“Youyi, here is your salary advance. Be careful with how you spend it.”
“Thank you, Manager.” Si Yao pinched a corner of the envelope, intending to take it, but the manager gripped the other end tightly. She looked up at him.
The manager’s face was thick with grease and fat. His gaze swept over her without concealment, a meaningful smirk playing on his lips. “Why are you in such a hurry for an advance? Is there some kind of emergency? Tell me—maybe I can help you out.”
“…” The envelope didn’t budge. Suppressing her inner disgust, Si Yao kept her expression neutral and smiled. “Manager, you know how it is. Women only spend money to maintain their appearance.” As she spoke, she subtly stepped back to create distance. “It’s about that time; my boyfriend is coming to pick me up, so I’ll be heading out now.”
“You have a boyfriend?” The manager’s expression froze, his smile fading. He recalled hearing from the hiring staff that her relationship status was single.
Taking advantage of his daze, Si Yao snatched the envelope away and added pointedly, “We only met recently. You might have even seen him before.”
This remark caused the manager to lose interest entirely. This bar wasn’t cheap; most patrons were wealthy. If he had seen the man before, she likely belonged to one of the clients.
Si Yao wasn’t afraid of being caught in the lie. In the half-month she had worked part-time at this bar, countless guests had shown interest in her. The manager would simply assume she had hooked up with some untouchable rich heir and would behave himself around her from now on.
Returning to the locker room, Si Yao changed her clothes and prepared to leave. A colleague asked, “Youyi, want to grab some late-night snacks with us?”
“No thanks,” Si Yao smiled. “I have things to take care of at home. I’m heading back.”
“Alright then,” the colleague replied with a smile.
But the moment Si Yao stepped out of the room, the girl began complaining to the others. “Tch, if she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t have to go. Why make up excuses? Who does she think she’s looking down on?”
“Don’t even get me started. Young Master Chen opened the most expensive bottle for her today! Who knows what kind of ‘part-time job’ she’s off to do now…”
“Hahaha, you’re so mean!”
Realizing she had forgotten her headphones, Si Yao turned back, only to hear their conversation through the door. Expressionless, she let go of the door handle and walked away.
She wasn’t surprised by their bitter gossip; in fact, she was used to it. They didn’t have any personal grievances; it was simply because her performance metrics were much higher than theirs, leading the others to band together to mock her.
This was a “rule” that seemed to happen regardless of which world she was in.
“Hello, I’m here to pay for Bed 17.” The salary she had just received—which hadn’t even had time to get warm in her hand—was immediately handed over to the hospital. All she got back was a payment receipt.
Si Yao stood at the billing window, looking at the slip in her hand and sighing softly. She walked back a few steps and sat down on a cold, metal medical chair.
She didn’t know how she had ended up in this strange world. Her last memory was a blur of red and the screams of strangers. When she woke up, everything around her was unfamiliar.
She had been given the name “Xiao Youyi” in this world, along with a mysterious system.
The system told her that if she wanted to return, she had to complete all the tasks. If she told anyone she was a traveler from another world, it would be considered a mission failure.
She didn’t know where these tasks would lead, so she could only follow the instructions step-by-step. Currently, she was on her first mission: caring for her so-called relative until they were discharged.
Xiao Youyi’s actual situation was much worse than she had imagined. She had no stable job, no savings, and had lived with her elderly grandmother since her parents divorced when she was young. Her grandmother had recently fallen and been hospitalized. While the medical fees weren’t astronomical, they were a huge burden for the penniless Xiao Youyi.
To raise the money quickly, Si Yao had no choice but to take a part-time job at a bar—where the money was fast and advances were possible—while simultaneously looking for a proper full-time job.
However, the reality was a massive headache. Xiao Youyi had dropped out of high school. Without a degree, she couldn’t get into a good company. Even though Si Yao possessed a brilliant resume and extensive experience from her previous life, she had no way to apply them here.
She went to the restroom to wash her face, trying to look less exhausted. The icy water splashed on her skin, clearing her head.
Looking in the mirror, she realized Xiao Youyi’s only real asset was likely this face. Otherwise, those rich heirs wouldn’t be opening expensive bottles just to win a smile from a beauty.
Water droplets slid down her cheeks to her chin and dripped into the sink. Her long, curled lashes were damp, making her look pitiable and delicate. This pure, innocent face looked exactly like a younger, undeveloped version of Si Yao herself.
Ping—
The phone in her pocket chimed.
