When Yue Ran took the first bite of her dessert, she let out a small little moan of delight, ignoring the coughing noise made by Yang Chi.
"Yang Chi's data is loading," her system, Ruan Ruan, informed her.
This may have been a normal dessert, but it was perfection. This red velvet cheesecake is creamy, moist, and flavorful, with each ingredient complementing the other perfectly, especially with the white chocolate shavings on the top layer of icing. The taste is so rich and flavorful, but not quite enough to be too heavy and decadent.
This red velvet cheesecake definitely hits the perfect ratio of cake to cheesecake. She still wants another slice.
"Yang Chi's favorability +5"
"Yang Chi's current favorability is -5"
Yue Ran swept her eyes across the dining table and flashed her father a smile. Her eyes brushed over Yang Chi so naturally that he was unsure if she had even seen him or not.
"How much favorability does he have towards the female protagonist?" Yue Ran questioned her system in her mind.
"Yang Chi's favorability toward the female protagonist, Rui Qin, is 68."
"Hmm," she hummed lightly in response to Ruan Ruan.
Putting down the fork in her hand and dabbing her lips lightly with a napkin, she turned back towards her mother, who was also enjoying her own desert.
"Mom, why did you call me down so early?"
Instead of her mother responding, it was her father who spoke first, in a gentle voice with a hint of pampering.
"We just want to ask you when do you want to get engaged with Chi'er?"
"Engaged?" Yue Ran asked, then let the words sink in. "I'm engaged?" She asked again, not very sure if she actually heard the words right the first time.
"Yes, with Chi'er," Father Yue answered with a smile. At least his daughter wasn't running away from the conversation, unlike before, right? That's a huge improvement.
But reality has to shatter his dream into irreparable pieces for Yue Ran hugged her stomach with both hands and pretended to be uncomfortable; her beautiful features were decorated with a frown.
"Mom, Dad, you guys eat first. I have a stomachache, so I'll head up first!"
The corners of Mother Yue's mouth twitched slightly, and she complained to Father Yue. "Look, look, your daughter is behaving this way again because you spoil her so much!"
Father Yue did not refute and only smiled lightly.
Hence, Mother Yue had no choice but to turn her head to Yang Chi and say politely, "Our daughter was spoiled senseless by us, so please understand."
Yang Chi only hated Yue Ran, a noble young lady who is full of princess disease. He harbored no ill will toward the well-bred couple in front of him, so he always performed admirably in their presence.
At this moment, Yang Chi smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, "It's nothing; Ran'er is really down to earth." It was almost as if he were not the one who had shouted at Yue Ran before.
After the meal, Mother Yue brought a glass of warm milk to Father Yue, who was working in the study, and then sat by his side.
Father Yue asked with mirth in his eyes, "There's no need to contemplate so much; just ask me anything you want to."
Mother Yue sighed with knitted brows. "Our daughter and Yang Chi dislike each other so much, so can the engagement really not be dissolved?"
Hearing this, Father Yue took off the glasses he wore and placed them on the table. Pinching the bridge of his nose with his hands, he said, "You also know that this is a marriage contract between my father and the old man of the Yang family." He removed his hand and stared into Mother Yue's eyes. "And before Father died, his last wish was also for Ran'er and Yang Chi to get married," he said. "Moreover, Mr. Yang will definitely refuse to break their engagement."
Mother Yue was frowning. She knew very well that she was putting Father Yue in a difficult spot, so she could only say, "Remember to drink the milk; I'll head out first."
Father Yue only watched Mother Yue walk out of his study, and he put on his glasses again. There are still many papers from the company that he has to deal with.
☼︎ ✵ ☼︎
Now the timeline of the plot has come to the point where the male protagonist has joined the female protagonist's company. If she does not take the initiative to attack the male protagonist, the male protagonist and female protagonist will develop feelings for each other and get together, though she will be able to break them up if they ever get to that point.
Besides, in the original plot, the male protagonist never knew that the original body had helped him enter the company through the Yue family's connections. All he thought was that some kind-hearted person had finally discovered his talent and recommended him to the fashion design company.
Yue Ran would not be as stupid as the original body. It was never her style to do good deeds without leaving a name.
☼︎ ✵ ☼︎
The next day.
It was Monday, the first day of a new week in school.
Yue Ran was dressed in gothic Lolita attire. She started her day at school dressed in a sassy and sweet way.
Presently, the male protagonist, Jiang Yi, is a senior who will have his final year in university. But today will be the last time he will ever step foot in the university, for he will complete all formalities for early graduation on this very day.
So how could Yue Ran miss such a good opportunity to provoke the male protagonist?
After all, all she had to do was mess up the Lord God's plan by gaining the love of all the male protagonists and thus disrupting the plot set in this world.
The Lord God would most definitely be pissed, but that had nothing to do with her. She was caged by him, not given the choice to leave his clutches, and she had to avoid the snowballing tragedies coming her way.
Going from world to world, she had finally understood that the Lord God of her system was just a more powerful being who gained power through the "hosts" of each system he created. Each host recruited would need to follow the same set of plots, going through tragic endings and the inhumane torture of villainous female supporting characters.
In this way, these hosts would become weaker and weaker through each world plot they went through until they dissipated into nothingness, for the Lord God had completely absorbed their souls for his own growing power.
And Yue Ran had never once planned to become food for such a power-hungry Lord God.
To regain her free will, she had to find a way to escape, or better yet, a way to bring him down.
Both methods were just asking for a death wish. But what else could she do? Just crawl around in despair? As if.