“Gu Youyou, you don’t look very happy to see us. You’ve only lived a few days in the life of the rich and think you’re a big shot?”
“An old friend of over ten years is in trouble now, and you’d just turn your back so quickly?”
Jiang Yumo stood behind a two-meter-tall plant, his clear eyes peering through the gaps in the green leaves.
In the alley ahead, four delinquent-looking youths, dressed in flashy, mismatched clothes with multicolored hair in Shamate style, surrounded a cowering girl in a pink off-shoulder dress that reached her knees.
Jiang Yumo recognized the girl, she was Gu Yu’s younger sister, Gu Youyou.
She had been abducted to the mountains as a child and had only recently been found by the Gu family.
Gu Youyou was just sixteen. When the Gu family found her, her foster parents were about to sell her for two thousand yuan to a widowed man in the village who had recently killed his wife.
The Gu family arrived just in time to rescue her from this misery. Since then, they had been gathering evidence, but too much time had passed, and many things could no longer be traced.
Their attention had focused on Gu Youyou’s foster parents, overlooking the children in the village who had grown up alongside her.
Those childhood companions suddenly found themselves facing a wealthy socialite, while Gu Youyou had a life of privilege, they remained in the small mountain village, living the same impoverished, hopeless days.
Jealousy quietly grew, then flared up like pouring gasoline on a fire.
Jiang Yumo remembered that unlucky Gu Youyou had been targeted by her so-called “friends.” That night, no one knew exactly what happened, and the Gu family had gone to great lengths to cover it up.
But Jiang Yumo, knowing the story, understood everything clearly.
These people, hoping for future wealth and status, first threatened her verbally. Gu Youyou gave them money a few times.
But that money was never enough to satisfy them. They decided to force her, to turn things into a done deal. By then, no matter how unwilling, the Gu family would have no choice but to accept them.
People raised in isolated villages valued chastity above life itself. In those poor mountains, if a widow was caught having an affair, she could be thrown into a pig cage as punishment.
Although those culprits were later sent to prison after the Gu family collected evidence, the damage caused by that night did not fade over time. Memories of the event returned uncontrollably, day after day. Physical wounds healed, but the scars in her heart were reopened daily, festering but never healing.
Gu Youyou developed depression. Not long after, she left a suicide note and cut her wrists.
Jiang Yumo rubbed his chin.
System, anxiously urging: 【Host, go save her!】
This was the protagonist’s sister!
【If you save her, then shaking hands with the protagonist later is only natural, right?】
Even the system, normally unfeeling, couldn’t help but feel sympathy. Yet the host acted like he was watching a play, this person really was just as the main system said: completely without emotion!
“You know what I’ve done, right?” Jiang Yumo said with a playful smile. “And yet you think I’d actually save someone?”
The system’s surge of righteous zeal hit a thousand-year-old ice peak and didn’t melt even a shred. It was all for nothing.
“What do you want?” Gu Youyou’s trembling voice sounded like a dying lamb. “I’ve already given you money.”
The blond-haired ringleader took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled slowly. “A few thousand yuan and you think you can send us off? Never realized you were this naive before!”
The blond closed in, cornering Gu Youyou against the wall with no escape. His rough, smoke-stained fingers traced lightly over her exposed shoulder like piano keys.
“Actually, going back to the Gu family isn’t easy either. They don’t say it out loud, but they really despise you! You should have been a Gu heiress, enjoying wealth and prestige, but you grew up in our village, this is fate!”
He leaned close to the side of her neck, which was even more exposed as she tried to shrink away, deeply inhaling her sweet scent. “Even heaven thinks you belong in our village. The rich young men in A City wouldn’t want a village girl who hasn’t even read a book, only I want you.”
His eyes were lewd, and his actions carried unmistakable sexual intent.
Gu Youyou’s body shook uncontrollably. Tears blurred her vision as she pleaded, “No… don’t…”
She felt sick. The shadow of the mountain village coiled around her neck like a massive forest python, suffocating her. Years of oppression by her foster parents had already stripped her of the courage to resist. She felt she was screaming with all her might, but her voice was barely a whisper.
The others at the alley entrance formed an unspoken human wall, blocking the view from outside.
“Gu Youyou! Only I will be your man!” The blond’s fingers dragged forcefully over her lipstick-stained lips. “You better remember that.”
