A fierce gale raged as torrential rain poured down, with purple lightning flickering across the sky. The roaring thunder seemed to crack right overhead.
On the Kuajiang Bridge, a slender girl leaned on a cane, having stood there for who knows how long.
Her black dress clung to her body, soaked through by the rain, making her nearly blend into the pitch-black rainy night—utterly inconspicuous.
Speeding vehicles might not even notice her presence.
Just jump.
She was already like this.
There was no point in clinging to life.
Suddenly, she threw away the cane in her hand and gripped the cold railing with both hands.
Struggling to climb up, her body swayed precariously in the wind-driven rain.
Days of continuous rain had caused the river’s water level to rise.
The murky, yellowish water barely reflected the neon lights from either bank.
The sound of the rushing currents, like a death warrant, echoed close to her ears.
The dark, slender figure clung to the railing, as if about to plunge into the abyss below at any second.
In one fleeting moment, a glimmer of light sparked in her eyes, as if she had suddenly come to her senses. Her movements paused as she stared blankly at the ink-black river surface.
Just then, a tall figure swiftly approached her.
The man grabbed her arm with one hand and wrapped the other around her waist, quickly pulling her away from the dangerous railing.
Only when Shi Xi’s feet touched solid ground did her senses slowly return, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Raindrops stung her eyes.
But inwardly, she breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Shi Xi was an employee of the Time-Space Administration. She had just passed the Female Lead Department’s assessment with high scores but was temporarily reassigned to the Scumbag Woman Department.
This was her first world in the Scumbag Woman Department.
She never expected that upon entering, she’d almost died immediately.
This system really knew how to pick its timing!
Simultaneously, a system reminder echoed in her mind: “Please receive the original host’s information.”
Shi Xi’s soul wasn’t fully accustomed to this body yet, her mind dizzy and disoriented.
Her left foot throbbed with a burning pain, and she relied entirely on the man beside her to stay upright.
“Let’s get you to the hospital first.”
The one who saved Shi Xi was a young, tall man.
His shoulders were broad, his arms strong—he exuded a sense of security.
Seeing how weak Shi Xi was, he wordlessly scooped her up into his arms.
In Shi Xi’s blurred vision, she could only make out the man’s sharp, defined jawline and prominent Adam’s apple.
The girl’s frame was frail, almost weightless.
Under the roadside lights, her skin appeared excessively pale.
Her eyes were large but slightly closed.
Most startling were the two long scars on her left cheek, coiling like centipedes across her fair skin.
Utterly terrifying.
His gaze lingered for a moment before he headed toward a car parked by the roadside.
Another man hurried over, “Captain, is she alright?”
Huo Yao shook his head and gestured, “Pick up the cane.”
“Oh, right!”
Ji Lu responded, accidentally catching a glimpse of the girl’s face. After a moment of shock, he nodded.
Shi Xi was placed in the back seat of the car. A large coat enveloped her, bringing some warmth to her body.
“Ji Lu, to the hospital.”
She heard the man beside her speak.
She quickly shook her head, her voice hoarse, “No.”
Huo Yao frowned, glancing at her with an unconscious air of authority. “Then call your parents and have them pick you up from the police station.”
“No.”
Silence fell in the car.
Ji Lu, who was driving, glanced back at their captain with his perpetually stern expression, then looked worriedly at the stubborn young girl. He couldn’t help but speak up, “A kid like you staying out so late—won’t your parents be worried sick? Whatever’s going on, you can talk about it. Just don’t do anything foolish again, understand?”
If the captain hadn’t glanced toward the bridge earlier, she might not be alive right now.
But judging by her appearance, she had likely endured many unknown hardships and struggles.
Ji Lu’s tone was cautious, careful not to upset her fragile state of mind.
After all, if she truly wanted to die, they might save her once, but they couldn’t save her a second or third time…
Shi Xi knew they meant well. After coughing a few times, she said, “Thank you, but I don’t want to go anywhere. Could you take me back… home?”
The last word struggled out of her throat with difficulty.
Both of them glanced at her face, easily noticing the disgust in her expression.
This girl’s family situation was clearly problematic.
Ji Lu asked, “Where do you live?”
Shi Xi provided an address, then kept her head down, processing the memories of the original host.
The original host was named Lin Shi Xi. For the first fifteen years of her life, she had been the Lu Family’s cherished young miss.
Until that day, when a compulsive gambler showed up, claiming she was his daughter and demanding money from her.
