Never before had the Fang family been so publicly humiliated or lost so much face. Naturally, they had no intention of letting it go.
But this was abroad, and boarding time was limited. They still had procedures to complete and could not waste all their time on this matter. Besides, the staff were plainly just going through the motions; they were not investigating seriously at all.
The Fangs could only rage helplessly. In truth, even if they had proof that Mu Yue was responsible, there was little they could do. She clearly had far more resources than their family. If they confronted her face-to-face, she would never lower her proud head, much less apologize to them. At most, they could use the incident to obtain some compensation and make up for what they had suffered.
And if the other party took an even harder line, or invoked some powerful figure from her family, the Fangs might not even dare ask for compensation. They would have to take the initiative to apologize first, worried about suffering retaliation a second time.
That was the reality, and every member of the Fang family knew it. Before they had figured out Mu Yue’s background, they simply did not have the courage to truly offend her. So they could only swallow this grievance, curse a few times under their breath, and even then watch their words—directing their abuse at the low-level staff rather than naming Mu Yue outright.
This feeling of humiliation and powerlessness was one the Fang family rarely experienced. Usually, they were the ones putting others in that position.
Mr. and Mrs. Fang were older and had seen more of the world, so they could regulate their emotions somewhat. But Fang Surou and Fang Suyi could not. At their age, face was everything.
What was more, Fang Surou’s fiancé was present. She had embarrassed herself in front of the person whose impression of her mattered most, and the cause of it all was very likely her and her second brother. For a brief moment, her hatred for Mu Yue surpassed even Fang Baiwei’s, taking first place.
Fang Suyi was no better than his sister. He had always been wild and uninhibited, never lacking women around him at school who admired him. Several wealthy heiresses from families richer than the Fangs wanted to be his girlfriend; he simply did not think they were good enough for him.
When his parents had hinted that he should get close to Mu Yue, he had initially found her boring at a glance. She dressed like yet another woman trying to act refined, and her figure was not nearly hot enough. Still, she had a few looks going for her, so he had reluctantly agreed. But now she had successfully provoked him. He had to have her—and make her kneel at his feet someday!
“Honestly, it’s rough on the female lead, having to deal with a bunch of lunatics for so long.” Mu Yue had already been escorted to her suite by a dedicated attendant. It was slightly smaller than the one she had stayed in at Dianyun, but the spectacular view more than made up for it.
Standing on the balcony and letting the sea breeze wash over her, she flipped through the novel. Compared to the Fang family, even Leng Ming from the campus romance novel seemed like a pure and kind-hearted good student. At least Leng Ming might have been awful, but he did not break the law.
The Fang family’s standing among the wealthy was not worth mentioning—not merely nationwide, but even in H City they could only be considered middle-tier at best, third-rate overall. Yet their sense of superiority and entitlement was astonishingly high. Anyone who did not know better might think they were the richest family in the country.
The Fang family had two sons and two daughters.
The eldest son ran the family business. He was a cold, domineering CEO, and his fiancée’s family was worth more than twice as much as the Fang family. Yet he was always so indifferent. He spoke indifferently, wore an indifferent expression, and remained indifferent even when his fiancée gave him gifts or asked him out on dates.
But whenever the false heiress had the slightest problem, he would become anxious and defend her without thinking.
To highlight the false heiress’s status as the Fang family’s beloved darling, the eldest son repeatedly stood up his fiancée to help the false heiress out of trouble. His fiancée was a hopeless romantic too. The eldest son only had to coax her with a few casual words before she forgave him again.
The female lead’s way of dealing with the eldest son was to try to destroy his engagement with his fiancée. But she chose to work with the fiancée, that hopeless romantic. Every time, the fiancée would initially believe the female lead—but the moment the eldest son coaxed her, she would immediately turn around and betray the female lead.
As for the second son, he was rotten to the core. Many of the false heiress’s “brilliant ideas” were carried out by him, including—but not limited to—drugging people, kidnapping, arson, deliberately causing car crashes, and even taking drugs.
The female lead’s way of dealing with the second son was to use that last offense—drug use. But because the matter became far too serious, the female lead ended up being targeted by drug dealers herself, leaving her in constant danger.
The false heiress was even worse. She was not brought to justice until the very end.
Honestly, had the author given cheat codes to the entire Fang family? Never mind the others—even the second son was a walking criminal case. Why wasn’t he arrested right away? Why did it have to drag on until the latter half of the story before he was finally dealt with?
