The abnormal situation of System 0361 quickly attracted the attention of the representative of the main brain. He quickly controlled the scene and immediately kept other systems away from 0361 to avoid accidental infection.
Ji Tong was shocked for a while. Then he was relieved after learning that this doll colleague would be fine.
The main brain’s representative finished solving this trouble and saw System 0587 next to 0361.
“How could No. 0361 be infected with a virus all of a sudden?” The representative of the main brain questioned him in a very emotional mechanical voice.
Ji Tong also wanted to ask this question. He had just said something to the doll, only to be taken aback.
“It must be a bug,” Ji Tong said in disgust. “The viruses prevalent in your system world are really terrible.”
“……” The main brain’s representative wanted to say something but was blocked by him.
There were too many systems and data existing at the same time. In order to get rid of the virus in No. 0361 as soon as possible, the main brain directly used the reset function to restore No. 0361’s data to five minutes ago. This meant he could no longer trace what had happened before the accident.
Yet in view of System 0587’s poor performance in the meeting today and the bizarre accident of his colleague, the main brain felt it was necessary to pay attention to him.
The main brain thought of this and issued a series of instructions, calling over another system.
Ji Tong’s eyes widened when he saw the other person coming.
There was a unique black coat, a tall figure, a handsome face and a body that gave off a cold air.
This was simply Ji Tong’s dream appearance.
“No. 0587, this is your first time performing a mission so the system center has arranged a very talented human system to answer your questions. This is System 0499, who has won first place in internal assessments many times in a row when serving his first host.”
A reserved smile appeared on No. 0499’s handsome face and he took the initiative to extend his hand to Ji Tong. “Hello, you can call me Fang Hao.”
The slightly ordinary name didn’t seem to match the other person’s very cool appearance, but this was the first human system that Ji Tong had seen. This immediately generated a lot of intimacy.
Under Fang Hao’s guidance, Ji Tong exchanged the Intranet contact information with him. They would be able to remotely exchange data at any time in the future, similar to online chatting.
“Brother Hao, how do you usually do tasks? How can you get such high scores?”
Ji Tong was very envious of Fang Hao’s handsome adult appearance. His host’s growth rate was definitely very high. According to the registration time displayed on the Intranet, the other person had only been a system for less than two years. This proved that he completed the main tasks quickly and well every time, so that he had such fast progress.
“It is very simple. Just be crazy.” Fang Hao smiled slightly, revealing a powerful and incomparable confidence. “No matter which villain comes to make trouble and no matter what others think of the host, let the host release arrogant and cruel words. Then show amazing strength in the midst of everyone’s ridicule and slap them severely in the face.
Ji Tong’s eyelids twitched when he heard this. Why did he feel like the ideas of this system seemed very familiar?
“That… can I ask what theme you are working in?”
“The strongest Long Aotian.” (Chinese equivalent of Gary Stu)
He had to say that the themes of the projection worlds were really varied.
Fang Hao was really dedicated as a system working in the Long Aotian theme. Even his name had the characteristics of the male protagonists.
Ji Tong politely praised him. “Brother Hao must’ve accurately grasped the selling point of the Long Aotian theme.”
“That’s right.” Fang Hao looked proud. “After all, I read novels every day in class before transmigrating into the novel. I can read an X characters long article in three days.”
It turned out to be someone around the same age.
Ji Tong felt more friendly and casually asked, “What year were you in?”
“Fifth grade of elementary school.” Fang Hao raised an eyebrow. “Are you a college student? So old.”
Ji Tong: !!!
Ji Tong looked dazed and his eyes shook. He couldn’t believe what just happened.
He actually called an elementary school student by ‘Brother.’
The elementary school student also mocked him for being old.
He was obviously only a three and a half year old child!
Having said that, even an elementary school student had such a handsome style while he only looked three and a half years old…
Ji Tong felt that he had suffered an indescribable blow. During the following meeting time, he always maintained a dazed expression while thinking of life. Finally, today’s extremely fantastic emergency meeting ended.