It was a message from one of the patrons who had bought her a drink, inviting her to supper. Looking at the text on the screen, a flash of mockery crossed Si Yao’s eyes. Her fingers moved skillfully across the screen as she replied.
To her, these men were nothing more than immature brats. She always knew how to reject them in a way that left them feeling satisfied.
“Grandmother, I bought some fruit for you.” As she pushed open the ward door, she became Xiao Youyi once again.
The grandmother in the hospital bed was the polar opposite of Si Yao’s actual grandmother. Si Yao’s grandmother had always been a dignified, elegant lady, her silver hair appearing more like the refined sediment of time rather than a weary old woman who needed reading glasses to see and walked with a hunched back.
To Si Yao, this woman was merely an NPC set by the system. To complete her mission and return to the real world, she had no choice but to play the role of the devoted granddaughter.
“Youyi, you’re here.” Upon hearing her voice, the grandmother’s face immediately broke into a smile, her wrinkles deepening visibly.
Si Yao walked in, noting that the patient in the neighboring bed had already been discharged. “I just spoke with the doctor; she said you can go home in a few days.”
“That’s good.” Hearing she could leave, the grandmother smiled even wider and reached out to grasp Si Yao’s wrist.
“…” Si Yao could feel the withered, aged hand on her skin. She heard the old woman sigh. “I’ve become a burden to you, haven’t I? This must have cost a lot of money…”
Si Yao comforted her: “Grandmother, don’t say things like that. Your health is more important than anything.”
The old lady was easy to appease. Si Yao smoothly changed the subject, washed the fruit she had bought, and handed it to her.
The old woman fished a paring knife out of the drawer, skillfully peeling the apple in a single continuous spiral while rambling about wanting to leave as soon as possible because hospital fees were too expensive.
Soon, a perfectly peeled apple appeared before them. Si Yao watched as her grandmother sliced the apple into pieces, assuming she simply preferred eating small bites.
Then, the old lady picked up a slice of apple flesh and offered it to Si Yao with a beaming smile.
“…” Si Yao instinctively looked at the piece of fruit. The crisp white flesh formed a sharp contrast against the shriveled, wrinkled hand.
Since the grandmother hadn’t washed her hands before peeling the fruit, Si Yao’s subconscious screamed at her to refuse.
“Youyi, isn’t this your favorite? When you were little, you always asked me to peel them for you.”
“Uh…” Si Yao pursed her lips. The old lady’s smile was so kind and genuinely happy that she couldn’t bring herself to say no.
“Thank you, Grandmother.”
Only after seeing her granddaughter eat did the grandmother pick up the discarded apple peels and begin to eat them—a habit the two of them had shared for years. Si Yao couldn’t understand the logic behind it and spent a good while convincing the old woman to give up eating the peels.
Two days later—
As Si Yao pushed the old lady out of the hospital gates, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. It seemed the first mission was complete, though she had no idea what would come next.
The system hadn’t appeared since issuing the initial task, and there was still no word regarding a full-time job. She didn’t want to keep working at the bar indefinitely; dealing with those “monsters and demons” every day was exhausting, but she hadn’t found the right opportunity to break into a new field.
Ding—
[System]: Host, your current mission is complete. Issuing the next mission now.
Si Yao felt a brief wave of dizziness. She shook her head, and when she opened her eyes again, the world looked slightly different.
Two progress bars had appeared above the old lady’s head. One was marked “100%,” while the one below it was a grey bar. After a moment, they faded away.
[System]: What you see are the Favorability and Disgust levels. Inquiry permissions are now active; you may now check these levels for relevant characters.
[System]: New Mission: Get to know Ding Hongyuan and increase his Favorability to 10.
[Si Yao]: Who is Ding Hongyuan?
[System]: Ding Hongyuan is the male lead of this world. You can return to the real world once you raise his Favorability to 100%, or raise Cang Xuehe’s Disgust level to 100%.
[Si Yao]: …And who is Cang Xuehe?
[System]: Cang Xuehe is the female lead.
“…” Si Yao fell silent.
Although she didn’t read novels, she knew that the male and female leads were supposed to end up together. Her role was likely that of a “cannon fodder” supporting actress meant to be crushed by the female lead upon arrival.
And now the mission was to max out Ding Hongyuan’s favorability? Wasn’t that just being a homewrecker?
However, in reality, Si Yao had no choice. she had to follow the mission. To return to the real world as soon as possible, she had no interest in playing “house” in this virtual world.
No matter the means, she was going back.