Xie Zhaoyuan picked up the cushion from the floor and slumped back into the sofa: "Do you want to hear the truth, or a lie?"

Shen Yan raised her foot and lightly kicked her knee: "Of course it's the truth!"

Xie Zhaoyuan: "The truth is... I don't know how I transmigrated here. I only remember that I was dead, but I never expected that when I opened my eyes again, I would have transmigrated to this world."

"Dead? Dead?" Shen Yanhui's eyes widened in astonishment. "You died once in your original world?"

“Yes.” Xie Zhaoyuan spoke in a very relaxed tone, as if she wasn’t the one who had died once. “I really did die once, tormented to death by cancer.”

"What kind of cancer?" Shen Yan put the bowl in her hand on the coffee table, having lost all interest in eating strawberries.

Xie Zhaoyuan said, "Pancreatic cancer is the king of cancers."

“…Huh?” Shen Yanhui’s eyes widened in astonishment, her throat feeling like it was blocked by a wet, heavy piece of cotton, making it impossible for her to speak.

"Why that look?" Xie Zhaoyuan glanced at her sideways, her expression somewhat arrogant. "What, are you pitying me?"

Shen Yan didn't answer, but instead asked her, "How old were you when you died?"

Xie Zhaoyuan: "Twenty-four years old."

“Twenty-four…” Shen Yanhui’s brows slowly furrowed. “One year younger than Qin Song.”

“Yes.” Xie Zhaoyuan smiled slightly. “Because I died once, strictly speaking, I am not a transmigrator, but a reborn person. I was reborn into this world.”

"Then... were you happy in your original world?" Shen Yan stared at her intently, her eyes filled with a jumble of emotions. There seemed to be a hint of sympathy, a touch of reluctance, and the rest was heavy with inner turmoil and pain.

Xie Zhaoyuan shook her head: "I'm not happy, not happy at all."

Shen Yan asked, "Why?"

Xie Zhaoyuan pouted: "Because there's nothing to be happy about."

“I was born into a blended family. Neither my biological father nor my stepmother liked me. I grew up amidst beatings, scoldings, and scheming, living a repressed life for twenty years. When I was twenty, I finally became financially independent and moved out of that suffocating home. But God didn’t want me to have an easy time. Just as I was about to start a new life, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.”

"Pancreatic cancer is the king of cancers. I gritted my teeth and fought it for four years, but in the end I still died at its hands."

Shen Yan bit her lip, the struggle in her eyes gradually dissipating.

Xie Zhaoyuan sighed almost imperceptibly, then turned her gaze somewhat dazedly at the bright view outside the door.

"My life was short and frustrating. I fought against fate for so long, unwilling to accept it, but in the end, I died alone on my sickbed..."

"It's good that you were reborn; you still have hope for happiness." Shen Yan smiled at her.

"Hmm!" Her eyes suddenly lit up, and the sadness and despair that appeared for only a moment quickly disappeared from her face.

"God has a conscience after all, and he gave me a second chance at life after I died. I love this world now. I have a loving family, a husband who cherishes me, a lovely son, and a group of kind and lively friends!"

"I really love it here!"

"Yes." Shen Yanhui nodded with a smile. "Xie Zhaoyuan, do you include me among those kind and lively friends you mentioned?"

Xie Zhaoyuan raised an eyebrow, deliberately feigning reluctance: "It barely includes, covering two-thirds."

"Why only two-thirds?" Shen Yanhui protested. "Where did the other third go?"

Xie Zhaoyuan: "There's still a third of them out there! I haven't forgiven you yet, so of course I can't include them all."

"..." Shen Yan was speechless, but after a moment, she suddenly laughed.

"Xie Zhaoyuan, you are much more lively than before."

"Really?" Xie Zhaoyuan winked playfully. "Maybe it's because I'm in a good mood every day right now."

"Mm." Shen Yanhui's smile deepened, and her gaze towards Xie Zhaoyuan softened considerably.

Xie Zhaoyuan was bored during her postpartum confinement, and after finally getting into a lively conversation, she didn't want the atmosphere to cool down.

Although she hadn't forgiven Shen Yanhui, she got along very well with him. She brought up a few more topics and chatted with Shen Yanhui about this and that.

Shen Yanhui is currently unemployed and would be bored alone at home, so she decided to stay and keep Xie Zhaoyuan company to chat and relieve her boredom. She even ate lunch at Xie's house.

I stayed at the Xie family's house for several hours, and it was already 3:30 pm when I left.

The sky was overcast, as if a snowstorm was imminent.

Xie Zhaoyuan escorted Shen Yan back to the door, casually reminding her, "The weather's been bad lately, drive carefully."

"Oh?" Shen Yan Hui found it quite novel. "Didn't you say you hadn't forgiven me yet? Why are you already worried about my safety?"

Xie Zhaoyuan: "..."

"Then I'll withdraw."

"Withdraw what?" Shen Yan glared at her. "We've already shown our concern, why would we take it back?"

Xie Zhaoyuan: "I have no shame."

Shen Yan replied, "...I'm too lazy to talk to you, I'm leaving."

Xie Zhaoyuan leaned against the doorway, watching her slowly walk under the gloomy sky.

"Shen Yanhui." She suddenly called out to Shen Yanhui.

Shen Yan turned her head: "What are you doing?"

Xie Zhaoyuan: "If you have nothing better to do, come and help me take care of the kids. Don't just stay at home and brainstorm those stupid, nonsensical ideas with that broken system."

"Okay." Shen Yan waved to her. "I'm leaving."

"Hey!" Xie Zhaoyuan called out to her again.

She stopped and turned around abruptly: "What?"

Xie Zhaoyuan stroked her chin and asked curiously, "You've told me so many bad things about the system, won't the system hear you?"

"Probably," Shen Yanhui said nonchalantly. "Oh well, I don't care. It screwed me over so badly, I deserve to be scolded!"

“That’s true,” Xie Zhaoyuan agreed.

"He's really leaving now." Shen Yan waved to her again, then turned and continued walking out.

Xie Zhaoyuan: "Bye-bye..."

[Host, have you been moved by Xie Zhaoyuan?]

The mechanical female voice suddenly rang out just as Shen Yanhui reached the front gate of the Xie family villa.

She stopped in her tracks and remained silent.

【hehe……】

The mechanical female voice chuckled mockingly twice.

[Host, are you planning to sacrifice yourself to protect Xie Zhaoyuan?]

Shen Yanhui pursed her lips and responded in her heart: "Protect her? Xie Zhaoyuan hasn't done anything wrong. She should be alive. What's this talk of protecting her?"

Mechanical female voice: [If she's alive, then the host's life is in danger.]

Shen Yan replied, "I said I would find a way to maximize my favorability myself."

[Find a way yourself? Hahahaha!]

The mechanical female voice suddenly burst into laughter, sending chills down Shen Yanhui's spine.

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