Today was Thursday, early autumn.
The sky was clear and the air crisp—a perfect autumn day.
In short, aside from that brief breeze that had lifted the female lead's bangs earlier, the sky was now a spotless azure. There wasn't even a wisp of wind, let alone a cloud.
Ji Qiuge stared at the sky, lost in thought.
If there was no noticeable wind in these three days, then this task would be impossible to complete—and this was supposed to be one of the relatively easier ones.
That wouldn't do. If there were no conditions, she would have to create them herself!
Ji Qiuge was just considering where she might arrange to get a blower when a person suddenly appeared beside her.
To avoid facing the aftermath of her mortifying scene, she had deliberately hidden herself in a small pavilion behind the school garden. When she sensed someone's presence, Ji Qiuge was startled.
Especially when she saw who it was—she was even more astonished.
"Ye Lingjun?"
Ye Lingjun handed her a bottle of water and sat down across from her.
"Most people are talking about Su Xiaoxiao right now," Ye Lingjun said softly.
Ji Qiuge fell silent.
As expected of the considerate and gentle second male lead—he already knew what she was worried about.
She took a casual sip of water and asked, "What are they saying about Su Xiaoxiao?"
Ye Lingjun wasn't the type to gossip about others behind their backs, and Ji Qiuge didn't intend to wait for his reply anyway. She just wanted to give herself an out. She was about to say "forget it, I'll head back" when she heard him speak.
"They're discussing whether she's Fu Yunjing's stepmother."
"Pfft!" Ji Qiuge sprayed out a mouthful of water in a thoroughly ungraceful manner.
She coughed from choking while bursting into laughter at the same time.
"Hahaha cough… stepmother cough… hahaha!"
Seeing the schadenfreude dancing in her eyes, Ye Lingjun smiled along and handed her a tissue.
Ji Qiuge wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, realizing she shouldn't be too obvious about it. After all, she hadn't been there herself. She put on a feigned look of curiosity and asked, "What happened? Why would they think that?"
Ye Lingjun smiled, knowing full well that Ji Qiuge must have been behind it, but he had no intention of exposing her.
He knew that his close friend had also once been chosen to change the ending but had died because she told others about being selected.
So he simply explained, "I'm not sure of the details. I only know that Fu Yunjing called Su Xiaoxiao 'Mom,' and many people heard it."
Hearing his explanation, Ji Qiuge laughed again.
Her eyes shimmered with mirth, her brows curving like crescent moons as she stood up.
"Something like that happened, and I didn't even know. Where's Su Xiaoxiao now?"
"I don't know. She ran off," Ye Lingjun said, lowering his gaze.
"What a shame… But Class President, why did you come looking for me?" Ji Qiuge returned to her original question.
Ye Lingjun was acting a little strange, really.
She only had complete memories of her first life; her subsequent lives only left her with the memory of being killed by an atomic bomb.
In the complete memories she possessed, Ye Lingjun was absolutely not the type to care about her.
"…I came out to look for Su Xiaoxiao," Ye Lingjun said after a long hesitation, his voice warm yet carrying a faint, barely perceptible chill.
"Oh." No wonder.
Ji Qiuge didn't catch any of the undertones in his voice. She quickly brushed the matter aside and set off to find a place with wind.
"I'll be going then!"
Ye Lingjun gave a soft acknowledgment.
Ji Qiuge didn't return to the classroom. Instead, she made a detour to the shopping mall.
She took a helicopter there.
As the helicopter descended, she specifically requested that it land lower and hover there for a moment.
The pilot was originally a member of the Ji family, so naturally he complied with the young lady's request.
The shopping mall Ji Qiuge had chosen was always crowded, with bustling crowds filling the entire street.
"System, that's at least 500, right?"
[Yes, there are over a thousand people below.]
Excellent.
Ji Qiuge calmly put on her sunglasses, feeling the wind and the deafening noise generated by the helicopter's spinning rotors above her head.
She tilted her chin up at a 45-degree angle, gazing at the sky above.
Because of the helicopter, everyone was looking in her direction.
She then parted her red lips lightly: "Ah, how boisterous the wind is today!"
Passersby: "…"
They glanced at the helicopter overhead, then looked at the elegantly dressed young woman.
With the rotors blowing wind like that, of course it would be boisterous!
[Ding—Congratulations, Host, on completing this task. You have received one Word-Alteration Card. You may modify one two-character word.]
Ji Qiuge curled her lips into a smile, turned around, and boarded the helicopter to leave.
Passersby: "…"
Confirmed—rich people all have something wrong with their heads!
"Show me the upcoming plot."
The next couple of days should be focused on the male and female leads' storyline. On the female lead's side, she'd mainly be mocked at school, then go to the male lead for tutoring and earn his admiration.
Of course, right after that would be her cue to appear.
Before that, she needed to see whether she should stir things up in their plot.
[After enduring a morning of ridicule and sarcasm, Su Xiaoxiao felt irritated and returned to her dormitory.
At the entrance of the dormitory building, a low-key yet luxurious black sedan—of a brand she didn't recognize—stopped in front of her.
Su Xiaoxiao was startled, then saw the handsome side profile of a man revealed as the window rolled down.
It was Fu Yunjing.
"Su Xiaoxiao, get in the car." The man's voice carried an authority that brooked no refusal.
Su Xiaoxiao bit her lip and opened the car door.]
Ji Qiuge rubbed her chin.
There was still over an hour before this scene.
She thought it over and glanced at her task list.
[In a venue with no fewer than 200 people, perform actions according to the video content and shout the following line: "Key of darkness hidden within, Sakura commands you by our pact—seal release!" Task completion reward: one Word-Alteration Card.]
Hmm… that's not impossible. She'd already done Fa Tiannu; Cardcaptor Sakura was nothing special.
So…
Ji Qiuge altered a word.
The System fell into a long, dead silence.
[…Whatever. As long as you're happy.]
"Hmph!" Ji Qiuge raised her chin smugly, chest puffed out as she walked back to the classroom.
She had to finish her last class, then go watch the show.
Her return drew everyone's attention back to her once again.
The Soul-Bullet Sisterhood, fearless as ever, crowded around her.
Xiao Lin'er: "Qiuge, you were amazing today! 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river'—what's gotten into you lately?"
Chen Yunmei: "Yeah, have you been reading too many novels and anime lately? You never mentioned any of this before!"
Sun Ruoruo: "How could you even say that line out loud? It's so embarrassing!"
Ji Qiuge tossed her hair and said disdainfully, "What do you know? I'm a woman destined to save the world!"
The onlookers who had been pricking up their ears to catch the drama burst into laughter at once.
"Hahaha! Miss Ji, you've gotten quite entertaining lately!" Yun Xiuze was beside himself with glee.
Ji Qiuge responded with nothing but a sly, devil-may-care smile—after all, as long as she refused to be embarrassed, no one could ever get to her!