The little robot still looked dazed when returning to the host’s consciousness space and he greeted Pei Qingyuan weakly, “Good evening, host. I am back.”
It was dusk outside the classroom window. The last class in the afternoon was over and Pei Qingyuan was just about to go to the cafeteria to eat.
He heard the sullen voice in his mind and froze for a moment. Then he asked in a hesitant manner, “Did the meeting not go well?”
“No, it went well.” Ji Tong was melancholy. “However, the meeting lasts as long as a human meeting.”
Pei Qingyuan heard the melancholy in the system’s tone. For some reason, he remembered the system’s satisfied expression when sitting on the curb and eating the savory crepe in the morning. So for some unknown reason, he asked, “Then are you hungry?”
…It wasn’t impossible to be hungry.
Ji Tong subconsciously felt refreshed. Then he remembered that he was now at school. It would be strange for a little boy to suddenly appear to eat with Pei Qingyuan, so he had to refuse reluctantly.
“I’m made of data and I can’t be hungry. I was just curious in the morning. Host, you should go eat.” Ji Tong’s words were insincere.
The classroom was basically empty. Only a few students were still working extra hard at their desks, racing against time to make full use of this time.
Li Zihai was still sitting in the front row, staring at the unfinished paper in front of him with a frown. He couldn’t concentrate on his studies all day and always felt restless.
It was all because of that hateful Pei Qingyuan.
From the corner of Lin Zihai’s eyes, he noticed Pei Qingyuan standing up to go downstairs to the cafeteria and suddenly became even angrier.
He had observed Pei Qingyuan for a day and found that this person didn’t carefully listen to the teacher’s lectures at all and was just doing his own thing. This further confirmed his judgment of Pei Qingyuan, a pretty boy who didn’t learn and didn’t seek advancement.
How could such a person accept Teacher Zhou’s appointment with peace of mind and said he would live up to everyone’s expectations?
Pei Qingyuan just passed by his desk. Perhaps his overly resentful gaze was felt but Pei Qingyuan stopped.
The atmosphere was frozen for a few seconds. Lin Zihai was about to impatiently ask what the other person wanted when he heard a cold voice above him.
“Questions 8 and 20 are wrong.”
Lin Zihai froze before blurting out, “Impossible!”
He looked up sharply and thought that Pei Qingyuan would argue with himself. However, the other person didn’t even give him one look and walked away expressionlessly.
In addition, when walking through the corridor, there was a faint smile on Pei Qingyuan’s face, as if mocking Lin Zihai for doing the questions wrong.
“Well done, host!” In fact, it was because the little robot in his mind had finally emerged from his depression and cheered. “According to my observations, Lin Zihai only has achievements in his eyes. If he is pointed out by someone he hates, he will definitely feel uncomfortable.”
“Host, we can act crazy in front of these little villains,” Ji Tong said without hesitation. “This can improve the quality of the task completion and help the host gain growth points faster.”
He must gain the appearance of a handsome man as soon as possible. This would earn back some face from the elementary school student, Fang Hao.
Pei Qingyuan felt that his system seemed to have gained a lot of new knowledge and became very motivated after the meeting.
In Lin Zihai’s eyes, Pei Qingyuan’s indulgent expression became a type of extremely arrogant pride.
Lin Zihai was dying of anger.
He clenched his fists and stared down at his unfinished test paper. He involuntarily checked the 8th and 12th questions.
…There really seemed to be problems with the answers he wrote earlier.
Just as Lin Zihai was feeling disbelief, the mobile phone he had placed in his trouser pockets vibrated slightly.
Pei Yan finally replied to the message. The last chat record between the two of them was sent when Lin Zihai went to the toilet in the morning.
[Pei Qingyuan was selected as the class monitor and Teacher Zhou seems to like him.]
After more than half a day, Pei Yan only replied with a short sentence.
[Really? Then he must be very powerful.]
In the spacious bedroom where the setting sun shone obliquely into the window, Pei Yan threw away his phone and looked at the lawn and garden outside the house every day. It was difficult to describe his mood at this moment.
