Chapter 29 Part 3

The child, who had been so happy just moments ago, suddenly froze. After a while, he asked, “But Dad, I don’t think Grandpa and Grandma like me. Am I really going to wish Grandpa a happy birthday, or am I just going to make him angry?”

Thinking of his parents’ attitude, Zhou Yexuan felt a headache coming on. His parents still couldn’t let go of his sister’s death, and because of that, they had distanced themselves from Jiayan.

He had tried to reason with them before. Jiayan was his sister’s only child, their only remaining family from her, and they shouldn’t treat him this way. But they were still stuck in their grief.

“Yanyan, it’s not that Grandpa and Grandma don’t like you. They just haven’t accepted things yet. How could they not like you when you’re so lovable?”

Although Jiayan was young, he knew his father was just comforting him. Still, he didn’t want to make his father worry, so he sniffled and said, “I understand, Dad. I’ll get ready to go. I’ll do my best to make Grandpa and Grandma happy.”

Meanwhile, Shen Qingqing was scrolling through her phone while listening to Jiayan’s conversation. To avoid privacy leaks, she had asked the program team to turn off the cameras as soon as Jiayan answered the call.

Since Zhou Yexuan was involved, even the director, Xu Xiang, knew better than to refuse, so he quickly agreed.

For Jiayan, Zhou Yexuan’s decision to settle in City A was fantastic news. But for Shen Qingqing, it was a nightmare.

Did this mean her peaceful retirement dreams were coming to an end?

She could tolerate a five-year-old child in her daily life, but a thirty-year-old man? And one who was her so-called husband? Absolutely not.

He had already sent people to keep an eye on her. Now he was moving back to China? Was this a full-blown operation to catch her in the act of “abusing” Jiayan and send her straight to jail?

Or could it be that his charm is so overwhelming that even someone as influential as Zhou Yexuan is impressed and can’t help but get close to him?

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Shen Qingqing dismissed it.

Sure, she was attractive, but a man like Zhou Yexuan had surely seen countless beautiful women before. Besides, she looked no different from how she always had. She was also very aware of her lazy and unmotivated personality.

In novels, a “boss” like Zhou Yexuan either falls for a strong and independent woman like himself or an innocent, naive girl.

And she was clearly neither.

After struggling to make sense of things, Shen Qingqing decided to consult the little system, even though it was often useless.

“System, you said you’d investigate earlier. How’s it going? Why has Zhou Yexuan been acting so strangely?”

As a newly developed system, it found this mission unexpectedly difficult. Not only did it end up with a host who had her own opinions, but it also encountered something incredibly rare—characters in the novel awakening their own consciousness.

So, it had been pretending to be inactive this whole time. But since the host was asking now, it had no choice but to tell her what it knew.

“Host, I already checked with headquarters. Zhou Yexuan must have suddenly awakened his will.”

Shen Qingqing frowned at the answer. She could have guessed that much on her own.

“Why did he suddenly awaken? Was it because of me?” she pressed.

The system sighed. The host was too sharp. It had no choice but to start from the beginning.

“Host, don’t you feel that the values in this original world seem a bit… off?”

Shen Qingqing nodded. She wasn’t clueless—she had already noticed and silently complained about it.

Shen Linyan, the novel’s heroine, appeared kind and took good care of her stepson, earning love from her husband’s family. But in reality, she subtly manipulated and encouraged “Shen Qingqing” to harm another child. That child was innocent, and Shen Qingqing couldn’t see someone like Shen Linyan as a good person at all.

The original body’s mother was a capable and successful woman, but because she was strong-willed, this became a justification in the novel for Shen’s father to return to his “true love” and seek comfort.

Shen’s father, Shen Hong, was, in Shen Qingqing’s opinion, a typical opportunist.

After years of hard work, Shen Hong finally made it into college. Before graduating, he received a scholarship to study abroad. He was like a phoenix rising from the ashes. But back then, he was already engaged to Ye Liwen, Shen Linyan’s mother, and both families had agreed on their marriage after his return.

However, once he saw the broader world, he began looking down on his first love back home. While studying abroad, he met Lin Chuyun, a bold and outspoken woman, and felt that she was more suited for the person he had become. He pursued her relentlessly, and despite her strong personality, Lin Chuyun was naive in love. She soon fell for him and even followed him back to China against her family’s wishes.

Having secured a beautiful and wealthy woman, Shen Hong secretly returned home and broke off his engagement with Ye Liwen.

Ye Liwen, however, wasn’t the type to dwell on heartbreak. She was naturally attractive and soon married a businessman from a well-off family. Unfortunately, after their marriage, her husband’s business began to decline. By the time Shen Linyan was seven or eight, they were struggling financially.

At that time, Shen Hong had already achieved some success in his career. He returned to his hometown to restore his ancestral tomb and ran into Ye Liwen, who was still beautiful but clearly having a hard time. Lin Chuyun was strong-willed and dominated their business decisions, making Shen Hong feel powerless as a husband. He began reminiscing about Ye Liwen’s gentleness.

One thing led to another, and Ye Liwen privately confessed that Shen Linyan was actually his daughter. She had found out she was pregnant after he left but had been unwilling to terminate the pregnancy. Since she couldn’t raise a child alone, she had no choice but to marry someone else.

Shen Hong was deeply moved and vowed to take care of Ye Liwen and her daughter.

And just like that, the novel framed their reunion as a touching love story.

