Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: “Why Are You Back So Early Today?”

It was hard to imagine that so many things had actually happened in a single day.

Lu Ning felt her head was packed to the brim with various events. After accompanying Mu Qiuyu to the school for exams in the afternoon, she had quickly transformed back into a cat. Sometimes, being a cat was much easier than being a human.

However, since the system had actually made a mistake for once, Lu Ning felt she had to seize the opportunity to fleece it for all it was worth.

The kitten pulled herself together and spent the entire night busy. First, she went on a shopping spree in the system mall, listing a series of rewards and compensations suitable for Mu Qiuyu. Then, she filed an appeal with the higher-up system, submitting all sorts of tedious supporting materials.

In the early hours of the morning, Wucheng was silent. Stars hung on the glass windows as if the entire world had sunk into slumber. If someone had passed by Mu Qiuyu’s window at this time, they would have been astonished to see a cat—so black it merged with the night—sitting at a desk, clattering away at a keyboard.

After hitting “Enter,” the cat sitting at the computer raised her paws and gave a long stretch.

Lu Ning, who had been busy “dueling” with the system since returning home, finally finished submitting all the materials required by the higher-ups. The entire cat was shrouded in exhaustion, looking like a burst chestnut. It was late; she still had to accompany Mu Qiuyu to her exams tomorrow.

Lu Ning was exhausted. Pawing at the air, she managed to close the laptop, then jumped off the desk and skillfully burrowed into Mu Qiuyu’s bed. She fell asleep in her arms instantly, having no energy left to return to the Inner World.

My little flowers must wait for me.

Lu Ning pleaded silently in her heart, her paws subconsciously making a “praying” motion against Mu Qiuyu’s chest. In her sleep, Mu Qiuyu felt Lu Ning’s movement and instinctively pulled the kitten closer into her embrace.

The empty house was swallowed by the night. The world was still. It was as if only the girl and her cat remained, leaning on each other.

The moon sank and the sun rose; on a rest day, even the birdsong was particularly gentle.

Mu Qiuyu woke up in a somewhat uncomfortable position. Looking down, she saw a kitten sleeping spread-eagle in her arms, her fur as messy as an explosion. No one knew what kind of dreams the kitten had last night, but she had crowded Mu Qiuyu, sleeping right in the middle of the bed.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, bathing the messy-furred kitten in a warm golden glow, like a miniature of something beautiful.

“Ha.”

Mu Qiuyu brushed the stray hairs from her forehead and suddenly let out a soft laugh. She hadn’t felt this good in a long time, and she didn’t find Lu Ning’s behavior annoying. At most, it was just a case of being “spoiled and arrogant.”

Thinking this, Mu Qiuyu reached around Lu Ning’s body to grab her phone. She didn’t know where the sudden interest came from, but she took over a dozen photos of Lu Ning’s terrible sleeping positions from different angles. Only then did she unhurriedly scratch the base of the kitten’s tail: “Lazy cat.”

“Mmm?”

Although Mu Qiuyu’s voice was soft, it reached Lu Ning’s ears, causing her to let out a small, dissatisfied hum. She had stayed up too late last night; though the kitten’s body was rested, the Lu Ning living inside it didn’t want to wake up. She grumbled and rolled over, pinning Mu Qiuyu’s hand—the one that had just scratched her—beneath her.

The kitten’s body was soft, and her fluffy fur radiated warmth against Mu Qiuyu’s arm. Mu Qiuyu didn’t quite think Lu Ning was throwing herself into her arms, yet she still categorized the behavior as “cuddling.”

“Lazy cat—” Mu Qiuyu watched the Lu Ning in her arms with interest, her finger circling the base of the tail as she drew out her words.

Sensing a hint of warning in the tone, Lu Ning finally decided to open her eyes. As the sunlight hit the kitten’s eyes, she saw a young girl sitting upright before her. Her entire face was bathed in light, watching her quietly with a gentle look in her calm eyes.

Heaven knows how much Lu Ning’s heart accelerated upon waking to such a sight. For a moment, she hallucinated, mistaking the person in front of her for Wutong: “Wu—”

But before the name could fully leave her mouth, Lu Ning’s returning consciousness pulled her back. The surroundings weren’t the pure white of the Inner World; minimalist furniture stood plainly in the room, and the shadows of the Wutong trees outside were painted on the clean walls.

This was the real world. This person was Mu Qiuyu.

Lu Ning was startled, and the sound caught in her throat quickly turned into a whimper: “Ugh—”

So Mu Qiuyu can make an expression like that? She can be this gentle?

