All night long, Xia Chengcheng and the system had acted like countless fans, thoroughly digging up every detail about their ‘idol’.

One human and one system stared in shock, pupils quaking.

They simply couldn’t reconcile the gossipy, CP-shipping young man on the internet with the ascetic, aloof, and immortal-like man living under the same roof!

Still, having discovered fresh gossip from her life tree again, she now had some juicy material that might just save her life.

Thanks to the top celeb! Much love!

By the time the clock hit eleven at night, Xia Chengcheng stretched her limbs, planning to head downstairs and ask the chef to make her a late-night snack.

The chef prepared three portions— a warm seafood porridge for Xia Chengcheng, and two servings of nutritious meals fit for her two furry children, Guangzong and Yaozu.

Once the food was served, Guangzong lazily took a couple of bites and then flopped over, probably sleepy.

Yaozu, on the other hand, was full of energy, shaking its butt enthusiastically at Xia Chengcheng. The moment she gave the signal, it dashed toward its bowl like a rocket.

Xia Chengcheng sat down as well, sipping her porridge while scrolling through her phone.

Her screen was filled with comments and messages left by Little Rascal Classmate, all praising Xie Zhixing. Xia Chengcheng couldn’t stop giggling.

【Little Rascal Classmate: Zhixing’s acting is amazing! That Best Actor award is totally well-deserved! ^-^ 】

【Little Rascal Classmate: His crying scene in 《Hound》 completely broke me! How can someone act this well?! TAT 】

【Little Rascal Classmate: Looking forward to more of Zhixing’s films! o(￣▽￣)ｄ】

Just then, Xie Zhixing entered the dining room, and Xia Chengcheng’s smile froze.

Xie Zhixing, appearing nonchalant, poured himself a glass of water.

Trying to hold back her laughter, Xia Chengcheng greeted him, “Husband~ I noticed you didn’t eat much tonight. Want some late-night snack?”

She was only making polite conversation and had no real intention of sharing.

But Xie Zhixing unusually replied, “Sure.”

Before the chef could even bring the porridge, Xie Zhixing had already seated himself beside her and taken a spoonful of the unidentified mush in front of Guangzong.

Xia Chengcheng: “……”

She had wanted to warn him, but it was already too late. So she changed her line, “……Is it good?”

Xie Zhixing seemed to genuinely be savoring the texture of the mysterious blob in his mouth. He pondered for a long while but couldn’t come up with a proper description. At last, he muttered, “It’s…… okay.”

Then he set the bowl down, just in time to catch Guangzong glaring at him with a look of utter betrayal.

At that moment, the chef walked in and placed a fragrant bowl of seafood porridge in front of Xie Zhixing.

He stared blankly at the contrast between the steaming, delicious porridge and the mush he had just tasted.

Then he turned to Xia Chengcheng, who was trembling with suppressed laughter. But before she could say anything, Guangzong calmly waddled over on its short legs, stopped in front of the bowl of mush, and delicately stuck out its little pink tongue to lap at it.

Xie Zhixing: “……”

He still sat upright, maintaining that noble, elegant posture. However, the veins on the back of his hand holding the cat’s bowl bulged slightly.

After a long pause, he finally rose and said slowly, “It’s late. I’ll go rest now.”

Then he turned and walked away as if nothing had happened, leaving the dining room with calm dignity.

But the moment he turned the corner and was out of Xia Chengcheng’s sight, Xie Zhixing bolted into the restroom and threw up violently into the sink.

Only after purging the mouthful of cat food did he finally feel cleansed, both in body and mind. He rinsed his mouth and prepared to leave.

As he turned around, he saw Xia Chengcheng standing at the bathroom door, holding Guangzong in her arms.

Xie Zhixing: “……”

Xia Chengcheng: “……”

Guangzong: “……”

Xie Zhixing’s face flushed slightly. He brushed past Xia Chengcheng without a word and quickly returned to his room.

Once he was completely gone, Xia Chengcheng burst into laughter, doubling over as the sound echoed through the entire villa.

Xie Zhixing, who was upstairs: “…..”

Xia Chengcheng laughed until she was out of breath. Propping her chin in her hand, she said gleefully, “System, I used to think that Little Rascal Classmate couldn’t possibly be Xie Zhixing’s alt account. But now I think they’re exactly the same~”

The system sounded devastated, 〖……The cold villain persona…… is ruined…… TAT.〗

It never expected that the novel would contain such a hidden plot. If Xia Chengcheng hadn’t turned into a gossip sleuth, this secret might have stayed buried forever.

〖But this doesn’t mean he’s not the villain of the novel!〗 The system said sternly. 〖When he’s ruthless, he’s really ruthless! Just think about his uncle, Xie Chengye. He didn’t even leave bones behind!〗

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”  Xia Chengcheng scooped up Guangzong and turned to head back upstairs.

Just then, her phone buzzed. It was an email from the 《Immortal Vow》 production team.

The email confirmed that she had been cast as the character Wu Huan and was to arrive at Director Zhou Xiangnan’s studio at ten o’clock tomorrow morning for the costume fitting.

〖Host, this is the second female lead role!〗 The system exclaimed excitedly. 〖《Immortal Vow》 is a blockbuster in the novel, the year’s highest-grossing film! You can’t lose on this one!〗

It really was a sweet deal.

In the novel, Ye Shiwen won Best Actress thanks to this film. It marked the peak of her career, and the story concluded with her award acceptance and a kiss from Han Jialin.

“I’m not going.”  Xia Chengcheng didn’t even think about it before rejecting the offer. “How am I supposed to chase gossip if I’m acting?”

〖System: ……〗

Still, it refused to give up. 〖But the original owner already signed the contract! If you refuse, you’ll have to pay the penalty!〗

“It’s fine, I’ll pay.”  Xia Chengcheng said with conviction. “I’ve got money to burn!”

〖System: ……〗

So what if your account balance has nearly nine figures? You’ve totally lost it!

“I’m going to bed. Whoever wants to shoot that movie can shoot it!”  Xia Chengcheng yawned and started heading upstairs.

Suddenly, a bold-faced task notification popped into her mind.

〖Stir up chaos on the set of 《Immortal Vow》, and get relevant scandals trending. Note: Failure will result in a life reset penalty!〗

Xia Chengcheng: “……?”

Her gaze turned dark in an instant. “System, that’s cold.”

〖System: Wuuwuuwuu…… Host, this wasn’t me! This came from the main system! I want you to live a long life too! I’m counting on you to make money so I can get married!〗

Xia Chengcheng looked at the system with utter disbelief, completely unmoved.

〖System: It’s true! You’re here to stabilize the plot. These are the rules of the novel world! For example, participating in 《Immortal Vow》’s costume fitting is a critical plot point. The main system needs you to intensify conflict at this stage, so it issued a mandatory task.

But for things like Ji Jinghan’s apology press conference, that was just a minor plotline, so you only needed to stay in character. And buying Guangzong and Yaozu? That plot point wasn’t even in the novel! So even if you went OOC, there’d be no consequences!〗

Xia Chengcheng thought about it carefully.

It was true. Since the end of the apology event and the email from 《Immortal Vow》, she had gone out of character countless times, but the system had never issued any warnings.

〖If you ever encounter a major plot event, I’ll definitely remind you.〗 The system mumbled. 〖Actually, there aren’t many key plot points left.〗

By the time the original owner died, most of the novel had already played out.

“Fine then. So I’m supposed to cause a scene on set, huh?” Xia Chengcheng lay back on her bed, smiling seductively. “I’ll make sure that set will be chaotic~”

Her smile was beautiful and radiant, but to the system, it somehow felt terrifying.