Click.
A finger snap sounded.
The next second, an elegant middle-aged man wearing glasses walked onto the rooftop, holding a French textbook, unable to hide his excitement at finally starting work.
“Miss Jiang, today’s lesson is French phonetics.”
“Let’s begin.” Jiang Tang responded faintly.
This private tutor’s level was far above that of the schoolteachers.
He kept his eyes forward the entire time, opened the textbook seriously, and taught with the utmost professionalism.
Su Nianyao listened to the lecture beside her, feeling a little dazed.
‘What was she here to do?’
‘Oh, right! She came to rescue the missing desks and chairs and, along the way, wanted to conquer Jiang Tang, but ended up seriously taking a French class instead?’
Jiang Tang’s hand was still slowly stroking the top of her head.
Before Su Nianyao could recover, her back suddenly stiffened.
Jiang Tang had actually picked up a feather cat teaser wand, its feather tip lightly brushing against the back of her white shirt as it swayed slowly back and forth.
“Don’t mess around!”
Su Nianyao instantly panicked, completely forgetting her persona as she hurriedly tried to get up and dodge.
“Shh, focus on the class and don’t get distracted.” Jiang Tang pressed down on her head, her strength far greater than it appeared, her tone lazy.
“You’re the one who wanted this class. I’m just petting a cat along the way. Study well. This is a 100,000-per-hour private tutoring class. Don’t waste it.”
‘100,000 per hour. That really was worth enduring a little.’
She was just playing an ordinary high school student who bowed to money.
Su Nianyao took a deep breath, suppressed her body’s agitation, and kept her nerves taut as she forced herself to focus on the lesson, trying hard to ignore the faint teasing behind her.
Before even a few seconds of peace had passed, Jiang Tang switched to a ribbon-style cat teaser wand.
The slender ribbon circled around her fingertips, its other end lightly hooking the hem of Su Nianyao’s clothes and occasionally brushing against her back.
Su Nianyao stiffened like a curled-up shrimp.
Seeing her enduring and stifled expression, Jiang Tang chuckled softly and switched to a small pom-pom cat teaser wand.
A thumb-sized, soft pom-pom brushed lightly back and forth beside her ear, tickling her so much that her heart trembled.
“Enough! Stop messing around!”
Su Nianyao really couldn’t take it anymore.
She suddenly covered her ears and sat up, her cheeks so red they seemed ready to smoke.
She had underestimated Jiang Tang’s pranks.
She had also underestimated this game’s sympathetic System.
She was supposed to throw Jiang Tang’s mind into chaos, not have her own defenses crumble under Jiang Tang’s teasing.
Jiang Tang looked at her innocently, making no attempt to hide the offending cat teaser wand.
“100,000 per hour, you know.” She tilted her chin toward the teacher, gently reminding her.
‘What 100,000? She wasn’t really here to learn French!’
Su Nianyao glared at Jiang Tang in annoyance and ran to sit at the small round table in the corner, far away from her.
She had completely forgotten her original persona and was acting entirely like herself.
Jiang Tang leaned against the lounge chair, watching her flustered state and laughing so hard she could barely straighten up.
In the shadows by the stairwell, a black-clad bodyguard quietly poked his head out and glanced at the scene.
He silently withdrew and gently closed the stairwell door.
On the enormous rooftop, only three sounds remained: the professional French lecture, the soft whir of the bladeless air conditioner, and Jiang Tang’s undisguised, lighthearted laughter.
Su Nianyao felt her heart shaken by that laughter.
‘Calm down, calm down.’
‘She couldn’t let Jiang Tang lead her around by the nose. She had to find her own rhythm.’
Under the influence of the 100,000-per-hour French class, she quickly calmed down.
She had to admit that expensive things had their reasons.
She had originally pretended to listen, but unexpectedly, she became genuinely interested in French.
Once she became interested, she wanted to learn the subject well.
Anything could betray her, but at least the knowledge she gained would always belong to her.
The expensive, gold-medal French teacher spoke gently.
“Student Su, try reading it once.”
Su Nianyao slowly read along.
“Bonjour–“
“Your pronunciation is way off.” A lazy voice suddenly drifted over from the nearby lounge chair, casual yet slightly provocative.
“Come here. I’ll teach you step by step.”
Su Nianyao silently rolled her eyes inwardly.
‘Back off, back off, back off.’
‘The actual teacher didn’t even find fault with me, so why are you butting in?’
