The two of them, disgruntled, climbed into the backseat of the truck.

 

Nan Yuan gave everyone a quick rundown of the situation at the entrance and reminded them to keep their weapons ready and stay alert.

 

The journey itself went smoothly—without incident—until they reached the entrance.

 

Just as the group began to descend, a sudden burst of danger emerged: a mass of bloodthirsty vines shot upward, stretching their stems and leaves in an attempt to drag them down.

 

Fortunately, Nan Yuan reacted quickly and threw out several grenades in time.

 

Standing at the solid entrance of the base at last, everyone couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief. Two of the ordinary civilians even broke down in tears.

 

They had thought they would be the first to die in the beast tide—sacrificed without hesitation, thrown to the outermost line as disposable shields.

 

Yet now, against all odds, they were standing alive and well within the safety of a base.

 

Tomorrow was still far away, uncertain and ominous.

 

But at least today—they had survived.

 

With eyes full of gratitude, they looked toward Nan Yuan.

 

Nan Yuan organized additional firepower and immediately set out again to pick up the third group.

 

This time, with experience on their side, the team preemptively opened fire before landing, clearing a safe path. Thankfully, they avoided another ambush from the bloodthirsty vines.

 

Once everyone was safely inside the base, Tao Shushu shut the massive underground entrance doors.

 

A mission prompt popped up on the screen:

 

[Congratulations on completing Main Mission 2. Rewards: 500 Gold Coins, 1 Spaceship, 1 Advanced Awakening Card.]

 

An extra 500 gold coins appeared in an instant—Tao Shushu let out a cheer of joy.

 

What excited her most was still the spaceship.

 

Just as she was wondering where it might be, Tao Shushu keenly noticed a new item in her cub’s backpack—a key, looking very much like it belonged to a storage facility.

 

Tao Shushu gently tugged at his sleeve.

 

“Cub, there’s a key in your bag. Take it—it’ll lead you to the spaceship.”

 

With a spaceship, cub could finally leave this desolate planet.

 

“Cub, I’m heading out now, okay? Oh, right—let me buy you some clothes first. What kind of stuff do you like to wear?”

 

Tao Shushu asked as she opened the system’s marketplace.

 

Nan Yuan caught the word “buy.”

 

He rubbed the oddly appearing key in his bag, noticing a tiny sesame-sized line of markings engraved at its top.

 

So… she bought everything for him? Where did she get it all from? And how could she still get so many things now?

 

Nan Yuan couldn’t make sense of any reasonable explanation.

 

He shook his head. “I just saw some old clothes in the room. This one still fits me fine—I don’t need to buy anything.”

 

Since he said that, Tao Shushu didn’t buy anything. She didn’t have many gold coins left and needed to save some for emergencies.

 

“All right then cub, once you’ve settled everyone, go check out the spaceship. I’m stepping out for a bit.” Tao Shushu mainly felt hungry—she’d been playing games since morning and urgently needed to refuel.

 

After eating, Tao Shushu opened her books. The monthly exam was coming up in just a month, and she needed to prepare properly.

 

She completed three sets of English listening exercises and earned 1 gold coin as a reward.

 

Then, she completed two more sets of physics competition problems and earned a reward of 10 gold coins.

 

Soon, it was noon.

 

Just after finishing lunch, Tao Shushu’s parents came back.

 

Both of them were smiling happily.

 

Tao Shushu asked, “Mom, what good news is there?”

 

When it came to business matters, Tao Shushu’s parents never hid anything from her.

 

“The company that tried to scam us the day before yesterday has been shut down. It was just a shell company.”

 

“The legal representative was quite young and well-educated. He clearly had a bright future—a former finance professional with a million-yuan annual salary. Of all things he could’ve done, he chose to engage in illegal activities.”

 

“Thankfully, we didn’t fall for their tricks. Speaking of which, the Su family actually invested several million in that company’s project.”

 

“That group used the banner of strong support from the Su family to extort a number of tech companies. Coincidentally, the Su family had previously shown interest in entering the tech industry, so now some people suspect that this shell company was actually backed by the Su family to snatch up patents.”

