Rebirth
In the stillness of the night, Jin Yuxi was already fast asleep, her breathing even.
Qu Shiyao, however, was wide awake, browsing the latest chapter of the novel released in the early hours of the morning in the system's backend, and paying attention to the movements of the domineering CEO yesterday.
Ever since she leveled up to level 3, the plot of the book has basically revolved around her as the female lead, while Si Cheng's role has been pitifully small.
She searched for a long time before finally finding a trace of Si Cheng's story at the end of the chapter, but it was pitifully short.
After watching his storyline, Qu Shiyao and the system fell silent at the same time, creating a very strange atmosphere.
[What the hell is going on?! They've added fantasy elements directly into the novel?!?] The system screamed, its entire body trembling.
"System, have you ever encountered this situation when you've taken on other hosts before?" Qu Shiyao thought this was absolutely outrageous! It was ridiculous beyond belief.
【I didn't! But a colleague of mine told me that the host it brought had encountered a similar situation.】
The system recalled its colleague's harrowing experience, and its voice carried a hint of sympathy: "Host, I've already reported this urgently. We expect feedback from higher-ups in a few days."
Qu Shiyao remained silent, her mind racing as she considered how to respond.
Suddenly, she remembered a crucial question: "System, if the CEO finds out I'm not the original owner of this body, will it affect the novel's world?"
【Absolutely not!】The system's tone was serious.
[You absolutely cannot let him find out until your rating reaches 9.5! Otherwise, you will be rejected and expelled by the world's consciousness, and your mission will not be completed yet...]
"Wasn't my previous OOC obvious enough?" Qu Shiyao raised an eyebrow.
"That's different," the system explained.
[The criteria for Out-of-Character (OOC) are quite broad. For example, if you, the host, have had this personality from the very beginning of the story, and everyone around you has accepted that you are Qu Shiyao, then there's no problem.]
However, if a reincarnated individual were to step forward and accuse you of being different, claiming that the original owner they knew wasn't like this, the world would initiate a self-checking process to verify if your identity matches.
"No way?" Qu Shiyao thought these rules were absolutely outrageous.
"Does that mean if some random Tom or Dog on the street says something to me, I'll be investigated?"
That's not entirely true.
The system added: "We will first verify the memory of the person who made the accusation. Only if their memory is confirmed to be true will we begin investigating you."
Qu Shiyao fell silent.
Si Cheng was reborn from the moment when the original female lead jumped into the sea and he desperately clutched his shoes.
If he discovers that Qu Shiyao at this point in time hasn't progressed to the stage of forced love, and instead already has a boyfriend...
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, her eyes were filled with sorrow and vicissitude: "Child, I have been reborn!"
system:【……】
"I am now Niu Hulu Qu Shiyao, who was heartbroken and jumped into the sea, reborn from the ashes, saw through the illusions of the world, determined to take revenge, and stay away from the scumbag!" Qu Shiyao clenched her fists secretly, her eyes resolute.
"Yes, that's it! I was reborn recently and am determined to change my destiny!"
System: [6.]
Qu Shiyao found the idea more and more feasible as she talked about it, so she immediately opened the system backend, found the original novel, and planned to recall her "past life".
"Speaking of which, I haven't really read the original novel properly since I reached level 3. I'll finish it tonight!"
Just as she was engrossed in reading, the apartment doorbell rang abruptly, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet of the night.
Qu Shiyao peeked out from under the covers, her first thought being: What kind of trouble is the domineering CEO up to now?
[Host, it's the domineering CEO and his doctor friend...] The system confirmed the uninvited guests outside the door through the corridor surveillance.
"Tsk!" Qu Shiyao threw off the covers, her face full of impatience.
"If you're sick, go see a doctor. Why are you harassing respectable women in the middle of the night? Who gave you this bad habit!"
She turned her head and glanced at Jin Yuxi next to her. This woman had excellent sleep quality and was not affected at all by the doorbell and her noise. She even started snoring softly.
She got up and went to the living room, where she found that Su Wanwan had already turned on the floor lamp and sat up. She simply nodded quietly when she saw her.
The bodyguard who had been sleeping on the sofa had already stood up alertly, his sharp eyes fixed on the door.
Qu Shiyao walked towards the door.
The doorbell had stopped ringing, but faint sounds of arguing could be heard outside.
Her face darkened, and she quickly opened the door.
Sure enough, Si Cheng and Yi Yu were facing off outside the door, the atmosphere tense.
"President Si, it's the middle of the night, everyone is resting, please don't disturb them." Yi Yu's voice was cold and carried a hint of dominance.
"You are..." Si Cheng frowned, looking Yi Yu up and down, his eyes filled with genuine confusion.
Yi Yu found it all very strange.
He had clearly met this CEO Si before, and the other party knew his name back then, so why was he acting like he didn't recognize him at all now?
"I am Yi Yu, I am—"
"He's my boyfriend." Qu Shiyao walked out, leaned lazily against the door frame, yawned widely, and spoke in a languid tone that clearly implied she wanted him to leave.
"I didn't know Mr. Si had the honor of visiting. What brings you here at this hour? Why do you have to disturb my peaceful sleep?"
When Si Cheng heard the word "boyfriend" come out of Qu Shiyao's mouth, he swayed violently, as if he had been hit hard, and his face turned pale instantly.
He couldn't understand why everything had changed after he'd finally been given a second chance. Shiyao should have been... at this point in time.
"What happened to your hand!" Si Cheng suddenly noticed Qu Shiyao's arm in a cast, and his heart ached as if it were being squeezed. He instinctively wanted to go forward.
