Chapter 23 Isle's guardianship certificate? Yes.

substitute?

Jin Zhao felt more than once that Jiang Xiliu only liked his face.

He once thought about ruining his face.

For the wealthy, a pretty face is the icing on the cake, but for someone like him who struggles to make ends meet, it's a danger.

Of course, if he is willing to give up himself and wallow in the company of those people, then his pretty face is arguably the most useful tool.

But what's the point of living like that?

It's funny, someone who's struggling to survive is trying to live well and with dignity.

His relationship with Jiang Xiliu was an accident from the start.

He agreed to sign the sugar daddy/sugar baby agreement not entirely because of her intimidation.

It stems from a sense of responsibility.

Although Jin Zhao knew very well that she did not need his responsibility.

So now that he knows he's just a stand-in, his subconscious reaction is actually to breathe a sigh of relief.

He finally realized that he possessed what she wanted.

Jin Zhao raised his eyes indifferently, looking at Ye Qishan, who was eagerly awaiting his reaction, without any emotion: "Oh, so what?"

"You know?" Ye Qishan felt a little horrified. He muttered to himself, "That shouldn't be the case. Xiliu almost hates him to death. She never mentions him on her own initiative."

"I don't know." Jin Zhao looked away, continuing to stare at the dull data on his phone. "But at least I have a face that she would like."

He casually retorted, "And what do you have that would make her stop for even a second?"

Ye Qishan instantly lost his temper.

"Am I that ugly? She can't eat the same thing all the time, can she? She'll get tired of it eventually, and then she'll naturally notice me."

"Besides, so what if she only likes guys like you? I can still get plastic surgery. With the advanced technology of plastic surgery these days, it's easy to copy a face."

"Then I wish you success." Jin Zhao said this very calmly.

Ye Qishan should have been happy to hear this, but something still felt off: "Are you trying to sarcasticly criticize me?"

Jin Zhao continued scrolling down his phone: "No, I mean it."

Ye Qishan: ? Seriously?

What exactly do you mean?

It doesn't mean anything.

I just feel that if she's destined to have more than one person by her side, then she might as well have a stupid one.

Ye Qishan didn't get anything out of her, and Jin Zhao even managed to trick him into revealing that she had a public and tragic relationship before him.

And that person looks a lot like him from a certain angle.

Despite appearing calm, Jin Zhao still suffered from insomnia.

Ye Qishan, on the other hand, couldn't sleep because of Jin Zhao's inexplicable words.

Early the next morning.

Jiang Xiliu was taken aback when she saw the two men whose eyes were somewhat dark.

"System, what's going on? Did they stay up all night playing games together last night? Or did they have a quiet fight?"

[System 0777: It's also possible that he's just not used to sleeping in the same bed with someone of the same sex.]

Artificial intelligence indicates an inability to monitor the neighbor's house.

Jiang Xiliu decided to ask directly, "What did you two do last night? You look like you didn't sleep at all."

Breakfast was served a few minutes ago and is still warm.

Ye Qishan took a bite of the croissant, and the crispy crust poked his upper gums. He covered his mouth and answered indistinctly, "I didn't do anything, I just slept with my eyes open."

Jin Zhao was drinking porridge when he heard this and responded.

Something's not right.

This is very wrong.

Jiang Xiliu didn't think the two of them were lying to her.

Even though she initially agreed to let Ye Qishan stay, her real intention was to keep them both up at night.

But they really couldn't sleep well together, which Jiang Xiliu found very strange.

Even if Ye Qishan is a fool who can't stand being teased, Jin Zhao isn't. He shouldn't be unable to sleep because of Ye Qishan.

However, the young lady only worried about it for a minute before putting it out of her mind.

We've reached the fifth plot point.

[System 0777: Miss, the fifth plot point is called "It's either her or me..."]

The system probably knew that Jiang Xiliu would be unhappy to hear this, so it directly played the default message without adding any emotional words to avoid her misunderstanding that it was playing tricks.

[System 0777: Jiang Xiliu has stumbled too many times with Jin Zhao. In order to truly win this man's heart, she decides to rent an empty room in his house and spend the summer vacation with him.]

[System 0777: An unexpected decision led her to meet Jin Zhao's childhood sweetheart, and she finally understood why she had always failed.]

[System 0777: After a series of failed attempts to stop, suppress, and obstruct her, she once again demonstrated her financial power, giving Jin Zhao's childhood sweetheart five million to get lost.]

The young lady's focus veered off again: "Doesn't the female lead have a name? Why do we keep calling her Jin Zhao's something? It sounds awful."

[System 0777 quickly begged for mercy: This is the default system announcement; it has nothing to do with me.]

"So what's her name?" Jiang Xiliu asked.

[System 0777: Yisiluo.]

"What a nice name." The young lady praised sincerely. As long as it wasn't some kind of softie, it meant that the world wasn't so hopeless. "Her parents must love her very much."

The system wasn't sure if the young lady had forgotten, but it silently added the information anyway.

[System 0777: Her parents are both dead...]

Jiang Xiliu had a rare moment when she felt that being the male or female lead wasn't necessarily a must, and being a supporting female character was actually quite nice.

At least she has loving parents.

Another problem now is that Jin Zhao's house already belongs to her, so she doesn't need to spend money to rent it.

But the AI, which is subject to KPI assessments, complained bitterly.

