Chapter 3 — A New Identity

Our lips met.

The familiar warmth.

The familiar breath.

The sensation made Xie Chu freeze instantly.

He didn’t pull away.

He didn’t lean in either.

He simply stood there, perfectly still, as if even breathing had become impossible.

I quietly reached for his hand.

He remained motionless as a statue.

That gave me the opening I needed to slip the remote control out of his grasp.

【Hold that position. Don’t let him realize what you’re doing.】

The moment the system spoke, I stopped moving altogether.

My hand was still gripping his collar. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, I could feel the powerful rhythm of his heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

So alive it was almost frightening.

My fingers curled slightly, but in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to touch him again.

I’m sorry…

That heart must have hurt terribly that day, didn’t it?

【Just ten more seconds!】

Xie Chu’s breathing gradually grew ragged.

He lifted a hand and touched my face.

In the darkness, every sensation seemed magnified a hundredfold.

I instinctively took a step backward.

【Three…】

I stepped back.

He stepped forward.

【Two…】

I retreated again.

He followed.

【One…】

His hand suddenly closed around my waist.

【RUN!!!】

Click.

The lights came back on.

I had no idea whether Xie Chu had seen my face.

The system assured me he hadn’t.

【If he’d seen you, he wouldn’t have locked down the entire auditorium and started searching for someone.】

The SG Group’s press conference had suddenly lost power.

Once the electricity was restored, the product presentation was canceled altogether.

Instead, the entire auditorium was sealed off.

Every attendee was detained and questioned one by one. They weren’t released until the following afternoon.

Of course, he never found me.

Just as I’d suddenly appeared beside Xie Chu the instant the lights went out, the system had immediately pulled me away the moment they came back on.

【Collapse warning lifted! Looks like Xie Chu doesn’t want to take the whole world down with him anymore! Qianqian, this is all thanks to you! Now hurry and figure out how we’re going to complete the next mission! As long as we get Xie Chu back onto the original storyline, we can finally leave!】

I turned over and pulled the blanket over my head.

I didn’t want to hear another word.

【Qianqian?】

I pretended to be dead.

【Qianqian, don’t ignore me~】

I covered my ears too.

【Tell me what you’re thinking. I’ll help you.】

I opened my eyes and asked coldly,

“If I don’t want to do the mission anymore, can you help me?”

When I’d first entered this world, I’d always thought it was nothing more than a game.

The people here were just data.

Paper characters I could manipulate however I wanted.

But three years had passed…

And I no longer believed that.

They could feel pain.

They could feel happiness.

They could fall in love.

They could despair.

The empty look in Xie Chu’s eyes when he’d heard those final words from me…

I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forget it.

I didn’t want to do something like that a second time.

The system fell silent for a long time.

Then, when it finally spoke, its voice was soft.

【Qianqian, I understand… Maybe you just need more time. We can take it slowly. There’s no rush.】

From that point on, the system never mentioned the mission again.

Aside from the investigation at the auditorium, the outside world continued as normal.

I stayed in the hospital.

The system prepared a new identity for me:

Wei Qing—the chronically ill younger sister of the female lead, Wei Yi.

This identity would allow me to get close to Xie Chu without interfering with the storyline as much as I had the first time.

【It seems like everything started changing the moment you appeared!】

Every now and then, the system would cheerfully report its findings.

【Xie Chu and Wei Yi have been spending a lot more time together lately. Maybe this mission really will be easier!】

I could only hope so.

A month later, Wei Qing was discharged from the hospital.

By then, I’d completely adjusted to my new body and absorbed all of Wei Qing’s memories.

I packed my things, changed out of my hospital clothes, and sat waiting for Wei Yi to come pick me up.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Wei Yi was exactly the kind of big-sister figure you’d expect from a game.

She was so gentle that just looking at her made you want to call her sis.

“It’s okay.”

I stood up and grabbed my suitcase.

Just then, a tall figure stepped in front of me, blocking the light.

“Qingqing, let me carry that for you.”

I looked up.

Then I froze.

It was Xie Chu.

“Hello.”

He smiled at me.

His dark eyes were deep and bottomless, like an abyss.

“Little sister.”

Xie Chu was like an entirely different person now.

Back then, he had been stubborn and domineering. If he didn’t like someone, he couldn’t even be bothered to put on a polite act.

