Hearing this, Su Yinwan looked at Shang Shaojing with a face full of emotion.
"Thank you, Mr. Shang, but it's not necessary; I haven't been wronged."
After she spoke, she lowered her gaze, a faint glimmer of darkness passing through the depths of her eyes.
Is this really what it's like to have the protagonist's halo?
The feeling of being protected unconditionally by the male lead was truly unlike the bitterness of being a supporting female character.
She was no longer the real Su Yinwan; instead, she was a host dispatched by the Time-Space Administration to this crumbling novel world to carry out a mission.
She had no name, only a cold string of numbers—7203—representing her status within the entire Time-Space Administration through her points.
Due to her low status, in the past, every role she undertook was that of a tormented supporting female character within these minor worlds.
But hard work pays off, and after two hundred years of diligent labor, she finally accrued enough points to redeem the role of a protagonist for the first time in her life.
But this mission was quite out of the ordinary.
Because this novel world was falling apart.
Due to forces beyond control, the characters in the book began to awaken one by one, gaining the ability to act independently of the plot.
And as a member of the Time-Space Administration, she absolutely could not tolerate this situation continuing to unravel.
Looking towards the departing black Cayenne, the color in Su Yinwan's eyes deepened, and she murmured in a voice that others couldn't hear, conversing with the system:
"001, are you certain that Jiang Li is the character most severely affected by the collapse?"
[I am certain, Host.]The mechanical voice replied, [Therefore, you must stop the world from continuing to collapse at all costs. Upon completing the mission, you will receive a large amount of points and will have the right to select from among the management.]
Su Yinwan was quite tempted.
But clearly, from the situation tonight, this task was not simple.
When she had arrived in this world, it had already begun to collapse; the current plot should have been her getting kidnapped by Jiang Li, only to be rescued in time by the male lead Shang Shaojing.
This event was the key to triggering Jiang Li's character's downfall, but despite deliberately disappearing for several days, she had yet to wait for someone to come and kidnap her.
The Jiang Family had even successfully annulled the engagement with the Qiao Family.
Fearing that the plot would collapse further, she decided to take the initiative immediately, drawing the attention of Jiang Li's top follower, Xiang Hao, provoking him to kidnap her to complete this part of the story.
But it still failed.
Even Xiang Hao was beginning to fall apart.
She must think of another way to make Jiang Li and the entire Jiang Family stick to the original script.
-
Inside the sedan, Jiang Yan looked at Jiang Li seated in the passenger seat, his expression complicated once more.
Because at that moment, Jiang Li was engrossed in a thick "Civil Code."
It was then that he realized the criminal law she blurted out at the bar wasn't made up on the spot.
But when had Jiang Li become so ambitious?
Reading a book even while in a car?
Jiang Li turned a page, her gaze not shifting in the slightest, though her lips moved slightly.
"If you don't focus on driving, I might just report you to the traffic police."
Her cold, unfeeling words forced Jiang Yan to focus on the road ahead.
"Damn it, would you really put righteousness before family?"
"Under the law, everyone is equal," Jiang Li said calmly.
The Daqi Dynasty that she previously lived in was a nation that valued its laws; even the poorest households would have a copy of the "Daqi Laws."
After being influenced by this spirit for over a decade, once she returned to the modern era, she naturally continued to follow it.
Furthermore, the legal system of Hua Country was even more comprehensive and advanced, and the various moral rules embedded in it could help her better understand and integrate into this era that felt somewhat foreign to her.
Jiang Li's righteousness temporarily shut Jiang Yan up, but after a few minutes, he couldn't stand the silence and spoke again.
"So, what you just said back there, was it all true?"
"What's all true?"
"Really?" Jiang Yan bit down on her teeth, "Are you saying you're really not interested in Shang Shaojing?"
"What else?" Jiang Li answered indifferently.
And her casual attitude further confirmed her lack of interest in Shang Shaojing.
Jiang Yan had completely changed his opinion about Jiang Li.
"Damn—Jiang Li, have you really moved on? Then why were you so crazy about that Mr. Shang in the past? It was as if you wanted to drag him straight to the civil affairs office to get a marriage certificate."
"Oh." Jiang Li flipped another page of her book, "Just pretend I had water in my brain."
Jiang Yan: ???
Cursing herself?
There was no need to be so harsh.
While they were talking, Jiang Li's phone rang. She closed her book and slowly took out her phone to her ear.
But after dozens of seconds, there was no sound from the other end.
Jiang Li frowned, looked at the screen to confirm the call was connected, and curiously said "Hello?"
Finally, there was a sound from the receiver, a faint male voice.
"When, when are you coming back?"
She paused for a moment, recognized the voice, and emotionlessly opened the book again on her lap.
"What's wrong?"
"I... I'm hungry." The faint voice explained, "I can't eat anything the auntie made at home, so can you, can you..."
"Mhm, I know, wait for me to come back."
Hearing Jiang Li's voice, which was so different from the tone she had used in response to him, Jiang Yan started to tease her with sly looks and sarcasm.
"Ha, I was wondering why you lost interest in Shang Shaojing, turns out you've got a new target. Tell me, who is it this time? Surely you're not going to shamelessly cling to someone at every opportunity again, right?"
Jiang Li turned off her phone and looked at him with a gaze full of indifference.
"What are you talking about? That's your brother."
Jiang Yan: ?
"Brother?" His tone suddenly rose several decibels, and after much contemplation, he extracted a piece of memory, "Are you talking about Jiang Cheng? Why would he call you?"
"It's Jiang Shixu."
"What???"
Those few words made Jiang Yan even more shocked, to the point that he eased off the gas pedal.
Jiang Shixu?
That kid who always stayed locked in his room, never stepping out the front or back door, to the point where you wouldn't even know if he was dead or alive?
How could that be possible?
"What joke are you making?" Jiang Yan said, "That kid buries his head at the sight of anyone, how could he possibly call you?"
Jiang Li spoke softly: "Isn't that your problem? Instead of blaming others, you should examine yourself more."
Jiang Yan: "....."
He should've shut up earlier!
-
By the time she returned to the Jiang Family's home, it was already midnight.
The whole villa was quiet, without a sound.
However, just as Jiang Yan turned on the living room light, he saw a thin figure on the sofa.
Startled, he yelled out loud, then frowned in displeasure.
"Fuck, who's there? Sitting motionless in the dark in the middle of the night, not even turning on a light, you almost scared me to death!"
The figure moved, quickly shrank back, stood up, lowered his head to apologize, and then swiftly ran upstairs.
Seeing this, Jiang Li, with an icy expression, kicked Jiang Yan's shin.
"Why are you yelling so loudly? You scared Shixu away."