Chapter 1 Invitation: "When will we sign the contract?"

Chapter 1 Invitation: "When will we sign the contract?"

End of July.

Yuncheng is exceptionally hot this year.

As dusk fell into the living room, Zhou Ti brought out a plate of freshly baked cranberry cookies and placed it on the coffee table.

In the full-length mirror, her pearl-white loungewear was soft and flowing, making her features appear even more beautiful.

Zhou Ti wiped her hands and calmly answered the video call that had been ringing for more than ten seconds.

Unlike the twilight here, the night there is deep and dark.

The first thing you see is the floor-to-ceiling windows that reflect the Manhattan skyline at night.

The next second, a magnified, refined, and handsome face appeared on the screen.

Ye Weizheng, dressed in an old-fashioned shirt that was quite out of place in the office, looked tired and resentful. "Wife, how much work did you have piled up last month? I'm almost buried alive by the documents."

"Don't play the victim. You only arrived this morning; how many documents can you sign?" Zhou Ti's bright eyes showed a hint of exasperation. "Besides, wasn't it because you were dragging your feet the month before last..."

Halfway through his sentence, his ears twitched, and sure enough, he heard the sound of a lock being opened at the door. "Tao Tao is back."

Ye Weizheng quickly slid the seat in the opposite direction, and the background instantly turned into a huge white wall.

"Mom! I'm home!"

On the first day of summer vacation in college, Ye Hantao, who had been the class monitor for three years in high school, organized her classmates to go out and have fun. They left early in the morning and didn't return until almost dinnertime.

When she entered the house, her forehead was still damp with a light sweat. "Oh? Did Dad video call back?"

"Tao Tao! What did you do with your classmates?"

"Play at the arcade until noon, then go to karaoke in the afternoon."

Ye Hantao noticed the cranberry cookies on the table, picked one up, and fed it to Zhou Ti.

After Zhou Ti opened her mouth to eat, she quickly picked up another piece and ate it herself, as if she had come back to life. "I ate at the fourth floor of Future City at noon. It was either bitter or fishy, ​​and I wasn't full."

Ye Hantao felt fortunate every time she saw netizens complaining about how bad the food was in school cafeterias. The food in her elementary, middle, high school, and even university cafeterias far surpassed that of most restaurants outside.

Of course, the restaurants she could afford weren't very expensive, but the fact that a restaurant costing fifty or sixty yuan per person couldn't compare to the taste of a meal costing ten or twenty yuan in the school cafeteria was a failure in itself!

Hearing Ye Hantao's complaint, Zhou Ti and Ye Weizheng exchanged a glance without saying a word. Ye Weizheng even mouthed to Zhou Ti, "Like you," when his daughter wasn't paying attention.

Zhou Ti is very proud.

The child you raise should resemble you; their taste buds are just picky about ingredients and flavors. It's not like you can't afford to raise your own child, so why not support the whole school cafeteria while you're at it?

Ye Hantao sat on the sofa with a plate of cookies in her hand, eating several in a row. "Dad, when are you coming back? Why do you have to go on a business trip to sell the house?"

Not to mention the business trips, the key issue is that they are extremely frequent, once a month, sometimes for two or three days, sometimes for seven or eight days.

“What you’re saying? Your dad’s quite ambitious in the real estate business; he’s aiming to become a regional manager someday,” Ye Weizheng said, observing his daughter’s expression. “This time, Dad accompanied the boss to the South City Real Estate Expo; maybe he’ll get promoted next month—”

"Ouch." Ye Hantao suddenly frowned, rubbing her aching knee joint as she asked her father, "How will things be next month?"

Ye Weizheng didn't care about the promotion anymore; he was so shocked that he stood up. Zhou Ti, who was sitting next to Tao Tao, looked tense and asked, "Tao Tao, are you feeling unwell?"

Ye Hantao didn't expect her parents to react so strongly. For the past nineteen years, her health has been quite poor. "My joints have been a little sore these past two days, probably from studying for the final exams."

"Is it just your joints?" Zhou Ti gently pressed down on her daughter's shoulder, looking her up and down several times, her voice tense. "Does your head hurt? Does your heart hurt?"

Ye Weizheng leaned closer on the screen, wishing he could cross the ocean and return home through the internet, and asked urgently, "Taotao, tell Daddy, do you have any symptoms of dizziness or nausea?"

