Xu Shiyue's voice was very calm, as if she were sharing a book that she thought was very good with someone.
But she said the book's contents were like a terrifying bomb, which suddenly dropped on Lu Shizhen's heart, which was full of joy just a second ago.
A guilty conscience felt like being hit by a cannonball, stirring up dust that instantly filled Lu Shizhen's chest.
Those dark, round eyes slowly widened in the twilight, and the sound of a heartbeat drowned out the entire world.
Lu Shizhen didn't believe that Xu Shiyue would read such a book for no reason, but she still imitated the original owner and disdainfully commented: "It's just multiple personalities, what's so interesting about it? But twenty-four personalities is indeed a lot. I wonder how this person was discovered."
"Yes, how were you discovered?" Xu Shiyue asked in return.
She fiddled with the earphones in her hand with one hand, her calm tone tinged with a hint of interest.
Lu Shizhen swallowed hard. She had a feeling that Xu Shiyue wasn't studying Billy in the book, but herself.
But what is there for her to study?
She's not schizophrenic...
The streetlights flashed back, casting flickering light on Lu Shizhen's face. She paused, then forced herself to remain calm and tentatively asked, "Why are you suddenly interested in these things?"
"I wouldn't say I'm interested, I just suddenly felt like reading it," Xu Shiyue replied calmly, her voice light. "After all, it's a very representative book in psychology."
Upon hearing this, Lu Shizhen politely responded with an "Oh".
She didn't know if Xu Shiyue's explanation was an excuse or the truth, but even if it wasn't, she still wanted to be on the safe side.
The girl leaned back in her chair and raised her head, deliberately using the condescending tone of the original owner to suggest, "However, I still suggest you focus on the book list your brother gave you, and don't waste time reading other things."
"Okay," Xu Shiyue replied, and then put her headphones back on.
However, she swiped "Twenty-Four Billys" off the list on her phone and replaced it with another economics book.
Feeling guilty, Lu Shizhen glanced at Xu Shiyue's actions out of the corner of her eye, her mind filled with the information and conversation Xu Shiyue had just given her.
Her heart was pounding so hard that it showed no signs of slowing down. This was the first time she had ever felt someone so calmly break down her defenses with such a calm voice.
The saying "strike the snake at its vital spot" perfectly describes this situation.
Is this the oppressive feeling coming from the female lead?
Lu Shizhen was unsure of herself and called out to Qiuqiu, "Qiuqiu, do you think I've given myself away?"
"That's impossible, host." Qiuqiu didn't think so. "Is Xu Shiyue deliberately testing you? Or does she think you have a mental illness?"
"?"
Lu Shizhen felt that Qiuqiu's words were somewhat insulting, and a question mark appeared above her head.
Qiuqiu also realized that her speech overlapped with some words in the human system, and hurriedly explained: "It's not the host. Mental illness refers to a severe psychological disorder, like the protagonist in the book that Xu Shiyue has."
"Didn't I explain this to you before? Xu Shiyue is different from you. She doesn't have that much power. Compared to things like transmigrating into a book, which are somewhat fantastical to you humans, she prefers to use scientific methods to explain and explore things."
Qiuqiu deduced, "Although your influence on Xu Shiyue is subtle, from a macro perspective, you are now very different from the original owner."
As Lu Shizhen listened to Qiuqiu's words, she seemed to think of something and was about to speak, but Qiuqiu stopped her first: "Host, even in this situation, I cannot request the right to modify memories from the main system. This is your mission, not our system's."
I really don't know if it's because we've been together for so long and developed a tacit understanding, or if my facial expressions were too obvious, because Qiuqiu saw through me and even gave me a warning.
Lu Shizhen didn't want to talk and turned to look at the window with a huff.
She'd read so many transmigration novels, but she'd never encountered one where the host realized so quickly that the original protagonist wasn't the main character.
Either they developed feelings for each other and didn't even realize it existed, or their feelings grew over time.
He didn't want to hide it from the protagonist and confessed it himself.
Why is it that this approach works differently for her?
Lu Shizhen suddenly felt that just changing one known condition completely changed the entire physics problem.
She's just a poor little thing who's never stepped out of the ivory tower; this is making things too difficult for her.
Seeing Lu Shizhen's somewhat frustrated expression, Qiuqiu cautiously floated up to her and said, "Host, don't be angry. If you have nowhere to vent, then curse me."
"Why would I scold you? You're just a lowly employee." Lu Shizhen rested her chin on her hand, her inner thoughts muffled.
She watched the streetlights flash by in her line of sight, her thoughts wandering in her deep eyes.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she decided to take remedial action. She glanced at Qiuqiu and asked, "I have a question: what would happen if Xu Shiyue found out my true identity?"