But the French teacher immediately stopped lecturing and looked at her with a smile, his eyes clearly saying that the class wouldn’t continue unless she went over.
‘…So you two were in cahoots all along!’
With no other choice, she could only move reluctantly toward Jiang Tang.
Jiang Tang raised her hand, took Su Nianyao’s hand, and pressed it against her own vocal cords.
Her lips opened and closed as she slowly demonstrated the pronunciation.
“Bonjour–understand?”
‘Understand?’
‘Understand what?’
All Su Nianyao could see was the sly smile in Jiang Tang’s eyes and those delicate, cherry-like lips, leaving her completely dazed.
[Xiao Ai.]
[I’m here, Master.]
[How is she so good at this? She’s better at flirting than I am. Does this really require me to conquer her?]
[The player is the one who conquers, you know.]
[Am I the one conquering? It looks like she’s conquering me. Could she also have a System that requires her to complete conquest missions?]
[Xiao Ai hasn’t detected any other System, you know.]
[Then is this… the power of Affection Rating 99? I feel like I don’t even need to do anything. If I crook a finger, she’ll come over on her own.]
[Maybe… Master really could try crooking a finger?]
“Dopey little wildcat.”
Without waiting for her response, Jiang Tang extended her index finger, lightly pressed it against Su Nianyao’s forehead, and pushed her away.
Su Nianyao silently pressed down the finger she had just extended.
[Never mind. The timing’s wrong.]
[Okay. Call Xiao Ai again if you need anything.]
The French teacher was very perceptive and immediately resumed the lesson without missing a beat.
Su Nianyao took a deep breath and returned to her seat, pretending to listen attentively, but the corner of her eye kept drifting uncontrollably toward Jiang Tang.
She saw Jiang Tang casually pick up the cat teaser wand and play with it herself.
The flowing ribbon circled through the air, wrapped around her slender fingers, and then slowly loosened.
Those hands, white as jade, seemed to glow in the sunlight.
Su Nianyao glanced once, then quickly looked away.
‘…Childish.’
The teacher continued the immersive lesson, having them repeat after him again and again.
“Now the pronunciation finally sounds right.” Jiang Tang suddenly interrupted.
Su Nianyao’s body instantly stiffened, and the tips of her ears turned faintly red.
As soon as the French class ended, Su Nianyao forgot all about rescuing the long-forgotten desks and chairs and rushed off the rooftop.
“Why are you running? I’m not going to eat you.”
Jiang Tang’s voice sounded behind her, accompanied by a light laugh.
Su Nianyao didn’t dare turn around.
She only quickened her pace.
Today, she had been outmatched because of her lack of experience.
Once she returned and trained, she would come back to challenge that final 1 point of Affection Rating.
Back in the classroom, brand-new desks and chairs had already been placed at Su Nianyao’s spot.
A ridiculous pink sticker had been placed somewhere clearly visible on the desk and chair.
It read “Jiang Tang’s Property.”
However, no one dared laugh at her, much less tear it off.
Thanks to Jiang Tang’s intimidation, Su Nianyao had a very peaceful day.
The teacher was polite, her classmates kept to themselves, and no one dared cause trouble.
She was very satisfied with that.
When she got home that evening, Grandma was simmering soup in the kitchen.
“Yaoyao, you’re back from school? How was your day?” Grandma poked her head out and asked with a smile.
“…It was okay.”
Su Nianyao changed her shoes and headed straight for her room.
When she passed the mirror in the entryway, her steps suddenly stopped.
The girl in the mirror had two little hair buns on top of her head, sticking up like cat ears.
They were tied with pink hair ties and decorated with tiny bows.
The girl casually raised her eyes, looking as cute as could be.
“…”
‘When were these tied?’
She reached up to touch them, and the image of Jiang Tang laughing uncontrollably on the lounge chair suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Jiang Tang.
‘No need to think about it. It was definitely her!’
‘But when did she do it? I didn’t notice at all.’
She froze in front of the mirror, her expression calm on the surface while her heart fluttered wildly.
‘They were tied so messily. How was that cute? Were these even hair buns? This was clearly a declaration of challenge!’
‘She was obviously hinting that she could still toy with me effortlessly. This time, I was simply led around by the nose. Next time, I have to regain my footing and flirt with her relentlessly!’
The stubborn cat girl craned her neck and raised her claws toward the cat-ear hair buns.
She tried twice but still didn’t take them down.
‘Wait, if I don’t take them down, doesn’t that mean I’m already starting to care?’
