By the time they finished celebrating the New Year, it was already quite late. Mu Yue had invited all her friends to stay the night. Aside from Lin Xiaoxiao, everyone else felt a little embarrassed, but they all knew Mu Yue wasn’t merely putting on a show of generosity. Besides, with no elders at home, there was no need to overthink it—an experience like this was hard to come by.
After receiving a large haul of points, Mu Yue was in an excellent mood. She now had a total of fifteen thousand points. The ten-person butler team had already paid five thousand as a down payment, and with today’s earnings added to what she had accumulated over the past few days, her savings had become plentiful again.
She had also accumulated quite a few of the minor items she had drawn and stored in her system space. The New Year holiday only lasted a few days, and there wasn’t enough time, so Mu Yue planned to use the winter vacation to give all those negative little items to the womanizing male lead and make a good profit from him.
The points for Gu Zhirou, a female Nth character who appeared later in the story, were already in hand. Her brother had not been hit and left in a vegetative state, and the whole family had bought insurance. Even if the womanizing male lead still managed to rise to prominence later on, Gu Zhirou would have no need for him to save her.
As for the heroines of the other three novels, Lin Xiaoxiao had already begun her own new storyline, while Wen Xue could handle her domineering CEO herself. Fang Baiwei, on the other hand, was constantly being targeted by the author and the force of the plot.
Mu Yue actually couldn’t earn any points from Fang Baiwei’s story, but she was willing to help her anyway. Who could blame her, when the original story had been so disgusting?
According to the original timeline, the trashy scumbag the author had arranged for Fang Baiwei was about to appear. And she had recently encountered those nuisance phone calls again. Could they have something to do with that scumbag?
It seemed she would have to keep an eye on things.
Mu Yue was brushing her teeth and thinking about this when she heard the systems making a commotion, as though they were throwing a party. Cheerful music accompanied the noise.
After dancing around for a while, they leaped out of the system space and appeared in front of Mu Yue.
Then, they cheerfully announced, “Congratulations, host! You have obtained two units of [Faith]!!!”
What?
Mu Yue asked in confusion, “What faith?”
“[Faith], of course! It’s an extremely precious treasure!”
“[Faith] is a high-level energy source. Once you obtain it, host, you’ll have a chance to officially join **!”
“Oops, the host probably couldn’t hear that part. Just say that she’ll be able to obtain an official position.”
Listening to the three systems chattering over one another, Mu Yue still didn’t quite understand. “Brainiac, you explain.”
Yellow Chick raised its neck and looked down disdainfully at the other three systems before slowly saying, “In simple terms, [Faith] is a pure and powerful form of energy. It can help the host officially join our organization. Once you complete your mission in this world, you can choose either to continue living here or return to your original world. You’ll also be able to accept missions in other worlds.”
“We’ll even have the chance to work with you again, host!!!”
Mu Yue was extremely surprised. She had no idea this was even an option.
She had Brainiac explain everything in detail, and she finally understood.
The contracts she had signed with the four systems were actually temporary employment contracts. Once the mission was over, the four systems would complete their task, while she would receive her rewards. After that, they would part ways amicably.
The four systems would continue looking for people to fulfill their new quotas, while Mu Yue would lie back on her substantial rewards and enjoy the rest of her life. It didn’t sound bad—but human life was limited.
Now, a new possibility had appeared.
“What if I don’t plan to continue after clearing the mission? What use would this thing be then?”
The four systems visibly drooped for a moment before answering Mu Yue. “It can be exchanged for an equivalent reward in the shop.”
After saying that, the four systems gazed at Mu Yue with hopeful eyes, clearly wishing she would change her mind. After all, it was difficult to return to a life of poverty after becoming accustomed to luxury.
They couldn’t even imagine how desperate they would feel after Mu Yue was gone, when they had to bind themselves to a series of useless hosts.
Mu Yue nodded to show that she understood and said with a smile, “You don’t need to look at me like that. I’m still young.”
That did seem reasonable.
The host’s progress had been far too fast, and she had obtained Faith so quickly that they couldn’t help thinking about what would happen afterward. But in reality, neither the missions involving the heroines’ reversals of fortune nor the villain missions had been completed yet.
“By the way, can you tell who provided these two units of Faith?” Mu Yue suddenly remembered and asked the systems.
