☆ 37. Sansan is online

The sadness and painful past is buried by the night, when they wake up, everything is beautiful.

The first ray of morning sunlight filtered through the sheer curtain as Ji Meng opened her eyes.

She had thought she would dream last night, but unexpectedly, she slept soundly until dawn. Her eyes stung from crying, and her head felt a bit heavy, but as she looked up at the old-fashioned beige canopy above her, she felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

Yes, ease.

Perhaps it was because she realized this body was her own, and she had developed a sense of belonging to this world, she was now an individual within it.

Independently hers.

“Awake?”

A deep, hoarse voice suddenly sounded in her ear, startling Ji Meng. She turned her eyes and saw Su Cheng lying beside her, gazing at her gently.

“What time is it? Why are you still in bed?”

In the past, when Ji Meng opened her eyes, Su Cheng would usually be waiting by the bed for her. This was the first time she saw someone in bed with her. She was momentarily surprised, then looked up at the outside sky. Through the fabric, she couldn’t see what time it was outside, but the room was already bright, so it shouldn’t be too late.

“It’s nine o’clock, it’s a bit late.”

Su Cheng sat up on the bed and replied, but he didn’t know how to answer the other question.

He had originally been sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at personnel records from the machinery factory while waiting for her to wake up. However, for some reason, he found it hard to focus and wanted to be closer to her, so he lay down beside her. Afraid of waking her up, he didn’t hug her but just leaned against her to feel her breathing.

“Nine o’clock! Why didn’t you wake me up? I have to go to work today, and I need to check on Qiuqiu and the others!”

Ji Meng quickly scrambled up from the bed. She got up a bit too hastily and felt a little dizzy, so she instinctively rubbed her forehead.

Seeing this, Su Cheng reached out to support her. “What’s wrong? Don’t rush. I noticed your eyes and face were a bit red and swollen when I got up. I talked to Meng Ling, you can take half a day off this morning.”

“I already sent Qiuqiu and Qingyu to school this morning.”

“You helped me request a leave?” Ji Meng was taken aback, then she felt relieved and less rushed.

It had been busy for the collective over the past few days, so taking half a day off wasn’t a big deal. Thinking about how Su Cheng mentioned her eyes and face were swollen, she hurriedly touched her face and eyes and asked Su Cheng, “Are my eyes and face very swollen?”

She did have this issue. After crying the night before, her eyes and face would appear red and swollen the next day, and it was hard to reduce the swelling.

“A little.”

Su Cheng said this as he looked at her more carefully. She had just woken up, and her skin was fair and translucent, looking delicate. Only her left cheek, where he had wiped away tears with his fingertip, and her eyes were noticeably swollen. It wasn’t hard to see, but it added a touch of pity to her appearance.

“Much better than before. I boiled some eggs and froze some ice cubes in the fridge, we can use those to help with the swelling.”

The refrigerator he just bought came in handy, but Su Cheng wasn’t very happy to use it this way.

“Oh,” Ji Meng responded but didn’t take her hand away from her face. Instead, she placed her other hand over it as well, covering her entire face, no longer looking at Su Cheng.

She felt inexplicably self-conscious about whether she looked messy and ugly right now.

She hadn’t even thought about this issue last night.

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing her evasive behavior, Su Cheng couldn’t help but feel worried and asked her.

“Nothing.”

Ji Meng lowered her head and replied vaguely. Suddenly, she noticed something red and braided on her chest. She was momentarily stunned, then took her hand away from her face to pick up the golden circle that looked like a ring hanging around her neck. “What is this?”

“It’s something I brought back from Shenzhen for you to wear as a joke.”

In the morning, Su Cheng took the item out of the cupboard. After thinking about it, he realized it was a gift he prepared for her, a surprise—better than nothing. Her fingers were delicate, and since the ring was a simple band with a small opening, it could also be used as a pendant on a necklace. He went out to buy a red string to braid it and put it on her.

Not many people outside wear gold and silver jewelry anymore, so the red string is just right.

