"Junior Zhou, thank you. My grandma drank the medicinal soup from your family's private kitchen twice, and she said she's been sleeping much better these past few nights," Gu Tingxiao said softly, nodding to Zhou Qingqing with tenderness in his eyes.
He had asked Zhou out twice before, but she always made excuses that she didn't have time. Unexpectedly, she agreed to the third time today. Does this mean she agrees to date him?
Last semester, his behavior toward her at school was obvious enough that Zhou, the junior, shouldn't have missed it, but he didn't respond.
He even wondered if she was just being aloof and pretending not to notice.
It turns out I misunderstood her. I only realized this after having a more intimate conversation with Zhou.
She's naive and a little afraid of relationships. She's a very gentle and ladylike girl, and rather conservative. She was probably too shy to respond to him directly before.
"Senior Gu, you're too kind. I had my father prepare today's medicinal soup in advance," Zhou Qingqing replied shyly and politely.
Actually, Zhou Qingqing couldn't say whether she liked or disliked Gu Tingxiao, but he was indeed the most outstanding man in terms of conditions and status who had appeared in her life so far.
They were both students at the same university, but he was two years ahead of her and served as the president of the student council. Coincidentally, he was the target of her strategy mission.
Originally, she hadn't decided to accept his feelings so quickly, but in the past two days, the system had been urging her to complete the mission in this world and go to the next world to do missions.
She herself wanted to finish quickly so that she could return to her dynasty sooner.
Then, for the sake of the Zhou family, he sought revenge on the heartless man who poisoned her and obtained the Zhou family's imperial chef's recipe.
As Zhou Qingqing passed through the dining hall, she overheard the guests talking most about Master Lu, the "Crown Prince" among the upper-class young masters of Beijing.
"Although Master Lu is not interested in women and is twenty-seven years old, he is still a highly sought-after bachelor in the capital."
"Yes, my aunt's cousin's daughter, the daughter of her husband's younger sister, dreams of marrying Master Lu every day..."
"Hahaha, you old Yang, that distant relative is just daydreaming!"
"Hey, this young mathematician, Chen Xiuhua, seems to be from the Chen family!"
Which Chen family?
"And then there's the Chen family, the one that's been the most talked about in Beijing lately. It started with the Lu family and the Shen family... then they sued Miss Jiang Sisi of the Jiang family and won... the winners of the calligraphy and painting competition, Master Nan Zou, Qin Xian, Chen Xihua... and then the mathematician Chen Xiuhua, it seems like they're all from the Chen family."
When Zhou Qingqing first heard that Master Lu was mentioned, she didn't react much. But when she heard that the Chen family was mentioned, her eyes darkened. It was the Chen family again. What bad luck, like a ghost that won't leave.
However, with Gu Tingxiao watching over her at all times and other guests nearby, she quickly regained her gentle expression.
"Senior Gu, please wait here for a moment. I'll go into the kitchen and get the food box."
"Okay, I'll wait for you." Gu Tingxiao said with a doting smile, his eyes filled with gratitude for your hard work.
At this time, there was only one waiter at the front desk; Zhou's father was not there and should have been helping out in the kitchen.
At this time, the store is at its busiest. Zhou Qingqing walked lightly towards a small side door in the lobby.
As she turned and looked up, Zhou Qingqing glanced unintentionally at the television screen directly above her.
At this moment, a financial news report was broadcast, mentioning Lu Zhengjing, the boss of Jingsheng Group, and showing a very clear front-facing photo of him wearing a white shirt and black trousers...
This... this is Master Lu? Zhou Qingqing's heart skipped a beat.
Single, a member of the Lu family, the "crown prince," the group president, with striking eyebrows and bright eyes, exceptionally handsome.
Whether in terms of social status or external conditions, she is superior to Gu Tingxiao.
Without realizing it, she almost bumped into the side door as she approached it.
"Watch out!" Gu Tingxiao, who had been keeping an eye on Zhou Qingqing, noticed her suddenly unsteady footsteps and promptly warned her.
Zhou Qingqing immediately stopped, composed herself, and pretended to be embarrassed. She glanced back at Gu Tingxiao and said, "Thank you."
Also to cover up her momentary daze, she strode inside.
After walking a distance inside, until she was out of sight of those outside the hall, Zhou Qingqing couldn't hold back any longer and eagerly asked:
"System, I want to know how you assign tasks and how you set up the targets? Can I change my target now?"
If I change the target to Master Lu, will it work? Is it still the same – just get him to agree to marry me, have children, and live happily ever after?
The system didn't want to say anything, but after hearing the host Zhou Qingqing's series of questions, and considering that it was indeed a new system unfamiliar with the process of task selection, it hadn't had time to tell the host and let her choose for herself.
So, the brainless system does indeed have a core motherboard. After thinking about it, I decided to give her a detailed explanation this time:
Whether in the virtual world or the real world, there are two tasks: a regular task and an advanced task.
As a newcomer binding to this system for the first time, you will be assigned to the normal task by default. You can also choose the advanced task, but it will be more difficult.
Our AI virtual system selects hosts to perform tasks in various real worlds in order to collect data.
Going to the virtual world to complete tasks is to verify results and find bugs.
The ultimate goal is to simulate an AI virtual world that is closer to real humans.
The core of AI humans lies in simulating human thought and behavior.
The system paused for a moment, then continued.
