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Shen Wan looked a little surprised, then smiled warmly. "You should eat more too. You've lost weight from working so hard lately."

Shen Baili nodded eagerly. "Eldest Brother, you should eat more too."

"All right." Xie Zhiyu looked at his bowl piled high with food. Something seemed to fill his chest.

It was a strange feeling, like walking beneath the spring sunshine.

Bright lights illuminated all four smiling faces. The usually quiet Xie Residence was lively for once.

... That night, Shen Baili leaned against the window and gazed at the moon.

"A-Deng, has your Energy Bar changed?"

The system answered instantly. "Ahhh, it's gone up by one percent!"

"Suìsuì, am I broken? The Energy Bar moved on its own!"

After spending so long together, Shen Baili and the system had agreed to call each other by name.

Shen Baili reached out, wanting to touch the moon.

"You're not broken."

"I think I know what my second lingering wish is," she said softly.

The system: "!"

"What is it?!"

A-Deng felt as though its programming was a little slow. "Basking in moonlight?"

Shen Baili: "Of course... not."

"It's changing the plot!" she declared. "It has to be connected to changing the plot."

She worked through it carefully. "Your Energy Bar hasn't changed at all in over a month."

"Eldest Brother and Sang Ya broke off their engagement. That changed the plot."

"And your Energy Bar went up immediately."

The system: "That makes so much sense! Suìsuì, you're so smart!"

"But why would your lingering wish have anything to do with changing the plot?"

A-Deng had turned into an endless stream of questions.

Shen Baili yawned. "I don't know either."

"We'll test it later and find out."

She hopped into bed, wrapped herself in the covers, and fell asleep instantly.

She still had to get up early for school tomorrow.

Studying hard mattered too. She couldn't neglect it for everything else.

Watching Suìsuì fall asleep in seconds, A-Deng muttered, "...I've unlocked new chapters."

"We can read them tomorrow... I guess?"

"Good night, Suìsuì~"

... After a good night's sleep, Shen Baili received a new chapter from A-Deng on her way to school: "The Banquet Incident | Leverage and Compromise." She frowned at the title.

... No one had expected such a scandal at Old Master Meng's eightieth Birthday Banquet. And at its center was Xie Zhiyu, heir to one of the wealthiest families, a man who had always kept his reputation spotless... After getting drunk, he forced himself on a server at the banquet. She called the police as soon as she woke up.

Xie Zhiyu's fiancée called off their engagement, making his situation even worse. Xie Group's stock kept falling...

When Xie Zhiyu came out of the police station, the proud, gifted young man everyone remembered was unshaven and haggard. Someone threw eggs and rotten leaves at him. He said nothing, but his back remained straight...

... The server disappeared without a trace after going abroad to study. Sang Ya did not dare see him and had someone deliver her engagement jade bangle... The coincidences fit together like a conspiracy against him.

Xie Zhiyu looked up and met Sang Ya's guilt-ridden gaze... In a flash, he understood everything.

Shen Baili frowned through both newly unlocked chapters. So... Gu Yeliang had plotted against Xie Zhiyu. He had profited from it and used it to get Sang Ya out of the engagement.

How did someone like Gu Yeliang become the male lead? His methods were despicable, and he had no morals!

Sang Ya was an ungrateful wretch too. She cried with guilt while helping ruin him. What an idiotic female lead, all sweet words and hidden daggers, kicking someone when he was down.

A bitch and a bastard. Made for each other.

Calling Gu Yeliang a dog would be an insult to dogs.

It had been a long time since Shen Baili had read about characters and a plot this vicious. Her right eyelid would not stop twitching.

It was still twitching when she reached the classroom.

Zhu Zhitao greeted her brightly, then startled at her tired expression. "Baili, you look pale. Didn't you sleep well?"

Shen Baili nodded. "I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when class starts."

Zhu Zhitao said, "Go ahead. I've got you."

"What's with you two? Neither of you slept well." Qiao Yi glanced at Sang Fang, who wore glasses, and lowered her voice.

Sang Fang rubbed her eyes. "My grandfather was hospitalized. My mom and I stayed there all night."

"Is he doing better?" Qiao Yi asked with concern.

Zhu Zhitao turned toward her too. "Is your grandfather all right? It's especially worrying when older people get sick."

She remembered Sang Fang's grandfather was nearly eighty. At his age, any hospital stay was serious.

"He's out of danger," Sang Fang said with a smile. "Thank you."

"Why was he hospitalized so suddenly?" Zhu Zhitao asked. "I thought he'd always been in good health."

Sang Fang hesitated. "It's a family matter. I'd rather not say."

She could hardly say her cousin's obsession with love had made her grandfather faint. The family was in chaos because her cousin's engagement had been called off.

Zhu Zhitao and Qiao Yi exchanged a glance and considerately asked no more.

Shen Baili, fast asleep, missed Sang Fang's thoughts. Otherwise, that description would have sounded awfully familiar.

Fifteen minutes later, the class bell woke Shen Baili. She dabbed a little Medicinal Balm under her nose and gave the lesson her full attention.

After two math classes in a row, her classmates slumped over their desks.

Deng Qin called Shen Baili to the office. As Shen Baili passed the corridor outside Class Two, two boys brushed past her.

She kept her eyes forward, but heard someone call, "Meng Jiu'an."

Meng Jiu'an?

The name sounded familiar.

Shen Baili stopped. She remembered.

Old Master Meng's only grandson was named Meng Jiu'an.

She turned around, but caught only a glimpse of a school uniform.