Yi Yu walked over and stood in front of Qu Shiyao, completely blocking Si Cheng's view and path, separating him from Qu Shiyao.
"This is my girlfriend, Mr. Si. Please have some self-respect and don't be so eager to become a third party, okay?"
Yi Yu's words are like knives, sharp and swift.
Si Cheng seemed not to hear Yi Yu's warning, his gaze fixed on Qu Shiyao's hand, his tone urgent and pained:
"Shiyao! Tell me, who hurt you! I will never let him get away with this!"
Yi Yu's impatience was almost at its peak. Did this person not understand human language?
"Who? Isn't it you?" Qu Shiyao tilted her head, peeking out from behind Yi Yu with half her head showing her confusion and innocence.
"President Si, didn't I explain this to you clearly last time? Why are you still asking me? Is it really necessary to hold someone accountable..."
She paused, then forced a smile. "Of course, I hope you'll keep your word and not let the real culprit get away with it."
"I..." Si Cheng was speechless, unable to refute for a moment.
A profound sense of alienation and loss of control overwhelmed him.
In her past life, Shi Yao had never spoken to him in this tone, nor had she ever suffered such a serious injury at this point in her life.
He felt as if he had stumbled into a completely unfamiliar parallel world, where everything was different.
Qu Shiyao ignored Si Cheng and turned to look at Yi Yu. She reached out and ruffled his soft hair, her tone instantly becoming gentle:
"Why are you awake too? Don't you have to go to work tomorrow? Go back to sleep."
"I'll take the day off tomorrow." Yi Yu's tone was firm. How could he possibly let a man with obvious ulterior motives stay near Sister Shi Yao?
He had already made up his mind to stay by her side every step of the way for the next few days, especially since Sister Shiyao's hand was still injured. If any conflict were to occur, she would definitely suffer the consequences.
"You should rest properly even if you take leave, otherwise how can your body take it?" Qu Shiyao pinched Yi Yu's cheek.
To be honest, although Yi Yu has a healthy tan, her face is fair and delicate, and feels quite nice to the touch.
She absolutely has to memorize the recipe for this face mask!
Yi Yu's cheeks flushed slightly, but her eyes glanced at Si Cheng with a hint of reproach: "Sister Shi Yao's health is more important."
This scene was incredibly jarring to Si Cheng's eyes.
He didn't understand why everything was different.
Yi Yu's existence was like a needle, piercing his heart starkly, clearly telling him:
Qu Shiyao does have a boyfriend now, and they are very much in love.
He arrived in such a hurry that he was only focused on asking Assistant Wen for the address, and when he heard Qu Shiyao mention her injury on the phone, he rushed over in a moment of impulsiveness.
Only now did he truly realize that the world was vastly different from the one he remembered.
He needs more information to confirm the situation, and he'll make more mistakes if he says too much now.
"Shiyao, let me explain! I may have been wrong about what happened before, but—" Sicheng tried to salvage his image before leaving, at least to prevent the misunderstanding from escalating.
However, before he could finish speaking, Qu Shiyao interrupted him with a smile, though the smile didn't reach her eyes:
"Mr. Si, regardless of who was right or wrong before, the fact that you're harassing a woman with a boyfriend in the middle of the night is the biggest mistake you can make, don't you think?"
The fleeting look of disgust in her eyes pierced Si Cheng's last psychological defenses.
“Miss Qu, Mr. Si was just too worried about you, and he acted rashly in a moment of panic…”
Dr. Lin Sheng, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up, attempting to defend his friend.
Qu Shiyao scoffed, turning her gaze to Lin Sheng without any politeness:
"You're Mr. Si's friend? You didn't even stop him from going crazy and disturbing the neighbors in the middle of the night. You're quite a good friend."
She didn't have a good impression of the doctor who served as a catalyst for the relationship between Sicheng and the original owner in the original work.
Lin Sheng was speechless. Knocking on the door of a woman with a boyfriend in the middle of the night was indeed neither ethical nor reasonable.
Finally, after being persuaded by Lin Sheng, Si Cheng, looking ashen-faced, threw down the words "I'll contact you again tomorrow" and left in a sorry state.
Qu Shiyao reassured Yi Yu, repeatedly assured him that she was alright, and urged him to go back and catch up on his sleep before closing the door and returning to her apartment.
Turning around, I saw that Su Wanwan had somehow moved a small stool and was sitting near the door, gazing at the balcony not far from the bed, as if admiring the night view.
Her bodyguard remained standing there like a silent wooden stake.
Qu Shiyao looked at the two onlookers and announced in a low voice, "The show's over. Everyone go back to your seats and go to sleep!"
After saying that, she went to the bedroom, rolled back onto the bed, and continued to bury herself in the original novel, trying to remember her past and present lives.
[Host, didn't you just say you were reborn? Why is your attitude towards the domineering CEO still as tough as before?] The system quietly popped up, raising a question.
"Nonsense, there's a process to be reborn! I had that attitude before, and now I suddenly turn into a resentful woman? That would be too fake. He would find out something's wrong as soon as he investigates, and it would also be digging a hole for himself."
Qu Shiyao, flipping through her e-book without looking up, replied, "He needs to gradually realize that something's wrong with me. Only then will he believe that I was also reborn."
Meanwhile, a distraught Si Cheng got back into his car and immediately took out his phone, ordering his assistant, Wen, on the other end:
"Immediately compile all my schedules from the past few months, as well as everything related to Qu Shiyao, and send it to me! I need it now!"
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