Oh ho, the notorious antagonist and second male lead from the original novel—Gao Yingli. If the male lead Lu Linwei is a brooding psychopath, then this guy is undoubtedly a yandere lunatic.
In the original story, he shares plenty of intense scenes with the female lead, including but not limited to seduction, abduction, kidnapping, and confinement. Every plotline involving him is wildly thrilling, to the point where the original female lead develops PTSD just hearing his name.
Gao Yingli’s provocations are brazen and unsubtle. Hearing his words, Lu Linwei sneered coldly, "Have you forgotten how you got that scar on your neck?"
The feud between their families began with their fathers' generation, yet fate keeps forcing them into the same circles. From kindergarten through high school, they attended the same schools. Their rivalry started when they were just kids—fights were routine, betrayals and backstabbing commonplace.
Back then, neither held back. The scar on Gao Yingli’s neck? A souvenir from elementary school, courtesy of Lu Linwei’s fork when they fought over a new gaming console.
Gao Yingli’s smile darkened in response. "Don’t feel guilty. I returned the favor. Honestly, I’ve always suspected your lack of brains is due to that time I smashed a bat across your skull."
Turns out, even as kids, they were aiming for lethal blows.
With that, the gloom on Gao Yingli’s face dissipated. He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Shen Ying with a smile. "Don’t forget to call me."
But before the card could reach her, Lu Linwei slapped it away.
"There, you’ve been ‘called.’ Now scram."
Surprisingly, Gao Yingli didn’t press the issue. He chuckled and said to Shen Ying, "Till next time." Then he and his entourage stepped into the elevator. Lu Linwei’s hostile gaze didn’t waver until the doors closed.
Afterward, he insisted on driving Shen Ying home, leaving no room for refusal. She, of course, was happy for the convenience.
As the scenery blurred past the car window, Shen Ying—who had been happily drinking with a beauty earlier—now felt the buzz of intoxication.
Suddenly, Lu Linwei spoke up. "If you run into that bastard again, don’t even utter a single word to him."
Shen Ying gave him an odd look. "We’re not even from the same world. How would we cross paths again?"
Logically, she was right. But for some reason, Lu Linwei felt irked hearing it.
Grumpily, he conceded, "True. Without me, half those places wouldn’t even let you in."
"I’m just warning you—that Gao guy is bad news. Don’t let his ‘charm’ fool you into some delusional fantasy."
Shen Ying shrugged. "Really? He seemed pretty decent to me. His thoughts are all written on his face—easy to read. Straightforward people like that are kinda cute."
The car screeched to a violent halt, tires squealing.
Lu Linwei nearly choked on his own blood. He stared at her in disbelief. "Cute?!"
"Who? Gao Yingli? How much fake booze did you drink tonight?"
Shen Ying grinned. "Wow, way to insult yourself. That ‘fake booze’ was your treat."
Lu Linwei: "…"
*I’d rather you were just drunk out of your mind.*
He took a deep breath to steady himself. "Do you even know who you’re talking about?"
"There isn’t a more dangerous, vile bastard in this world than Gao Yingli."
Seeing her indifferent expression, Lu Linwei scoffed. "Gao Yingli has a younger brother. When they were kids, the brother went missing once."
"A week before the disappearance, his stepmother—the boy’s birth mother—publicly challenged Gao Yingli, hinting at a fight for inheritance. His father spent a fortune and pulled every string to get the kid back."
"They found him in a rural mountain village *several provinces away*. When he was brought home, that spoiled little chubby kid looked like a starved stray dog rolled in dirt."
"Gao Yingli was only ten at the time. To this day, his stepmother avoids him like the plague."
Lu Linwei watched Shen Ying’s reaction closely as he spoke.
But she showed no reaction—no curiosity about the details, not even bothering to question if it was true.
Just a half-hearted, "Oh? How terrifying."
Lu Linwei, thinking she didn’t believe him, was so furious at her idiocy and obliviousness his head buzzed.
But he didn’t want to waste more breath on Gao Yingli. With a derisive snort, he said, "Whatever. Like you said, you won’t see him again anyway."
"His card’s rotting on the ground now."
Shen Ying idly remarked, "I memorized the number on it, though."
Lu Linwei stiffened, then glared at her dangerously. "What’s *that* supposed to mean?"
Was she actually considering *calling* Gao Yingli?!
Shen Ying shrugged. "Nothing. I just have a good memory. The number was in my line of sight for a full two seconds—hard to forget."
Lu Linwei couldn’t tell if she was bragging about her memory or hinting at something else.
By then, the car had pulled up to Shen Ying’s apartment.
She stepped out, leaned down to the window, and smiled. "Thanks for tonight. Had fun."
As she turned to leave, Lu Linwei called out.
Then he shoved his own business card in front of her face—holding it there for a solid *three seconds*.
