The next day, Jiang Yumo stood in front of the mirror, baring his teeth as he brushed, his expression fierce.
He wore a murderous look as he growled, “System! You can’t even remind me of a task, calling you useless is flattering you!”
The system glanced at the backend, sensing something, and tried to struggle carefully.
【Sizzling!】
In the mirror, Jiang Yumo held onto the sink to keep from falling. His body still trembled from the shock, but his smile was utterly unrestrained, playful with a hint of mischief.
The system panicked: 【Ho, sizzle, host! I, I will definitely remind you next time!】
After saying this, the system cautiously glanced at the monitoring device attached to him. The red line fluctuated slightly but remained generally stable, not jumping out to scold as it had feared.
Previously, the monitoring system had been highly sensitive to the host’s words. At the point it should have triggered a warning, the moment the host said “self-preservation,” the danger value returned to normal.
The system suspected the monitoring system was playing smart, but it had no proof yet.
The system huffed: I’ll catch you slipping sooner or later.
At breakfast, Jiang Yumo chewed his fried dough sticks with a murderous intensity, as if he were biting into his father’s killer instead of food, scaring off a passerby girl who tried to add him on WeChat.
After finishing breakfast, standing in the sunlight by the street, Jiang Yumo felt alive again.
Whoosh!
A soccer ball flew from beside him into the middle of the road.
Behind him came hurried, chaotic footsteps and a mother’s startled, frightened shout. Jiang Yumo yawned, didn’t even turn his head, and casually grabbed the kid rushing onto the road to fetch the ball, tossing him back into the arms of his panicked mother.
Jiang Yumo walked on without looking back, and the child’s cries and wails from being scolded lifted his mood just a little.
【Host, where are we going today?】
Jiang Yumo waited at the bus stop, holding his phone, head down, texting someone.
The system sneaked a peek.
Gu Youyou: Benefactor!
Jiang Yumo: I’m busy, make it quick!
Gu Youyou transfers 50,000 to you, note: voluntary gift
Gu Youyou: Mom told me to find friends to hang out with, do you have time today?
Her mother originally meant for her to meet Wang Yuewei, Yuan Qiao, and the others to go shopping or see a movie, but Gu Youyou only heard “go out and play,” so of course she came to find her benefactor.
Outside is dangerous, only her benefactor can protect her.
Jiang Yumo: Okay, go to XXX Amusement Park.
Jiang Yumo: Send location
Jiang Yumo: Come pick me up.
Gu Youyou: Okay, okay, I’m on my way!
System puzzled: 【Host, didn’t you dislike the male lead? Why are you going with his sister?】
Jiang Yumo slowly put his phone away, reached into his pocket to grab a cigarette, but came up empty. Then he remembered the half pack he had thrown to Gu Yu last night.
“Tch,” Jiang Yumo kicked the floor in irritation, thinking of Gu Yu. Then he laughed suddenly, “Of course it’s to annoy Gu Yu! You little trash, don’t even think about it if you don’t get it, just stay your worthless self.”
“Ah! What are you doing?” A girl in a short skirt waiting a few steps away for the bus pointed angrily at a middle-aged man in a plain T-shirt and loose shorts. “Are you taking pictures?”
The man looked falsely accused, angry: “Do you have any proof? Careful, I’ll sue you for defamation!”
The girl had no proof, frustrated and upset, she turned to look around. Everyone else had averted their gaze, not wanting trouble.
Since that one good-hearted person got extorted for damages by someone faking an accident, most people in society now choose to look out for themselves.
Doing good is like gambling, if luck’s on your side, you get thanks; if unlucky, you get bitten back.
And if you do nothing, nothing happens at all.
The girl clearly realized this. Her face paled considerably. If it were her, she wouldn’t meddle either.
The middle-aged man wasn’t surprised at all. He puffed out his chest, looking proud: “Hmph! You should be grateful for my generosity, I won’t argue with you today. I can’t believe someone who dresses like a proper person would have persecution complex. With your looks, nobody even notices you on the street. Do you think you’re a movie star? People nowadays think they can imagine anything, without even looking at themselves…”
The girl, being scolded like this, teared up, nearly crying.
Unexpectedly, the middle-aged man, instead of stopping, grew bolder. He became brazen, saying increasingly insulting things, and taking advantage of the moment when everyone looked away in disgust, he shamelessly pulled out his phone and, using his bulky body as cover, tried to take photos up the girl’s skirt.
