After Qin Zaozao’s mocking, Da Piaoliang’s magnificent tiger paws tensed like a cat’s claws unsheathing in warning.
Da Piaoliang growled, "Aowu... I really want to swipe this woman to death with a single paw."
As a high-level unearthly being, Da Piaoliang’s status in the game world was unmatched. Wherever it went, terror followed—never before had a human dared to act so brazenly before it.
Ye Shu stroked her sleek little black cat as if to soothe it. Her gaze slid to Qin Zaozao, and her pitch-black eyes held neither wave nor ripple. Her lips arched in a half-smile as she said, "Are you actually trying to tell me what to do? Who, exactly, is the Qin family to me? Their precious daughter seems to be Qin Wanwan—what does that have to do with me, Ye Shu?"
Qin Zaozao looked at the young woman who dared to mock her, incredulity plain in her slightly parted red lips and eyes wide with shock. The image of Ye Shu as a timid weakling was evidently burned deep into everyone’s mind. She had never imagined that one so browbeaten would one day dare to retort.
"Do you even know what you’re saying?"
"Ye Shu, have you lost your mind?"
"You dare speak to me in that tone?"
Qin Zaozao raged, her face—so closely resembling Ye Shu’s—distorted with a hint of horror.
"If it weren’t for Mom worrying about your safety and sending me to fetch you, do you think I’d want to see you at all?"
"Why aren’t you packing up and coming with me already? And quit bringing every stray cat and dog you find back home."
Ye Shu’s gaze grew frosty as she listened to the acid words. She spat, measuring every word, "Qin Zaozao, do you think you’re clever, huh? Stop whining at me. I said I wasn’t going, so I’m not going. I, Ye Shu, don’t need a drop of the Qin family’s so-called affection. Do you understand plain speech, or not?"
Even before the banquet, Ye Shu had already encountered the Qin family.
When she first learned she was not the biological daughter of the Ye family, her heart had been filled with unease.
But upon hearing that Qin Wanwan was cherished by the Qin family—with a doting older sister, parents who loved her to the bone, and a lively little brother—she envied what she thought she might receive there. She hadn't expected to be treated as well as Qin Wanwan, but at least she wouldn't be ordered around like a servant...
Her hopes were dashed the moment she first met Qin Zaozao.
At first sight, Qin Zaozao had scrutinized her like a commodity, criticized her mercilessly, and dismissed her with, "My sister will always be Wanwan." Those words left the former Ye Shu utterly broken.
The Qin parents ignored her completely, fussing only over Qin Wanwan.
The Qin little brother sneered at her, pretending he didn’t even have a big sister.
The Qin family wasn’t as rich as the Ye family, but they had their own business and were well-off—raising a daughter would hardly have strained them.
At the banquet, Qin Zaozao publicly refused to acknowledge Ye Shu, declaring that the Qin family had only two daughters: herself and Wanwan.
Crushed under such pressure, the original Ye Shu drowned herself in a cistern... and so, Ye Shu’s current self took her place. Hardly had she adapted when she was thrown from the banquet by the Ye family—and thrust into the survival game.
——
Ye Shu yanked her arm free from Qin Zaozao’s grip without mercy and slapped her across the face. “That’s some thick skin you’ve got—hurts my hand more than your face!”
Da Piaoliang, tucked happily in her arms, relished the scene.
Leaning in, Ye Shu cast a malicious glance at Qin Zaozao’s now swollen, red cheek. In her heart, she considered twisting off this woman’s head to feed to the otherworldly Da Piaoliang—after all, the live chickens she'd bought weren’t nearly enough for such an appetite.
"What are you trying to do?"
Qin Zaozao shrank back from Ye Shu’s eerie smile, a creeping sense of doom curling in her gut.
Just as Ye Shu was about to act, a squad of police cars blared by, sirens wailing. Her pupils shrank as reason snapped back into place. This was the real world, after all!
Three rounds of the slaughter game had changed her; she was no longer that naïve, gentle girl.
Or perhaps, ever since the unearthly entered this new world, Ye Shu had already been driven to madness...
By the time the sirens faded, Qin Zaozao had vanished from the alley. Ye Shu gathered up a crate of live chickens and found a deserted spot to feed Da Piaoliang.
Afterward, she changed her place of residence.
If Qin Zaozao could find her, it must mean the Qin family was tracking her every move.
