Wen Yao had no idea that she had turned Fu Jinzhi’s budding affection into murderous intent.
She happily went upstairs to soak in the bath, bossily ordering 8848 around, “Music!”
8848, with its rebellious streak, played a suona version of “Little Apple” for her, the piercing sound blaring directly through her mind. For a moment, Wen Yao felt like she was at her own funeral procession.
The bathtub became a coffin, and “Little Apple” became little funeral offerings.
“Alright, alright,” she waved away the inauspicious image in her head, slumping in defeat, “Stop playing. Just unlock the plot already.”
【Host, [Yearning for the Male Lead] has also been settled. Would you like to draw an Item first?】
“Draw!” Wen Yao sat up straight, pressing her palms together with a devout expression. She’d read all kinds of System novels before and had always been envious of the protagonists’ flashy, badass Items.
Times had changed—the Golden Finger had finally come to her!
【Ding, congratulations Host on obtaining Item [Feeble One-Time Correction Pen]】
【Item Description: Just as its name suggests, it’s a one-time Item. Its function is to modify text in the true plot line. But also just as its name suggests, it’s very feeble—it can only change one character.】
“Seems like a decent Item,” Wen Yao rubbed her chin. Sometimes a single character could change heaven and earth. Used properly, its power could be limitless.
“Alright then, unlock the plot now. Let’s see if there’s anything worth changing.”
【Ding, decompressing…】
【Plot unlocked.】
【Original content: This patient was special—she was Senior’s younger sister, Fu Yan.
Once, Fu Jinzhi had been the favored son of heaven, perfectly matched with her half-sister from the same father, An Ruoruo.
And she was a lowly illegitimate daughter, unable to even reveal her identity, forced to hide all her love in her heart.
She told herself a thousand times it was impossible, but every time she thought of Fu Jinzhi, An Rourou’s heart still stirred. He was the moon at the edge of the sky she would chase for her entire life.
When she accidentally discovered that Senior’s wife was faking her pregnancy, she exposed her in a moment of impulse.
An Rourou had no selfish motives—she simply didn’t want Fu Jinzhi to be hurt. She wanted him to remain like a bright moon hanging high, never to be deceived or humiliated.
Later, when she learned from Fu Yan that Fu Jinzhi had gotten divorced, An Rourou felt both guilt and relief.
This counted as helping Senior, right?
She smiled serenely like a small daisy.
Tomorrow, would she be able to see him?
An Ruoruo was gone now, and she had mastered medical skills that would astonish even ghosts and gods.
Could the two of them have a new beginning?】
…
【True World Line: After mastering her medical skills, An Rourou couldn’t wait to return to the place that had once broken her heart.
This time, she would reclaim everything that belonged to her—whether it was the An family or Fu Jinzhi, she wanted it all!
Getting close to Fu Yan was part of her plan. But this young lady was the youngest daughter of the Fu family, raised with utmost pampering and indulgence, her health perfectly sound.
No matter. An Rourou infiltrated the gatherings Fu Yan attended, first administering poison and then curing it. Sure enough, she gained the trust and dependence of that naive, foolish young miss.
With Fu Yan as a stepping stone, would getting close to Fu Jinzhi even be a problem?
But she never expected someone else to ride in on a pregnancy and steal the spot before her. An Rourou would never allow it!
Fortunately, it was only a fake pregnancy—otherwise, An Rourou didn’t know what she might have done.
With Wen Yao eliminated, An Rourou knew it was her turn to take the stage. Fu Jinzhi liked the type An Ruoruo was?
She shared a sixty percent resemblance with An Ruoruo. With the right clothing and styling, she could push it to eighty percent. And with some practice on expressions, she’d be even more uncannily similar.
An Rourou practiced An Ruoruo’s gentle smile in front of the mirror, her eyes filled with absolute determination.
“What the—!” Wen Yao’s eyes bulged like brass bells, her fingers trembling like she had Parkinson’s. “The female lead is actually a yandere, and she’s deliberately playing the role of a substitute!”
Stunned, my friend. What kind of performance was this?
Where was the so-called gentle, resilient, bodhisattva-hearted miracle doctor female lead? How was she even poisoning people?
Was this the legendary—
[Legendary what?] 8848 was confused; even its database had no relevant information.
“I just made it up.”
Wen Yao scooped up a handful of bubbles, sorted through her thoughts a bit, then turned on 8848. “Even though the female lead being a black-hearted lotus is an important clue, but—”
“Why is it already past plot? It’s already over—can I even change it?”
[…No.]
Wen Yao pointed accusingly. “Little 8, I’m not trying to rag on you, but in all these years as a System, have you been diligent? Have you been working hard? Do some self-reflection.”
8848 started playing the suona again. Ha! When there was something to ask, it was “Bro 8”; when there wasn’t, it was “Little 8.”
Wen Yao refused to back down. Enduring the pain, she punched herself in the head, sending the System doing a yangge dance inside.
Mutually assured destruction, 8848 raised the white flag.
[Next time I’ll definitely tear into the World Consciousness hard. I won’t pick up expired Plot Fragments, okay?]
“Okay.” Wen Yao grimaced through her teeth. This was truly hurting the enemy by eight hundred while losing a thousand herself. A loss, a total loss.
[Items/Props are temporarily unusable. Host, what do you plan to do next?]
“Fu Yan is my sister-in-law, after all…” Thinking about how Fu Yan had been lively and bouncing around just yesterday but had suddenly fallen ill today and couldn’t go out, Wen Yao furrowed her brow.
Based on the plotline just now, there was a 99% chance that female lead An Rourou was behind it.
“In a certain sense, An Rourou and Fu Jinzhi are still a good match.”
[Where are they a match?] 8848’s mechanical voice crackled with static, clearly very displeased.
“They’re both broken. Fu Jinzhi is a man who’s physically broken, and An Rourou is a woman who’s psychologically broken.”
“If An Rourou were even remotely human, she’d know that grievances have their targets and debts have their debtors—whoever makes the mistake should make it right. Why does she keep picking on Fu Yan, that innocent little lamb?”
[Host, I have to clarify something.]
[Fu Jinzhi isn’t broken—it’s that the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice.]
“What?!” Wen Yao was utterly shocked. Her hands, which had been wiping her body, trembled, and her bath towel fell to the floor. “Fu Jinzhi… is a eunuch?”
No wonder in the original novel he was entangled with two women for years and never had a single child!
Case closed!
[Where did your mind go? I’m saying that day he and Original Wen Yao never actually did it!] 8848 wanted to send Wen Yao a middle-finger emoji again.
Huh? This time Wen Yao was genuinely dumbfounded, finding this even more bizarre than Fu Jinzhi being a eunuch.
“But—wasn’t he caught in bed red-handed?” Wen Yao said timidly.
[It’s true that both of them were on the bed, and Fu Jinzhi had lost his rationality and wanted to achieve harmony of life with Original Wen Yao, but Original Wen Yao was deeply in love with Fu Lizhi, so she struggled desperately…]
[In short, it never reached the final step.]
“Hehehehe.” Thinking of how she’d frequently attacked Fu Jinzhi for being impotent, the carefree Wen Yao, for once, felt a sliver of pity.
What a poor sucker, Fu Jinzhi! Not only was the child fake, but even being caught in bed red-handed was fake too.
And this cheap wife of his was fake too…
Oh, there was one thing that was real—An Rourou’s love for him was real.
The kind of love where she’d drug his sister for him.
Tomorrow, then. Tomorrow he had to find a way to save Fu Yan!