Song Shuangzhi’s eyes lit up.
“Tongbao, his brain short-circuited!”
“I can finally complete the mission of stepping on him!”
“As expected, a top student who focuses only on work will eventually become a psychopath!”
The system raised a finger and wagged it at her.
【His brain didn’t short-circuit. He assumed you were upset. Last time, he thought you were angry, so he let you step on him. This time, he thinks you’re sad, so he’s allowing you to step on him to vent your frustration.】
The system typed out a long explanation.
Song Shuangzhi could not be bothered to read it.
She immediately skipped over to his side, kicked off her slipper, and slipped her soft little foot into his slipper, stepping directly onto the top of his foot.
The mission of stepping on him had no time limit.
Even the system knew the difficulty level was ridiculously high.
Song Shuangzhi had only planned to step on him briefly before pulling away.
But…
It was so warm…
The man’s body temperature was slightly higher than hers. Girls often suffered from poor circulation, and her hands and feet were cold all year round.
Yet the top of his foot was genuinely warm.
The moment she pressed against it, exchanging warmth, the sensation was unexpectedly wonderful.
She found herself…
not wanting to move away.
Tan Siyan had not expected her to step on him barefoot.
A patch of icy coolness, smooth and delicate like a piece of jade, had suddenly landed on his foot.
The strange sensation darted through his body.
He pushed up his glasses and deliberately looked away.
【Mission complete!】
【More than three seconds! Reward doubled!】
【More than ten seconds! Reward multiplied tenfold!】
【Aaaah! Thirty seconds already!!! Reward multiplied ten thousand times!】
The endless stream of exclamation marks in her head finally frightened her enough to stop enjoying her personal foot warmer.
Song Shuangzhi withdrew her foot and obediently returned to her seat.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
The system said, 【He’s asking why you stopped stepping on him!】
Just like the hand-holding mission last time.
The two of them were talking complete nonsense that had nothing to do with each other.
The system was entertaining itself.
Still, Song Shuangzhi genuinely thought Tan Siyan was a very good person.
He was well-mannered, knowledgeable, disciplined, emotionally stable…
And absurdly handsome.
If…
If she could actually date someone like him someday, that would be amazing.
Her enemies would die of jealousy on the spot!
The system smiled brightly.
【Zhibao, you deserve someone even better! Not just someone who’s merely the best like him!】
Tan Siyan handed her a glass of milk.
“There are some unexpected developments in The Hague. I’m leaving tomorrow,” he said.
“I’ll try… I’ll try to come back once I’ve finished dealing with this busy period.”
Song Shuangzhi took small sips of milk.
“After this busy period? How long will that be?”
“Three to five months. It’ll pass quickly.”
“Oh.” Her position as his gatekeeper would only last another three months.
So today was actually the last day they would spend together.
The thought suddenly made the milk in her hands taste less sweet.
“Why don’t you want me to go on this business trip?” Tan Siyan asked.
Song Shuangzhi looked at the system.
“Give me a reason.”
The system replied, 【I’m not human. I only issue missions. Final interpretation rights belong to… belong to…】
Not wanting to make life difficult for her only little companion, and unable to ignore his gaze any longer, Song Shuangzhi forced herself to mutter,
“I… I’m afraid of the dark.”
Heaven as her witness, that was not a lie.
When she was little and performed poorly in school, her parents would lock her in a dark room as punishment.
She was afraid of darkness, afraid of excessive silence, afraid of loneliness.
That was why she kept four cats, hung wind chimes, and filled her home with flowers.
The clingy ex-wife missions really had chosen the right person.
She genuinely was clingy.
She was just selective about whom she clung to.
She clung to cats and to her own boyfriend.
Not other people’s husbands.
She did not want to cling to Tan Siyan!
Silence descended over the dining table once more.
“Did I overachieve the mission again?” Song Shuangzhi asked about the system. “He doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore.”
The system replied, 【Why do I feel like sincerity is the ultimate killer move? He’s reflecting on how cold he’s been toward you. I think he’s actually considering whether to cancel his flight…】
“Impossible!”
As soon as Song Shuangzhi arrived at work, Tan Siyin dragged her away.
“Zhizhi, I’m sorry about yesterday…”
Song Shuangzhi shook her head.
