Chapter 1 Going Mad

Chapter 1: Losing It

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but it's the New Year, sister-in-law. You should've prepared some real dishes. How are we supposed to have a proper drink with just these?"

"Exactly, these cherries are so small and sour, clearly the cheap stuff. Just look at Haohao's face!"

The cramped living room was filled with a constant racket. The round table was already surrounded by people, each holding chopsticks and occasionally frowning with complaints. Behind them, two children were roughhousing, knocking over a trash can, but no one paid any attention.

Hearing the noise, the woman hurried out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. Faced with her brother-in-law's complaint, she could only offer an awkward smile. "Then... I'll ask Zhiyun to go buy some more braised pig's trotters?"

The middle-aged man in a striped shirt, who had been silent at the table, immediately stood up, acting like he was about to leave to buy groceries.

By now, the lobster and crab on the table had already been devoured, clearly showing no intention of waiting for the person still busy in the kitchen to eat together.

"Remember to buy a few family buckets too. Haohao and the others rarely get to visit," Zhao Yun quickly called out from the kitchen.

"Got it," the middle-aged man promptly replied.

As soon as he walked out the door, the people inside resumed eating the New Year's Eve dinner without a second thought. Though they were guests, they showed no hint of courtesy.

The Spring Festival Gala was still playing on the TV in the living room. Liu Zhenyi took a sip of his drink and suddenly looked at his niece sitting silently opposite him. "I heard you're about to graduate. You're not getting any younger either. There's a nice young man at our workplace, drives for the leadership, makes several thousand a month. I'll introduce you to him another day, your Third Uncle will fix you up."

At this, the Third Aunt, who was eating beside him, also looked at the girl with a kindly expression. "Yes, it'll be harder to find a partner when you're older."

"Your mother is so busy, and you don't even know to go help in the kitchen. All you know is eating, can't even do a bit of housework. When you get married later, won't you make our family a laughingstock?" the stern-faced Second Aunt scolded her sternly.

At the dinner table, everyone kept talking, their chopsticks and mouths never stopping, pointing fingers and making comments about the silent girl.

Su Mi poured herself a gulp of herbal tea. The cool liquid sliding down her throat barely managed to suppress the boiling anger.

At the same time, her consciousness was constantly communicating with the system in her mind.

"If I smash a plate on these jerks' heads right now, does that count as completing the task?"

There was no sound in her mind. Clearly, the system had already given its answer.

Su Mi took another sip of herbal tea, continuously adjusting her breathing, reluctantly accepting the fact that she had transmigrated.

That's right, she wasn't the original Su Mi. She had just died from overwork and transmigrated into this body. While she should be grateful for a second chance at life, based on the original host's memories, this was clearly a feel-good wish-fulfillment novel about a true and false heiress. Judging from the comments of these toxic relatives just now, she definitely wasn't the one being doted on.

Although the original host came from an ordinary family, she was academically excellent, and her parents treated her very well. It was a harmonious family.

But this was a true/false heiress novel. The female lead, Su Ruanruan, although the false heiress, was kind-hearted and innocent. Even after learning the truth about her origins, she wasn't disheartened. Instead, she refused help from her wealthy adoptive father and ventured into the entertainment industry alone to build her career. Along the way, she used her sincerity and kindness to resolve the family conflicts within her biological parents' family.

Su Mi, on the other hand, was the true heiress who played a good hand terribly. Suspicious and overly sensitive, she always felt her biological parents favored Su Ruanruan, so she repeatedly persecuted the female lead. In the end, she was even used by the Su family's arch-rival, nearly causing the wealthy Su family to go bankrupt.

The ending, of course, was that the female lead and male lead helped the Su family, averting the bankruptcy crisis. Finally, Su's father realized that blood ties weren't the most important. In anger, he removed Su Mi from the family register and handed her over to the public security authorities. Meanwhile, Su Ruanruan once again brought joy to her parents, achieving great success in career, love, and family.

Although the original host came from an ordinary family, her adoptive parents treated her fairly well. However, they were too weak-willed, often bullied and taken advantage of by other relatives, which affected the original host from a young age, making her overly introverted and insecure.

So, the original host always wanted to prove her own worth, leading to a constant psychological imbalance and setting her on a path of no return.

When work pressure was high before, she enjoyed reading this kind of cathartic power fantasy. But from the female supporting role's perspective, it felt oppressive.

Ultimately, it was a problem of her upbringing. With the original host's family environment and parents who taught her to endure whenever possible, it naturally led to extreme inner imbalance.

Although she had only been here for a few hours, her rage had already reached a critical point. Probably only the original host could have tolerated this.

