The system said:“In the original story, the host got angry about losing money in stocks. Late at night, she went to mess with Xie Yanhan, only to discover he had a high fever and had fallen unconscious. So she hurriedly gave him medicine, which brought down the fever.”
Jiang Sui: “……So if I don’t intervene, will he die?”
The system’s tone remained cold, mechanical like artificial intelligence:
“I don’t know. If you do not follow the original character setting, the plot may change—or adjust itself.”
In other words, the villain might survive on his own… or something might go wrong.
Jiang Sui: “……”
Her conscience really wouldn’t let her just ignore it.
Since he was unconscious, she might as well just give him the medicine. He wouldn’t even know.
Jiang Sui got out of bed. She had bought a lot of medicine today, and after searching through it, she still took out wound medicine and anti-inflammatory pills.
Xie Yanhan’s fever was probably caused by the whip wounds on his back.
He was already thin and weak, and he hadn’t been eating or drinking. Of course he would get sick.
Holding the medicine, Jiang Sui walked to the door of the small study. After a brief hesitation, she knocked gently.
“Xie Yanhan, are you asleep?”
There was no response.
“I’m coming in. If it’s inconvenient, just say something.”
She waited a second. Still no response.
Slowly, she slid open the door.
The room was dark. Light from the bedroom spilled in and illuminated the floor—where Xie Yanhan was lying.
He was actually sleeping on the floor.
No mattress. No pillow. Not even a blanket.
The study was empty except for a bookshelf and a desk.
No wonder he had to sleep like this. This was too miserable.
For a moment, Jiang Sui actually felt a bit of pity—but only for a moment.
She crouched down and gently poked his arm. His skin was indeed burning hot.
He was lying on his side, eyes tightly shut. His face was unusually pale, but the corners of his eyes were slightly red from the fever. His eyelashes were black and dense, his nose straight and sharp.
A very beautiful, sickly-looking boy.
Jiang Sui quickly shook her head.
Stop it—this is not the time to admire his looks. Wake up, Jiang Sui.
After confirming he was unconscious, she placed the medicine aside, took out fever reducers, and scanned the empty room again.
No food. No water.
She had no choice but to go downstairs to get some.
What she didn’t know was that the moment she left the study, the supposedly unconscious Xie Yanhan opened his eyes.
His gaze was cold and filled with disgust as he watched her leave.
Jiang Sui brought several bottles of mineral water upstairs, along with a pillow. She lifted Xie Yanhan up and let him lean against her chest, supporting his head with her shoulder so she could feed him medicine more easily.
She used to take care of her sick grandmother like this.
But now, the one leaning against her was a young man’s body—hot with fever, firm-boned, heavy against her.
His fluffy hair brushed against her neck, sending a faint ticklish sensation through her skin.
This was the first time she had ever been this close to a man. Her face burned slightly.
Good thing no one was watching.
She opened his mouth, placed the pills inside, and fed him water.
Instinctively, he swallowed.
Then she unbuttoned his shirt.
She removed the blood-stained white shirt, revealing his body.
He looked extremely thin when clothed, but once undressed, his body revealed lean, defined muscle beneath pale skin. His shoulders were broad, waist narrow, limbs long and well-proportioned.
A body that combined youthful slenderness with masculine strength.
But it was covered in injuries.
His back was densely marked with whip wounds—layer upon layer, swollen, purple, and torn open in some places. There were countless bruises, old and new, scattered across his body.
It looked like a broken doll stitched back together.
The Xie family was far too cruel—how could they treat an innocent boy like this?
Jiang Sui frowned slightly as she cleaned the wounds and applied disinfectant and anti-inflammatory medicine.
The injuries were too extensive. Even large bandages couldn’t cover them.
So she left them exposed.
She left some medicine and a few pieces of bread, covered him with a thin blanket, and quietly left the room.
Finally, her conscience felt at ease. She fell asleep quickly without any strange thoughts.
But in the small study, Xie Yanhan opened his eyes again.
He sat up slowly, expressionless, staring at the blanket that had slipped off him, the food and medicine beside him. His gaze was filled only with disgust.
Cold and dark, he slowly raised his hand and touched his lips and chin.
There, faint traces seemed to remain—the cool, soft sensation of her fingertips.
Disgusting.
The next morning, Jiang Sui was woken by her alarm.
She had stayed up until around two in the morning, browsing news about this world, trying to find information about the apocalypse and mutated creatures, and downloading shows and movies.
But she found nothing useful online.
Still, the novel had mentioned that before the apocalypse, strange phenomena began appearing everywhere—mutated plants and animals, and wild animals suddenly going berserk.
Since none of that had happened yet, it meant there was still some time.
That gave her a little relief—but not enough to relax.
She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and got out of bed.
From today on, she had to start training.
She stretched, changed clothes, and went out for a run.
Half an hour later, she returned, gasping for air and leaning against the wall.
Her body was too weak. She only ran twenty minutes and already felt like she might collapse.
After resting, she picked up a dumbbell and started training her biceps.
But this was even worse—her arms quickly went sore.
She gritted her teeth and kept going.
Halfway through, she collapsed onto the carpet, exhausted and rolling in place.
Her arms trembled uncontrollably from overuse, muscles aching, making her want to give up completely.
“No. I can’t give up like this.”
She rolled over, knelt up again, and clenched her fists.
“The pain I suffer today becomes tomorrow’s biceps.”
“Go, Jiang Xiao Sui!”
She stood up again, biting her teeth, and continued lifting the dumbbells.
Every rep, she muttered:
“Biceps!”
“Biceps!”
“Biceps!”
She trained with full determination.
Then suddenly, she felt a chill behind her back—like someone was silently watching her.
She turned quickly.
Behind her was a wall. Beside her was the small study where Xie Yanhan was resting. The sliding door wasn’t fully closed, leaving a thin crack.
She stared at it.
Was he… watching her through that gap?
The crack was too small and dark to see anything.
But that eerie, prickling feeling remained.
Should she walk over and open the door?
No. That would probably scare her to death.
“System,” she asked nervously, “is the villain spying on me?”
The system replied coldly:
“No comment unless you accept the mission.”
Jiang Sui: “……”
Fine.
She dropped the dumbbell, grabbed her phone, and quickly ran downstairs.
If she couldn’t beat him…
She could at least avoid him.