“Of course! They came from Fang Baiwei and the Bug Trigger, Wen Yuanting.”
Mu Yue was slightly surprised. She could understand Wen Yuanting’s contribution. After all, his ten repetitions had finally come to an end. Calling it faith in her was a little exaggerated, but if she had been in his position, and someone had helped her without asking for anything in return, gratitude might indeed have evolved into something more.
Although Mu Yue had benefited from it, Wen Yuanting didn’t know that.
As for Fang Baiwei, Mu Yue felt a little sorry for her. That heroine had suffered far too much. In her previous life, no one had helped her, and even after her rebirth, taking revenge had been extremely difficult. Mu Yue had only lent her a hand a few times, yet Fang Baiwei had fallen completely.
Perhaps this was an unintended harvest. After all, Mu Yue had truly never intended to ask her for anything in return.
Regardless, it was a good thing.
There had been so much good news that night. In a cheerful mood, Mu Yue soon fell asleep with the four little companions in her arms.
However, her friends, who were staying at Mu Yue’s house for the first time, found it difficult to fall asleep. Wen Yuanting in particular had stayed there the night before, but tonight was completely different from yesterday.
At present, one-quarter of his mind was filled with anxiety about tomorrow. He was afraid that the moment he opened his eyes, the cycle would begin again. Another quarter was occupied by disbelief and the bewilderment that came after his release from the cycle. As for the remaining half…
It was entirely taken up by Mu Yue’s words.
They repeated themselves so often that they pushed everything else out of his mind. Had she been joking? Had she merely been teasing him again? But no matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for someone to joke about something like that. So had she really meant it?
Should he reply to her? And if so, what was he supposed to say?
He tossed and turned all night. In a daze, he couldn’t tell whether he had slept for an hour or two—or perhaps only a few dozen minutes—when dawn arrived.
The moment he woke, he opened his eyes wide. When he saw that he was still in the garden of Mu Yue’s home, he finally relaxed. Then he checked the time on his phone. It hadn’t reset. It was January 2nd, and the gloom weighing on him finally vanished.
Since he couldn’t sleep anymore, Wen Yuanting simply got up. Having finally put the major matter behind him, he felt completely relaxed and full of energy despite barely sleeping all night. After washing up and leaving his room, he saw that the people in Mu Yue’s household were already busy.
When they saw him, they asked whether there was anything he wanted for breakfast. It was still some time before breakfast, and if he wanted to play a game or visit somewhere, they could take him there.
When Wen Yuanting had gotten up the previous day, Mu Yue had already been in the dining room. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Is Mu Yue awake?”
The auntie answered him, “The young miss is already up and out for her morning run. Are you here to see her?”
Ten minutes later, Mu Yue was stretching her legs in the courtyard when she spotted Wen Yuanting approaching. The auntie led him over, then left them alone.
Winter mornings were rather cold. It took immense willpower just to crawl out from under the covers on a morning like this.
Mu Yue was already used to it, and with her improved physical condition, she wasn’t afraid of the cold. If she was on her period, though, she would choose to sleep in and stay cozily bundled up.
“Up this early? Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep at all last night?” Mu Yue teased. After finishing her stretches, she picked up her water bottle, took a drink, and headed indoors.
Wen Yuanting followed behind her and replied awkwardly, “I did get some sleep. You get up very early, junior.”
He had tried several times to ask her, but every attempt had ended in failure. Before he knew it, he had followed Mu Yue all the way to the door of her room.
He stopped, while Mu Yue stepped inside. “I’m going to change. Wait here for me.”
“Mm.” Wen Yuanting acknowledged her, but continued standing stiffly outside the door.
Seeing this, Mu Yue came back out a moment later and held something out to him. “You know which floor my old place was on, right? I usually go home on Fridays. I don’t like staying in hotels, so next Friday night is fine, correct?”
Wen Yuanting took the key card she handed him with a blank expression and answered just as blankly, “No problem.”
“Oh, right.” Mu Yue confirmed one more thing. “Since this is repayment, naturally I get to decide what you do, and you’ll do exactly as I say. Correct?”
Wen Yuanting looked almost mechanical. “Correct.”
Mu Yue smiled, satisfied. “Good. From now on, I decide what you wear, where we meet, and how you come.”
Wen Yuanting finally showed a reaction. Meeting Mu Yue’s gaze, he swallowed and replied, “…Okay.”
