Chapter Five: Confirming the System Is Malfunctioning
“One steamed bun.”
“Two steamed buns.”
In front of a small eatery, Bai Mianmian and a burly man carrying a child on his back spoke simultaneously.
They came from opposite directions.
The man’s clothes were worn but made of silk satin.
She wore coarse, dark cloth patched in many places.
The shopkeeper glanced over and asked the man,
“Brother, will you be eating here or taking it away?”
“Taking away; not convenient to eat here today.”
“This little one is really well cared for—round and plump.”
“Hehe,” the man chuckled proudly, pulling out his purse. “Help me out.”
The shopkeeper sized them up and exchanged a few polite words.
Since the man was in a hurry, he asked the shopkeeper to take the money himself.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Yet when he tried to put the purse away, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t get it into his pocket.
Helpless, he bent forward, propping the child on his back with one hand.
The girl’s round, chubby face suddenly loomed large before his eyes.
*Sniff*
Bai Mianmian, glancing unintentionally, suddenly stopped breathing.
“System,” she hurriedly shook her device.
The system immediately appeared, saying, “Please maintain a calm mind, host.”
“…Did you know I would meet the female lead here? Are you trying to test me?”
She truly couldn’t keep calm.
The system remained serene: “You are the one trying to test.”
Bai Mianmian was speechless.
Was this system so incompetent that it couldn’t read the host’s intentions?
Indeed, she wanted to try.
After all, she was a vicious supporting character.
If she didn’t have a clear understanding in her heart and was reset just one second before the finale, how unjust would that be?
But what she truly wanted to test was not the female lead but the boundaries of good deeds she could perform with those around her.
Even offering a dish to the little girl affected her character setting.
How could she dare to think about saving the female lead?
Was the female lead someone a vicious supporting character like her could touch?
Bai Mianmian was somewhat speechless, staring blankly at the system panel.
The man who took the buns caught her gaze from the corner of his eye and turned his head.
“What are you looking at?”
A shout wasn’t enough.
His gaze swept over her, and suddenly he kicked out his foot.
Caught off guard, Bai Mianmian fell to the ground with a muffled grunt and then sprang up to strike back.
The burly man thought to himself, he couldn’t believe this skinny pauper dared to fight back.
Even with his big toe, he hadn’t expected her to easily put him down.
“Ugh~”
---
The girl’s whimper was especially jarring in the near silence.
With a jolt, Bai Mianmian thought, ‘It’s over.’
The system urged, “Before the female lead realizes she’s been saved, host, run quickly.”
If she could run, Bai Mianmian definitely ran.
She sprinted far before she came to her senses.
‘If she develops some gratitude toward the stranger—me—will time reset again?’
“So, host, you hope the female lead doesn’t remember you.”
“Damn fool system, with an idiot like you, it’s a miracle I can even finish the plot.”
Too shocked, she blurted it out.
A passing woman glanced at her a few times unconsciously.
“Warning: Do not attack the system.”
Forget verbal attacks; with such a stupid system, she was too lazy to even kick it.
“Let go of that girl!”
Shouting at the top of her lungs, she ran back, yelling all the way.
“Kidnapper stealing a child, catch the kidnapper!”
The man was caught off guard. Just as he recovered and tried to give chase, the steamed bun shop owner stopped him, telling her to take his daughter to the pharmacy first.
No one else would carry the child, and the girl’s fall was serious, the bloodied gash on her forehead horrifying.
The man acted first, and Zhang Huilan’s injury looked severe again.
The owner was just giving a suggestion out of instinct.
The man was reminded and suddenly recalled Zhang Huilan.
Seeing she was about to regain consciousness, he no longer felt like chasing Bai Mianmian.
Just as he hoisted the girl on his back, distant shouting came.
The crowd around strained to hear—it was the cry of “Kidnapper stealing a child.”
“You let go of the little one; I’ve already reported to the authorities.”
She had only run a short distance; how could she have reported to the officials?
Even the system wanted to laugh at such a claim.
“Let me go! You’re a bad person! Help, help!” Zhang Huilan finally understood her situation.
The chubby little one wiggled like a grub on the man’s back.
The man nearly dropped her.
“Little one, I’m Uncle Wang Er. Look carefully, I’m Uncle Wang Er!” he explained as best he could.
The surrounding people’s eyes shifted.
Before, they were curious and sympathetic.
Now, they were scrutinizing and judging.
“She’s indeed your relative, but he’s a gambler, always wanting to adopt her to bring him luck. He loses nine times out of ten; his family fortune is almost gone,” Bai Mianmian informed.
Sure enough, Zhang Huilan remembered and began to cause a bigger scene.
After trying to calm her without success and unable to hold her steadily, the man had no choice but to put her down.
Most of all, the crowd was too agitated; forcibly taking Zhang Huilan away would have led to someone reporting him to the authorities.
“Little one! I’ve been to your home a few times. You know what kind of person Uncle Er is. This little girl, no one even knows where she’s from. Don’t hurt our uncle-nephew relationship for some outsider!”
---
“I am Bai Erya, the second daughter of the Bai family at the village’s edge.”
“Don’t say my background is clear; I also know you sent your brother to steal the little one from the Zhang family.” Bai Mianmian rolled her eyes and shifted into fight mode.
“He had my brother Wang Hu poison your family. And now, your whole family is…”
“You brat!”
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