Chapter 2: Awake

Su Shiyi sat in the spacious executive car, and directly returned to the dormitory building.

The bus stop was at least 800 meters from her dormitory, and every time she got off the bus to walk back, it felt like a torturous experience, especially in such hot summer weather—but now, none of that mattered to her anymore. Yay!

She was studying a management-related major and had been assigned to the new campus. The living conditions here were much better than the old campus. The dorm rooms had bunk beds with desks underneath, elevators inside the building, and independent bathrooms. Students could buy their own washing machines, and aside from the slightly expensive accommodation fees, there were no other issues.

Su Shiyi pushed open the dorm room door, only to find the stuffy environment was the same as outside. Although there was air conditioning in the dorm, the electricity and water bills were paid by the students themselves, so they rarely used it except at night while sleeping or for a nap. With this saving method, the electricity bill still amounted to over 100 yuan a month.

Su Shiyi picked up the remote control and pressed a few buttons. The instant the cold air blew toward her, she finally felt like she was alive again.

“I’ll pay for the electricity,” she said to her roommate, Xu Wenwen. “It’s so hot outside, I think I’m getting heatstroke. I’ll turn on the AC for the afternoon. I’ll put in ten yuan, okay?”

Xu Wenwen pushed up her glasses. “Actually, you don’t have to… Alright, just lie on the bed, I’ll transfer you five yuan. Ah Yan and Sister Fei are both out, they probably won’t be back this afternoon.”

She was going to say that there was no need to be so polite, but Su Shiyi was from a poor family, and she didn’t want Shiyi to feel like she was taking advantage of everyone.

Su Shiyi smiled and replied, “Okay, then I’ll go lie down.”

She could only remember a limited amount of the memories arranged by the system. She offered to pay the electricity bill to avoid any conflicts with her roommates. But now it seemed that at least this roommate, Xu Wenwen, was quite easygoing?

At three o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, she could still lie down and sleep peacefully while sorting out the original plot and the memories of “Su Shiyi.”

The original Su Shiyi’s biological parents were not wealthy, they were just an ordinary middle-class family. This was why her biological mother mistakenly swapped children in the hospital, and no one noticed for over ten years. Her biological father passed away when Su Shiyi was five years old. When Su Shiyi and the female lead, Gu Pan, were ten, her biological mother married into the Gu family, and Gu Pan took the Gu family’s surname. By that time, the male lead, Gu Chen, was already an adult.

As for the original Su Shiyi, she was mistakenly adopted by a migrant worker family. Her parents had already passed away due to work injuries, and she had to return to the countryside to be raised by relatives. Originally, when there was compensation money, her relatives took care of her, but after that money was spent, they started to neglect her.

If it weren’t for the country’s student aid policies, even if she had passed the university entrance exam, her relatives wouldn’t have been willing to pay her tuition. Su Shiyi still owed student loans, and her living expenses were barely covered by a combination of scholarships and work-study.

Su Shiyi and Gu Pan were both twenty years old this year, which meant that the female lead, Gu Pan, and the male lead, Gu Chen, had been together for ten years, with a deep relationship. No wonder the male lead came to warn her in advance for the sake of the female lead.

For Gu Chen, the two sisters had no blood relations. As the clearly designated future head of the family, of course, he preferred the one he liked. As for the opinion of Madam Gu—he didn’t care about his stepmother at all. He only respected her a little for Gu Pan’s sake.

Su Shiyi thought that if Gu Pan were a little more petty and selfish, the Gu family would have completely ignored the situation, since she wasn’t the Gu family’s biological daughter. But they still made her aware of the situation and even promised to bring her home.

Looking at it this way, the female lead, Gu Pan, really was a good person! The system even tried to have her steal the female lead’s halo—what a terrible thing!

The system was frustrated: 【That position originally belonged to you. You are the biological daughter of Madam Gu!】

Su Shiyi: “But the fact that Gu Chen treats Gu Pan well, has nothing to do with whose daughter Gu Pan is, right?”

【It’s because Gu Pan took away your chance to be in love with Gu Chen!】

Su Shiyi: …

This kind of brainwashing for the female villain really isn’t worth it.

“First of all, although Gu Chen’s personality is really annoying, he is an independent person. What you’re saying is very disrespectful to him. Just because someone is his sister doesn’t mean he has to fall in love with them.”

“Secondly, I am a clear-headed adult, so don’t think you can fool me like I’m an idiot. You keep saying you’re the ‘little pitiful self-rescue system,’ yet you’re trying to provoke me into competing with the female lead. All your words are stirring up division, and from the start, you’ve had no good intentions.”

“If you truly wanted to help ‘Su Shiyi’ save herself, the correct approach would be to provide a slow learning space, a personal mentor to answer questions, or a golden finger that allows her to legally earn money.”

