Chapter 220: Indigestion
After seeing Jiang Chuchu’s most desperate future last night, Gu Qinghuan ended up dreaming about beating up scumbags all night. Maybe because of that, when she woke up in the morning, her head felt heavy and groggy.
Luckily, it was Sunday, so she simply went back to sleep.
In her haze, she felt very hot and weak. She vaguely heard Wang Jia’an knocking on the door, then coming in to check on her. Soon after, Gu Haiyan also came in.
They seemed to be saying something, but Qinghuan couldn’t make it out. A few minutes later, Gu Haiyan helped her sit up and gave her some water.
It wasn’t plain water—it tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. Qinghuan realized it was medicine.
Oh. She had caught a cold.
She obediently finished the medicine, lay back down, and soon drifted into sleep again.
Gu Haiyan took the cup and quietly left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
Seeing Xiao Si pawing at the door, she crouched down and patted its head. “Your sister is sick and needs rest. Don’t disturb her, okay?”
Xiao Si sat there for a moment, looked at the closed door, then followed Gu Haiyan to the living room and curled itself into a loaf on the sofa.
Qinghuan slept until around two in the afternoon. When she woke up, her head was still a bit dizzy, but her body felt lighter.
She put on a jacket and stepped out of her room to get some water.
Xiao Si, who had been sleeping sprawled out on the sofa, immediately sprang up at the sound and ran to her feet, meowing nonstop.
Qinghuan rubbed her temples. “Alright, alright, I’ll make up for your freeze-dried snacks from this morning.”
As she poured out the treats from the container, Wang Jia’an came out of his room and asked, “How are you feeling now?”
“Better,” Qinghuan replied. “Just really hungry.”
She had only had a cup of medicine since last night. With her appetite, it was no surprise she was starving.
Wang Jia’an let out a breath of relief and rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll cook you some noodles.”
Recently, he had been learning cooking at night school and had made decent progress. Simple home-style dishes were no problem now, and he could even adjust flavors based on personal taste.
A bowl of plain noodles was easy for him.
He added soy sauce, salt, and a bit of sugar for freshness. The key was a spoonful of lard—without it, the noodles wouldn’t have that rich aroma.
Then he sprinkled chopped scallions, poured in hot water for the broth, and added the cooked noodles.
Simple, but perfect.
He had wanted to use stock, but there wasn’t any at home, so he added a little MSG instead.
Qinghuan sat at the table and finished the whole bowl in no time. With food in her stomach, she immediately felt much better.
“Did you catch a chill during yesterday’s outing?” Wang Jia’an asked.
Qinghuan shook her head. “Not sure. Maybe.”
She had sat by the lake fishing in the morning and had been exposed to the wind. With the seasonal change lowering immunity, catching a cold wasn’t unusual.
The system spoke up:
“It’s actually because your current fate has become more stable. In reality, your body needs a period of adjustment.”
Originally, Qinghuan and her family were destined to die in a car accident. Now, with nearly one-fifth of her tasks completed—and over one-third by the system’s ten-task standard—even if she failed from here on, she could still escape that fate.
Keeping her expression unchanged in front of Wang Jia’an, Qinghuan immediately asked internally:
“Then will my mom and dad get sick too?!”
“No,” the system reassured her. “You are the one who accepted the task and received the rewards. Any effects will only manifest on you.”
Her parents knew nothing about the tasks, so they wouldn’t be affected.
Hearing this, Qinghuan finally relaxed.
She was about to wash the dishes, but Wang Jia’an sent her back to bed to rest while he handled the cleaning.
She didn’t argue, returning to her room. This time, Xiao Si followed her in, circled the room like it was inspecting territory, then settled comfortably on her blanket—right between her legs.
Qinghuan snapped a photo and sent it to the class group chat:
Qinghuan: “Why are cats so obsessed with lying between people’s legs… if this continues my legs are going numb.”
A group of cat-less “savages” cried out in envy, while cat owners chimed in with full agreement.
Jiang Chuchu: “Why are you only showing up now? We were talking about that new restaurant this morning and you weren’t there.”
Qinghuan: “!”
Qinghuan: “What did I miss?!”
Before she could scroll through the chat, Lin Zhulu had already sent her a compiled summary.
Lin Zhulu: “No need to scroll, I sent you everything~”
Qinghuan: “Nice!”
Qinghuan: “Got sick this morning, just recovered. Finally had my first meal today.”
Yu Xin: “You got sick?!”
Qinghuan could only say:
“Probably caught a chill yesterday. Just a mild cold and fever—feeling better after medicine.”
Song Yi: “It must be that Ning Siqi affecting my sister!”
Ai Ning: “He’s bad luck for you!”
Qinghuan: “No superstition, please.”
Song Yi / Ai Ning: “obedient.JPG”
Qinghuan: “But don’t worry. After yesterday, I finally have a reason to cut ties with Ning Siqi.”
The chat filled with celebratory emojis.
Then she added:
“And now… only Wei Xiao is left.”
Class Three: …that’s not funny at all.
Lin Zhulu: “He might still try the same trick again, right?”
Qinghuan: “Possible. We need another plan.”
She had considered setting a trap—like letting Wei Xiao try to steal her phone and exposing him.
But theft could easily be covered up by Wei Yan, and Wei Xiao likely wouldn’t be expelled.
Worse, if he got even part of the real student list, it would mean failure.
A fake list wasn’t an option either—once exposed, Wei Xiao or Wei Yan would realize she had set a trap, and retaliation from the Wei family would follow.
Even with Jiang Chuchu and Xia He backing her, she didn’t want to live under protection forever.
More importantly, instead of risking danger, it was better not to create dangerous plans in the first place.
So what should she do?
Just as Qinghuan was getting a headache thinking about it, a private message popped up—from Bao Qingsong.
Bao Qingsong: “Class monitor, I think I found something huge.”
Bao Qingsong: “scared.JPG”
Qinghuan: “Now I’m hesitating whether I even want to hear this…”
Bao Qingsong: “Are you still the class monitor I know?”
Qinghuan: “Fine. I’ll hear it.”
Bao Qingsong: “Wei Xiao’s mother, Xu Zhishu… might have been a human trafficker.”
Qinghuan: “……”
Qinghuan: “Huh?”
Qinghuan: “Wait, I suddenly feel like I can’t read Chinese anymore.”
She covered her forehead.
She had already known this world was full of absurd, dark events…
But Xu Zhishu? Wei Xiao’s mother? Wei Yan’s second wife? A human trafficker?!
Her brain completely stalled.
Bao Qingsong waited, then continued—but Qinghuan quickly stopped him:
“Wait. Please consider my current health condition. Can I hear this tomorrow?”
After thinking it over, Bao Qingsong agreed. It was Monday tomorrow anyway—they could talk at school.
Bao Qingsong: “Alright, tomorrow then.”
Qinghuan tossed her phone aside and wrapped herself in the blanket, accidentally shifting Xiao Si in the process.
The cat got up in dissatisfaction, shook itself, then lay back down again.
Logically, Qinghuan knew she should ask the system for the truth right now.
But she was too dizzy.
Better to leave it for tomorrow.
Maybe by then… this “melon” would be easier to digest.
