Located at the very top of the city’s tallest skyscraper, sitting on a sofa by the window allowed one to take in the entire city at a single glance.
“Miss Cang, here is your afternoon tea. Please enjoy,” the manager, dressed in a sharp suit, personally delivered the tea. He accompanied it with an extremely professional and friendly smile, making Cang Xuehe feel that even the scenery looked brighter.
Exquisitely styled pastries paired with luxurious European tea sets, overlooking a breathtaking view of the city—this was the kind of elite experience that the real-world, working-class Cang Xuehe could never have booked a seat for.
But here, high-end restaurants were like her own backyard, accessible at will. It made the former “office drone” Cang Xuehe feel a bit self-important.
She lightly picked up a tiny macaron. The rich, fragrant taste as it entered her mouth made her heart nearly melt.
However, such a beautiful moment was destined to be broken.
The annoying voice of the System rang out once again.
[System]: Host, you have a new mission.
Eating her delicious snacks and in an exceptionally good mood, Cang Xuehe condescended to engage.
[Cang Xuehe]: Oh? Do tell. I beat Ding Hongyuan to that extent; shouldn’t he hate me to death? How can there be new plot points? Unless he’s a masochist.
[System]: Accept Ding Hongyuan’s apology. Treat the previous incident as if it never happened. You will proceed with the wedding as scheduled.
Cang Xuehe froze for a moment, thinking she had misheard. When she didn’t answer, the System repeated itself.
[Cang Xuehe]: He’s apologizing to me?
[Cang Xuehe]: System, you really are a total joke. Seeing as I’m in a good mood today, let me analyze the situation for you.
[Cang Xuehe]: No man suffers a “fatal blow to the bird” and doesn’t learn his lesson, let alone apologizes to the perpetrator—unless his brain has a lump in it just like yours.
[Cang Xuehe]: So give it up. Don’t disturb my life as a wealthy socialite.
The System didn’t talk back, likely knowing it couldn’t win an argument with her. It chose to act like a broken record, repeatedly telling her to accept the mission to forgive Ding Hongyuan.
Having lived together for a few days, Cang Xuehe had learned to be selectively deaf. She turned a blind eye to the System’s instructions, convinced it was genuinely malfunctioning.
But soon, when she saw a primly dressed Ding Hongyuan appearing with a bouquet of flowers, she was slapped in the face by her own logic.
“Xuehe…” Ding Hongyuan put on the act of a devoted male lead, presenting the flowers to her and dropping to one knee. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ve thought a lot these past few days; I shouldn’t have ignored your feelings and made you angry.”
Cang Xuehe felt like she’d seen a ghost. The scumbag actually came to apologize, acting as if he had completely changed his ways. If she didn’t already know his true nature, she might have actually been fooled.
It seemed the power of money was truly formidable; even a “shameful incident” could be suppressed, allowing him to crawl back and apologize just to maintain his presence.
Her expression remained calm. Her gaze slowly drifted downward, stopping at his crotch, and she suddenly let out a meaningful smile.
This expression made Ding Hongyuan’s face stiffen. He involuntarily recalled the terror of his “shattered eggs” and unconsciously squeezed his legs together—his “brother” had only just recovered.
The sudden turn of events last time had left Ding Hongyuan stunned. After he woke up, he was beyond furious. As a man, being humiliated like that by a woman made him want to strangle her to death.
But who knew this stupid woman would suddenly change her mind and want to cancel the engagement? Ding’s father had pressured him to stabilize the marriage alliance; otherwise, there was no way he would ever see this crazy woman again.
If he wanted revenge, he would have to wait until after the wedding. Then, he would show Cang Xuehe the meaning of “wifely duties.”
Thinking of this, the smile on Ding Hongyuan’s face became even warmer, though he was mentally plotting how to torment her after they married.
The System’s BGM wouldn’t stop, seemingly intent on chanting until she completed the task. This caused the unable-to-mute Cang Xuehe to feel like a dark cloud was hanging over her head.