‘How can I let Jiang Tang succeed?’
Su Nianyao gritted her teeth and swiftly pulled the pink hair ties off her head.
Only then did she notice the little strawberry decorations on them, which were impossibly childish.
She stared at the hair ties for three seconds before throwing them deep into a drawer.
‘…I’ll keep them for now. They’re evidence of Jiang Tang’s crime.’
Night. In the villa.
Jiang Tang sat on the lounge chair, looking at the System panel.
[Ding–]
[Plot Point completed: Trapped Su Nianyao on the Rooftop. Villainy Value +20.]
[Plot Point completed: Bound and humiliated Su Nianyao. Villainy Value +15.]
[Current Villainy Value: 155.]
The System’s mechanical, cold voice faded, followed by an excited electronic voice.
[Host! Genius! You can complete the bound-and-humiliated Plot Point like that too!]
“Of course. How is tying someone up with a ribbon from a cat teaser wand not binding?”
Jiang Tang tapped on her phone and sent a command.
The other side replied instantly.
– Received.
[Host, you’re really too good at exploiting System loopholes! Impressive, impressive!]
“Basic moves, basic moves. Keep a low profile, keep a low profile.”
Jiang Tang stood up, stretched, and turned to give an instruction.
“Auntie Lan, put away that paper airplane, the long skirt, and those cat teaser wands. I want to be able to see them whenever I want.”
Auntie Lan walked out from the corner and respectfully collected the skirt and cat teaser wands.
“Yes, Young Lady. I’ll put them in the treasure room and preserve them at a constant temperature and humidity.”
“Go ahead.” Jiang Tang casually lifted her chin and nodded.
– The Young Lady finally had treasured things to entrust to her keeping.
Auntie Lan left beaming.
Just then, Jiang Tang’s phone buzzed again.
She opened it and saw a video pop up.
In the video, the boy who had blocked Su Nianyao after school and spouted nonsense was covered in mud, crawling miserably out of the river.
A red arrow marker was stuck in his head, clearly stamped with the name “Jiang.”
He staggered forward a few steps before noticing a small red flag stuck in a tree trunk.
It read: Next time, it’ll be a real arrow.
The boy instantly turned pale with fright, collapsed onto the ground, and scrambled away in a panic.
A message appeared below the video.
[Mission completed]
Jiang Tang raised an eyebrow.
“System, hurry up and check. Did the Villainy Value increase?”
[No.]
“…Why? Isn’t pushing someone into a river villainous enough?”
[Plot Villainy Value only takes effect against Su Nianyao. Actions against others do not count toward points.]
The System shook its cybernetic head.
No one on the entire platform could match the host’s knack for cutting corners.
“…”
[Host, are you a little disappointed? Don’t worry. With your intelligence, even if you only farm the female lead’s Plot Points, you can quickly gather enough points and successfully exchange them for a healthy body!]
“Not at all. I just feel like something’s off.”
[Please tell me, Host.]
“If the Villainous Rich Young Lady’s setting only works against the female lead, doesn’t that make them mortal enemies? The female lead hasn’t even done anything, so how did they become enemies? This book’s logic doesn’t hold up.”
[In the novel, this early cannon fodder character is meant to give the female lead experience points. Also, the original body’s personality was moody, arrogant, and domineering. If she disliked someone, she would keep targeting them. From this, Host, we’ve discovered another difference between you and the original body!]
“…Then the original body is pretty pitiful too. Wouldn’t she notice that something was wrong with the world she lived in?”
[It’s all a novel world. There’s no need to take it too seriously.]
“System, if a novel world can make me transmigrate into it, maybe there are also characters who awaken?”
[Host, what you said is too scary for the System. If someone really awakened, we’d have to run away, and the entire plot would fall into chaos.]
“Why panic? If the plot falls into chaos, it’s not as if their lives will fall into chaos too…”
Jiang Tang threw herself onto the soft sofa, hugged the cat-head pillow beside her, and casually asked, “What’s the next Plot Point?”
[Let me check…]
The System fell silent for a few seconds, feeling its core turn a little yellow.
[Tomorrow, Su Nianyao has a scene where she’s locked in the bathroom, splashed with water, and slapped. Does the Host want to steal the scene?]
Splashed with water?
Wet body?
Jiang Tang’s eyes instantly lit up, and she sprang up from the sofa.
“Yes! I absolutely must!”
System: [^_^]
This System knew it would turn out like this!