Snuggling for Survival: A Quick Transmigration Tale - Chapter 16

“Mm…”

Opening her eyes dizzily, Yu Yu instinctively curled her body. As her head tilted to the side, her gaze was immediately captured.

She blinked several times. Her mind was still a fog of sleep, but her eyes were wide awake, staring directly at the incredibly beautiful person in front of her. Yu Yu didn’t even realize how rude her prolonged staring was.

Noticing the gaze, Li Qing’s eyes shifted. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Yu Yu’s dazed, sleepy face before her cold eyes moved away.

Yu Yu watched her, lost in a trance.

Li Qing had never paid much attention to this roommate of hers. Thinking that she would likely move out in a short while anyway, she didn’t care much. When Li Qing walked out and closed the door, leaving Yu Yu alone, Yu Yu finally sat up groatily and wiped the corner of her mouth.

Fortunately, there was no drool. It wasn’t that embarrassing.

“She’s so pretty…” As the quilt slipped off her body, Yu Yu shivered. Tugging the blankets tight, she couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

[Have we entered another world?] Looking around the small room in a daze, Yu Yu rubbed her eyes.

It looked like a small one-bedroom apartment. It was kept quite clean, but the single bedroom contained two beds separated by a curtain, making it feel exceptionally crowded. There weren’t many items in the room, but the small living area was fully equipped.

After the system upgrade, Yu Yu had gained slightly more authority. At the very least, she was no longer a completely peripheral character in this world; she could actually participate in the plot, which was a huge advantage for her mission.

But it was strange. Yu Yu remembered being in two worlds already. She remembered the first world quite clearly—though some details had faded, she recalled the general flow. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember the second world she had stayed in. Vague images flashed in her mind, but she couldn’t string them together, and the people in those flashes were blurred.

[Host, our target character is Li Qing. You must stick close to her. The longer the physical proximity, the more energy values we will obtain. Just like the last world, Host, you gained a lot of energy.]

The system’s voice was tinged with excitement as it prepared to transmit the plot of this world. Yu Yu’s train of thought was interrupted; she forgot to ask her questions and began to focus on studying the storyline.

When the system opened the interface, a small red bag was pulled out. The system was focused on explaining the important plot points to the host and didn’t notice the red bag creeping closer. After the data was bound together, this red bag seemed unusually well-behaved.

Once the plot research was finished, the system “blob” noticed it had accidentally pulled out the little red bag. It didn’t think much of it when putting the item back into the system space; it figured that since the bag was stuck to Yu Yu and possessed massive energy, there was no harm in carrying it along.

With that thought, and having understood the plot, the system tossed the little red bag back into its space. The bag stayed quietly in the corner, seemingly unaffected, but a mist-like substance began to leak through the cracks in the data, strand by strand, flowing into this world.

The human and the system discussed the plot excitedly, completely failing to notice the minuscule mist.

[This is my first mission after upgrading. Please do your best, Host!]

Yu Yu nodded and seriously reviewed the details once more.

Now that the system had upgraded, Yu Yu could access more of the plot. This time, the information they received wasn’t just about her own role, but also included the mission target’s perspective. In this world, the target was surrounded by a male and female lead, and the target’s storyline was extensive, spanning almost the entire book.

The plot was straightforward: the male lead, the female lead, and the “cannon fodder” female supporting character, Li Qing, were childhood friends who grew up together. Their friendship lasted through the end of university, until the tomboyish female lead, Ye Zi, and the gentle, considerate male lead, Liu Xu, began to develop romantic feelings for each other. It was only then that the cold and aloof Li Qing realized she had “different” feelings for her childhood playmate, Ye Zi.

Specifically, seeing the female lead agonizing over how to confess to the male lead made Li Qing certain that she had fallen in love with Ye Zi. However, with both being her best friends—one cheerful, one gentle—they were a perfect match. Her own feelings were destined to end in silence.

After six months of pain and confusion, once the leads officially became a couple, Li Qing gave them her blessing and moved abroad. But the story didn’t end there.

Li Qing was cold to outsiders but infinitely indulgent toward Ye Zi, tolerating everything about her without a bottom line. After the leads got together, the male lead became busy with his startup, working day and night. For a new couple, this caused friction. Feeling neglected, Ye Zi could only vent her grievances to Li Qing.

Receiving Ye Zi’s emotional distress every single day and night, Li Qing eventually couldn’t bear it and returned to the country to be by Ye Zi’s side, staying with the person she loved most under the guise of being a “best friend.” The longer she stayed, the harder it was to let go. Eventually, her suppressed emotions spilled out during a night of drinking.

The result was predictable. After being rejected, Li Qing didn’t overthink it; she had prepared herself. She felt that after speaking her truth and being brave, the outcome didn’t matter—she just needed to let go.

However, Ye Zi felt “wronged” by the situation. She believed it was her own fault for monopolizing Li Qing’s time, which had caused Li Qing to develop such feelings. Consequently, she went to great lengths to introduce Li Qing to many “high-quality” men. She felt that Li Qing shouldn’t waste time on her since she already had Liu Xu.

The result was a cycle of repeated hurt. Being wounded over and over by the person she loved caused the once bright and gentle Li Qing to lose the ability to trust others. She became unable to accept anyone and lost the courage to love again. One could say that in the entire book, the biggest victim was Li Qing.

After receiving the plot, Yu Yu’s expression was complicated. How could someone’s feelings be treated with such a forced, “hard-sell” approach?

[Host, this identity was hard-won. Currently, you are the person closest to the mission target. Li Qing will live in this small apartment for a month, but she is very difficult to approach. All her warmth is reserved for Ye Zi, and she is a bit of a clean freak. You need to find a way.]

