Chu Tianqing fumbled with her seatbelt, jumping out before the car had even come to a full stop.
With a flying leap, she wrapped her arms tightly around Shen Xinglan: "Lanbao! Did you transmigrate here too? Is it really you? I'm not dreaming, am I? Please, Heavenly Way, let this be real!"
"Qingqing, you're choking me…"
Shen Xinglan's back pressed against the villa's front gate, squeezed too tightly by her koala-like embrace.
"What major did you study?" Chu Tianqing asked, still not letting go.
"Biopharmaceuticals, senior year, just got recommended for grad school." Even with difficulty breathing, Shen Xinglan still raised a hand to gently pat her best friend's back. "It's me."
Only then did Chu Tianqing release her grip.
"Why did you take so long to get here…" She pouted pitifully, crying out a "werwerwer" beagle-like sound.
She finally understood why Zhen Huan cried so miserably when she met Sister Mei at Ganlu Temple.
"That sounds terrible, stop crying." Shen Xinglan pinched her mouth like squeezing a duck's beak.
"Come on, let's go home." With tears still hanging on her eyelashes, Chu Tianqing's face changed in an instant, smiling brighter than any flower.
Chu Tianqing linked her arm through her best friend's, scanning her face to enter the villa.
From the villa gate to the main building was still a two-kilometer internal road.
Usually, there were security guards stationed at the booth, but now it was completely empty.
Chu Tianqing found the keys in the booth and casually registered Shen Xinglan's face into the system.
Starting the golf cart parked nearby, she drove Shen Xinglan all the way to the main villa building.
The two finally sat down in the living room.
"When did you transmigrate?" Chu Tianqing had been gripping her hand tightly since entering, as if glued by superglue.
"Yesterday, when you sent me that explicit novel, I was on the subway, so sleepy my head was bobbing. I thought I'd doze off and reply to you when I reached my stop. But then…"
"Closed my eyes and opened them, and I was here. The timeline should be last night."
Shen Xinglan's hand was getting sore from being squeezed.
Looking at Chu Tianqing's sparkling puppy-dog eyes full of sincerity, she couldn't bear to pull away.
"You came a day earlier than me!" Chu Tianqing's eyes widened, then she clenched her fists in righteous indignation: "Which bastard used our names to write villainous female supporting characters? Could the damn author be someone we know?"
"Hard to say…" Shen Xinglan felt a bit guilty.
After all, she and Chu Tianqing had too many "enemies."
From kindergarten to university, the people they'd gossiped about could fill more than a stack of A4 paper.
Chu Tianqing was still racking her brain: "Lanbao, do you think it could be that creepy guy from the Chinese Literature department who pursued you and I chased off? This author seems to have a grudge against women."
Shen Xinglan pondered for two seconds: "Which one? Didn't you chase off several of them…"
"Ugh," Chu Tianqing sighed, scratching her head, "Could it be that we transmigrated into this book because we talked too much trash about others and got our karma?"
Shen Xinglan calmly spoke up: "Let me ask you again—was it us talking trash about others, or was it others doing bad things?"
Chu Tianqing's face lit up with sudden realization: "Right! We've always just told the truth, stated the facts. If they hadn't done those things, we wouldn't have had anything to say about them."
"Exactly." Shen Xinglan nodded.
Chu Tianqing: "Babe, did the system fine you money?"
"It did…"
Shen Xinglan forced a bitter smile.
"I got it worse. I hadn't even read the novel. I just transmigrated with no idea what the main storyline was, and my savings were deducted for no reason."
"Let me think about your storyline." Chu Tianqing put her fingertip to her lips, her brain working quickly—
"Yesterday was my wedding. In the book, your parents always thought I was a bad influence, so they locked you at home and wouldn't let you be my bridesmaid."
"But you overcame all obstacles in the end—you put laxatives in your parents' food, jumped from the second floor, and limped your way to be my bridesmaid anyway."
"Late at night, you accompanied me at the hospital, then your parents, who were dehydrated from the laxatives, dragged you home. During the day, you tried to escape again to find me, because you heard my husband lost his memory and you were worried about me."