 

Father Tao added, “We didn’t suffer much loss, and even received some compensation. A few small companies had their core products acquired and are preparing to go to court to get them back.”

 

Mother Tao continued, “Oh, let’s not talk about that. I’m taking Shushu to get a makeover. Tonight is the welcome-back party for the Su family’s daughter—there should be a lot of Shushu’s classmates there.”

 

“Honey, you and Shushu are already beautiful,” Father Tao said indulgently as he picked up mother Tao’s bag. “I’ll drive you both.”

 

And so, Tao ‘the third wheel’ Shushu was taken to a stylist familiar to her mother.

 

Three hours later, the family of three got in the car and headed to the Su residence.

 

Worried about how things were going on her cub’s side, Tao Shushu turned on her phone.

 

It was already dark over there.

 

Inside the underground secret base, everything was running in an orderly manner.

 

A group of people were repairing weapons and mending clothes, while others had formed patrol teams—four in each group—checking ventilation ducts, the base entrance, and other spots that could potentially be invaded by mutant beasts.

 

A few people were cleaning their own rooms, while the rest sat gathered in the main hall.

 

In the relative safety of the base, they were spending a peaceful night.

 

Nan Yuan sat off to the side, deep in thought.

 

Tao Shushu counted the people and noticed that the two who had wanted to leave earlier were missing.

 

She intended to look for them and was switching maps when the game suddenly crashed. The game icon turned black, and the letters “Under Maintenance” appeared.

 

The system suddenly went into maintenance mode. Tao Shushu tried twice, but it was still down.

 

Just then, the car had entered the villa district, so she had no choice but to put down her phone.

 

At a glance, Tao Shushu spotted Su Momo standing at the entrance, greeting guests.

 

The Su family was clearly determined to help Su Momo integrate fully into high society, so she warmly introduced herself to every arriving guest.

 

While the parents exchanged pleasantries, Tao Shushu also gracefully handed over the small gift her parents had prepared.

 

But Su Momo glanced at Tao Shushu’s face, then subtly stepped back, firmly avoiding being in the same frame with her.

 

“I heard your daughter Shushu used to be quite good at physics. What a coincidence—Momo got a perfect score on the entrance physics exam and was specially selected for the physics competition team,” Su Momo’s mother said proudly.

 

“Momo is truly outstanding—smart and beautiful, just like Mrs. Su,” praised the surrounding guests.

 

“Oh, not at all, Momo was just lucky. By the way, how many points did Shushu get?” Mrs. Su gave a modest reply, but quickly steered the conversation toward Tao Shushu.

 

Mother Tao tried to change the subject, but a few well-connected socialites close to the Su family grabbed her hand and said, “Tao Shushu? Is she the one who got a zero in physics on the entrance exam? Didn’t they say she used to be great at physics? I heard the signal blockers were upgraded this time—why couldn’t she perform then?”

 

Just as mother Tao was about to speak up in her daughter’s defense, the same person continued, “These days everyone values academic achievements, but getting good grades through cheating—what kind of skill is that? We all prefer kids like Momo—truly smart, hardworking, and excellent.”

 

Tao Shushu gently pulled on her angry mother’s hand and said calmly, “I fell asleep during the exam, so I got a zero. That just makes it easier to improve by a full 100 points next time.”

 

“Mom, I haven’t won a ‘most improved’ award in so long. I mean, when you’re always getting perfect scores, there’s no room to improve, right? So next time when I improve, you have to reward me,” Tao Shushu said with a smile.

 

“Hmph, some people really have no shame. The real top student, Momo, isn’t even arrogant, yet the one who scored zero is acting all proud,” the woman sneered again.

 

“Don’t say that. Shushu has always been impressive—she just wasn’t feeling well and fell asleep during the exam,” someone nearby tried to mediate.

 

Only then did mother Su pretend to smooth things over. “Let’s not talk about grades anymore. All the kids are excellent in their own ways.”

 

At the entrance stood a life-sized cutout of Su Momo and a signboard with directions. Tao Shushu noticed that the woman who had been speaking was standing quite close to the cutout. While cuddling up to her mom and acting coy, she discreetly picked up two small pebbles and flicked them out.

