Gu Ge’s eyes focused on her reflection in the glass window.
Her cold eyes lacked warmth as she watched the ripples on the surface.
After leaving the bathroom, Gu Ge put on a black trench coat.
The cold wind blowing from the window made her sleeves flutter.
Her pale fingers held a Black Gold Card—a pass to enter any high-end establishment in the city.
She flipped the card back and forth between her fingers, her expression remaining calm from start to finish.
*Snap—*
Gu Ge tucked the card back into her wallet.
She had an entire pack of cards just like it.
They were all just boring “toys.”
However, what the woman on the other end of the phone mentioned piqued her interest.
“President Gu, I have gathered all the information you asked for.”
The corners of her lips curled slightly.
“Very well. Tell me what you found.”
“President Gu, we checked the records of Jiang Ran’s father. Jiang Dongsheng has been frequenting luxury establishments lately. I estimate the money you lent him before is almost gone.”
“Is that so?”
Gu Ge rubbed her fingertip.
“Are the lookouts still there? When people like him get desperate, they might lash out like a cornered dog. You’d better stay on guard.”
“Understood. We’ve assigned professionals to trail him according to your instructions. However, a few days ago, several bodyguards suffered sudden food poisoning for no reason while they were eating. We quickly sent replacements, and by the time they saw Jiang Dongsheng again, he was just leaving a restaurant.”
Gu Ge tapped the table suspiciously.
“Did you check if Jiang Dongsheng poisoned them?”
The person on the phone paused for a moment before replying, “That shouldn’t be possible, right? That guy is a pathetic coward. When we sent someone to pretend to teach him how to cheat at gambling, he ran away like he was possessed. He doesn’t seem like the type to have the guts. Could he really pull off a poisoning?”
Gu Ge tapped the railing with her pale fingertips, her red lips pursed slightly.
“But doesn’t that just prove he’s the type who is easily manipulated? I’ve seen his file. When his wife was pregnant in his youth, he got someone else pregnant and forced her to get the cheapest abortion; otherwise, he threatened to go to her school and ruin her reputation. Do you really think such a man won’t do anything extreme? He probably thought the person you sent was part of a sting operation.”
“President Gu, I don’t understand. Is he really as smart as you say?”
“He isn’t smart. He’s just a bully who fears the strong. He knows the people at the casino could kill him, so he got scared. Similarly, when a situation favors him, he won’t hesitate to take advantage.”
Gu Ge turned around and leaned against the railing, looking at a distant spot of light from a hospital ward door.
“I see. My apologies, President Gu. That was a lapse in our work. I’ll have it investigated immediately. However… there is one more thing…”
“Something about the family?”
Gu Ge popped the tab on a sugar-free canned drink and took a sip.
“Yes. The Old Master is asking when you’ll be willing to return.”
“Hmph. They did everything they could to abandon me back then. Now that they see my success, they’re in a hurry to acknowledge me as kin? Jasmine, I don’t want to hear about this again.”
“Yes, Eldest Miss.”
“Don’t call me Eldest Miss.”
“Understood, President Gu. According to our original plan, the next step is to start collecting the debt from Jiang Dongsheng. But… will he really hand over his daughter willingly?”
Gu Ge crushed the empty can and pondered for a moment.
“I won’t give him a second option.”
***
Inside the Hospital Ward.
Jiang Ran looked at the games she had finished downloading.
Tears welled in her eyes.
It was back.
Everything was back.
‘Screw yanderes.’
‘I’m going to play my games.’
‘Leave the yandere stuff for the heroine to enjoy.’
Moreover, after some simple clicking, she confirmed that this world had the games she used to play, though her account data was naturally gone.
However, every version of the game companies in this world gave away 200 pulls.
Back then, this was something Jiang Ran wouldn’t even dare to dream of.
With those 200 pulls, she didn’t have to worry about falling behind at all.
After all, the rule of gacha games was to pull for the new, not the old.
The old characters could just wait for a new day.
Just as Jiang Ran was about to show her “primitive” teammates what she could do, a message popped up on Penguin at an inopportune time:
Croissant:
‘Jiang Ran, don’t you have a photo of Su Wanqing? Send me one. It’s urgent.’
Jiang Ran, who was busy ripping through zombies on a train, was suddenly interrupted.
In her life, she hated being disturbed while gaming more than anything.
However, as she was preparing to give the person a “friendly” piece of her mind, her eyes landed on the name “Su Wanqing.”
‘Isn’t that the name of the “heroine” I saw in the APP?’
“You want a photo? Ask Su Wanqing for it. Why are you asking me?”
Not long after the message was sent, she received a series of replies.
“What… did you say?”
“Are you still the Jiang Ran I know?”
“Who are you?”
Jiang Ran was a bit bewildered.
Was she just supposed to take it? She took a deep breath.
“I’m lying in a hospital. How could I be in a good mood?”
“I see. Take care of yourself, Jiang Ran. I’m still counting on you to lend me money.”
???
Is that something a human should say?
‘Sister, should we just block each other?’
The original host was far too kind.
How could she keep such a parasite on her friend list?
However, Jiang Ran had also heard a saying: the more innocent a girl is, the better it feels to destroy her.
To slowly tear down the beauty in her heart and then fill it with the world’s harsh truths until her mind breaks.
She didn’t dare to laugh because she was that person.
Jiang Ran tapped on the soft keyboard and sent a new message.
“Why are you asking me for a photo of Su Wanqing?”
Jiang Ran dug through her phone and actually found a photo of a woman.
She looked like she was giving a speech on a stage, with the background being a classroom bathed in the orange glow of a sunset after school.
She recalled that Su Wanqing had asked Jiang Ran to take random snapshots during her rehearsal to make sure she didn’t look bad during the official performance.
It could be said that Jiang Ran was currently holding a collection of “ugly” shots of Su Wanqing.
She checked the description of the photos in the [Sick Love Manual] APP and noticed that this photo was the spark that led to her falling out with Su Wanqing.
‘Whew, that was close.’
Croissant sent several messages in succession.
“To expose that backstabber, of course.”
“Jiang Ran, I think you should be careful with that woman too. She always acts so high and mighty in front of us. Just because her family has a bit more money than ours? I’m going to post a thread to call her out.”
“Then just use any random picture. Why do you need one from me? Or rather, are you trying to drag me down with you?”
Jiang Ran typed her response as if she had seen through the truth.
Initially, she thought Gu Ge was the one leading her toward a disastrous end, but now that she thought about it, this Croissant was also a huge problem.