Mother Ji’s face was grim, her chest heaving violently as she cursed under her breath.
“Shameless little tramp, which man have you been fooling around with? If you want to die, don’t drag the Ji family down with you. We’ve raised you all these years—that’s already more than enough kindness. If you know what’s good for you, go to the neighborhood committee tomorrow and sign up to be sent down to the countryside!”
That wretched creature! Her own daughter had just reached the age for marriage proposals. If this little slut tarnished her reputation, she’d skin the girl alive.
Su Nuannuan stood in the courtyard, her dark, unfathomable almond-shaped eyes fixed on the woman in the living room.
Images from the original host’s memories surfaced in her mind, stirring ripples in her calm gaze.
This was Mother Ji, the woman who had abused the original host for eight years.
The original host had been adopted by the Ji family at the age of ten. Except for the few days when Father Ji and the eldest brother, Ji Xiao, were home, she could only eat one meal a day.
When Mother Ji was in a good mood, she’d toss a few leftover hard buns to her.
When she was in a bad mood, she’d take it out on her by beating her.
During her eight years in the Ji family, she learned to endure.
She fought to do the laundry and cook, desperately trying to please Mother Ji, all just to survive.
The original host had even fought a wolfhound taller than herself over a chicken leg that Ji Xue had dropped on the ground. The dog tore a chunk of flesh from her arm, but she bit through its throat.
Bright red blood stained half her body, yet she seemed oblivious, gnawing on the dirty half-chicken leg with relish.
From that day on, Mother Ji’s gaze toward her changed—disgust mixed with a hint of fear.
After that, her life improved somewhat. Mother Ji no longer dared to withhold food from her or beat her, raising her like a guard dog instead.
As the memories ended, Su Nuannuan licked her swollen lips and lowered her head, responding timidly as she always had.
“Alright, but life in the countryside is hard. I… I have no money.”
Seemingly surprised by her easy agreement, Mother Ji paused for a moment, her livid expression softening slightly.
“Don’t worry, as long as you’re willing to leave, your Uncle Ji and I will make sure you’re properly prepared. Before you go, I’ll give you fifty yuan and pack some clothes and bedding for you.”
“Nuannuan, Auntie is doing this for your own good. You’ve already graduated and come of age. If you can’t find a job, you’ll be sent down to the countryside sooner or later. If you go on your own now, you can still secure a decent place. Otherwise, if you’re assigned to some remote mountain village, you’ll cry your eyes out with no way to change it.”
“If your Uncle Ji asks… you know what to say, right?” Mother Ji probed cautiously.
Su Nuannuan curled her fingers, frost gathering in her eyes.
The original host had served as a live-in maid for the Ji family for eight years, and now they thought they could send her off with fifty yuan and a few tattered clothes.
Her fingers rubbed the hem of her clothes, her clear, watery eyes gradually freezing over.
Succubus 007 sat on Su Nuannuan’s shoulder, its hooves crossed over its chest, looking pityingly at Mother Ji.
[Tsk tsk, of all people to offend, you had to provoke this little madwoman. Now someone’s in for it.]
[But Host, you can’t go to the countryside.]
[According to the plot, you have to marry Ji Xiao, become the female lead’s sister-in-law, and torment this family until they’re sent to the remote northwest. Otherwise, if the main plot deviates too much and your character collapses, the Host will be punished.]
Su Nuannuan glanced at it. [The plot has already deviated. This body just went through that kind of thing. Are you sure I can still marry Ji Xiao?]
Succubus 007 smiled mysteriously. [That’s hard to say. In the world of the plot, the script is destiny. No one can defy it.]
Su Nuannuan’s fingers, which had been rubbing the hem of her clothes, stilled. Her brows furrowed tightly.
Destiny?
Does that mean she can’t escape the fate of being strangled to death by Ji Xiao in the end?
Then she must run even faster.
“I volunteered to go to the countryside to support national construction. It has nothing to do with Auntie.”
Succubus 007 was hopping anxiously, 【Did you even hear what I said? Drastically altering the plot and collapsing your character setting will result in punishment.】
Su Nuannuan brushed off her shoulder, ignoring a certain pig, and walked past Mother Ji with her head lowered.