Ye Hantao was taken aback by the two's alarmed reaction.

"No! Nothing at all!" Ye Hantao felt the atmosphere was too heavy, so she smiled, her dimples deepening like they were filled with melting honey. "Oh dear, I just had a full physical exam last month, and there's nothing seriously wrong."

Ye Weizheng couldn't bring himself to laugh.

"It's probably because of the hot weather lately, and you caught a cold from the air conditioning in the dorm." Fortunately, having had two previous experiences, Zhou Ti quickly calmed down and unconsciously placed her palm on Ye Hantao's knee, her movements very gentle. "I'll use some medicinal wine to massage your joints, and we'll go see your great-aunt for acupuncture in a couple of days."

Upon hearing this, Ye Hantao's eyes crinkled into a smile, "Okay."

The moxa sticks and medicinal wine used at home were things that my great-aunt would spend all her time figuring out how to make.

On weekdays, her great-aunt would help her friends and relatives with acupuncture and moxibustion at home, and her mother would take her to her great-aunt's house to have her pulse taken every now and then.

Ye Weizheng was about to say something, but Zhou Ti stopped him with a look before he could speak.

"I received a call from a junior high school classmate this morning." Not wanting her parents to worry too much, Ye Hantao changed the subject with a relaxed expression. "I don't know if you two remember her. Her name is Liao Jiayue. She was the female lead in the drama 'Frost Flower' that aired a while ago."

Zhou Ti happened to come over with the medicinal wine. She poured some into her palm, and the faint, bitter herbal scent filled the living room. As she rolled up her daughter's trouser leg, she replied, "You were the student in front of me in the second year of junior high, right? You transferred schools next semester."

Ye Hantao nodded. "She said she wanted to invite me to participate in a variety show about classmates, and the payment would be this much." She held up five fingers. "Fifty thousand yuan for two months of filming."

Zhou Ti paused in massaging her joints, glancing subtly at Ye Weizheng on the screen. Both of them simultaneously recalled what the master had said before leaving. Could this be the opportunity the master had mentioned?

"Tao Tao, did you say yes?"

"I didn't agree."

"Didn't you watch a variety show last month and say you were really envious of them being able to travel for free?"

"Our family also got a free trip to Lin City last weekend," Ye Hantao said with a smile. "It's all thanks to Mom's incredible luck!"

Last Friday, she was studying at school when she suddenly received a call from her mother, who said that she had won a free family weekend trip during a company team building event. She had a great time with her parents and brother in Lin City for two days before returning to school.

Ye Weizheng chuckled softly.

Zhou Ti subconsciously raised her hand to touch her nose. Just before touching it, she smelled a faint scent of medicinal wine on the tip of her nose, which she had picked up from rubbing her knee earlier.

She paused for a few seconds, then casually lowered her hand and continued to gently massage Tao Tao's knee.

Ye Hantao couldn't stay still, so she poured some medicinal wine and rubbed it on her right knee. "We were only classmates for one semester and didn't even exchange a few words. Now four or five years have passed."

The two haven't met in person or contacted each other online in the past few years.

"As classmates, we're not familiar with each other in front of the camera, so it must be very awkward."

It's okay if she's an ordinary person, but Liao Jiayue is a celebrity, so she might be subject to amplification and gossip by haters.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ti and Ye Weizheng temporarily suppressed their speculations about the opportunity. "The medicated wine is almost applied. Don't pull your pants down yet. Go back to bed and lie down for a while. We'll call you for dinner later."

"Mmm." Ye Hantao responded, then remembered something important, "Dad, you didn't answer when you'll be back."

Ye Weizheng pondered for a few seconds, "The latest is the day after tomorrow."

He doesn't necessarily have to come abroad to oversee things; his main purpose is to go to the research institute tomorrow to see what progress they've made in their research on Tao Tao's genetic disease.

We can't keep pretending to be a wage slave to procrastinate; it will all come to an end eventually.

The family of three chatted for a few minutes in the living room before Zhou Ti urged Ye Hantao to go back to her bedroom to rest.

As soon as the bedroom door closed, Zhou Ti's smile faded. She got up and walked to the balcony. A gentle breeze scattered the petals of the roses on the flower stand, filling the air with their fragrance.

"This time I need to find another excuse to move."

“An excuse… I’ll continue to fail at investing.” Ye Weizheng knew very well that he had already left an impression on his daughter that he was not good at investing. “We also need to make proper preparations for our demotions. Tao Tao is studying law in college, so we can’t give ourselves away.”

