On the verge of death, my sister and I were bound to a system and entered a game world.
As long as we could become the female lead in the game, we would have a chance to live.
My sister chose to be the childhood sweetheart beside the male lead.
She thought that as long as she was chosen by the male lead, she would be the female lead and surely beat me.
However, I chose to stay away from the male lead and make myself shine brightly. After all, there is also a type of female lead known as the strong, independent one.
After entering the game world, my sister and I were still sisters. I’m Song Manman, and she’s Song Zhizhi.
Our original family was not good. Our mother was a love-struck fool. After being cheated by a man, she gave birth to us two sisters.
The man left, and she then went on to find another man, always constantly in love and often away from home for days on end.
The two children could only survive thanks to the kindness of our neighbors.
This time, the neighbors got fed up and hardened their hearts and didn’t care. The two children knocked on the door for two days but were ignored and finally starved to death.
It was at this time that my sister and I transmigrated here.
As soon as we arrived, there was a burning pain in our stomachs, and the door was locked from the outside.
My sister cut the sheets into strips and spliced them together, then started to climb down from the window.
I advised her, “Although this is only the third floor, the sheets aren’t long enough. You’ll easily get hurt if you jump down.”
My sister sneered, “It’s better to get hurt. Then I’ll be even more pitiful. By then, I’ll just live in the Pei family’s house and never come back to this shabby place. You’re not allowed to come to the Pei family’s house, got it?”
I calmly said, “I won’t go.”
“You’d better mean it.” My sister didn’t believe me. “Otherwise, even if you come, I have ways to get rid of you. You know my methods.”
In real life, my sister and I were born one year apart.
But she had been a fussy child since birth, perfectly embodying the saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Our parents spent the most energy on her, so naturally, she got more favoritism.
Unfortunately, the earthquake didn’t favor her just because she was favored.
We were both dug out from the rubble and sent to the hospital for rescue, both on the verge of death.
Now it all depended on who could truly survive.
When my sister jumped down, she still twisted her ankle in the end.
She grimaced in pain and endured it as she went to another unit to find the male lead.
The male lead, Pei Jianhan, was just an ordinary, penniless man at present and lived in this shabby community with his sick mother.
But before long, his mother would die of illness, tell him about his life story, and leave him her belongings.
He would then be recognized by his wealthy merchant father and start his life as an overbearing CEO.
My sister hoped to take advantage of the close proximity and build a good relationship with Pei Jianhan, ascending to the top early. As long as she married Pei Jianhan, she would be the worthy female lead.
However, the experiences of the original owner’s mother and my real-life mother both told me that pinning hopes on men was bound to lead to disappointment.
So, from the very beginning, I didn’t plan to take this path.
I endured the hunger and searched through all the drawers in the room, finding seven or eight keys.
Then, I inserted the keys into the lock one by one to try them. Finally, I opened the door and walked out.
Now I faced the next problem: finding something to eat.
I endured the hunger in my stomach and walked all the way to the entrance of the community.
When leaving the community, I saw Pei’s mother hurriedly carrying my sister to the hospital.
Pei Jianhan followed with a gloomy face, full of impatience in his eyes.
My sister was crying pitifully, sniffing from time to time, and said softly, “Thank you, Auntie. Thank you, Brother Jianhan.”
When my sister saw me during her sobs, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes, full of warning in her gaze.
So, she didn’t notice that Pei Jianhan’s look at her became even gloomier.
According to the plot, Pei’s mother was already in very poor health at this time.
Pei Jianhan felt very sorry for his mother.
My sister wasn’t asking for help; she was courting death.
I turned my head as if I hadn’t seen it and turned to enter the bank at the entrance, locking myself in the ATM machine and pressing the help button.
“Hello, is this the bank customer service? I can’t find my mother. I want to call the police…”
Before long, I was sitting in the police station.
The policewoman brought me her own milk and bread.
The policeman ordered fried chicken for me.
Someone else went to the cafeteria to get food.
It’s good to be six years old. Relying on being young, I could blatantly get food and drinks by cheating.
The police were looking everywhere for my mother.
While eating, I said,
“Thank you, brother and sister. I haven’t eaten for three days.”
“If you find my mother, can you ask her not to be my mother anymore? I want to go to the welfare home.”
The hand of the policewoman who was feeding me paused, and her eyes turned red.
It was easy for them to see the signs of abuse on me: matted hair, gaunt cheeks, a bony body, and bruises on my arms and legs.
What a person experiences in life will leave marks on both their body and mind.
They didn’t say anything more, but I could feel that the atmosphere in the whole police station became angry.
After a few hours, the police dragged my mother out of her boyfriend’s bed.
As soon as she arrived, she cursed at me loudly, and then the police quickly locked her in the interrogation room.
The policewoman comforted me with a distressed look in her eyes and told me not to take it to heart.
Actually, I wasn’t sad at all.
Because I was already used to it.
The original sisters had already starved to death. It was only right that this mother received punishment.
As expected, this mother should be prosecuted by the procuratorial organ, either for the crime of abandonment or for the crime of intentional injury.
She should reflect on her sins in prison.
After this incident, the police searched for my mother’s relatives, hoping that someone could take me in.
During the search, they found that both her parents were dead, she grew up in her uncle’s house, eloped with someone at a young age, and lived a wild life with a yellow-haired guy for a while.
The yellow-haired guy later abandoned her, and she also abandoned herself.
And the yellow-haired father of the original body had been stabbed to death in a fight long ago.
They were like the epitome of the bottom layer.
They drifted along, grew wantonly without a purpose, and were finally cleared away by social rules.
As a result, I got into the welfare home as I wished.
And my sister stayed at the Pei family’s house and refused to leave.
She hugged Pei’s mother’s legs and cried,
“Auntie, please let me stay. I eat very little. I can work. I can take care of myself. I won’t cause you any trouble at all.”
Pei’s mother was soft-hearted.
But Pei Jianhan pulled her up and growled, “Song Zhizhi, have you no shame? Why are you shamelessly staying at my house? Leave, or I’ll beat you.”
My sister was stunned and couldn’t believe it.
Pei’s mother stopped him.
“Jianhan, you can’t do this.”
She then said to my sister, “Zhizhi, if you want to stay, you can stay. However, life in our family isn’t easy. Don’t regret it later.”