Shen Xinglan frowned, clearly stunned by the ridiculous plot.
"Why do I feel like we're the real love story here? Could it actually be a male author, with some twisted taste writing best-friend love as a lesbian romance…"
Chu Tianqing nodded vigorously: "Men can't imagine the beautiful bond between girls."
Shen Xinglan thought seriously: "Now I understand why the system said I didn't follow the plot."
"What did you do?" Chu Tianqing asked curiously.
Shen Xinglan gave an awkward smile—
"Yesterday I happily had hotpot at home with my parents. I thought, great, I don't have to work a part-time job, I just have to show up for my 8 AM class, and this world's dad even drives me to and from school on time. I thought it was pretty nice?"
"Then this morning I woke up to go to my 8 AM class, opened my eyes, and my money was all gone. There were plot prompts flashing in front of me, telling me to come find you."
"I was also curious about this character with the same name as you, so I had my book-dad drive me over here."
Chu Tianqing stared at her: "You didn't tell your dad you were coming to see me, did you?"
Shen Xinglan shook her head: "Of course not. At the dinner table, they kept saying you'd been a bad influence on me since childhood. If I'd said I was coming to see you, they definitely wouldn't have let me go."
"I'm not leading you astray…"
Even though she knew it was fake, Chu Tianqing still felt a little wronged.
"It's from the book, you're overthinking it."
Shen Xinglan affectionately tapped her forehead, then reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, finally managing to soothe Chu Tianqing.
"They don't know this is your place. I said I was going to a wealthy classmate's house for a group project—once I mentioned it was school-related, they sent me over. Oh, right, hurry up and tell me what happens next in the original plot."
"On it!" Chu Tianqing hauled a laptop out of her room.
Her short-term memory was trained by memorizing scripts, so it was inevitable that she'd miss details of the plot after a while.
While her mind was still fresh, Chu Tianqing wanted to write the plot down.
Shen Xinglan took the laptop: "I type fast. You talk, I'll record."
Chu Tianqing spoke while Shen Xinglan typed.
Soon, the two had a complete plot outline.
Shen Xinglan's slender fingers flew across the keyboard.
She quickly used XMind's "fishbone diagram" to create a mind map, analyzing the key plot points and causal relationships of the original story.
"Wow! A top student is a top student—my Lanbao is absolutely stunning!" Chu Tianqing gazed at her with starry eyes, full of admiration.
Shen Xinglan looked up at her: "Qingqing, so our main mission is to follow the plot and play the role of two villainous aunts-in-law?"
Chu Tianqing nodded: "Right, we need to make sure the key plot points go smoothly."
She laid out everything she knew—
"For example, the reason the system deducted money from me after I transmigrated is because I didn't follow the original plot and ignore the female lead being framed and bullied at school."
"In the original story, the female lead is hated by the whole school, and only the male lead believes her."
"After the female lead is bullied by everyone for two weeks, the male lead investigates and gathers evidence, shames the vicious childhood friend, and clears the female lead's name. The female lead starts to develop feelings for the male lead."
"I accidentally made the male lead appear early, and he testified to clear the female lead's name."
"The plot deviated, but the result—the female lead's affection for the male lead increasing—didn't change. I'm guessing that's why the system didn't keep deducting money afterward."
Shen Xinglan: "The male lead and female lead are the center of this world; everything serves them."
Chu Tianqing: "We villainous female supporting characters matter too. Your next key plot point is to marry the comatose Lin Zhichen."
Shen Xinglan casually asked: "What does my comatose husband look like?"
Even though she was as gorgeous as Chu Tianqing, she was still a sucker for good looks.
Chu Tianqing gave a thumbs up: "I checked him out for you—top-tier. Get ready to enjoy yourself!"
"No matter how good-looking he is, he's useless if he can't function." Shen Xinglan habitually bantered with her.
Chu Tianqing had skipped over some less important play when recounting the plot earlier.