[Cang Xuehe]: If you keep babbling, do you believe I’ll go beat up your “brother” too?
The System stopped its chanting and retorted: [I do not have a brother.]
[Cang Xuehe]: You’re so protective of Ding Hongyuan, I thought he might be your long-lost brother from another mother.
[System]: I am simply following the mission prompts. It’s business, not personal.
“Tch.” Cang Xuehe let out an impatient sound. If the System had a physical body, it would have surely been given a “lesson in love” by a group of thugs by now.
Seeing her like this made Ding Hongyuan feel uneasy. He felt the person in front of him was a stranger, as if she had been swapped out for someone else. Everything had deviated from his control, and he couldn’t predict her next move at all.
“Get up first, the floor is cold.” Cang Xuehe flashed a very friendly smile, even though she secretly wanted to slap that face twice more.
Ding Hongyuan quickly stood up and sat in the seat opposite her.
“Xuehe, I knew our years of feelings wouldn’t just vanish because of that incident. I really didn’t choose the wrong person to love.” Ding Hongyuan reached out to grab her hand, but Cang Xuehe easily dodged him.
She originally wanted to let the matter go, but since Ding Hongyuan was practically begging for attention—and thinking about her mother’s attitude—Cang Xuehe felt even more irritated.
She gave a smiling “Mhm.”
Ding Hongyuan took the opening. “Let’s turn the page on what happened last time. From now on, let’s be good to each other. Never talk about breaking up again; it makes me so sad.”
He paused, pretending to hesitate.
Cang Xuehe’s smile deepened. “Didn’t we agree to have no secrets? If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Last time at the hotel, your attitude toward my mother… you don’t know how heart-wrenchingly she cried after going home. My mother has doted on me since I was a child. For my sake, Xuehe, please be more patient with her. We’ll be family soon.”
For your sake? Then she deserves a giant slap from me. Cang Xuehe thought to herself.
Truly a mama’s boy.
“For your sake, I—” Cang Xuehe stopped there, looking at Ding Hongyuan with a fake smile. “I will definitely treat her… very well.”
“Good, good!” Ding Hongyuan finally breathed a genuine sigh of relief. He smiled and reached for a pastry, but was stopped by Cang Xuehe, who pressed a fork against the back of his hand.
“However, I have one requirement.”
“Name it.”
“My fiancé is so handsome, I’m constantly worried that other women will snatch him away,” Cang Xuehe said with a beaming smile. This flattery greatly boosted the man’s ego, and he quickly bragged: “I will only love you in this lifetime!”
“No matter how pretty other women are, they aren’t you. My heart can’t hold anyone else but you.” Ding Hongyuan looked at her affectionately. “Wife, I love you.”
These words gave Cang Xuehe a massive case of the creeps. As a “hardcore” lesbian, hearing this caused her extreme discomfort.
Suppressing her disgust, she continued in an affected, cutesy voice: “But I still feel so insecure~”
“Wife, I’ll listen to whatever you say.”
“How about this? In the future, if I see you flirting with other women, then I will…” Cang Xuehe trailed off and let out a light chuckle: “…break your third leg.”
Ding Hongyuan’s body jolted violently. Fear was clearly visible in his pupils; that pain was a memory no man dared to revisit.
“But don’t worry.” Cang Xuehe patted his face. “My fiancé is so loyal, I’m sure he wouldn’t fool around behind my back. You don’t have to worry about your third leg getting hurt.”
“Um… yeah…” Ding Hongyuan stammered, sweating profusely. For some reason, being stared at by Cang Xuehe made his entire body feel uncomfortable. Seeing that he had achieved his goal, he hurriedly made an excuse and fled.
His departing figure looked rather pathetic.
Cang Xuehe withdrew her gaze, her face instantly turning cold. She picked up a wet towel from the table, meticulously wiped her hands, and then tossed the towel aside with utter disgust, signaling the waiter to clear all the food from the table.