He grabbed her neck, pressing down.
Gu Youyou’s lips trembled. She closed her eyes in despair, tears falling like a string of pearls.
Her heart cried out in hopelessness, who could save her!
No matter how urgently the system urged, Jiang Yumo remained unmoved. He walked with light steps, humming a tune, planning to leave.
Just imagining Gu Yu’s expression when he saw his sister like this, the pain, the helplessness…
Ha ha ha ha! Even just imagining it made him laugh so hard he could barely breathe.
Three [1]殺馬特 (Shāmǎtè) — transliterated from “smart,” this refers to a Chinese subculture known for flamboyant, eccentric hairstyles, heavy makeup, and flashy clothing, often associated … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1984448_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1984448_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Shamate-looking thugs stood at the alley entrance, lazily blowing out smoke. They noticed Jiang Yumo and immediately started shouting insults.
“Sissy! What’re you staring at? Scram!”
“Look at your soft, tender skin. I hear a lot of city boys sell their butts. Hey kid, how much for one night, hahaha?”
They laughed loudly, thrusting their bodies lewdly. Jiang Yumo stopped walking. A faint smile curved his lips as he slowly turned around.
“Get lost!”
“Hahaha, a sissy thinks he’s gonna play hero and save the girl!”
“But seriously, look at that smooth skin, makes me really wanna hit that. That ass is so round, must be amazing, hahaha!”
The system watched in horror as Jiang Yumo turned, reached into a green planter by the hotel entrance, and grabbed a stone.
【Oh my god shit shit! Host, impulse is the devil!】
Jiang Yumo held the stone behind his back. When he smiled, he looked harmless. “What did you say? Right now… I’m going to save someone~”
He turned, lips curling, eyes clear and bottomless, eyebrows arched like two crescent moons.
He strolled a few steps toward the Shamate gang. When he was about two meters away, without warning, he suddenly surged forward.
The purple-haired thug on the left was still making insulting hand gestures. The next second—
Bang!
Warm blood splattered into his eyes.
The green-haired thug in the middle rolled his eyes and collapsed. The boy they had mocked as a “sissy” lifted a grapefruit-sized stone high, and without hesitation, slammed it again and again onto the thug’s head.
And he was still smiling while smashing their heads!
The smile was welded to his face like a mask.
Blood splattered onto his pale, handsome face, making his features seem even more striking. Coupled with that mask-like, permanent grin, he looked ghostly.
The gray-haired thug on the left had once seen eyes like that on a widower in the village. That old man had killed his wife and dismembered her. What had this son of a… done? Why did he seem even more terrifying than that old man?
In just a few strikes, Jiang Yumo had beaten the green-haired thug into a bloody, unconscious mess. He quickly stood, grabbed the stunned purple-haired thug’s upright fingers, and snapped them hard. One stone blocked the purple-haired thug’s scream before it could attract the hotel security.
The purple-haired thug clutched his mouth as blood mixed with his black-and-yellow rotten teeth spilled out. “M-my teeth…”
Before he could finish, he followed his brother’s fate and was knocked out cold by a stone.
In just a few dozen seconds, two of the brothers were down, lying on the ground with their heads bleeding, their survival uncertain.
The gray-haired thug stumbled backward, then turned and walked toward the blond-haired ringleader. “Big bro…”
Jiang Yumo raised his hand, and the stone struck the back of the gray-haired thug’s head with a thud. He fell face down, unmoving.
Jiang Yumo formed a “V” with his fingers under his chin. “Nice!”
Only the blond-haired thug remained standing. He gripped Gu Youyou’s shoulder, pressing a switchblade against her neck. “Who are you? What’s your relationship with Gu Youyou?”
“Hm?” Jiang Yumo tilted his head. “I don’t know her.”
The blond thug glanced at his fallen, possibly dead brothers and lost it. “You don’t know her? Then why the hell did you attack us? Are you crazy?!”
“They insulted me,” Jiang Yumo shrugged. “Blame their mouths if you must.”
The blond laughed in anger, but this guy smashed people’s heads with stones at the slightest provocation, he had to be crazy.
Not wanting to waste time with a madman, the blond said, “Fine, you’ve beaten them, now… leave.”
Jiang Yumo tilted his head. “Are you kidding me? They’re your brothers. Their mouths are foul, and you’re their big brother, don’t you have any responsibility?”