Back at the Qin household, Qin Zaozao, still unnerved by the cold malice she’d seen in Ye Shu’s eyes, stumbled home, shaken to her core.
"Zaozao? Zaozao?"
"Didn’t I ask you to bring Ye Shu home? Where is she? Wanwan will be here soon, make sure Ye Shu keeps her distance. The Ye family called—they said Wanwan got pulled into the game again, just got out... I asked Auntie Li to cook some tonic."
"Oh, my poor Wanwan, what terrible luck, to be chosen... That game is too dangerous! Your father is on his way back... Zaozao, why aren’t you answering me?"
Mother Qin looked at her eldest daughter, baffled by her haunted expression.
Qin Zaozao hesitated, debating whether to tell Mother Ye what Ye Shu had done. "Mom... Ye Shu didn’t come back with me."
Mother Qin frowned, displeased. "Ye Shu always manages to make trouble—she’s competing with Wanwan again? Wanwan grew up with us and isn’t used to the Ye family yet. Why shouldn’t she be close with us? We’ve been together for nineteen years, that’s hardly going to change now."
Qin Zaozao paused over her teacup and hesitated: "Mom, I have a suspicion that Ye Shu has already gone through a round of the game... she’s really different now..."
Surprise flickered over Mother Qin’s face. Before she could speak, the maid handed her a phone—Qin Wanwan was calling. Her syrupy voice came through: "Mom, I’m back!! Did you miss me? We’re almost home. Oh, and I awakened a wood-type power..."
Whatever hints of astonishment Mother Qin had felt about Ye Shu vanished when she heard Wanwan’s cheerful voice.
"Wanwan, take your time, take your time, there’s no rush."
"Mom and big sis are both waiting for you at home—and I even made your favorite sweets..."
"You really are the best mom in the world."
Mother Qin’s tone softened; the agitation in her voice at the mention of Ye Shu was gone.
Over at the Ye house,
Father Ye and Mother Ye couldn’t entirely hide their envy when they heard their daughter’s praise of ‘the best mom in the world’.
A faint sorrow clouded Mother Ye’s gentle features as she nervously pinched at the hem of her blouse. Wanwan had been raised by the Qin family—how could she feel truly close to them? "Does Wanwan only like her mom and dad from the Qin family?"
The girl turned, her face breathtaking in its delicate beauty—no rouge or powder, bright eyes with pearly teeth, a touch of vermilion on her lips, a pair of dimples breaking like spring water when she smiled—it was a quiet, lively glow.
Qin Wanwan smiled sweetly at her parents as they playfully vied for her affection, savoring every bit of their attention. "I love you both. You’re both Wanwan’s parents, priceless to me. I’m here to become part of this family, not to tear it apart."
"By the way, where’s Gege Tianxiang? I haven’t seen him anywhere." Wanwan glanced around the living room, worry creasing her delicate brows.
Father Ye ruffled her hair. "That rascal entered the game just like you did, but he hasn’t recovered yet—not like our Wanwan, who even awakened a power. Dad’s so proud of you!"
Ye Tianxiang paused halfway down the stairs, watching this sister so cherished by everyone, a strange feeling lurking in his chest. He involuntarily remembered Ye Shu’s perpetually cautious, unreadable expression—how she always looked at him and their parents from a distance, nothing like Wanwan’s lively charm.
Something must have happened to her...
Only something drastic would have changed her so completely.
Even so, no matter that they’d once been family, he would not go easy on her. In the game world, he’d nearly perished in an earthquake—he never quite knew what tricks that wretch would play. The safe zone he’d valued so much had, at the crucial moment, left him to die as if he were nothing at all.
——
As for Ye Shu, she handed over the lightweight building materials she’d brought back from the game world to Pang Pangzi.
Naturally, she was a businesswoman—she never did business at a loss.
On the other end of the translucent screen, the moment the building material samples were delivered, Pang Pangzi’s researchers snatched them away for immediate study.
To them, spending a little money to obtain technology from another world was the bargain of the century!
Even better, lightweight building materials were exactly what their country desperately needed.
Two days slipped by quickly.
During that time, Ye Shu kept to her routines, poring over China’s latest survival guides, practicing marksmanship, swimming, fencing—she was meticulous, never slacking off in any field.
[A new round of the game is starting. One million players will be randomly selected to enter!]