Su Wanli blinked in confusion after receiving the system’s reminder.
She paused to think for a moment.
‘Mock…? Mock who? I’m supposed to mock someone?’
The system helpfully repeated the original task—
[Your mission: On Meng Wange’s tour, find a way to create an obstacle that causes her to embarrass herself, then deliver a wildly arrogant line to mock her.]
Ah.
Su Wanli’s pupils contracted sharply.
‘Right! I got so distracted by the female lead’s stunning beauty, I completely forgot about my main task!’
Originally, she had planned to mock Meng Wange in the drawing room, right after dousing her with the aroma diffuser, then sneer and say something like, “A drenched chicken like you can forget about ever becoming a phoenix.”
But clearly, the current situation was way off from that plan.
‘But wait… does the system think I’ve already completed the objective?’
Su Wanli quietly glanced at Meng Wange, who stood there with damp hair and a faint smile—while still holding her in her arms.
‘…No way. Seriously? You’re calling this making Meng Wange look bad?’
From any angle, the one who looked embarrassed right now… was her!
Even though the system was prompting her to say something to mock Meng Wange, in this position, what could she possibly say?
‘Scream “assault!” while jumping out of her arms?’
‘No way.’
Being forced to act all mean and petty right after someone just helped her? That kind of task just went completely against her personality!
The system seemed to pick up on her reluctance and gently reminded her—
[Reminder: While you remain in Meng Wange’s arms, your Villainess Value is steadily decreasing. Please act quickly.]
Su Wanli glanced at her stats.
Without her even realizing it, her Villainess Value had dropped from 95 to 86… and it was still falling.
‘Save me—’
At last, when weighed against her moral compass, 12 billion yuan still came out on top.
Su Wanli slowly covered her eyes with one hand and opened her mouth to speak—
“You know… like this… I…”
“I’m sorry, Miss Su, what did you say?”
Meng Wange gently brushed her damp hair aside so it wouldn’t fall onto Su Wanli’s face and looked down at her with a small smile.
Clearly, Su Wanli’s mosquito-like whisper had neither reached Meng Wange’s ears nor satisfied the system.
Her Villainess Value continued to drop, inching closer and closer to the danger zone of 80.
‘What now?’ On one hand was a beautiful girl smiling brightly at her.
On the other was a steadily declining Villainess Value threatening to tank her entire arc.
The choice had already been made.
Now the real issue was—how was she supposed to say anything at all, with Meng Wange standing so close?
Su Wanli took a deep breath, struggling to break free from Meng Wange’s embrace.
But whether from shock or something else, her legs gave out the moment she stood, and she stumbled back against the wall for support.
She blocked Meng Wange’s hand as the other girl reached out to steady her, then pointed a trembling finger at her nose and finally shouted—
“You—look at you! Just look at yourself! Do you think you’ll ever be accepted by our Su family looking like that?!”
“…”
Meng Wange gently touched the bridge of her nose and looked down at her shirt, which clung damply to her skin.
She smiled and said, “Apologies, Miss Su. I panicked. I’ll go change into something dry before meeting you again.”
***
After getting the first line out, the rest didn’t seem so hard.
Su Wanli turned her face away and snapped, “As you should! Hurry up!”
“Of course.”
Meng Wange nodded politely and gave a slight bow.
She hesitated for a moment.
“Miss Su… next time…”
“Hmm?”
Meng Wange bit her lip, then slowly shook her head.
“No, it’s nothing. I just wanted to remind Miss Su to take better care of her health.”
“…Hmph, nosy.”
Su Wanli did her best to play the villain.
Only after Meng Wange’s figure completely disappeared from sight did she finally pull herself off the wall and stagger to the sofa in the parlor.
“Phew, made it through another crisis…”
She patted her chest to calm her pounding heart, trying to regulate her breathing as the system began its usual report.
[——Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the side mission: First Strike on the Way to the Tour.]
[Despite the difficulty, you managed to use the scented bottle and other props within the time limit to intimidate Meng Wange, resulting in an injury to her wrist.]
[Current Dislike Rating… ]
The system seemed to stall for a moment before it gave the result—
[…70?]
“What do you mean, question mark? Who’s that for? Me?”
[Apologies. There may have been a system bug. Let’s take a look at the rest of your evaluation—]
[Though there were a few hiccups along the way, considering the difficulty of the mission and the final result, your villain performance rating is: Wholehearted Effort.]
[Rewards will be distributed later tonight…]
As usual, after the mission report, the system’s voice disappeared.
‘…Hmm, that rating feels a little ambiguous.’
‘Wait a second. Didn’t the system just say that she injured Meng Wange’s wrist with the scented bottle?’
‘Injured? When did that happen? Why don’t I remember that at all?’
Meng Wange had already left via the stairs.
Su Wanli could only look toward the only clue left in the room: the broken scented bottle.
If it had been a regular ink bottle, maybe it wouldn’t have shattered like that.
But the Su family’s scented bottles were custom-made—art pieces crafted to resemble mosaics of countless fragments.
When Meng Wange smacked it against the wall, it shattered into white powder across the floor, with several fingernail-sized shards landing near Su Wanli’s feet.
The pale green glass was stained with a few drops of blood.
It looked a bit frightening.
‘Wait—blood?’
‘Could it be… when Meng Wange smashed the bottle, some of the shards flew back and cut her wrist?’
Back then, I was too busy being flustered and trying to get out of her arms.
I didn’t even notice if she was hurt.
Thinking back, aside from her usual smile, there was something in Meng Wange’s expression—something restrained, hard to describe…
***
And in that moment, I was still trying to mock her, completely focused on finishing the system’s task.
‘Ugh. Ughhh…’
‘Su Wanli, you’re such a terrible person!’
I’m going to wake up in the middle of the night just to slap myself for this!
Right now, Su Wanli’s already fragile heart was overwhelmed with guilt.
No, she couldn’t just leave Meng Wange to deal with the injury on her own.
Even if she could handle it just fine, Su Wanli would be eaten alive by guilt for the next half a month!
She had to find a way to help!
[Host, this is—]
“You stay out of this! If I don’t do something to soothe my conscience, next time I see Meng Wange, forget bullying—I’ll be kneeling in front of her, I swear!”
Su Wanli swung her fist toward the empty air in front of her.
‘With a guilty mindset like this, there’s no way I’ll be able to complete future tasks!’
The system went silent for a moment, then finally responded—
[…Very well. Please monitor your villain value closely.]