But the system told her that the female lead was the anchor of this world's luck. As long as the female lead's fortune existed, no matter how she changed the plot, it would be useless. Everything would still follow the original storyline. Unless her own fortune value could surpass the female lead's, she would still end up in jail in the end.

She didn't know when this system appeared. It bound itself to her without even asking her consent. It didn't seem very reliable at first glance, and there were no explanations about the task process. It only told her she needed to trigger tasks, and completing them would give her +10 fortune points.

Her current fortune value was 20, while the female lead's fortune value was 600.

No wonder she choked even on a sip of water.

Why the system chose her was probably because she had been working continuously for a month without a break, putting her closer to a state of losing it.

"I've said it before, what's the use of girls reading so many books? Better to marry early," Liu Zhenyi said, taking a sip of his drink and looking towards the kitchen.

Zhao Yun happened to bring out a plate of chicken wings. A pair of chopsticks immediately reached over and snatched one. She also smiled at her daughter. "Reading more helps one understand things better, and it's easier to find a job later."

Su Mi glanced at her Third Uncle across the table. "It's precisely because you haven't read much that you don't know what use it is."

Liu Zhenyi, who had just taken a sip, immediately choked, his face turning red. Everyone else also looked at her displeased, clearly not expecting her to talk back to her elders after just a few months apart.

"Mimi, how are you talking to your Third Uncle? Apologize quickly!" Zhao Yun was also surprised by her daughter's change and immediately looked apologetically at the person involved.

Su Mi retorted, "Then is it okay for him to talk to me like that?"

"If you're so keen on marrying early, why not let your cousin get married? If studying is useless, why are you making your cousin repeat a year?"

Liu Yue, who had been playing on her phone, immediately changed her expression. "You're already 22. My dad is concerned about you, kindly trying to introduce you to someone. How can you talk like that?"

Su Mi lifted her eyelids. "Your dad is 44. Shouldn't he be looking for two partners then?"

Everyone else was shocked by her transformation, unable to recover for a long time. They never thought that after just a short time apart, it was like she'd grown a new, sharp tongue.

Liu Zhenyi slammed his hand on the table, glaring angrily at Zhao Yun. "Look at what she's saying! I think she's read so much her brain has gone stupid!"

Liu Hua immediately waved his hands, playing the peacemaker. "Mimi, don't blame your Third Uncle for speaking harshly. Your Third Uncle is doing it for your own good. He's just worried it'll be hard for you to find a partner when you're older. If it were someone else, would your Third Uncle care so much? When I was your age, your cousin was already born."

Su Mi smiled faintly. "Yes, Cousin gambled and took out a 200,000 loan last year. Weren't you so angry, Second Uncle, you wanted to cut ties with him? In my opinion, since having children is so great, you should have had a few more back then."

"What are you saying! I think you're asking for a beating!" Liu He suddenly slammed the table and stood up, chewing betel nut and glaring fiercely at his cousin.

The once lively dinner table instantly became tense. No one expected that after just a few months apart, the previously honest and obedient Su Mi would suddenly become so rebellious. For a moment, everyone turned their questioning gazes towards Zhao Yun.

The person involved was also at a loss, only able to fluster and apologize on her daughter's behalf, her breath trembling. "Mimi has just been under a lot of pressure from her internship lately. She definitely doesn't mean anything else."

"What internship? Isn't it just being a [set lackey] on a film set? Otherwise, how could she afford such an expensive computer? Who knows what crooked path she took. Does she even think she can be a star? She should take a good look in the mirror." Liu Yue looked down at her manicured nails and sneered.

Su Mi curled her lips. "I'd rather be your mom, so I could discipline an unfilial daughter like you."

"You—" Liu Yue pointed at her angrily. "Have you no manners!"

Zhao Yun's face changed drastically as she hurriedly tried to pull her daughter, attempting to push her into the room to prevent her from saying anything else shocking.

"My manners are for people, not for dogs."

Su Mi pushed Zhao Yun aside and swept a cold gaze over the table of glaring relatives. "Any decent person knows you wait for everyone to be seated before starting to eat. What about you all? My mom is still busy running around, and you've already eaten half the food. If someone didn't know better, they'd think there's a famine outside, with you all acting like starving ghosts reincarnated."

"Yes, Second Uncle and Third Uncle are doing it for my own good. Please transfer that 'goodness' to your own daughters. Let them marry and have children early. Preferably nine in one birth. I have my own parents; I don't need others' concern."

"Furthermore, this is my home. If you don't like the food, you can go back to your own homes. No one will stop you."

