She knew the reason Su Mu had fainted from fright—after all, the Ah Meng that had scared her unconscious was the one she herself had released.
Moreover, while she had brought Su Mu back partly out of a young girl’s kindness, it was mostly because she had seen Su Mu’s face and been overcome with lust at the sight of such beauty.
However, Miao Meng certainly couldn’t allow her image to be a negative one in Pretty Sister’s eyes.
She wanted Su Mu to believe she was a kind girl who had saved her life.
With the foundation of a life-saving debt, turning Pretty Sister into her wife in the future would be much easier.
Su Mu racked her little brain and sorted through it. According to what this girl had said, she must have accidentally stumbled upon a fierce beast in the mountains and fainted from fright while fleeing for her life.
Yet that fierce beast hadn’t eaten her. Instead, it had left her there, and the unconscious Su Mu had been rescued by this girl.
“Truly, thank you so much.”
Although Su Mu was somewhat puzzled as to why the fierce beast that had chased her hadn’t eaten her.
But managing to survive with her life intact was already a stroke of great fortune.
Miao Meng looked into Su Mu’s limpid, clear eyes staring right at her.
For some reason, Miao Meng’s heart pounded nervously, and even her words came out a bit haltingly.
“N-No need. I… I’ll help Pretty Sister for the rest of my life.”
Su Mu looked strangely at the nervous girl before her. Why had she suddenly declared she would help her for life?
The moment Miao Meng realized what she’d said, she knew she’d slipped up.
Just moments ago, watching Pretty Sister thank her had sent her mind racing with fantasies of them living together happily ever after.
She hadn’t expected her mouth to betray her by blurting out that “lifetime” bit straight from her thoughts.
“I… My mother is cooking outside. Pretty Sister, remember to get up and eat.”
With that, Miao Meng—her nervous gaze darting everywhere—fled the room as if escaping.
Watching the girl’s retreating back, Su Mu felt a bit depressed.
Had she become so frightening that she’d scared her lifesaver into such a state?
But judging from the girl’s demeanor, she seemed to come from a kind family. Su Mu could set her heart at ease for now.
Su Mu slipped her white, tender little feet out from under the quilt and rested them on the edge of the bed.
She stared blankly at the floor. Having just woken from unconsciousness, she wanted to take it slow.
And since she’d fainted from sheer terror, she needed some quiet time to calm her nerves.
However, just as Su Mu was spacing out, the System—which usually played dead in her mind—suddenly popped up.
【Host, now you and the Villain are separated.】
“Isn’t that a good thing? Now that Villain won’t have any chance to bully me anymore.”
The thought that she’d unexpectedly broken free from the curse of that perverted Villain filled Su Mu with instant delight.
But the System’s next words doused her with a heavy basin of cold water.
【Host, this isn’t good at all. If you stay out of the Villain’s sight for a month, I’ll forcibly repatriate you.】
“What?! Why didn’t you tell me about this rule sooner?!”
Su Mu now wanted nothing more than to bite this damn Scamming System to death—the one that pitted her every single day.
It always held back these trapping rules to spring on her later.
She even suspected the System had made them up just to target her.
【Even if I’d told you before, Host, it wouldn’t have made any difference.】
The System’s retort left the fuming Su Mu utterly speechless in an instant.
Given the massive gap in strength between Chen Qing and herself before, she truly never could have escaped the Detestable Villain’s clutches in her lifetime.
If not for this freak accident, she might still be enduring that Detestable Villain’s bullying right now.
The System had rarely ever left Su Mu at a loss for words, so it pressed its advantage with more firepower.
【Actually, when you faced that fierce beast earlier, Host, you didn’t need to be such a coward. You now have the strength of a Second-Rate Warrior. You might not beat it, but you didn’t have to flee in such a pathetic panic.】
The System’s words landed like a slap across Su Mu’s face.
The moment Su Mu had spotted the fierce beast in the Woods, her instinct had been to bolt.
After all, in her previous life, she’d grown up in a safe, comfortable environment.
She’d only ever seen terrifying beasts like that in a zoo.
Deep down, she was instinctively terrified of such creatures.
But this detestable Scamming System—she hadn’t even settled scores with it yet—and here it was mocking her.
“You! It’s your fault for only giving me raw strength without teaching me any martial techniques or how to use weapons!”
【Ah! Th-This… Host, you have to learn that yourself!】
“Hmph! Every other system packages all that stuff and hands it over, but you’re just scammy, stingy, and useless!”
【You!】
A hint of exasperation crept into the System’s voice. It finally realized clearly that it could never win an argument against this Host.
Unable to fight back verbally, the System fell back on its classic move: play dead.
But Su Mu’s onslaught was just getting started. Even with the System playing dead, she wasn’t letting it off the hook.
“Useless trash of a system—go back to the furnace and get remade! Waste, waste! You deserve to be stomped flat under my foot!”
While Su Mu was unleashing a torrent of insults at the System in her mind, Miao Meng—who had just stepped out—quietly poked her head back through the door.
“Pretty Sister, time to eat.”
“Oh, sorry! Coming right away.”
Only then did Su Mu realize how much time she’d spent trading barbs with the System. She hurriedly swung her legs off the bed.
Meanwhile, Miao Meng’s gaze couldn’t help but drift to Su Mu’s little feet dangling at the bedside.
Pretty Sister’s feet looked so soft, white as the taro that neighbor Ah Po made. If she could cradle them in her palms, they’d feel amazing to touch.
And Pretty Sister’s collarbone was gorgeous—she wanted to give it a lick just to see what it tasted like.
But this little rogue Miao Meng would never dare be as bold as Chen Qing. She could only steal a couple of glances.
Pretending to help Su Mu straighten the bedding, she kept sneaking peeks at her.
Once the bed was tidy and Su Mu had dressed, the somewhat nervous girl followed Miao Meng out of the room.
From Miao Meng’s words, Su Mu could tell there were other people in the household besides her.
She wondered if they were as kind as this little girl. If not, she’d have to find somewhere else to stay.
She might even end up sleeping rough outdoors. Mosquitoes hadn’t vanished this season yet—if she camped out, she’d turn into a walking mosquito buffet, on top of going hungry.
Such was the curse of social anxiety. Miao Meng’s attitude suggested her family was friendly toward her, but Su Mu couldn’t stop her mind from spiraling.
Fortunately, none of the awful scenarios Su Mu had imagined came to pass. Stepping out of the room led to a plain, ordinary hall.
Smack in the center, facing the door, sat a wooden dining table. A middle-aged beauty dressed in ethnic minority attire was busy serving steaming-hot dishes onto it.
“You must be the Pretty Sister Xiao Meng mentioned. What a fine, handsome little doll you are. Xiao Meng here wouldn’t let me peek in at you—turns out she wanted to hog you all to herself.”
“Mother!”
Miao Meng was instantly displeased to hear her mother teasing her like that in front of Pretty Sister.
