Chapter 279 | Chapter 280 | Chapter 281
Chapter 279: Goodnight, Lin Zhulu
The system asked: [Host, are you going to save the reward this time as well, and wait until you have a suitable memory to give it to that Lin Zhulu?]
Gu Qinghuan pondered for a long time before ultimately shaking her head. “No, this time, I want to use it right now.”
Although she had not used the rewards for Bao Qingsong and Jiang Chuchu yet, she had already made plans for them.
Bao Qingsong was currently working with many others to develop an AI designed for missing persons searches, and word was it would enter its trial phase very soon.
Gu Qinghuan intended to use the reward once that AI was officially launched. She wanted the Bao Qingsong who had been just one step away from the edge to witness the downfall of the Yan family, and to see that his strength could be used not just for vengeance, but for salvation.
What kind of dreams did the original Bao Qingsong possess when he first got accepted as a computer science major?
She didn’t know, but she hoped this achievement would offer him some modicum of comfort.
As for Jiang Chuchu’s reward, she planned to wait until the end of July, during Jiang Chuchu’s birthday banquet.
Jiang Chuchu had already told her that she wanted to invite all their classmates to Yunjin House for a birthday party over the summer break.
On that day, Jiang Youwei, Zhu Qinglan, and Jiang Yuxuan—Jiang Chuchu’s most important family members—would all be present. Gu Qinghuan wanted to gift the scenes of her warm, affectionate interactions with her family to that other Jiang Chuchu.
Lin Zhulu’s situation was somewhat similar to Xie Xiangxue’s, yet not entirely identical.
Xie Xiangxue’s dreams had been utterly shattered by Yan Zhengqing; even after escaping the Yan family, she could never truly reclaim her original self. Therefore, on the brink of her death, Gu Qinghuan preferred that she experience a beautiful, blissful dream, achieving peace by fulfilling her aspirations within it.
But what about Lin Zhulu? The moment she left the Wei family, she was entirely capable of starting fresh.
She had a mother and an aunt who loved her, and she had the Lin family business. It was those two thieves, Wei Yan and Wei Xiao, who had violently stripped away her happiness and her life!
Though she didn’t know if the remaining classmates of Class Three would encounter fates with similar outcomes, this time, Gu Qinghuan felt that letting that Lin Zhulu witness the destruction of the Wei family was the only way to console her soul.
“System, was the Wei family’s end in the other timelines just as terrible?” Having used up the reward, Gu Qinghuan’s spirits were still a bit low.
The system thought for a moment before replying: [Host, I told you a long time ago that destiny holds infinite possibilities.]
Take the Wei family as an example: in Lin Zhulu’s most desperate fate, the Wei family’s end was just as miserable as it was now. Yet, there would inevitably be timelines where the Wei family got away scot-free—this was an unavoidable probability.
[To the universe, destiny is neither inherently good nor bad; the world accepts every single fate.]
[However, this does not mean that the constant efforts made by you and your classmates have been meaningless.]
In the world Gu Qinghuan inhabited, perhaps her classmates only possessed this single destiny, but in reality, the current versions of them held the potential to become better with every single choice they faced in life. Even if they made a wrong turn, it wouldn’t automatically lead to absolute despair.
[Destinies influence one another. Just as you forged a new fate for Lin Zhulu, you simultaneously created a brand-new destiny for Yu Yuan.]
[Perhaps one day in the future, through the collective efforts of you and the mission targets, the entire world will become a better place.]
[When that happens, no one will fall into their most desperate fates, and there will be no need for new mission targets.]
The system’s voice carried a distinct shade of hope.
[Host, just as you all can create a brand-new destiny, so can the world.]
[You can rely on your own strength to forge a brand-new world.]
The extreme, suffocating heat made every breath a painful ordeal, as if she were swallowing liquid fire, and her skin burned with a vicious, stinging agony.
Yet, just as Lin Zhulu believed she was about to perish in such excruciating torment, the pain suddenly vanished without a trace.
She no longer possessed the physical strength to push herself up from the floor, but she could still open her eyes. Although the scenery before her was warped and distorted by the raging heat, she no longer felt any pain.