Hearing her words, Liu Zhenyi turned livid with anger, glaring at Zhao Yun. "If sister-in-law doesn't welcome us, just say so directly. If it weren't for Mom insisting on being here, even if you invited us, we wouldn't have come."

"Yeah, and the food sucks too," Liu Yue snorted coldly.

Faced with the overwhelming accusations from everyone, Zhao Yun was completely flustered and looked toward her mother-in-law for help. However, her mother-in-law was also glaring at her angrily, as if Zhao Yun had made her lose face.

"Since Second Uncle is so filial, why not just take Grandma to live with you? Our home is small and we can't take good care of her. Your place is spacious—I'm sure Grandma would be much more comfortable there," Su Mi said with a serious expression.

At that moment, everyone got on her nerves, let alone these morons—she couldn't stand the sight of them.

"Aha! So you've finally spoken your mind! It seems you've long wanted to stop taking care of Mom! Who knows how you've been mistreating her all along! How could my brother have married such a vicious woman!" Liu Zhenyi was practically pointing at Zhao Yun's nose in his fury.

Zhao Yun didn't know how to explain and could only wring her hands in distress. "No, that's not it. Mimi didn't mean it. How could we possibly not take care of Mom?"

As she spoke, she grabbed her daughter's arm, her tone more serious than ever before. "Apologize to Second Uncle and Third Uncle right now!"

Everyone looked at the mother and daughter with dissatisfaction, their eyes filled with blame.

The old woman, whose stroke left her speech slurred, also snorted. "I told you long ago you should have had another child. What's the use of raising such an ungrateful, good-for-nothing girl? You might as well have aborted her and saved the trouble."

"Ding! Keyword triggered!"

Su Mi frowned, then suddenly grabbed the old woman's hair with a vicious yank, forcibly dragging her over to a mirror. Her voice was icy cold. "So you know you're a useless old hag too? Who are you putting on that sour face for every day? Do you think anyone actually wants to clean up your shit and piss?"

The old woman was heaving with rage, but due to the aftereffects of her stroke, she couldn't get a word out.

After a brief moment of shock, everyone around them instantly erupted in furious curses. "She's insane! This damn girl has gone crazy!"

"How dare you treat Grandma like that!" Liu Yue stared at her in disbelief.

"Since Big Brother and Sister-in-law don't know how to discipline their child, today I, as her Third Uncle, will have to step in and teach her a lesson for the family!" Liu Zhenyi rolled up his sleeves, ready to hit Su Mi.

The others couldn't hold back either, stepping forward aggressively one by one, clearly intent on teaching this junior a lesson she wouldn't forget today.

Liu He even smashed a liquor bottle. Zhao Yun, flustered and helpless, tried to block the middle but was shoved aside instead. She suddenly fell to the ground, her head hitting the corner of the table, and bright red blood instantly trickled out.

"Ding! Luck Points +20"

"Friendly reminder: Please remain calm when the system has not issued a task."

Tuning out the prompt in her mind, Su Mi directly picked up a pair of scissors from the table, her face a mask of warning. "This is my home. If you don't leave now, I'm calling the police!"

Seeing that she actually dared to pick up scissors, Liu He cursed angrily and suddenly rushed forward, grabbing Su Mi's hair and raising his fist to punch her in the face.

Until a spray hit his eyes directly. He hissed in pain, immediately letting go and stumbling backward.

The entire living room was in chaos. The kids who'd been making trouble now hid behind the adults, secretly tightening their fists, hoping their dad would finally put her in her place.

"Ding-dong—"

The sudden sound of a doorbell rang out.

Thinking it was her eldest uncle returning, Liu Yue immediately went to open the door, already planning how to get him to punish Su Mi severely.

As the door opened, however, she saw not her uncle's honest, simple face, but a middle-aged man dressed in a suit with a refined, scholarly demeanor. Behind him stood several tall men also in suits. She glanced at them a few times, blushing at the sight of each handsome face.

"May I ask who you're looking for?" she asked softly and gently.

The leading middle-aged man glanced at the mess inside the house, then accurately fixed his gaze on Su Mi. Instantly, a smile spread across his face.

"Although this is quite presumptuous, our Chairman cannot wait a moment longer. Therefore, he hopes I can bring the young lady back today for a reunion. I will personally explain the specific reasons to the young lady."

In that instant, Liu Yue felt her head buzzing, overwhelmed with giddy excitement.

Wasn't this exactly like a TV drama plot? So she wasn't her parents' biological daughter after all, but the child of a wealthy family!

"I..." she stammered, breathing rapidly with excitement.

To her surprise, the middle-aged man walked straight past her into the house, then bowed respectfully to Su Mi. "Young Lady, the Chairman has been searching for you for a very long time."