He looked at his wife in the afterglow of the evening sun and said gently, "Darling, don't worry too much. We can just move to an even worse neighborhood."

"We prepared several houses in the suburbs early on. We'll take Tao Tao to see a three-bedroom apartment first, and then a two-bedroom apartment." Otherwise, our eldest son, Zhou Mingsheng, will have to stay in the living room when he comes home.

Zhou Ti sighed, "The master didn't say we would get poorer and poorer back then."

If one day they can no longer live in the suburbs, they can't very well take Tao Tao to live under a bridge.

After hanging up with Ye Weizheng, Zhou Ti dialed another number. "Auntie, can you see patients at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital tomorrow? Yes, Tao Tao isn't feeling well."

"No, I told Tao Tao last month that I had taken a pay cut. Why would Tao Tao think that Wei Zheng and I are so amazing?"

“Now that you’ve rushed back from Beijing, I can’t wake Tao Tao up in the middle of the night to go see a doctor, can I?” Zhou Ti said helplessly. “You should get some rest tonight, so you don’t have to see Tao Tao with dark circles under your eyes tomorrow.”

Although her aunt's acupuncture only treats the symptoms and not the root cause, it's enough to help Tao Tao alleviate her discomfort.

That night, those who stayed up all night checking for appointments with specialists at Yuncheng Central Hospital were shocked to discover, "Holy crap! I found an appointment with Dr. Chen!!!"

"Hurry, hurry! This big shot rarely opens an account in Yuncheng!"

Also awake was Ye Hantao, who was lying on the bed, her fingers clutching the soft blankets. "I only have six months to live?"

[To be precise, 178 days, 32 minutes, and 11 seconds remain.]

The flat, emotionless mechanical voice said, "[Tests have shown that your rare genetic disease has progressed to 97.5%, and you will die within six months at the latest.]"

Under the dim light of the nightlight, Ye Hantao's long eyelashes blinked rapidly a few times, her dark eyes clear and bright, with a hint of confusion.

Just now, something claiming to be a system appeared out of nowhere, saying that she was the cannon fodder control group in the series of articles, and that she only had half a year left, no, 178 days and 32 minutes, and who knows how many seconds of her lifespan had been deducted.

[Your existence serves as a control group, highlighting the protagonist in every way.]

[In the variety show "Classmates Are Here," you played Liao Jiayue's non-celebrity classmate. You were vain, greedy, a habitual liar, jealous, and competitive. Later, you even schemed against her, and after your true nature was exposed, you were subjected to widespread online abuse.]

Ye Hantao couldn't sleep to begin with, and now the more she listened, the more awake she became. It was really hard for her to equate the person the system was talking about with herself.

Her family wasn't wealthy, but they were comfortable enough to eat and drink. Her only problem was that her father had lost money investing in a friend's shop a few years ago, and their three-bedroom apartment had been reduced to a two-bedroom apartment.

This resulted in my brother having to sleep in internet cafes at night, and occasionally when he came home, he could only sleep in the living room.

The system continues narrating the plot: "[Because of your betrayal, Liao Jiayue received sympathy from netizens, leading to a significant boost in her reputation and popularity. After the show ended, she was inundated with script offers and endorsement deals.]"

[When you were desperate, you hooked up with a playboy who was only after your beauty, once again becoming a contrast to Liao Jiayue's best friend who married into a wealthy family.]

Ye Hantao reasonably suspected that the system had targeted the wrong person, and calmly corrected, "I have already declined the invitation to that classmate variety show, so the premise is invalid. The plot you mentioned should theoretically have nothing to do with me."

[...In the original storyline, Liao Jiayue did indeed invite her high school classmate.] The system seemed to pause briefly, [but from the moment she chose to extend the variety show invitation to you, the names of all the characters in the control group in the original book were replaced with "Ye Hantao." The timeline is locked and cannot be changed.]

[For the small world to function smoothly, you must strictly maintain the persona of a vain, greedy, lying, jealous, and competitive control group, and complete the main storylines of both books.]

[Tomorrow, Liao Jiayue will continue to persuade you to participate in variety shows. Please agree and maintain your established persona.]

Ye Hantao refused, "I—"

[If you maintain your character, I will restore your health and give you 10 million in cash after the entire storyline ends.]

