As soon as Li Jiyue stepped out of that ward, she glimpsed through the half-closed door next door and saw Lin Tianbao crawling toward the restroom on the floor like a dog.
She had injected him with a powerful laxative—enough to keep him running to the toilet for a day or two. With his poor physical condition, it would be hard for him to endure it.
Grandson, enjoy it.
Before Lin Tianbao even reached the restroom door, he soiled himself.
“Pff pff pff…”
“Hiss—ah!”
Straining too hard, his anus split open again.
Clutching the doorframe, he screamed for help at the top of his lungs. “Someone—help! I’m dying!”
Several young nurses rushed over when they heard the commotion. The moment they saw the scene, they panicked.
“What’s going on? Quick—go get Dr. Fu!”
Blood covered the floor beneath him, mixed with yellow filth, spreading everywhere. Writhing in pain like a maggot on the ground, he smeared it all around. A foul stench filled the air, nauseating beyond belief.
“Ah! Ah! Pff pff—”
His shrill screams echoed again and again. His face was twisted, his eyes bloodshot and bulging, veins standing out on his forehead. Gritting his teeth, he roared,
“Ah! Damn it! That damned old hag! I’ll kill you! I’ll tear you limb from limb, skin you alive! Damn old hag, you deserve to die! Ah—!”
The sound seemed to come from the depths of his soul, sending chills down anyone’s spine. The nurses didn’t dare step forward.
Seeing them frozen in place, Lin Tianbao crawled toward them, cursing as he went.
“You bitches, what are you standing there for? Go get my sister—and my brother-in-law, Fu Chunsheng…”
Only then did the stunned nurses snap out of it and shout, “Doctor! Doctor! Dr. Fu!”
Liao Haiping managed to make it to the restroom. He had just pulled down his pants when, before he could even sit on the toilet, it came pouring out like a waterfall, splattering all over the floor. His hemorrhoid wound split open yet again.
“Hiss—”
The sensation of flesh tearing made life unbearable.
“Ahhh!!!”
“Lin Tianbao, damn you! I’ll never share the same sky with you! Aaooo!”
Clutching his scalded throat, he howled in agony. His throat burned fiercely, as if he’d swallowed blades. Trapped in the cramped bathroom, he flailed about like a headless fly.
His voice came out slurred and indistinct. “Doc… doctor… nurse… someone… save me…”
His legs trembled, unable to hold him steady. He slipped on the pooled water in the bathroom and slid to his knees, his head plunging straight into the toilet full of blood and excrement.
“Dong—!”
Filth splashed three feet into the air, drenching him from head to toe.
…
Li Jiyue quickly left the hospital, turned into an empty alley, and slipped into her space. She removed her disguise and changed back into the clothes the original owner usually wore—loose, dull-colored garments with a patch on the shoulder.
The Li family had been reported, and even though the original owner had money, she didn’t dare dress up, afraid of attracting trouble.
She braided her smooth, glossy long hair into two simple plaits, tugged them loose to make them slightly messy, creating a casual, unkempt beauty.
Despite the plain clothes and simple styling, her curvy figure and bright, alluring looks were impossible to hide.
After walking several miles, she passed a state-owned restaurant. Smelling the aroma of food wafting out, she thought about how protagonists in period novels always loved eating at state-run restaurants. Since she was already here, she might as well try it.
At the ordering window, she saw a small blackboard listing today’s offerings:
garlic-fried pork liver, stir-fried greens, braised pork, braised ribbonfish, egg drop soup, mutton soup, fried tofu with vermicelli soup, plain noodles, and rice.
She casually ordered a few signature dishes.
“One plate of braised pork, one braised ribbonfish, stir-fried greens, and a bowl of mutton soup.”
Braised pork cost fifty cents plus two taels of meat coupons, braised ribbonfish fifty cents, stir-fried greens ten cents, mutton soup fifteen cents, rice one cent—1.05 yuan total plus four taels of meat coupons.
Three dishes and one soup—just right.
The server asked, “Just you?”
Li Jiyue nodded. “Yes, just me.”
Food was precious in these times; portions weren’t large. If she couldn’t finish, she’d put the leftovers into the fridge in her space and reheat them at night. She was too lazy to cook, and the Lin family’s food wasn’t tasty anyway.
The people around overheard their exchange. One person spending over a yuan for a meal—looking at the young girl dressed plainly, someone you’d lose in a crowd.
Yet she was tall, with delicate features, beautiful as a flower. Could she be the daughter of some cadre?
People in Guangdong valued food more than clothing; as long as you looked decent, that was enough. Most people present were locals and didn’t judge by attire, but they were curious about her background. How could someone eat so well alone?
After paying, she found an empty table and sat down.
More than ten minutes later, the dishes were ready. She went to the counter to get them. The enticing aroma made her stomach growl; saliva pooled unconsciously. She sat down and immediately started eating.
In her previous life, she had been a top-tier heiress, her movements elegant and refined—completely out of place among the other diners in the state-owned restaurant. Halfway through her meal, she noticed someone covertly watching her.
Her bearing suggested a good background, yet she dressed in shabby clothes, as if deliberately keeping a low profile. Could she be a capitalist’s child?