My sister beamed with joy and hugged Pei’s mother’s neck.
“Auntie, you’re so nice. You’re the best auntie in the world.”
Pei Jianhan slammed the door shut, looking angry.
I lived a regular life in the welfare home.
The policewoman and the sisters from the Child Protection Department of the Public Prosecution Law often came to visit. My days in the welfare home were quite peaceful.
I entered the primary school affiliated with the welfare home and then got into a key junior high school with excellent grades.
Here, I met Pei Jianhan and my sister.
Six years had passed.
Pei Jianhan had grown into a young man with a cold and aloof look, always seeming to hide deep bitterness between his brows.
And my sister had grown into a beautiful little flower, blooming gracefully beside the young man.
One month after entering school, I had already heard that she was famous for serving Pei Jianhan like a master.
I avoided her and didn’t want to recognize her.
Until one day, I heard her being insulted and slapped in the toilet.
“Song Zhizhi, why are you so cheap? Haven’t you seen a man? Stay away from Pei Jianhan, got it?”
“You’re not allowed to show up at Pei Jianhan’s birthday party. Otherwise, don’t blame us for dealing with you.”
My sister was crying pitifully, like a fragile little flower.
After those people left, she was still crying there.
I squatted until my legs were numb and couldn’t help but come out of the cubicle.
She looked up and saw me, stunned for a moment.
“Why are you here? Are you here to laugh at me?”
I gave her a deep look.
“Why didn’t you tell the teacher? This is campus bullying.”
She was embarrassed for a moment and then said arrogantly,
“What do you know? This is the inevitable path to becoming the female lead. Which female lead hasn’t suffered hardships?”
“Besides, those people are Pei Jianhan’s friends. If I get his friends into trouble, how can I still hang around in this circle in the future?”
“Mind your own business. You’re not allowed to tell others about what happened today, got it? Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude to you.”
I couldn’t help but frown.
Who told her that to become the female lead, one must suffer hardships?
Was she looking for hardships when there were none?
Out of sisterly affection, I reminded her,
“When did Pei Jianhan’s mother pass away?”
Hearing this, my sister’s face changed drastically.
Then I understood that she probably wasn’t innocent.
In the plot, Pei Jianhan’s mother passed away when he was around ten years old.
But now Pei’s mother had adopted my sister.
A sick woman taking care of two children, she was likely to die even earlier.
No wonder Pei Jianhan didn’t like my sister.
She was the one who caused his mother’s death.
But she just didn’t understand.
No!
Perhaps she did understand.
But she thought this was the inevitable path to becoming the female lead.
To make Pei Jianhan fall in love with her despite the hatred for killing his mother, that would be a truly touching true love, right?
I washed my hands and said casually, “Take care of yourself.”
My sister got angry.
“Stop preaching to me. The world I’ve seen is far beyond what you’ll ever see in your lifetime.”
“Have you ever traveled abroad? Have you ever been on a cruise? Have you ever taken a hot air balloon? How many luxury brands do you know? How many luxury cars do you recognize? Don’t you still think that rich people just drive BMW, Benz, or Audi?”
“Haha, what I’ve seen in the Pei family these years is something you’ll never see even if you work hard all your life.”
“Just wait to rot in the mud!”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Then do you know functions, derivatives, inequalities, sequences, vectors, probability distributions?”
“It’s not that only the world you’ve seen is the real world.”
“Vases are everywhere, but I don’t think the Pei family would want a vase who can’t even graduate.”
My sister revolved around Pei Jianhan every day and didn’t study well.
The Pei family valued both intelligence and emotional quotient highly.
I remembered that the head of the Pei family was very proud that his wife was an outstanding graduate from a famous school.
Basically, the women the Pei family married were all excellent females who graduated from famous schools.
My sister’s face turned even paler. She glared at me viciously.
“Still saying you’re not interested in Pei Jianhan. If you didn’t pay attention, how would you know so much?”
“Don’t be complacent. Don’t think that just because you study well, you’re so great.”
“You’re only good at grades. You’re useless in everything else.”
“What’s the use of you studying well? Mom and Dad still don’t like you anyway.”
What she said was actually true.
I wasn’t favored at home, so I could only study hard to make the teachers like me.
I remembered once when my exam grades dropped, I was worried that even the teachers wouldn’t like me anymore.
But the teacher said that she liked every hardworking child. Working hard might not always bring results, but at least it showed that the person had perseverance, and where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Because of this, I started to like myself a little more.
Because I wasn’t as useless as my parents said.
My sister was different from me.
She had always lived by pleasing others.
Coming into the game, she was still living by pleasing others.
However, I didn’t admit that I paid attention to the Pei family.
This was the background information about the male lead provided by the system in the plot.
That poor student just didn’t read the plot description carefully.
My sister and I broke up on bad terms.
There should have been other people in the toilet that day.
Someone posted my sister’s astonishing remarks on a student forum.
All of a sudden, countless people were mocking her.
[“Is Song Zhizhi, that bootlicker beside Pei Jianhan, crazy?”]
[“She said being bullied was the inevitable path to becoming the female lead when she was bullied.”]
[“Good grief, does she think she’s transmigrated into the heroine of a romance novel?”]
[“If she’s the female lead, then Pei Jianhan is the male lead, right? The male lead abuses the female lead, and then starts the chasing-her-back-after-breaking-her-heart plot, right?”]
[“How many romance novels has she read? Hahaha!”]
The next day after school, I saw Pei Jianhan leave by car on his own.
My sister was crying and chasing after him pitifully.
It really looked like a scene from a romance drama.
When she saw me, she rushed over like crazy, with tears streaming down her face.
“Was it you? Was it you who posted it online? Why are you so despicable?”
I grabbed her hand that was about to hit my face and looked at her coldly.
“There are so many people who don’t like you. Why do you say it was me?”
“I’m not interested in your affairs. Don’t come to bother me.”
Song Zhizhi didn’t believe me. She gritted her teeth and said in a low voice,
“Just you wait.”
On the third day after school, I was blocked by a few hooligans.
Those guys said, “Little sister, don’t be afraid. Let big brother cut the tendons of your two hands and disable your right hand, and then I’ll let you go. I’ll be gentle, I promise it won’t hurt.”
Cutting the hand tendons is a grade-ten disability.
These people just wanted to ruin me, make it impossible for me to study or write, and be disabled for life.