Wearing it for fun…

Ji Meng slipped her ring finger into the circle, the size fit perfectly. In an instant, she understood something, and she lightly pursed her lips, which were about to curl into a smile, softly saying, “Oh.”

“Pretty unique,” she couldn’t help but glance at Su Cheng and compliment him.

“Not bad, Director Su. You went out and even remembered to bring me a gift. Keep it up!”

“Sure, I’ll bring you gifts every time I go out from now on.”

Su Cheng replied earnestly, lowering his gaze to focus on the slight smile at the corners of her lips. He was glad his decision hadn’t been wrong, at least he had something to cheer her up.

“Uh-huh, just remember,” Ji Meng nodded as if it were serious and then added, “It’s nine o’clock, we should get up. I’m a bit hungry.”

She didn’t know how her face and eyes looked, and she needed to check the mirror. Part of her didn’t want him to stay there any longer.

“Hungry? I’ll go heat up breakfast.”

As Su Cheng spoke, he lifted the blanket and got out of bed, then asked her, “Do you want me to find you some clothes? What do you want to wear today?”

Ji Meng loves beauty and wears different outfits every day. Today she’s in a dress, tomorrow in a top and pants, or a skirt, she always changes it up. Su Cheng usually asks for her opinion before getting her clothes.

It’s a natural gesture, and neither of them feels there’s anything wrong with it.

Ji Meng thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t decided yet, I’ll take a look later.”

“Okay, I’ll go heat up breakfast,” Su Cheng replied and went out.

Once the door to the room was closed, Ji Meng hurriedly got out of bed and went to the vanity nearby.

As she got out of bed, her legs felt a bit weak, and there was some swelling pain down below.

Although they only did it once last night, it was the first time Su Cheng hadn’t held back and had gone again, it lasted quite a while.

If she hadn’t been worried about her body’s unusual condition at the time and had insisted on stopping, he probably would have wanted to continue.

Thinking about last night, Ji Meng felt a mix of emotions.

She pursed her lips and walked over to the mirror.

Sure enough, her face and eyes were quite red and a bit swollen. It seemed that going out today was out of the question.

That’s fine, it’s a good excuse to rest.

It just so happened that today was Su Cheng’s last day off, a rare day for him.

Ji Meng sighed lightly and went to the wardrobe to look for clothes.

As soon as she opened the cabinet door, Sansan, who had been playing dead all night, finally came online.

【Host, good morning!】 The tone was unexpectedly flattering and cautious.

“I thought you had been uninstalled, why didn’t you just disappear?” Ji Meng scoffed as she leaned against a clothing rack sticking out from the wardrobe.

【Host, please don’t be angry! Let Sansan explain. I didn’t mean to hide it from you.】

【At the time, I really wanted to extract the original soul for punishment and switch the host over, but the original body was too insane and would rather self-destruct than leave her own body. She had turned so dark that staying in this world would only lead to the destruction of this little world. So, I asked the main system for help to take her to my world for a re-education of her values, then rewound time to bring the complete host over.】

【Sansan really had no other choice, this way actually consumes more energy.】

As Sansan spoke, the connection flickered with static, and the voice became cuter and more ingratiating.

【Host, isn’t it better to have your own body? In order to prevent you from noticing, I even took you to my world for a body treatment, making you look years younger. Isn’t that great?】

“…Should I thank you for that?”

Ji Meng scoffed and then asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Sansan fell silent for two seconds: 【If I told you, would you still accept the task and go back to pick up Qiuqiu?】

Sansan was just a system and had very little understanding of human nature, but the situation with the original body taught it a valuable lesson. Even a biological mother thought of directly strangling her daughter to eliminate future troubles. If the new host knew they had no relation, would they still be willing to raise a child properly?

Sansan’s existence was meant to redeem Qiuqiu and prevent the little world from collapsing. Initially choosing the original body for rebirth had already wasted one energy source, bringing Ji Meng over had even overdrawn energy from the main system. If Ji Meng did not accept the task, it would be judged a failure in its protective role and be completely erased.

It was an accident that the host discovered her identity. As a system, it lacked knowledge of relatedness and was unaware that a woman’s first time would involve blood.