Returning to the narrow, dark room, the three-square-meter space felt cramped like a coffin—stuffy, damp, and with thick white frost coating the walls from years without sunlight.
Large patches of plaster were peeling off. As soon as she pushed the door open, a musty smell rushed toward her.
Su Nuannuan covered her nose and looked at the iron bed that occupied most of the room.
The bed frame was covered in rust, with clearly visible corroded cracks at the legs. A few bricks were placed under the bed, which the original owner had used to prop up the bed legs.
Besides the bed, the room only contained a wooden table. The table was old, holding a pot of gardenias and a few tattered textbooks.
The tabletop was meticulously cleaned, covered with a piece of pink floral cloth.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the cloth was cut from an old garment. The edges were frayed and worn, unattractive yet the only splash of color in the room.
Succubus 007 popped out, covering its pig nose in disgust.
【What a foul smell. Even pigs wouldn’t live here. Host, endure for a moment and get ovarian cysts, take a bold step and the world opens up.】
【Due to detecting a sharp rise in the Host’s anger level, a limited-time task is now issued: Go to sleep in the first room on the left of the third floor. Completion reward: three Beauty Points.】
【No, tired, shut up, don’t bother me.】 Su Nuannuan opened the window, letting the warm night breeze drift in.
Dragging her exhausted, aching body, she efficiently tidied the messy bed.
Just changing the bedsheet left her chest tight and aching, her vision darkening intermittently.
Sensitivity drastically heightened…
Su Nuannuan closed her eyes, her ears flushing red, as if hearing again the man’s hoarse, desire-laden voice from that night.
The original owner had been scared to death from the start.
For a full four hours, his fair, sleek, and sensual chest, along with his bronzed, powerful arms, held her tightly, as if trying to merge her into his very bones and blood.
Even his breathing grew heavy.
Su Nuannuan rubbed her face vigorously. Her eyes, misted over, held only a startling calm.
Since it had already happened, dwelling on it was pointless.
From now on, she needed to tread carefully every step of the way.
【System, can I still go back?】
【Well…】 007 lowered its head, avoiding eye contact, 【Your body in that world has already been cremated. There’s no going back.】
Su Nuannuan stared at it, tapping her fingers on the table, one tap after another. The room’s atmosphere grew heavy.
【Are you saying my body was cremated right after I died?】
007 nodded vigorously, 【The System never lies.】
Even if it did, it wouldn’t admit it.
【Was the research data taken by those people?】 The tapping stopped abruptly. Su Nuannuan’s voice turned low and cold.
【Host, rest assured. The research data on the hypersonic stealth aircraft was not taken out of the country by those individuals. Due to your assassination, China’s development in aircraft technology will stagnate for twenty years.】
Seeing her expression darken, 007 comforted her, 【The Host’s current timeline is July 1976. In another year, China’s technology will revive. As long as the Host actively completes tasks to earn Luck Points, you will have another chance to lead China onto the world stage.】
Su Nuannuan picked up the round mirror on the table.
The girl inside was thin and small, with sallow skin covered in freckles, sparse and brittle yellowish hair. The only highlight was her calm, pitch-black eyes.
She didn’t look like an adult at all.
Su Nuannuan put down the mirror, her lips curling into a mocking smile. “The first bedroom on the third floor belongs to Ji Xiao. According to the plot, he’ll return tomorrow.”
In her previous life, she wasn’t a stunning beauty, but she was still a delicate and pretty girl with a curvaceous figure and waist-length, ink-black hair cascading like a waterfall.
Now, she had become a scrawny bean sprout that even women would disdain.
Taking a deep breath, she touched her face and comforted herself—at least her bone structure was decent. With some care, there was still hope.
The pink piglet sat temptingly, [Three Beauty Points can completely remove the freckles from your face. All you have to do is sleep. Are you sure you don’t want to?]
Su Nuannuan closed the mirror, casually washed up, and lay down on the nearly collapsing iron bed, closing her eyes. “No.”
007 the pig felt depressed: … This Host is impossible to motivate. So exhausting.