Chapter 27 If you don't come back in ten minutes, I'll really die. ...

Jin Zhao was a bit darker and thinner than before, and his facial features were more defined, but he still had a very striking face.

When he stood at the door, he stood ramrod straight, his eyes were much more serious, and his aura inexplicably became more assertive. In short, he looked somewhat different from before.

Liao Zhu and Yi Sile, probably because they see him every day, have long been used to his changes and don't have any special reactions, but Jiang Xiliu is different; she hasn't seen Jin Zhao for almost half a month.

The young lady raised an eyebrow: "You went to the construction site to carry bricks?"

The young lady always managed to make Jin Zhao so angry that his temples throbbed with just one sentence.

He remained patient, still standing at the door, and replied coldly, "No."

Jiang Xiliu didn't care much about his answer after asking. She ignored him and looked at Yi Sile, who was coming out with a workbook. Her tone was much gentler than when she spoke to Jin Zhao: "Kid, how about I hire a tutor for you? It's more efficient than you studying on your own."

Yisile now obeys Jiang Xiliu's every word. She sat on a chair not far away and nodded obediently: "I can do anything, Miss. You can arrange it as you see fit."

Out of the corner of her eye, Isler noticed that her security door was wide open, completely exposed.

Liao Zhu had already left with the documents, while Jin Zhao was still standing outside the door, showing no intention of coming in or leaving.

She scratched the back of her head, a little worried: There are so many mosquitoes in the summer; won't leaving the door open let them in? What if one flies in and bites the young lady—

"Brother Jin Zhao, are you coming in?" Yi Sile hesitated for a moment, but still spoke up. "Whether you come in or not, could you please close the door first? There are too many mosquitoes in the summer, and I'm afraid they might come in and bite Miss."

Tsk, the female lead is much more enlightened than the male lead.

Jiang Xiliu, who was lying on the sofa scrolling through her phone, twitched her ears. Hearing the door close, she lazily sat up and glanced back.

Jin Zhao stood in the entryway, his eyes fixed on her.

Jiang Xiliu was puzzled by his gaze: "Why are you looking at me? Am I looking more beautiful than ever?"

"When did you get back?" He didn't answer, but repeated the question from before.

Perhaps because of the female lead's exceptional cooperation, Jiang Xiliu was in a good mood today, so she answered Jin Zhao's question very readily.

"none of your business."

Yes, it's none of his business.

Jin Zhao chuckled to himself, realizing that he had indeed been acting strangely lately.

Even though he knew she wouldn't give him a friendly look when she didn't need him, he still rushed upstairs the moment he saw her usual car parked downstairs, eagerly trying to make trouble for her.

Jiang Xiliu leaned back on the sofa, while System 0777 in her mind was explaining the first day of the original plot to her.

[System 0777: Miss, according to the original plot, after you appear today, Jin Zhao will hide in the backyard vegetable garden to water... organic fertilizer because he doesn't want to have too much interaction with you.]

Jiang Xiliu: "There's a vegetable garden here? Who has time to grow vegetables? Jin Zhao, who's busy with school, part-time jobs, and taking care of his sick family, still has time to grow vegetables?"

[System 0777: Yes. Because this is Grandma Jin Zhao's vegetable garden, he has been taking care of it whenever he has time.]

[System 0777: Then, in the evening, you will go to the vegetable garden, watch him work for a while, and then order him to cook for you that evening. That's the key interaction you need to do today.]

In other words, Jiang Xiliu only needs to wait until evening to start acting.

Jiang Xiliu, who was no longer acting, felt inexplicably annoyed when she saw Jin Zhao staring at her: "Are you bored? Can't you just get out of someone else's house?"

System 0777 trembled, feeling anxious all by itself.

[System 0777: Miss, please don't send him away! What if he runs far away and you can't find him tonight?]

If the young lady doesn't get to eat the meal Jin Zhao personally prepared tonight, as was in the original storyline, then the storyline's completeness will be compromised.

Jiang Xiliu pretended not to hear the system's words, deciding to deal with things later that night. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest.

Jin Zhao gave Jiang Xiliu a deep look, said nothing more, turned around, opened the door, closed it gently, and left without looking back.

The living room returned to silence. Yi Sile moved a small stool over and sat by the living room window to continue working on her problems. Jiang Xiliu got up from the sofa and stood next to her for a while.

Within minutes, Jiang Xiliu felt her eyelids drooping; the dense numbers and symbols were practically a hypnotic device.

Jiang Xiliu yawned silently and looked out the window.

The old town seems to be like this, with a slow pace as if it has been frozen ten years ago. Apart from the old men playing chess around the stone table on the street corner and occasionally arguing, you can hardly see anyone outside.

Jiang Xiliu never forces herself to sleep when she's tired.

The familiar room layout made her feel at ease, and she almost lost consciousness as soon as she leaned against the pillow.

As the mission time approached, the little ball of light in Jiang Xiliu's mind twitched. The system, which wanted to urge the system but dared not, silently flipped through the subsequent plot.

It turns out that the task on the first day was the easiest.

Should we call it?

Just as it was getting really conflicted, the person on the bed suddenly stirred.

When the young lady first woke up, she was at her most harmless, at least that's how she looked: soft hair clung to her cheeks, her eyes were moist, and she seemed like an easy person to talk to.

[System 0777, restraining its impatience, politely reminds: The mission time is almost up, Miss.]