Last night, when Ji Meng called for it, it was so confused that it scrambled its data. It spent the night running off to quickly learn a lot of information and finally realized its initial oversight.

【Host, Sansan also trying to complete its mission.】

Ji Meng fell silent upon hearing this.

If she had known from the beginning that this body was hers and that she had no connection to Qiuqiu, would she still go back to pick up the child?

Ji Meng tried to ask herself. Would she?

After a long time, Ji Meng said to Sansan, “I would!”

“You might not believe this answer, but it’s the truth.”

“Maybe before I went to pick up Qiuqiu, I would have felt some resistance, but the fact that I was able to come here relied on you. Therefore, it is my duty to complete the task. I will go back to get the child, and as long as I see Qiuqiu, I will willingly take her away and raise her as my own.”

No one would know that the first time she saw Qiuqiu, she felt like she was looking at the self that had been adopted and then abandoned all those years ago.

Saving Qiuqiu was also about saving herself.

After Ji Meng finished speaking, she ignored Sansan, casually picked out an outfit, tidied her hair, and went out.

The moment she opened the door, she heard Sansan say to her: 【Host, I’m sorry. Sansan didn’t believe in you.】

Ji Meng’s hand hesitated on the door for a moment, and then she stepped outside, closing the door behind her, and replied to Sansan, “I can’t forgive you yet. Go reflect on your mistakes for a couple of days.”

In fact, by now, she was no longer angry, it was meaningless. She preferred to use her own body.

There’s always a bit of unresolved resentment, no one likes to be used without their knowledge.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Ji Meng found that Su Cheng had already warmed up the porridge, buns, and side dishes.

Having slept in until now, Ji Meng quickly devoured two buns and a bowl of porridge, truly feeling very hungry.

After finishing her meal, Su Cheng peeled an egg, wrapped it in a cloth, and put it on her face. He alternated between hot and cold compresses, and the sensation was simply invigorating.

“People say you look more beautiful the more you cry, but why do I look worse?”

Not being able to apply the compress herself, Ji Meng had no choice but to reveal her unattractive face to Su Cheng, which made her feel quite uncomfortable. As she experienced the alternating heat and cold, she couldn’t help but feel resentful.

Hearing this, Su Cheng couldn’t help but laugh. He reassured her, “You still look good now. Your face is small, so even if it’s a bit puffy, it’s not obvious.”

Ji Meng looked at him, with one eye covered by the egg, she could only partially open her other eye to see him smiling gently and indulgently.

When the man’s cold, handsome face softened, it became even more attractive. At this moment, if he were to wear gold-rimmed glasses, he would look like a charming rogue.

“I don’t want to go to work this afternoon,” Ji Meng suddenly said, staring at Su Cheng.

Su Cheng was taken aback for a moment and then replied, “If you don’t want to go, then don’t. I heard from Dad that you didn’t rest at all last weekend, right? It’s a good opportunity to take a break.”

No questions were asked about why, if she wanted to rest, then she could.

Ji Meng felt indifferent about this response. She reached out to press Su Cheng’s hand on her face and smiled brightly at him, saying, “Then shall we go out to have some fun this afternoon?”

To go on a date.

She felt a twinge of regret inside.

If she had known earlier that Su Cheng was aware of her identity and that this body was indeed hers, she might have chosen to date him first before moving on to other things.

But it’s fine now, they could still make up for the romance.

“Go out to have fun?”

Su Cheng thought for a moment, it sounded good. This was a rare time just for the two of them.

After tomorrow, he would start working, and since he was new there, he needed to get familiar with the environment. While he wouldn’t have to make drastic changes right away, he would definitely need to spend more time understanding the factory’s situation.

He had looked over the machinery factory documents that a friend helped him obtain in the morning. The details were quite complicated, with each having its own personnel, friends, and relatives in various positions, and the labor union and factory office didn’t seem to get along very well.

It was a bit tricky. He would surely be busy in the future and would also have to take care of two kids, which meant their time together would inevitably be compressed.

Thinking this way, Su Cheng suddenly felt excited about the afternoon.

“Sure, let’s go out. Where do you want to go?”