It turned out she had been living someone else’s life all these years, while the true Lu Family heiress was suffering abuse in a impoverished household.
The mastermind behind it all was that gambler—the original host’s biological father, Lin Zhen.
After the Lu Family verified the truth, they immediately sent the original host packing back to her biological family.
Unexpectedly, she was involved in a car accident on the way. When she woke up, her left leg was permanently disabled, and two scars from broken glass marked her face.
When the original host left the Lu Family, she only managed to hurriedly take a few sets of clothes and a suitcase.
Anything more wasn’t permitted.
She would always remember that day—how her parents and brother’s eyes had burned red, but not with concern. Instead, their gazes were filled with resentment and anger.
In their eyes, she had suddenly become an unforgivable sinner.
So even when she hovered between life and death after the accident, they showed no concern.
A gambling-addicted father, a mother of questionable morals, a broken home.
The original host, dragging her disabled body, spent her days in tears and endured beatings.
Unable to bear it any longer, covered in wounds, she knelt outside the Lu Family’s gate, crying and begging to return to that home.
But from beginning to end, no one paid her any attention.
The parents and brother who had once doted on her wouldn’t even glance her way.
It took the original host two years to accept reality.
Her personality grew increasingly reserved, sensitive, and stubborn.
She sold the items she had brought from the Lu Family secondhand and managed to save fifty thousand yuan.
She guarded that bank card fiercely, afraid her biological parents would find out.
The original host returned to school, but due to her scarred face and limp, she was constantly bullied.
She endured until the college entrance exams, applying to a university a thousand kilometers away in an attempt to escape this place.
But the admission letter she received was from a local second-rate college.
Her biological mother had secretly changed her application, saying girls shouldn’t study so far away.
Her father had no intention of spending money on her education. When he discovered her hidden bank card, he beat her severely, forced out the password, and used the money for gambling.
If the original host wanted to attend college, she could only apply for student loans, relying on part-time work to cover living expenses.
Throughout her four years of university, she had been avoiding her parents; otherwise, not only would she have been beaten, but the money in her hands would have been taken away as well.
As graduation approached, the original host applied to several companies but was rejected by all of them.
Feeling disheartened, she started live-streaming herself singing online to earn money.
Her vocal talent was excellent, but she never showed her face, which made it difficult for her to retain many fans.
The original host was a computer science student. Believing her face was too unattractive, she used AI face-swap technology to replace her own face with a modeled face.
With this change, the person in front of the live-streaming camera became both beautiful and sweet-voiced.
She finally began gaining followers and even added a few of them on WeChat.
She accepted all the red packets they sent without hesitation, tacitly agreeing to be their girlfriend.
Once she started this money-making scheme, she couldn’t stop.
She strung along three boyfriends at the same time, collecting nearly 300,000 yuan in red packets from them within a month.
This money was enough for her to undergo corrective surgery for her left foot and scar removal surgery.
A week ago, without any hesitation, she unilaterally broke up with her boyfriends, blocked them, and stopped live-streaming.
Her sudden disappearance, coupled with her repeated refusals to meet in person, made her three “fish” realize they had been emotionally deceived. They eventually hired people to expose her.
Soon, her identity information and photos were made public.
At school, the original host always hunched her back, never dared to lift her head, wore a mask all day, and walked with a cane like an old woman.
This version of her was put on trial online.
Mockery and insults cut into her like sharp blades.
So, on a rainy night, she jumped from the Kuajiang Bridge, ending her life.
A police officer tried to save her but failed and lost his own life in the process.
Because of this incident, even after her death, the original host remained pinned to the pillar of shame.
Her biological parents were ashamed of her, and in the end, no one even came to claim her body.
The hasty and tragic life of the original host flashed through Shi Xi’s mind in an instant.
She silently asked the system, “Why is there no world plot?”
When she was in the Female Lead Department, she would automatically receive the plot and body information upon entering a world.
But now, she had only received Lin Shi Xi’s information, with no plot provided.
An emotionless system voice echoed in her mind, “The host is playing the role of a scumbag woman, not the world’s protagonist. You cannot obtain the main plot in advance. However, when you participate in key plot points, the plot will be automatically transmitted to you.”
In other words, in this world, Shi Xi didn’t even know who the male and female leads were. Only by engaging in the main storyline could she receive more information.
The Scumbag Woman Department had two tasks: first, to fulfill the original host’s wishes, and second, to eliminate the hatred of those she had wronged.
