Suddenly hearing the System notice her, Lu Ningshuang couldn’t help but tense up.
Up to now, aside from overhearing these two’s mental dialogue and inferring some suspected System functions from snippets, she knew nothing of the System’s capabilities.
Lu Ningshuang had never been one with heavy curiosity.
The reason she stayed was entirely because she had heard them mention her current wife—Qin Yushu’s name right from the start.
Now…
Would that thing called the System discover that she could hear their conversation?
Her appearance was highly deceptive, but the other side had seen right through her Alpha identity at a glance. Would it also detect that she was the passerby “yellow hair” who had marked Qin Yushu…?
That points system exchanged with Fortune sounded omnipotent. Could they use it to make her vanish directly?
Compared to the “female protagonist” Qin Yushu, she was truly just an utterly ordinary “cannon fodder” in the plot.
Dispensable.
Fortunately, the System’s abilities seemed limited too. At least at this moment, it didn’t point her out to Huo Yunyi.
It probably couldn’t.
When the female Alpha was mentioned, Huo Yunyi recalled some unpleasant experiences, and his attention was indeed diverted. “She looks pretty pure; she’s my type. If she were together with Qin Yushu…”
“A female Alpha isn’t out of the question either.”
“Forget it. Deal with Qin Yushu first. System, check where she is now—”
What answered him was the System’s silence.
Huo Yunyi grew impatient. “System?”
The System directly pulled up the female protagonist’s panel for him to see. Behind [Marked], the [Engaged (?)] status had vanished.
But it wasn’t an improvement.
In its place were two words, without the trailing [?] doubt—
[Married]
“What?!”
Huo Yunyi jumped right up, his voice so loud that it made the eavesdropping Lu Ningshuang’s head buzz with pain.
“What the hell is this married status? How did it happen so fast?! What exactly went down in between?” The useless transmigrator was utterly flustered.
She’s married now—how am I supposed to capture her?
[Host, calm down first.]
The System’s voice cut in forcefully. It checked Qin Yushu’s current location again, this time without even bothering to ask Huo Yunyi for Fortune, and finally reached a conclusion.
[Qin Yushu’s path has changed. She won’t be coming here anymore.]
“Then why did you have me wait here like an idiot for so long?!”
The System couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.
It knew full well that the host it was bound to was a loser and directly issued an order. [I’ll give you a new location. Leave here immediately and go find her. Also, call the parents of this body’s original owner.]
[The two families were originally set to marry you off.]
“Right, right…”
The already flustered Huo Yunyi blindly followed the System’s instructions, his feet moving swiftly.
But just as he was about to leave, he spotted Lu Ningshuang not far away again—unlike the proud and untamable Qin Yushu, Lu Ningshuang’s face was pure and harmless, hitting every one of Huo Yunyi’s aesthetic preferences.
Even if she was an Alpha, not all Alphas had domineering and aggressive personalities, right?
She was still a woman, after all!
As he passed by, Huo Yunyi slowed his steps—like someone whose house was on fire but still had to snap a selfie for their social circle first. He flashed Lu Ningshuang what he thought was a warm, jade-like smile.
System: rolls eyes.
Lu Ningshuang: yue.
—At this moment, two beings from opposing sides actually found their feelings toward this transmigrator weirdly overlapping.
Over here, Huo Yunyi left with the System in his head. Lu Ningshuang also headed upstairs.
She kept her expression perfectly controlled throughout, without letting the other party notice any abnormality whatsoever.
As soon as she entered the department, the ever-enthusiastic Wang Jie asked, “How’s the family situation? Everything okay?”
Lu Ningshuang felt a bit awkward.
She had forgotten that last night, when she went to see Qin Yushu, she used the excuse of a family emergency—her parents, who were far away in her hometown “tightening screws,” probably wouldn’t hold it against her, right?
…Probably.
Lu Ningshuang smiled mildly. “It’s all handled. Nothing major. Thanks, Wang Jie.”
“Hey, it was just a casual question. No need to be so polite.”
Wang Jie chuckled happily. “Good that it’s nothing. Good that it’s nothing. Round trip from the next city over is such a hassle. Look at those dark circles under your eyes—Little Lu barely rested today, huh? With the big project wrapped up last night and nothing major lately, you can slack off this afternoon and rest.”
Lu Ningshuang: “…”
She felt even more embarrassed.
She could hardly say that the shadows under her eyes were entirely from being dragged around by the big boss… plus the novelty and excitement of suddenly becoming the live-in son-in-law of a wealthy family afterward.
Lu Ningshuang could only smile awkwardly.
“It’s lunchtime now. Take your chatter outside if you have stuff to say. So annoying!!!”
Cao Wenjun’s sudden outburst left Lu Ningshuang a bit stunned. She subconsciously asked, “What’s up with Cao-ge again?”
The office’s biggest gossip, Tian Li, immediately filled her in. “He spotted someone downstairs who he thought was an Alpha, but got outshined by the guy. He’s in a bad mood now.”
The first image in Lu Ningshuang’s mind was Huo Yunyi. “Was it a male Alpha, looked in his twenties, wearing a full suit, seemed pretty…”
She paused.
“…pretty good-looking.”
Lu Ningshuang had originally wanted to say he looked quite presentable.
“Yeah, yeah!”
“That guy was just downstairs inquiring…” Tian Li pointed upward, “about the big boss upstairs, President Qin’s news.”
“Cao Wenjun saw it too.”
“That guy looked all prim and proper, dressed way above our class. Coming over to ask about President Qin—clearly one of her suitors. Maybe the families know each other, could even be headed for a marriage alliance or something—”
“Impossible.” Lu Ningshuang said.