If he hated someone, he wouldn’t spare them so much as a glance.

And his smile…

That had once belonged exclusively to me.

But now, he spoke with effortless charm and carried himself with polished elegance.

There was always the faintest smile playing at the corners of his lips.

He was the very definition of an upper-class gentleman.

The kind of man who could walk into a room and make everyone think the same thing:

Now that’s what you call premium quality.

“So…”

Xie Chu rested his chin on one hand and looked at me, his voice gentle.

“You won’t turn me down if I ask you to have tea with me tomorrow, will you?”

Wei Yi casually ladled some soup into my bowl.

“I’m actually busy tomorrow, Qingqing. Why don’t you go in my place? He’s taking time out of his schedule to ask you personally. You should at least do him the courtesy.”

I looked up.

Xie Chu was still smiling.

But behind those dark eyes, layers upon layers of mist seemed to conceal whatever lay beneath.

So deep I couldn’t see the bottom.

【Say yes, Qianqian! Everything is going incredibly well!】

After I left the hospital, Xie Chu and Wei Yi began seeing each other more and more.

I inevitably ran into him from time to time.

But he never did anything unusual around me.

At least on the surface, he genuinely seemed not to recognize me.

Even the ring made from my ashes—the one he’d worn before—was no longer on his finger.

Maybe…

He really had let the past go.

More importantly, after spending time with Xie Chu, Wei Yi’s strange fascination with him gradually disappeared.

She began drifting back toward the romance that had originally belonged to the male lead.

That was why the system had been practically celebrating every day lately, convinced we were on the verge of completing the mission.

【Say yes, Qianqian!】

I lowered my eyes.

“…All right.”

【What do you think Xie Chu wants with you?】

Even in the middle of its celebration, the system still had enough common sense left to be suspicious.

I slowly stirred my tea.

“I have no idea.”

Xie Chu wasn’t the kind of person who casually invited people he barely knew out for tea.

But the scariest part was…

I couldn’t read him anymore.

Back then, he’d never guarded himself against me.

One lift of his eyebrow was enough for me to know whether he was about to lose his temper or start acting spoiled.

Now…

Looking at him felt like staring at some impossible advanced-level math problem.

I couldn’t make sense of him at all.

【Qianqian, he’s here!】

I immediately lowered my head.

Wei Qing had been sick for years. She was supposed to be sensitive and insecure.

I’d mastered the role by now.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Xie Chu approached with his usual polished composure.

Perfectly tailored suit.

Gentle smile.

The kind of presence that screamed billionaire on the cover of a financial magazine.

I gave a small shake of my head and continued playing the shy, timid girl exactly as the character required.

The waiter pulled out a chair for him.

Xie Chu sat down and casually ordered tea and dessert.

When he’d gone out with me before, he always ordered my favorite things.

He’d even order an identical serving for himself.

His reasoning had always been:

“If you like it, then I like it too.”

But today…

He ordered a dessert he’d never touched before.

I glanced at it before quickly looking away.

“I heard from Xiaoyi that the two of you grew up together?”

Xie Chu smiled as he asked.

I nodded.

“Then you must know Xiaoyi’s tastes pretty well, don’t you?”

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

It was a habit he’d never had before.

I couldn’t figure out what he was getting at, so I simply nodded again.

Xie Chu leaned slightly forward.

His impossibly handsome face drew closer.

Instinctively, I tightened my grip around the spoon in my hand.

Then he spoke slowly.

“The real reason I asked you here today… is because I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

He looked directly at me without blinking.

“I’ve liked Xiaoyi for a long time. I want to propose to her.”

“Wei Qing, will you help me figure out how to do it?”

【AHHHHHHH, QIANQIAN!!!】

The system screamed inside my head like it had just won the lottery.

【We’re almost there!!! Xie Chu wants to propose to Wei Yi!!! This is an original-story event!!! In the original plot, Wei Qing was even the one who helped him pick out the engagement ring!!!】

I had no idea what my expression looked like at that moment.

Hopefully, it was fine.

After all, years ago I’d managed to look completely heartless while my own heart was breaking apart, and still call him a filthy bastard to his face.

My emotional control had to be at max level by now.

【Qianqian, say yes!】

I blinked, lowered my head, and took a spoonful of tiramisu.

Then I smiled.

“Of course. If there’s anything you need me to help with, just tell me, Mr. Xie.”