He stepped forward. The blond had a wall at his back, no way to retreat, and pressed the knife harder against Gu Youyou’s neck to threaten him. “Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll kill her!”
“Idiot,” Jiang Yumo said. “I told you I don’t even know her. Do whatever you want.”
The blond was about to lose his mind. Seeing Jiang Yumo advance step by step, he finally charged with the knife. “I’ll take you down!!!”
Jiang Yumo sidestepped the blade aimed at his waist, ducked slightly, and landed a punch to the blond’s throat.
“Ugh.”
The knife clattered to the ground. The blond fell to his knees, clutching his throat, struggling to breathe, his eyes rolling back.
The system, witnessing everything, couldn’t help but sigh: 【Host, you hit too hard.】
He could have saved her in a gentler way, yet his strikes were so brutal.
Jiang Yumo, however, had smiled through the entire ordeal and offered no comment on the system’s remark.
He had never been accepted by others. As the Jiang family’s illegitimate son, Jiang Chongyuan and Jiang Ran went out of their way, both at home and at school, to bring people to bother him.
Jiang Yumo, malnourished for years and physically weaker, had no choice but to rely on cunning.
He did it just to survive.
But this was Jiang Yumo after his awakening. In the original story, he was a pushover, constantly bullied and humiliated, a complete weakling.
Jiang Yumo said, “You know, the human body is really fascinating. Once you know the vital points, even a child with no strength can kill.”
【…】
System: 【Host, you truly are the villain who killed through the entire book in your past life!】
Jiang Yumo grinned. “Thanks for the compliment!”
The system realized he genuinely thought this was praise and for a moment felt that human sensation of “something stuck in the throat.”
System: 【Host! Aren’t you afraid the monitoring system will punish you again?】 More importantly, it didn’t want to get shocked!
If the monitoring failed and the host didn’t complete the mission properly, it would also suffer the punishment by association.
This was something it couldn’t let the host know, or it would be completely under his control.
Jiang Yumo was surprised. “Why would you think that? I’m saving someone!”
He laughed with pure joy, like a child who had just gotten their first toy.
“You…” Gu Youyou was completely awed. He was as skinny and weak as she was, just a bit taller, but he had effortlessly dealt with the thugs she had thought she could never resist.
Jiang Yumo didn’t spare Gu Youyou a glance and turned to leave. A thin, dark hand grabbed the hem of his clothes. Gu Youyou ducked her head slightly. “W-we… add WeChat?”
“Let go.”
Gu Youyou bit her lip, stubborn in her gaze. “Add WeChat.”
Jiang Yumo stared at her for a few seconds, then pointed at the bloodied thugs on the ground. “You want to end up like them?”
“You saved me,” Gu Youyou said. “You’re my benefactor!”
Jiang Yumo hadn’t wanted to get involved with anyone connected to Gu Yu, but the moment he heard “benefactor,” he instantly changed his mind. “Fine.”
He pulled out his old, heavy brick-like phone. “Give me your phone.”
Gu Youyou’s eyes sparkled as she added him on WeChat. Afterward, she clasped her phone with both hands, holding it to her chest like a treasure.
Jiang Yumo walked out of the alley without even looking back.
Her gaze stayed glued to his back. The dark, gloomy eyes from moments ago now seemed to shimmer with stars, and she followed her lifesaver step by step.
Jiang Yumo ignored the follower behind him and bent down to wipe the mud off his hands. Suddenly, the system screamed: 【Ah! The male lead! It’s the living male lead!!】
“Hm?”
The loud exclamation made Jiang Yumo momentarily dazed. He lifted his eyelids.
A tall man stood a few meters away at the alley’s entrance. His back was to the streetlight, eyes hidden in shadow, radiating danger and inscrutability.
Jiang Yumo didn’t expect that so soon after his rebirth, he would encounter Gu Yu.
The words Yuan Qiao had spoken in his last life echoed in his ears.
Old grudges and new hatred entwined his heart like sharp, unyielding thorns.
The system, seeing the host’s heart rate spike, shouted: 【Host! Calm down! Don’t act impulsively! That’s the male lead!】
Yeah, he was the male lead.
But why was he the male lead while Jiang Yumo was just a cannon fodder doomed to die and be vilified afterward?
Jiang Yumo joked to himself, “If I kill him… maybe I can get a male lead for myself too?”
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