Chapter 29: I Also Want Cake (29) p1
Jiang Zhiyan became famous in the Jiang family after her first day back at the ancestral home, successfully earning herself two days of peace. Although everyone looked at her like they wanted her dead, she didn’t care. She occupied the best sunroom in the entire house, and no one dared to enter.
Being thick-skinned, Jiang Zhiyan sat on the living room sofa early in the morning on New Year’s Eve and asked every elder who came downstairs for a red envelope.
They didn’t want to give her any, but Jiang Zhiyan had very frankly expressed her expectation for red envelopes from her elders on her WeChat Moments, saying she would post pictures of them later that evening. This was clearly a blatant threat.
She had also forced them to see this post, sending them screenshots and making sure each one of them acknowledged it.
The Jiang elders: Never encountered something so absurd.
They could choose not to give her any, but they would risk Jiang Zhiyan badmouthing them on social media. They were trying to climb into high society and couldn’t afford such a humiliating and embarrassing scandal.
They originally called Jiang Zhiyan back to cause trouble for her, but who knew she herself would be the biggest troublemaker? They were so angered by her they had to give her money, and a small amount wasn’t enough.
Watching Jiang Zhiyan’s smiling face as she collected the red envelopes made their teeth itch. The younger generation was also very unhappy. Although they didn’t lack spending money, who would complain about having more money? But their parents had made an agreement long ago to stop giving each other’s children red envelopes.
“So, sister-in-law still hasn’t come back?” The eldest Jiang uncle asked darkly.
“She said she doesn’t want to come back, she wants to spend New Year’s at the hospital.”
“How unlucky to spend New Year’s at the hospital. Ask her to come back. It’s better to be at home for New Year’s.” The eldest uncle said, feigning concern, but sneering inwardly. How could they get the red envelope money back if she didn’t come back?
Jiang’s mother was called back. The eldest uncle kept implying that if she spent New Year’s at the hospital, it would affect her luck for the next year. Although Jiang’s mother didn’t believe in these things, thinking of her extremely unlucky year last year, she still came back.
Seeing Jiang Zhiyan sitting on the sofa, her body trembled involuntarily. After all the mental processing she had done, Jiang Zhiyan had become no different from a demon in her eyes.
Jiang Zhiyan looked Jiang’s mother over. She looked much thinner than before, seemingly not having a good time. However, Jiang Jingxue wouldn’t make things difficult for her mother financially, there must have been other issues.
“What has she been doing lately?” Jiang Zhiyan asked the system.
“Staying at the hospital.” The system replied.
Jiang Zhiyan was silent for a few seconds, speechless, then twitched the corners of her lips, suddenly finding it a bit ridiculous: “Forget it.”
“She seems to think that as long as your cheap father wakes up, everything can go back to normal.” The system analyzed.
“Normal?” Jiang Zhiyan was puzzled. “It seemed like she was only normal during her nine years of compulsory education. After all this time, that’s the conclusion she came to?”
Jiang’s mother sat as far away from Jiang Zhiyan as possible. Just as she was about to take a sip from her cup, several children walked over to her and asked for red envelopes.
She froze for two seconds, then reacted after seeing the red envelopes next to Jiang Zhiyan. Her face darkened, and she glanced at the eldest uncle, who stood there expressionlessly, his meaning clear.
Jiang’s mother sneered: “If you wanted red envelopes, you could have just said so on the phone. You had to make me come all the way here. I thought Eldest Brother sincerely wanted me to celebrate New Year’s with you all.”
“Sister-in-law, what are you saying? Of course it was sincere. I also wanted to ask you for advice on raising children.” The eldest uncle said sarcastically. “Your niece is really something now.”
“Some things depend on the individual. You can’t teach it, so there’s no need for advice. Besides, I wasn’t raised by her.” Jiang Zhiyan leaned against the sofa and counted the red envelopes. They must have agreed on the amount beforehand. They all gave 10,000 yuan, except Jiang Jingxue, who gave 66,000 yuan, transferring the money directly to her account.
