On a well-known pink-themed forum, a post had already received hundreds of replies just minutes after being published.
[Has anyone heard anything about The Scenery Along the Way? I heard they’re planning to invite that attention-seeking bastard, CQZ, as a guest on the next episode.]
Original poster: Does anyone here know someone on the production team? Is this rumor actually true?
1st reply: No way, right? The production team for The Scenery Along the Way may be shameless, but they can’t possibly be that heartless, can they?
7th reply: ??? Is this for real? CQN has been a regular guest on The Scenery Along the Way since the first season. If they invite CQZ as a guest on the next episode, wouldn’t that be putting the illegitimate son right in front of the legitimate son of the first wife? Even the production team can’t have no moral bottom line, right?
19th reply: So who exactly is CQZ? What obscure nobody is he? I know CQN is the Chi family's second young master, but what is this CQZ supposed to be?
22nd reply: Who else could it be? That third-rate nobody Chi Qingzhou, who goes around claiming he’s part of the Chi family.
35th reply: I’m sick! Whether it’s true or not, the fact that this rumor got out proves that Chi Qingzhou has been clinging to CQN and leeching off him all along. An illegitimate son acting this arrogantly—what a shameless piece of work!
43rd reply: Please, can this forum stop using initials for just anyone? Who the hell knows some nobody who’s completely irrelevant?
57th reply: CQZ really understands that even infamy is fame. He’ll cling to CQN and leech off him whenever he gets the chance. The Chi family can’t be bothered with him, and now he’s gotten even more arrogant.
62nd reply: So can the Chi family do something about this illegitimate son or not? Didn’t everyone say Chi Qingning was deeply favored? Why is Chi Qingzhou still making a scene?
64th reply: After all, he’s Chairman Chi’s illegitimate son. Even if CQN and his brother want to deal with him, they probably don’t have the power to do so.
65th reply: CQZ is just as disgusting as his shameless mother! Only a slut like her could steal someone else’s sperm and get pregnant. How have that mother and son not been run over yet?
73rd reply: What? So Chi Qingzhou wasn’t the result of Chairman Chi fooling around? That’s even more disgusting! This mother and son are absolute trash!
78th reply: So does anyone actually know whether this rumor is true or not?
90th reply: My best friend works on The Scenery Along the Way. I’ll go ask her.
92nd reply: We’re counting on you, girl!
106th reply: I’m sick! My best friend says the production team invited Chi Qingzhou to be a regular cast member for the second season, and he’s already signed the contract. They’ll announce it by tomorrow night at the latest.
107th reply: No way?????
113th reply: Is this the power of money? I’m seriously disgusted!
128th reply: Holy crap, isn’t the production team afraid of bad karma?!
142nd reply: Screw the production team! If they dare to make Chi Qingzhou a regular cast member, I’m boycotting the show!
…
Chi Qingzhou sat with his legs pressed together on the sofa in the interview room, holding his phone in both hands as he carefully read every reply on the post.
The setting sun streamed through the window, casting a patch of light across the room and stretching his shadow long behind him.
His beautiful face was edged in a golden glow, making his already striking features look even more refined. His soft, flirtatious peach-blossom eyes were indistinct in black and white, as though they were perpetually veiled by a layer of misty moisture.
He looked perfect, like a painting—and just as devoid of any sign of life.
Rebirth Revenge System No. 16594 carefully studied his expression. The moment it saw him press his lips together slightly, it immediately spoke in his mind.
[Host, aren’t you angry? This post you’re looking at is only one of countless posts slandering you. There are even more vile things being said elsewhere. Are you really willing to let people smear you like this?]
Chi Qingzhou scrolled through the forum without answering.
The system continued relentlessly.
[You’re the real young master of the Chi family. Chi Qingning is the fake young master who was switched at birth by the nanny. What right do they have to insult you like this?]
