Chapter 151: Maintaining the Plotline

Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Maintaining the Plotline

"A Guide to Nan Family’s Small Restaurant! What to Order on Your First Visit!"

"What’s the Big Deal With Nan Family’s Small Restaurant, the Place Taking the Internet by Storm?"

"A Reasonable Guess at Nan Zhi’s Background! Turns Out She’s a Descendant of an Imperial Chef Family!"

"Thanks to Nan Zhi’s Popularity, Reaps the Benefits as Advertisers Rush to Add More Funding Overnight!"

"Title Sponsorship Fee Exceeds 100 Million! The Road to Success for Today’s Hottest Variety Show, !"

"Ratings Hit Another Peak! Has Topped This Year’s Variety Show Ratings; A New Record is Well Within Reach!"

...

It seemed unavoidable. Whenever you went online, you were bound to come across keywords like "Nan Zhi," "Nan Family’s Small Restaurant," or "Cub Observation Diary."

It was as if everywhere you looked, everyone was talking about this amazing show and its amazing guest.

The audience reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and even official sources were giving it their endorsement.

For a moment, it felt like the center of the world’s attention!

In a VIP hospital room in Yanjing, a young woman was also reading the news online.

Before, she probably would have already thrown a fit out of jealousy and resentment.

But now, she was surprisingly calm.

No, not calm.

She was desperately suppressing her emotions.

If you looked closely at her eyes, you could see the venom and hatred she was deliberately holding back.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

There was a knock on the hospital room door.

A nurse then pushed the door open and entered.

"Miss Chang Mu, here is your medicine for today."

The nurse’s attitude was very polite.

Part of the reason was that the woman before her was staying in a VIP room.

The other reason was a rumor that had spread among the nurses: this Chang Mu was two-faced. She looked gentle and beautiful, but in reality, she often had screaming fits in her room and had filed complaints against several colleagues for being "impolite" to her.

In reality, it wasn’t the nurses who were impolite.

It was clearly Chang Mu who always pretended to be gentle, friendly, and approachable. Naive young nurses would fall for her act, genuinely thinking this VIP patient was easygoing, and would act more casually around her.

But then she would turn around and file a complaint against them. Deep down, she was still arrogant and looked down on everyone.

After word got out, the nurses all became wary of people like her. They preferred to keep a respectful distance rather than get involved in any trouble.

The nurse delivering the medicine now was the same—polite, but not saying a single word more than necessary.

The young woman on the sofa—or rather, Chang Mu.

She suppressed the turmoil in her heart and smiled at the nurse.

"Thank you for your hard work today."

The nurse was speechless.

"Not at all, it’s just my job."

"The doctor said I could be discharged next week, right? Please let him know that I want to be discharged tomorrow."

Chang Mu’s tone wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t a request. It was a direct order.

The nurse froze for a moment.

"But..."

"Is there a problem?"

Chang Mu looked like she was smiling, but it was a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

A chill went down the nurse’s spine. She had no desire to argue.

She quickly replied, "Okay, I’ll tell the doctor."

After saying that, she hurried away as if fleeing from a monster.

Chang Mu’s gaze toward the door instantly turned to one of contempt.

Only when she looked away did her expression reluctantly shift back to one of reverence and obedience.

"I’ve said what you told me to say, System."

A cold, electronic voice that only Chang Mu could hear echoed from the void:

[Host has done well.]

In the past, Chang Mu would have actually believed such praise.

Now, hearing it only made her want to sneer.

Moreover, she was more determined to figure out the system’s objective.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?"

The system’s cold, electronic voice was calm and monotonous:

[A severe deviation in the plot has been detected. The host is requested to maintain the plotline and ensure that the original story’s villain, Nan Yi, proceeds down the path of corruption.]

Chang Mu’s eyebrows furrowed so tightly they nearly tied themselves in a knot.

"Me? Maintain the plotline? What does that have to do with my conquest mission!"

Her previous actions against Nan Zhi and Nan Yi had been born purely of her own unwillingness to accept defeat, not driven by the system.

After experiencing the electric shock punishment, Chang Mu had finally managed to convince herself to let go of her resentment. She had even stopped paying attention to the follow-up reports from the online trolls she had hired to target the mother and son, preparing to focus wholeheartedly on her conquest mission...

Who would have thought the system would now assign her to maintain the plot?

’What is this now?’

Chang Mu suppressed the urge to loudly question the system.

But the system seemed able to monitor her emotions and thoughts, its voice growing even colder and more sinister.

[If the plotline deviates, there is an 89% probability that the conquest mission will fail.]

[For the host, maintaining the plot is the most effective method.]

This explanation sounded somewhat reasonable.

But Chang Mu didn’t believe a single word of it.

She was selfish by nature, and suspicion was her instinct.

It was only her fear of the electric shock punishment that kept her from retorting.

"Then what do I have to do?"

[BEEP! It has been detected that Fu Yunfeng has found traces of the nanny, Lin Xiang. The host is requested to prevent Lin Xiang from being discovered.]

"Who’s the nanny, Lin Xiang?"

Chang Mu’s head was starting to ache.

She did know that Fu Yunfeng was Nan Zhi’s biological father.

Back when she was in Nan Zhi’s body, she couldn’t stand being poor and had several times considered simply returning to the Fu Family. Not only could she get rid of that burden Nan Yi, but she could also live comfortably as a young lady of the house.

Unfortunately, the system had told her that the bonds and karma of bloodlines could not be completely severed. If she returned to the Fu Family as Nan Zhi, her "cuckoo occupying the magpie’s nest" act would likely be exposed, and the losses would ultimately outweigh the gains.

Only then did she reluctantly give up the idea.

Now, she certainly wasn’t happy to see Nan Zhi obtain the "benefits" that she herself had been unable to enjoy.

So, after the system finished explaining Lin Xiang’s identity and the truth of what happened back then, Chang Mu’s reluctance completely vanished.

In fact, she became extremely motivated!

Because the system’s request was exactly what she wanted!

So...

"Where is Lin Xiang?"

"She’s in Yanjing."

-

「An urban village.」

Inside a single-room house built from corrugated iron sheets, the entire space from floor to ceiling was crammed with all sorts of junk.

A narrow single bed was set up in a corner, with wrinkled clothes scattered across it.

On a stained and mottled dining table sat unwashed dishes and chopsticks from a previous meal.

The trash can in the corner emanated a thick, sour stench.

Unfortunately, the woman in the room could hardly smell it.

She had grown used to it.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Someone was knocking on the door.

The woman’s numb face showed little emotion. After a few sluggish seconds, she got up to open the door.

Her next-door neighbor stood outside, a woman who considered herself to be on good terms with her. She greeted her with a wide grin.

"Come on, Zhou Li, let’s go see what all the commotion is about!"

The woman named Zhou Li slowly looked up, her eyes as still as the water in an ancient well.

"What commotion?"

The neighbor clicked her tongue in amazement.

"You don’t know? Didn’t a film crew come to this area last month to record a variety show? I heard one of the guests lived in a house just like ours! Now the show’s a huge hit, and the house she stayed in has become a tourist spot! Lots of visitors are coming!"

"I’m not going."

Zhou Li wasn’t the least bit interested.

The neighbor was used to her personality, and after a few futile attempts to persuade her, she left.

The door closed.

Not long after, it was knocked on again.

"Lin Xiang, open the door."