Even though Mu Yue had been mentally prepared this time, rereading the novel still disgusted her.
She had never been one to let herself suffer in silence. Even if all she had done was get disgusted by a novel, she was still furious and had to vent her anger.
As for who would serve as her punching bag…
“System babies, can you dig up the contact information of the eldest Fang son’s fiancée’s family?”
Here we go again! Here we go again!
The four systems sat in a row. The moment the villain spoke, they nearly broke into a full-blown aria.
“Of course, my beloved host! We’ll find it in one minute, guaranteed!”
“Excellent.” Mu Yue leaned against the railing, admiring the view of the sea.
Before a minute had passed, Mu Yue had received the contact information. She immediately sent the same message to the fiancée’s parents and eldest brother:
[Your precious daughter’s fiancée is secretly in love with his false heiress sister.]
The message was sent successfully. The Villain System waited for a while, but when no Villain Points appeared, it was furious.
“Why?! Why don’t I get any points for making a completely baseless accusation?! That was textbook villain behavior! I refuse to accept this! I’m filing an appeal!”
The smile on Mu Yue’s lips froze.
…
Comeback and Tycoon joined in, indignant as well.
“Exactly! Why aren’t we getting our host any points? Appeal! Appeal!”
Only Chick spoke up timidly. “Um… actually, I don’t think it was quite so…”
Glorious!
But when it saw three pairs of eyes turn toward it, Chick immediately declared righteously, “It must be because the target was also a villain! Nobody ever said villains couldn’t attack other villains! We absolutely have to appeal!”
Mu Yue: “…”
You guys… Forget it.
Although it was hardly a respectable tactic, this move was genuinely effective. It cost nothing and brought in considerable returns.
Of course, Mu Yue certainly wouldn’t use it on just anyone.
Almost as soon as they saw the message Mu Yue had sent, every member of her fiancé’s family went pale. They knew there was no proof, of course, but their thoughts nevertheless began to drift back over all the details from before.
They already knew that the daughter the Fang family had raised for more than a decade was not their biological child—that she had been switched at birth. They had not thought much of it before, but now that they did, the whole thing seemed suspicious no matter how they looked at it. Especially since their precious girl had complained to them that the eldest Fang son doted on his younger sister—not the real one, but the fake one.
Could it really be just as the message said?
Then there was no way their precious girl could marry into a family like that—or marry a man like him!
The family quietly and tacitly sprang into action, planning to test the eldest Fang son carefully in the days ahead. If it was true... heh.
Mu Yue was in an excellent mood. She returned to her room and changed into another outfit.
The female lead, Fang Baiwei, always chose the most difficult possible way to take revenge. Part of that was due to the constraints of the plot, but another part was because she simply lacked life experience. Though the female lead had been reborn, when all was said and done, she was still just a girl who had only recently graduated from high school.
Her world had been bleak, and no one had ever taught her an easier way to get revenge. So she could only choose the method that seemed most likely to succeed in her eyes, even if it meant ending up battered and bruised all over again.
As Fang Baiwei’s future roommate, Mu Yue did not mind lending her a hand. It did not matter even if there were no points in it for her. But if there were, then all the better—she might as well collect them while she was at it.
Once she had changed, Mu Yue left her room and went out onto the deck, where she took a few photos and posted them to her social media feed. There was still plenty of time before departure. When she had checked in, she had drawn a premium VIP package and received plenty of special treatment: a welcome ceremony, an all-access card delivered directly into her hands, early boarding, and so on.
She planned to wander around and find a restaurant for lunch. She had just sat down and taken out her phone when she saw several likes on her post.
Mu Yue did not have many contacts on WeChat. The people she regularly kept in touch with were mainly Cheng Zimin, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Qianqian. Others who remained in her contacts despite not interacting much included the original owner’s third aunt and a few girls from her class whom she remembered fairly well. As for anyone irrelevant, she had either never added them or had already deleted them all.
The only people who had both liked her post and messaged her were Cheng Zimin and Lin Xiaoxiao.
Back home, it was already late at night. Lin Xiaoxiao had only recently gotten home from work and was relaxing on her phone before bed. She asked Mu Yue whether anything interesting had happened abroad. Mu Yue told her that there had been no interesting stories, but she had been thoroughly beaten down by the food here.
Lin Xiaoxiao sent her an “I get it” meme, then complained that when she had traveled abroad before, she had not been able to get used to the food at all. Once, she had even eaten something that sent her straight to the hospital—and the medical bills had been outrageously expensive.
