After Liu Tong left, Su Ling stocked all the items he had requested and even treated herself to a can of orange slices.  

“The shelf looks too empty next to the biscuits. Let’s add some walnut cookies, peanut candies, and White Rabbit milk candy.”  

As she was tidying up, a notification sound suddenly rang out.  

[Ding—]  

[Progress in the Sweet Romance plot has stalled. Attempting external repairs… Repair failed. Possible abandonment.]  

Su Ling froze, exchanging a glance with Huahua.  

Huahua sat up straight. “Now that I think about it, we haven’t seen the educated youths in a long time, have we?”

Su Ling nodded vigorously. Even the people living in the cowsheds in the neighboring village would come by to trade snow for food, but whether it was the educated youths from Dawang Village or those from other villages, none of them seemed to have made any moves.  

“Is Shen Ping’an and Baozhu’s storyline still normal?” Su Ling asked.  

Huahua closed her eyes to check. “It’s fine. They knew each other from the start and later became desk mates in school. Shen Ping’an has been running his business all along, and because of it, he avoided the fate of becoming an orphan.”  

Thanks to her family, Wang Baozhu retained her good luck and also changed her own destiny.  

Shen Ping’an’s business ventures kept him from becoming an orphan, and since he and Wang Baozhu were childhood sweethearts, their storyline was also unaffected.  

Wang Zhaodi was sprinting full speed ahead on her path to becoming a future tycoon, with limitless achievements awaiting her.  

It was just the sweet romance plot that had suddenly run into trouble…  

“Is it because the female lead has awakened on her own?” Su Ling suddenly looked at Huahua.  

Huahua: “Possibly. But the female lead’s awakening shouldn’t affect the world’s progression. The male lead isn’t some vicious villain either—just your typical kind of man.”  

Su Ling had Huahua pull up the sweet romance novel and began carefully reading it from the start. That was when she finally noticed something off.  

“The setup of this sweet romance novel is a bit strange. The male lead is cold and indifferent to all other female characters, showing affection only to the female lead and doting on her exclusively. That part’s fine, but… is he a little unhinged?”  

Huahua frowned deeply. “This setup really is a bit unhinged.”  

The female lead and a supporting female character were fairly competing for a job position. The supporting character fell for the male lead and confessed, but the male lead, annoyed, crippled her hand, forcing her to withdraw in disgrace.  

As a result, the female lead was accused of using underhanded tactics.  

After the college entrance exams were reinstated, the female lead and another supporting character became roommates and got along well.  

At a gathering, the supporting character developed feelings for the male lead. The male lead, suspecting her of ill intentions and fearing she might bully the female lead, schemed to force the supporting character into marriage.  

Once again, the female lead was criticized, this time for being “scheming and vicious.”  

Later, the male lead partnered with a wealthy heiress in business. The heiress had a sharp eye for opportunities, and the two worked together daily. The heiress couldn’t help but fall for him.  

When the female lead showed a hint of jealousy, the male lead immediately dissolved the partnership and started his own venture, eventually driving the heiress’s family business into bankruptcy.  

And once more, the female lead was vilified as “ruthless”???  

……  

All the satisfying, triumphant moments belonged to the male lead, while all the blame fell on the female lead.  

The female lead had been reduced to a mere prop to highlight the male lead.  

She had started out so clever and bright, accumulating a small fortune early on, bold and daring, kind and hardworking. But later, the story focused overwhelmingly on how the male lead doted on her.  

What about her own dreams? Her career?  

Doted on, had kids, the end.  

Even when others praised her, it was always, “Your husband is so outstanding and still so devoted to family. You really hit the jackpot.”  

If the female lead hadn’t been so intelligent from the start, Su Ling might not have felt so regretful. But the female lead had been so outstanding initially…  

[Ding—]  

[The Sweet Romance world has completed self-repairs and resumed operation.]  

Su Ling was stunned. “Why the sudden change?”  

Just then, Wang Zhaodi pushed the door open and walked in. “Boss, what suddenly changed?”  

Su Ling smiled and shook her head. “Nothing. How’s your yarn promotion going?”  

“I went to Baozhu’s house.”

Wang Zhaodi believed that Baozhu’s good luck would surely bless her, so she approached two aunts and asked if they’d like to learn how to crochet scarves and sweaters—she could collect the finished products to sell.  