[You’ve already been acknowledged by the Chi family, but your parents and oldest brother refuse to publicly acknowledge your identity because they’re afraid it will affect Chi Qingning’s career. They’re letting outsiders mistakenly believe you’re an illegitimate son, and you’re not angry?]
[Chi Qingning has been fanning the flames behind the scenes. Your parents were the ones who insisted you participate in this variety show, yet everyone thinks you joined just to annoy Chi Qingning. Are you really going to let them keep this up?]
[You’re a celebrity. Are you really going to sit by and watch your reputation be ruined?]
Chi Qingzhou read all the way to the end of the post, his gaze calm and utterly unruffled.
It was as if none of those vicious insults had anything to do with him.
The system chattered on.
[You’re the one suffering and exhausting yourself. You’re the one whose career is being destroyed. They won’t even give you a single clarification, and you’re still willing to put up with this?]
[Don’t you want your parents’ and brother’s affection? Don’t you want your fiancé’s heart and eyes to hold only you? Don’t you yearn to be adored by everyone?]
[Host, go back in time!]
[As long as you go back in time, I can help you slap those scumbags in the face and reclaim everything stolen from you.]
Chi Qingzhou put down his phone and tilted his head, looking a little annoyed.
“System, stop talking. If you keep slandering my parents and brothers, I’ll be angry. They aren’t scumbags.”
System: […]
Its seductive mechanical voice stuttered for several seconds before it asked, seemingly giving in, [Then are you planning to spend the rest of your life carrying the scandal of being an illegitimate son?]
Chi Qingzhou blinked, and a strange smile appeared on his face. Two small dimples surfaced in his cheeks.
He answered brightly, “It’s fine. This is only a misunderstanding. Once I go on the variety show, everyone will know what kind of person I am.”
System: […Are you not afraid that Chi Qingning will cause trouble behind your back once you’re on the show and make your reputation even worse?]
Chi Qingzhou’s smile faded. “You’re saying bad things about my younger brother again. I’ve told you so many times—my brother is a good kid. If you keep doing this, I really will get angry.”
System No. 16594: […]
Looking at Chi Qingzhou’s resolute expression, it finally broke down.
[Chi Qingzhou, there’s something seriously wrong with your brain!!!]
Chi Qingning was a good kid?
That was simply the biggest joke under heaven!
What kind of sin had it committed to enter this world without carefully reviewing the past and end up choosing a host like this?
This wasn’t some pitiful little victim in need of rebirth and revenge.
This was clearly a saintly do-gooder who had somehow gained sentience—a hopeless lump of mud that could never be shaped!
If it weren’t restricted to binding only one host in each world, it would immediately choose a different target!
The more System No. 16594 thought about it, the angrier it became. Its code began to malfunction, and its mechanical voice stuttered like some bizarre remix from a video website’s meme section.
Chi Qingzhou tilted his head again. His expression remained as sweet and mild as ever, but his eyes now held a full twelve parts amusement.
This thing that called itself a Rebirth Revenge System was truly interesting.
Three days earlier, the thing had bound itself to him without asking any questions or distinguishing right from wrong.
At the time, he had been watering the flowers when it suddenly burrowed into his soul and forcibly established a contract.
It claimed to have detected that its host was in a dangerous situation surrounded by scumbags. As long as he went back in time, he could embark on a path of slapping people in the face and taking revenge, reclaiming the life that had been stolen from him.
Perhaps it was trying to provoke his anger, or perhaps it wanted to manipulate him more effectively. Either way, the system even played several fragments of his memories, indignantly declaring that he had suffered far too much in the past.
It was the first time Chi Qingzhou had viewed his own past from an outsider’s perspective. The intense novelty of the experience dispelled his initial impulse to yank the system straight out of his soul.
He had read plenty of novels, with accounts on both Jiang and Qidian where he had spent hundreds of thousands of yuan. He was thoroughly familiar with the existence and conventions of systems like this one.
But this was still his first time encountering a living system. How could he not be curious?
