Yan Sui opened her eyes groggily. The sharp, cold smell of disinfectant hung in the air.
Faint voices drifted to her ears.
“Brother Qingci, she’ll be all right, won’t she? I’m really scared.”
“Don’t be. Yan Sui brought this on herself. Once she wakes up, I’ll make her apologize to you.”
Yan Sui frowned at what she heard. Images flooded her mind, making everything suddenly feel real.
She was back.
There was no apocalypse, no zombies. She was home.
Yan Sui shot upright in bed, stiff as a corpse, and took a deep breath with her eyes closed.
Rain pattered against the green lawn. A breeze scented with earth and fresh grass stirred the curtains.
Her sudden, corpse-like movement startled the man and woman beside her.
“Brother Qingci, Yan Sui’s awake.”
Fu Qingci gave a quiet “Mm” and patted the back of her hand to reassure her.
His expression was cool. “Since you’re awake, hurry up and get your things together so you can leave the hospital. Don’t hold up everyone else.”
Yan Mo bit her lip and rested a hand lightly on Fu Qingci’s arm.
“Brother Qingci, Yan Sui just woke up. Why don’t you let her rest for a while?”
Only when she heard them did Yan Sui open her eyes. Her bright eyes were clouded with confusion as she looked at the two of them.
From the moment she’d been thrown into the apocalypse to struggle for survival, this body of hers had lost all autonomy. The system had controlled it ever since.
She knitted her brows.
【I worked my tail off completing your missions, and you made me play the lovesick fool?】
The object of all that devotion was the hottest star in the entertainment industry: Fu Qingci, a newly crowned Best Actor with both talent and looks.
A cold, mechanical voice rang in her mind.
【Rong 008 would like to correct you: you weren’t doing missions for us. You were trying to stay alive.】
Yan Sui’s brow relaxed. Right. Back then, she’d had no choice.
If she refused, she would die.
【Mission complete. Your reward has been issued. Thank you for your contribution.】
【We shared a past; now we go our separate ways. Take care.】
Yan Sui parted her lips slightly, feeling the changes inside her.
It was gone.
When Fu Qingci saw that she wasn’t answering, impatience showed in his eyes.
“Yan Sui, what are you trying to pull now? If you hadn’t said all that weird stuff in front of Yan Mo, I wouldn’t have pushed you by accident. Don’t push your luck! Besides, you’re fine now, aren’t you? What are you putting on an act for?”
Yan Sui rubbed her brow, listening to him twist the facts.
Fortunately, she had excellent control over her temper. Otherwise, it would have been hard not to get angry at an idiot like him.
She lifted her eyelids and glanced at Fu Qingci.
“Keep your voice down. I’m afraid of dogs.”
Fu Qingci froze under her gaze. Then, at her words, he stared at her in disbelief.
“What did you say? How dare you—”
Yan Sui clicked her tongue. “Never mind, go ahead and bark. I’ve had my rabies shots.”
Yan Mo bit her lip and scolded her. “Yan Sui, how can you talk to Brother Qingci like that? That’s awful!”
Fu Qingci took her hand, his gaze turning cold.
“Momo, don’t listen to that lunatic! If she won’t apologize to you, I’ll speak to the director myself. There’s no point keeping her on the show to get in everyone’s way.”
Yan Mo’s eyes flickered. She lightly bit her lip and feigned hesitation. “Brother Qingci, is that really a good idea?”
Fu Qingci raised his chin, his expression arrogant.
“She brought it on herself.”
Yan Sui suddenly remembered: she was still filming a variety show.
The program had been created to promote the new drama starring Fu Qingci and Yan Mo together. Both stars and the drama’s production team wanted to use it to generate publicity.
She’d ended up in the hospital because Yan Mo had made some insinuating remarks that steered public opinion.
Now the whole internet was calling her the other woman who’d come between Fu Qingci and Yan Mo.
Fans on both sides had begun digging into her past, scrutinizing every detail in old photos that had been picked over countless times. They called her Fu Qingci’s stalker fan and his lovesick lapdog.
She was a nobody, barely even a name in the industry, yet all kinds of scandals about her had kept her on the trending list for a full day and night.
They made up rumors that she’d had an illicit relationship with some director, and that she’d led the bullying of a classmate back in school.