“Oh, right, Yueyue! When you get back, my dad and I want to treat you to dinner!” Lin Xiaoxiao sent a voice message as they chatted.
After spending this period working outside and meeting more people and seeing more of the world, she had become much clearer-headed. The more she realized just how much Mu Yue had helped her—
not only with her grades, but, more importantly, in helping her become an independent person.
Lin Xiaoxiao had talked to her father once—though naturally, she hadn’t mentioned the embarrassing part about having once liked Leng Ming. Her dad had been so moved that he’d burst into tears on the spot, repeatedly telling his daughter to cherish this friend and urging her again and again to sincerely invite Mu Yue over for a meal. Lin Xiaoxiao knew Mu Yue was a wonderful friend, but her father understood even better just how precious that was.
Even if Mu Yue went further and further ahead in the future, even if she and Lin Xiaoxiao gradually drifted apart, they should still remain grateful. They must never become ungrateful or resentful.
Mu Yue had accepted Lin Xiaoxiao’s invitation. Once she returned to China, she really would not be staying in H City for long.
Lin Xiaoxiao’s score had cleared the cutoff for a local second-tier university, and she would be attending college in H City. Mu Yue, on the other hand, was aiming for A University in A City. With so much distance between them, and with each of them making new classmates and friends, it was only natural that they might contact each other less in the future.
Lin Xiaoxiao didn’t chat with Mu Yue for too long. She still had work tomorrow. Although the job was a little tiring, and dealing with weird customers could be frustrating sometimes, she loved the feeling of earning her own tuition. It proved that she wasn’t useless—she could support herself.
Then another message came from Cheng Zimin. Mu Yue switched over to the chat and found that he had sent several selfies.
In every one, he wore a different outfit and had a slightly different style: bright and youthful, sporty, elegant, casual. In several of them, his shirt buttons were partly undone, showing off his collarbones.
Mu Yue looked through them one by one, then asked directly, “What are you doing?”
Cheng Zimin replied instantly. “Taking preventive measures.”
“?”
Cheng Zimin said, “I looked up the cruise ship you’re on. I heard there’s a midnight show. I just wanted to tell you that whatever they can do, I can do too.”
“What kind of show?” Mu Yue asked without thinking—then immediately realized.
Ah. He meant male strippers.
On the other side of the world, Cheng Zimin was instantly filled with regret. So she hadn’t known! But it was too late to pretend it was nothing now. All he could do was send a string of ellipses.
Mu Yue: “...”
Then Cheng Zimin sent an exclamation mark. Mu Yue responded in kind, and the two of them spent quite a while having a battle of punctuation marks.
System Four watched with a head full of question marks.
“Host, what are they doing?”
“No idea. Probably some kind of human flirtation.”
“What’s flirtatious about punctuation marks? How boring.”
“What did that boy mean when he said that to the host just now?”
“Oh, I get that. He means he doesn’t want the host to find other men—he wants her all to himself.”
“Huh? Isn’t that so selfish?” At that moment, Kitty suddenly said something startling. “How could just one be enough? At least seven or eight would be necessary.”
System Three’s eyes went wide. “Oh no, oh no—the kid’s caught a virus. Hurry, we need to run an antivirus scan!”
Tycoon shook his head. “It wasn’t me.”
“Then where did you get an idea like that?” System Three was still in shock.
Tycoon said, “That’s what my ex was like. Sometimes he’d call over more than twenty people at once, and only pick a few.”
“...” The Three Systems went expressionless at once. Now they understood why the Tycoon’s predecessor had ended up with no one to send him off in his final days. He damn well deserved it!
Mu Yue had no idea what the systems were whispering about again. She had already changed the subject with Cheng Zimin, and after chatting for a while, he even called her on video.
Mu Yue had boarded early. At the moment, there were no other passengers on the deck besides the staff. She lounged casually on a nearby sunbed, smiling as she spoke to the person on the other end of the call, looking relaxed and content.
When Ye Luling passed by and saw her like that, she instinctively softened her footsteps so as not to disturb Mu Yue. Unfortunately, the person following behind her was loud and heavy-footed.
“Lingling, why are you walking so fast? Are you hungry? Let’s go eat first. It’s too sunny out here right now.” The man grabbed Ye Luling and spoke in a deliberately husky, breathy voice. “We can’t let my little princess get sunburned. I’d be heartbroken.”