Because Qin Yushu had already married her and gotten the certificate^^
Lu Ningshuang’s interruption was too quick and certain, almost instinctive, drawing the eyes of everyone in the office.
With all their gazes on her, Lu Ningshuang realized she had been a bit out of character compared to her usual image and hurriedly backpedaled.
“I mean, if it were a marriage alliance for President Qin, with matching family backgrounds, they’d definitely have contact info. One phone call and it’s done. No need to come stake out here.”
“Plus, normal contact with President Qin should be through Tian Sheng, right? Why come to our…”
After her explanation, the others felt it made sense.
Especially Tian Li.
She instantly slapped the label “Cao Wenjun 2.0” on the guy who had seemed pretty upscale at first.
His level was probably a tad higher than Cao Wenjun’s, but thinking back, as an Alpha, his face and figure were decent, but his vibe or aura was worlds apart from President Qin, whom she had only glimpsed a few times from afar.
Not worthy. Not worthy at all.
“Anyway, another climber showed up. Cao Wenjun sees him, realizes the competition’s got better specs, and blows up.”
“Who can blame President Qin for rarely coming over here? He’d been planning for days, heard he even took out an online loan to get his outfit since he had no cash. Hasn’t even seen her a few times, let alone chatted her up. No wonder he’s desperate.”
Lu Ningshuang nodded to show she got it.
Yang Haoqi chimed in from the side. “President Qin is really hard to meet. Who knows what she came to our company for back then. Thought we’d take off with the heir showing up personally, but turns out she was just here to kill time.”
Wang Jie nodded too. “Don’t overthink it. Paycheck comes either way, no matter who’s in charge.”
“True.”
“What do us little folks care about the higher-ups for.”
Lu Ningshuang nodded in agreement too, though deep down she thought:
Perhaps, possibly, probably, maybe… President Qin wasn’t that hard to meet after all?
Now that she knew the whole story, Lu Ningshuang didn’t pay much mind to the Cao Wenjun issue—essentially, he was the same type as that Huo Yunyi she had run into downstairs.
He wasn’t as threatening as Huo Yunyi.
Lu Ningshuang immediately brushed him aside, sat back at her workstation, and paused abruptly while bending down to boot up her computer.
There was a pretty handbag sitting on the corner of her desk.
Calling the bag pretty wasn’t wrong at all—it was the most stylish and matching one Lu Ningshuang had dug out from her rented place.
It even had a dust cover on top.
Lifting one corner revealed a navy scarf inside, soft and warm, with excellent texture.
It was the one Qin Yushu had “lent” her back then.
Qin Yushu had said to return it privately. Not knowing when she’d see little Fu Junyi again, Lu Ningshuang wore it once, then took it to the dry cleaners. Afterward, she kept it in the office, planning to sneak it back to Qin Yushu when the chance came.
…But the opportunity never arose.
Logically, yesterday when Qin Yushu summoned her was a perfect moment, but Lu Ningshuang had been too rushed and completely forgot.
Now that she saw it again—
Now she finally had chances to meet “privately,” right? Maybe no need to rush the return?
With that thought, Lu Ningshuang took the scarf out again.
She looped it around her neck just like Qin Yushu had done for her back then. Even after washing, a faint trace of Qin Yushu’s scent seemed to linger.
Tian Li, with her sharp eyes, spotted it and exclaimed, “Little Lu, you’re wearing a scarf indoors? That cold? But it’s pretty nice-looking, seems high-end.”
Lu Ningshuang: “Mm.”
The straight guy Yang Haoqi looked over too. “Feeling cold? Little Lu, you’re too frail!”
He was brimming with enthusiasm. “Frailty’s a disease. You gotta watch it usually. If it’s bad, go to the hospital. If you’re embarrassed, I’ve got a folk remedy here…”
Lu Ningshuang: “…Thanks, no need.”
“Really don’t want it?” Yang Haoqi seemed reluctant.
Besides smiling, what else could she say? 🙂
“No.”
Lu Ningshuang was firm.
…
After brushing off her overly enthusiastic colleagues, Lu Ningshuang began reflecting—was her soft and fragile persona too perfect, forcing her to spend extra time and energy on socializing now?
Whatever.
Knowing more people meant more friends; benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
Lu Ningshuang started mulling over the information she had overheard downstairs not long ago.
If it weren’t so serious and personal, Lu Ningshuang might have joked that this broken world had quite a few labels—
Cannon fodder awakening, transmigration, System, loser turnaround, favored child of heaven, or rather… female?
No matter the reason, she could indeed hear Huo Yunyi and that System’s conversation now.
The System had no physical form and, per common web novel tropes, should be lodged in Huo Yunyi’s head for the time being.
Huo Yunyi wasn’t the original Huo Yunyi either, but a transmigrator man from another world—an ordinary loser who, after taking over this identity and gaining the auxiliary System cheat, walked with a spring in his step.
Qin Yushu, as this world’s female protagonist, carried some kind of “Fortune” on her, which seemed extremely important, compelling the transmigrator’s System to order him to woo her.
The System had an points exchange function, capable of feats unimaginable to others, all done silently.
But it required the “Huo Yunyi” body’s own Fortune as payment.
Female lead, male lead… not the whole world, but protagonists of this story at least. Favored children of heaven—Qin Yushu’s Fortune as the female lead was precious; Huo Yunyi’s as the male lead couldn’t be far behind.
Thus, the exchange cost wasn’t small.
Cheat or not, it couldn’t be used lightly.
![Gentle Trap [Entertainment World]](https://i0.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/tr.png?resize=151,215 "Gentle Trap [Entertainment World]")
