Chapter 211: Struck by Lightning

Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Struck by Lightning

In the two short days since arriving in the mountains, Chang Mu hadn’t slept well.

The first night was barely tolerable.

By the second night, she suffered from insomnia. She tossed and turned for hours, yet felt no trace of drowsiness.

And this was despite the locals trying to curry favor with her by giving her the best house available.

But the living conditions in this impoverished mountain region were simply abysmal.

The house had poor lighting and was horribly outdated. The room reeked of damp earth, and the old wooden bed made her itch all over...

The most aggrieved Chang Mu had ever felt was right after she took over Nan Zhi’s body. However, she’d quickly sold Nan Zhi’s shabby little house and used the money to rent a better place, improving her quality of life.

And now?

For the next half-month, she had to live in this godforsaken mountain ditch!

Just the thought of it made Chang Mu feel like she was about to have a breakdown.

Taking advantage of the fact that the system couldn’t fully read her mind, Chang Mu furiously cursed it for goading her into joining this show.

She cursed this "artificial idiot" hundreds of times, but it still wasn’t enough to quell her anger. This directly led to her oversleeping this morning.

The latest the livestream could start each morning was 8 AM.

When Chang Mu opened her eyes, she glanced at the time—

It was already past 10 AM.

’How come no one came to wake me up?’

Chang Mu could only take her anger out on her assistant, scolding her with a dark expression.

"Why didn’t you wake me up? Did I bring you to the mountains for a vacation? If the audience gets a bad impression of me because of this, can you take responsibility for that?"

The assistant grumbled internally, ’Oh, Miss, the audience really doesn’t care about you as much as you think! Your stream’s viewership is dead last right now, not even a quarter of the next person’s!’

But she was just an employee and had to keep up appearances. All she could do was answer dutifully.

"A situation came up this morning, so things were a little chaotic. Besides, the livestream audience is focused on something else right now."

The assistant’s intention with that last sentence was to reassure Chang Mu.

But of course, Chang Mu was displeased.

"Who?"

The assistant was at a loss.

’So you get mad when they watch you, and you get mad when they don’t. What on earth do you want, Miss?’

’I really wish all those blind fans online who praise her for being some gentle, classy heiress could see what a horrible temper she actually has!’

"...It’s Nan Zhi. This morning at 8 AM, when the livestream was supposed to start, the production team found no one in her room. They only found out later that Nan Zhi had come down with a fever last night."

Chang Mu clicked her tongue.

A part of her was annoyed at Nan Zhi for being so manipulative and stealing the spotlight, while another part of her gloated over her rival’s illness. ’Serves her right!’ she thought.

In front of her assistant, however, she reined it in and said with false sympathy,

"Oh, really? The poor thing! Where is she? I’ll go and check on her!"

The assistant shook her head. She didn’t know.

Chang Mu suppressed the urge to scold her assistant. After washing up, she meticulously applied a "no-makeup" makeup look and deliberately picked out an outfit that seemed casual but in reality perfectly complemented her skin and figure.

It was already past eleven by the time she stepped out of her lodgings.

Chang Mu wanted to find someone and ask about Nan Zhi’s whereabouts—preferably in front of the cameras, to stage a performance of "sincere concern."

So, she went to the production team’s base camp. Seeing a few staff members gathered together talking, she casually walked over.

Their hushed conversation drifted into her ears:

"I never thought it would be him..."

"There’s definitely more to their relationship..."

"They’re actually a good match..."

"He even followed her all the way out here..."

"..."

Chang Mu was still some distance away and couldn’t hear everything clearly, only catching snippets of the conversation.

In her mind, these fragments automatically pieced themselves together into a juicy piece of gossip—

’Nan Zhi got sick, and her sugar daddy came to see her!’

A sharp glint flashed in Chang Mu’s eyes.

In reality, the staff hadn’t mentioned a sugar daddy at all, but Chang Mu’s mind had automatically made the connection.

She had always found Nan Zhi’s sudden reversal of fortune suspicious.

When she had been in that body, the situation had been beyond hopeless. She couldn’t think of a single way to salvage it.

But what happened? The moment Nan Zhi’s soul returned, she went from being universally despised online to wildly popular. Her career skyrocketed, making all of Chang Mu’s previous struggles look utterly pathetic!

’Her cooking skills? Her Food?’

She refused to believe it!

’She must have latched onto a powerful sugar daddy and used his resources to stage this comeback!’

’This sugar daddy is probably some fat, pig-faced slob who’s drooling over Nan Zhi’s looks, which is why he’s willing to be her little pawn!’

Chang Mu quickly realized this was an excellent opportunity.

She stealthily pulled out her phone, started a recording, and crept closer...

"Miss Chang!"

A staff member spotted her, and the group immediately made excuses and scattered.

Chang Mu managed to stop the greenhorn who was lagging behind. Showing no embarrassment at being caught eavesdropping, she stepped forward with a look of natural concern.

"I heard Nan Zhi went to the hospital with a fever? How is she doing now?"

The new intern, being a bit of a greenhorn, suspected nothing. He explained that Nan Zhi had been taken to the hospital the previous night and was mostly fine now.

Chang Mu patted her chest.

"That’s a relief! I was worried that since she’s living so far out of the way with only young Nan Yi for company, no one would know if she got sick! I’m glad the production team found her in time..."

"It wasn’t us. It was Mr. Lu. He’s here with the show now, too."

Chang Mu discreetly adjusted the phone in her pocket to get a better recording.

She asked, feigning surprise,

"Mr. Lu? That sounds a little familiar. It couldn’t be..."

"That’s right, it’s Mr. Lu Shixu. Miss Chang, you must know him."

The greenhorn, who had misunderstood her feigned ignorance, naively revealed the name.

But Chang Mu looked as if she had been struck by lightning! The color drained from her face.

"Lu... Shixu?"

"That’s right. Could it be... Miss Chang doesn’t know him?"

The greenhorn finally sensed that something was wrong.

Not wanting to reveal her hand too soon, Chang Mu forced a dry laugh.

"No, no, of course I know him. I’m just so surprised that someone like him would actually come to the mountains of Guisheng Province."

"I know, right? We were all surprised too. We never expected Mr. Lu to be so attentive to Miss Nan Zhi!"

The greenhorn couldn’t help but smile, as if he’d just remembered something.

Chang Mu thought she must have misheard.

’Who was attentive to whom?’

’Lu Shixu?’

It wasn’t until the greenhorn was called away that Chang Mu snapped out of her shock and frantically called out to her system:

"What is going on? Why does the big shot I’m supposed to be targeting know Nan Zhi! Why did you never warn me before!"

That’s right.

The target Chang Mu had always wanted to get close to and win over was none other than Lu Shixu!

In the original book’s plot, he was the male lead’s greatest benefactor, practically holding his hand and helping him establish an entertainment empire!

Moreover, he was the most mysterious and powerful tycoon in the entire book!

Chang Mu had lost count of how many times she’d tried to approach Lu Shixu. After years of effort, she hadn’t even managed to brush against the hem of his clothes!