Su Ling motioned for Wang Zhaodi to sit on the rest chair outside the counter. “Did the deal go through?”  

“Yeah, I originally planned to buy the yarn myself, but they said they’d sell the finished products directly to me. I thought that worked too.”  

Wang Zhaodi felt that if she kept investing money upfront for materials, the pressure would be too great. She needed to spread the risk.  

As for some of the crochet techniques, Baozhu’s mother picked them up at a glance. Wang Zhaodi took the opportunity to say that a certain aunt in town had taught her, so the first batch of hats, scarves, and sweaters would serve as “tuition fees.”  

Baozhu’s mother agreed.  

Seeing the potential in the business, Baozhu’s mother invited many women from the village to their home, and even a few female educated youths joined in.  

“Boss, I even met some of the female educated youths. They seemed a bit listless when they first arrived, but after seeing the crochet work, they suddenly felt they could do it too. They’ll probably come by soon to buy yarn.”  

After finishing her report, Wang Zhaodi asked for a can of eight-treasure porridge, added a few items to her order for the next day, then bid farewell and headed home.  

Not long after Wang Zhaodi left, a group of female educated youths entered the store—all familiar faces.  

Zhang Miaomiao eyed the yarn. “Boss, can we feel it?”  

“Of course, these are samples. Take your time looking,” Su Ling replied with a smile.  

Zhang Miaomiao nodded in thanks and immediately called Li Juan, Xia Qing, and Zhou Yan over to inspect the yarn.  

The four huddled together, discussing what to crochet.  

“Boss, we’ll take the red yarn first, and this fuzzy one too.”  

They pooled their money to buy the yarn, and Su Ling threw in some needles as a gift. The group left happily, chatting all the way.  

As the shop door closed, Su Ling turned to Huahua with sudden realization.  

“So, making money can heal everything—even restore the world!”  

“I’ll follow them and see what’s going on.”  

Huahua hopped off the counter and quietly trailed the educated youths.  

…

Zhou Yan couldn’t resist stroking the yarn and sighed softly. “Zhang Xiu was actually pretty good at handiwork. It’s a shame she won’t join us.”  

“All Zhang Xiu cares about is dating. I don’t understand why she’d waste her youth on that,” Li Juan lamented, exasperated.  

Especially during this time—shouldn’t they be focusing on studying and improving themselves?  

Xia Qing nudged Li Juan and glanced at Zhang Miaomiao.  

Zhang Miaomiao smiled. “It’s fine. We all live together, so it’s okay to speak openly. I had a fight with Xie Linfeng. I realized we have very different values.”  

Before, she had thought her life was pretty good. But ever since Boss Su opened the shop in the village, she’d come to understand that women in this era could also have their own careers.  

She’d also seen little Zhaodi braving wind and snow early in the morning to sell goods in town. If a child could do it, why was she becoming more and more afraid to take that step herself? She couldn’t go on like this.  

Zhang Miaomiao shared her thoughts and feelings, then suddenly laughed, her tone lighter. “When I was overthinking things, it felt like time around me slowed down. But now everything’s back to normal.”  

“Maybe it’s just winter. Everything’s covered in snow—hard to sense the passage of time,” Li Juan sighed. “I haven’t even delivered snow yet.”  

“Not tomorrow either. We’ll all be crocheting sweaters to earn money for meat,” Xia Qing said with a chuckle.  

Zhou Yan bit her lip lightly. “Actually… I saw Miaomiao arguing with Xie Linfeng, and that changed my perspective. My whole life, I’ve been taught to sacrifice for my younger brother because I’m the eldest—that it’s my duty. But I realized… that’s not true. I live for myself.”  

Zhang Miaomiao stopped walking. “Exactly. We live for ourselves. We’re the most important. Losing ourselves is the real tragedy.”  

Laughing and chatting, they slowly made their way back to the educated youth dormitory.  

Huahua turned back too, returning to explain to Su Ling why the sweet romance plot had collapsed.  

Su Ling sighed. “Probably too many people awakened in too short a time.”  

Huahua: “Or maybe this kind of sweet romance setting, where the female lead is endlessly sacrificed, is just outdated. But the world’s back on track now, so we can keep gathering energy.”