After Zheng Bohan left, Shang Yechu leaned back on the sofa and let out a long sigh of relief.
To please him, Shang Yechu spent the last few days reading through all of Zheng Bohan's past interviews and articles. Since he had too many TV dramas to read, Shang Yechu had to search for the episode summaries online and memorize them by gritting her teeth.
To increase credibility, Shang Yechu even went to Green Petal Network—China's largest book, film, and music review and recommendation website—and found Zheng Bohan's works group. She extracted the most popular drama reviews and character analyses from there and memorized them.
There was no other way; her current circumstances were still too ordinary. She could only cling desperately to Zheng Bohan as her lifeline. Opportunities in the entertainment industry are fleeting; pointless reserve will only ruin everything in this circle.
This approach, of course, places a tremendous burden on the brain. In fact, Shang Yechu's brain is currently both exhausted and hyperactive, as if it has been divided into two hemispheres. The right hemisphere is screaming, "Opportunity! Opportunity! Opportunity!" while the left hemisphere is clamoring, "I want to sleep! I want to sleep! I need sugar! I need sugar!"
Shang Yechu pulled a piece of chocolate from her pocket, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth. —It wasn't a chocolate made with cocoa butter substitute; it was a high-end product that Shang Yechu had bought at the supermarket, even at great expense. She had been overusing her brain these past few days and needed to treat her poor brain to a good meal.
The sweet taste melted in her mouth, and the silky texture made Shang Yechu close her eyes in ecstasy and relax her brows.
Sugar is so addictive to humans. Sugar... sugar... play... play... Shang Yechu mumbled these words on her tongue, her mind unusually blank.
"I said..."
A voice interrupted Shang Yechu's reverie. Without opening her eyes, Shang Yechu lazily replied, "Hmm?"
The one who spoke, number 103, said, "It's rare that you have some free time. I have a question I'd like to ask you."
"You still have questions for me?" Shang Yechu said slowly. "Aren't you practically omniscient?"
"You are free to choose not to answer. After all, our relationship is one of equality." 103 gave an irrelevant answer.
"Go ahead and ask," Shang Yechu said, in a good mood.
103 asked, "Why are you in such a hurry? Or rather, what are you in such a hurry for?"
"What's the rush?" Shang Yechu still didn't open her eyes.
103 said bluntly, "You're asking a question you already know the answer to."
Shang Yechu fell silent. She was truly exhausted.
“You’re forcing yourself to improve in a way that’s almost like pulling up seedlings to help them grow—to become smarter, prettier, taller, to study, to get roles, to play minor parts,” 103 said. “But these things aren’t that urgent. You’re twenty years old now, which is still very young in terms of human age.”
103 is truly incomprehensible.
Shang Yechu crumpled the chocolate wrapper into a ball and stuffed it back into her arms. "Are you worried that I'm overworking my health? But can't my weight be exchanged for health points? If my body really can't take it anymore, I can just eat a couple more pounds of meat to 'replenish' it."
“You’re right. Theoretically speaking, even if you develop cancer, you can immediately cure all your ailments by exchanging sixty pounds of weight for sixty health points.” 103’s voice was very hollow, not transmitted through sound waves, but directly pressed into Shang Yechu’s mind, making it feel particularly oppressive.
“But you clearly have an easier way. For example, instead of exchanging intelligence, you could exchange beauty and turn yourself into a pretty vase.” 103’s voice was calm, objective, and cold. “Then use this appearance to attach yourself to a rich man—the kind you Earthlings call a ‘coal boss’—and have him invest in a big-budget production for you. You can become the protagonist immediately and without having to suffer.”
Shang Yechu remained silent, so 103 continued, "According to my calculations, the success rate of this method is over 80%. This is because men all like beautiful but foolish women."
Shang Yechu suddenly opened her eyes.
103 stopped his speech, paused for a moment, and said, "You're angry."
Shang Yechu chuckled, "Thank you, you actually noticed."
103 corrected, "I can't tell from your expression whether you're angry or not; I can tell based on hormone level tests."
Shang Yechu pinched her cervical spine, making a slight cracking sound.
"You think I'm humiliating you?" 103 said dismissively. "I didn't mean that. All I care about is mission efficiency and success rate. I won't waste time humiliating you."
Shang Yechu took a deep breath. "I know."
“You need to understand that everything you’re doing right now is a high-investment, low-return losing proposition in my eyes. If I could change hosts, I would have left on day one,” 103 said. “So why are you so eager for quick success? Since you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you choose the method I suggested?”
Shang Yechu asked warily, "What? If I choose the method you suggested, will you take back all my intelligence and replace it with beauty points?"
"How is that possible?" 103 said coldly. "Don't you have common sense? Your body has already been modified; the values transferred out are like water spilled on the ground. To give you an analogy you can understand—"
"On the day the filming started, you ate a piece of roast suckling pig. A chef can turn a live pig into a piece of roast suckling pig, but can a farmer turn a piece of roast suckling pig back into a live pig?"
Shang Yechu didn't mind 103 comparing her to a live pig; in fact, she breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. She had always worried that everything she had now was like a dream, vanishing overnight. Now that she knew the exchange was irreversible, it was truly wonderful news.
Even if the system leaves her one day, she won't have to worry about turning back into the silly girl from her past life.
"Alright, Ms. Shang Yechu. The Q&A session is over. I've answered your question, and in exchange, it's your turn to answer mine," 103 said impatiently. "What are you in such a hurry for? Don't try to brush me off with things like 'fame should come early'."
103 was utterly fed up with Shang Yechu's reckless lifestyle. If he lost sight of her and she died, he would leave behind a failed mission record. For the system, this would be a tremendous disgrace.
Shang Yechu stared blankly at the ceiling and slowly said, "How about this? Tell me one more thing. After you've answered my question, I'll answer yours."
"What's the problem?"
Shang Yechu's gaze was focused on a certain point.
"Why me?"
"What?" 103 asked, puzzled. "What kind of question is this?"
Shang Yechu sat up straight and patiently said, word by word, "Why am I the one who is bound to this system?"
Before answering 103, Shang Yechu stood up and walked to the window, saying as she went, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. Why me? Is there something special about me?"
If it were a human, they might try to be subtle and mysterious at this moment. But 103 is a system.
103 answered without hesitation or mercy: "No. You are nothing special."
"You're really direct," Shang Yechu chuckled. "I thought I was some kind of chosen one, the one chosen by heaven or something."
103 calmly said, "The binding is completely random. It can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, or even a newborn baby. Binding you has nothing to do with you personally. In fact, if I had a choice, I would really prefer that I wasn't bound to you."
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