Mission failed

Yu Songlin calmly watched the two struggling in front of him. His gaze swept over Elio's hand, which was tightly holding Ding Xuefei's arm. Their eyes met, and Elio subconsciously loosened his grip a little.

Ding Xuefei seized the opportunity to pull her hand away and flashed to Yu Songlin's side. The latter calmly shielded Ding Xuefei behind him and smiled at Elio.

"Yes, I need to speak with Actor Yu about something."

Compared to Elio, who's such a clingy jerk, Yu Songlin, the real ex-boyfriend, suddenly seems quite handsome.

Elio, however, wasn't embarrassed at all. He looked at Yu Songlin with surprise and delight, as if he had just recognized him and had been a fan for ten years: "You must be Teacher Yu! Oh my god! I'm so excited! You're even more handsome in person than on screen! ...So you're also a friend of Xuefei? Since we're all friends, Teacher Yu, would it be convenient for the three of us to take a picture together?"

Ding Xuefei, hiding behind Yu Songlin, almost burst out laughing upon hearing this—it's a sure thing! This guy surnamed Yu never takes photos with people, I don't know what's wrong with him, even as a celebrity he still has so many rules.

I wonder if this habit has gotten better over the years. I hope not!

As expected, Yu Songlin paused for a moment and said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry, it's not convenient."

Elio hadn't expected to be rejected so directly. His smile froze on his face, and his lips twitched awkwardly. He turned to look at Ding Xuefei, who gave him an innocent look, as if to say, "He's the one who rejected you, it has nothing to do with me."

Elio was met with a firm rebuff and felt a little embarrassed, but he was unwilling to give up the perfect opportunity to take a photo with the movie star. He clasped his hands together, lowered his eyebrows, pouted, and said in a soft and coquettish voice, "Movie star brother~ don't be so heartless~ please, please~ is it really not okay?" As he spoke, he also twisted his body slightly.

Objectively speaking, Elio, a young boy with a cute personality, doesn't seem out of place when he acts cute; in fact, he's quite endearing, and most people can't resist him—provided they don't know what kind of person he is inside.

Ding Xuefei curled her lips in schadenfreude. She didn't care whether Yu Songlin could handle it or not; the one who was disgusted was Yu Songlin.

"This really won't do, please don't do this anymore."

Yu Songlin used polite words, but his attitude was cold and hard. When his face turned cold, it carried a sense of intimidation and a clear warning.

Elio's expression froze again, the air seeming to freeze for a few seconds before he regained his social politeness, mumbled "Excuse me," and fled in a fluster, his back view revealing his disheveled state.

Watching her junior's defeated figure, Ding Xuefei felt incredibly satisfied! This is what they call—the wicked always have their share of wicked people to deal with!

I have to thank Yu Songlin for being as stubborn as ever. I told you, acting cute with him is useless. I wonder if Elio will buy articles to smear him when he gets back...

"Could it be him?"

Ding Xuefei was basking in the smug satisfaction of "turning the tide" when she was startled by these words. She turned around and bumped into Yu Songlin's eyes, only then realizing what he had said.

"What is he?" Ding Xuefei was a little confused.

Yu Songlin's gaze lingered on his face for a moment: "So you like this kind of thing now."

This isn't even a question.

Ding Xuefei felt a surge of anger. Did he really look like such a tasteless person? You can question other things about him, but please don't question his aesthetic sense.

...Never mind, his ex wasn't much better.

She had been forced into it by circumstances, but now that the problem was temporarily resolved, Ding Xuefei started to argue with her ex again: "Are you blind?... Besides, what business is it of yours what kind of person I like?"

Yu Songlin didn't speak, but just chuckled and turned his face away.

Master! Have you forgotten your mission?!

[Task objective: Speak to Yu Songlin in a cute and affectionate tone, saying, "Don't be angry anymore, okay?" Time remaining: 2 minutes.]

Damn, he really forgot! Ding Xuefei's heart tightened. Hearing that there were still two minutes left, that was plenty of time!

Can't you even utter a single word in two minutes?

Ignoring Ding Xuefei's exasperation, Yu Songlin casually changed the subject: "Didn't you say you wanted to see me about something?"

"are you angry?"

Ding Xuefei was thinking about this task. There was clearly a problem. If Yu Songlin wasn't angry in the first place, why should he be told not to be angry?

The moment the question left her lips, Ding Xuefei had a sudden inspiration: if Yu Songlin was angry, wouldn't he be able to say that sentence perfectly naturally?

As for acting cute, let's leave that aside for now...

The lights outside the terrace were dim, and he could only see a moment of stillness on Yu Songlin's face. That cinematic face slowly turned around, facing him with its left side, and there was a slight tremor in its eyes.

A gentle breeze carried a faint scent of smoke and perfume. The melancholic, handsome man leaning against the terrace was quite a sight to behold.

Unfortunately, Ding Xuefei had no interest in appreciating it. He looked at Yu Songlin with expectant eyes, encouraging him in his heart: Come on! Whether he admits it or not, he can complete the task!

Yu Songlin's gaze was deep, his thin lips parted slightly, his expression gentle yet indifferent.

Why should I be angry?

Ding Xuefei: ...

He almost spat out a mouthful of blood! Why was there a third answer?!

[Emergency Alert! Time Remaining: 1 minute!]

Suddenly, a huge, glaringly bright red countdown number flashed before Ding Xuefei's eyes—60 seconds! Like the kind of image projected onto the retina in *The Three-Body Problem*, the bright red number relentlessly ticked: 59, 58, 57…

He's not a savior, why go to all this trouble? Besides, he's most afraid of countdowns... The immense pressure is suffocating him, and his palms are covered in cold sweat.