Both Mu Yue and Cheng Zimin fell silent.
Cheng Zimin couldn’t help saying, “What the hell was that sound just now?” That voice was so disgusting that even he, a man, was repulsed. Fortunately, it didn’t sound like it was directed at Mu Yue.
Mu Yue glanced over at them, her gaze lingering on the girl’s round, rosy cheeks. “All right, you should get some sleep. I’m about to get moving.”
Cheng Zimin could tell that Mu Yue was itching to stir something up. Not wanting to be tactless, he could only give her a look that clearly said, *I want the gossip later,* before ending the video call.
Mu Yue put away her phone and looked toward the two newcomers.
The girl looked both embarrassed and annoyed—genuinely annoyed. But because she looked so sweet and well-behaved, even when she was angry, it came off more like a pout. The man seemed completely oblivious to having been scolded, instead looking pleased with himself. Mu Yue’s fists itched just looking at him.
“Didn’t I tell you? I want to take a walk by myself.” Ye Luling’s voice was soft as well. Though she was seriously a little angry, it didn’t quite sound that way.
The man gave a crooked smile. “But Lingling, I promised Uncle I’d protect you properly. There are all sorts of people on this ship. I’m worried about you being alone.”
Ye Luling stamped her foot angrily. “Who could possibly be out here at this hour?” Then she noticed Mu Yue. Seeing that Mu Yue was no longer on her video call, she gave her an apologetic smile.
At this hour, anyone on the ship was basically a VIP—more likely a high-level VIP. The ship was quiet, and there was no need to worry about strangers wandering into the background of photos. How could it be as dangerous as he made it sound? Besides, if it really were that dangerous, she might as well stay home for the rest of her life. Why go out at all?
The man spoke earnestly. “Lingling, you’re too innocent. What if someone tricks you?”
“Miss, would you like me to call security for you? You look like you might need assistance.” Mu Yue walked over, speaking clearly in English. At her words, the deck staff turned their attention toward them.
The man frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
Mu Yue said in surprise, “Isn’t it obvious? She wants you to keep your distance. Can’t you tell? She said she wanted to take a walk by herself, yet you insist on pestering her. Are your ears defective?”
The man snorted. “Who the hell are you? I’m talking to my fiancée. What’s it got to do with you?”
Mu Yue said, “Oh, fiancée? If you hadn’t said so, I would’ve thought she was someone you were keeping under surveillance.”
Ye Luling glared at the man indignantly. “Exactly! I’m telling Dad later that you’ve been spying on me!”
The man’s expression changed. At last, he forced out a smile, raised both hands in surrender, and stepped farther away. “All right, all right, I won’t follow you anymore. You really are impossible, Lingling. But don’t go trusting just anyone, okay?” The last part was directed pointedly at Mu Yue.
Mu Yue could not be bothered to respond. After putting him in his place, she turned to leave. She had barely taken two steps when Ye Luling caught up and held out her hand.
“Hi, I’m Ye Luling. Thank you for what you did just now.”
Mu Yue shook her hand. “Mu Yue. You’re very cute.”
Ye Luling gave her a sweet smile. “Thank you. You’re very pretty too.”
“That man really is my fiancé. I don’t like him, but I’ve told my dad so many times, and he never believes me. I’ve always felt like he’s not a good person.” It was obvious that Ye Luling had been holding this in for a long time; she had met a random stranger and immediately could not resist venting.
Ye Luling was the male lead’s stroke of luck that Mu Yue was supposed to steal. The Ye family belonged among the very richest elite—not like the Fang family’s cheap imitation of wealth. They were truly, extravagantly rich. Ye Luling was the Ye family’s pampered little princess, innocent and kind inside and out. She really had told her father many times that she did not like that man, that she hated him.
But men had their own way of interpreting things. They always thought women meant the opposite of what they said. The more Ye Luling protested, the more her father believed she liked the man. As for her claim that he was not a good person, her father had investigated him as well. The problem was that the man had received advance warning and put on a convincing performance. In the end, he had even given Ye Luling a helpless yet indulgent smile.
Father Ye expressed his approval and satisfaction.
Only Ye Luling was left angry and upset. Yet her voice and manner simply did not make her seem genuinely angry. Her father even thought she was being shy.
That was the author’s setup, after all. It was a stallion novel—written to indulge male fantasies. A delicate, sweet little princess whose anger looked like pouting and acting coquettish? Of course she had to be paired with the male lead.
