[You heard correctly, host. In the original plot, your career kept flourishing, while the Ye Family had been declining for years, so they urgently needed a marriage alliance with someone capable whom they could also control. As a rising star in business and the male lead of a romance, you naturally caught the Ye Family's eye.] [And you happened to need the Ye Family's support to break into City A's circle of elite wealthy families, so you agreed to the marriage alliance.] [After the female lead appeared, you would break off your engagement to Ye Zuixi. Out of jealousy toward the female lead, Ye Zuixi would hurt her in all sorts of ways, eventually facing legal punishment and being sent to prison.]
Ji Hanxing was utterly baffled by what he heard. "Do you think the original owner would agree?"
Over the past few days, he had integrated the original owner's memories and personality, and Ji Hanxing thought he understood him reasonably well. Leaving aside whether the original owner would hurt an innocent girl like that, Ji Hanxing did not think he would even agree to this absurd marriage alliance.
The original owner had seemed aloof and reserved, but he had been someone with strong opinions and a firm sense of self. If he had really wanted the Ji Family to enter the circle of elite wealthy families, he would have relied entirely on his own strength and abilities rather than agree to a marriage alliance like this.
Let alone something as brainless as entering this marriage alliance, then falling for the female lead and hurting his own fiancée.
[Host, you are the male lead of this romance now. All that matters is that you agree.]
At those words, Ji Hanxing lowered his eyes, concealing the mockery in them. All he needed to do was be a puppet who followed the plot.
Thinking about it now, the original owner's soul escaping really had been a good choice. Ji Hanxing wished him well.
As for himself, if he wanted to fully obtain this body and survive in this world, he had to pay a price: his freedom.
Ji Hanxing closed his eyes, slowly clenching his hand. Just endure a little longer. Once I finish the missions, I'll be able to survive here. There was no free lunch in this world. As an orphan, Ji Hanxing understood better than anyone that nothing came without effort.
"System, tell me the entire plot."
The system hesitated.
"System, we're partners now. I help you keep the plot from falling apart, and I want the chance to survive here. We share a goal. Since that's the case, you should tell me the entire plot."
"That way, I can complete the missions better, can't I?"
"It's about time you finished assessing me, too."
The system fell silent for a while.
[You figured it out.]
The reason the system had kept refusing to tell Ji Hanxing the entire plot was that it had been assessing him, observing whether he could truly take on this mission.
The facts had proven that Ji Hanxing could. Although the way he completed some missions left the system speechless, it had judged all the results satisfactory.
[Please receive the plot, host.]
An enormous amount of information poured into Ji Hanxing's mind. His head hurt as though needles had stabbed it, and he instinctively propped his head on his hand, bowing it slightly.
Ji Hanxing was sitting in the seat closest to the wall, so his unusual behavior did not attract anyone else's attention.
After sorting through the entire plot, Ji Hanxing concluded that it was indeed just as absurd as the domineering CEO romances he had crammed beforehand.
What was even more absurd was that he was now in just such an absurd world, fantastical yet real-a great big vat of melodrama.
In the original plot, "he," as City A's most dazzling rising business star, had a flourishing career and an enviably gentle socialite fiancée. He could be called a winner in life, but "he" was unhappy and cold as ice, until he met Ruan Xin, a college senior interning at the Ji Group.
The female lead, Ruan Xin, was like a little sun, melting "his" icy exterior. After that, "his" butler would witness countless firsts: the young master had smiled for the first time, the young master had brought a woman home for the first time...
"He" broke off his engagement to his socialite fiancée for the female lead. From then on, the socialite fiancée turned evil, taking revenge on the female lead in all sorts of ways, until she finally faced legal punishment and ended up behind bars.
Just when "he" and the female lead were deeply in love, "he" encountered his greatest rival in both business and love, the plot's main villain, Yan Jinyue. Yan Jinyue was the cherished figure Ruan Xin could never forget. Ruan Xin was an orphan, and Yan Jinyue had once helped the orphanage where she lived, even giving her a cute teddy bear.
"He" also went up against Yan Jinyue in business, but as the male lead, "he" ultimately defeated Yan Jinyue. Having lost his family's business, Yan Jinyue turned completely evil. By chance, he learned of his past connection with Ruan Xin when she was little, then deceived her and used her to threaten "him." In the end, he still failed. When the police came to arrest him, Yan Jinyue jumped into a river and killed himself.
After enduring countless hardships, "he" finally ended up with Ruan Xin.
The absurd plot nearly made Ji Hanxing throw up. What the hell kind of plot is this?
Never mind the plot he himself needed to follow-even the absurd behavior of "Yan Jinyue" in the plot was enough to make Ji Hanxing disbelieve that this was actually Yan Jinyue.
Isn't the main villain "Yan Jinyue" in the plot far too different from the Yan Jinyue I've interacted with? Are they forcibly lowering Yan Jinyue's intelligence to turn him into an idiot?
[Host, that is the entire plot. Our mission will be divided into many smaller missions. You must complete the study assignments and assessments issued by this system, and must become a qualified domineering CEO before the female lead appears.]
Ji Hanxing pinched his hand hard, the traces of pain stimulating his nerves. "Understood."
He would take it one step at a time and exploit loopholes wherever possible to complete the system's missions. After these past few missions, Ji Hanxing had indeed discovered some bugs in the system's assignments. That was also why he had just dared to lay his cards on the table with it.
He would reach the plot's ending in his own way.
Moreover, Ji Hanxing guessed that the system probably could not forcibly control the plot. Forcibly lowering Yan Jinyue's intelligence was something the system would not be able to accomplish.
As for the female lead...
Ji Hanxing suddenly remembered the photograph he had just seen in the corridor: the orphanage in the background, Yan Jinyue, and the little girl holding a teddy bear. His eyes suddenly widened. Was that the female lead, Ruan Xin?
[Yes, host. The little girl in that photograph is the female lead.]
"How old is she?"
Ruan Xin in the photograph looked much younger than Yan Jinyue! Ji Hanxing was a year younger than Yan Jinyue and was now twenty-five, while Yan Jinyue was twenty-six. Was Ruan Xin even an adult?
[The female lead is five years younger than you and is currently twenty. She will meet you when she is twenty-two.]
Ji Hanxing did the math. He would be another year older in just a few months, so, all told, there was a little over a year left until he met the female lead, Ruan Xin. That was neither a long time nor a short one.
He would have to plan carefully.
Just as Ji Hanxing was thinking about all this, a small cake was suddenly placed in front of him.
He looked up and saw that everyone had a small cake in front of them.
Ji Hanxing hesitated, unsure whether he could eat it now.
"Guests, you should all have noticed the little cakes in front of you. This is a little warm-up activity of ours. Several of these cakes contain hidden charity lucky bags. Any guest who finds one while eating will receive a charity lucky bag we have prepared. The contents of these lucky bags have been prepared by our Tomorrow Charitable Foundation and will be donated in your names."
"Now, please look for the lucky bags in your cakes."
Ji Hanxing gazed at the little cake with burning eyes. He could eat cake openly now!
Seeing Ji Hanxing like this, the system was instantly speechless.
After what had happened earlier, it had thought this host had some brains. Who would have thought that he would show his true colors in less than three minutes-a clueless, idiotic foodie bumpkin.
Ji Hanxing contentedly finished the cake in front of him. Fortunately, he had not drawn a charity lucky bag, so he did not have to show his face up front either. Lucky!