But the highest sentence they would get was only three years in prison and then they could be released.
I don’t know how Song Zhizhi got in touch with these people.
After all, she was just a junior high school student.
All I can say is that rats seem to know where the holes are by nature.
I whistled.
Then a dozen or so people came up behind me.
Those little hooligans were shocked for a while.
“Sister, which gang are you from? You’re so arrogant.”
“Fuan Hall!”
“Never heard of it.”
“You’ll hear of it in the future.”
Our dozen or so people rushed up, and the other side started to run.
One of them said while running,
“Brother Biao, I got it. Fuan Hall is the Fuan Social Welfare Home. These kids are bluffing us.”
“Damn it, those with nothing to lose are fearless. We’ve been tricked this time. Let’s retreat first.”
After chasing them far away, we couldn’t help but cover our stomachs and laugh out loud.
There were more than a hundred people in our welfare home.
Many of them were in junior high school or high school.
They usually went home in groups.
I didn’t like being in a crowd, so I often went home alone.
But we had an agreement that if anyone was bullied, they would whistle, and then a group of people would come to help.
After this incident, Song Zhizhi’s face was gloomy for many days.
Later, one day when she came to school, she was limping.
I heard that she still went to Pei Jianhan’s birthday party regardless of everything.
But she was picked up by Pei Jianhan’s friends and thrown into the swimming pool.
Song Zhizhi couldn’t swim and almost drowned.
Finally, Pei Jianhan had people fish her out with a net.
She thought Pei Jianhan had softened his heart towards her.
But Pei Jianhan said, “Don’t die easily. Otherwise, who will I take revenge on?”
These things were continuously updated on the forum.
The link to that post was spread in countless student groups, and almost everyone knew about it.
Some people said that Pei Jianhan was too cruel.
Others said that it was so annoying to be pestered by a bootlicker like Song Zhizhi.
Still others wondered what kind of grudge there was between them.
No one knew the truth.
Song Zhizhi was in a downcast mood for quite a while.
I thought that through this incident, she should clearly know that I wasn’t the one who leaked the news.
But from beginning to end, she didn’t want to let me go.
Because from the moment we entered this game, we were on opposite sides, and only one of us could survive.
Not long after that, a handsome transfer student named Ren Haochen came to our class.
He was very eye-catching as soon as he arrived.
He played table tennis well, spoke English well, was good-looking and handsome, and had a gentle smile.
He was also very sociable.
He invited everyone to eat mooncakes and shared all kinds of imported snacks from abroad.
The class was as lively as if it were a festival.
Ren Haochen really wanted to sit next to me, but the teacher didn’t indulge him and made him sit at the back.
He wanted to exchange seats with my deskmate to sit with me.
My deskmate pushed his glasses and said seriously,
“The teacher doesn’t allow us to change seats casually. I don’t dare to.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Gladly, I explained two more major questions to my deskmate.
Before long, the sports meeting arrived.
The teacher asked everyone to find seats and sit down by themselves. Ren Haochen plopped down beside me, his beautiful peach-blossom eyes curving with a smile.
“Song Manman, I’m finally sitting with you.”
However, he underestimated our teacher.
The teacher’s next sentence was, “Are you all seated properly? If so, we’ll change seats now. The students in the first column of the first group and the first column of the third group will exchange seats…”
Ren Haochen: “…”
I laughed.
This was the teacher’s usual trick.
Our teacher liked to see us happily sitting with our friends and then break us up one by one.
Ren Haochen, who grew up abroad, didn’t understand the ways of dealing with people in China.
But Ren Haochen wasn’t discouraged.
After the sports meeting, he directly caught up with me and said to me,
“Song Manman, your birthday is coming soon. What do you like? I’ll give you a present.”
His eyes were shining brightly, as if they contained stars.
At that time, I thought to myself that this boy with such beautiful eyes could be such a liar.
It’s said in TV dramas that beautiful women are the best liars.
This was clearly gender discrimination.
Beautiful men could also be liars.
I said,
“I like money. Can you donate to our orphanage?”
Ren Haochen was instantly embarrassed.
“But I don’t have that much money. I only have a little money to buy you a present.”
I looked at him with disdain.
“Didn’t Song Zhizhi give you a lot? Why is it gone so quickly?”
“You’re so wasteful with money. No wonder your family cut off your financial support. No wonder you can only make money by selling yourself.”
“There’s either no time or countless times when you sell yourself. Be careful.”
“Move aside. I’m going home. Don’t block my way.”
Ren Haochen was one of the male lead’s playboy friends in the plot.
Beside every overbearing CEO, there was always a refined scoundrel friend and a playboy friend.
One was responsible for treating the abused girl, gradually falling in love with her over time, and secretly loving the female lead.
One was responsible for enjoying life, interpreting love for the male lead, saying lines like “Oh no, you’ve fallen in love with her”, and showing off the superiority of being the only sober one among the drunk.
Ren Haochen was that playboy.
His pair of peach-blossom eyes would attract many girls later, and all of them would be quite satisfied with him.
He had a great time among the flowers and received countless five-star reviews.
It was just ridiculous!
I’ve always been clear about grudges and rewards, and I always take it as my duty to curse my exes to have bad luck. I just can’t understand a man with no bad reviews.
Ren Haochen’s task failed, and he settled down.
Once, I was reading a book in a secluded place.
I heard him arguing with Song Zhizhi.
Song Zhizhi begged him to continue.
He said impatiently,
“I won’t do it. She’s already seen through it and won’t be tricked. Besides, why must we seduce her? She’s so ordinary-looking. She’s not my type at all.”
Song Zhizhi secretly smiled when she heard him say that I was ordinary-looking.
“But she spread rumors about me. Now everyone is laughing at me, and even Pei Jianhan ignores me.”
“You killed his mother. It’s good that he didn’t beat you to death. You’ve enjoyed good food and a comfortable life in the Pei family for so long. What else do you want?”
Song Zhizhi raised her eyes, with tears in them.
“But Pei Jianhan doesn’t like me. I’ll die. I told you, I’m a攻略者 (game攻略者, something like a攻略者 in the game). If Song Manman manages to win over Pei Jianhan before me, I’ll die.”
Ren Haochen was silent.
I blushed a little.
How could Song Zhizhi say the word “攻略者” so shamelessly?