Lu Ning’s heart hammered heavily, as if a ball of yarn were rolling around inside. Still, she had to act natural. She rolled over, poked her small head out, and proactively nuzzled Mu Qiuyu’s palm, acting spoiled: “Host, good morning.”

“Good morning,” Mu Qiuyu replied softly, enjoying Lu Ning’s flattery. Her cotton skirt brushed against her calves as she patted Lu Ning’s rump and got out of bed. “Two exams this morning. Move fast, or we won’t get any soup dumplings.”

Food—Lu Ning’s Achilles’ heel.

Hearing Mu Qiuyu’s reminder, she immediately stood up on the bed: “Understood!” The kitten nimbly jumped down and ran to the desk to stow the laptop she’d forgotten to retract into her original inventory.

The weekend at Guanghua High School was draped in silence, with only occasional sounds from club activities echoing from the auditorium. In a classroom in the lab building, the sound of pens scratching against paper filled the air; this was the testing room for the International Class.

This exam was the same as usual—yet also very different. A black kitten lay on the windowsill near the corridor, watching the humans inside the exam room with a lack of interest.

Originally, the teacher from the International Class was worried the kitten would disturb the students and went out to chase it away. But Lu Ning, who was licking her fur, stopped immediately when she saw the human approaching and let out a soft, obedient meow. Her rare, crystal-blue eyes were round, shimmering like jewels in the sun.

The invigilator’s heart softened instantly. What could a little kitten do wrong? She hadn’t even run into the room to cause trouble. Seeing the fur Lu Ning had just licked clean, the teacher couldn’t resist giving her a pet, whispering: “You can’t go into the classroom, okay?”

Lu Ning understood, of course, and gave the teacher a tiny meow. She lay obediently on the windowsill outside the room, quiet and still, focusing on grooming her long, dusty fur. Heaven knows what she had dreamed about; her fur was a mess and not smooth at all.

Lu Ning was a kitten with an “idol burden,” after all. After hearing the soup dumpling shop owner’s wife mock her appearance, she spent nearly an hour grooming her fur until it was sleek and glossy. Carrying her restored “feline charm,” she captured the heart of the International Class teacher. The teacher rubbed her a couple more times before giving up any thought of driving her away.

It’s so good to be a kitten.

After the teacher left, Lu Ning lay back down on the windowsill, wagging her tail and comfortably basking in the sun. The sun today was wonderful, as if it could burn away all the bad luck. Lu Ning thought that summer was coming, and every day would have good weather like this. She hoped Mu Qiuyu would come to like this kind of weather, too.

As she was thinking, her “Partner Notification Box” popped into her vision. The message it brought was simple: the system’s reply to the compensation Lu Ning had requested yesterday.

“Alright, time’s up. Everyone turn in your papers. Have a good rest at lunch and prepare for Chinese and Comprehensive Science this afternoon.”

The system’s reply was perfectly timed; the invigilator’s phone alarm also rang. She stood up and tapped the desk, signaling everyone to stop writing and turn in their exams.

Li Xiang was impatient and handed her paper to Mu Qiuyu: “Qiuyu, tell Yinyue the band is waiting for me, I’m heading out first.”

“Okay,” Mu Qiuyu nodded. Li Xiang had mentioned this before the exam started, so she took the paper unhurriedly.

Pei Yinyue had already turned in her paper. Watching Li Xiang fly out, her gaze landed on Mu Qiuyu: “I have another exam this afternoon. The Shooting Club is being reorganized. What about you?”

Mu Qiuyu had no plans: “Going home.”

Pei Yinyue glanced at the kitten outside the window who was already wagging her tail impatiently and smiled: “With the cat?”

“Mm,” Mu Qiuyu nodded candidly.

“Then I won’t disturb your world of two,” Pei Yinyue joked.

Mu Qiuyu didn’t deny it; instead, she wished her: “Good luck on your afternoon exam.”

The smile on Pei Yinyue’s face deepened: “I’ll take your word for it.”

In the distance, Shi Jin watched the exchange between Mu Qiuyu and Pei Yinyue silently. She watched Pei Yinyue’s receding back and felt an impulse to go talk to Mu Qiuyu, but she stayed her feet. Since Shi Jin didn’t approach, Mu Qiuyu naturally didn’t notice her. Her gaze was fixed on the kitten jumping down from the windowsill to wait for her at the door.

“So impatient. Is there some good news?” Mu Qiuyu picked up Lu Ning familiarly. Seeing the eagerness that even Pei Yinyue had noticed, she asked softly.

“Of course!” Lu Ning said excitedly in Mu Qiuyu’s mind. “The system’s compensation is in. You won’t believe what it gave you!”

