The notebook was too thick, and Qiao Chuchu struggled to hold it steady.
Pei Mu and Pei Ci quickly took it from her, lifting it up for her to see.
As she flipped to the first page, bold words glared back at her: "Qiao Chuchu’s fortune is the strongest. To transfer all her luck to Xia Xuechun, we must start by breaking her down from within, letting her destroy herself."
Everyone’s expressions darkened, and Qiao Chuchu was especially stunned. She turned to Li Lanyu. "What does this an?"
Li Lanyu explained, "These systems operate by stealing others’ fortunes to gain power. They usually bind themselves to greedy, ambitious individuals, working together to seize luck from others."
"But you’re an exception. Your fortune is the strongest, built layer by layer, with many people who love you. The system couldn’t harm you directly, so it had to wear you down from the inside."
With a flick of her hand, the book’s pages turned on their own. "While you were still in your mother’s womb, the system crafted a false reality for your soul, making you endure suffering in an illusion, all to create the delusion that you were a transmigrator."
"But the truth is, you’ve always been Qiao Chu. Your destiny was one of great fortune. The people around you, though flawed, complent you perfectly. Together, you could have lived a fulfilling life."
"The system targeted your fate, wanting to siphon it away and transfer it to the ambitious Xia Xuechun. So, it made you believe you were a 'transmigrator,' feeding you a fabricated 'script' and forcing you to act accordingly. The more you followed it, the more you destroyed your own fortune—and the easier it beca for them to manipulate not just your fate, but the fates of everyone connected to you."
"And you did. For over a decade, you played along, nourishing their power until they could toy with your lives effortlessly."
Qiao Chuchu’s scalp prickled. "So I really am Qiao Chu? I didn’t transmigrate here at three years old?"
Li Lanyu leaned down, smiling. "You inherited your mother’s talents, even sharing her temperant. How could you not be Qiao Chu?"
Qiao Chuchu was baffled. "Then why did the system help ? It gave ten lives! Shouldn’t it have just killed ?"
Li Lanyu smirked. "Because fortune transfer requires the right timing and conditions. The system was disconnected from you for a while—because I barged into their world and disrupted them. By the ti they recovered, your fortunes had begun to shift. They’d already transferred a massive amount of luck to Xia Xuechun and Ji Yanchuan, creating a conflict—like the original 'favorites of fate' clashing with the newly crowned ones."
"Coincidentally, I’d already damaged them severely. They were too weak to control you fully and still needed more fortune to recover. So, they pitted you and Xia Xuechun against each other."
"Two tigers fighting—only one survives. They trapped you together like gacocks, waiting to see who’d co out on top. It didn’t matter who lived, as long as the strongest remained."
Li Lanyu finished with disgust. "It seed like they were helping you, but they were playing both sides. Giving you ten lives while secretly trying to kill you, molding you into submission. If you obeyed, you’d be far more useful than Xia Xuechun."
Qiao Chuchu gagged in revulsion. "They ruined my life so thoroughly, all while pretending to be kind! And I actually thought they were helping ! Their power ca from all along!"
Li Lanyu chuckled. "Scamrs are always nice to their victims at first. But now, you get a fresh start."
She glanced at the people behind Qiao Chuchu, grinning mischievously as she whispered in her ear, "To make things easier for you, I even adjusted their ages. Except for Lou Yuejue—if he got any younger, he’d have to be reborn. Just ignore him."
Qiao Chuchu: "?"
[Adjusting their ages to make it easier for us to interact? What does that an?]
Behind her, the group’s eyes darkened, their lips curling as they stared at her back.
Li Lanyu straightened. "Alright, this is your last chance. No do-overs this ti!"
Qiao Chuchu nodded solemnly. "Got it."
Li Lanyu vanished, and the frozen figures around them sprang back to life.
A caretaker bustled over. "Who’s taking these new orphans to get settled?"
Qiao Chuchu raised her hand. "I’ll show them around!"
She ran up to them, beaming. "Let give you a tour of our new ho!"
They froze, eyes glistening, before answering in unison, "Okay!"
Eighteen years later—
Xie Lele stood before the estate, gaping at the mansion. "This place is huge?!"
An 8-billion-dollar mansion in Lan City, rumored to house over a dozen people—all stunningly attractive, and all single.
She took a deep breath and practiced her self-introduction: "Hello, my na is Xie Lele. I'm here to apply for the kitchen assistant position. Hello, my na is Xie Lele. I'm here to apply for the kitchen assistant position. Hello, my na is Xie Lele. I'm here to apply for the kitchen assistant position..."
Xie Lele trembled as she pressed the doorbell button.
The butler's steady voice ca through: "Who is it?"
Xie Lele nervously blurted: "Hello, I'm the kitchen assistant! I'm here to apply for Xie Lele!"
Butler: "?"
Xie Lele: "?"
The grand door slowly swung open.
Butler: "Co in."
Xie Lele stepped into the courtyard, stunned by the distance between the gate and the mansion's entrance.
"Just walking there would take minutes, wouldn't it?"
She quickened her pace into the estate, slipped on shoe covers, and followed the elderly butler inside.
The main hall's walls were adorned with three photographs.
The large group photo in the center looked solemn.
A lively, adorable young girl sat at the very center, dressed in a white puffy dress. Flanking her were two beautiful won in black dresses, and behind them stood a variety of strikingly handso n in suits.
Every one of them looked like they belonged in a painting.
She stared, srized, then turned to the next photo.
Two elegant won lounged on chairs, while the sa spirited young girl stood behind them in a qipao, smiling sweetly and obediently.
Her gaze shifted to the last photo.
It was the sa girl again, now in a different dress, seated at the center of a sofa.
All the handso n surrounded her, so sitting, so standing.
Those closest to her carried an air of authority, like family heads.
The boy sitting at her feet was far less formal.
A silver-haired youth pressed close against her calf, while another platinum-haired boy lazily draped himself over her lap, gazing indifferently at the cara.
It was like a scene straight out of a novel—a harem of admirers she'd never seen in real life. She was utterly spellbound.
The butler, accustod to seeing newcors dumbstruck by the photos, remained unfazed.
"See the girl in the middle?" he asked.
Xie Lele nodded.
The butler said calmly, "If you upset any of the other employers, the worst they'll do is fire you. But if you upset her, every single one of them will co after you."
Xie Lele's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Seriously?!"
The butler nodded. "Absolutely. She's the one person in this mansion you must never cross. That said, she's also the easiest to get along with—the staff's favorite young mistress. If you befriend her, she’ll even cover for you when you make mistakes."
Xie Lele nodded in understanding.
For so reason, she already felt drawn to the young mistress.
A broadcast echoed through the room: "The employers have returned."
The butler yanked her behind him. "Stay still!"
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