How could anyone believe it?
However, Ren Haochen said in a muffled voice,
“I got it. I’ll try again.”
I: “??”
Song Zhizhi was overjoyed.
“Brother Haochen, I knew you were the best. I don’t know how to thank you. I really want to give you a hug.”
She gently hugged Ren Haochen.
Ren Haochen’s face turned red.
I: “…”
The world had really gone crazy in a way I didn’t recognize.
Was I not worthy of staying in such a crazy world? Maybe I should just leave quickly.
I applied to skip a grade at school.
At first, the teachers didn’t agree.
But after I repeatedly requested, the school organized a skipping-grade exam.
Later, through layer upon layer of exams and approvals,
I successfully skipped to the high school I wanted.
When the summer vacation was over and the new semester started, I had already registered at the new school and started my first year of high school.
My next goal was to participate in competitions, strive for recommended admission, and then pursue a combined undergraduate and postgraduate program, shine in the fields of information technology and artificial intelligence, and strive to achieve something as soon as possible and become my own strong, independent female lead.
Because according to the general plot of novels,
The male and female leads would get married and have a happy ending when they were in their late twenties.
In case Song Zhizhi really managed to win over Pei Jianhan, she might actually beat me.
So, I had to compress time as much as possible and achieve something as soon as possible.
I studied day and night, forgetting about eating and sleeping.
Once, when I was looking up information online, a junior high school classmate asked me.
[“It’s been so long since school started. Why haven’t I seen you in class? Are you okay? Do you need any help?”]
So kind-hearted?
The tone didn’t seem like that of my junior high school classmate.
I tested it.
[“Ren Haochen?”]
[“It’s me.”]
[“Why are you using someone else’s account?”]
[“I bought this account.”]
I: “…”
Logically speaking, I should have just silently blocked him.
But I’m the kind of person who holds grudges.
I said,
“Oh, I’ve already skipped a grade and started high school. Don’t come to harass me in the future. Our IQs are not on the same level. I’m on the top level, and you’re in the deep trench. Don’t bother trying. Go find a psychologist and learn to let go.”
After saying that, I blocked him and continued to look up information.
But while looking it up, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
I had left them far behind, and it felt really good.
The whole high school life was intense and fulfilling.
Without the influence of those people, my life was focused and full of challenges. I participated in math competitions time and time again and won prizes every time. Finally, in my senior year of high school, I was recommended for admission to the best school in this world for a combined undergraduate and postgraduate program.
At the age of sixteen, I was recommended to a famous school. During that time, there were a lot of news reports about me in the media.
Everyone called me a genius girl.
But I protected myself tightly, not accepting interviews, not showing my face, except for donations.
I had seen too much of the media’s ability to build up people and also too much of the public’s ability to tear them down.
I didn’t like others to evaluate me.
I just wanted to move forward, move forward, and move forward firmly towards my goal!
A few days before going to university, I went back to the welfare home.
The dean helped me celebrate. There were red banners hanging on the door, and everywhere was filled with a festive atmosphere.
She was in a very goodmood.
She said that thanks to my reputation, the welfare home had received a lot of donations from society.
The welfare home planned to renovate and expand so that it could take in more children in the future.
She was happy, but also a bit melancholy.
Because that meant there were still many children abandoned by their parents.
But we were all powerless. The only thing we could do was to do our own jobs well and make everything operate normally.
We ate hot pot together and watched the stars, feeling that the future was infinitely beautiful.
At this time, Song Zhizhi called.
She seemed to go crazy, crying and scolding at the same time.
“Song Manman, go to hell, go to hell, go to hell! Why don’t you just die?”
“I thought you had calmed down, but I didn’t expect you to find ways to seduce Pei Jianhan.”
“You still say you don’t want to compete with me, but in fact, no one is better than you at getting money.”
“Now you’ve got five million yuan in funding from the Pei family. Are you satisfied?”
“Pei Jianhan is always comparing me with you now. Are you happy like crazy?”
“I will never let you go.”
From her incoherent words in anger, I pieced together that the Pei family had donated five million yuan to the welfare home.
And Pei Jianhan knew that I was her sister. Now he often compared me with Song Zhizhi.
Song Zhizhi was almost driven crazy by him.
I put the phone aside and let her rant while I ate the hot pot slowly.
When she was tired of scolding, I said slowly,
“Well, you can’t be the female lead now.”
“How can a female lead be so emotionally unstable?”
“Have you ever seen a hysterical female lead?”
“Besides, every female lead in a romance novel has countless hidden identities.”
“Either she’s the disciple of a big shot or the heir of a certain force.”
“Even if not, the female lead herself is also extremely excellent, outstanding in appearance, personality, academics, and abilities.”
“Where do you look like a female lead at all? By pretending to be pitiful? That’s a bit like a vicious supporting female character.”
“If you don’t improve yourself, I’m afraid you can only be the short-lived first love who dies early in the future.”
Song Zhizhi was choked speechless.
“Just you wait!!!”
Tsk!
Who cares about her.
I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She even warns before harming others.
How considerate.
After entering university, I started to get involved in the field of artificial intelligence. I completed the required credits in the shortest time and joined my tutor’s research team to work on projects with him.
In the second half of my junior year, a person joined my tutor’s team.
He was an extremely handsome man.
He introduced himself as Bai Changfeng.
As soon as I heard his unique surname, I knew he was an important figure.
When Bai Changfeng first came, he didn’t approach me immediately.
He treated me the same as other senior and junior fellow students.
He was gentle, patient, and meticulous.
He provided the materials we needed in time.
When we stayed up late, he ordered meals in advance.
When our thinking hit a bottleneck, he encouraged us and provided various ideas.
Most importantly, he could also provide a large laboratory for us to conduct experiments.
He quickly won everyone’s hearts and became the core figure in the team.
Everyone liked to turn to him when encountering difficulties.
However, I noticed one thing. He was very protective of his hands. He wouldn’t touch sharp objects, wouldn’t touch hot things, and would take precautions against anything that might hurt him.
One day, I arrived at the laboratory earlier than usual and heard him arguing with someone.
He roared angrily,
“I’ve already done what you said. What else do you want? I’ve already lost my beloved career. I will never marry a woman I don’t like.”