Is it because I’m already dead? Is that why I can’t feel the suffering anymore?
[No.]
The voice that abruptly resonated within her mind didn’t sound human in the slightest.
[This is the end-of-life care deployed for you.]
End-of-life… meaning I’m still going to die, after all? Lin Zhulu wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t summon the coordination to move the corners of her lips.
She had contemplated death countless times over the past two years without ever finding an opening; to be perfectly honest, today’s fire brought her nothing but a profound sense of relief.
And yet, she was still resentful. She was still furious, and she still burned with hatred.
She had indeed misplaced her trust in the wrong person, but the ones who truly committed the atrocities were explicitly Wei Yan and Wei Xiao—they were the ones who deserved to pay the price!
The system could perceive Lin Zhulu’s fury and despair. Unable to offer any logical explanation, it silently transmitted the outcomes of the Wei Yan and Wei Xiao from both worlds into Lin Zhulu’s consciousness.
Unlike the simplified summary Gu Qinghuan received, what the system provided was the raw recording of the world itself. Thus, Lin Zhulu could watch the scene of that father and son tearing into each other with her own eyes, functioning as an invisible bystander present in that very room.
In the end, she actually laughed out loud. Though her physical form was entirely immobile, her eyes were laughing, and her soul was laughing.
She mocked the pathetic display of that father and son slaughtering each other to her heart’s content, her inner self experiencing absolute gratification.
[But is this simple conclusion truly enough?]
An eerie, scraping voice abruptly manifested within the cramped, suffocating basement.
A distorted, shifting pixelated blur materialized in mid-air, tearing a violent fissure straight through the fabric of the space. From within the space-devouring pixels, that bizarre voice continued to echo.
[Don’t you want to slaughter them with your own two hands? Don’t you think this kind of resolution is far too ordinary for them?]
[Think of the torment you endured, think of everything you lost—they were the architects behind all of it!]
[As the victim, you possess every right to personally exact your vengeance upon them!]
[As long as you return to the past, as long as you do it all over again, you can absolutely make them regret ever crossing you!]
The system was incapable of speech; if anything, this was its very first time witnessing this “thing” with its own eyes.
Inciting individuals trapped in their most desperate fates to undergo a rebirth, devouring the probabilities of destiny—within the system’s database, this entity was classified as a “parasite.”
The system could only provide auxiliary functions; it had no means of combating a parasite. In fact, carrying concentrated energy as it did, it would be treated as nothing more than food by the entity.
However, to the parasite at this exact moment, there was a far more exquisite delicacy resting right in front of it.
Lin Zhulu observed the mysterious, shifting anomaly before her eyes. Whatever this later, eerie voice was preaching sounded exactly like… a rebirth.
[Exactly, it is a rebirth. I can send you back to the past, back to when absolutely nothing had unfolded yet.]
[You will never be deceived by the same tactics again, and you can even prepare your layout in advance—turning their own schemes against them to exact revenge on the roommate who betrayed you!]
The parasite coaxed her with systematic temptation.
Yet, Lin Zhulu merely listened in complete silence.
It knows everything I’ve gone through.
[Exactly, I know every single detail! I can even supply you with assistance; whether it’s engineering hallucinations for them or forcing them to confess the truth, it’s all…]
Then why did it wait until I was driven to the absolute brink of despair to manifest?
The eerie voice cut off abruptly.
If it truly desired to aid her, it ought to have warned her when she was being lured into a trap by her roommate, or informed her family and alerted the authorities when she was first imprisoned…
This could only prove that it harbored its own ulterior motives.
The bizarre voice suddenly turned sharp and screeching: [Damn it! You’re clearly an absolute fool, what’s the point of snapping out of it at the very last second!]
I didn’t snap out of it through my own strength, Lin Zhulu thought.
The first voice that appeared stated that she would no longer feel pain because it was the end-of-life care “deployed” for her.
Then, who was the one who deployed it for her?
Was it her mother and her aunt? Or perhaps a friend from her past?