[Ordinary tasks, as the name suggests, are tasks that target ordinary people. The people the host encounters while doing tasks are ordinary people he sees every day.]
Their thinking and behavior are relatively easy to deduce from common sense, and the factors influencing their trajectory are also relatively easy to collect.
[For advanced missions, the targets are those who, after being evaluated by the system, will be a small group of people from all walks of life who can stand at the top.]
Their thought processes and behavioral orientations cannot be judged by ordinary standards, and the factors that influence their future life trajectory are difficult to predict.
Therefore, those who can complete high-level missions are basically veterans who have traveled through many worlds and completed various missions; newcomers rarely choose high-level missions.
Zhou Qingqing said thoughtfully, "The rewards for completing advanced tasks and ordinary tasks must be different, right?"
Also, can I switch to a higher-level mission midway through?
After the system froze for a while:
A high-level quest rewards you with the equivalent of two regular quests. As for switching quests or characters, that's fine too; you just complete whichever one you choose.
However, if you fail to complete the task after making this choice, the penalty will be more severe. Therefore, I suggest you don't choose both.
You've already completed 80% of this regular task, so there's no need to switch now. Besides, you might end up failing the higher-level task and ending up with nothing.
I'm exhausted. As a system with principles but no emotions, there's something it knows it shouldn't say, but it still decides to tell the truth.
Because each host can choose between advanced and ordinary tasks when selecting a mission, host Zhou Qingqing was unaware of this.
[And Lu Zhengjing happens to be the target of high-level missions in this real world.]
"Really?" Zhou Qingqing was immediately excited, her eyes shining.
"If that's the case, then I'll choose this advanced mission. Once I complete it, I can return directly to my dynasty without having to go to the next world and do another mission?"
"What do I need to do for this high-level mission, and how is it considered complete? Now give me the information on the Lu family."
Immediately, Zhou Qingqing desperately needed to know that she needed to change her mission.
No! To be on the safe side, she can complete both missions simultaneously.
【Host, please be careful!】The system was speechless. It wanted to give up: This first host is already so difficult to manage, what about the future ones?
"I'm being very careful. Tell me what the mission entails first!"
Zhou Qingqing felt that she was very clear-headed at this moment. Completing this advanced mission would not only save her from having to complete another mission, but also allow her to return to the past faster.
The main reason is that her target is Master Lu, and she has already fallen for him at first sight.
Enough, enough. After noticing the host's drastic emotional fluctuations followed by an unwavering resolve, the system decided to ignore it.
[Advanced mission, target: Lu Zhengjing. Because he is not interested in women, the mission is simply to become the woman by his side and gain his admission that you are the one he likes. Of course, marrying him would be the best outcome.]
The Lu family's information can only provide you with the original data from nineteen years ago, before you came into this world.
You'll have to look up the information about the development over the next ten years or so yourself.
Finally, I want to emphasize one last point: the first principle of AI systems is that they must not harm humans.
"Okay, okay," Zhou Qingqing replied somewhat perfunctorily.
Her attention had already been drawn to the Lu family information that the system had just displayed on the screen.
Among them, she mainly looked at Lu Zhengjing's information, which was from before he was seven or eight years old.
So that's why Master Lu was averse to women.
He was only six years old then. It wasn't his fault. Honestly, how did the adults in the Lu family raise a child?
This is probably a psychological trauma. It's okay, she can slowly influence him after they meet.
Ideally, she should be the only woman by his side who can get close to him.
Wait, Lu Zeyang is his nephew! They must be the same person.
It must have been last September when she was a freshman and the school arranged for a senior student, named Lu Zeyang, to pick her up.
Lu Zeyang seemed to be a year ahead of her, a student council member, and in the same department.
When Lu Zeyang saw her, he was amazed by her appearance.
Moreover, throughout the year, Lu Zeyang seemed to intentionally or unintentionally visit the freshman class from time to time, either encountering her or helping her.
He must have feelings for her.
Zhou Qingqing had a sudden inspiration: she could get in through Lu Zeyang, then go to the Lu family, and then get to know Seventh Master Lu. This approach had a high chance of success!
She believed that once she got to the Lu family and met Seventh Master Lu, she was confident she could win him over.
In special times, special measures may still be necessary.
In the Zhou family's imperial chef's recipe book, there happened to be a medicinal soup recipe that balanced yin and yang, and afterwards, no problems could be found in the examination.
This medicinal diet recipe was obtained by my father from someone in the imperial harem years ago.
It was a kind of soup used by the imperial concubines to compete for the emperor's favor and was particularly effective in dealing with him.
That's the decision!
Next, Zhou Qingqing found her father, Zhou Hongjun, took the food box from Grandma Gu, and then quickly went out.
Soon, Zhou Qingqing came out to the dining hall and walked up to Gu Tingxiao. He took the food box from her, but seemed reluctant to part with her so soon.
Zhou Qingqing saw everything clearly. She felt a little smug, but pretended to ask casually:
"Senior Gu, is your grandma going to the military hospital for a check-up in a couple of days? I don't have class on Friday afternoon, so I can go with you. We can also visit your grandma, is that convenient?"
"Convenient, of course it's convenient!" Gu Tingxiao was very happy. Zhou Xuemei must be preparing to meet his family elders!
Zhou Qingqing was also in a good mood. At this moment, she was thinking: "I'll see if I can run into Master Lu. He should be recuperating in the military hospital right now!"
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