“This matter is not up to you. There’s no such thing as only enjoying rights and not fulfilling obligations. I’ll give you some more time to think about it. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.”
The woman slammed the door and left.
When she saw me standing outside the door, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, looked at me with contempt in her eyes, and snorted coldly.
“Are you Song Manman?”
“Don’t think about seducing Changfeng. Our family is far beyond your reach.”
“If you’re sensible, just leave on your own. Otherwise, I can make it impossible for you to stay here with just one word.”
Tsk tsk!
What indiscriminate attacks.
I hadn’t even said a word yet.
Bai Changfeng chased after her, glaring at the woman angrily.
“Don’t talk nonsense in front of my junior sister. Otherwise, I’ll make you regret it!”
The woman got furious. “How am I talking nonsense? If you didn’t have a crush on her, why would you stick so many pictures of her on the walls in your room…”
Bai Changfeng growled ferociously, “Shut up!!!”
The woman’s eyes turned red, looking as if she was about to suffocate herself, but under Bai Changfeng’s fierce gaze, she didn’t say anything more in the end.
I said,
“Sister, don’t speak so harshly. You give me money, and I’ll do things for you. If you want me to leave him, fifty thousand yuan is enough. If you want me to persuade him to accept the family-arranged marriage, the price will be a bit higher, but everything is negotiable.”
The woman was stunned.
Bai Changfeng was also stunned.
I looked at her with disdain. “Don’t you even have fifty thousand yuan? It seems you’re not from a wealthy family after all, yet you have such a big mouth.”
The woman got angry and immediately took out a card.
“Five million yuan. Make him obey me. I’ll have the final say.”
She looked at Bai Changfeng mockingly. “You have her in your heart, but she only has money in her heart. Hmph!”
I quickly said, “Sister, what’s the password?”
The woman paused, added me as a friend on her phone, and sent me a string of numbers.
I immediately smiled and said, “Sister, goodbye. Welcome to come again next time.”
The woman left even faster.
Hahaha!
Who would have thought that I was also good at playing this kind of awkward game.
Bai Changfeng stared at me deeply, his tone sounding hurt.
“Song Manman, are you that obsessed with money? Can five million yuan buy you off?”
Oh no.
This was the kind of line that an overbearing CEO would say.
I could even guess his backstory: an irresponsible father, a controlling mother, being hurt when he was young, growing up to be a yandere, having hobbies that weren’t recognized, being forced to inherit the family business without the ability to resist, and finally having an arranged marriage with a woman he didn’t like.
Was that pitiful?
The world isn’t a contest to see who’s more pitiful.
We can’t choose our original family.
But what we grow into is something we can choose.
I smiled and interrupted him.
“Before you criticize me, first prove that you don’t love money.”
“What?”
“Your words have hidden aggression. You’re attacking me for being a money-lover. Then the premise for you to attack me must be that you don’t love money. Only those who don’t love money and regard money as dirt are qualified to use such words to attack others. Please prove that you don’t love money, and also prove that five million yuan is a small amount of money to you.”
Bai Changfeng had nothing to say.
Because just one piece of his clothing could cost tens of thousands of yuan, a cufflink could cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, and a watch could cost millions of yuan.
I sneered. “You’re standing in a pile of money and accusing others of loving money. How ridiculous!”
Bai Changfeng frowned. “Do you have something against me?”
“Do you know Song Zhizhi?”
His expression changed.
I knew it.
This time, Song Zhizhi had changed her strategy.
She really found a high-quality man and sent him to my side, trying to make me fall in love.
As long as I fell in love, it would be a so-called balanced plot.
She would become the female lead, and I would be just an added bonus.
How vicious.
Bai Changfeng explained,
“I do know Song Zhizhi. I know that you two are sisters, but I’m not here because of her. I’m here for you. I’m very optimistic about your future. I hope that you can join our Bai family’s group in the future. But before that, I need to get to know you first and see your abilities.”
“How’s your evaluation?”
“You’re excellent. You’ll surely achieve great things in the future.”
“Thank you for the compliment, but what’s your way to make me join the Bai family’s group? Do you want me to work as a senior executive in your company after graduation? Provide me with a laboratory so that I can focus on technology, write code, and study algorithms? Or give me shares to keep me? Or even ask me to marry you?”
After I said “marry you”, Bai Changfeng’s eyes flickered.
I was shocked at first, and then finally understood.
“Don’t tell me that you’re not really interested in artificial intelligence at all and just want to marry a wife who understands artificial intelligence to deal with your family?”
“Is that what Song Zhizhi convinced you with?”
This kind of thought process was really fantastical, but it turned out to be true.
I couldn’t help but clap my hands in admiration.
“Bai Changfeng, what does a wife mean to you? Is she a tool for you to satisfy your family? You don’t dare to resist your family yourself, but you’re reluctant to give up the resources provided by your family, so you want a woman to solve these problems for you. You’re really despicable.”
It’s just like some despicable men who don’t want to deal with the conflicts between themselves and their parents.
They push their wives out to handle these things instead.
They don’t want to deal with household chores and social interactions, so they let their wives do it. And then they get a good reputation for being good at handling things because they married a good wife.
If their wives can’t do it well, they can easily shift the blame onto them: “You’re not filial to your parents and don’t understand social norms. What’s the use of you?”
If I really married Bai Changfeng.
If I achieved something, it would be because Bai Changfeng had a discerning eye and married a good wife.
If I achieved nothing, he could also justifiably stand among the crowd and criticize me, and then tell his father with a sense of superiority, “I told you that success in artificial intelligence isn’t that easy.”
He was really calculating.
Bai Changfeng’s face darkened.
“There’s no need to put it so harshly. It’s a mutually beneficial thing, isn’t it?”
“Where’s the benefit for me?”
“The Bai family is a well-known wealthy family, something you can’t reach even if you work hard all your life.”
A faint sneer appeared on my face.
“The Bai Changfeng who regards money as dirt also starts to use money to suppress others? It seems that you’re not that uninterested in money after all!”
“Take down the pictures of me in your room. You’re infringing on my right to portrait. If I had evidence, I would really sue you.”
Bai Changfeng’s face turned completely black.
He walked away quickly, as if he couldn’t wait to get as far away from me as possible.
After this incident,
Bai Changfeng probably lost his fascination with me.
I also lost my good impression of him.