It’s obvious, even without thinking, that in a story like this, where the core is sweet and pampered romance, ‘stealing the female lead’s halo’ means—stealing the love of all the male characters, from the male lead to the supporting male roles and even the background characters!

The system angrily responded: 【Don’t be ungrateful, other mission participants have been cooperative. I’ve never seen someone with a chance to be the protagonist just let it slip by like this!】

Su Shiyi coldly replied: “If they’re willing to cooperate, go find them. Seeing you so angry, I guess you can’t do much to me. Otherwise, you would’ve sent me away already. Why let me enjoy myself here?”

The system, hit by her words: …

This woman actually has a bit of cunning!

Confirming that the life of happiness and spending money wouldn’t disappear, Su Shiyi didn’t care much about what the system thought anymore. She put it on mute, though unfortunately, according to the rules, mute mode only lasted 24 hours, so she had to repeat this action every day, which was exhausting.

Time to sleep, she thought. What could be more comfortable than lying under a blanket in an air-conditioned room?

—

Gu Family

Gu Pan sat in her room reading, her mind preoccupied with Su Shiyi, barely flipping any pages. When Gu Chen walked in, she nervously stood up and asked, “Brother, did you see her?”

“Has she been doing well all these years? Does she… hate me?”

Gu Chen actually wanted to say, “What qualifications does she have to hate you?” but he changed his words: “Don’t worry, I talked to her, and she’s willing to come back to the Gu family. Panpan, you’re so kind. How could anyone hate you?”

“You still haven’t told me how she’s been,” Gu Pan’s beautiful face scrunched up in worry. “If you don’t say, that means things aren’t going well for her. This shouldn’t have happened…”

As the heroine of a Mary Sue novel, Gu Pan had the softest heart in the world. She would feel sad even seeing a stray cat on the street, let alone knowing a girl had lived through over ten years of hardship because she was swapped at birth?

Gu Pan had already learned that her biological parents—who were Su Shiyi’s adoptive parents—had passed away, leaving only a bunch of opportunistic relatives. It was hard not to feel guilty in her heart—

She lived a life of luxury while Su Shiyi, who should have been enjoying everything she had, had to struggle to get by. If Gu Chen hadn’t insisted, Gu Pan even considered moving out. She didn’t dare face Su Shiyi and felt deeply ashamed.

“Panpan,” Gu Chen sighed as he hugged her. “I know you feel guilty, you always think of others. As long as she doesn’t have any bad intentions, I’ll definitely make it up to her.”

Gu Pan disagreed: “She deserves this, I’ve taken her place. And brother, you shouldn’t be making judgments about her without fully understanding her, that’s prejudice.”

Well, Panpan always had her reasons. Gu Chen couldn’t argue with her, so he changed the topic.

“The room for Su Shiyi is already prepared. I’ll have Kevin handle the other matters—he’s her personal secretary, and he’s reliable. Someone has already notified Aunt Li. Su Shiyi will move in tomorrow.”

Li Shuman, Su Shiyi’s biological mother, was the stepmother who married into the Gu family along with Gu Pan.

Gu Pan nodded, softly thanked Gu Chen, and said, “I’m going to talk to mom.”

Li Shuman’s room was not far from hers. Gu Chen’s father, Gu Lang, had his own bedroom, and they rarely slept together.

There are only two reasons why Gu Lang married Li Shuman. First, she had a gentle and virtuous personality, and she was somewhat capable, able to hold her own in social gatherings of the ladies, second, she wasn’t from a wealthy family and could only rely on the Gu family with her daughter. Even if she developed ambitions in the future, she would be powerless to compete with Gu Chen.

Gu Lang had also heard about Su Shiyi’s situation. His attitude was that they should just bring her home and raise her together. He and Gu Chen wouldn’t be bothered by the extra cost of raising another girl. This way, Li Shuman wouldn’t have to worry about raising her biological daughter, and her focus should be on other matters of the Gu family.

Hmm, he truly lived up to his name—a lone wolf…

After Gu Pan knocked and entered, she saw Li Shuman gazing out the window. She softly called out “Mom,” and Li Shuman turned to look at her with the same loving gaze she always had.

This made Gu Pan feel a lot more at ease. She couldn’t face Su Shiyi, and she also felt guilty towards Li Shuman. Would her mother hate her when she found out that all her affection had been misdirected over the years?

Thankfully, she didn’t.

Li Shuman waved at her, “Panpan, come here.”

Gu Pan, with a conflicted heart, walked over and told her, “Brother has already seen Shiyi. Mom, don’t worry, I’ll get along well with Shiyi!”

“Mom believes in you.” Li Shuman gently patted her head. “Panpan, don’t feel burdened. If there’s any mistake, it’s all my fault. I was too careless back then… It’s my fault that I couldn’t let you meet your real parents.”

