Inside the luxurious mansion, light and shadow shifted dimly. Discarded clothes scattered across the floor hinted at an atmosphere of intimacy, making it abundantly clear how chaotic the previous night had been.
Morning light filtered through the white gauze curtains, landing precisely on the cold, jade-white handsome face of the black-haired young man, successfully rousing him from his hazy dreams.
As consciousness gradually returned, Duan Mingxuan's first sensation was "soft."
Something soft and squishy was clinging to him. He opened his eyes, and what came into view was a delicate, peach-blossom-like face, alluring and tender.
The girl was wearing an overly thin silk nightgown, hanging onto him like a koala. She was clearly in a deep sleep, her cheeks flushed pink, looking utterly endearing. Her disheveled strands of hair occasionally brushed against his neck and collarbone, bringing a faint, elusive tickle.
She was clinging to him far too tightly—he could even feel the soft warmth of her body and a faint citrus fragrance through her nightgown.
Duan Mingxuan's self-discipline was carved into his very bones. Even though they had been up late the night before, he still woke up right on time in the morning.
He still had a schedule and meetings waiting for him, so he didn't plan to go back to sleep. But thinking about how exhausted she must have been last night, he couldn't bear to wake her. He originally intended to let her keep sleeping and slip away silently, but she was clinging to him so tightly that the moment he moved slightly, she woke up.
The girl who woke up showed no signs of morning grumpiness. Instead, she nuzzled further into his arms, wrapping her arms around him and speaking in a sweet, coquettish voice: "Why are you up so early? Won't you keep me company a little longer?"
Xia Cheng, when acting spoiled, transformed on the spot into a little sweet-talker. Perhaps this was the difference between having slept together and not. If any other woman spoke to him like this, he would find it affected and pretentious. But when she spoke to him this way, he only found her utterly adorable.
He reached out and ruffled her hair: "I still have work to handle. You go back to sleep for a while."
Xia Cheng clung to his arm, refusing to let go.
Duan Mingxuan pinched her cheek: "Be good."
"No way."
Are you kidding? She'd only just slept with him yesterday, and the very next day the NPC could still get up on time and go to work? That would make the player look completely inadequate!
She absolutely had to drain his Stamina Points!
[Under your enthusiastic invitation, Duan Mingxuan unsurprisingly failed to leave that room. He postponed his schedule for the first time, experiencing the joy of "never attending court in the morning." Your intimacy with Duan Mingxuan has increased by 10 points.]
Over the next few days, the player practically turned "Life Simulator" into "R-Rated Simulator." At every opportunity, she sought out Duan Mingxuan for daytime trysts, unlocking countless positions and playstyles across various times and locations—along with many CG scenes that Jinjiang would never allow to be shown.
Although Duan Mingxuan's personality was cold, proud, and aloof, he was utterly accommodating and doting toward her. Luxury cars, mansions, and all kinds of gifts flowed into her name like water, given with such generosity that he showed not a hint of reluctance.
Moreover, every time they slept together, his affection toward her rose by five points. Who wouldn't want such a super convenient way to farm affection?
But after sleeping with him for a while, the player started to wilt.
Sleeping with the same sugar daddy for a long time—even a canary gets bored!
Eating the same dish every day gets tiring, let alone sleeping with the same person for an extended period!
For the sake of the canary's physical and mental well-being, it was necessary to switch things up regularly!
The player rationalized without a shred of shame.
She began preparing to find her next target.
As his affection level rose, Duan Mingxuan's [Relationship Network] module opened up to the player. By browsing his [Relationship Network], she gradually came to understand the power structure within the "Entertainment Undying" expansion pack.
In Eastern Continent, there were over a dozen families qualified to bear a family crest. But those truly standing at the very pinnacle of the pyramid—whose every move could influence the power dynamics of the Eastern Continent—were only the Gu family, the Duan family, the Yan family, and the Jiang family.
These four families were all prestigious lineages that had risen to prominence since ancient times. With flourishing members and surviving generation after generation, they seized every opportunity during each era of change to ride the tide and remain firmly seated at the top. Having been passed down to this day, they had long since become terrifying behemoths.
Duan Mingxuan was the heir of the Duan family. Those qualified to be tagged with the [Friend] label on his [Character Profile] page were naturally young people at the center of power within these four families.
The player first checked the [Jiang Family].
The current heir of the [Jiang Family] was named [Jiang Heng] (since the character hadn't been unlocked yet, she couldn't see what his model looked like). His talent attributes included several Golden Traits such as [Heaven's Chosen], [Turning Misfortune into Blessing], and [Strategic Mastermind]. He was a top-tier UR. However, it didn't take long for the player to kick him off her list of sugar daddy candidates.
Because the [Jiang Family] had the most chaotic situation among the four families. With a flourishing clan, Jiang Heng had many siblings of the same generation, not to mention his father's numerous illegitimate children outside. The struggle for succession had reached a fever pitch.
This playthrough, the player was aiming to become a movie queen, and she had no intention of getting dragged into a power struggle, only to lose her life inexplicably before she could complete her Gallery and endings.
Jiang Heng, PASS.
The player then shifted her gaze to the [Yan Family].
The heir of the [Yan Family] in this generation was named [Yan Yao], and his [Relationship Network] was much simpler. Aside from his parents, the only close relationship he had was with his younger sister, [Yan Zhu].