He knew this wasn't the time to act impulsively, but forcing him to say that cheesy thing was worse than killing him.

"You...you answer my question first."

Yu Songlin raised an eyebrow: "Tell me first, why do you think I'll be angry?"

Ding Xuefei: I really don't have time to mess around with you.

"Okay, okay, I know you're angry. You're such a grown-up, why are you getting angry over something like this? Please don't be angry anymore, okay? Okay!"

Ding Xuefei: No one cares why you're angry. I'm such a genius at skirting the line!

Yu Songlin was taken aback by Ding Xuefei's irrelevant answer.

Ding Xuefei had no time to pay attention to Yu Songlin's reaction. He stared intently at the red number in front of him, which had jumped to 27 and was still decreasing rapidly. He anxiously roared at the system in his mind: "Hey! What's going on?! I already told you! Why isn't the mission completed?!"

[Waaaah! Master, you're not being cute at all! Your tone is so fierce, not sweet at all! System invalidation! Invalid!]

"Why isn't there..."

The number in front of Ding Xuefei had jumped to 15. A chill instantly ran from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Ding Xuefei's scalp tingled, and she felt as if half of her body was buried in the ground. It's over! There's no time to argue with this damn system!

"Are you... are you alright?" Yu Songlin saw Ding Xuefei pressing his temples and being unusually silent, so he held Ding Xuefei's arm, trying to bring him back to his senses.

The countdown reached 10, and the font size increased and bold, as if it was about to explode in front of Ding Xuefei.

Ding Xuefei ignored Yu Songlin's questions, focusing all her willpower on her final communication with the system: "Do I really have to... do I really have to act cute?! What will happen if I... what if I can't finish?!"

[Yes, that's right! Being cute is the key element! If you don't complete it, you'll get a painful cramps experience card!]

Don't worry, the beginner quests won't be affected!

7!

Help! I'm so worried! Even though he's a man, he's always been terrified of pain!

Ding Xuefei, in a fit of despair, grabbed Yu Songlin's arm.

5!

Their eyes met suddenly, and Ding Xuefei saw the undisguised shock and astonishment in Yu Songlin's eyes.

“You…” Ding Xuefei began with difficulty, feeling her throat dry and her voice tight, sounding stiff and inhuman.

3!

"Don't..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but could he really say them? And were they meant for his ex-girlfriend whom he had broken up with five years ago?

1!

So be it!

0!

The moment the countdown reached zero, the world seemed to be muted.

Immediately afterwards, a heart-wrenching pain exploded violently from the depths of her heart, as if countless steel needles were piercing her heart at the same time, and the pain instantly swept through Ding Xuefei's limbs and bones!

"Ugh—!" Ding Xuefei couldn't even utter a complete cry of pain before his vision was instantly engulfed by a thick crimson of blood. His body convulsed violently, his face turned ashen, and he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Just a second before he completely lost consciousness, he felt his body being caught firmly by a pair of strong arms.

He saw those eyes again, eyes he had never seen so panicked before…

Then, the world fell into complete silence.

*

"Ancestor, wake up!"

It felt like someone was patting his face. The force wasn't strong, but disturbing his peaceful sleep was unforgivable...

When Ding Xuefei opened her eyes again, she felt like she had slept for a long time, but she was still incredibly sleepy.

"What are you doing?" he complained in a clingy voice, his gaze focusing for a while before he saw Guo Chu's worried face. "Sis, stop taking pictures of me..."

"He's really awake?"

He recognized the voice; it was Lu Huai. Soon, Lu Huai appeared in his line of sight, arms crossed, looking on with amusement, hunched over and peering at the bed from all sides.

Guo Chu said, "The doctor said everything is fine, so I have to wake up."

Upon hearing this, Ding Xuefei realized that the decor really did resemble a hospital. His mind was still foggy: "What's wrong with me?"

As the fragments of memory slowly came together, he remembered the banquet, Yu Songlin, the system mission—oh right, he failed the mission…

Ding Xuefei began to recall all the unusual events of the day: his meeting with Yu Songlin didn't go well, and then this "coquettish system" appeared...

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that the problem lay with Yu Songlin.

I never expected that even after breaking up for so long, I would still say, "Being with Yu Songlin was the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Guo Chu poked Ding Xuefei's forehead with his index finger: "You always say you're healthy, but look what happened! You fainted while working. If there hadn't been someone next to you when you fainted, you might have gotten seriously injured!"

Is anyone there?

His voice was too soft for Guo Chu to hear clearly, but Lu Huai's expression seemed a bit off.

"It's okay, I'll be more careful next time, sis!" Ding Xuefei was now fully awake. He must have been out of his mind to ask such a stupid question. He sat up and patted his chest to assure her, "This was really an accident. I promise it won't happen again!"

The group chatted for a while until Guo Chu let out a huge yawn. Ding Xuefei checked the time and realized it was past 2 a.m.

Guo Chu pulled Ding Xuefei up, saying, "Since she's alright, let's not waste medical resources. Let's all go back now." Seeing Ding Xuefei's weak appearance, she softened and suggested that they go outside first and have the driver park the car at the door so that Ding Xuefei wouldn't have to walk so far.

Only Lu Huai remained in the room, sneering as he leaned closer and said, "You have no idea, that thing you did scared people to death."

"Alright! Get out of here! You're not going to sleep!" Ding Xuefei laughed and scolded, throwing a pillow at him.

After a few words of laughter and banter, Lu Huai wanted to say something more, but seeing that Ding Xuefei seemed unwilling to communicate, he left as well.

Ding Xuefei was finally left alone in the ward. He took a deep breath and shouted in his mind, "System! Get out here!"