“According to the system rules, the host is strictly prohibited from revealing their identity to anyone in the system world, because the characters in the system world are different people from the host.” Qiuqiu was unusually concise. “If they knew that they were just the protagonist in the Truman Show, the world might collapse just like the Truman Show.”
Qiuqiu paused for a moment, then leaned close to Lu Shizhen's ear and said, "But my senior told me that there is a gray area in the system, which is that the main god cannot monitor the protagonist's thoughts through the system. That's why it is necessary to intervene in the host to guide and maintain the stability of the world story."
"So I think that if the world doesn't collapse after the protagonist learns the host's identity, the main system won't notice that the host's identity has been exposed, and naturally there won't be any punishment."
Lu Shizhen listened thoughtfully and nodded, deducing, "So for your system, the most important thing is not the protagonist, but maintaining world stability."
"You could say that," Qiuqiu admitted.
"Ah~" Lu Shizhen felt a sense of relief and couldn't help but let out a sound of her own mind.
But before she could finish her thought, she felt a gaze directed at her.
It was Xu Shiyue.
Lu Shizhen opened her mouth slightly, then hurriedly turned her voice into a sneeze: "Chirp."
Then, as if nothing had happened, she casually shrank her neck, rubbed her nose with perfect acting skills, and asked, "It's a bit cold, can you feel it?"
"It's alright," Xu Shiyue replied calmly, though her eyes darkened slightly.
The band competition was set for next Saturday, and the day was getting closer. Lu Shizhen took Xu Shiyue to school for rehearsals every day.
Whether it was because of the tension from rehearsals or because her acting skills had improved over the past few days, Lu Shizhen hadn't seen Xu Shiyue watching "24 Billy" again these past few days.
Time flies like an arrow, and Saturday is here in the blink of an eye.
As late autumn approaches and winter approaches, the scenery outside the window becomes increasingly bleak, but the sun, unusually, does not hide and shines brightly on the earth.
Sunlight streamed into the room, bathing it in golden light.
Lu Shizhen rolled over in bed, clutching a cat-shaped plush pillow, and lazily opened her eyes to reach for her phone.
The clock struck fifty-nine, and the phone showed exactly eight o'clock.
What could be better than waking up in the morning feeling great and realizing you still have plenty of time before the weekend?
Lu Shizhen thought no, and since she could finally stay in bed, she rolled over in bed again, but then a soft, gentle voice came from outside the door: "My darling daughter, are you awake?"
Lu Shizhen wanted to remain silent to indicate that she was still asleep when she saw Cheng Meiyan push the door open a crack and lean in with a smile.
"Mom?" Lu Shizhen was somewhat surprised.
What surprised her even more was that Lu Shien jumped out from behind Cheng Meiyan: "And Shien too."
What was unexpected turned into surprise. Lu Shizhen sat up in bed, clutching her blanket: "Why are you all here?"
"You're all grown up and still shy? I've seen everything you looked like when you were little." Cheng Meiyan saw Lu Shizhen pulling the blanket up with a hint of disappointment, so she ruthlessly pulled it off, patted her leg, and said, "Get up and change your clothes, come out with Mom."
Lu Shizhen was a little confused: "Where are we going?"
“Let’s go to the mall,” Cheng Meiyan said. “Shiyue is participating in a competition next week, right? The principal’s clothes are different from the band members’; she needs to wear a formal dress. Shiyue didn’t bring a formal dress when she came to our house, and even if she had, we can’t let her wear an old one.”
"Go ahead, Mom wants to take her to buy a new outfit, and she'll get matching shoes and jewelry too."
"Me too! Our school is having a celebration party tomorrow, and I'm going to dress up for it," Lu Shi'en added with a smile.
However, for her, buying a dress was a pretense; her real purpose was to use the opportunity to find Lu Shizhen.
“You’ll get one too. I just found a black tulle dress that I like, but I’m not tall enough for it, and I don’t want to wear heels lately. You should try it on; it’ll definitely suit you perfectly.” Cheng Meiyan treated everyone equally, and as she spoke, she reached out and ruffled Lu Shizhen’s hair.
Unlike other parents, Cheng Meiyan has always been carefree and has a kind of nonchalant spirit that other wealthy wives don't have.
To be honest, Lu Shizhen didn't feel any distance or awkwardness from her. Her soft hands gently rubbed her head without any tenderness, making her feel an urge to get closer to her mother.
She had never been treated like this before.
Lu Shizhen's eyes darkened for a moment, then she smiled at Cheng Meiyan and said, "Thank you, Mom."
Cheng Meiyan was taken aback for a moment, then amused by Lu Shizhen's smile, her smile widening: "Oh my, why is our Zhenzhen so shy?"
