[System, can you send a message to Su Momo without being tracked by her system?] 

System: [I won’t help you.]

[So that means you can do it.] After saying that, Tao Shushu arrived at the study. 

She navigated the room skillfully, turned on her parents’ computer, and pulled up information on the company they intended to collaborate with. 

The company’s full name was Weifang Yuan Technology Co. Ltd.

Tao Shushu’s parents had built their fortune in the electronic chip industry. A few years ago, her father seized a key opportunity and designed a compact yet highly versatile sensor chip, which led to their rise in wealth. Since then, they had relocated their entire family to Yancheng.

It was no exaggeration to say that with the rise of smart home technology, the demand for sensor chips would continue to skyrocket. Unless there was a groundbreaking advancement in the chip industry, the Tao family could comfortably rely on their existing success and still remain among the top companies in Yancheng with the highest net profits.  

Weifangyuan Technology wanted to buy out the manufacturing process and design blueprints of this chip.  

The company had made an incredibly high offer, but the Tao family’s chip orders were already booked out for years in advance.  

This was exactly why Mother and Father Tao, now free from the effects of the intelligence-lowering aura, treated this matter as a major crisis. No matter how tempting the offer looked, they would never hand over their most profitable product. Selling it would be pure madness.

Father and Mother Tao investigated further and discovered that Weifangyuan Technology was nothing more than a shell company. The registered office space had already been rented out to someone else, and they didn’t even have a production line. It was as if they weren’t even trying to hide the scam—their arrogance was off the charts.  

The more they thought about it, the angrier they became. They soon realized that behind Weifangyuan was a professional market manipulator, whose ultimate goal was to buy out promising blue-ocean products and monopolize the industry.  

Without hesitation, they reported them to the police.

At the same time, Mother and Father Tao were also assisting the police in investigating the financial mastermind behind the scheme. 

They had no idea, but Tao Shushu had read the original novel’s plot and immediately remembered: 

[Wasn’t the so-called legendary investor—who rose to fame by speculating on stocks—brought in by Su Momo?] 

A flicker of doubt crossed Tao Shushu’s mind.

So Momo needed to cut and paste other people’s thoughts just to pass an exam. There was no way she could have come up with such an intricate financial scheme on her own.

Unless— 

She had already experienced this before.

[Or rather, did she have a powerful mentor guiding her?]  

Tao Shushu whistled softly—this was getting interesting.  

She returned to her room and sent the investor’s profile to her dad’s email.

Then, she texted to Li Anyu: “Any fresh gossip?”

Li Anyu was a Yancheng local, and in the city’s elite circles, everyone more or less knew each other—so rumors spread fast.

In less than two minutes, Li Anyu replied:

“Everyone’s talking about Su Momo and Zhou Yi’s ridiculous situation. After leaving the revolving restaurant this afternoon, Zhou Yi splurged 100,000 yuan on a pair of J-brand high heels for her.”

“But here’s the thing, the Su family never actually confirmed which family they were arranging a marriage with. Tomorrow’s event is just a way to introduce Su Momo to potential suitors. Because she and Zhou Yi are making such a spectacle, the other candidates don’t even want to show up anymore.”

Both Tao Shushu and Li Anyu disliked treating marriage as a bargaining chip and people who rushed to arrange engagements for kids just to form alliances. Since their values didn’t align with these families, they had little interaction with them.

Li Anyu added, “I don’t know them well, so that’s all I’ve heard.”

Zhou Yi’s position was awkward—being an illegitimate child was already a disadvantage in high society, and to make matters worse, the legitimate Zhou heir despised him.

The Su family had originally arranged meetings with several prestigious families, but once those families realized their “competition” was Zhou Yi, they felt it was beneath them to even participate. 

Tao Shushu sighed in exasperation—was this really the beloved heroine from the original story, who was supposed to have multiple powerful suitors wrapped around her finger?

With tactics this terrible, where keeping just one backup plan already ruined all her connections—how had she ever managed to become the so-called “darling of the elite”?

Was it purely thanks to the plot’s intelligence-reducing effect on everyone else?

After venting her frustration, Tao Shushu jotted down a few notes on her phone before finally preparing to rest.

Meanwhile, on her cub’s side, it was still the afternoon—the time when the sun’s radiation was at its strongest.

Tao Shushu instinctively glanced at the stats bar. 