In novels, a lot of ink is often used to praise the male lead and the important male supporting characters beside him, as if they were the moon in the sky and the snow on the mountain peaks, and it’s such a remarkable thing to win their favor.
It unconsciously demeans the female lead and other female characters.
I think this love game based on the plot at the beginning also hoped that I would follow Song Zhizhi’s path.
Competing with her for Pei Jianhan’s affection, being ridiculed and hit by the male friends around Pei Jianhan, and finally turning things around, using my kindness, beauty, and truth to move them, and having a happy ending where the lovers get married.
But that’s a path I’m not good at.
In reality, I also once thought about pleasing my parents like Song Zhizhi, acting coquettishly with them, and being willful to win their love.
But I couldn’t do it.
I’m only good at studying.
People’s lives are short, and we should do things we’re good at.
Competing with others in areas we’re not good at is a stupid thing to do.
So, in reality, I gave up on family affection.
Here in the game world, I can only choose the path of scientific research.
Anyone who tries to stop me from becoming a strong, independent female lead will be treated as an enemy.
Not long after that, I found that my computer was missing.
Bai Changfeng looked apologetic.
“Sorry, Manman. I accidentally spilled coffee on your computer, and it started smoking. I took the old one to be repaired and asked someone to buy you a new one. It’s the latest model. See if you like it.”
He casually took out the new computer and handed it to me.
His computer was indeed much better than my original one.
But for those of us in this field, what we care about is the data in the computer!
Seeing my angry eyes, he curled the corners of his mouth with a hidden smile.
He whispered in my ear,
“I’ve already deleted your pictures. You don’t deserve to stay by my side, but you don’t want to stay in this field either. As long as I’m here, I’ll make sure you achieve nothing!!”
He turned around to leave.
I gently stretched out my foot and tripped him.
He stumbled forward and fell, staggered a few steps, and casually propped himself up. Although he managed to stand still, his palm pressed on a pile of parts, and a sharp part immediately pierced his hand.
Droplets of blood fell down one by one.
He was clearly in great pain with a distorted expression on his face.
But the first thing he did was to look at his own hand.
I quickly apologized, “Senior Bai, how are you? Hurry up and go to the hospital. Why were you so careless? Tripping over while walking.”
Bai Changfeng looked at me.
That look clearly saw through that I did it on purpose.
I smiled back at him.
Yes, it was on purpose.
I never expected anything from the people around the male lead. If Ren Haochen could deceive me for Song Zhizhi’s sake, there was no reason for me to trust Bai Changfeng.
Even if he pretended to be nice, like a sweet candy, I was still afraid that there was arsenic inside.
There were always a pile of parts placed not far from my desk.
I had calculated Bai Changfeng’s height, considered the strength and direction of my foot movement, and envisioned all kinds of possibilities.
What happened today was just a replay of what I had imagined in my mind.
Fortunately, I was lucky.
And he was unlucky.
Everything happened so coincidentally. I just accidentally stretched out my foot, that’s all.
I stared back at him without flinching. In this way, we were even.
Bai Changfeng rushed to the hospital in a hurry.
He didn’t come for several consecutive days.
We went to visit him.
His hand was wrapped in gauze, and he looked dejected.
When he saw our group of people coming in, his gaze passed over the others and landed directly on me.
“Manman, I took your computer to be repaired, but it still couldn’t be fixed. All the data in it was lost. I’m really sorry.”
I didn’t care at all.
“Senior Bai, it doesn’t matter. You were too hasty that day. I forgot to tell you that I had backed up the files ten times. The data is safe and sound. Thank you for the new computer. I like it very much. However, senior, will your hand be able to hold a scalpel in the future?”
Bai Changfeng’s eyes turned red.
Everyone was stunned.
“Ah? Isn’t Senior Bai engaged in artificial intelligence? Why is he involved in medicine again?”
“He has always liked medicine, but he was forced by his family to work in artificial intelligence.”
At that moment, everyone felt sorry for him.
Bai Changfeng couldn’t bear it.
He was used to being high and mighty. Usually, he was the one who looked at others like they were ants. When had he ever been looked at with such pity by others?
He said, “I’m tired!”
A group of people tactfully said goodbye.
He called me and said he wanted to have a few words with me.
I stopped and looked at him boredly.
He said coldly,
“Although my hand can’t hold a scalpel anymore, it can still do other things.”
“Song Manman, you’ll never be able to escape from my palm for the rest of your life. I’m even more interested in you now.”
I smiled slightly and complained to my phone,
“Sister, did you hear that? You should take good care of Changfeng at home!”
“His hand is injured, and his heart is also bad. He even wants to do illegal and criminal things. Won’t he kidnap and imprison me?”
“He’s that yandere who pasted my pictures all over his room. How scary.”
“You should take good care of him in the future. I’m really worried about your Bai family! Sigh.”
Bai Changfeng was stunned.
I hung up the phone with a slight curl of my lips.
I had already called his mother when I arrived at the hospital.
His mother didn’t dare to hurt his hand.
I did!
His mother should even thank me.
I smiled maliciously.
“Goodbye! Doctor Bai.”
Doctor Bai who could never be a doctor in this life.
What’s the use of him being a doctor?
Except for dressing Song Zhizhi’s wounds and treating Pei Jianhan’s headaches.
He didn’t really do anything practical.
It was as if patients didn’t exist in his world.
Since there were no patients, it didn’t matter whether he was a doctor or not.
It’s better to let him be an ordinary rich second generation to avoid him developing medical skills and going further down the path of being a yandere.
Later, Bai Changfeng withdrew from the team.
I heard that his mother was afraid that he would really do something illegal and criminal, so she took him directly home from the hospital and strictly controlled his money.
Bai Changfeng had no money left, and he became more obedient.
When I was in my doctoral program, I heard that he had an arranged marriage with a wealthy young lady.
Their wedding photos were spread on the Internet.
The man was a noble young master from a wealthy family, and the woman was a real wealthy young lady.
Both were good-looking, looking at each other affectionately, with happy smiles on their faces. They really looked like a perfect match made in heaven.
The luxury of their wedding shocked the whole Internet.
Countless people witnessed this wealthy family’s wedding online.
I took a glance and then put it aside.
I was afraid that if I looked at it too much, I would be envious and jealous.
Because I didn’t have that much money.