[System 0777: The action of "renting" is required.]

When completing the fourth plot point, I was so focused on unifying the world that I didn't pay attention to the subsequent events. Now I have to pay the price for my reckless behavior.

After agonizing for two days, the young lady decided to go and investigate in person.

I'll also go and meet Ms. Isler.

Yes, before meeting Isler, the young lady still thought of her as a lady.

But! Can anyone tell her who this little rascal behind the door is?

"Sister, are you looking to rent a house?" The skinny little boy's eyes were particularly bright.

"Yes," Jiang Xiliu answered her question first, then frowned and asked, "So how old are you?"

The child probably knew that there were many restrictions on what minors could do, so she calmly lied, "I'm eighteen years old this year."

Eighteen years old?

Ten years old is the oldest!

The young lady fell silent.

Ah Biao, who stood behind her like a wall, spoke her mind: "Children shouldn't lie."

Perhaps it was because Ah Biao's appearance was too frightening, but Yisile shuddered and obediently revealed her real age: "I'm twelve years old."

Little Carrot Head retorted to Ah Biao, "I'm a middle school student! Not a little kid!"

"Sister, are you still renting it?" Yisiler turned her gaze to the seemingly more approachable but actually not so young lady. "Even if I'm only twelve, I can still decide to rent the house to you."

That's right. She's the only one in the family, so of course she can make the decisions.

Without knowing her well, the young lady didn't offer any kindness, but instead asked, "Where is your guardian? I think I need to communicate with them."

Isler continued to struggle: "Oh, he's busy. I'm enough at home. You can communicate with me."

Jiang Xiliu left Ah Biao's phone number: "No, if you really want to rent out the house, you have to have your guardian communicate with me. Just call this number."

The young lady took a few steps outside, then remembered something and turned back to threaten, "Don't even think about secretly renting the house to someone else. If I find out, I'll report you."

Isle's eyes widened: "You! Even if I don't rent it to you, what right do you have to report me?"

Jiang Xiliu smiled and had her spokesperson step forward: "A Biao, tell her why?"

Ah Biao righteously declared, "What our young lady wants, she must get—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Jiang Xiliu rarely reflected on herself—shouldn't she be an outstanding woman with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor? Why could A Biao, who followed her every day, say such villainous things? Is this the influence of a vicious female supporting character?

She had no choice but to speak up herself: "Because I am a law-abiding citizen, I want to report others when I see them breaking the law or committing crimes."

“I’ll be watching you.” Jiang Xiliu made a throat-slitting gesture at Yisile. “Don’t you dare rent your house to strangers secretly.”

[System 0777: Waaah, Miss, you're so good to me! You even offended the female lead just to complete the mission.]

Jiang Xiliu got into the car: "When did I offend Yisile?"

Although the method was slightly off, the young lady's original intention was very simple.

She was just worried that this silly child would rent the room to strangers. If the person was a good person, that would be fine, but if they encountered someone with ill intentions, the consequences would be unimaginable.

As a flower of the motherland after all, the young lady decided to do a good deed every day: she hadn't thought it through yet, but now she's decided she must rent it.

[System 0777: ...But Isley is sulking at home and has decided that even if she doesn't want to rent, she won't rent to you.]

“As long as she’s not stupid, she’ll rent it to me.” Jiang Xiliu paused. “So that’s why the novel had such a bad ending?”

The stupid system hasn't reacted yet.

[System 0777: What were the reasons for the project being abandoned?]

"The original plot of this small world is so brainless. Yi Sile is twelve years old, how old is Jin Zhao? Twenty-two, right? There's a ten-year age gap between them!"

Jiang Xiliu found it absurd. How could she, in the original story, have imagined such a thin and innocent child as a "love rival"?

[System 0777: Huh? Can't people be together if there's a ten-year age gap? Among my previous mission partners, there were those with age differences of over a thousand years.]

Jiang Xiliu: "Over a thousand years old? Is it a monster?"

[System 0777: My target is a human, while her target is a demon, a fox spirit.]

"Oh." Jiang Xiliu wasn't very interested, but in her own opinion, "any normal person shouldn't have any other thoughts about a child they've watched grow up."

As an artificially disabled system, it cannot understand what she means by "normal" and "abnormal".

Since the matter of renting a place couldn't be settled in the short term, Jiang Xiliu didn't go back to the company but went to the hotel to find her mother.

A few days later, her bodyguard, A Biao, finally received a call from Yisile.

"Hey, do you still need to rent a place?" It was Isle's voice on the other end.

Ah Biao glanced at the young lady, turned on speakerphone, and replied gruffly, "Rent."

The other end was probably on speakerphone as well.

"Why is it a man? Didn't you say it was a woman?"

Yisil answered softly, "The person who will be moving in is a girl, and this guy must be her...brother?"

The phone was quickly taken by another person, who said politely, "Hello, I'm Yisil's guardian. Would it be convenient for us to talk face-to-face?"

Ah Biao read aloud what the young lady had typed on her phone: "Can you produce proof of guardianship?"

"Proof of guardianship? Yes, we have one."

...

After confirming the meeting time, A Biao hung up the phone at Jiang Xiliu's instruction.

Ah Biao, looking rather clueless, reported: "Miss, the guardian of that child just now... his voice sounds like the person who was taken to the hospital last time."