They’d photoshopped a memorial portrait of her. They were practically ready to dig up her family’s graves and curse them.
“Yan Sui” had been so furious that she confronted Yan Mo. Fu Qingci, trying to protect Yan Mo, accidentally pushed her down the stairs.
And now the person who’d started it all was standing by her hospital bed, spouting off: “She brought it on herself.”
Yan Sui gave him an icy look. “You’re so good at passing the buck. Why are you in showbiz? You should be a chef at New Oriental! Did every one of those Pinduoduo ‘price cuts’ end up chopping away at that underdeveloped brain of yours?”
She pointed at the gauze on her forehead. “Call the police or settle this privately. Pick one.”
Before she turned eighteen, Yan Sui hadn’t had much to do with Fu Qingci.
Then the system took control of her mind, and she became his lovesick fool.
She paid for his education and covered everything: food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
At university, everyone thought Fu Qingci came from a wealthy family. He drove luxury cars, lived in a mansion, and spent money like water.
Just thinking about it made Yan Sui’s heart ache. It had all been her money!
That damned system had no conscience!
Fu Qingci’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head when Yan Sui, who’d spent all that time worshipping him, suddenly turned on him.
He swallowed his anger, his face livid.
“Do you even know what you’re saying?”
He couldn’t reconcile the Yan Sui in front of him with the girl who used to obey his every whim.
Yan Sui raised an eyebrow. “If you really can’t understand, I’ll carve it on your tombstone later! I’m asking you: police or private settlement? You don’t think you can lay hands on me, put me in the hospital, and have the whole thing just go away, do you?”
Yan Mo stared at her in shock. Hadn’t Yan Sui been crazy about Fu Qingci?
They couldn’t let her call the police. If she did, the whole thing would blow up—and Yan Mo would get dragged into it too.
“Yan Sui, Brother Qingci didn’t do it on purpose…”
Yan Sui scoffed. “Tell the police whether it was on purpose or not. In this vast sea of people, meeting you two scumbags must be my punishment. Once you’re locked up, make sure you reform. And don’t go telling people you know me.”
With that, she reached for the phone beside her.
She unlocked it with practiced ease and was about to call the police.
Yan Mo hurriedly said, “Let’s settle this privately! We’ll settle it! Name your terms. As long as they’re reasonable, we’ll agree.”
Fu Qingci gave a cold laugh, speaking with absolute confidence and not a trace of fear.
“Settle it privately? Hell no! Go ahead and call the police if you’ve got the guts. I’d like to see—”
“Hello? I want to report an assault. A man pushed me down the stairs. I think he was trying to kill me. I’m at People’s Hospital. Please send someone quickly. He’s still threatening me. Oh, my poor spinal discs, my elbow, my kneecap—!”
Yan Sui hung up. Fu Qingci and Yan Mo both looked ashen. She smiled faintly.
“Just as you wanted.”
Fu Qingci glared at her viciously and ground out, “You can forget about filming this show now!”
Yan Mo bit her lip. It looked like she wouldn’t be able to use this chance to get Yan Sui kicked off the show.
“Come on, Yan Sui. Making this a big deal won’t do you any good either. You just don’t want to leave, right? Brother Qingci can talk to the director and get you back on the show. How about that?”
Yan Sui gave her a sidelong look. “Who said I wanted to keep filming?”
The Yan family might not be one of the top-tier wealthy families, but they still ranked among the prominent families in Beijing.
She’d have to be crazy to give up a comfortable life and go make it in show business.
Her contract had conveniently expired a little while ago, and she hadn’t renewed it. She’d made up her mind.
She was done with this business!
Yan Mo looked confused. “Then what do you want?”
Yan Sui said, “An apology! Compensation! Medical bills, meals, nursing care, nutrition, lost wages, transportation—one hundred thousand!”
Yan Mo gave her an indescribable look. “Are you really that short of money?”
Yan Sui rolled her eyes. “Is your brain evolving at random? So you didn’t hear a single word of ‘apology’?”
Yan Mo’s expression shifted. She gave Fu Qingci an aggrieved look.
Fu Qingci immediately put an arm around her shoulders, his heart aching for her. “Momo, don’t listen to her.”
He turned back and looked coldly at Yan Sui.
“I can’t believe you’re this kind of person. I was wrong about you!”