When I graduated with a doctorate degree, the algorithm I developed applied for a patent. My tutor and I established a company together, and our project was cooperated with the government and protected by the government.
Our products achieved breakthroughs in practical application fields, and numerous famous enterprises extended olive branches, wanting to get a share of the profits.
I saw the information of the Pei family among a pile of enterprise materials, and the person in charge was Pei Jianhan.
At the project negotiation meeting, Pei Jianhan came with his secretary and Song Zhizhi.
The Pei family showed great sincerity, and the cooperation conditions were very favorable.
After not seeing each other for several years, he looked more mature and steady, with an elite and overbearing CEO air all over him. He was unsmiling, with deep and profound eyes, his lips tightly pursed, still looking as if he had a lot of bitterness in his heart.
Song Zhizhi had become even more beautiful and delicate, looking more fragile.
When she looked at Pei Jianhan, there was a deep possessiveness in her eyes.
But when she looked elsewhere, she seemed very confused.
Obviously, over the years, besides revolving around men, she hadn’t learned any real skills. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have such clear eyes that hadn’t been tainted by knowledge.
After the negotiation meeting ended, Song Zhizhi stopped me.
“Give this project to the Pei family.”
I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows and smiled.
“Do you talk to Pei Jianhan like this too?”
Song Zhizhi seemed a bit awkward.
“Of course not. You’re different from him.”
“How are we different?”
“Do I have to spell it out? He’s from a wealthy family. What are you? Besides, what’s the point of you going to great lengths to get involved? Hmph! Just waiting to be looked down upon?”
She curled the corners of her mouth with a malicious smile.
Yeah!
What’s the point of getting involved?
My parents disliked me, and my relatives and friends looked down on me.
In the real world, I was the weakest weed.
Here, I was an elite at the top of the industry with a bright future.
But I’m a vengeful person.
If I don’t take revenge, I won’t be able to live a comfortable life.
Besides, how could I let my enemies live happily ever after?
That would be my dereliction of duty.
I said calmly,
“What does the Pei family have to do with you? Are you the daughter-in-law of the Pei family?”
“Wait until you become the daughter-in-law of the Pei family before speaking for the Pei family.”
“The Pei family is a wealthy family, and I’m a female doctor. What are you? A useless woman?”
“You haven’t been recognized by the Pei family for so many years. You’re really not good enough!”
I looked at Pei Jianhan with a reproachful gaze and then turned away disdainfully.
Pei Jianhan’s face darkened, and Song Zhizhi quickly ran over, looking obsequious.
I don’t know what they said.
Pei Jianhan pushed Song Zhizhi away and left in big strides.
The female secretary beside Pei Jianhan said sternly,
“Hmph, don’t follow Mr. Pei anymore. You said Ms. Song was your sister and you could help, so Mr. Pei brought you here.”
“But you’ve offended Ms. Song. If this project can’t be obtained, do you know how much loss it will bring to the Pei family?”
Yes, I knew!
It was a loss of tens of billions.
In order to make this loss a reality,
I finalized the cooperation with the Long family, the Pei family’s rival, to develop this project.
The Long family had an official background, a down-to-earth working style, and strong financial resources, which could provide sufficient guarantee for the implementation of subsequent projects.
They only lacked technology.
And we just filled this gap.
After the project cooperation was finalized, the good news was announced.
There were congratulations everywhere on the Internet.
The stock price soared all the way.
I became a hot new star in the business world, and my assets multiplied countless times.
Pei Jianhan was attacked by other members of the Pei family because of losing this project and began to lose his power.
When my colleagues and I went out to celebrate our success with drinks, we met him in the bar.
He was with Ren Haochen, Bai Changfeng and others. There were a group of women surrounding them, and there was also a beautiful woman sitting beside him.
He didn’t do anything, just let that beautiful woman show her infatuation with him.
Song Zhizhi sat quietly aside, with tears in her eyes, but she was too stubborn to let the tears fall.
She looked like she had been badly tortured.
She wanted to leave.
Pei Jianhan said coldly, “If you leave, don’t ever come back.”
Song Zhizhi hesitated for a moment and finally sat down, lowering her head and not saying a word.
Pei Jianhan ordered coldly, “Raise your head and open your eyes wide to watch! Song Zhizhi, this is what you owe me.”
Watching that beautiful woman feed Pei Jianhan wine, pick up food for him, light cigarettes for him, and whisper in his ear, with a graceful figure and every move full of charm,
I thought it was quite tempting.
I wished I were Pei Jianhan.
This guy was really enjoying himself.
Song Zhizhi’s tears fell down one by one.
Ren Haochen couldn’t bear to watch it and started to worry about Song Zhizhi.
Bai Changfeng took a deep puff of his cigarette, with a trace of hidden possessiveness in his eyes.
I finally understood something.
Over the years, we hadn’t wasted our time in our respective fields.
I had reached the peak of technology and achieved financial freedom.
She had become quite proficient in handling men and presenting herself as both pure and seductive.
Although Pei Jianhan was torturing her now, if he really didn’t care, how could he be so resentful?
I suddenly felt that maybe Song Zhizhi really had a chance to have a tortured but deep love story with Pei Jianhan and become the female lead.
I needed to speed up.
I left the bar and started to work overtime.
Pei Jianhan was also working overtime and got involved with Song Zhizhi.
He said, “You owe me.”
But in fact, he was even more passionate.
Song Zhizhi was crying and saying, “Let me go.”
But in fact, she clung to him even tighter.
Three months later, Song Zhizhi ran away with the baby.
Pei Jianhan rushed into our company like crazy and was stopped by the security guards. He shouted that he wanted to see me.
I didn’t see him.
But I had someone give him Song Zhizhi’s escape route, including the places where she might hide and who helped her, all listed clearly.
Go away, you crazy guy.
Go find that crazy woman.
Don’t affect me making money here.
Before long, Song Zhizhi was caught.
She thought that this time leaving could make Pei Jianhan realize that he loved her.
But in fact, she was caught too quickly, and Pei Jianhan was only angry and didn’t come to his senses at all.
He took her to have an abortion immediately.
Song Zhizhi didn’t want to, but Pei Jianhan drugged her and sent her directly to the operating table.
I had someone expose the fact that Pei Jianhan chased his wife across borders, used his privileges to force her to have an abortion.