Pei Qingyuan had a good life in the school where he used to study.
He should be glad about this.
Many people had told him openly and secretly that he had to guard against the person who once occupied his life, lest the other person was unable to accept reality and wanted to come back to disrupt his family, taking away his parents.
Pei Yan originally didn’t want to speculate on the other person like this. However, it sounded really reasonable and Pei Qingyuan did appear suddenly at the banquet when no one invited him.
Xiang Jinyang, who was becoming closer to him in the Pei family’s mansion, also said that Pei Qingyuan had come over on purpose. Thus, Xiang Jinyang suggested to gather his friends from the 2nd High School to tell them about it. This was equivalent to asking them to pay attention to Pei Qingyuan’s movements, so as to save him from making trouble again.
Xiang Jinyang had lived in the Pei family for many years and was familiar with everything about the Pei family. Pei Yan, who had just arrived, often relied on him to understand his parents. Thus, Pei Yan believed in his words and followed them without much thought.
Under such a premise, it should be a good thing for Pei Yan that Pei Qingyuan was accepted by his current environment. Once the other person completely adapted to this current life, Pei Qingyuan might no longer want the things that didn’t belong to him.
Yet in fact, Pei Yan felt stuffy in his heart.
Today was Monday and everyone was going to school as usual, except for him.
It was because after studying at the school that Pei Qingyuan had attended for a week, he found that there was a lot of content he couldn’t follow. He had done well in his studies at the 2nd High School. He just hadn’t expected that the study pressure of a private high school would be much heavier.
The 2nd High School wasn’t the best school in the city. It could only be regarded as mid-range. The quality of students in this prestigious high school outside the public system was much higher than the 2nd High School.
In addition, he heard that Pei Qingyuan had always been first in his grade before transferring.
In addition to the grades, the students of this high school were all versatile such as piano, drama, and equestrian… there were various clubs in the school that urged the students to develop in an all-round way.
Pei Yan didn’t have the conditions to contact these things in the past. Naturally, he couldn’t do it now. This was why his mother Ye Lanting arranged for him to take one less day of class a week. It merged with his weekends and she asked a different tutor to teach him one-on-one lessons for three days every week.
His days off were filled with classes in etiquette, cello and political economy that Ye Lanting had personally chosen.
In Ye Lanting’s eyes, elegant manners, extensive knowledge reserves and decent artistic expertise were extremely important.
Pei Yan was still in awe of this exceptionally dignified and beautiful mother. He might not be interested in these courses at all and he still forced himself to work hard.
Then this morning, he got up with a yawn and thought in a daze about what class he needed to take today. He was walking through the corridor when he heard the conversation between the tutor, who arrived early, and Ye Lanting.
“…It is different from Qingyuan’s cleverness. Young Master Pei is diligent but he always lacks some talent…”
At that time, he happened to receive the message from Lin Zihai.
Pei Yan became tense as he eavesdropped on the side. He wanted to retort that he wasn’t interested in these courses in the first place, so he naturally couldn’t learn well.
However, Lin Zihai’s text message and the tutor’s words pierced a name into his heart at the same time.
Pei Qingyuan, who was given up by his biological parents without hesitation… was much better than him?
Pei Yan suddenly sobered up and his sleepiness disappeared.
This thought was entrenched in his heart like a slowly evaporating poison and he couldn’t rest all day.
He saw the tutor’s brow become more and more furrowed. Once he finally finished his lesson, he walked toward the garden where Ye Lanting was. It was probably to file a complaint.
4 o’clock in the afternoon was supposed to be the time to practice his cello but he fled back to his room early.
Pei Yan sat in front of the scenic window and recalled his experience during this time in a trance.
If he wanted to use a popular metaphor to describe it, he felt like he won a huge lottery. His life was turned upside down and he became extremely rich. He met the rich second generation friends who he could only watch from a distance on the Internet and came into contact with a dazzling, flashy world…
Was he lucky?
He thought he should be.
People couldn’t ask for such a good thing.