“Ah!” the man screamed like a slaughtered pig. “Are you crazy?!”
Jiang Yumo grabbed his thumb and twisted it back. “I saw it. You were taking secret photos under her skirt.”
The man’s face paled, but he quickly tried to turn it around. “Fine, you two are working together, huh? Setting up a trap? I’ll have you know, even if the police show up, I’m not afraid. Let’s see who’s going in first.”
Jiang Yumo was speechless. He waved his phone. “I already recorded everything.”
The man collapsed to the ground in less than two seconds, suddenly on his knees, a grown man begging for mercy and regretting it all at once. He slapped himself, then cried and begged to settle the matter privately.
“Why say that now? What were you doing before?” Jiang Yumo let go of his thumb, disdainfully wiped his hand on his pants. “You came to the wrong person. This matter, you should ask her.”
“I’ll send you the photos. You can decide whether to settle it privately or call the police.”
The girl still had tears in her eyes, but her expression had lost all the earlier distress. She blankly added the boy on WeChat and watched him get into a gleaming Mercedes-Benz and drive away.
Seeing the boy leave, the middle-aged man quickly stood up, ready to intimidate the girl into compliance. But she gripped her phone like a weapon, gathering courage. “Wait! I’m calling the police!”
The girl was actually an online influencer. She had arranged to hang out with her best friend and never expected to encounter something like this.
When her ride arrived, she couldn’t hold back and immediately called her friend. “OMG! I have to tell you, I ran into that crazy good-deeds guy from the livestream a few nights ago! He’s even hotter up close, ahhh!”
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
【Daily Mission: Do a Good Deed 2/10, Current Energy: 11】
Jiang Yumo got into the back seat of the Mercedes. He didn’t expect anyone else besides Gu Youyou to be in the car. He hesitated a moment, then sat down.
Gu Youyou sat in the passenger seat, excitedly leaning over the backrest. “En… Brother Jiang!”
“Mm.” Jiang Yumo fastened his seatbelt. “I thought it was just the two of us.”
The man sitting across in the back seat shook his finger. “I’m bored anyway, so I’ll join you for a little fun.”
Actually, after the birthday banquet, Gu Xuan asked Xu Feiyao, and Xu Feiyao, never one to hold back, told him everything he imagined.
Gu Xuan, who didn’t know much about his newly found younger sister Gu You, certainly couldn’t not know Gu Yu either.
His younger brother seemed like a proper, upright gentleman, but in reality, he was a workaholic with no time or interest for romance.
Asking him to date someone was like asking him to sign a few billion-dollar projects instead, far more likely to happen.
In short, Gu Xuan didn’t believe Gu Yu could actually like anyone, let alone a newly adult boy.
The only reason he was tagging along today was that the tiny bit of sibling affection in his heart had suddenly surfaced; he came simply out of worry that his sister might be deceived by a man.
“By the way, where are you planning to go?” Gu Xuan asked.
As soon as Jiang Yumo got into the car, he closed his eyes to rest. Gu Youyou placed a finger to her lips, whispering in a voice smaller than a mosquito’s, “Shh! Big brother, don’t talk!”
Gu Xuan: …
This sister, when faced with the opposite sex, completely forgets about her brother!
Half an hour later, facing the amusement park in front of them, Gu Xuan regretted not asking for the address more carefully earlier.
A nearly thirty-year-old man, here at an amusement park with two teenagers? If his group of friends found out, he’d be teased for days.
But he was already here…
In his past life, Jiang Yumo had meticulously plotted against Gu Yu and his group, spending day and night calculating every move. Even knowing the plot in advance, he sacrificed all his time and mental energy for success.
Now, however, Jiang Yumo didn’t want to repeat the same old path, and with this flawed system at his disposal, he finally had time to do what he truly wanted.
In distant memory, when Jiang Yumo’s mother was still alive, after one of her manic episodes, little Jiang Yumo had asked through the square black-and-white TV when he could go to the amusement park.
He could still remember his mother’s expression at the time, empty for a long moment before she continued tending to the bruises on his body. After a while, she said, “When your father comes home, when Mommy gets better, I’ll take you, okay?”
Little Jiang Yumo’s body ached from the treatment, but his eyes were full of hope as he nodded vigorously. “Mm-hmm!”
Only later, his mother never recovered. His father did come, but it was to collect her body.