Her gold coins had increased by 20 since she last checked. 

The cub had actually driven 400 kilometers in just one morning—that was absolutely terrifying. 

Now, her total gold coins had reached 277, with 100 earned just from the cub’s driving.

The cub was working way too hard.

The perpetually lazy Tao Shushu felt like crying.

The cub was wearing a “Fisherman’s Sun Hat” while driving, and beneath his feet, a golden, fluffy little head peeked out.

The scene was peaceful and heartwarming.

The road conditions were terrible, but Nan Yuan remained steady as he maneuvered the vehicle—turning, slowing down, and carefully avoiding obstacles and scattered white bones on the ground.

Only the taut veins on the back of his hands betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

The lion lying by his leg would always rub against him whenever he was in a low mood.

And every time, he would think—  

That person seemed to really like this dumb lion.  

If the lion’s smooth fur got scorched, she would probably feel distressed.  

So, he pulled himself out of his dark thoughts and carefully draped an insulation cloak over the lion.  

—

He was getting closer and closer to the only remaining prosperous area on the wasteland planet.  

Or rather, what used to be prosperous.  

Before the apocalypse, every planet had spaceships coming and going from docking ports.  

Back then, the humans of the wasteland planet gathered near the spaceport.  

There had still been traces of cities and industrialization left behind.

But now—

Only ruins and desolation remained.

There wasn’t a single soul in sight.

Nan Yuan returned to his old home, his expression solemn.

—

Tao Shushu rubbed the cub’s face; the little guy’s face was almost as scrunched up as a bun.

As soon as her fingers touched his face, the event log popped up. 

—

She surprisingly found out that the cub hadn’t even eaten lunch!  

He had been on the road the entire time.  

Along the way, he only took out some dried wolf meat and water for the little lion, then he carefully rebandaged its wounds.  

As for himself—  

From start to finish, he never stopped even once.

—

No wonder he had covered four hundred kilometers in just a few hours!

At this rate, even the vehicle wouldn’t hold up, let alone him.

Cub, you’re not taking care of yourself at all! 

—

Tao Shushu disapprovingly pinched the cub’s ear.

She had arrived. 

Nan Yuan instinctively glanced to his right. 

The next moment, a pile of neatly cut wolf meat and bright red fruits appeared in front of him.

—

She was the one who brought them over.

Nan Yuan stepped on the brakes. 

—

Only then was Tao Shushu satisfied.

Her cub must never go hungry or cold!

—

As she watched the cub eat the wolf meat and fruits, a notification suddenly popped up on the screen: 

[Tomorrow night, the full moon will rise. Please complete Main Quest 2 as soon as possible—help the cub find a base that can withstand the upcoming beast tide.]

[Quest Rewards: 500 Gold Coins, 1 Spaceship, 1 Advanced Sobriety Card.]

Gold Coins!

A spaceship?!

Tao Shushu’s eyes lit up. 

She once thought that the 1,000-coin voice pack was an unattainable dream, but now—through her and the cub’s combined efforts, they had already saved up 272 coins. If they completed the main quest, they would gain another 500 coins, leaving only 200 more for her to finally talk to the cub!

The voice pack wasn’t completely out of reach after all.

As for the spaceship, there was no way the cub could stay on Desolate Star forever. 

With mutations worsening, the planet’s ecosystem would inevitably collapse. The cub had to leave to stay alive.

She couldn’t let the cub live his whole life eating raw meat and drinking blood. Tao Shushu refused to accept that.

It seemed like this quest was meant to provide the cub with essential supplies. 

Tao Shushu glanced at the buildings on either side of the vehicle. Who knew what kind of mutated creatures were lurking in the ruins of the city? But if there was any chance of finding a safe base, it would be in a place where human civilization once thrived.

They had no choice but to keep exploring.

She checked the countdown timer on the screen; there were only 30 hours left. Time was running out.

Tao Shushu ruffled Nan Yuan’s hair, letting him continue driving without interruption.

Then, she opened the system shop to restock her cub’s supplies.

After all, she was a 272-coin-rich boss lady.  

Unfortunately, the legendary ‘Fisherman’s Sun Hat’ (which had only cost 1 coin) was no longer available.

The game store knew exactly how to squeeze money from players. Those cheap, overpowered items only ever appeared once.  

Tao Shushu didn’t spend her money recklessly.  

