Chapter 5: The Adopted Daughter of a Wealthy Family Leaks Telepathy 5 At Least Use the Love Brain…

Chapter 5: The Adopted Daughter’s Candid Confessions (Part 5)

Before Xu Ziyan could decipher Fu Qiming's sudden mood swing, her phone rang. The caller ID showed Ding Jie.

"The protagonist calling me? Could it be that he’s getting impatient because I didn’t hand over the game to him proactively?"

Catching her mental commentary, Li Yunhui quickly tapped on the car window, signaling her to come down. She pulled Xu Ziyan aside and said, "Xiao Yan, when you walked away earlier, your father and I felt terrible. When you think about it, this was all Li Dong’s dirty scheming—betraying Xiao Ming and ruining the relationship between you siblings."

"About Ding Jie, Mom knows you like him, but you’re too trusting. He’s just using you. No one who cares about you would put you in danger. Don’t you agree?"

Fu Dongfeng chimed in, "Your mother and I have been doing some soul-searching. It’s our fault for not protecting you well enough and letting them deceive you. Family issues always work out, but if you move out and live alone, they’ll find it even easier to trick you. God knows what they’d try next?"

"So please don’t leave. You revealing Li Dong’s true colors to Xiao Ming shows that you still care about your brother, right? In the end, we’re still family. When your older brother and sister come back, we’ll hash things out properly to clear up any misunderstandings. As long as you siblings support each other, nothing can scare us."

"Exactly," Li Yunhui added. "Our world’s full of social climbers and people who look down on the weak. There are plenty of snobs among those young and ignorant ones. If you move out now, they’ll really think you have no one to rely on and will definitely bully you. Just thinking about it breaks my heart. Please stay, alright?"

Without waiting for Xu Ziyan’s response, Li Yunhui pulled her toward the house. "You must have spent a lot helping Li Dong pay off his debts, right? Here’s 10 million—take it and spend it however you like. If it’s not enough, just tell Mom."

Xu Ziyan was about to refuse when a card was shoved into her hand, and her refusal died on her lips. Honestly, living in this luxurious mansion, enjoying good food and care while avoiding the male lead’s harassment—wasn’t that great? There was no need to move into some "mystery villa" by myself.

She smiled at them and said, "Alright, I promise I won’t be fooled by them again."

She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, *These foster parents are amazing! How could the author portray the original owner as an ungrateful wretch? If I had parents like this, I’d be laughing in my dreams.*

*Though, they really spoil their kids, don’t they? Aren’t they afraid of raising a useless rich kid? Well, I don’t mind being a pampered little rich girl. Hehe.*

Li Yunhui smiled faintly, finding her unexpectedly charming.

Just as they stepped inside, Ding Jie called again. Fu Dongfeng said sternly, "Answer it. Let’s hear what he has to say. Don’t be afraid—we’ve got your back no matter what. Whatever trouble you face, we’ll help you solve it."

Li Yunhui added, "Just remember one thing: people who care want to see you thrive. They’d never ask you to do anything wrong for any reason. Keep that in mind, and you won’t be fooled. Always think carefully."

*So they really think I’m just a naive fool tricked by Ding Jie and that I still care about family ties.* Xu Ziyan hadn’t expected that returning the game and exposing Li Dong would have such a big impact on them. They were ready to kick her out earlier, yet now they were willing to let bygones be bygones.

Xu Ziyan wasn’t one to dwell on things. She nodded and answered Ding Jie’s call.

"Ziyan? Why did it take you so long to answer? Did you see Fu Qiming’s statement? Did the game deal go through?"

*Wow, not even a ‘how are you’ from Mr. Protagonist—straight to the point about the game. Does he really think he has the original owner wrapped around his finger? Sure, the original owner was a starry-eyed ingrate, but she gave him her all. And yet, he doesn’t even show a shred of gratitude, treating her so cruelly in the end. What a piece of trash!*

But the male lead was also the key to the world’s collapse. Since the plot hadn’t deviated significantly yet, Xu Ziyan still wanted to try salvaging the situation. She replied coldly, "Yes, but I’m not in the mood to talk right now. Let’s discuss it in a couple of days."

Ding Jie’s tone darkened. "You know how bad my situation is. Only by getting this done can I change my family’s opinion of me. If it’s delayed, my older brother will crush me. Did they kick you out? Where are you? I’ll come pick you up and take you to a hotel."

*The saying goes, ‘You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb.’ But this male lead wants to catch a wolf with bare hands—expecting free labor with zero payoff.*

*If you’re going to exploit a lovesick fool, at least sell some of your charm, right? Shouldn’t you take her to your own apartment instead of a hotel? And who’s paying for the hotel?*

Fu Dongfeng coughed lightly, wondering if the girl was still hung up on Ding Jie’s looks. There was no denying that Ding Jie was handsome—he took after his celebrity mother—but his character was terrible. Even if looks mattered, he wasn’t worth it.

In that moment, Fu Dongfeng’s mind raced through all the outstanding young men he knew, already considering if any would be a good match for his newly adopted daughter.

Xu Ziyan, meanwhile, replied to Ding Jie, "I already said I’m not in the mood. It’s too late to do anything now. We’ll talk tomorrow."