She didn’t know, but someone out there was still loving her.
That person had expended something valuable to secure a peaceful end for her before her death, allowing her to witness the ultimate fate of the people who had brought her harm. That person desired for her to find eternal rest.
Although she still carried numerous regrets and attachments, this could be considered a definitive closure to her wishes. The most important part was that Lin Zhulu refused to degenerate into a tool to be exploited once again.
Thank you, unknown stranger. It would have been wonderful to know you.
Lin Zhulu gently closed her eyes.
The system ceased to look at the parasite, which had lost its connection to the world upon being rejected, and rapidly fled back to the timeline where Gu Qinghuan resided.
It caught the lingering screech of the parasite.
[You remember this! I will track you down! I will devour you!]
The system thought to itself that such a day would never come; it still had to accompany its host to forge countless more destinies.
[Personal reward deployment complete.]
[Goodnight, Lin Zhulu.]
Chapter 280: Current Situation
Gu Qinghuan felt that the system had been highly motivated lately.
This was explicitly demonstrated by how actively it reported the progress of the top three mission targets to her every morning upon waking and every night before going to sleep.
Currently, Qin Yue ranked first in progress, followed by Song Yi, with Ming Xiaolan in third place.
Regrettably, not a single person’s progress had broken past 35%.
[However, the progress of the remaining mission targets is all above 20%! Overall, it is still rising steadily!] The system was brimming with fighting spirit.
Gu Qinghuan was currently in a sluggish period right after completing a major mission, so hearing this, she could only give the system a round of applause.
“Are you feeling a bit restless after Lin Zhulu’s mission was settled?” Gu Qinghuan asked.
The system replied decisively: [How could I be? No such thing!]
Using a rhetorical question—going by the system’s logic, it was completely nervous, right? That was why it had to verify its programming was running normally.
Gu Qinghuan didn’t expose it either; after all, it was a good thing for the system to be so energetic.
It was just that things had indeed been very peaceful lately. Although it was very lively outside of Class Three, there was nothing that required Gu Qinghuan’s attention, and everything was progressing in an orderly manner.
When Yu Wenxiu transferred Yu Yuan’s household registration over previously, she had also paid a sum of money to the Yu family, counting it as “repaying” the Yu family for raising Yu Yuan all these years.
Yu Xin was very displeased about it, so she transferred the entire compensation given when her household registration was moved back to Cui Wanning’s name—1.5 million—over to Yu Wenxiu.
Yes, Yu Xin’s household registration had been transferred from under the nanny’s name back under Cui Wanning’s name.
Yu Wenxiu was incredibly nervous when she received the money and originally wanted to return it, but Yu Xin repeatedly refused.
“This money was originally obtained by my mother selling off Yu Yuan’s original luxury goods and jewelry. I wouldn’t feel comfortable holding onto it anyway,” Yu Xin said.
In her view, those things should fall under the category of a “voluntary gift.” When Yu Yuan was back at the Yu family, she had racked her brains to please the Yu family like that, so what was wrong with taking some money? Emotional value was far more precious!
Yu Wenxiu couldn’t win against Yu Xin, and plus Yu Xin said this was a housewarming gift from her as an older sister to Yu Yuan as a younger sister, so Yu Wenxiu had no choice but to accept it.
However, Yu Wenxiu also had her own plans.
She had been working in the domestic service industry for so many years, and realistically, she was completely capable of working independently. It was only to find Yu Yuan that she had to rely on established domestic service companies to give herself a good-looking resume.
Now that Yu Yuan had been found, they had a place to live, and the Yu family’s affairs were settled, she intended to open her own domestic service company.
However, the moment this news leaked out, a crowd of her former employers swarmed to her doorstep.
As a result, before she could even recruit many people, the list of customer demands had already formed a dense spreadsheet. This thoroughly satisfied her source of clients, and consequently, there were also quite a few employees who actively signed up wanting to join.
Yu Wenxiu first poached a few people she was familiar with to handle the training of the newcomers with her, while she also summarized her years of experience to patiently teach the rookies.
