After sending that message, Yan Yu gently placed her phone on her lap, a subtle smile curving at the corners of her lips.
Plan successful.
Almost instantly, the familiar notification sound rang in her mind, crisp and loud.
[Ding!]
[Key plot node “Reassurance After White Moonlight Conflict” completed.]
[Overall plot restoration evaluation: 94 points.]
[Evaluation details: After Su Qinghan and Jiang Muyun had their conflict, Host took the initiative to contact Su Qinghan in a gentle manner, expressing just the right amount of concern and precisely reaffirming her self-positioning as a substitute. Phrases like “I’m just Muyun’s substitute,” and “watch over your happiness from afar” perfectly matched the original character’s emotional logic and behavior at this moment. The voice message conveyed delicate emotions, successfully breaking through Su Qinghan’s psychological defenses and triggering her emotional fluctuations.]
[Current main storyline total progress: 30%]
[Reward issued: Xinyu Perfume × 1.]
[Note: After spraying this perfume on skin, it will emit a soft fragrance within half an hour. Those who smell it will gain a sense of peace at the soul level, their emotions becoming stable and their thinking clarity improved. Effect lasts approximately one hour, no side effects. Please seize the right moment and make good use of it.]
Yan Yu’s eyelashes fluttered lightly as she sank her consciousness into the system space and retrieved the freshly issued reward.
The perfume bottle was small, square like a seal, fitting snugly in her palm.
The liquid inside was as clear as water, refracting shimmering specks of light under the warm yellow lamp, quietly rippling.
The transparent glass bottle had no unnecessary decorations, only a minimalist logo and a small line engraved on the front—“Xinyu.”
She subconsciously turned her wrist, revealing a pale, translucent section of her forearm.
Under the light, the skin was as delicate as lard, the bone lines sharp and distinct.
Yan Yu aimed the nozzle at the inside of her wrist and gently pressed.
Pshht—
A faint misting sound, and a cool spray settled on her skin.
A few seconds later, a light fragrance slowly diffused.
It was not a single floral scent; rather, it was the crisp base note of white tea, combined with the subtle presence of jasmine after rain—fresh, lingering, curling gently around her nose.
Yan Yu brought her wrist close and took a deep breath.
The nerves that had been tense all day seemed to subtly relax in that faint fragrance.
Perhaps it was the placebo effect, or maybe it was truly thanks to the system, but the peace that rose from the bottom of her heart was so real it couldn’t be denied.
This was a good thing.
Yan Yu understood.
If used at a critical moment, especially when facing characters on the verge of emotional breakdown, this perfume would be an invisible trump card.
She carefully put the perfume away in the drawer of her bedside table.
Then, bracing herself on the armrests of the wheelchair, she slowly stood up, leaned against the wall, and hobbled step by step into the bathroom.
Warm water cascaded down from the showerhead, washing over her skin, carrying away the fatigue of the entire day along with the tension of scheming step by step, all swirling down the drain.
Steam quickly filled the room, fogging the mirror and making the whole world hazy and soft.
She closed her eyes, letting the hot water pour over her head, trickling down her hair, forehead, neck, until her entire body was wrapped in warmth.
When she came out of the bath, she wrapped herself in a large bath towel, exposing her rounded shoulders and a pair of straight calves.
Still leaning against the wall, she moved slowly back to the bedroom.
From the living room came the sound of Ruo Xiaozhen’s room—the door left ajar, the TV’s audio mixing with Ruo Xiaozhen’s crisp laughter.
“Hahaha, that male contestant is so dumb!
How could he choose wrong?”
As Yan Yu passed by, she glanced through the crack in the door.
Nine well-dressed male and female contestants sat in the studio, with the host passionately reading the script.
Ruo Xiaozhen, sitting on the sofa, was laughing so hard she was rocking back and forth.
She turned her head and saw Yan Yu, immediately leaning half her body out, eyes sparkling like stars.
“Yan Yu, Yan Yu!
Are you watching this?
The newest episode!”
Ruo Xiaozhen waved her arms excitedly.
“Just now there was a segment called Truth or Dare.
The male contestant had to send a late-night snack to his heart’s girl, but that idiot sent it to the wrong room!
He sent it to that super fierce girl No. 1!
She threw the snack straight into the trash and said coldly, ‘Who wants that?’
It was hilarious!
Also, girl No. 4 secretly slipped him a note telling him what to choose, but he didn’t get it at all.
The look on her face was priceless!
Oh, and I’m telling you, that older sister No. 4 is really handsome!”
“Who isn’t handsome in your eyes?” Yan Yu replied with a smile, her tone light.
“True,” Ruo Xiaozhen tilted her head, thinking, then said energetically, “But this one is really different!
I’ll tell you about it after I finish watching!
Oh right, I saw some couple check-in spots online last time.
There’s this really pretty one called… Cherry Blossom Valley…
Let’s go together after exams, okay?”
“A couple check-in spot like that—are two girls like us suitable to go?”
“Why not!
I want to go, I want to go!”
Ruo Xiaozhen playfully stuck out her tongue, then retreated into her room, and another burst of silvery laughter drifted out from the crack.
Yan Yu shook her head with a smile, then slowly walked into her own bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Only a warm yellow wall lamp was lit in the bedroom, its soft light spreading across the entire space.
She leaned against the wall as she moved to the bed and slowly sat down.
The large bath towel was loosely wrapped around her, her half-wet long hair draped over her shoulders, the ends still dripping water.
She picked up the hairdryer from the bedside table, plugged it in, and was about to raise it to dry her hair when—
Her gaze inadvertently dropped and fixed on her legs, pressed together.
Her two legs were slender and long, glowing like jade under the warm light, the skin pale almost to transparency.
Having just bathed, her knees and calves were faintly pink.
Water droplets hadn’t been completely dried yet, slowly sliding down the smooth lines of her calves, past her delicate ankles, and finally gathering at the tips of her round, lovely toes, about to drip.
Very beautiful.
Looking at her legs, Yan Yu’s mind objectively produced this thought.
After the system’s S-level appearance modification, this body had indeed reached the pinnacle of aesthetic pleasure.
Especially these legs—perfect proportions, smooth lines.
If they were healthy, they would be enough to shoot any fashion editorial.
But unfortunately.
Beautiful as they were, they were useless.
Unable to stand, it was only a regret that looked good on the surface.
Occasionally she thought, if these legs were healthy, she could walk far, go to many places she wanted to go, do many things she had never been able to do.
But life has no “ifs.”
Being given this chance to start over was already an extra gift from fate.
She had long learned not to be greedy, not to ask for more.
Thinking this, Yan Yu lowered her eyelids and pushed that fleeting melancholy deep into her heart.
She turned on the hairdryer, and warm air rushed out, blowing the wet hair hanging over her shoulders.
She carefully combed through her strands with her fingers, letting the hot air evenly pass over every inch.
The mirror reflected her blurred profile: wrapped in a bath towel, bare rounded shoulders, one hand holding the hairdryer, the other moving through her hair, her expression calm.
When she was about halfway done—
“Ring, ring, ring—”
A harsh ringtone abruptly burst into the quiet room, violently interrupting the hum of the hairdryer.
Yan Yu paused, instinctively glanced at the time—it was almost nine in the evening.
At this hour, who could it be?
She turned off the hairdryer, and sudden silence immediately descended.
She reached for her phone, the screen lighting up harshly in the dimness.
On the caller ID, three clear and distinct characters jumped into view.
Su Qinghan.
Yan Yu’s pupils contracted slightly.
Su Qinghan?
At this late hour…