This time, she hung up directly. Since 001 hadn’t figured out a loophole yet, she decided to buy time with delay tactics while she thought of a solution. The best course of action was to avoid engaging with Ding Jie altogether.

She powered off her phone for some blessed silence. When she turned back to Fu Dongfeng and Li Yunhui, she suddenly remembered that the original owner had helped Ding Jie repeatedly exploit the Fu family—and now those misdeeds had become her burden. She couldn’t help but feel awkward.

Fortunately, Li Yunhui smoothed things over. "Now that you know he can’t be trusted, let’s put this matter behind us. It’s late—you should go rest. You fainted earlier today, so you need to sleep early."

Xu Ziyan let out a sigh of relief. Though she felt the Fu family spoiled her too much as their adopted daughter, she was the one benefiting now—the more pampering, the better. She cheerfully returned to her room for a fragrant bubble bath.

She reflected that despite leaving and coming back today, her mission rewards were still intact. This suggested that as long as the so-called plot was nominally completed, changing her mind afterward didn’t matter. However, from what Ding Jie said, he didn’t know she had returned to the Fu family, so this was just a private matter with no public impact. If it were a major plot point, she wasn’t sure if this approach would still work.

She silently analyzed with 001.

"Here’s an idea to test—give the game to Ding Jie, then figure out how to get it back and see if that counts as completing the plot. But how could Ding Jie possibly return something once he gets his hands on it? That’d be impossible."

"What if I tried to trick Ding Jie with a different game?"

"Probably wouldn’t work. Ding Jie’s already connected with Li Dong and would verify the game’s details with him. He’d see through it immediately."

"Sigh. If only I could plant a virus or something in the game—even if Ding Jie got it, he wouldn’t succeed and might even get burned. But I know nothing about games and wouldn’t know how. 001, what if I went to Fu Qiming? Do you think he’d agree to tamper with the game?"

Fu Qiming’s room was right next to hers, separated only by a wall, allowing him to overhear her thoughts. Hearing this, he paused his coding, frowned in thought, called up the game file, and seriously considered the possibility of tampering.

Xu Ziyan continued, "Planting a virus is definitely too obvious. If Ding Jie realizes I tricked him, he might immediately have me killed. I’d rather the world collapse than die horribly at his hands—getting my hands broken, mouth sealed, and drowning alive in a filthy ditch just because the original host slapped Bai Qingqing and insulted her? Way too brutal. No way."

Fu Qiming’s brow furrowed tightly, fists clenching. Ding Jie was complete garbage—using Xu Ziyan and then treating her like that? And Xu Ziyan was foolish too, cruel and vicious to her family yet brainless in front of Ding Jie.

What kind of logic was this book following? The villainess was stupid and evil, so the protagonist could exploit and then casually kill her? They couldn’t just surrender to this kind of plot!

After venting to 001, Xu Ziyan went straight to skincare before collapsing onto her plush bed. Meanwhile, Fu Qiming drained his coffee cup, determined to stay up all night researching—he *had* to create an inconspicuous bug in the game!

Burrowing into the sweet-smelling covers, Xu Ziyan smiled at 001. "Do I talk too much? I’ve been rambling nonstop at you."

001: "Not at all. I like listening to you—it helps you unwind and relax. Though when I first chose you, you didn’t seem to talk much."

Xu Ziyan rolled over in bed. "Back in my old life, I had a tough childhood, so I didn’t trust others easily and kept things to myself. But you’re different—I can talk to you in my mind, and in this unfamiliar world, only you and I are truly connected. We sink or swim together. Instinct makes me want to rely on you a little more."

"001, I can trust you, right?"

"From now on, we’ll depend on each other, work hard together, and live better and longer, right?"

001 hurriedly replied, "Right! We’ll find a way to survive."

Xu Ziyan grinned. "I hope whatever good karma I earned from my past life brings me a little good fortune, making me an amazing task-taker. If I do well, you’ll do well too, and you’ll become a legendary system, famous in your world."

"The universe is so vast, yet we still met—it must be fate. I’ll cherish you."

Deeply moved, 001 vowed, "Host, don’t worry. I’ll work hard to apply for benefits, find loopholes for you, and protect you all the way. I *will* keep you safe!"

Xu Ziyan: "Then I’m at ease. Love you, mwah! Night!"

Having been on the move since waking up, Xu Ziyan finally relaxed in her bath before sinking into the incredibly soft, cozy bed. The moment she bid goodnight, she was fast asleep.

001, still buzzing with excitement, watched as its host drifted into sweet dreams, swallowing back a flood of words before resuming its search for plot holes.

Next door, Fu Qiming couldn’t help but chuckle. Her words were full of tactics—wasn’t this just the classic "heart-to-heart, painting grand visions" routine superiors used on subordinates? The system was the naive one, counting money for Xu Ziyan even as it got sold.

He brewed another cup of coffee. Passing Xu Ziyan’s door on his way back, he paused mid-step, suddenly feeling that this wasn’t so bad. The detested sister had been replaced, and life seemed much more interesting now.

Now they were truly in the same boat. He’d help Xu Ziyan realize her ideas—let’s see if they could defy the plot together!