[Yan Zhu]'s rank wasn't high—she was merely an SR Card. However, what was quite interesting was that her personal history actually contained a special tag called [True and False Heiress Incident].
Seems like there's some juicy gossip to dig into here.
Curious, the player clicked on the tag.
[True and False Heiress Incident: Yan Zhu was once a little princess showered with endless affection, but an unexpected turn of events turned her life upside down. Her parents weren't her biological parents, and her brother wasn't her biological brother… How could she hold on to her status and position? How could she maintain the dignity of a young lady? She ultimately decided to ****** (Warning: The remaining content involves NPC privacy, and she does not permit anyone to view it).]
Why does this tag's summary read like something out of an old-fashioned melodramatic web novel?
And what's with the encrypted content at the end?
The player flipped through the character relationships and finally managed to piece together the gist of what had happened.
Although the Yan family head and his wife had been married through an arranged union, they had grown up together as childhood sweethearts and had long developed feelings for each other. Their married life had been blissfully happy ever since.
Madam Yan had given birth to two children—the elder brother was Yan Yao, and the younger sister was Yan Zhu. It should have been a perfectly happy family.
But when Yan Zhu turned seven, a school physical examination suddenly revealed that her blood type didn't match her parents'. Theoretically speaking, it was impossible for her to be the biological child of Mr. and Mrs. Yan.
When Madam Yan first heard the news, she only found it absurd. After all, Yan Zhu had undergone multiple physical exams since childhood, and her blood type had never been an issue. So at first, she only suspected that the report was wrong. But after they conducted a more in-depth DNA test, they finally confirmed that the report wasn't wrong—Yan Zhu indeed wasn't their biological child.
So where was the real Yan Zhu?
This incident enraged Mr. and Mrs. Yan. After a thorough investigation, they discovered that the culprit was actually a family doctor of the Yan household—she had been Madam Yan's high school classmate. Later, her family fell into decline, and she ended up with the wrong partner. Unable to bear seeing her former classmate in such a sorry state, Madam Yan invited her to work as a private doctor in their home, offering her extremely generous treatment.
But kindness doesn't always beget gratitude. Perhaps the classmate had initially felt grateful to Madam Yan, but as time passed and she grew accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle of the Yan family, greed finally took root in her heart.
At the time, she and Madam Yan had been pregnant and given birth around the same time, and Madam Yan trusted her completely. She actually dared to scheme and pull off a "switching the cat for the prince" trick.
Her daughter became the young miss of the Yan family, while the real Yan Zhu was cast out and disappeared without a trace.
That was why the earlier test reports had repeatedly shown that the fake Yan Zhu shared the same blood type as Madam Yan. As the family doctor who had first access to the examination results and was always by Madam Yan's side, tampering with the reports was naturally a trivial matter.
When Madam Yan learned the truth, her fury blazed like wildfire, and she immediately wanted to settle the score. But before she could even find the culprit, she received news that the woman was already dead—
The moment the doctor realized her scheme had been exposed, she jumped off a building and killed herself. Before dying, she left behind a suicide note in which she bitterly repented her sins, expressing her willingness to atone with her life. But since the child was innocent, she didn't ask Madam Yan to forgive her—only to treat her daughter well, for the sake of their old classmate friendship.
She was indeed a clever woman. She knew that the consequences of offending the Yan family would likely be worse than death, so she might as well use her life to quell Madam Yan's anger and secure her biological daughter's wealth and splendor in exchange.
The culprit died before she could face punishment, and Madam Yan initially couldn't accept that outcome. Her heart was filled with rage and pain from the betrayal and deception, and she wanted to throw Yan Zhu out of the Yan family and never see her again.
But death extinguishes all grudges. Yan Zhu was, after all, an innocent child who knew nothing, and for the past seven years, Madam Yan had genuinely raised her as her own daughter. Feelings couldn't be severed so easily. In the end, amid little Yan Zhu's tears, Madam Yan's heart softened. She didn't actually cast Yan Zhu out but continued to keep her in the Yan household, treating her just as before.
Even so, that didn't mean Madam Yan could get past the hurdle in her heart. The better Yan Zhu was treated in the Yan family, the more Madam Yan's heart ached for her biological daughter who was out there somewhere.
Over the years, Madam Yan had traveled far and wide searching for the true heiress, but every attempt came up empty. Her biological daughter had almost become an obsession—a demon in Madam Yan's heart.
Yet even for a behemoth like the Yan family, mobilizing every resource at their disposal still couldn't uncover the whereabouts of the true heiress.
【Where exactly is the true heiress? Finding her whereabouts might uncover an unexpected secret.】
【Side Quest: Find the True Heiress. Accept?】
The tag 【True and False Heiress】 was followed by a side quest called 【Find the True Heiress】, which players could choose to accept or decline. However, Xia Cheng was here this playthrough to become a Best Actress and had no interest in quests unrelated to the main storyline. So after getting her fill of the gossip, she contentedly closed Yan Zhu's page and stopped paying attention to the matter.
That said, she could still add the true heiress's brother, Yan Yao, to her list of potential sugar daddies. Maybe she'd even get to enjoy the drama up close by his side in the future.
The player thought slyly to herself.