Xu Shuangrong had never been so bedraggled in her life.
Back in the timeline where Xiao Jingxi was eight, the police had identified her as a suspect and were hunting her down.
She had spent the entire night fleeing through the woods. Following the system's advice, she had climbed trees, burrowed through bushes, jumped into a river and dived underwater, and scrambled over mountains. Not only was her hair a wild mess, she had even lost a shoe.
Just as she was cornered and about to jump into a well to hide, she heard the system fail to suppress a laugh.
She went, "?"
[Xu Shuangrong: What are you laughing at?] [System: I'm not laughing.] [Xu Shuangrong: Why are you laughing at a time this dangerous?] [System: I'm not laughing.] [Xu Shuangrong: I'm cornered, but you're not remotely worried. What are you laughing at?] [System: I'm not... pfft, hahahahaha.] [Xu Shuangrong: ...]
Mystery solved. The system had played her.
The so-called time-travel cooldown was a complete lie. The system could take her back whenever it wanted, but it had insisted on watching her flee in a sorry state.
So the two had a massive argument. Just as the police were about to discover her, the system silently cursed and timed it perfectly to bring her back.
Xu Shuangrong opened her eyes and took in the familiar scene beneath the night sky: the mountains, the villa, and the lit floor-to-ceiling windows on its second floor.
She took a deep breath.
[Xu Shuangrong: You actually dared to mess with me?!] [System: Slander! This is slander!]
The system outwardly said, "Slander! This is slander!"
Inside, the system thought, *Socks before shoes, pay your dues before you rule! Think I can't handle you, huh? That's what you get for