“It’s okay. I know you don’t really have much say in your family. My dad’s a gambler, and my mom looks down on me. It’s normal.”
Tan Siyin had felt miserable all night, but Song Shuangzhi’s few simple words instantly eased her guilt.
“Zhizhi…”
She threw herself into Song Shuangzhi’s arms.
“How does my heartless older brother deserve a little fairy like you?!”
Tan Siyin sighed dramatically.
“What exactly do you see in him? And when are you finally getting divorced?”
“I…” Song Shuangzhi frowned. “To be honest, I never really dared to look at him.”
Tan Siyin was a professional anti-Tan Siyan commentator.
Whenever family was mentioned, her verdict was always the same: her eldest brother was the worst and scariest, while her second brother, Tan Siye, was the best.
Since her best friend’s judgment could not possibly be wrong, Song Shuangzhi’s only impression of Tan Siyan had always been that he was mean, terrifying, tall, and capable of making children stop crying the moment he appeared.
“But when the marriage alliance was proposed, you nodded like crazy and even cried from excitement.”
Tan Siyin had always wanted her to end up with her second brother.
“My second brother is the perfect match for you!”
Song Shuangzhi knew she was hopeless.
“Could there have been another possibility?”
She sighed. “Maybe I was trembling like a leaf… and crying because I was scared?”
Tan Siyin immediately deflated as well.
“No wonder you couldn’t even form a complete sentence back then…”
Patting her shoulder, she said, “It’s fine. I never had any faith in your marriage anyway. I heard my brother is flying back to The Hague tomorrow. Just ask him for a divorce.”
“That works.”
The system protested, 【Now’s not the right time!】
“Oh, then I’ll wait a couple more days.”
Tan Siyin continued enthusiastically, “And then marry my second brother! Become my younger sister-in-law!”
“Uh…”
The system said, 【He’s the third male lead. You already own all his assets!】
“Huh?”
Tan Siyin smacked the back of her head.
“How are you such an NPC?”
“How do I change my settings?”
Song Shuangzhi immediately smacked her back.
“That hurts!”
The two girls started fooling around.
Just before entering the courtroom, they both spotted Tan Siyan.
In his hand was a cup of…
Milk tea?
The label read: Triple Thick Matcha Cheese Cream.
The moment they saw him, neither girl dared continue playing around.
Their voices instantly turned respectful and serious.
“Good morning, Chief Judge Tan.”
Then one turned left, the other turned right, and both fled.
“Your…” Tan Siyan hesitated.
“…thick cream milk tea.”
She had not taken a single sip of the cup he bought yesterday.
Today he had chosen a different flavor. The shop assistant had assured him that this one was extremely popular and that girls all over the world loved it.
Merchants really were liars.
“Achoo!”
He rubbed his nose.
His phone displayed a doctor’s advice:
【Chief Judge, with allergies, the best treatment is avoiding the allergen. Medication alone doesn’t do much.】
Avoid the allergen.
“Chief Judge, the plush toy in your photo is called Labubu,” his assistant said softly.
“It became incredibly popular a few months ago. Little Shuangzhi is a diehard fan. She’d skip meals just to buy one, but unfortunately her luck is terrible. She can never get the pure white version she wants.”
His information-filtering system was exceptionally efficient.
It always identified the key point.
“You call her Little Shuangzhi?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
The assistant continued his report.
“Your flight is at ten tomorrow morning. The Minister of Justice would also like to meet with you before departure. Afterward, I’ll take you to the airport.”
Tan Siyan ignored that topic and instead asked,
“When will the additional lighting installation at the Litchi Bay villa be completed?”
The assistant nodded.
“Litchi Bay is huge. It’s almost the New Year, and the workers have already gone home for the holidays. Construction will resume in March, and I’ll make sure they finish as quickly as possible.”
“Oh.”
“Court is now in session!”
Director Liang was absent today, so Tan Siyan served as Chief Judge.
The man stepped onto the bench.
Everyone rose, he took his seat.
Everyone sat down.
Song Shuangzhi was serving as the court clerk for this session.
The moment she sat down and prepared to begin recording the proceedings, the system’s mischievous voice echoed in her mind.
【Clingy Ex-Wife Mission triggered! During the court hearing, make a heart gesture at him ღ(´･ᴗ･`) and send him a heart!】