She flashed a sly grin: "Did you forget this is a Restricted-genre novel?"
"?" Shen Xinglan was confused.
Chu Tianqing looked enigmatic: "The author didn't spare the villainous aunt-in-law either when writing those scenes. You're supposed to use your comatose husband as a massage wand…"
The cool, scholarly goddess let out a string of curses: "%￥%&!"
After cursing out the author's ancestors for eighteen generations, Shen Xinglan checked her account balance and could only accept reality.
"We can't afford any more slip-ups with our cheap husbands' plotline, or we'll really be eating the northwest wind."
"There's still a serious problem now."
Chu Tianqing stared at the words "marriage to ward off evil" on the laptop screen, lost in thought.
The original owner married off her best friend, and the original book only gave the two words "ward off evil."
How exactly the marriage happened—the author didn't even write that?!
Today at the hospital, Chu Tianqing had seen the clan uncles surrounding Lin Zhichen, eyeing him greedily, just waiting for him to die so they could divvy up his shares.
"How do we get you married into that family?" Chu Tianqing felt her head itch—she was going to grow a brain.
Shen Xinglan thought for a moment: "The logic doesn't add up, right?"
So the two of them spent another ten-plus minutes cursing out the damn author.
"When is my wedding?" Shen Xinglan asked.
"Three weeks from now."
Chu Tianqing remembered this part of the plot very clearly.
"My husband… ugh, that old geezer gets discharged from the hospital in three weeks, rests at home for one night, then goes to attend his cousin's wedding—which is held at your villa."
Chu Tianqing looked out through the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room.
Two or three kilometers away, the European-style domed building hidden behind the trees was Lin Zhichen's villa.
She hoped Shen Xinglan would marry over as soon as possible.
Living that close, they could see each other every day.
"Then we still have time."
Shen Xinglan's expression darkened slightly as she paused for a few seconds: "Since 'marrying off the best friend' was orchestrated by the original owner herself, she must have left traces in her computer search history, chat logs, social media accounts, and AI history."
Chu Tianqing: "She must have done thorough research to make sure the clan uncles couldn't find any fault."
Shen Xinglan's fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard: "I'll export the records now. Analyzing data is my specialty."
With that, she nodded at Chu Tianqing: "Don't worry, we'll find a solution."
"I'll go search the original owner's room and study for clues." Chu Tianqing didn't let herself sit idle either.
She ran "pitter-patter" up to the study on the second floor, meticulously searching through bookshelves, drawers, and hidden compartments with boundless energy.
With Shen Xinglan by her side, Chu Tianqing felt a sense of security, as if the pillar of the household had returned.
"Qingqing." Shen Xinglan also came to the study, looking for a power cord.
"Hmm?" Chu Tianqing looked up from a pile of documents.
Shen Xinglan reminded her, "If you want to keep building favorability with Lin Sinian, he has to genuinely fall in love with you. Otherwise, the rest of the plot is completely doomed."
Chu Tianqing said with full confidence, "Just watch me. That old geezer, easy pickings. He already felt a spark of attraction toward me today!"
"Are you sure it's a spark, not a heart attack?" Shen Xinglan didn't quite believe her big peony bestie was that good at "playing" men.
Mentioning Lin Sinian suddenly reminded Chu Tianqing of something.
"Lanbao, today at the hospital I noticed all the elders of the Lin clan gathered in Lin Zhichen's ward. Why was no one in Lin Sinian's room?"
She had a vague feeling.
Those old fogeys seemed really afraid of Lin Sinian…
Shen Xinglan's eyes flickered. "We might be able to use that to our advantage."
The two of them worked until past eight in the evening, when their stomachs collectively protested.
"Want Liu Wenxiang?" Chu Tianqing picked up her phone to order takeout.
Shen Xinglan: "Didn't the system drain all your money?"
Chu Tianqing waved her phone. "My niece lent me 1,000 yuan. I still have over 900 left."
Shen Xinglan stood up and flicked her on the forehead. "Let me check what's in the fridge. I'll make something simple. We need to be frugal until we actually earn some money."