Mu Qiuyu looked down at Lu Ning, an answer ready on her thin lips: “Were all the compensations you applied for approved?”

Lu Ning blurted out in shock: “How did you know!” Then she added: “Well, not exactly all of them. The ones I asked for that were really ‘unreasonable’ were halved.”

“Like?” Mu Qiuyu raised an eyebrow, curious about Lu Ning’s definition of “unreasonable.”

“Like the Infinite Plot Change Card, the Infinite Money Black Card, and Infinite Knowledge Storage Space.” As Lu Ning spoke, she looked at Mu Qiuyu and laughed sheepishly.

Mu Qiuyu laughed too, brushing the back of her finger against Lu Ning’s chubby little face. “Have you always been this greedy?”

Lu Ning held her head high with a righteous air: “You’d be a fool not to take advantage.”

The phrase was new to Mu Qiuyu, but the logic was sound. The finger that had been on the kitten’s cheek slid down her neck and unceremoniously rubbed her plump belly: “You’re right.”

Lu Ning wasn’t prepared for the move. The cool finger brushing her belly made her face heat up: “Host…” She wanted to remind Mu Qiuyu they were in public, but Mu Qiuyu shared the internal information directly with her: “I received this during the exam.”

Instantly, Lu Ning’s “good partner” notification box appeared in her sight. This thing was flashing with a peacock-like iridescent glow, completely different from how it acted with her. Lu Ning felt the thing must be malfunctioning, but then she saw the content.

It was a letter from the Main System.

“Miss Mu, we are deeply sorry. Due to a system oversight, you were subjected to an unmerited punishment. This was an error in our work, and I am profoundly sorry. Following this incident, I will refine the program’s judgment criteria. Please accept my highest apologies for your experience.”

The Main System’s promise wasn’t empty; below the text was a card that looked very much like a black card.

“What’s this?” Lu Ning looked at the card curiously.

“An Infinite Card,” Mu Qiuyu clicked the card to show Lu Ning. “It allows one to see a person’s past, present, or future.”

Lu Ning was overjoyed; this was better than the infinite compensations she had listed. But then, she noticed something like a countdown ticking in the box: “This is…”

“A countdown,” Mu Qiuyu said calmly. “The card must be used within 24 hours of acquisition.”

“Ah, why? That’s so stingy!” Lu Ning’s dissatisfaction with the Main System spilled out, completely forgetting the setting where all systems must unconditionally respect the Main System. She looked at the card with regret, muttering: “I thought we could keep it for a long time. That way, if we met someone difficult in the future, we could start with this.”

“The system has already given this to me,” Mu Qiuyu sneered, her voice full of contempt for the system. She was someone who had lived once before. She already knew the optimal solution for the future.

But Lu Ning didn’t. She didn’t understand the implication and thought Mu Qiuyu already had a plan: “Have you decided how to use it, Host?”

The wind outside the teaching building brushed past the girl’s profile, tracing her still somewhat youthful face. Mu Qiuyu petted Lu Ning with a meaningful look: “Then let’s take a look at the future.”

As the pair chatted, they walked to the wisteria corridor behind the lab building. It was the season for the wisteria to bloom; light and dark purples gathered like a gradient cloud as far as the eye could see. Mu Qiuyu found a random place to sit and placed Lu Ning on the ground.

It seemed she did it on purpose. By the time Lu Ning jumped onto the bench, Mu Qiuyu had already written something on the card. In the shared vision, only the shimmering light of the redeemed card remained.

Lu Ning didn’t understand why Mu Qiuyu wanted to distract her. Didn’t she want to see her own future?

As Lu Ning was thinking this, a moving image appeared within the sphere of light emitted by the card.

The kitten’s eyes reflected a pitch-black night. A soft bed was bathed in fluorescent light. Mu Qiuyu was lying on this bed; the coldness in her eyes had completely shed its youthfulness, replaced by a cool, languid air. Her loose long hair swept over her shoulders, and her skin, which held a slight healthy fullness, looked much better than it did now—at least she wasn’t so thin it made one’s heart ache.

Lu Ning was filled with confidence, feeling that she had successfully helped Mu Qiuyu avoid the fate of the original story. But then, a hand reached into her field of vision.

The hand looked incredibly familiar to Lu Ning. As she searched her memory, she saw the hand brush over Mu Qiuyu’s face, pulling her lips toward the hand’s owner and kissing them.

“Why are you back so early today?”

The sudden voice filled Lu Ning’s eyes with shock. She recognized it. The hand in the image belonged to her, and the voice belonged to her.

The person who had kissed Mu Qiuyu… was her, in her original human form!

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