Ning Xiaoyu felt a surge of mixed emotions. If she hadn’t been bound to the system, then upon hearing the good news, she probably would have been ecstatic. But because she had bound with the system, she had already anticipated this day’s arrival. So now, all she felt was a sense of inevitability.

Of course, she was happy. But overall, her mood remained calm.

The love system couldn’t help but boast, 〖Girl, see? I’m really useful, aren’t I?〗

After speaking, the system continued to show off, 〖Your father still needs a long rehabilitation period. Even if he keeps up with the training, he won’t return to his peak state. But it’s no big deal! As long as you keep feeding me sugar and showering me with sweetness, I guarantee your father will be full of vitality again just like before!

Girl, please don’t pity me. No matter how much sugar you give me, I can take it!〗

Faced with this temptation, Ning Xiaoyu remained calm. Every adult has to take responsibility for their own decisions.

She had seen the surveillance footage of the day her father had his accident. In the video, her father looked like a headless chicken— panicked and helpless— as he searched desperately through the flow of traffic for the Maybach that had already driven off into the distance.

Cars had been honking at him relentlessly, yet all he had in mind was to look for the wife and daughter who had abandoned him.

In the end, he was hit by a car. Coincidentally, the driver was drunk. Both parties were at fault.

Ning Xiaoyu rarely thought about the past. Even though more than seven years had passed, the sight of her father losing his mind for love in that footage remained burned into her memory— clear as day.

She said calmly, “Love-brained^[1]someone who is excessively and sometimes irrationally focused on romantic love, to the point of compromising their own well-being or judgment foolishness is unacceptable.”

Then she let out a soft “Oh”, as if something had just occurred to her, and added, “But you’re not human. So, I suppose that’s fine.”

〖Love System: Girl, this system is deeply offended!〗

────ρя


The crossover with 《Extreme Survival》 was about to end. After enduring the final two hours, the guests of 《Hi, My Friend》 would be free to leave.

For most of them, these last two hours felt especially torturous. The guests kept glancing down at their watches or phones, wishing time would speed up.

Over the past two days, although there had been a few small conflicts in Ning Yuwei’s team due to food issues, things remained harmonious on the surface. But just before departure, something major happened in their group.

Mu Jiajia had been bitten by a snake.

The snake slithered away too quickly for them to identify the species. But the wound on her skin began to turn black, suggesting it was venomous— and possibly highly so.

In a place like the rainforest, venomous creatures were in no short supply. Once bitten by a venomous snake, one could truly be in life-threatening danger.

Ning Xiaoyu’s group was some distance away from Ning Yuwei’s. Yet even from afar, she could hear Mu Jiajia’s heart-wrenching screams, “Director, am I going to be okay?! Is there any antivenom? Is there or not?!

It was Ning Yuwei! She pushed me! That snake was going to bite her!”

Any illusion of peace within their group collapsed entirely after this incident.

A massive conflict erupted just as the variety show crossover was about to wrap up.

Mu Jiajia kept screaming at Ning Yuwei in rage, while Ning Yuwei only shook her head, crying and insisting she hadn’t done anything.

The director tried to soothe Mu Jiajia while urgently calling for the medical team on standby.

After all, they were all guests on the same show.

Though Ning Xiaoyu didn’t have a great impression of Mu Jiajia, she wasn’t cold-hearted enough to wish death upon the other party. Just as she was about to go check on the situation, the love system’s sweet, honeyed voice rang in her ears again.

〖Girl, the rainforest is full of hidden dangers. Mu Jiajia’s group is using the repellent powder provided by the production team, but clearly, it’s not very effective. What’s worse, the pre-prepared antivenom they have likely won’t work either.

But the repellent powder you have is different! It was given to you by the natives, and it’s top-tier in repelling insects and snakes. As long as you use it, you’ll never be targeted by venomous snakes!

Right now, you can:

A. Personally apply the powder to the exposed skin of the movie king.

B. Give the powder to the movie king and say, “If you got bitten by a snake, I’d be really worried!”

C. Declare your devotion and tell the movie king, “If you ever got bitten by a snake, I would suck the venom out for you!”〗

Seeing those three options, Ning Xiaoyu was utterly speechless.

She paused for several seconds before responding coolly, “System, do you even know how utterly tone-deaf you are?”

Mu Jiajia had just been bitten by a venomous snake and was currently writhing in pain. The whole scene was chaos, yet the love system chose this moment to issue a love mission in the sweetest tone possible.

Wasn’t this task a bit out of place?

The love system innocently asked, 〖Huh? Is it?〗 But Mu Jiajia getting bitten has nothing to do with the system.  It only cares about shipping its CP and getting sugar.

Forget it.

She shouldn’t have even bothered arguing with a love-brained system about whether it had tact or not.

It clearly didn’t. And to make matters worse, its mission was way too cringe.

Ning Xiaoyu muttered, her expression unreadable, “Have you been binge-watching too many idol dramas lately?”

