But in an old-school novel where love was priceless and money was cheap, the two had agreed to talk money, not feelings.
The original owner of her body had committed the cardinal sin of old-school novels: she had the outrageous gall to want love, coveting the female lead's eldest brother's affection.
In the end, with help from her "best friend," she had pulled the spectacularly counterproductive stunt of helping the female lead's eldest brother fight his siblings for the family assets, all to win his heart.
One day she would sabotage the male and female leads, and the next she would sabotage the female lead's younger brother. Like every villainous supporting actress, she stirred up trouble every day until she finally got herself killed and ascended to heaven.
Fang Ning fell silent.
The original owner was sick! Was her head filled with hundreds of pounds of brain-dead fluid?
He gave her money without talking about feelings. What a heavenly contract-marriage partner! That was just too good!
If that happened to me, I could coast for eight lifetimes. I could coast until the old-school novel's
CEO
went bankrupt!
An overbearing CEO from an old-school novel who gave me money without asking for love was my marriage partner! A heavenly start! In one word: awesome!
The light in Fang Ning's eyes seemed ready to illuminate the entire world. If she remembered correctly, the female lead's eldest brother gave the original owner several million a month.
Just think,
before transmigrating
into the book, I worked nine to nine, six days a week, and still barely earned anything. Compared with now...
Fang Ning reached a conclusion.
From now on, the old-school CEO would have an obedient contract partner, and she would have a cash machine. They both had bright futures.
Win-win! Yay!
Fang Ning could already imagine how happy her life would be. Judging by real-world logic, or by the plot, if she did not cause trouble, the female lead's eldest brother had no feelings for the original owner, so the day they divorced would eventually come.
Then, before that divorce, she would work on changing this troublemaking persona.
She would strive to make the female lead's eldest brother see how she "knew her place," spending every day living the "difficult," "obedient" life of taking money without asking for love, so he would give her a larger share when they divorced.
She would play the role of a good sister-in-law properly, and when they divorced, she would try to get her younger brother-in-law and sisters-in-law to put in a few good words for her. That would get her more money too, wouldn't it?
Fang Ning pondered for a moment. At this point in the plot, it had been less than a month since the original owner had registered her marriage to the female lead's □□ eldest brother, Ji Xiangnian. It happened to be the part where Ji Xiangnian went abroad on business, and none of the original owner's ridiculous antics had begun yet.
Her financial prospects were bright, and her future was promising!
But as Fang Ning raced toward that money-filled future in her mind,
a mechanical voice sounded inside her head.
[Hello, host. Welcome to the world of the novel "Cold Girl, Don't Even Think of Escaping." Your mission is to maintain your villainous supporting actress persona, dutifully stir up trouble around the female lead, and complete your death mission.]
A system
? I get it. This system was what put me inside this novel.
[Then what do I get out of it?] Fang Ning swiftly and decisively accepted the system's existence.
If the price was right, completing the mission to die and ascend to heaven was not out of the question. After all, she could hardly turn down money just to stand her ground.
Shocked by how quickly Fang Ning accepted it, the system said, [Whoa, whoa, host, you accepted that so quickly? Aren't you going to at least act shocked for appearances' sake?]
Seriously, system? It had already been several minutes since I got ready to coast through life, and now you're talking about shock?
The system said, [As long as you complete the mission, the Book Transmigration Bureau will reward you with ten million. Then you can take that money, travel the world, and be a happy slacker!] Judging by all the hosts it had guided before, not one could resist the lure of money.
Fang Ning said, [No.]
The system said, [??? Why? You can get ten million! Ten million! Why won't you do it?]
Fang Ning enunciated every word. [If money can't solve a problem, could it be that you're offering too little?]
[Too little?! Ten million! Ten million, host! I'm the Villainous Supporting Actress System, not a billionaire system!]
Fang Ning said, [In the plot, before the female lead's eldest brother divorced the original owner, she received a living allowance of two million a month. In the book, she only got killed five or six years into the marriage, so she received tens of millions in living allowances in total.]
[The female lead's eldest brother's assets could let me coast for eight lifetimes. Do you have enough assets to let me coast for eight lifetimes?]
The system said, [No.]
Fang Ning said, [There you go. If you were me, what would you choose?]
The system said, [Obviously, hesitating for even one more second would be disrespecting money! Of course I'd choose the female lead's eldest brother!]
Fang Ning's lips curved into a smile. [So, I refuse your mission.]
The system belatedly caught on!
Wait, no! How did an export get sold back at home? Who was convincing whom here?!
Fuck, this host could even reverse-CPU me! She was so fucking hard to manage!
The butler beside Fang Ning saw that her mind was wandering, frowned, and continued asking respectfully, "Madam, what dishes would you like today? We've called in three chefs today to accommodate your requests as much as possible."
"Order dishes?" Fang Ning had not expected life in a wealthy family to be this disgustingly decadent. There were people out on the streets eating instant noodles, yet they called in four or five chefs to cook whatever they ordered. Which disgusting person had invented this wealthy lifestyle? Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!
Fang Ning said, "What dishes can I order? Do you have those big lobsters that cost tens of thousands
"of dollars
"each, and hairy crabs? No need for too much. Just keep the cost of a meal at a hundred thousand or so."
She would shoulder this disgustingly decadent life all by herself!
The butler frowned and explained, "Young Master Xiangchen is coming home for dinner today. The theme we've arranged is healthy, light food. Large lobsters are too greasy, so he probably won't like them."
"Our dishes include vegetable salad, choy sum... These dishes aren't just non-greasy; they're healthy and help prevent illness, so..."
Seriously, were they eating grass here?! Who cared what young master or grand master he was? After working overtime on a nine-to-nine, six-day schedule and going hungry for several days, my resentment rivaled the Evil Sword Immortal's.
Fang Ningning nodded. "Very good, very healthy. Then I want big lobsters and big fried crabs. Make everything expensive. If it isn't expensive, I won't eat it. And add plenty of chili peppers. The greens must be natural and pollution-free, with a unit price no lower than a thousand. And whatever '86 wine or '36 wine you have, bring me a few bottles of all of them. All right, that's it for now. Hurry up and cook. I'm hungry?"