 

The woman suddenly jumped—she was wearing extremely high heels, and with one misstep, she accidentally knocked over Su Momo’s life-sized cutout.

 

“What are you doing? You broke the standee!” someone nearby shouted.

 

The woman scrambled to her feet in embarrassment, only to realize that in her panic, she had instinctively grabbed onto Su Momo’s cutout for support. Now, the once-pristine display was ruined—the perfectly retouched face on the standee was split in half.

 

A visible crack ran through it.

 

Su Momo’s expression darkened, and Mrs. Su looked at the woman with clear disdain.

 

The woman anxiously tried to explain, “A bug suddenly appeared!”

 

“Impossible. We activated insect repellents specifically for the banquet,” Mrs. Su coldly retorted. The mention of bugs was, to her, a direct insult to the quality and preparation of their event.

 

Although a backup standee was available, the scene still caused a stir—many guests had witnessed the little mishap at the entrance.

 

“Mrs. Su, I didn’t mean to. I just lost my balance. Please, Mrs. Su, I beg you to forgive me…” The very woman who had just accused Tao Shushu of cheating was now flustered and pleading for forgiveness.

 

Mrs. Su brushed the woman’s hand aside. “Too careless. Go get some rest for now.”

 

The woman had originally wanted to curry favor with the Su family, so she’d attacked Tao Shushu without thinking things through. Unfortunately, she ended up making a fool of herself. Tao Shushu noticed that two house staff were already escorting her quietly out through a side gate of the Su residence.

 

Tao Shushu looked up at the sky. All she did was toss two little stones. It had been a while since she tried, but luckily, her aim was still sharp.

 

Mother Tao, on the other hand, was in a cheerful mood and went right back to chatting with the other superficially friendly society ladies.

 

“My Shushu? Language arts aren’t really her strength, but luckily, her science and logical thinking take after her father,” she said with a smile.

 

The Tao family’s business had grown to its current scale largely thanks to their strong R\&D capabilities. Father Tao truly had a knack for the technical side of things—his expertise was undeniable. Others envied it but couldn’t replicate it, since father Tao came from a prestigious university with a solid background in technology.

 

Tao Shushu’s mother was rarely this proud in public, but with Su Momo stepping on her daughter’s pride, she couldn’t just sit back and let them embarrass her child.

 

“Haha, Shushu is quite confident. Confidence is good,” Su Momo’s mother said with a stiff smile. “Our Momo is just too reserved—she even acts modest when she gets a full score. I always tell her that’s no good, she should learn from Shushu. Since you’ll both be in the same competition class, I hope Shushu can look after Momo a bit, help her become more confident too.”

 

It was a veiled jab—implying that Tao Shushu was arrogant and full of herself.

 

When it came to physics, Tao Shushu had never been afraid. She leaned in toward Su Momo with a smile. “Oh Momo, you’re way too modest. Building confidence is easy—you just need to be praised often.”

 

“Ah, well, that’s not really—” Mother Su started to say.

 

Tao Shushu waved her hand and cut in cheerfully, “Auntie, Momo is so beautiful and talented—she deserves to be seen by everyone. I’ll make sure everyone knows just how amazing she is.”

 

Half an hour later, everyone at the party knew that Su Momo had scored 100 on the physics section of the Huiwen entrance exam and had been specially selected for the school’s physics competition team—even Tao Shushu, known for her top-notch physics scores, was singing her praises.

 

And just like that, Su Momo’s “modesty” was thoroughly overwhelmed by the wave of publicity.

 

More and more people began to value Su Momo.

 

Her smile grew wider and wider. Truthfully, she had been a bit flustered earlier—especially knowing that she hadn’t managed to steal Tao Shushu’s scores from the other subjects.

 

But now, everything felt back on track.

 

She was the undisputed star of the evening. Everyone who mentioned her acted as if they had no idea she’d once lived in hardship. All they saw was the brilliant daughter of the Su family—beautiful, intelligent, and born to shine.

 

Su Momo clung sweetly to her mother’s arm, basking in the admiring gazes around her.

 

She would continue forward—determined to become the brightest star in the entire world.

---

TN:

Did someone say faceslap incoming? 😅