Someone began harboring ill intentions—if she were, they could report her and curry favor with officials.
Li Jiyue quickly sensed the danger. She picked up a chunk of braised pork and stuffed it into her mouth, then shoved in a stalk of greens. She ate messily, oil smeared all over her mouth, wiping it casually with her sleeve before burying her head and continuing to eat.
Everyone: “……”
Crude. Far too crude.
She looked like a poor wretch who hadn’t seen meat in over a decade—nothing like a capitalist’s daughter. They must have misjudged her.
Li Jiyue continued eating as crudely as possible. After a while, fewer people were watching her.
Finally, she could eat in peace.
The highly sensitive system warned her, “Host, someone across from you is watching you. They mean trouble.”
She pretended to lower her head and keep eating, her eyes turning as she secretly glanced out of the corner of her eye, catching sight of the man’s sharp phoenix eyes fixed on her. She thought to herself whether she should stand up later, slam the table, and throw a few crude insults his way.
Still staring—what are you staring at? Never seen a pretty girl before? Go home and watch your mom lay eggs. Let’s see who’d still dare say she was some capitalist miss.
She quickly raised her head, ready to catch him in the act. But the other party sensed it ahead of time, his gaze shifting slightly to look elsewhere.
Hmph! He dodged pretty fast. She still needed to curse him, though.
However, when she noticed what he was wearing, the words that had reached her lips stopped short.
A buzz cut—military uniform? Turns out he was a soldier.
Looking more closely, she realized he was sitting in a wheelchair, with a large scar on the left side of his face. A disabled, disfigured soldier. With her many years of medical experience, she could tell at a glance that the injury was caused by an explosion.
The man’s pair of narrow phoenix eyes carried an innate air of nobility. Sword-like brows, star-bright eyes, heroic spirit between his brows. A high, straight nose and a sharp, well-defined jawline. His features were exquisite and three-dimensional, like a work of art carefully carved by a sculptor. His temperament was cold and austere—perhaps someone in a high position—radiating a powerful, commanding presence that inspired awe and discouraged any offense.
Even seated, he appeared to be at least 185 cm tall, broad-shouldered and imposing. She didn’t dare imagine how handsome he must have been before his injury—sharp, angular face, clad in camouflage, broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, holding a submachine gun. He would have easily captivated countless girls. So handsome—siiigh!
Though she’d seen plenty of handsome men in her previous life, ones that were top-tier in every aspect were rare.
Li Jiyue felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this man. She searched through the original owner’s memories—nope, she’d never met him. If they didn’t know each other, why was he staring at her? Could it be that he’d taken a liking to her?
Oh dear, this damn charm—naturally beautiful and impossible to ignore. Even after transmigrating to the 1970s, her allure hadn’t diminished at all, still mesmerizing crowds. This was the confidence a true female lead should have, haha!
The system detected danger and warned, “Host, the person coming at you is not friendly. You must be careful.”
Li Jiyue replied, “You mean the person opposite me?”
The system answered firmly, “Yes. His gaze is off—very dangerous. Please be cautious and stay alert.”
She communicated with it inwardly, “Oh, relax~ I’m a good, law-abiding citizen of Huaxia. He’s a soldier—he wouldn’t do anything to me. Slandering a soldier? Careful, I might sue you.”
He was a defender of the nation, catching bad people. She wasn’t a bad person.
When she met the man’s sweeping, piercing gaze, Li Jiyue wasn’t afraid at all. She tilted her head slightly, her brows curving into a bright smile. Two shallow dimples appeared faintly, like rosebuds about to bloom.
Fu Chengyu’s sword-like brows furrowed slightly. She wasn’t a spy? Then how was her earlier strange behavior to be explained?
System: “……”
Oh, my beautiful host—why do you always treat my warnings like the wind in your ears? It really hurts my feelings.
All that echoed in its mind was the melody of a song: Can’t take the hurt, really can’t take the hurt…
It suspected its host was still angry—angry that it had drawn the childbearing system. Maybe she was deliberately doing the opposite of whatever it said.
It quickly tried to ingratiate itself. “Host, do you need me to help you scan him—his age, family background, character, and so on?”
Li Jiyue raised an eyebrow, teasing inwardly, “Doggo, you’ve grown capable, huh? Upgraded? Not bad.”
The system replied proudly, “Yes, Host. This is a built-in function of the childbearing system.”
As the most, most, most loyal system in the world, it had to be responsible for its host—filtering out scumbags and infertile men, striving to complete the mission as soon as possible.
At that moment, at the table next to hers, an eight- or nine-year-old boy saw the soldier’s face and, meeting his cold, intimidating gaze, screamed in fright, “Ah!” Then he shrank into his mother’s arms. “Mom, that person… he’s so scary, woo—”
Li Jiyue was just about to say a few words to comfort the child.
“Bang!”
The boy’s mother stood up and slammed the table, pointing at the soldier and shouting angrily, “Hey, you scared my kid! Hurry up and apologize to my son! Seriously, you’re that ugly and you still come to a state-run restaurant? With a face like that, you ruin everyone’s appetite! How are people supposed to eat? Hurry up, apologize to my son, then get out!”