A furry head slowly emerged from under the covers. Because the lights were off and the curtains were closed, the room was pitch black, and the system hadn't yet noticed that her face was frighteningly pale.

She moved her lips, her voice hoarse from just waking up: "Where did I put my phone?"

[System 0777 Location: You can reach it by extending your right hand upwards.]

Jiang Xiliu unlocked her phone, found Jin Zhao's number under the expectant gaze of the system, and dialed it.

At this moment, Jin Zhao is selling something—a program he created.

The other party was a company he had worked with before. Logically, given their existing cooperation, the meeting should have ended within ten minutes. However, after listening to Jin Zhao's explanation of the details, the other party kept going around in circles, trying to find out if he had a company behind him, and subtly showcasing their own company's benefits.

Jin Zhao only wanted to sell things, but directly revealing his student identity would reduce his credibility, so he could only say tactfully that he had not considered joining any company for the time being.

Just as the man was about to try to persuade him again, Jin Zhao's phone, which was on the table, suddenly vibrated.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call." Despite the young lady's cold attitude towards him at noon, it didn't stop Jin Zhao from answering the phone before it rang for the third time.

He walked to the entrance of the coffee shop and answered the call without saying a word.

"Jin Zhao," Jiang Xiliu called his name.

"Hmm?" Perhaps his only form of resistance was that nasal sound.

The arrogant voice I had imagined turned into a weak complaint: "Where are you? Get back here right now, I'm in so much pain."

System 0777 exclaimed "Wow!"

How come the young lady's acting skills improved so dramatically after just one night's sleep?

Jin Zhao frowned: "What tricks are you playing?"

Just a few hours ago, he was lying on the sofa full of energy, telling him to get out of the way. Now what kind of trouble is he trying to cause him?

Jiang Xiliu buried half her face in the blanket again, her voice muffled: "If you don't come back in ten minutes, I'll really die."

After saying that, she hung up the phone and tossed it aside.

Jiang Xiliu's aim was poor; she tossed her phone onto the edge of the bed, and the blanket swayed as it fell down the side.

She curled up, and the artificial intelligence finally realized that it wasn't that the young lady's acting skills had improved, but rather that something was really wrong with her body.

[System 0777: Miss, what's wrong? Are you sick?]

Wrapped in a soft, light blanket, Jiang Xiliu was sweating profusely, but her hands and feet remained icy cold, so she could only continue to curl up in the blanket.

"I'm not sick." She closed her eyes, kicking the little ball of light in her head around. "It must be my period."

She has always had severe menstrual symptoms. Her mood swings are one issue, but more importantly, she experiences intense discomfort on the first day, sometimes so badly that her legs are too weak to get out of bed.

Xi Zhen tried to treat her with food and medicine for a long time, but it still didn't work.

Furthermore, her menstrual cycle is extremely irregular, often only occurring every two or three months, making it impossible to prepare in advance. The reason for such a strong reaction this time is most likely because she ate too much raw and cold food during the summer.

[System 0777 checked the database: What should I do? Take painkillers? Drink jujube and ginger water? Would massaging it help?]

"Shut up." The young lady completely covered her head with the blanket. "You're being noisy."

System 0777 dared not speak anymore and could only hide and keep track of the time while making "woofing" sounds.

Three out of ten minutes have passed.

Jin Zhao absolutely has to come!

...

Jin Zhao hates it when people say the word "death" to him.

Those who mentioned that word to him eventually left him.

However, Jiang Xiliu is different. She only curses others to "go to hell" and rarely curses herself. It is precisely because of this that her two complaints just now sounded more real.

Jin Zhao couldn't imagine what danger she could be in at home, so he called Yi Sile to confirm: "Xiao Le, is Miss Yi Sile at home?"

Yisiluo peeked in and said, "The young lady has been staying in her room the whole time and hasn't come out."

really.

Jin Zhao, holding his phone, walked towards the coffee shop: "Go listen to see if there are any strange noises coming from her room."

"No, it's very quiet." The houses in the old town aren't soundproof, and Yisile paused for a moment while leaning against the wall before giving Jin Zhao a definite answer. "Brother Jin Zhao, do you need to see Miss?"

Jin Zhao nodded apologetically to the man across the table: "It's alright, you should focus on your homework."

He hung up the phone and looked back at the other end: "Let's continue."

...

In the dimly lit room, System 0777 laboriously conjured a sphere of light and, with a series of heaves, pulled the blanket covering the young lady's head down to her chin.

Its blue light shone on the young lady's face, making her face appear as pale as paper, like a female ghost.

The young lady's hair was disheveled and stuck to her sweaty forehead. A ball of hair rolled onto her cheek, but she didn't raise her hand to swat it away.

The ball of light clung to a few strands of her hair, and she seemed to want to "whimper" again.

There are only two minutes left in the ten-minute mark.

The system database clearly states that this is not life-threatening and is just a normal physiological phenomenon.

But the young lady rarely lies. Although she occasionally says some nonsense to amuse it, she has never joked about life and death.

The blue light from the ball of light flickered, mirroring its own turbulent emotions. It rubbed its soft edge against the young lady's cheek; the cool touch made her furrow her brow, but she still didn't open her eyes.

The last minute.

Ten seconds, nine seconds...

The moment the door was pushed open, the ball of light vanished in a flash, and the next second, someone turned on the room's light switch.

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Author's Note: System 0777: Waaaaah, Miss, don't die!

The young lady (shrugs) is just sleepy because she's tired: Crying, crying, crying, you've cried away all your good fortune!