monasticism

"Sister Shiyao, Sister Yixuan, the food is ready!" Yi Yu quickly and efficiently set the table again.

"Sister Yixuan, come and eat first! I personally caught all this seafood last night, it's absolutely fresh!"

Qu Shiyao seemed oblivious to her dejection, and warmly pulled her up and pressed her into a chair at the dining table.

Cai Yixuan looked at the still tempting garlic vermicelli scallops, steamed fish, and spicy crayfish on the table...

Her appetite was finally whetted a little, temporarily suppressing the bitterness in her heart. She looked at Qu Shiyao in surprise: "You caught all of these by yourself?! That's amazing!"

"Of course!" Qu Shiyao proudly raised her chin. "If you're interested, next time we go to the beach, I'll take you diving! I guarantee you'll have a great time!"

Tsai Yi-hsuan was somewhat tempted and temporarily put her discomfort aside: "Really? Okay!"

"Speaking of which, I've always wanted to go diving at the beach!" Yi Yu sat down and, seeing how well they got along, also wanted to join the plan to travel with Sister Shi Yao.

"Okay! Let's set a time then... Hmm, how about the end of August? Yi Yu, your school starts in September, right? Let's have one last blast before school starts!"

Qu Shiyao glanced at her phone calendar; it was early August, the timing was perfect.

The meal was enjoyed while finalizing the diving plans and savoring delicious food.

After the meal, Cai Yixuan and Qu Shiyao said goodbye to Yi Yu together.

As she walked out of the apartment building, Cai Yixuan stopped and looked at Qu Shiyao. As if she had finally let go of something, she smiled with relief: "Shiyao, you and Yi Yu... I hope you will be happy."

Qu Shiyao turned around and saw the sincere blessing in her eyes, and returned a bright smile: "Thank you!"

[That's it?] Back in the apartment, the system was greatly disappointed.

I thought there would be a fierce, undercurrent-filled confrontation, veiled probing, maybe even a coffee-throwing and hair-tearing scene! Is that all? She just gave up?!

Qu Shiyao glanced at it disdainfully: "System, watch less of those brainless, melodramatic dramas. They'll only affect your already limited intelligence."

"I'm reading a novel! A novel, okay?!" the system argued, adding that it's usually the host who watches dramas!

"That's how most normal people would react," Qu Shiyao said slowly, pouring herself a glass of water.

"Knowing that the other person has someone else in their heart, and that the feelings are mutual, it's healthy to let go gracefully without clinging or causing trouble, so that everyone can live in peace. There aren't that many people in this world who are always thinking about competing for the same woman."

The system thought about it, but still didn't quite understand:

But shouldn't you try to win someone over if you like them? What if they're just temporarily confused? Maybe if you try, you'll have a chance?

"You have a classic example of a flawed '1+2' mentality with warped values!"

Qu Shiyao criticized bluntly: "Any behavior that uses true love as a pretext to destroy other people's feelings is hypocritical."

"All I can say is that the man who could be so easily seduced is a scumbag himself. Locking up scumbags and bitches is doing a service to the people."

Okay, okay, you're right.

The system recorded the host's remarks into the database, intending to use them to educate the next host who might be mentally unstable.

Then another question came to mind:

[By the way, host, I've noticed that you treat different people very differently! When you first entered the office on the 66th floor, Sun Mei and Lin Weiwei were both your assistants, especially Lin Weiwei, whose attitude towards you wasn't very good at first. How come you...]

"Nonsense, we still have to deal with CEO Si's line later, so of course we need to distinguish which people in the office are simply after money and profit, and which are just blinded by love."

Qu Shiyao scoffed, looking at the system with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, "Those who are after profit can at least communicate normally, and money might be able to motivate them."

"But those who are caught up in the relationship, especially since this is an old-fashioned domineering CEO romance novel, who knows what kind of stupid things they might do. It's best to clear out the battlefield in advance to avoid being betrayed."

She sighed, shook her head, and said in a tone full of disappointment, "My lord, you've followed me for so long, yet you haven't even learned a tenth of my strategic thinking. My heart aches, and I am deeply disappointed..."

The system felt its core code was getting hot: [...]

Playing around is fine, but please, no physical attacks allowed!

After arguing with the system, Qu Shiyao opened the novel's backend data in a good mood.

The number of real fans has increased to 9,120!

The hottest topic in the comments section is the debate over whether Yi Yu is the male lead.

[Please beat up the domineering CEO one more time: I'm taking my Yao-jie away and enjoying all the beauty! Men, stay away! (I politely declined.jpg)]

【Looking at each other from afar: +1! Preferably no romance! The few stories I've read lately with male leads are all about torturing the female characters, it's giving me PTSD!】

Of course, there are also those who support Yiyu:

[Twilight: Little Fish is so great! The sunny puppy can even cook! Perfect male lead, right?!]

[The fake protagonist is in power: He's definitely better than the original male lead, at least he's pure in body and mind!]

Some fans of the original novel are confused by this character who suddenly appeared in the plot:

[A Dance That Captivates the City: Wait, is the character Yi Yu even in the original novel? He's handsome and a virtuous husband and father, but I don't remember him at all?]