Lu Shizhen changed her clothes quickly, and the family of three soon went downstairs.
Lu Shien stood next to Lu Shizhen, her back to Cheng Meiyan, and whispered, "Sister, I asked Sun Mengmeng yesterday, and she said she can reserve a day for us next month. When are you free, sister?"
Looking at her zero horse riding skills, Lu Shizhen delayed, saying, "Let me see, I've been a bit busy lately."
"Is it because of Xu Shiyue?" Lu Shi'en's eyes showed a hint of dissatisfaction, and his possessive and repulsive emotions were particularly strong.
Lu Shizhen knew exactly what the little guy was thinking, and she had a bit of a headache.
She didn't want Lu Shi'en to be too precocious, and she didn't want to cause Xu Shiyue any hatred, so she immediately said, "What are you thinking? Does your sister not want to study? There's an upcoming round of exams, and if I don't do well, Mom will be angry. You too, focus more on your studies, okay?"
"Of course I know." Lu Shi'en was convinced, and her dissatisfaction instantly turned into happiness. She hooked her arm around Lu Shizhen's and pressed herself against her. "Sister, you should also take care of yourself."
“…Okay.” Lu Shizhen nodded.
She wasn't used to such intimate interactions and wasn't quite sure how to handle things; her movements were somewhat stiff.
Just then, as she came downstairs, she saw Xu Shiyue sitting at the dining table having breakfast as usual.
Her long, black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, its slight curls reflecting the shimmering morning light.
Whether it's the sunlight or the fact that the person in the picture is Xu Shiyue, this ordinary corner is given an oil painting-like luster. Centered on Xu Shiyue, it looks serene and beautiful from afar.
As Lu Shizhen looked around, she suddenly realized that none of her previous interactions with Xu Shiyue had given her the same feeling as her interactions with Lu Shien.
That's really strange...
Thinking this way, Lu Shizhen wanted even more to break free from Lu Shien's habit of being intimate with the original owner.
She subtly withdrew her arm, pretending to pick up breakfast and walk to the table, naturally greeting Xu Shiyue: "Good morning."
"Good morning," Xu Shiyue replied calmly, then ate the last bite of her sandwich.
A gust of wind blew in through the slightly ajar window, landing squarely on Lu Shizhen's collar, making her shiver.
For some reason, Lu Shizhen felt that Xu Shiyue's greeting today was rather cold.
The wind hadn't stopped, and she pulled her collar tighter, thinking it might be because she wasn't wearing enough clothes today.
But before Lu Shizhen could settle on this reason, the system's announcement rang in her mind: "-5".
"..."
Lu Shizhen's hand holding the sandwich froze for a moment, and her gaze unconsciously fell on Xu Shiyue.
But the person continued to slowly and deliberately hold the milk cup in front of them, their calm demeanor showing no sign of displeasure whatsoever.
Could it be that Xu Shiyue has morning grumpiness?
And then today I'm unlucky and I just happened to run into the line of fire?
Surely not?
Lu Shizhen suddenly felt somewhat innocent, and also felt that Xu Shiyue and even the system should not have been so hasty.
Before she could make any further judgment, Cheng Meiyan's cheerful voice came from behind her: "Okay, stop looking. Take the sandwiches and get in the car. It's easy to get stuck in traffic on the weekend, so we need to leave early."
This sudden revelation, coupled with some ambiguity...
30340; teasing, Lu Shizhen's face immediately flushed.
She glanced at Xu Shiyue and then at Cheng Meiyan, about to explain, but was pushed away by her.
The figure moved back and forth in Xu Shiyue's sight. After drinking the last sip of milk, she slowly stood up from her seat.
Yuanzi familiarly stopped beside her, waiting for its owner. She also bent down and, as usual, grasped the cool handrail.
She simply raised her eyes slightly higher, subtly observing Lu Shi'en, who was standing in the entryway.
That familiar yet still strange feeling surged within Xu Shiyue, pressing down on her heart once more.
She didn't like this feeling.
This gave her a feeling of being out of control.
Cheng Meiyan didn't drive her Porsche; instead, she drove a more understated Maybach.
Because of Xu Shiyue's visual impairment, she and Yuanzi were the first to be arranged to board the bus.
Lu Shizhen had copied many luxury car models, so she knew that this Maybach was rare.
Just as she was following closely behind, full of anticipation to enjoy the luxury car treatment in the passenger seat, she found that the passenger door could not be opened.
The passenger window slowly rolled down. Cheng Meiyan leaned her head back slightly and said in a low voice, somewhat angrily, "What are you doing sitting in the front? Go sit in the back with my daughter-in-law."
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