As a result, everyone’s滤镜 (illusion, filter) about him as a noble young master from a wealthy family and an elite CEO was shattered.
Without those halos, he was just a lawbreaker.
Pei Jianhan was taken away by the police.
Forcing others to have an abortion is a serious illegal and criminal act. Depending on the severity of the circumstances, he could face imprisonment of three to ten years.
Bai Changfeng, who helped Pei Jianhan complete this series of operations, was also implicated and arrested.
And Ren Haochen had already broken off friendship with Pei Jianhan because he helped Song Zhizhi escape.
The male lead and his group of friends were all wiped out.
Song Zhizhi came to find me like crazy as soon as she recovered.
I was quite interested in seeing the show, so I let her in.
She was crying bitterly.
“Are you crazy? Why did you do this? Do you want to kill me? You have nothing when you go back. Why don’t you let me go back? Why?”
I was a bit disappointed, yet also a bit admiring.
I was disappointed that I thought she would ask about Pei Jianhan first.
I admired that the first thing she thought of was that she couldn’t complete the task.
I said calmly, “Have you forgotten how I was hit?”
In reality, at the very first moment of the earthquake, I called her to run downstairs.
But she fell down in a panic and then simply hugged my leg tightly, grabbing the hem of my trousers, not wanting me to run.
Later, with the shaking, before I could react, I was hit by the falling ceiling and passed out.
I really couldn’t understand.
We were sisters.
Why did we have to hate each other?
Song Zhizhi came to her senses and looked at me with resentment in her eyes.
“Blame your kindness.”
“We are sisters.”
“So what? There’s only one share of resources at home. If you have it, I don’t. Blame it on our poor family. If they raised you, they shouldn’t have raised me.”
I understood.
Thanks to her for answering my question.
Then don’t blame me for being ruthless.
I said coldly, “Get out of here! If you want to be the female lead, go figure out a way to get your male lead out.”
Song Zhizhi gave me a fierce glare and hurried to rescue Pei Jianhan.
And I looked at her back and couldn’t help but smile.
Can a criminal still be the male lead?
It turned out that the answer was no.
Song Zhizhi, in order to get Pei Jianhan out of prison earlier, said that she had the abortion voluntarily, not because she was forced, but because she was too scared and made a fool of herself.
The Pei family, in order to reverse the declining situation, let Pei Jianhan marry Song Zhizhi. The two registered their marriage in prison.
Song Zhizhi couldn’t wait to post their marriage certificate online.
Then, she was greeted with a flood of curses.
People on the Internet all said that they hadn’t seen such a despicable person for a long time.
She was clearly forced but still tried to whitewash the criminal.
And all the things she did to chase Pei Jianhan in the past were dug out again and criticized by people.
Song Zhizhi’s reputation was completely ruined.
Pei Jianhan was also boycotted.
People couldn’t imagine why someone would fall in love with the person who killed their mother.
[“Let these crazy couple be locked together forever and never come out again!”]
Pei Jianhan was sentenced to prison.
The Pei family, in order to avoid the decline of the stock price, quickly chose a new heir.
My new company established with the Long family happened to announce the launch of our product at this time. The new product directly led to an industry upgrade and completely outperformed the Pei family’s products.
The Pei family, which was already on the verge of collapse, was completely ruined after this.
Three years later, I won the industry award, received official commendations, published many papers, and obtained several more patents. I became the well-deserved leader in the industry.
I gave a speech on the stage of the industry summit.
Pei Jianhan, with a gloomy face, and Song Zhizhi, with a numb expression, were sitting in the audience.
After Pei Jianhan came out of prison, he completely hated Song Zhizhi.
Their lives were like fire and water.
The most desperate thing for Song Zhizhi was that she didn’t hear the system’s prompt that she had become the female lead.
She probably understood in her heart that from the moment Pei Jianhan went to prison, he was no longer the male lead.
Since he wasn’t the male lead, she naturally wasn’t the female lead either.
She was eager to get a divorce and look for the next male lead.
But Pei Jianhan refused to let her go.
He married her with the hatred of his mother’s death in his heart, just wanting to torture her for the rest of her life.
The two of them were completely at odds.
While I was looking straight ahead, with a bright smile on my face, gracefully explaining my understanding and prospects for the industry’s development.
I won a round of applause.
At the moment when I received the trophy, I heard the cheerful prompt sound of the system.
[“Congratulations! You have won the first place in the vote and become the well-deserved strong, independent female lead. You will obtain the qualification for rebirth. The system is about to start the transmission… Three, two…”]
I bowed to the audience and ended with a perfect curtain call.
Song Zhizhi also heard the prompt sound. She panicked and left Pei Jianhan behind, rushing towards me, but was grabbed by Pei Jianhan on the wrist and couldn’t move.
The last scene I saw was that she was struggling to break free from him, while he was gripping her tightly with hatred in his eyes.
A tortured yet deep love story, that’s probably what it looked like.
Finally, they both shattered into pieces like mosaics, then disappeared into nothingness, turning into complete darkness…
In the real world,
I opened my eyes.
I saw a group of concerned smiling faces.
“She’s awake. She finally woke up.”
“Congratulations! You’re still alive.”
“Your will to survive is so tenacious. No one has ever wanted to live as much as you do.”
I smiled gently and said softly, “Thank you. Where are my parents and sister?”
Everyone fell silent for a while.
“Just have a good rest first. They’re all fine. They’ll come to see you when they recover.”
Later, I naturally found out that they were all dead.
It was actually a not-so-serious earthquake, and the number of deaths was limited.
But unfortunately, they were unlucky.
My parents were killed by a falling billboard.
My sister and I were hit by the falling ceiling.
In the end, my sister died, and I survived.
I received a huge amount of compensation.
Now everyone sympathizes with me.
Saying that I’m both pitiful and lucky.
Saying that they don’t know whether to congratulate me or offer condolences.
Finally, thousands of words just turned into a sigh.
On the day I was discharged from the hospital, I got into the car alone. The car quickly merged into the traffic.
I fell into a deep sleep in the car, with a peaceful heart. Everything in the game and in reality flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.
I had lost before, and I had won too.
But none of that really mattered.
My biggest gain was that I had the ability to survive on my own, and I also understood a truth.
As long as you don’t give up at this moment, you’ll still have a chance to win in the next moment!
And there are countless next moments in life.