"I...performed a skit when I was in elementary school and won first prize. My acting skills were pretty good!" Ye Hantao's almond-shaped eyes were bright and clear. "Can you prove the truthfulness and validity of your promise?"

[1-minute health trial, now effective.]

Almost as soon as the system finished speaking, Ye Hantao's knees and elbows, which had been aching for two days, suddenly stopped hurting.

Unable to hide her surprise, Ye Hantao raised her arms and stretched them back and forth in mid-air, then lifted the blanket and bent her knees up and down.

It really doesn't hurt!

Not only was it painless, but it was also the first time in my nineteen years of life that I had such a relaxed and powerful body.

When I'm not sick, my physical strength is pretty good. Except for endurance, I'm not much worse than my classmates, but I always have a lingering sense of constraint. Now, however, I feel so relaxed that I feel like I could jump up and touch the ceiling.

Ye Hantao had to start to believe the system's explanation; it turned out that she really did have a rare genetic disease that couldn't be detected in a full-body medical checkup.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't scared, but then the life-saving system arrived.

"Where are my family members? Do they have genetic diseases?"

[No. ]

Ye Hantao breathed a sigh of relief.

[The 1-minute health experience has expired.]

The stinging pain, like ants biting, spread throughout my joints again, and the heaviness from the inside out became clear once more.

The system emphasized: [As long as you maintain the control group persona until the end of the story, you will have permanent health.]

While regretting that a minute had passed too quickly, Ye Hantao quietly pondered.

Negotiating a contract with an otherworldly system is obviously unreliable, and one shouldn't appear particularly interested either.

“It’s only been two months since the variety show was filmed. I have no way of knowing if I will die of illness in six months. Let’s say you run away by then…” Ye Hantao deliberately picked a fight, “Wouldn’t I just be dragging my sick body around and getting scolded for nothing? I might as well have stayed at home and waited to die.”

[We have a great reputation and will definitely keep our promise.] The system continues to increase the stakes: [During the variety show's live broadcast, maintaining the control group persona will update the disease's progress in real time (it will pause updating when it reaches a critical threshold (90%, 80%, etc.), and...). As the story unfolds, you will increasingly feel your body gradually recovering.]

"That's great!" Ye Hantao carefully checked the nearly three thousand small characters in parentheses, then clapped her hands across the air, her face beaming with joy, "It's a deal!"

The following morning, a series of sharp, chattering cries could be heard, sounding like those of a blackbird.

Ye Hantao spent half the night in bed trying to comfort herself, but she couldn't stop thinking about the genetic disease and how she was going to die. She didn't know what time she finally fell asleep.

After being woken up, she groggily turned over, trying to go back to sleep.

The phone on the bedside table rang, accompanied by the sound of waves, and the screen illuminated the photo frame and Bluetooth earphones placed next to it.

Ye Hantao didn't open her eyes, but stretched her hand out from under the covers, the light pink beads making her wrist look slender.

"Hello," her voice was sweet and languid, as if she had just woken up, with a rising tone at the end, "I'm Ye Hantao~"

"Hantao, I thought about it all night and I still want to invite you to participate in the classmate variety show."

Ye Hantao sat up with a jolt, and before she could even hear what Liao Jiayue had said, she immediately agreed, "I'll participate. When do we sign the contract?"

After a few seconds of silence, Liao Jiayue's voice, clearly tinged with laughter, came through: "Great, it's settled then. The production team will pay you 50,000, and I'll give you an extra 50,000."

"What 5—" Ye Hantao didn't finish her question before Liao Jiayue interrupted, "The contract will be mailed out in the next couple of days. Where are you living now?"

Ye Hantao gave her current home address, not specifying the building, but that there was a rest stop in the community.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Liao Jiayue ended the call, leaving only a busy tone on her phone.

[Disease progression: 97.3%]

She suspected she had recovered by 0.2%, but Ye Hantao didn't feel anything significant. She looked down, pulled out the automatically recorded call, and listened to it again through speakerphone.

Liao Jiayue's voice rang out in the bedroom, "I've been thinking about it, is the pay for the show too low? How about this, if you can come, I'll pay you an extra 50,000 yuan."

Ye Hantao realized it too late.

Oh, I was just greedy.

—Huh? Is Liao Jiayue already live streaming?

A note from the author:

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Happy New Year! I'm here with Peach to meet everyone!!!

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