After the tycoon went bankrupt, he was raised by the villainous female supporting character and beca

Shen Yanhui always thought that the system in her mind was just a high-tech product of a certain dimension, a machine, or a program.

But now this program is emitting laughter just like a human.

It laughed mockingly and smugly, as if ridiculing Shen Yanhui's naivety and foolishness.

[Host, if you had come up with another way, would you have ended up like this today?]

"...You also deserve some credit for my current predicament." Since the system was going to be sarcastic, Shen Yan Hui didn't need to talk to it politely anymore.

She sneered, her tone mocking: "If you hadn't kept misleading me, making me use the wrong methods to win over Pei Xingzhi, would I be in such a miserable state now?"

Did I mislead you?

The mechanical female voice was full of questions: "Host, when have I ever misled you? Isn't driving Xie Zhaoyuan away and becoming the only woman by Pei Xingzhi's side the best route you could take?"

I gave you the route and the method, but you didn't gain any favor with me at all. How can you blame me for that?

Shen Yan replied: "Of course it's your fault. You claim to be an all-knowing scholar, understanding everyone in this novel, but why didn't you know that Xie Zhaoyuan was also a time traveler?"

【…】

The mechanical female voice fell silent for the first time ever.

"Hmph..." Shen Yanhui rolled her eyes. "Xie Zhaoyuan is not Qin Song. She is neither a vicious female supporting character nor a mean and ruthless bad woman. You guessed her true nature wrong and misled me into using the methods for dealing with bad women to deal with her. That's why I made one wrong step after another and ended up in this irreversible situation!"

Mechanical female voice: 【…Detecting transmigrators is not the system's job.】

"Ha," Shen Yanhui was genuinely amused and exasperated. "You can't even detect a transmigrator, so what gives you the right to be sarcastic and sarcastic towards me? Did I mess things up all by myself?"

【…】

The mechanical female voice fell silent again.

Shen Yan stood there for a few seconds, but when she didn't receive a reply from the system, she decided to open the door and get into the car.

She took a few steps forward and had just opened the car door when she heard the system coldly say: "The system does indeed bear responsibility for this matter."

"Are you responsible?" Shen Yan withdrew her hand and stood by the car door, asking, "And then what?"

Mechanical female voice: [Host, don't worry. I've been trying to salvage the situation, haven't I? We're in the same boat now. If you die, I die too. I would never betray you.]

Shen Yanhui ignored this nonsense and asked only, "What methods have you come up with?"

Mechanical female voice: [I've already explained the solution: you and Xie Zhaoyuan, one will die and the other will live.]

"I don't want that!" Shen Yanhui frowned, her voice clearly filled with anger. "Xie Zhaoyuan has already died once, do you want her to die again?"

Mechanical female voice: [What does her dying several times have to do with you, host? You're barely able to take care of yourself, yet you have the leisure to pity her.]

"..." Shen Yanhui clenched her fingers, her sharp nails digging into the flesh of her palm. "Xie Zhaoyuan is innocent. She shouldn't have become a victim of this mission. I'm not willing to live on her life."

[...It seems the host has made their choice.]

The mechanical female voice suddenly softened: [The host feels sorry for Xie Zhaoyuan, is moved by Xie Zhaoyuan's sweet words, and considers Xie Zhaoyuan a friend. Therefore, the host has decided to sacrifice herself to save Xie Zhaoyuan's life. Is that right?]

Shen Yan replied, "No, why do you insist on Xie Zhaoyuan's death? She has nothing to do with our mission, so why do you have to take her life!"

【Ah……】

The mechanical female voice gave a strained laugh, followed by a tone of gritted teeth: "Host, if she doesn't die, we will. I have no other choice."

[You don't need to ask so many questions. Just tell me, have you already decided to protect Xie Zhaoyuan?]

Shen Yan gritted her teeth and said, "Yes!"

【…】

The mechanical female voice was silent for a moment, then suddenly erupted in rage.

[Foolish! To give up your own life for the life of a two-dimensional character? Did the host get their brain slammed in a door?]

"..." This was the first time Shen Yan Hui had been scolded by the system. The shock she felt at that moment outweighed her anger, and she completely forgot to fight back.

Mechanical female voice: [I suddenly remembered that the host hasn't received today's punishment yet.]

Shen Yanhui was suddenly startled: "What do you want to do?"

Mechanical female voice: [I'm just a system, what else can I do besides issuing punishments?]

Shen Yan Hui: "You—"

The moment she uttered the word "you," her heart felt as if it had been stabbed several times, and she immediately experienced a sharp, throbbing pain.

"what--"

She dropped everything she was holding, clutched her clothes tightly to her chest with both hands, and doubled over in pain.

The pain was exceptionally intense this time. She trembled and knelt on the ground, but before long, her vision went black and she fainted.

……

"Zhaozhao, are you hungry?"

After feeding Xiangxiang, Bai Ruiying carried him down from the third floor.

Xie Zhaoyuan nestled on the sofa, watching TV while eating the remaining strawberries in her bowl.

"I'm not hungry yet... so Mom, what are we having for dinner?"

Bai Ruiying smiled gently, her eyes crinkling: "We're having beef for dinner. This morning, your uncle had someone send us a very large cow leg, and I plan to use it to make a simple version of a whole cow feast."

"Hmm..." Xie Zhaoyuan thought it would taste delicious just by thinking about it.

"Giggle, come eat..."

"Try saying 'cluck' again?"

"Ah... my arm!"

A popular fantasy drama is currently airing on TV. Xie Zhaoyuan hasn't watched it yet, so she's quite interested in it.

She had finished eating the strawberries in the bowl, but she was so engrossed in watching TV that she forgot to put the empty bowl back.

"Hahaha..." She was amused by the conversation between the male and female protagonists, but after laughing, she suddenly remembered a question.

"Mom, can you hear Shen Yanhui driving?"

Bai Ruiying: "No, when did Xiao Shen leave?"

Xie Zhaoyuan looked up at the vintage clock on the TV wall, frowned and said, "She's been gone for almost ten minutes, but I haven't heard her drive at all."

"Were you so engrossed in watching TV that you didn't notice?" Bai Ruiying didn't take the matter to heart.

But Xie Zhaoyuan felt something was inexplicably wrong.

"...Never mind, I'll go out and check. It's been especially cold these past few days. If she hasn't left yet, she's probably frozen stiff at the gate."

Bai Ruiying: "Then put on your coat! It's windy outside!"

Xie Zhaoyuan grabbed the down jacket from the sofa and put it on as she walked out.

A cold wind was blowing outside; although it wasn't strong, it stung people's faces.

Xie Zhaoyuan pulled up the hood of her down jacket and shivered as she walked toward the front door.

Outside the door, Shen Yanhui's berry-pink Mercedes was silently parked by the wall, while Shen Yanhui herself lay disheveled in front of the car door.

"Shen Yanhui!!"