[Gibberish: I remember the original novel mentioned that the female lead had a neighbor, but we never saw this character in the end. I'll go back and check the original text!]

Qu Shiyao skimmed through the reviews and found that there weren't many negative ones. Some of the original fans had either been converted or were still stubbornly resisting in other corners.

The novel's rating has remained stable at 9.0.

Now we just need to reach the last little bit: once we get over 10,000 followers, our access level will be upgraded to level 3!

“System…” Qu Shiyao looked at the backend data, her eyelashes drooping slightly, her tone suddenly becoming somewhat unpredictable.

【Yes, Your Majesty! What are your orders?】 The system instantly switched into its dramatic mode, kneeling in obsequious manner, its tone both flattering and playful.

"Rise, my subject." Qu Shiyao adopted a dignified air, her tone authoritative. "Let me ask you, if one wishes to achieve great cultivation and ascend to immortality, how much faith and devotion from believers is required?"

[Reporting to Your Majesty! Only with 100,000 genuine believers can the Golden Core be condensed, and the Great Dao be attained!] The system played along, speaking with great conviction.

"Oh?" Qu Shiyao immediately sat up straight, her eyes sharp. "Is that true?"

【Absolutely true! I would never dare to deceive you!】The system tried its best to maintain a serious electronic tone.

"Excellent! Excellent!" Qu Shiyao stroked her non-existent beard with satisfaction, her heart filled with joy.

Around 8 p.m., Qu Shiyao was sprawled on the sofa watching a mindless, melodramatic TV series with the system when her phone suddenly started buzzing.

Her eyes never left the TV screen. Her hand reached for her phone on the coffee table, and without even looking at it, she swiped to answer the call, her tone languid: "Hello? Who is this? Speak if you have something to say, otherwise, dismiss the court!"

The person on the other end of the phone was clearly controlled by Qu Shiyao for a few seconds, before Si Cheng's slightly tired voice came through:

"Assistant Qu, please go to the company right now and find the MODP project bidding documents on my desk and deliver them to Building 88 of Jinxiu Shanhe. By the way, I have some questions for you."

Qu Shiyao inexplicably held the phone up to her eyes and glanced at the caller ID. After confirming it was Si Cheng, her tone became even more inexplicable:

"Sorry, Mr. Si, it's the weekend today. I don't recall the employment contract stating that personal assistants need to be on call 24/7. Shouldn't weekend overtime be paid separately?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a crisp notification sound came from his phone: "Alipay account received - 200,000 yuan."

Qu Shiyao's eyes lit up instantly!

Her tone changed completely, filled with enthusiasm and energy: "Yes, Mr. Si! No problem, Mr. Si! I guarantee I'll complete the task! Please wait a moment, I'll set off immediately!"

After hanging up the phone, she immediately posted two tasks in the "We Are a Loving Family" group chat:

[Urgent Bidding Task Issued: One brave individual is needed immediately to go to the CEO's office on the 66th floor of the company, retrieve a tender document titled "MODP," and deliver it to Building 88 of the Jinxiu Shanhe Villa District! Time Limit: 30 minutes]

Then the bidding mini-program was sent to the group.

[Call for Quest: Urgently need a team to bravely fight monsters in Villa 88 of the Jinxiu Shanhe Villa District. Interested friends are welcome to sign up. The main role is to protect me. Mercenary fee: 10,000; Countdown: 5 minutes]

[Can be run simultaneously with bidding tasks!]

[Host, it's just retrieving a file, why do you need to summon a team?] The system looked at this commotion with great confusion.

Logically speaking, if you issue a bidding task and have someone deliver the documents, the host can simply wait at the villa to receive the goods and go there together, right?

Qu Shiyao immediately hugged herself, feigning weakness and helplessness, her voice trembling:

"Oh dear, I'm just a weak woman who can't even kill a chicken~"

System: [...] Looking at the host's posture that could punch through a wall, and the reality that President Si might need to worry more about his own safety, the entire system expressed doubt.

"Going to such a remote villa alone so late at night, a lone man and a lone woman, how dangerous! What if we run into bad guys? Waaah~" Qu Shiyao pulled a tissue from the coffee table and wiped her eyes.

[Huh!] The system shuddered, feeling disgusted by the host's presence in every data point of its body.

[Host, can you be normal for once?]

Qu Shiyao instantly dropped her affected expression, crumpled the tissue she was holding into a ball, and threw it into the trash can in the distance:

"Okay, although I used my authority to modify a key plot point once, the timeline will self-correct and try to find other ways to reconcile the later plot outline. We need to be careful until we reach level 3 and get more authority."

The system understood. Having followed its host for so long and gotten used to everything going smoothly, it had almost forgotten the plot outline of continuing to serve as the CEO's henchman during the day and at night.

Qu Shiyao stood up and walked towards the bedroom to change her clothes:

"There's an empty seat in the office now. According to the outline, the female villain will be parachuting in soon, but I haven't gone through the designated storylines with the CEO yet."

"So, Tongzi, you must increase the publicity efforts recently, and I must try to avoid being alone with the domineering CEO to prevent any idiotic plot points from hindering my actions and advancing the story!"

The system immediately became serious: [Understood!] It immediately began searching the real world for any trending holidays or traffic trends, pondering what promotional language would best attract readers.