Although training fees were unavoidable, compared to many black-hearted domestic service companies nowadays, Yu Wenxiu’s side—whether in terms of competence or pricing—made the newcomers much more willing to trust her.
She wasn’t in a rush either. A reputation in the domestic service industry accumulated very quickly, so the early training had to be done slowly, and the character of the employees had to be properly vetted for a three-way win.
While Yu Wenxiu’s career was going ahead in full swing, Yu Yuan was also studying very hard.
In the previous midterm exam, Yu Yuan’s grade ranking had improved by over twenty places. She decided on her subject selection based on her grades and began concentrating her energy on her chosen subjects.
Yu Xin had lost to Lu Jian last time, ranking third in the grade.
Because of Yu Yuan running away and Yu Xin transferring her household registration, Yu Jinxin originally wanted to use her grades as a pretext to vent the sullen frustration in his heart at Yu Xin.
In the end, right after he nagged her for a couple of sentences, Yu Xin slapped a major mathematical problem in front of him, causing Yu Jinxin to switch to company topics out of humiliated rage.
As a result, he was pointed out by Yu Xin that the policy he was speaking of had already seen its latest standards implemented, so he had better bring himself up to speed in a timely manner.
Getting slapped in the face successively, Yu Jinxin behaved himself and slunk away disconsolately.
Yu Xin: Finding trouble all day long when he has nothing better to do. With that kind of time, can’t he elevate the strength of the Yu family business a bit more? It would save her some trouble when she takes over.
Jiang Chuchu’s situation was a bit better than Yu Xin’s. Jiang Youwei had started giving her simulation problems, each one torturing Jiang Chuchu until she was scratching her head.
Jiang Chuchu: Do simulation problems absolutely have to have so many bizarre conditions? Is he really not doing this on purpose to torture her?
Cursing was cursing, but solving problems was solving problems; at least when Jiang Youwei praised her for a job well done, Jiang Chuchu was very satisfied.
The two of them were being so fiercely competitive that it left Qin Yue terrified, quietly asking Gu Qinghuan, “Have they completely lost their minds?”
Gu Qinghuan blinked. “What do you mean lost their minds? This is called being ambitious.”
“Then why aren’t you being ambitious?” Qin Yue asked.
“Then why aren’t you being ambitious?” Gu Qinghuan fired back using his exact words.
Qin Yue said righteously, “I have a brother I can sponge off of!”
Gu Qinghuan released her finger pressing against her phone screen, and the phone rang with the sound of a WeChat voice message being sent.
Qin Yue’s eyes widened, and within less than a minute, Qin Min sent a message back.
Qin Min: [Sponging is fine, but you must enter the top seventy in the grade for the final exam.]
Qin Yue let out a sharp, booming shriek: “你坑我 (You set me up)!”
He had done average in the previous midterm exam, only placing 103rd in the grade, which was firmly middle-of-the-pack. Don’t look past the fact that it was only a difference of thirty-odd places; when it came to the actual test, one wouldn’t even be able to make a peep.
Qin Yue wept bitter tears, but for the sake of his grand future plan of sponging off his brother, he still behaved himself and started studying.
Having finished her report, Gu Qinghuan was thoroughly satisfied. Where was she not being ambitious? She was incredibly ambitious; hadn’t everyone seen how well-behaved she, the head of trouble-making, had been lately?
She was just wondering what questions she should ask during Su Lin’s next academic-god tutoring session when Xu Xinghe stealthily slithered over, holding a notebook.
“Class Monitor, help me take a look at this. How is it written?” Xu Xinghe said in a low voice.
Gu Qinghuan didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a study problem. Flipping it open, the very first line read, “Reading this letter is like meeting in person,” and she snapped it shut with a smack.
“What is this?” Gu Qinghuan’s eyes widened.
Xu Xinghe gave a dry cough and said softly, “A letter I want to mail to someone.”
“Why are you showing me this kind of private stuff?” Gu Qinghuan stared at Xu Xinghe’s face. Was he blushing?
