’s spine. She caught a whiff of a fragrance that reminded her of Luo Xizhi, but she couldn’t understand why the system carried someone else’s scent.
Could it be.
“Xiao Hei, you’ve had several hosts yourself. What’s wrong with me raising a few more kittens?” Hua Lian would never connect Luo Xizhi with the system being the same person, but she would suspect the system of being a sneaky cat because of this scent besides herself, it also lets the female lead pet and hug it.
“Several hosts?” Luo Xizhi grew even more bewildered but instantly thought of one thing. She had been watching the drama for too long this time and forgot to clean off the scent on her body. With Hua Lian rubbing against her so enthusiastically, she was bound to notice the original scent.
“Indeed, you are the most useless host I’ve ever had.”
Luo Xizhi’s tone shifted abruptly, and what came out was one of the phrases teachers loved to say the most during class. She slightly raised her chin, wanting to show off how in-demand she was as a system, only to see Hua Lian’s pitiful little expression.