The curve monitoring the host’s emotions backstage spiked as steeply as [1]泰山 (Tàishān) — Mount Tai, one of China’s Five Great Mountains, known for its imposing and steep grandeur. Using it as a metaphor emphasizes a sudden, dramatic, and extreme change in the … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1988497_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1988497_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Mount Tai.
The system cautiously asked: 【…Host, are you okay?】
Jiang Yumo licked the whipped cream ice cream Gu Youyou had sent over, his smile bright and radiant. “Me? I’m doing absolutely great.”
Gu Xuan felt playing these games was too embarrassing, so he bought a big hat and put on sunglasses. He sent Jiang Yumo and Gu Youyou off to have fun, then found a nearby café to sit and play on his phone.
Before this, Jiang Yumo had only known about amusement park rides from television, and Gu Youyou had only heard of roller coasters and pirate ships from her spoiled male classmates. Today was the first time either of them had seen these rides in person.
The two of them hit it off immediately, going on the roller coaster, pirate ship, and giant swing one after another. The lines were long, but a few bodyguards helped them get through quickly, and by the end of the morning, they had enjoyed every ride.
Finally, they went on the water rapids. By the end, Jiang Yumo was in an especially good mood, though their clothes were soaked.
They bought tropical-themed outfits nearby and changed. Jiang Yumo was quick, waiting outside for Gu Youyou.
He pretended to be casual, chatting with Gu Youyou through the door. After a few lines, the topic shifted to Gu Yu.
“I feel like your brother doesn’t like me,” Jiang Yumo said, his tone full of frustrated worry, though his expression seemed indifferent. “Do you know what he likes?”
Gu Youyou didn’t think too deeply. One was her brother, the other her benefactor; she didn’t want there to be any tension, so she told him everything. “Mom said that Second Brother, besides work, only occasionally goes to bars with Brother Xu for a few drinks. But I remember Mom saying that when he was little, he wasn’t as serious as he is now. She tricked him into trying durian, saying it smells bad but tastes good, he tried it and immediately vomited! Hahaha…”
Jiang Yumo’s eyes flickered. He rubbed his chin, his gaze mischievous. Soon, he seemed to think of a clever idea, covering his mouth with a secretive smile.
When Gu Youyou finished changing and came out, Jiang Yumo leaned in as if casually. “There’s something in your hair…”
Jiang Yumo kept just slightly closer than a normal friend would, teasing Gu Youyou with a few words until she laughed. The atmosphere between them was noticeably more intimate than that morning.
“Pft!” Gu Xuan spat out his soda, forgetting everything else, and grabbed his phone to take a photo.
Only when the two drew closer did he pretend to be playing on his phone before putting it down and calling his younger brother and sister to come eat lunch.
In the tallest commercial building in the city center CBD,
Gu Yu had just finished signing the morning documents. He leaned back on the soft sofa, massaging his brow, about to rest for a moment when his phone rang.
Gu Yu had set a unique ringtone specifically for Jiang Yumo. The ringtone was normal, so he closed his eyes and rested for a bit.
After the assistant brought in lunch, Gu Yu picked up his chopsticks and ate a few bites, unlocking his phone to check for any urgent messages.
Jiang Yumo hadn’t sent any messages, but Gu Xuan had sent over a dozen in a row.
Before work, the two brothers still had some things to talk about, but ever since Gu Yu had taken over the Gu Corporation, the two of them found less and less to say.
Even if there was something urgent, it could usually be handled in three messages.
Sending over a dozen messages in a row had never happened before.
Gu Yu thought Gu Xuan must have something urgent, so he clicked in to see.
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Xuan: The two of them are having so much fun hahahaha
Gu Xuan: I’ve never seen Youyou smile so happily before
Gu Xuan: This kid Jiang Yumo really knows what he’s doing hahaha
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Xuan: photo.jpg
Gu Yu clicked on each photo to enlarge it. The happiness and joy on Gu Youyou’s face was dazzling, and Jiang Yumo’s radiant smile was blinding.
So far, everything was different from the previous life.
At least in the past life, when Youyou was brought back and that incident happened, she mostly stayed at home afterward. In his memory, she had hardly any interaction with Jiang Yumo.
So why now…?
Gu Yu didn’t hesitate to interpret Jiang Yumo’s intentions with the harshest assumptions—
What was he scheming this time? What was he trying to get from Youyou?
From his experience in the previous life, Gu Yu knew that the brighter and more radiant Jiang Yumo’s smile was, the more someone was about to end up in trouble.
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