“Isn’t it because you’re better with words, Class Monitor? I wanted you to help me check if there’s anything too abrupt inside that might make someone unhappy,” Xu Xinghe said bashfully.
Gu Qinghuan pulled out her phone to text Xu Xinghe, ensuring no one besides him and herself would know: [A love letter?]
Xu Xinghe’s face instantly flushed even redder. “How—how could it be! How—how could it possibly be a l—l—l…”
He swallowed the last word down. “It’s r—really not. It’s just a pen pal I have a pretty good relationship with.”
In this day and age, there were still people making friends through letters? Gu Qinghuan looked at Xu Xinghe with the gaze of someone discovering a rare animal.
Xu Xinghe grew incensed. “If you don’t believe me, forget it!” With that, he reached out to snatch the notebook back.
“I believe you! I’m reading it right now!” Gu Qinghuan quickly pinned the notebook down.
Since it was a rare opportunity, she naturally had to witness what a love letter from a professional writer of full-mark essays looked like!
Chapter 281: Winning a Round
Xu Xinghe’s love letter—no, his letter—was a full three pages long.
However, his handwriting was inherently elegant, and his phrasing was fluent and beautiful. Reading it from start to finish felt seamless and incredibly comforting.
Gu Qinghuan closed the notebook and asked hesitantly, “It’s written really well, but do you usually use this kind of prose-like phrasing when you exchange letters with her?”
Xu Xinghe nodded. “Yeah, her letters follow the exact same style.”
If both sides were like this, then it was a style shared between the two of them.
Gu Qinghuan said, “I don’t see any problems with it. It’s great, and it reads very comfortably.”
Xu Xinghe instantly looked delighted. He then asked, “So, Class Monitor, do you think she’ll want to come to Mingde for school after reading the content of this letter?”
This question made Gu Qinghuan a bit curious. Xu Xinghe’s letter did indeed describe the Mingde campus and their daily class life. Of course, he hadn’t written about Class Three’s trouble-making exploits; he mostly described the amusing things that happened in everyone’s daily lives.
“Your pen pal is planning to come to Mingde for school?” Gu Qinghuan guessed.
Xu Xinghe scratched the back of his head and decided to share this experience with Gu Qinghuan after all.
He had met this pen pal not long ago when he went to the city library to borrow some books. At the time, he was walking around the bookshelves looking for a book when he happened to see a girl accidentally bump into someone.
The girl bowed, which in Xu Xinghe’s eyes already counted as an apology. However, the other person was rather unrelenting, grabbing the girl and insisting she apologize out loud.
The girl looked terrified. She tried to make a gesture with one hand but was held tight, desperately trying to yank her hand back.
Realizing what was going on, Xu Xinghe rushed over immediately and struck the person’s wrist.
The person let go in pain, and Xu Xinghe blocked the girl. “If you want to hear an apology, then let her speak!”
The girl froze for a moment, then reacted. She raised one hand to her brow in a saluting gesture, then formed a fist with the same hand, extending her pinky to tap her chest twice.
She repeated this motion twice. Meanwhile, Xu Xinghe quickly pulled out his phone to search. By the time she finished her movements, Xu Xinghe had found a sign language video and shoved it right in front of the person’s eyes.
“See that? Her movements match this sign language exactly. It means ‘I’m sorry’!” Xu Xinghe said righteously. “She already apologized. It’s your turn to say it’s fine!”
The person choked for a long moment, clearly not expecting the individual they were picking on to be disabled. After squeezing out a muffled “it’s fine,” they bolted.
Xu Xinghe rolled his eyes at the person’s retreating back. What an impolite jerk!
He turned around, just about to comfort the girl, when he heard a “thank you” that didn’t sound like a real human voice.
The girl had typed out words on her phone, playing the text aloud through a communication assistance app.
This was the first meeting between Xu Xinghe and Yin Xisheng.
“That girl is…” Gu Qinghuan chosen her words carefully, “speech-impaired?”
“Her situation is actually quite complex; it’s called selective mutism,” Xu Xinghe explained. “Physiologically, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her. She just psychologically refuses to speak.”