– She spent 4 coins on two life potions and immediately gave one to the cub.  

– She found a 3-coin anti-infection formula and decided to buy it as well.

– Seeing that the little lion was injured, she also purchased a 5-coin medicine.  

Just as she was about to close the shop, she noticed something interesting—  

A first-generation autonomous driving system.

The description read:

[An outdated self-driving system originally developed to assist amputees. After AI was fully integrated into the traffic network, this system was phased out due to its inability to connect to the internet.]

“Inability to connect to the internet?”

That meant the rogue AI, which had turned against humans, wouldn’t be able to hack it.

It was the perfect tool for hands-free driving without worrying about external interference.

Tao Shushu immediately spent 20 coins and confirmed the purchase without hesitation.

She grabbed a piece of fruit, intending to crush its juice and use it to draw on leaves to communicate her ideas.

But just as she was about to start, she noticed something—

A stack of old newspapers and a piece of charcoal had appeared in front of the driver’s seat.  

She had no idea where the cub had found them.  

While the cub hastily finished his lunch and continued driving, Tao Shushu casually handed the bright red wild fruit to the little lion, making sure it stayed hydrated.  

She then spent several minutes carefully drawing on the newspaper, using wobbly, uneven lines to depict the message she wanted to convey.

Since she was worried the cub might reject the autonomous driving system, she made sure to illustrate the entire backstory of how she bought the system with her own hard-earned coins. 

Once she finished, she shook out her sore hand and handed the newspaper to the cub. 

She was determined— 

She had to save up enough money to unlock the voice pack and finally talk to the cub properly.

As the cub studied the information, Tao Shushu reached out and rubbed the little lion’s head, feeling a deep sense of resolve.

The little lion suddenly spat out the red fruit, baring its teeth in an expression of distress, looking as if it had been poisoned.

Tao Shushu immediately patted the cub, urging him to check on the lion. 

But to her surprise, the cub’s expression darkened, and in a swift, sharp motion, he picked up the remaining fruit and threw it out the window.

Tao Shushu was puzzled. 

Were those fruits poisonous?

But the cub had been eating them just fine earlier. In fact, he had finished every single fruit she handed him without hesitation.

At that moment, Nan Yuan pressed a hand against his lips and let out a light cough.

He wasn’t even sure why his first instinct had been to dispose of the evidence— 

By the time he realized what he had done, it was already too late to cover it up.

The little lion was still sticking out its tongue, spinning in circles, looking utterly miserable.

Tao Shushu, afraid that it had been poisoned, had already opened the system store and was about to purchase a life potion.

Just then, Nan Yuan raised his hand and tossed over two green fruits.

The little lion snatched them up swiftly, sniffed them, and then chomped down on them one after another, clearly enjoying the sweet taste.

Tao Shushu had a hunch. 

She clicked on the fruit and noticed that there was an “Explore” option. 

One gold coin for each exploration; wasn’t it the reward of getting a classical Chinese question right? She could afford 2 gold coins.

Tao Shushu first explored the green fruit that the little lion was happily devouring.

The description was “simple—”Ordinary fruit, non-toxic, sweet.”

Then, she explored the red fruit—”Mutated fruit. Provides hydration, but only animals in extreme starvation or dehydration would willingly eat it. Causes a numbing, electric shock-like sensation when consumed.”

After reading the description, Tao Shushu was stunned.

So the red fruit she had chosen based on looks was actually terrible-tasting, causing paralysis with every bite.

Meanwhile, the green fruit, which she had completely overlooked, was actually one of the rare fruits that still had a natural sweet flavor.

The cub always picked a lot of red fruits.

When she fed the cub the mouth-shocking fruit, he didn’t resist and ate every one of them obediently.

Tao Shushu couldn’t help but rub the cub’s head vigorously. What a good cub.

Nan Yuan coughed lightly twice.

He knew he shouldn’t have overreacted and thrown the fruit away like that.

She was too smart. She would definitely figure it out.

And then, she would realize that just because she gave it to him, he had been eating those awful fruits.

Like some kind of weirdo.

Nan Yuan felt his ears burning from the force of his blush. He quickly rubbed them, trying to cool them down.

---

TN:

i love NY (⁠๑⁠♡⁠⌓⁠♡⁠๑⁠)(⁠*⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠)⁠/⁠～⁠♡