Jiang Zhiyan put the money in her bag, stood up, and went back to the sunroom, leaving behind a group of people with livid faces.
“Look at your good daughter!”
“I can’t control her, Eldest Brother. If you think you can, then go ahead, I won’t stop you.” Jiang’s mother said coldly.
“Ha, your family matters are not something I dare to interfere with.”
…
Upon reaching the sunroom, Jiang Zhiyan immediately shared the good news with Liang Xi.
[Jiang Zhiyan: Got the red envelopes.]
[Liang Xi: ???]
[Jiang Zhiyan: About 100,000 yuan in total.]
[Liang Xi: That much?]
[Liang Xi: Why did you transfer money to me?]
[Jiang Zhiyan: Family, sharing the wealth.]
Liang Xi, holding her phone, smiled and rolled around on her bed, then immediately called: “Why would they give you red envelopes?”
“I asked for them directly. They care about their face, they’re furious with me.” Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand and took a sip of coffee.
“I’m relieved you weren’t bullied.” Liang Xi patted her chest, her hair spread out, and she stared at the ceiling, exhaling.
“Don’t worry, they can’t beat me.” Jiang Zhiyan paused. “I miss you.”
“Me too.” Liang Xi held the phone close to her ear, as if she could be closer to Jiang Zhiyan this way. “Are you visiting relatives tomorrow? If not, let’s go out and play. Let’s meet early.”
“No need to visit relatives.” Jiang Zhiyan didn’t actually know, but since Liang Xi said so, then there was definitely no need.
Liang Xi exhaled, seemingly wanting to say something, but didn’t.
Jiang Zhiyan sensed her hesitation and didn’t rush her, just listened to her breathing, waiting quietly.
“Yan Yanzhuo contacted me yesterday.” Liang Xi said.
Jiang Zhiyan’s smile vanished, and she frowned.
The male lead’s presence was now even weaker than the second male lead’s. She had almost forgotten about him, why was he showing up again?
“The plot might have accelerated again. You replaced Xu Yi’s position, making him uncomfortable.” The system flipped through the script. “The original female lead never even got together with him, just being somewhat close to him made him go crazy. Now… her preference has even changed, I’m afraid he’s going to really lose it, the danger level is rising rapidly.”
“What did he want?” Jiang Zhiyan asked, her tone calm.
“He wanted to meet me tomorrow.” Liang Xi said.
Jiang Zhiyan’s expression darkened further, the spoon in her hand slowly bending under the pressure until it snapped in two: “Hmm? Why?”
“I don’t know, it’s inexplicable. I refused anyway.” Liang Xi paused. “But that’s not the important thing. I want to tell you something else. It’s true, although it’s strange, I hope you’ll believe me.”
“I clearly wanted to refuse him, I didn’t want to see him at all, but there was another voice in my head, urging me to agree to meet him, and it seems like it can even control my actions. Am I having a split personality? Or some other psychological problem? But I don’t think I should be…”
Although her father was a scumbag, she didn’t think he had much of an impact on her, at most, she just found him annoying.
Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes darkened. This was the power of the plot trying to pull the NPC back on track, a kind of self-repair mechanism of the small world.
“No, you’re not, just ignore it.” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“Hmm? So you heard it too?” Liang Xi asked. She had always felt that Jiang Zhiyan was very different from the person she knew before. Reflecting on herself these past two days, she found that she was also completely different from before. She felt like she was close to uncovering some secret.
Jiang Zhiyan thought for a few seconds, then admitted: “Yes.”
Seeing the warning signs appear, the system silently turned them off and sighed softly.
It had come to this.
“Then do you also feel like you’re being controlled? I feel so uncomfortable, I don’t like that feeling.”
“No, but it’s okay, it’ll be over soon.” Jiang Zhiyan quickly flipped through the script, choosing the exit point from this world. She had originally wanted to stay longer, earn more points, but since Liang Xi was already uncomfortable, it was time to leave. “Set me as your emergency contact. If you feel like you’re being controlled, call me, and I’ll come find you.”