Yu Yu’s headache grew.

Fortunately, her identity in this world was a frail, sickly full-time writer. Because of her poor physical condition, she couldn’t do much labor. Even going out for a walk would make her dizzy if she stayed out too long. During university, she seemed to be sick for 200 out of 365 days. She didn’t have major illnesses, but minor ailments were constant.

As she thought about it, Yu Yu coughed a few times. Oh… no wonder my head is spinning. It turns out I have a fever today.

She felt like crying. Yu Yu blinked, her tender little face full of grievance. Being sick was unpleasant, but this character setting had its perks; at least she didn’t need to interact much with the outside world. Staying in the apartment day and night wouldn’t be an issue.

Li Qing’s workplace wasn’t far, but as a new hire, she hadn’t found a permanent residence yet. Ye Zi had helped her find this apartment. Although it was a shared rental, she was willing to stay.

The more Yu Yu recalled the plot, the more she pitied Li Qing. She let out a long sigh, her face slumping. Fortunately, the three of them had only recently graduated. Li Qing’s feelings for Ye Zi were still in a state of budding confusion; she simply felt Ye Zi was her best friend and hadn’t truly understood her own heart yet.

However, the complicated emotions between them weren’t something a small “cannon fodder” like her could easily resolve.

Her mind was a mess until a knock at the door announced the arrival of her food delivery. She got out of bed to retrieve it. The dining area was in the living room, and it felt cramped once she sat down. No wonder there were two beds in the bedroom.

Yu Yu felt it was a grievance for someone like Li Qing to live in such a place. If Ye Zi hadn’t found it for her, she likely wouldn’t have shared a room with someone else.

As a recent graduate, she didn’t have much money. Checking her bank balance, Yu Yu was slightly surprised—she had over 30,000 yuan, likely saved from her writing fees during university.

It didn’t seem so dire at first glance, but there was a catch: the original owner was a novelist who had been idle for three months since finishing her last book while busy with graduation. She had been living off her savings. Writing was a talent the original owner possessed, but Yu Yu knew nothing about it.

With that in mind, 30,000 yuan didn’t seem like much at all. Yu Yu’s mood became even more complex.

After finishing breakfast and taking a shower to wash away the sticky sweat, Yu Yu crawled back into bed. The lethargy of the illness made it impossible to keep her eyes open. An uncomfortable sensation washed over her, and she couldn’t bear to think about anything else.

She fell into a half-asleep, half-awake state. She didn’t know how long she had been lying there, but sweat began to break out again. She lacked the strength to even turn over. Her body felt as heavy as lead; even moving a finger felt like an exhausting task.

When a cool sensation touched her forehead, Yu Yu’s eyelids fluttered open slightly.

“Am I dreaming?” Her voice was hoarse. The splitting headache hadn’t subsided, and her head felt burning hot.

“Do you not know you have a fever?” With a grim expression, Li Qing pulled a thermometer from Yu Yu’s armpit.

The reading of 39.1°C made Li Qing’s face darken even further. This morning, the girl had just looked a bit dazed; who would have thought she was actually delirious from sickness? If Li Qing hadn’t come back, this girl would probably have fried her brain right here.

Out of frustration, Li Qing’s tone was somewhat sharp. “Where is your medicine?”

Being roused so abruptly was clearly painful. Yu Yu pouted, her eyes narrowed to slits, but she didn’t say a word. Seeing her like this, Li Qing forced herself to be patient and asked again.

Yu Yu gave a tiny shake of her head, her voice raspier than before. “I don’t know…”

Li Qing’s expression grew even more somber, but she didn’t lose her temper with a sick person. Seeing Yu Yu’s furrowed brows and her look of intense suffering, Li Qing took a deep breath.

Even while sick, Yu Yu could see the expression on the other woman’s face. She was a bit scared; Li Qing was beautiful, but she looked quite fierce when she scowled. Being sick made her feel timid and sensitive. Too scary, wahhh… Yu Yu thought to herself.

She didn’t even dare to whimper. Yu Yu felt that before she could even start her mission, she was about to leave this beautiful world.

Seeing her in such distress that tears began to fall, Li Qing pursed her lips and stopped talking. Her long, slender hands reached out and scooped Yu Yu directly out of the blankets.

The surprisingly light weight of the girl made Li Qing pause for a second, but there was no time to think. She grabbed a coat to wrap around Yu Yu and headed downstairs.

The moment they touched, energy surged into Yu Yu.

However, Yu Yu couldn’t feel happy at the moment. Her body was wracked with pain, and she cried pitifully the whole way. Even after being tucked into the car, her tears wouldn’t stop. Usually, a simple illness wouldn’t make someone this weak, but this body was just too frail—she had been a “medicine pot” since childhood.

Seeing her cry so heartrendingly, Li Qing gave the driver the hospital address and then held the girl, patting her back over and over to soothe her. She didn’t speak, but the rhythmic patting on her back helped stabilize Yu Yu’s emotions.

With her brain clouded by the fever, memories of the original owner began to surface. It wasn’t a very happy family. Her parents had divorced when she was young, and she had grown up with her grandmother. Her sickly body had never quite recovered, though her grandmother had cared for her meticulously.

But her grandmother had passed away after she started university. She didn’t want to go to her parents, who had each started new families. They remembered her occasionally on holidays and sent her “red envelopes” (money), but otherwise, she lived alone. Poor health, poor constitution, and a poor family situation.

The tears flowed even harder. Yu Yu sniffled, looking more aggrieved and pitiful by the second.

Looking at her, Li Qing’s expression became complicated. But at this moment, other than patting the girl’s back, there was nothing else she could do. After all, they were practically strangers.