“Miss Cang, here is a freshly made Vanilla Latte for you.” It was that same observant manager, delivering the drink with a smile as pleasant as a spring breeze.
Cang Xuehe’s mood had just improved a tiny bit, only to plummet upon hearing his next sentence.
“I saw your fiancé, Mr. Ding, visited just now. Would you like us to pack a portion to be delivered to Mr. Ding’s office later?”
Cang Xuehe’s expression chilled instantly, like ice in December. She said in a low, heavy voice, “That man surnamed Ding was dumped by me long ago. Don’t make me correct your choice of words a second time.”
The manager immediately straightened his posture. “Understood, Miss Cang. Anyone surnamed Ding is henceforth banned from entering our restaurant.”
With the annoying fly gone, Cang Xuehe was finally able to comfortably enjoy her afternoon tea.
She took a sip of her coffee and began to tease the System.
[Cang Xuehe]: Hey System, ‘Daddy’ listened to you this time. See how well I treat you?
The System hesitated, which was rare: […Do you have other plans? There’s no way you’d complete a mission this obediently.]
[Cang Xuehe]: As your ‘father,’ I obviously have to support my son’s work. How could you say such a thing? Besides, what bad intentions could I possibly have?
[System]: …… (Heh.)
After the mission to forgive Ding Hongyuan was completed, the System didn’t issue any new tasks for the time being.
At the same time, she noticed that the System mostly appeared during active missions; otherwise, it remained silent, likely in hibernation.
Or perhaps it was just tired of arguing with its rebellious host.
The absence of annoying mission prompts was beneficial for Cang Xuehe’s next move. She realized that simply dumping Ding Hongyuan wouldn’t be enough to teach the scumbag a lesson. In the original book, the female lead paid the tragic price of two lives (herself and her unborn child), which made Cang Xuehe feel that letting him off too easily was unacceptable.
And so, she initiated Plan B.
“Yiyi, is the thing I asked you to handle done?”
“It should be about finished by now.” Zhao Yiyi glanced at the time. “If we head over now, we’ll catch the climax of the show. In twenty minutes, you’ll receive 4K high-definition ‘erotic’ photos.”
“OK!” Cang Xuehe grabbed her bag and prepared to head out, but Zhao Yiyi held her back. “What exactly are you planning to do?”
Cang Xuehe brushed a lock of hair back. “To beat up a scumbag, of course.”
This left Zhao Yiyi even more confused. She had assumed that Cang Xuehe asked her to find someone to “seduce” Ding Hongyuan just to make him shift his affections elsewhere so he’d stop pestering her—using the photos as a legitimate reason to shake off the Ding family’s “dog-skin plaster” (nuisance).
Zhao Yiyi wore a look of bewilderment. “Xuehe, I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to achieve.”
“I’ll tell you on the way.” Cang Xuehe was eager to show off the boxing skills she had recently learned from a coach. She pulled Zhao Yiyi out of the cafe.
The car’s TV was playing a video of a boxing champion winning a title, with a final hook successfully floorings the opponent.
Cang Xuehe patted her newly bought boxing gloves. In the real world, she was very interested in boxing, but unfortunately never had the time or the spare cash for lessons.
This worked out perfectly; not only could she deal with the scumbag, but she’d also have a skill to take back if she ever returned to reality.
Zhao Yiyi had not yet adapted to the drastic change in her friend’s personality. The Cang Xuehe born into a wealthy family was supposed to be the epitome of a lady; let alone practicing boxing to hit people, even seeing her lose her temper was rare.
“Yiyi.” Cang Xuehe naturally knew what Zhao Yiyi was thinking. She took off the gloves, set them aside, and gave her a “kindly” smile.
“Did you think I sent a woman to Ding Hongyuan because I wanted him to fall in love with someone else?”
Zhao Yiyi nodded.
“How could there be such a good deal?” Cang Xuehe laughed. “I want him to learn just how sinister society can be.”
Zhao Yiyi: “……”
Sister, your smile is terrifying.