My Clingy Fiancée Is Forcing Me to Marry Her Again - Chapter 36.1

Li Fangge frowned. Did her ‘cheap older brother’ have something important to discuss so late?

She recalled that Li Kege’s contact with ‘Scum A’ was never regular. Sometimes they wouldn’t speak for half a year, and other times they’d be in touch every few days. The frequency depended entirely on how busy her cheap older brother was. Li Kege’s belated birthday wishes hadn’t been long ago, making this current contact quite a short interval.

As for Scum A, she almost never actively contacted Li Kege. Early on, it was out of indifference, then after her differentiation, it was pride, and later still, because she’d never managed to con a single penny out of her brother…

She unlocked her phone and tapped the message open.

“I knew you got involved with loan sharks, but I didn’t realize you owed this much. You’re courting disaster!”

Li Fangge couldn’t shake off the blame for the huge debt. Those creditors had clearly set a trap, but Scum A hadn’t cared back then. She just wanted to numb herself, and the thrill of gambling allowed her to temporarily forget her pain. However, loan sharks were always easy to borrow from and extremely hard to pay back.

Her cheap older brother’s intent was clearly not to scold, but to show concern.

Reading the message, Li Fangge gave a wry smile. She replied with self-mockery: “Who hasn’t had a young, reckless moment? What, do you want to help me?”

Seeing the ‘typing’ indicator but no new message appearing for a long time, Li Fangge wasn’t sure if she had gone too far, putting him in a difficult position. Scum A wasn’t close to her brother, and this kind of tone wasn’t her usual style.

So, she subconsciously added: “Your news is way too late. This happened ages ago.”

By her reckoning, Scum A hadn’t been stirring up trouble for a while because she was broke; the debts were from the first half of the year.

Li Fangge guessed that her cheap parents had probably complained to Li Kege about her return home to borrow money a few days ago.

“If I said I wanted to, but I’m unable to, would you believe me?”

“Yes, I would,” Li Fangge replied immediately. After all, her debt wasn’t a small sum. Who could produce that much money all at once?

“What is it you really want to say?” she added. Li Fangge knew her cheap older brother rarely contacted her just for a casual chat.

“You… you won’t gamble again?”

“I shouldn’t.”

Li Fangge’s answer was definite: one, she had no such vice; and two, gambling wouldn’t help her current situation. However, she was afraid of sounding too resolute, which might arouse her cheap brother’s suspicion.

If he reported back to her cheap parents, it would certainly expose a flaw in the story.

The day she went home, she’d sworn to ‘His Lordship’ that she would stay away from loan sharks and gambling. Her cheap parents had been tricked by Scum A too many times, and the result was counterproductive.

“What do you mean, ‘I shouldn’t’?”

“People learn their lessons, right? I’ve been through a rough patch. I’m a little scared now. Isn’t there a saying that repentance is redemption?”

Li Fangge deliberately exaggerated. Since transmigrating to this world, she had gone out several times and hadn’t actually been cornered by creditors. ‘Miserable’ was an overstatement; the most accurate description was that being broke severely limited her freedom.

By contrast, Scum A had been unlucky; she had indeed been cornered by creditors multiple times, and once, she was even ‘taught a lesson’ for being too arrogant, so she’d learned to behave when she went out later.

Given those unpleasant memories, Li Fangge was very cautious on her few outings, absolutely avoiding sensitive places like casinos.

Embarrassing things had happened, of course, like receiving a final debt collection notice while having afternoon tea with Guan Xiaoyu that day.

Li Kege didn’t reply.

Li Fangge added, “Bro, did ‘His Lordship’ ask you to inquire?”

“No.”

“I thought ‘His Lordship’ had finally softened his heart.”

“It’s not hard to make him soften his heart.”

“Are you planning to put in a good word for me?”

“It mainly depends on you.”

“I don’t understand that.”

“Did you learn your lesson because of Guan Xiaoyu?”

“Did Cousin Chen Qiaoyi say something to you?”

Li Fangge realized something was off. However, it wasn’t hard for her cheap brother to find out about her progress with Guan Xiaoyu. Since she and the ‘delicate flower’ had been in close contact recently, Chen Qiaoyi would certainly have truthfully reported back to ‘His Lordship’ and the others, so it might not have been Bai Shao who told him.

“I’m not that free. Answer my question.”

“Didn’t I say last time that I plan to change my way of life?”