Yet in this golden luck, a dark abyss loomed up.
He was just thinking wildly when there was a regular knock on the door.
Pei Yan was already familiar with this knock. It was Ye Lanting.
He quickly left the chair and trotted to open the time. Before the door even fully opened, he started to explain hurriedly, “Mom, I’ll go to practice the cello in a while. I was just a bit sleepy…”
“It is okay. Take a day off when you are sleepy.”
His mother’s reaction surprised him.
Ye Lanting was always delicate and beautiful. Her makeup wasn’t perfunctory even at home and she wore a shiny and elegant sky blue satin dress.
Pei Yan sighed with relief and smiled at his mother, “Thank you, Mom.”
The setting sun that was about to sink fell on them. It made their mother and son look intimate.
In the light orange glow, Ye Lanting stared at her son’s face. Then she stretched out his well-maintained slender fingers. She buttoned the first button of his shirt, which was opened at random, and patiently smoothed his collar until there were no wrinkles.
Then she said softly. “Since the teacher isn’t good at teaching, let’s replace him. A new teacher will come next week.”
“I know you are a smart child. You can do better than Qingyuan, right?”
She didn’t believe that her blood and genes could lose to those of a crude and incompetent country woman.
Ye Lanting didn’t like the child who looked cold. He was a work that seemed imperfect from the inside out. He stubbornly maintained his own appearance since he was a child and was unwilling to grow according to her wishes.
Fortunately, Pei Qingyuan wasn’t her child.
She also had a chance to recreate her work.
The soft fabric clung to Pei Yan’s neck. He almost had the illusion that he was about to suffocate. However, meeting his mother’s touching eyes and her unconditional trust, he nodded without hesitation to answer this expectation.
He would definitely do better than that person.
He didn’t want to hear people putting their names together.
Pei Yan felt like he was standing in a fluttering dream. The tide continuously rushed toward him, rolling up the snow-white hatred and covering his body.
He hated that lingering name.
The author has something to say:
Brother Hao’s standard answer: Don’t hate me, there is no result.
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She’s one of those parents that project themselves onto their child without taking their opinions into account huh.
Ugh these adults are just terrible, is Pei Yan now gonna embark on the path of a cannon fodder villain? Sorta feel bad for him
I feel bad as well because all of his worst actions so far was instigated by others 😕
Pei Yan is young and very impressionable. It also looks like he’ll be a doll to his mother. Sad before he gets out of his situation, he already fcked up
i feel sad bcs i know that thre’s like 90 % chance that pei yan would grow bitter because of his situation, he would probably ends up as a canon fodder, he would suffer tragically, he is literally in a situation where he doesn’t know anything or anyone to trust. It’s sad to see he got taken advantage by others (manipulating him to do actions that he would regret later on) and going from having a loving mother and friends to an abstaint father, a mother who only see a child as a tool, not a human being, and friends that woud probably look down at him. Sure it’s hard for the protagonist too, but i just can’t help to feel bad and sad knowing that he would change so much, that his old self would probably feel disappointed too. I want both character to be kind to each other lol, altho i know it’s impossible
I feel so bad for Pei Yan! He’s just a product of his circumstances, especially when he’s been thrust into an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people. Xiang Jinyang is so hateful to manipulate someone so naive and gullible just because he’s too petty and can’t come to terms with his social position in such a high society circle. I feel bad that Pei Yan is going down the cannon fodder route just because he’s trying to meet people’s unrealistic expectations and being emotionally manipulated by people who only have their own interests at heart.
The main problem with Pei Yan, though, is that he doesn’t try to think for himself and allows himself to be moved by others. He’s frankly too innocent because of the environment he grew up in and not someone that is suitable for more complex environments. He trusts too easily which will eventually lead to his terrible future and eventual downfall. I only hope he can rectify his situation and personal feelings before it becomes too late, but I have a feeling that won’t come to pass.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀
Oh man. This kind of flawed and petty character is my weakness. Character development plss ( i dont necessarily wish that he be ‘nicer’ but i hope his character is more than a cannonfodder)