Although the system’s constant attempts to persuade him to be reborn were a little annoying, compared with the fascinating prospect of studying a system, that amounted to nothing more than a trivial flaw.
What he hadn’t expected was for the system to be this emotionally invested—to the point that it had even partially separated from his soul.
It was genuinely fascinating.
Chi Qingzhou couldn’t help smiling, his eyes curving into crescents.
His handsome, refined features looked even more obedient and harmless, carrying an almost childlike innocence, as though he knew nothing of the world.
The system failed to notice that it had not truly read Chi Qingzhou’s thoughts. It assumed that Chi Qingzhou was happy because it had stopped speaking ill of Chi Qingning, and grew even angrier and more frantic.
It had truly never encountered such a hopelessly self-deprecating host.
System No. 16594 had spent years dominating the system forums and had crossed countless planes. Which one of its previous hosts hadn’t happily agreed to be reborn the instant they were bound to it?
Only Chi Qingzhou. Despite having suffered so miserably in the past—neither his biological parents nor his adoptive parents had ever loved or cared for him—he stubbornly insisted that they had merely been tempering him, that everything they did had been for his own good, and refused to agree to rebirth no matter what.
Without the host’s consent, it couldn’t bypass the barrier created by this world’s will, much less reverse the flow of time.
With its mission on the verge of failure, how could it not collapse?
It almost wished it could simply beat Chi Qingzhou to death.
The system stared at Chi Qingzhou’s cheerful expression for a while before secretly sneering.
Since Chi Qingzhou refused to cooperate, he couldn’t blame it for being ruthless and unjust. It would simply issue a mandatory mission.
If he failed to complete it, the host would receive an electric-shock punishment.
It quickly searched through the mission database, pondering all the while. It had to choose a mission that Chi Qingzhou could not possibly complete without being reborn.
The interview room door creaked on its hinges as someone pushed it open and walked in.
Chi Qingzhou turned his head. A tall, slender young man approached him with a cameraman in tow. There were faint dark circles beneath his eyes, making his expression appear even colder and more impatient.
Their gazes met, and a flicker of surprise swiftly crossed the man’s eyes.
Before coming, he had heard about Chi Qingzhou’s history and had formed a thoroughly negative impression of him.
He had assumed that with such a deranged mother, Chi Qingzhou would also be the gloomy, repressed type. He hadn’t expected him to look so gentle and well-behaved.
The man knew perfectly well that personality and appearance were not necessarily connected, but Chi Qingzhou’s looks still startled him.
He was simply too obedient—obedient to the point of seeming somewhat naive.
Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, the man nodded at Chi Qingzhou and strode over to him.
“Hello, Little Chi. I’m Qi Ming, the host of Along the Way.”
Chi Qingzhou rose and shook Qi Ming’s hand. His gaze was clear and cool, like ice water in summer.
“Hello, Teacher Qi. I’m not really a teacher, so you can just call me Little Chi or Qingzhou.”
A chill suddenly spread over Qi Ming’s fingers. He shuddered involuntarily, and his expression changed.
Struggling to keep his face composed, his mind flashed with the strange incidents he had encountered recently. He instinctively touched the Buddhist prayer beads around his wrist, then withdrew his hand as naturally as he could and sat down on the sofa opposite Chi Qingzhou.
“Then I’ll take the liberty of calling you Little Chi. Take a little time to prepare. We’ll be recording your solo interview in five minutes. Is that all right?”
Chi Qingzhou glanced at his strained smile. His gaze swept over the black mist that nearly covered Qi Ming from head to toe before he answered with a smile, “Teacher Qi can decide. I have no problem with it.”
Qi Ming secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, the system stared blankly at Qi Ming, whose entire body was shrouded in dark and resentful energy. All its code froze in terror.
Wasn’t this supposed to be an ordinary modern technology-based plane?
Why was there a vengeful ghost behind that man?
None of the other systems had told it that this world contained supernatural elements!
