After a hearty meal, Shang Yechu returned to the bookstore and ate the dinner that Grandma Hu had left for her.
The food tasted quite good, but Shang Yechu couldn't taste it. Her nose felt stuffy, and she couldn't smell the aroma of the food. Her tongue felt numb, as if she were chewing on a cotton ball.
Grandma Hu noticed that she looked unwell and asked with some concern, "Xiao Chu, do you have a cold?"
"No," Shang Yechu said with a smile. "I filmed a water scene today and caught a bit of a chill. I'll be fine after a nap."
Grandma Hu was still uneasy: "Really? You're not lying to me?"
"Of course." Shang Yechu showed Grandma Hu the empty bowl she had made. "If you were really sick, would you still have such a good appetite?"
Grandma Hu reluctantly believed her, but she was still uneasy. She rummaged around and found a packet of brown sugar. She went to a snack shop on the pedestrian street and asked someone to help her boil a big bowl of hot brown sugar water.
Of course, Shang Yechu wouldn't refuse the idea of gaining weight. She gulped down a whole bowl of brown sugar water.
Grandma Hu watched her finish drinking, and then watched as Shang Yechu crawled into bed. Only then did she feel relieved, closed the roller shutter, and walked away unsteadily.
The system thought its host would finally get more than 8 hours of sleep today and was just breathing a sigh of relief when it saw Shang Yechu get up like a thief.
Shang Yechu returned to the main room of the bookstore, took out a copy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" from the bookshelf, and sat down in Grandma Hu's seat to read it.
The system choked: "You..."
"What's wrong with me?" Shang Yechu asked nonchalantly.
The system didn't know what to ask. Finally, it could only awkwardly reply, "Didn't you finish reading *Dream of the Red Chamber*?"
“The versions are different. I was reading the Cheng-Gao version a few days ago, and today I’m reading the Zhi-Ping version.” Shang Yechu rubbed his temples. “This book needs to be read at least five times.”
The system was at a loss for words. It was completely ignorant of human emotions and couldn't comprehend Shang Yechu's reckless obsession. It also didn't understand why the book needed to be read five times—with Shang Yechu's intelligence, he could probably memorize it after two or three readings, right?
Shang Yechu felt a splitting headache, a dizzy mind, and a chill.
She knew her body was giving her a warning.
"System, what is my current health value?"
"I'm 25. I've already reached the point where I'm 'seven sick and eight weak'."
"That's good." Shang Yechu breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought he was going to die."
The system could hardly believe its ears: "What do you mean 'okay'?"
Shang Yechu turned a page of the book: "It's just about how well you can still keep going. You're sick and weak all the time, not like you're terminally ill."
The system was almost laughing at this twisted logic, even though it didn't understand what "anger" meant.
Shang Yechu, whose ears were already ringing, paused for a moment and said, "System, why aren't you helping me regulate my hormones?"
system:"……"
The system paused for a strange moment: "When did you find out?"
"The second time you did it, wasn't it?"
Shang Yechu covered her face with the book and closed her eyes to rest for a while: "At that time, I was exhausted like a dog, and suddenly I felt much lighter. My brain was practically barking in a row: 'I'm not tired, I'm not tired.' This situation can't be explained by 'science,' right?"
The system remained silent.
Shang Yechu then said, "Given that you are the only being in this world who transcends the realm of 'science,' can I assume that you helped with this matter?"
The system silently thought: The host's IQ has increased, and he has also become more difficult to deal with.
"If you're going to help someone, help them all the way." Shang Yechu took down the book, revealing his ordinary face, but a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.
"I know you did all this for me without telling me why."
"However, adjusting it once or twice is still adjusting it, and adjusting it a hundred or two hundred times is also the same. Please help me again today?"
The system knew this would happen sooner or later. It seemed to already see the bottomless pit ahead: "System, adjusting it a hundred times, two hundred times, it's still adjusting; adjusting it ten thousand times, two thousand times, it's the same. Please help me again today, again, again, again, again..." System, system, system, system...
A faint warmth seeped into Shang Yechu's internal organs and limbs. Shang Yechu felt her headache instantly lessen by more than half, to a negligible degree. Her body felt warm, though this warmth carried a false sense of comfort.
Shang Yechu immediately perked up, said "thank you" to the system, and then threw herself back into her reading.
The system sighed inwardly and said, "This is the last time."
I don't know who she was talking to.
Shang Yechu persevered and read until 2 a.m., then persisted in practicing calligraphy for another hour. Her hands were trembling when she lay down.
She didn't even have time to command the system to force her into hibernation before she drifted off to sleep.
The system dutifully turned off the lights and then forced Shang Yechu into hibernation. Finally, it spent five energy points out of its own pocket to secretly restore Shang Yechu's health to 28.
The system rules strictly prohibit the system from allowing the host to use its own reserves, as this would create unfairness and defeat the purpose of the mission. Five energy points is the maximum that can be spent. Any more than that will cause energy fluctuations that will be detected by the main world.
The system doesn't know why it's doing this.
But what can you do when you're stuck with a host like this?
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