“Her symptoms used to be much more severe, to the point where she refused to even leave her own room. It took nearly a year of psychological therapy for her to muster up the courage to come to the library by herself.”
“She told me later that if I hadn’t stepped up to help her that day, she probably wouldn’t have dared to step out of the house alone again for a very long time.”
“So she’s currently on a leave of absence from school? You described how great Mingde is because you want to encourage her to step out of the house and go to school again?” Gu Qinghuan continued to ask.
“Yes. She actually really wants to go to school herself, but she’s just terrified and wants a bit more courage. That’s why I’ve been writing to her, to give her more encouragement,” Xu Xinghe said.
Gu Qinghuan thought about it. “You can tell her that she doesn’t have to come to school every single day, or even sit in the classroom for lectures.”
“Huh?” Xu Xinghe didn’t quite process it at first.
“Meaning, if she wants to check out a club, she only comes to visit during club hours. If she wants to go to the library, she just stays in the library for a bit and leaves once she’s had enough. Whichever class she likes, she can come just for that period and head home right after,” Gu Qinghuan listed a few examples.
“Although it sounds very willful, considering her condition, I don’t think this counts as a privilege. Instead, it’s a form of auxiliary therapy. If her family explains it thoroughly to the school authorities, they should be able to get an understanding response, right?”
Xu Xinghe’s eyes widened. “You can attend school like that? Won’t the other students in the class have a problem with it?”
Gu Qinghuan stroked her chin. “Maybe some will? For instance, thinking why she gets to attend school so ‘freely’ while they have to honestly show up on time every day.”
“But what others think isn’t really worth caring about, is it? She’s coming to school because she wants to attend herself, not for the sake of anyone else.”
Xu Xinghe gave her a thumbs-up. If nothing else, this kind of self-centered mindset might just be highly effective for Yin Xisheng, who lacked self-confidence.
“Besides,” Gu Qinghuan lowered her hand, “isn’t there you? If she runs into any trouble, you’ll definitely help out, right?”
The moment she said this, Xu Xinghe grew embarrassed again, his face turning a bit red. “Of course I’ll help! E—everyone in our class is very righteous!”
Gu Qinghuan simply stared at him without adding a word.
Xu Xinghe’s face grew even redder. “This is a great suggestion, Class Monitor. I’ll tell her!” With that, he swiftly snatched his notebook back and slipped away to his seat.
Gu Qinghuan didn’t pay this matter any extraordinary mind, just as she hadn’t pressed to know the reason Yin Xisheng suffered from selective mutism. These were the other party’s private matters; she was Yin Xisheng’s friend, and since she was just a little assistant, keeping it brief was enough.
A week later, Xu Xinghe approached enthusiastically once again. “Class Monitor, regarding the suggestion you gave me last week, after I told Yin Xisheng, she thought it was a wonderful idea and spoke to her family about it.”
“Her family is highly supportive and is already negotiating with the school authorities. Barring any accidents, come September, she’ll be a freshman at Mingde!”
Gu Qinghuan was somewhat surprised. If this “barring any accidents” came from Yin Xisheng, it meant she believed Mingde would basically not refuse her family’s request.
Another student with an exceptional family background? Thanks to the Yan and Wei families, Gu Qinghuan was a bit wary.
Gu Qinghuan: [System, is this girl named Yin Xisheng related to Xu Xinghe’s most desperate fate?]
System: [As it involves the future, no information will be disclosed.]
Gu Qinghuan: [So she is related.]
System: I didn’t say anything! The host guessed it entirely on her own!
Gu Qinghuan muller over it for a bit. Seizing the lunch break, she asked Jiang Chuchu, “Chuchu, is there any prominent family in this city with the surname Yin?”
Jiang Chuchu was about to answer when she recalled something. “You didn’t ask Xia He?”
“No,” Gu Qinghuan was utterly bewildered. Why bring up Xia He? “I figured you would know this kind of thing too…”
“Of course I know!” Jiang Chuchu cut Gu Qinghuan off instantly, pumping her fist covertly in her heart.
Excellent. This round was her victory!