After Ye Luling was drugged by her fiancé, she accidentally entered the male lead’s room and spent the night with him, leaving her utterly devastated. When the fiancé learned that his plan had failed and had instead helped someone else along, he was furious. At the same time, he realized that Ye Luling absolutely could not be allowed to tell her father about it. So he went to extremes, intending to kill both the male lead and Ye Luling aboard the ship.
Ye Luling had originally hated her fiancé, and she also hated the male lead, who had somehow ended up sleeping with her. But after he rescued her several times, her opinion of him changed. Once she returned, she exposed her fiancé. She also began treating the male lead as her savior, and Ye’s father, overwhelmed by his guilt toward his daughter, transferred all of it to the male lead, giving him enormous support.
And just like that, the male lead got to sleep with a beautiful woman and reap enormous benefits. As for the rescue itself—well, there were no police on the ship. Anyone else aboard could have been the fiancé’s accomplice, so the two of them had to hide in a cramped space meant for only one person. The safest option was to cling tightly to each other and avoid being discovered.
“You look pretty young. How old are you?” Mu Yue asked after finding a café with Ye Luling. They sat down and began chatting.
Ye Luling took a sip of her milkshake, leaving foam around her mouth, and smiled brightly. “I’m sixteen.”
“Crack!”
The cup in Mu Yue’s hand shattered under her grip.
“Ah!” Ye Luling sprang to her feet in alarm. “M-Miss Mu, are you all right? Did you hurt your hand?”
“I’m fine. Haha, I’m perfectly fine.” Mu Yue wore an enormous smile as she let Ye Luling fuss over her and call the server to clean things up.
Of course Mu Yue was fine. She had merely happened to feel like crushing the male lead’s head.
Sixteen! That bastard!
The original text had never mentioned Ye Luling’s age. It had only repeatedly described her as looking young, fresh, tender, and delicate—words Mu Yue had long since grown sick of. But it turned out the girl wasn’t even an adult yet!
Before, Mu Yue had merely been bound to the Villain System and occasionally caused trouble to earn points. But now, she was determined to become the villain.
The male lead was scum. Her fiancé was scum too, and so was Ye Luling’s father. His daughter was only sixteen, yet he had actually felt comfortable letting her go off with a man for several days. Was there something wrong with his brain?
His daughter had been frightened and suffered, yet instead of making it up to her, he gave everything to the male lead. The male lead was the one he treated like his real son. Was his daughter adopted from a trash heap?
The table had been cleaned, and a fresh cup of coffee now sat beside Mu Yue. The server watched her cautiously.
Mu Yue took a small sip, signaling that she had calmed down. She set down the cup, and both Ye Luling and the server let out a relieved breath.
Thoughtfully, Ye Luling didn’t ask why Mu Yue had reacted so strongly upon hearing her age. Instead, she began talking about her plans for the trip. She wanted to try something more thrilling, but she was a little afraid, so she asked whether Mu Yue was interested.
Mu Yue had no interest in any activity at the moment. She looked at Ye Luling and said, “That idiot was right about one thing just now. You really are too innocent.”
“Huh?” Ye Luling couldn’t understand how the conversation had taken such a sudden turn.
“What if I had used that broken glass to slash your face just now? What would you have done?” Mu Yue asked, lifting her eyes to stare at her.
“Huh?”
Ye Luling was stunned. She remained sitting there in a daze, not even knowing that she should move away.
Mu Yue was getting a little tired of this, so she said bluntly, “What activities you choose to do is entirely up to you, depending on your mood. But you really do need someone by your side to protect you—not that idiot of a fiancé, but a professional bodyguard. Your family should have arranged one for you, right?”
Ye Luling nodded blankly.
“My advice is that you take a bodyguard with you wherever you go, and that both you and your bodyguard wear miniature cameras.” Mu Yue launched into another bout of making things up out of thin air. “Actually, I’ve met your fiancé before. He was planning to hurt you on the ship. Didn’t you just say your father never believes you? You can take this opportunity to record evidence of what he does. Then he’ll have to believe you, right?”
This time, Ye Luling finally understood. Her doe-like eyes sparkled with excitement.
Mu Yue sighed inwardly. She really was incredibly easy to fool. She had believed everything after just one meeting with a complete stranger. At that moment, Mu Yue finally understood those scumbag men a little—she wanted to bully Ye Luling too.
