Two weeks passed and there was a sudden change to the atmosphere at school. Even school tyrants who were only focused on studying could tell that things were not normal. One day, Wu Chenren seemed to have changed targets and gave Yue Linlan a confession letter in front of the whole class during recess.
All the girls were dazzled and many people cheered. Of course, those who were serious about studying frowned but the majority egged Yue Linlan to accept. Everyone knew that Yue Linlan had been chasing Wu Chenren for two years and now she finally succeeded.
"Hey! It's like a romance novel!" One girl said enviously.
"I want Wu Chenren to like me too! Why does he like Yue Linlan?" Another girl inquired.
Bai Lianhua expected all of this and her classmates also looked at her subtly as if in schadenfreude. She just ignored them because they didn't know what was going on. Wu Chenren was just acting. In fact, she had to admit he was a better actor than her for now.
Yue Linlan was in disbelief. 'Now l stopped chasing you, now you start chasing me? What kind of plot is this?' She couldn't deny that she felt a bit flattered because Wu Chenren was exceedingly handsome. Then she thought of the video Bai Lianhua sent her and immediately curbed her enthusiasm. 'Is he lying to me? Or is the video fabricated? What is going on?'
Wu Chenren pulled her out of the class and they went to the Oak tree. He pulled out his phone and showed her the video. Yue Linlan asked whether everything he said there was true. It was true but Wu Chenren wasn't about to admit it.
"Actually, it was an excerpt of a drama that l was performing for. I do acting classes from time to time and they asked us to write and perform a short excerpt using real people that we know. I'm sorry if you misunderstood me."
Yue Linlan nodded shyly: "I'm sorry then. It was me who showed this to my parents in disbelief. Do not worry...I will convince them to continue with the marriage contract."
Wu Chenren's face lit up and he gave her a big hug. He was very happy that he managed to fool her and Yue Linlan was very happy that she obtained the 'love' from her future husband. Both people were very satisfied with the situation and looked forward to the future.
--
In the middle of class, the progress bar appeared in front of Bai Lianhua and she watched the progress decrease back to 20%.
"System! What is going on? Why did the progress just decrease?"
The system was gratified that this was the last question it had to answer and then it wouldn't have to see the host until the end of the world. "Since it is the last question - l will give you some bonus information and a hint. The progress decreased because you didn't prevent Yue Linlan from getting together with Wu Chenren. If Yue Linlan gets together with Wu Chenren now then there isn't any way for her to punish you since you're no longer needed for stimulation. Remember that the client's wish was to send her to jail for her crimes... no actually l'm sorry, the mission changed just now."
Bai Lianhua felt that whoever created the system made some huge errors and mistakes. "The mission changed? Why didn't you tell me? What is it now?"
"The mission changed to punish Wu Chenren and Mei Qinghua and recover your status in the Hu family."
Genuinely confused, Bai Lianhua didn't even know how to respond: "Wait why did the mission change? And who is the Hu family?"
The system didn't want to explain such a complicated thing now but it had no choice. "You see - the mission is determined by the client. When a tasker enters the client's body, the client watches how they deal with their problems. Because you uncovered Yue Linlan's innocence, the client didn't want to harm her sister anymore. So she naturally had to change the mission. As for the Hu family, you should figure it out yourself."
"System, are you sure this is a novice task?"
"Yes, it is. Did you think that it would be as easy as those system novels you've read? In these worlds, the people are real and not stupid so not every strategy will work. You think this is hard? Hehe, wait for the next world." The system left after that and Bai Lianhua suddenly felt stumped again. 'How to move forward?' was the next thing in her mind.
She thought about her surveillance videos and then slapped herself in the face. "If l continue monitoring Wu Chenren, l will naturally be able to find Mei Qinghua. He should be going to find her so l will pay attention and go stalk them."
At the end of that day, she begged Mom Hu to take her to the mall to buy some black clothes - she needed something that would make her look less noticeable.
When they got there, she accidentally bumped into someone who looked similar. "Yue Linlan?" She asked in surprise because she remembered Yue Linlan was still at school - she'd left before her. The girl who she bumped into shook her head: "Sorry, that's not my name. My name is Mei Qinghua. Do you remember me Huahua?"
Bai Lianhua racked her brains and could not remember her at all. She even examined the original owner's memory and didn't see a Mei Qinghua. But she pretended to remember her because it would help with her plans.
"Ohhhh! Qingqing! What are you doing here? It's been a long time!"
Mei Qinghua nodded in response: "Yes, it has been. The last time l saw you, you were leaving the orphanage to get adopted. How are you doing now?"
Mom Hu interrupted the conversation to say that she needed to go somewhere urgently. Bai Lianhua promised her that she would go home by herself since the mall wasn't far from home. "I've been doing fine! I am now in the third year of middle school about to sit the exam and you?"
Mei Qinghua was envious. "Oh me? I'm not in school at the moment. My parents don't have the money for it right now. I'm working in a cafe to try and save money. I have a tutor who teaches me for free and l also want to take the high school entrance exam."
Bai Lianhua knew she was lying - there was no way that she had no money. Otherwise, how could she be with Wu Chenren who hated anyone with a poor background. She linked arms with Mei Qinghua and proposed to go to a milk tea shop to chat. She agreed and they both set off. "So Qingqing, how come l met you here? What were you doing just now?"
Mei Qinghua blushed: "I was here to buy a present for my boyfriend. He has a birthday banquet coming up and l naturally want to give him the best."
Bai Lianhua was secretly calculating in her heart. That banquet would be a great event for her to pull some tricks. "Wow! I'm envious. Who is your boyfriend by the way?" Mei Qinghua refused to say but instead enthusiastically invited her to the banquet. "Huahua, you should come as well...we can get ready together and you can be my plus one!"
Bai Lianhua was a bit surprised: "Isn't your boyfriend supposed to be your plus one? How come it is suddenly me?"
Mei Qinghua brought out some Oscar level acting - she cried beautifully and said that her boyfriend's parents had a higher status and didn't agree with them being together. So, she could only come to the ball secretly.
In a daze, Bai Lianhua nodded and invited her to a well-known salon to get ready for the ball.
They had some delicious milk tea and parted on a good note.
As Bai Lianhua was walking back, she felt happy that things looked good. With her participation in the ball, her task progress should be increased significantly. She went home and concentrated on her hacking and acting skills again for the rest of the day.
Mei Qinghua was also in a good mood after inviting Bai Lianhua. She had a plan to embarass both Yue Linlan and Bai Lianhua which was to purposefully dress the two basically the same. No one would tell the difference and let them switch identities for a while during the ball. Then Bai Lianhua will mess up on etiquette as 'Yue Linlan' and worsen her reputation. At that time, she will also broadcast the bad things she did when she was chasing Wu Chenren but Hu Lianhua will be the one convicted of the crimes and go to jail. Yue Linlan will have no choice but to continue acting as "'Hu Lianhua'. "I am so vicious", she smiled cheekily as she went back home.