Su Jin recalled the unusual events of 0827 last night, and realized that her long-winded explanation was actually for this.
She pondered, "I still hit too lightly..."
"Then why did you make me fake my death, 007?"
007 suddenly fell silent.
"Do you remember I told you that I couldn't tell you why I bound you? Because it would violate the rules. Now I can tell you the whole truth."
Before Su Jin could react, it blurted out, "My previous host was indeed you, and the one before that was also you. Since I became a system, I've only ever been bound to you as my host."
So the person who was overjoyed and indignant after binding with the system was actually herself.
Su Jin stared, mouth agape, unable to process what she had just heard. "What do you mean?"
007's voice echoed in her ears, "Su Jin, don't you understand? You've already done it all over again."
"I said you'd die if you failed the strategy, that's not a punishment, that's your original fate."
"The favorability rating is just a facade; I'm only doing this so you can ride on Chen Yanxiu's coattails."
"My points were also depleted in the process of helping you time and time again."
...
"Stop!" Su Jin covered her head. "I can't accept all this at once... What do you mean I've started over many times? I've been reborn?"
007 pondered for a moment, "It's not exactly rebirth. You can think of it as a parallel world where someone paid a price to allow you to start over again and again."
Su Jin began to speculate, "Who? My grandmother? Lin Shi? Xie Yunhuai?... It can't be Gu Xingze, can it?"
007's voice was calmer and clearer than ever before: "No, it's yourself."
"Su Jin, you are saving yourself."
Su Jin showed little surprise; perhaps she had already guessed this possibility. "Then what did I exchange? What else do I have to exchange? My soul?"
"No, the soul and the body have always been one. If you exchange your soul, you will no longer be yourself."
007 muttered under his breath, "Besides, we would never do that kind of business."
Su Jin didn't understand. Besides her soul, what else of value did she have?
007 appeared as a ball of light, and scenes appeared before Su Jin. Upon closer inspection, the person in the scenes was her face.
"Perhaps you should go and see for yourself your original fate."
Su Jin hesitated for only a few seconds before reaching out her arm to touch the scene before her.
Her consciousness was drawn in, and she fell into a deep sleep once again.
...
You were born into an ordinary, even poor, family.
Your mother doesn't like you and has sworn to your father that she will give birth to a big, healthy boy.
Even though the doctor said that this pregnancy damaged her body and that giving birth again might be life-threatening.
But Grandma kept nagging, "What the doctors say is all lies. They always exaggerate how serious it is when it's actually nothing. Old Wang's wife had that amniotic fluid embolism thing, and she's doing just fine, isn't she?"
Since you were born, your father has never smiled at you.
It seems like Mom has a choice, but it also seems like she doesn't.
Only after she finished speaking did her father's expression soften.
He glanced at you a few times, "We won't have much energy after our son is born, so let's send the little girl to your mother's."
To show her loyalty, the mother agreed without hesitation.
My maternal grandmother's family died a few years ago, leaving only her. Perhaps it was divine retribution for my maternal grandfather's act of selling his daughter a few years ago. He died of a stroke a few years ago, and my eldest brother, who had accepted the bride price, also died in a car accident, leaving only my maternal grandmother alive.
When Grandma saw you being brought over, she didn't say anything.
She might also regret it, regretting that she couldn't keep her daughter when she got married.
You grew up in the countryside like this, without cell phones or televisions, and there weren't many children your age around.
Any parent who truly cares for their child would not allow them to grow up in such a backward educational environment.
But you are like a tenacious weed, making your own safe haven, working hard and burning with passion.
After struggling and growing up to be fifteen, it seemed that my grandmother's condition was deteriorating again.
In recent years, my grandmother's symptoms have become more and more like what the neighbors have said about Alzheimer's disease. She often forgets the way home and gets lost, only to be brought back by kind people.
You don't know what to do, so you can only ask your parents for help. You think they don't love you, but your grandmother is your mother, she won't abandon you, right?
"Tell her she'd better be dead! I wish she were dead! If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be like this now!"
You were stunned by the harsh insults and hung up the phone.
You've heard plenty of rumors about them over the years.
The mother wanted to have another child, so they tried all sorts of things: shamanic rituals, consulting fortune tellers, and drinking dark, talismanic water.
But it's as if God is playing a joke on them, destined that they will only have you as their daughter in this lifetime.
You glanced at your grandmother, who was incoherent, and decided, having just finished junior high school, to take care of her.
Family ties can't hold your mother back, but they can hold you back.
The money you spent on junior high and elementary school was earned by your maternal grandmother through her handicrafts. You've seen your grandmother ask your mother for money, and of course, she was met with scorn and insults.
Naturally, no one dares to hire child laborers, and you keep running into obstacles.
Perhaps because you were too conspicuous wearing your school uniform while looking for a job, an older woman stopped you. She was plump and looked to be in her forties.
She offers you a job at her factory for 800 a month.
How much can a little girl who isn't even an adult do? The fact that she hired you as a child laborer despite your age shows how kind she is.
Grandma's condition is getting worse and worse. She often shouts and screams in the middle of the night, which wakes you up every time. You drag your tired body out of bed to call her to go back to sleep.
Grandma would also go to the village and make a scene while you were at work, causing everyone to complain.
You can only apologize humbly, go home to cook for your grandmother, hand her the food, and then get covered in rice grains from her.
Grandma often mistakes you for Grandpa or Mom.
You are really tired.
Why was your sixteenth year like this?
A coworker told you that you can sue your parents for their irresponsible behavior.
Your dull eyes darted around, then you shook your head. No money.
Justice does not exist for the poor.
Your parents somehow found out about your job and are now asking you for money.
They claim that you were born of them, so giving you money is their right.
After you hung up the phone, you finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears.
Even after crying, you still have to keep living.
Finally, when you were seventeen, your maternal grandmother passed away.
At that moment, you shamefully felt a sense of relief.
With the help of the villagers, your grandmother's body was buried, and you didn't tell your parents.
When the factory owner heard the news, he came and gave you a thousand yuan, saying, "You must live well, for your own sake."
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