Additionally, Shi Xi had taken on an extra task—
There were always people whose souls were shattered for various reasons and scattered across different times and spaces.
Her job was to help a certain employer collect these soul fragments, for an exceptionally high price.
Of course, this was an operation permitted by the Time-Space Administration, as it allowed agents to earn substantial commissions.
Shi Xi didn’t know who her employer was, but it didn’t matter—the system would guide her to worlds containing the fragments.
Now, it seemed the conditions in the Scumbag Woman Department were indeed stricter, especially since the plot couldn’t be foreseen.
No wonder many agents faced deadly situations right from the start—killed by the very “fish” they had been stringing along.
The original host’s situation was almost exactly like that.
Shi Xi didn’t know how to judge her, because her life had been so full of suffering that death might have been a relief for her.
System: “The original host’s wishes are simple: break away from her birth family, earn money to fix her face and lame leg, and avoid dragging Huo Yao down.”
After hearing this, Shi Xi’s peripheral gaze fell on the silent man beside her.
It was this police officer named Huo Yao who had died in the icy river trying to save the original host.
Shi Xi’s arrival was too critical – she had just forcibly taken control of the original host’s body to prevent the actual jump.
So, the last wish could be considered fulfilled.
Huo Yao suddenly looked at Shi Xi, being particularly sensitive to others’ gazes.
Just as Shi Xi withdrew her peripheral glance, the system said, “Employer’s soul fragment detected – Huo Yao. Please maintain skin contact for 1000 hours, or engage in deep communication once, for the system to collect the fragment.”
Shi Xi had known the rules before coming, but she hadn’t expected to encounter a fragment immediately upon arrival.
She asked, “Does his holding me earlier count toward the skin contact time?”
System: “Yes. Contact duration: 56 seconds, rounded equals 0 hours.”
Shi Xi: “…”
Skin contact for 1000 hours seemed almost impossible, but deep communication appeared even more unattainable.
She turned her head, looking directly at Huo Yao for the first time.
He was very tall, sitting in the car with his head almost brushing against the roof.
His dark green tank top was soaked through, yet couldn’t conceal his powerfully built muscles – dangerous yet intensely compelling.
His features were sharply defined as if carved by a knife, with a high, straight nose bridge. His dark eyes held a chill, not emotionless coldness but more of an intimidating effect.
Just like her first impression of him, his presence could give her a sense of security.
“Anything you want to say?”
Huo Yao initiated the conversation, studying her with his gaze.
She quickly lowered her head, fishing her phone from her crossbody bag.
The phone was powered off, unclear whether from water damage or dead battery.
She could only look at Huo Yao, extending her hand toward him, “Could you give me your phone?”
Her voice was as faint as a kitten’s mewl.
Huo Yao lifted his eyelids, “Something wrong?”
Despite his question, his movements were swift as he tossed his phone to her.
His phone didn’t even have a case, with a few water droplets on the screen and cracks on the back from some impact.
Shi Xi wiped the screen dry with her palm, slowly input her number, and replied softly, “Leaving my contact information. I’ll look for you next time.”
She needed to resolve the issues left by the original host first.
Huo Yao: “…”
Ji Lu’s mouth twitched – was this girl planning to jump again?
Shi Xi waited until the call connected before returning the phone.
Huo Yao’s hands were long yet rough, with visible calluses on his thumb web and fingertips. The veins on the back of his hand stood out prominently, extending up his arm.
His entire being radiated an “I’m strong” aura.
Shi Xi suddenly asked, “Has anyone ever bullied you?”
Huo Yao paused briefly before responding, “Hmm.”
Who would dare bully him?
But her…
Asking like this, she must have been frequently bullied.
Huo Yao noticed her eyes briefly light up before fading quickly.
She was envying him.
Her head lowered, long curled lashes fluttering slightly, “Could I… hold your hand…”
Huo Yao remained silent.
Because as she asked, she had already taken hold of his wrist.
She didn’t even dare use force, resting her fingers lightly as if taking his pulse.
Perhaps afraid of rejection, she had already closed her eyes, pretending to rest.
Huo Yao didn’t speak, but neither did he withdraw his hand.
Her hand was very cold, and he only felt as if an ice cream cone was pressed against his wrist.
Seeing that he didn’t reject her, Shi Xi reminded the system in her heart to start timing.
This journey was estimated to take forty minutes.