Meanwhile, Lin Chuyun, who had sacrificed everything for Shen Hong—even breaking ties with her own family—was unfairly labeled as “arrogant and unreasonable” by the author. This conveniently justified Shen Hong’s infidelity.

As for the original “Shen Qingqing,” she was perhaps the biggest victim in all of this. But the novel made her an irrational villain, giving Shen Linyan an excuse to retaliate against her. After getting rid of Shen Qingqing, their “perfect family” was complete, free from any outside interference.

After recalling all this, Shen Qingqing said to the system, “Of course, I noticed! I could rant about the novel’s absurdities for an entire day and night.”

The system continued, “That’s why our system exists—to correct novels with distorted values. We bind ourselves to the most wronged and miserable characters in a world, helping them change their fates and fix the world’s imbalance.”

Shen Qingqing nodded. At least this system had decent morals.

“But what does this have to do with Zhou Yexuan? He was just a minor character in the original novel. He had power and influence but didn’t play a major role. Did another system bind him to complete a mission?”

“No, host,” the system replied helplessly. “I can confirm that Zhou Yexuan isn’t bound by any system. Sometimes, the world itself tries to correct things by choosing the right person. My guess is that the world saw you as too much of a wildcard and awakened Zhou Yexuan to stop you from causing too much trouble and to protect Zhou Jiayan.”

So the world itself gave Zhou Yexuan a buff because it thought she was too useless? That was just insulting.

Although… she really was kind of a mess.

Then she recalled something Zhou Jiayan had mentioned—his grandparents didn’t like him. But as the only grandson of the Zhou family, how could he not be liked?

Could it be that Zhou Jiayan was actually the son of Zhou Yexuan and a woman the family disapproved of?

However, Shen Qingqing thought about herself. She realized that it was rare for a woman to be disliked by the elders more than she was. In her memory, although the Zhou family’s old couple weren’t particularly kind to her, they never deliberately made things difficult. She shouldn’t dislike Yanyan just because she looked down on her biological mother.

So, she asked the system again, “There must be something unusual about Yanyan’s background. Otherwise, why would Zhou Yexuan’s parents dislike their only grandson?”

However, the system hesitated and replied, “I’m sorry, host, but this part of the plot isn’t in the original book. You’ll have to figure it out on your own.”

The system was still as useless as ever. Shen Qingqing was already too tired to complain. She could only take things one step at a time.

At that moment, her phone rang. She looked down and saw that it was Zhou Yexuan, who had just been talking to Zhou Jiayan.

Had their conversation ended? Was Zhou Yexuan planning to punish Zhou Jiayan after scolding her?

Shen Qingqing felt reluctant but still answered the call. “Hello—”

Hearing her impatient tone, Zhou Yexuan found it amusing. She wasn’t even pretending.

He decided to start politely. “I called to thank you. I watched today’s live broadcast. You took good care of Yanyan. I appreciate your concern.”

Shen Qingqing rarely received compliments, even from people she didn’t like, such as Zhou Yexuan.

Of course, she still decided to be “humble.” “It’s not that I put in much effort. It’s just that being around an outstanding person like me naturally helps Yanyan learn a lot.”

Zhou Yexuan: …

He was usually calm, but at this moment, he was speechless.

As a modest and serious person, Zhou Yexuan’s subordinates always maintained a practical attitude around him. This was the first time he had met someone so confident, and surprisingly, he found it… refreshing?

So, he laughed again, which annoyed Shen Qingqing.

“What are you laughing at? Is it that funny?” she demanded.

Zhou Yexuan had called to inform her that he would be moving back home, hoping they could get along. Seeing her frustration, he immediately explained, “I don’t think it’s funny. I just admire your confidence.”

Shen Qingqing wasn’t satisfied with this answer. “Should excellent people feel inferior?”

Zhou Yexuan couldn’t help but rub his forehead. He remembered his father once sighing, “Don’t try to reason with a woman.” If he continued explaining, Shen Qingqing would just keep arguing.

So, he quickly moved on to the main point. “You’re right.” He pinched his brow and said, “You must have heard my conversation with Yanyan earlier. I’ll be staying at home for the next few months.”

Shen Qingqing’s heart skipped a beat. She tried recalling memories of their interactions. They were vague, and she couldn’t figure out their relationship as a married couple.

But judging by Zhou Yexuan’s cold and polite attitude, she assumed it was practically nonexistent.

With that thought, she felt much calmer. Although Zhou Yexuan was good-looking, she couldn’t imagine living a married life with a man who was basically a stranger.

“I heard. This is your home, so of course, you have the right to stay here,” she replied indifferently. But deep down, she thought that if the house were hers, she would have kicked Zhou Yexuan out without hesitation.

Zhou Yexuan easily picked up on her reluctance. It made sense—when he was away, she was the most important person in the Zhou family and could do whatever she pleased.

However, he wasn’t going to let her take over the Zhou residence. Still, he didn’t want to argue, so he simply said, “Then I hope we can get along well and set a good example for Yanyan.”

Although unwilling, Shen Qingqing had no choice but to accept. She replied weakly, “I understand. I also hope we can get along.”

Hearing her agreement, Zhou Yexuan felt relieved. After exchanging a few more polite words, he ended the call.

But as soon as Shen Qingqing put down her phone, she suddenly wondered—what did “getting along well” mean?

Like normal roommates? Or like a regular married couple? There was a huge difference!