"I get to eat your cooking again—hooray!" Chu Tianqing followed behind her like a little puppy.
Although the private chef had been withdrawn by the group, the villa's fridge still had plenty of ingredients.
Shen Xinglan whipped up a quick dish—noodles with tomato and egg sauce.
The two girls huddled in the kitchen, each holding a big bowl, heads together as they slurped their noodles.
Through the rising steam, Chu Tianqing stole glances at Shen Xinglan.
She still felt a sense of unreality.
She never imagined her bestie would actually transmigrate into the book with her.
"What are you looking at? Never seen a beauty before?" Shen Xinglan knew she was sneaking glances without even lifting her eyes.
"Never seen anyone as beautiful as my treasure." Chu Tianqing's lips were coated with honey, sweet words flowing to her bestie. "I just feel so happy having you here."
Shen Xinglan didn't look up. "Hurry up and eat. After you finish, I'll meal-prep for the next couple of days. Freeze it, and just microwave it when you want to eat."
"You're leaving today?" Chu Tianqing froze for a moment.
Shen Xinglan shrugged helplessly. "My dad's picking me up at nine-thirty. Missy, unlike you, I didn't take a month of marriage leave. I still have to be at class at eight tomorrow."
"Right, I forgot…" Chu Tianqing finally snapped back to reality.
Thank goodness the original owner had requested a month of marriage leave from her advisor.
Otherwise, with all these thorny issues, she wouldn't be able to handle everything at once.
Shen Xinglan comforted her. "I'll come keep you company on weekends. The university in the book is the same major as my real one. Class is just going through the motions anyway—I'll use that time to analyze data. We'll stay in touch anytime."
"Great. Once we pull off the wedding, we can start our little life of tormenting our cheap husbands and squeezing money out of them."
Chu Tianqing was already daydreaming about a beautiful future.
Shen Xinglan nodded. "When Lin Sinian is about to regain his memories and Lin Zhichen is about to wake up, we'll grab the money and run."
"Find a city with great food and lots of handsome guys!"
"Or a country?"
"We'll fly first class!"
"Think bigger—buy a private jet, buy a yacht."
The two of them dissolved into laughter and playfulness.
Chu Tianqing escorted Shen Xinglan to the villa's front gate ahead of time.
She hid in the guard booth, waiting until her bestie was safely picked up by her father, then drove the golf cart back to the villa.
Standing in the center of the villa's double-height living room, Chu Tianqing raised her arms and shouted.
"My bestie came!"
"Someone's here to keep me company!"
"Woo-hoo! I'm not alone anymore!"
Hearing the echo in the hall, Chu Tianqing still felt it wasn't enough to vent her inner joy.
So she kept shouting while sprinting back and forth through the massive villa like a puppy with boundless energy to burn.
Renji Hospital, inpatient ward.
Lin Sinian was bored out of his mind from the hospital stay.
The doctors wouldn't let him use his brain or work.
Even his phone time was restricted.
Losing his memory was an absurd thing. So far, not a single relative had come to visit him.
Maybe it didn't matter anyway—even if they came, he wouldn't recognize them.
From Assistant Sun, he learned that his father had been living overseas for years.
His father and his young girlfriend had recorded a Vlog together, wishing him a speedy recovery.
Lin Sinian watched it expressionlessly.
His niece wanted to visit, but she was in the critical period of her senior year of high school, and Assistant Sun worried it might affect his emotions, so he hadn't let the child come for now.
The clan elders had only glanced at him from outside the ward before hurrying away.
The only people by his side were Assistant Sun and his new wife, Chu Tianqing.
Lin Sinian remembered his young wife saying that after she went home, she couldn't eat or sleep, crying herself to worry.
Suddenly curious, he wanted to see how she was crying.
He tapped open the surveillance feed of the villa's common areas—
Chu Tianqing was shouting something unintelligible, frantically… sprinting back and forth across the two-hundred-square-meter living room?
Lin Sinian: "…"