By now Lin Tingwan could already clearly feel the effects of the Marrow-Cleansing Water, and she found herself wondering, shouldn’t she not have teased a system like that?
Hearing the system deliver something like a coquettish complaint in its cold mechanical voice, Lin Tingwan actually laughed.
She replied without a shred of sincerity:
【I know, Xiaobai.】
【Host, please do not slack off. Actively completing tasks is your most urgent priority right now.】
Right after that cold warning, blinking bright red and glaring, a line of warning text appeared in Lin Tingwan’s mind:
【Life value countdown: 73 hours 52 minutes】
The dog of a system understood the principle of a stick followed by a sweet date [1]a stick followed by a sweet date (da yi gun zi gei ke tian zao, 打一棍子給顆甜棗) Idiom, alternating punishment with reward to keep someone compliant jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3293104_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3293104_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, right after the warning, it went on in its calm, unwavering mechanical voice with another announcement:
【Host, completing tasks will give you another 24 hours of life value, and you’ll also receive point rewards. Points can be used in the exchange store to buy items, such as: Marrow-Cleansing Water, vitality-restoring potions.】
【After you complete multiple tasks and accumulate a certain amount of energy, the exchange store will open up further. Also, as the host gains life value, health value, and points, this system will level up along with it.】
【Once the system levels up, more functions will activate, and it’ll be able to serve the host even better.】
That dog of a system really knew how to dangle a carrot.
Damn it, but why was she the one being tempted by all this?
Lin Tingwan paused, then decided to cast aside all distracting thoughts, tonight, she’d be a diligent, studious good student.
She pulled the test paper the system had specified out of her school bag and began writing eagerly and swiftly.
Doing the test paper earned life value,
Doing the test paper earned point rewards,
Doing the test paper could…
She loved studying, loved doing test papers with all her heart!
One day’s worth of life value might not seem like much, but for Lin Tingwan, who had already died once—
Every new day of life had its own meaning.
Once, out of desperation in life, she’d had no choice but to give up the chance to study. After she’d claimed the Best Actress trophy, Lin Tingwan had once given an interview to a reporter.
When asked about the biggest regret of her life, the Best Actress at the time found it hard to say.
Could she really tell everyone that she regretted only having a high school diploma, that from the summer of her senior year of high school she’d been running around film sets doing odd jobs as an extra?
Now, another chance to study had appeared before her, and this time Lin Tingwan wanted to treasure it properly.
For the dream she’d longed for, and so her former self’s life would have no regrets.
This time, Lin Tingwan decided, she would grip this opportunity firmly!
Actually, for Lin Tingwan, who had already been through the college entrance exam once before, these questions only counted as easy-level.
It was only because the original owner’s body, eroded by poison and made severely overweight, had caused a double impairment of body and mind.
Add to that the stepmother and stepsister’s various open and covert suppression, and the original owner simply hadn’t put her mind toward studying.
That was what led to her current result, dead last in the grade.
Once the effects of the Marrow-Cleansing Water kicked in, Lin Tingwan no longer had to worry about so much, and her pen simply flew across the test paper.
When the deep night sky outside the window began to show its first faint traces of grey-white, and the vague sounds of the city stirring before waking drifted in from the distance—
Lin Tingwan finally set down her pen. The entire test paper, including the somewhat harder questions at the back—
she had answered them all, completely, and it had already been checked by the system.
Accuracy rate: one hundred percent!
【Congratulations, host, for perfectly completing Novice Task (Two). The reward has been issued, please check.】
Then, Lin Tingwan saw the updated data about the original owner’s body recorded on the system’s control panel:
【Host’s current status:
Life value countdown: 91 hours 59 minutes
Health value: 1 (Severe obesity, chronic poisoning, metabolic syndrome, severe cardiopulmonary impairment…)
Wisdom points: 10
Wealth value: 0】
Below that, in the corresponding exchange store, still only one lonely icon was lit up, the rest of the area dark.
That corresponding icon was the low-grade vitality-restoring potion.
Accordingly, this icon also had matching text explanation:
【Low-grade vitality-restoring potion: requires 10 points to exchange.
Effect: clears trace amounts of residual toxins from the body, mildly relieves the burden on the nervous system, and weakly restores vitality.
Duration: 1 hour.】
Lin Tingwan finally understood, the exchange store didn’t open all at once, but rather, icons could be lit up one by one after completing tasks.
So the one she could exchange for right now was this “low-grade vitality-restoring potion,” and because she’d completed tasks back to back on her first day as a novice—
besides the corresponding life value and other rewards, the system had also given her an extra 15 points.
【Point balance: 15】
【Exchange store: Low-grade vitality-restoring potion, 10 points】
Exchange, exchange it right now!
The instant her mental command was issued, the number in the point column on the control panel jumped from 15 down to 5.
Still, seeing the vial of potion now stored in the system’s space, Lin Tingwan was quite pleased.
She braced herself against the edge of the heavy desk, and using all her strength, stood up shakily.
Her legs, numb and prickling from sitting too long and her massive weight, wobbled before she managed to steady herself.
Then, step by step, extremely slowly but with unwavering determination, she made her way toward the electronic bathroom scale in the corner of the room, dusty and forgotten for a long time.
Lin Tingwan stepped onto it.
The cold metal plate bore her weight, and the screen flickered a few times.
Finally, a number popped up: 149.8 kg.
Compared to the 150.5 kg the original owner had been forced to weigh in at last time, that was 0.7 kilograms lighter!
Although 0.7 kilograms was insignificant, a drop in the ocean compared to her enormous base weight—
Lin Tingwan stared fixedly at that number, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, not out of weakness—
but out of an indescribable excitement and… hope!
This 0.7 kilograms wasn’t from dieting, wasn’t from exercise, it was the power of knowledge.
Right now Lin Tingwan was spiritually satisfied, but physically—
her stomach was growling with hunger.
After all, Lin Tingwan had only eaten the small cake Auntie Liu had secretly given her that night, and after a whole night’s consumption, her stomach was long since empty.
Lin Tingwan opened the door and went out, planning to find some food to fill her stomach first, then sleep a little before getting up again to go to school.
But as she passed by the piano room, she seemed to hear the faint sound of talking inside.
This too was one of the stepmother’s creations, so-called “letting the two sisters receive artistic cultivation.”
The overweight original owner obviously had no talent for this, the one who played piano was the beautiful young lady, Lin Yuexuan.
The key thing was, the piano room was set up right next to the original owner’s bedroom, the good stepmother’s scheming heart really did stop at nothing.
Thanks to the system, thanks to the Marrow-Cleansing Water, the Best Actress right now had sharp ears and clear sight.
The people inside had deliberately lowered their voices to speak, but Lin Tingwan still heard clearly.
And based on the original owner’s memory, she recognized the two people currently embracing each other were Su Wanyi and her driver, Old Huang!
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