Hearing this, Gu Pan’s eyes reddened. After learning that she had been swapped at birth, she went from shock and confusion to barely regaining her composure. What she thought at the time was that everyone should go their separate ways, and she wanted to know who her real parents were.

But Gu Chen told her they had both passed away. All she could get were a few unclear photos and two cold, and distant names.

“Panpan, you’re also a victim… Shiyi won’t blame you. It’s all my fault…”

The mother and daughter, both with the same kind and heroine-like qualities, embraced and cried, while the person they were apologizing to—the poor Su Shiyi—had just woken up, her eyes opening beautifully.

Ah, it still felt cool after waking up, turning on the air conditioning without restraint felt so good!

Through the bed curtain, the smells of various takeout dishes wafted into her nose—sauerkraut fish, dry-fried beef ho fun, and snail noodles… No, the last one was a no-go!

Who was eating snail noodles in the dorm? She must have been woken up by the smell! (She was sure of it.)

Su Shiyi stuck her head out, and Lin Jiayan, who was eating, put down her chopsticks and asked, “Shiyi, are you feeling better?”

Right, she had set up the ‘heatstroke’ excuse and was enjoying the air conditioning in the dorm. It was fine to stick with that story for now. Once she went back to the Gu family tomorrow, she’d tell her roommates she had found her biological mother.

“I’m fine,” she said, though she was a bit hungry.

“Glad to hear that.”

Lin Jiayan, who was the dorm leader, class monitor, and also part of the student council, was always the most concerned. “If you’re still not feeling well, let me know, I’ll go with you to the clinic. By the way, do you have low blood sugar? Have you eaten lunch yet? I have some bread here. You should eat something now that you’re awake.”

She paused, then reached for her phone.

Su Shiyi was still thanking her, saying she didn’t need it, when her phone received a message from Lin Jiayan.

【I’ve noticed you’ve been eating only two meals a day recently. I know about it. If you’re having trouble, I can contact the counselor for you. The school can offer other support.】

Su Shiyi: …

The tool person assigned by the system had been in such a pitiful state before that they couldn’t even afford three meals a day.

So, they deliberately arranged such a poor female supporting character to create a stark contrast with the female lead, right? To be honest, if the original owner really existed, it would be completely understandable if she harbored resentment toward the female lead.

【I’m fine. Eating two meals a day is for weight loss. I really just had heatstroke.】

After Su Shiyi replied to the message, she got ready to climb out of bed and go out to find food. Hmm, she should take real action to ease the dorm leader’s concern that she couldn’t afford meals.

Once everything was settled tomorrow, she definitely planned to treat her little angel-like roommates to a big meal—anything they wanted!

While Wu Feifei was slurping down snail noodles, she saw Su Shiyi change clothes and get ready to go out, immediately making a request for a purchase:

“Shiyi, are you going to eat? Which cafeteria are you going to?”

Su Shiyi was still tying her shoelaces. “I’m going to the third cafeteria. Hey, Sister Fei, didn’t you just eat such a big bowl of snail noodles?”

“But I still have room for fruit salad! Pick some mango and strawberries, pour some yogurt on top, love you, baby~”

“Okay, no problem.” She then asked the others in the dorm, “Wenwen, Jiayan, do you want me to bring anything?”

After receiving negative replies from the other two, Su Shiyi picked up her phone and went out. Influenced by her habitual thinking, she was still wondering whether she should go for pig’s trotter rice or five-grain fish noodles…

Sigh, could this be the case of the mountain pig not being able to eat fine bran? Here she was, with a 100 million yuan card, still thinking about food that costs only a few dozen yuan. So frustrating!

Forget it, with her white T-shirt and denim shorts, paired with a pair of holey shoes, she wouldn’t be able to get into any fancy restaurant anyway. Tonight, she might as well go for Hengli soup noodles.

No need to agonize over whether to have pig’s trotters, beef brisket, or small intestines. The happiness of the wealthy is just about going all in!

The third cafeteria Su Shiyi went to was on the side of a main road, far away from their Management School dormitory building. She was only willing to walk the long distance because she had time to spare at the moment. Usually, for lunch, they were in a hurry and would solve it in the first cafeteria.

The Hengli soup noodles stall was by the window. After Su Shiyi ordered her meal, she idly looked out the window. Hehe, there was a couple kissing under a tree. University students have it so good—they can be so sweet and loving anytime, anywhere.

Not looking, not looking. Su Shiyi was about to withdraw her gaze when she suddenly realized the guy seemed a little familiar…

She unlocked her phone and swiped to Lin Jiayan’s Moments. Just in time, the guy’s face turned toward her.

Damn it, isn’t that her roommate Jiayan’s boyfriend?!