“No denial? Then I’ll take that as an admission.”

Li Fangge neither confirmed nor denied it. If her cheap brother wanted to believe that, it was fine. Saying she behaved because of Guan Xiaoyu was more credible than simply saying she planned to change her lifestyle.

Furthermore, there was an inexplicable connection between the two.

“Why are you asking all this?”

“I want to help you.”

“But you just said you wanted to but were unable to.”

Li Fangge actually knew what he was planning but pretended not to. Her cheap parents valued her cheap brother more now, and his words carried weight with them. At this point, the only people capable of helping her, whose help she could willingly accept, were her cheap parents.

“I’ll talk to Mom and Dad.”

“Oh,” Li Fangge softly responded, then added a “thank you.”

“It really seems like you’ve changed a little, just as Chen Qiaoyi said.”

“A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.” Li Fangge mocked herself.

Chen Qiaoyi’s observation that she had changed likely stemmed from her recent close interactions with Guan Xiaoyu. After all, Scum A previously wouldn’t even see her.

“Whether it works or not mainly depends on your own performance.”

“You sound so much like ‘His Lordship’.”

Li Fangge laughed silently at their chat log. She had never imagined that transmigrating into a book would net her such a good brother—one who didn’t care about her genetic level and didn’t despise his flawed younger sister.

“Mom and Dad actually haven’t given up on you. You need to pull yourself together.”

“You really are a good brother.” Li Fangge typed out the sincere thought in her heart and sent it.

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“I wouldn’t dare. This is the genuine thought of me, who has been abandoned by everyone.”

“What—what do you want from Guan Xiaoyu?”

Li Fangge’s heart thumped. For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer. Love? She wasn’t entirely sure. Survival? She couldn’t explain that, and it would only cause trouble. Saying she wanted nothing was clearly unrealistic; when relationships suddenly grew close, there were always give-and-take—reciprocity was the foundation of interpersonal relations.

“What else could I want?”

“Then you like her.”

Li Fangge didn’t refute it. Half and half, maybe. It might be too early to call it love, but she definitely enjoyed being with Guan Xiaoyu and also loved being liked by her.

For the person you like to like you back is a joyous and fortunate thing.

“Maybe,” she said vaguely.

“You know that you and her—”

“Have vastly different genetic levels?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll see. Right now, I don’t know what to do either.”

“You’re not like Mom and Dad, thinking you still have a chance for a second differentiation, are you?”

“Who knows?”

Her cheap older brother didn’t say anything more. Perhaps he found the idea too naive, or perhaps he had already learned everything he wanted to know.

Li Fangge disconnected from the network and turned off her phone. Just as she lay down,

The long-unheard system message played in her mind without warning—

“Ding! System message from the Lily Frequency of the Sirius Transmigration Bureau: Miss Heguo, congratulations on achieving the first kiss! Life value level increased by Reward: Wealth Key

New mission: Clear the Engagement Obstacle. Current life value level

Please keep up the good work.”

Hearing this bittersweet message, Li Fangge’s drowsiness vanished instantly.

According to the previous system message when she unlocked the transmigrated character, her life value level was 2. Combined with the current message, the new mission was no longer about increasing her life value level. This showed that improving her relationship with Guan Xiaoyu was absolutely effective for boosting her life value. Li Fangge hadn’t expected the first kiss to be so potent, and she subconsciously touched her lips.

At present, her biggest threat was no longer her life value, but the Engagement Obstacle!

For the engagement obstacle, Li Fangge could only think of Zheng Lier. So, was she supposed to eliminate her?

But hadn’t Guan Xiaoyu just mentioned that when Guan Zhaowen asked Zheng Lier if she had a partner, Zheng Lier had looked lovingly at Guan Xiaoyan? Could it be that this woman was deliberately trying to mislead them?

The urgency of this new mission made Li Fangge overlook the reward for the life value level upgrade.

“System Goo Jiujiu, come out.”

Remembering her last bout of irritability, Li Fangge’s summons was much gentler this time. Though spoken only in her mind, her pleasant voice seemed clearly audible.

“Ding! System Goo Jiu jiu from the Lily Frequency of the Sirius Transmigration Bureau is at your service. Hello, Miss Heguo, how may I help you?”

Li Fangge got straight to the point: “The obstacle to my engagement with Guan Xiaoyan, is it Zheng Lier?” She wanted the target to be clearer, to avoid accidentally harming the wrong person.