Sucking out snake venom? As if she’d ever do something like that. Not just for him— for anyone! That was dangerous! That was the wrong thing to do! It was absolutely forbidden!

If Lu Jingdu ever got bitten by a snake, there was no way— absolutely no way— she’d suck out the venom for him.

〖Love System: ……〗

Its host had gone completely silent, only to stab it with a dagger out of nowhere. Right now, the system’s heart felt colder than snow in June.

The imaginary face of the love system contorted into an expression of anguish. 〖Girl, how can you be so rational?! Isn’t love supposed to make people lose their minds? The kind of love that doesn’t ask to be born in the same year, month, and day, but only to die together on the same day, month, and year!〗

Ning Xiaoyu replied with an indifferent “Oh.”

Love System: This conversation is officially over.

As the countdown ticked down to the last ten seconds, Ning Xiaoyu was forced to look over the three options once more.

No matter how she looked at it, each option seemed worse than the last. Ning Xiaoyu couldn’t help but sigh again. “You really did bind the wrong host.”

Even if it had bound her father, it would have been better than binding her, right?

If it had bound her father instead, maybe it would already be living a life full of sweet moments every day.

What a pity.

With that thought, Ning Xiaoyu expressionlessly selected option a with only three seconds left on the countdown.

Options b and c were simply too cringeworthy and she rejected them outright. No way. Not in this lifetime. That left only option a.

The love system had become increasingly sneaky lately, leaving fewer and fewer loopholes to exploit.

But fewer loopholes didn’t mean none at all.

Reluctantly, Ning Xiaoyu pulled out the last bit of repellent powder given to her by the natives.

Locally sourced = Naturally high quality.

She had originally planned to take the rest of the repellent powder with her. Who knew when it might come in handy?

She hadn’t expected that this tiny remaining bit of powder would end up benefitting Lu Jingdu.

Honestly, she felt a bit reluctant about it.

After all, this stuff worked remarkably well. Once she left this place, she probably wouldn’t be able to find anything of comparable effectiveness elsewhere.

After pulling out the snake-repelling powder, Ning Xiaoyu openly studied Lu Jingdu from head to toe. No matter the time or place, the movie king’s face was always attention-grabbing. Even in the dim rainforest, his face seemed to glow with brilliance.

Noticing Ning Xiaoyu’s gaze, Lu Jingdu raised a brow slightly. He instinctively looked down at himself. Mm, pants zipper fully up, nothing forgotten, nothing exposed, outfit perfectly fine.

He looked up and was about to ask what was going on when he saw Ning Xiaoyu pour a bit of the repellent powder into her palm. Then, grabbing his hands, she rubbed the powder into them with both hands— just like scrubbing a pig trotter with salt.

【???】

【Is this…… marinating pig trotters?】

【I’m dying laughing! Now that Upstairs mentioned it, it really does look like that!】

【Ahhh, Xiao Yu treats the movie king’s hands— those works of art— like this! I just want to say: beautiful work!】

【Our Xiao Yu truly walks her own path!】

【Normally, something like hand-holding would seem flirty, intimate, a little lovers’ game. But Ning Xiaoyu doing it like this just makes me burst out laughing!】

【Movie King: This was…… sudden.jpg】

【Movie King: Can someone tell me how I’m supposed to act calm right now?】

After thoroughly covering his hands, Ning Xiaoyu used her fingertips to gently swipe a bit of powder on both sides of Lu Jingdu’s face.

A little powder on the face would be more than enough.

Once she finished the two actions, Ning Xiaoyu quickly stashed away what little repellent powder remained.

Fortunately, Lu Jingdu was wearing long sleeves and long pants, so the only exposed skin was his face and hands.

Otherwise, the remaining bit of repellent powder wouldn’t have been enough.

Ning Xiaoyu waited quite a while before the love system finally made a belated 〖Ding〗 sound.

The love system’s face was full of doubt.

Why was it that when other systems’ hosts helped their fated partners apply something to their hands, the atmosphere was always filled with pink bubbles, ambiguous vibes at full volume, and heartbeats pounding so loudly it made people blush and feel dizzy?

But when it was its host doing the same thing…… the viewers just kept going ‘Hahaha’?

Were they all Hahaha Monsters?

Could they only laugh?

Clearly, what they should’ve been shouting was, ‘So sweet! So sweet!’

So where had it all gone wrong?

There couldn’t be anything wrong with the love system’s task database. After all, it wasn’t the only system issuing these kinds of love missions. Other systems’ hosts were all super sweet.

That meant the problem had to lie with its host.

So when was its host going to grow a heart and develop a bit of romantic instinct?

At that moment, the love system suddenly thought of Ning Zhen, who had only just woken up— and promptly took out its anger on him!

Yes! It was him! All his fault!

Because Ning Zhen was such a love-brained fool and set such a bad example, Ning Xiaoyu had grown to detest romance! That’s why she was so dense and unromantic! Yes, this was all Ning Zhen’s fault!

Ning Zhen who suddenly felt a chill: “???”