“What if I can’t talk, how will you find me? Should I buy a kids’ smart watch?”
Jiang Zhiyan felt a bit helpless. Liang Xi’s voice was trembling, clearly panicked by the situation, but she was still trying to lighten the mood.
“I have my own ways, trust me, I’ll find you, nothing will happen. Or I can come find you now.” She had already received the red envelopes anyway, and these people didn’t seem to have any important business to discuss with her.
“No need, my grandma’s house is too far from your ancestral home, it’s too much trouble for you to come. Let’s meet tomorrow, tomorrow…” Liang Xi’s voice cracked with tears. “Can you come home with me tomorrow night? I’m really scared.”
“Okay, of course, we’ll meet tomorrow morning at 7:30.” Jiang Zhiyan’s voice was gentle. She wanted it to be even earlier, but it would take Liang Xi an hour and a half to get to the city center by subway. Waking up at six was early enough.
Jiang Zhiyan went back to her room, found her earphones and a portable charger, and stayed on call with Liang Xi until bedtime. Hearing Liang Xi’s even breathing on the other end, she put her phone aside.
“Her soul fragment is too small and too weak, so it’s difficult to resist the world’s will. It’s already amazing that she’s aware of being controlled.” Jiang Zhiyan circled a section in the original novel. “So let’s leave it at this. It should happen tomorrow or the day after.”
“Host, are you crazy?” The system, seeing the plot point Jiang Zhiyan had chosen, couldn’t help but ask.
“Do you have any other brilliant ideas? This is the fastest way.”
“But if you do this, this book will definitely be considered unfinished, the world completion rate will be 70% at most, and you’ll only earn three to five hundred points, maybe even less.”
“The ending will be a bad ending 100%.” Jiang Zhiyan said. “The logic can be explained now.”
“But being hit by a car hurts, Host!” The system said loudly.
Jiang Zhiyan paused, then said casually: “I’m not very sensitive to pain, and what’s a little pain? Don’t worry about me.”
Thinking of the one who became a soul fragment, the system suddenly didn’t know what to say. Someone who could be with a ruthless person like Jiang Zhiyan must also be ruthless.
“What exactly happened to you two? Why did you become soul fragments…”
Jiang Zhiyan remained silent.
She didn’t sleep all night and left the house at five o’clock, walking to the nearest subway station and taking the first train.
Liang Xi was also on the subway. She sent a message every few minutes, her excitement evident in her words.
[Liang Xi: I feel much better today! We’ll go have breakfast first later, a new dim sum place opened, I heard it’s very authentic, I’ve wanted to try it for a long time, it’s on me!]
[Liang Xi: But I already ate a little this morning.]
[Liang Xi: I just messaged Yang Xiao and woke her up, she said she’s going to chase me down and kill me, hahaha.]
[Liang Xi: The weather is so nice today!]
[Liang Xi: Although there are no red envelopes, I’ve prepared a gift for you. Tell me, are you excited?!]
Jiang Zhiyan replied to each message one by one. During the hour-long subway ride, they exchanged over a thousand messages, from last night’s New Year’s Eve dinner to the dim sum they were about to eat.
Exiting the subway station, just as Jiang Zhiyan steadied herself, she saw someone running towards her from the corner of her eye, then throwing themselves at her, hugging her tightly.
Liang Xi was still scared and nervous. Seeing Jiang Zhiyan, she finally relaxed.
Jiang Zhiyan patted Liang Xi’s trembling back: “Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year.” Liang Xi released Jiang Zhiyan and put a bracelet on her wrist. “It’s been blessed, for your safety, to ward off disasters.”
Jiang Zhiyan froze for a second, looking at Liang Xi’s wind-chapped cheeks.
“Yes.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at the bracelet on her wrist, her heart pounding.
Why this…
Liang Xi had planned the entire day’s itinerary on the subway, basically all about eating. Because there were so many things she wanted to eat, she had made thorough preparations, wearing sneakers and planning to walk to aid digestion.
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