Finally, he said, "With *your* memory, I assume you’ve memorized my number too?"
Shen Ying smirked. "You wanna exchange contacts?"
Lu Linwei scoffed arrogantly. "Ridiculous. I just don’t believe you could memorize a number that fast. Testing you."
"Even if you *did* remember it, don’t you dare call me. I told you—you forfeited the right to contact me."
"Go on. Recite my *private number*."
Shen Ying arched a brow, giving him a *you’re-out-of-your-mind-but-I’ll-humor-you* look.
"Sorry, didn’t catch it."
Lu Linwei bristled. "Impossible! I showed it to you for *three seconds*. Or were you lying earlier?"
"Yep, just bragging. Didn’t expect you’d see through it so fast." She shrugged and headed inside.
Lu Linwei sat in the car, seething.
But he knew her—half her words were lies. Who knew what was true?
If she *had* memorized Gao Yingli’s number, given her greedy, short-sighted nature, she might actually reach out to him.
The thought gnawed at him, even as he cursed himself for wasting brainpower on a woman like her.
Meanwhile, Shen Ying was already inside.
Lu Linwei’s people were thorough—her cheap little brother Shen Yao was sound asleep in his room, cleaned up, no trace of alcohol in the air.
She took a shower and slept till noon the next day.
Upon waking, she marched into Shen Yao’s room and kicked him awake to make lunch.
Groggy, he grumbled, "Mom and Dad’ll be back in a few days."
"Once they’re home, see how you keep bossing me around."
The mention reminded Shen Ying—her cheap parents were away tending to a sick elderly relative back home.
And, of course, squabbling over family land and assets with their siblings.
The past couple of days, phone calls came in saying the elderly’s condition had stabilized, and the siblings had mostly finished their squabbles. They’d likely be returning in the next few days.
Shen Ying had no interest in dealing with her so-called parents.
This was a textbook case of a son-preferring household. The original owner of this body had to do everything at home, while her cheap little brother, being the prized boy, could just laze around.
Shen Yao, that naive fool, was easy to manipulate—just offer him some benefits and mix in a little threat, and he’d jump to her tune. But the original owner’s parents were a different story.
That inherent sense of authority they held over her wasn’t something that could be handled with a few sweet words.
Oh, it *could* be handled—Shen Ying just couldn’t be bothered to put in the effort. After all, if all she wanted was a comfortable environment to laze around in, there was no need to exhaust herself.
There were much simpler solutions.
So Shen Ying called out to the system, “Hey, System, you hear that? The original owner’s parents are coming back.”
The system was baffled: *[The female lead’s parents aren’t significant plot characters. They barely even appear after the forced abduction arc. Host doesn’t need to worry.]*
“But if they come back, I won’t be able to focus on slacking—*ahem*, dedicating myself to the mission. I demand an early change of work environment.”
*[I don’t follow. What work environment is Host referring to—]*
“The male lead’s house, of course! As the female lead, isn’t my fate to be dragged away, locked up in some sprawling mansion spanning dozens of acres, living in perpetual caution and lonely unease?”
“Hurry up with the plot already! Can’t you do something about it? Like, I don’t know, a time-skip function or something?”
The system: *[…]*
This was the first time it had encountered a female lead *eager* to rush through the plot. Logically, it should’ve been thrilled by the host’s enthusiasm, so why did it feel so stifled?
The system struggled to respond: *[Apologies, Host. This system offers a fully immersive experience. Time-skip mechanics are not supported.]*
“Then surely you can provide *some* assistance? The feature allowing players to contact the system anytime couldn’t possibly just be for casual chats, right?”
*[…Correct. However, in early worlds, due to the player’s lack of experience points, the system’s assistance is limited to minor functions that ensure emotional progression.]*
“Oh? Let me see what you’ve got.”
Reluctantly, the system opened the help menu, which looked downright pitiful.
Only two options: ‘Telepathic Bond’ and ‘Sudden Remembrance.’
‘Telepathic Bond’ was meant to enhance the player’s synchronization with the target—not useful right now.
‘Sudden Remembrance’ was self-explanatory: it made the target think of the player intermittently, ensuring steady progress in affection and favor.
Of course, there were limitations. Usage frequency was tied to favorability levels.
If the target’s affection was barely above stranger level, activating it once might require a cooldown of ten days to half a month.
This was the function’s biggest flaw: useless when favorability was too low, unnecessary when it was high.
Judging by the system’s evasive attitude, even beyond this newbie phase, these would remain restrictive, barely helpful tools for romance progression.
But for Shen Ying, this was perfect timing.
She selected the function and said, “Please activate ‘Sudden Remembrance’ on both Gao Yingli and Lu Linwei. Thanks.”
“Gao Yingli gets it half an hour before Lu Linwei.”
