The Cannon Fodder Ex-Wife Changes to Take the Black Moonlight Script - Chapter 3

Shang Shiqian ultimately didn’t make it to the police station.

Because Xiao Luomeng received an urgent call while escorting her there.

A forest fire had broken out near the nature reserve, and all available forest rangers whether on duty or off were required to assist in the rescue efforts.

Xiao Luomeng couldn’t possibly bring Shang Shiqian to the emergency site, so she dropped her off at a roadside bus stop, instructing her: “I’ve called my mentor. Wait here, he’ll come to pick you up. His badge number is…”

Watching the battered pickup truck speed away, Shang Shiqian sat down on the bus stop bench.

After a while, she noticed a park behind the bus stop. In the distance, she could vaguely make out a few elderly men playing chess in a pavilion.

Shang Shiqian immediately forgot Xiao Luomeng’s instructions and wandered over to the pavilion, watching the game unfold.

She was a chess fanatic. Even after dying once, she hadn’t shaken her habit of becoming so engrossed in a match that she tuned out everything else. Oblivious, she remained unaware that a police officer was searching for her just a hundred meters away at the bus stop, asking everyone if they’d seen Shang Shiqian.

By the time the elderly men finished their game and left to pick up their grandchildren from school, the large clock in the center of the park had struck noon.

The sudden chime startled the pigeons in the square, and Shang Shiqian’s stomach growled in harmony with the “ding-dong” of the bell.

Puzzled, she asked her system, “Do I still need to eat?”

The system energy-saving edition responded mechanically: 【All humans require sustenance.】

Shang Shiqian let out an “Oh,” then patted her pockets.

Great. Still empty. No money would magically appear.

“Being a ghost was better!” she sighed.

Suddenly, she remembered Xiao Luomeng’s instructions and hurried back to the bus stop.

But after waiting for a while, she saw no sign of any officer.

Clearly, she’d missed him.

No cop would wait around for hours like an idiot.

Shang Shiqian returned to the park.

A middle-aged woman in her thirties or forties was feeding pigeons. Watching the toast in the woman’s hands, Shang Shiqian swallowed hard.

Mistaking her interest for a desire to feed the birds, the woman tore off half a slice and handed it to her.

“Thank you, sis!” Shang Shiqian took it and promptly stuffed it into her mouth.

“Ah!” The woman started to stop her, but seeing how earnestly she chewed, she swallowed her words.

Flattered by the term “sis,” the woman pulled out another intact slice of toast and gave it to her.

Munching on the bread, Shang Shiqian suddenly noticed the woman tearing her own slice into tiny pieces to toss to the pigeons. Realization dawned, she hadn’t been given the bread to eat, but to feed the birds.

Shang Shiqian choked on the toast, coughing as her face flushed red, her fair neck quickly tinted pink.

The woman burst into cheerful laughter at the sight.

Though embarrassed, Shang Shiqian quickly recovered, justifying herself: “I was taste-testing for the pigeons.”

The woman laughed until tears formed, happily shoving all her remaining bread into Shang Shiqian’s hands.

…

After the woman left, Shang Shiqian fed the leftover bread to the pigeons while pondering how to earn money without legal identification.

Then it struck her some chess parlors allowed “stakes games.”

The so-called “stakes game” refers to adding wagers to chess matches put simply, it’s playing chess with money or material goods as bets, hence also called “wager chess.”

Chess houses don’t require ID registration, so Shang Shiqian could solve tonight’s meal and accommodation problems by playing for stakes.

She tapped the system: “System, search for nearby chess houses.”

The self-service system helpfully marked nearby Go clubs on the offline map.

Shang Shiqian set off with great ambition, only to return dejectedly an hour later.

Hiding under the shade of a tree, she sighed in frustration: “Why do chess houses require ID registration now? It’s not an internet café!”

[Below is an excerpt from a Q&A regarding “Why chess houses require ID registration”:

“After the 2016 kidnapping and murder case of the Shang family’s fourth daughter, Shang Shiqian, police investigations revealed that the suspect had been stalking the victim long before the crime, even openly entering the chess house where she played… Some argued that if chess houses registered everyone’s IDs, potential security risks could be minimized… Amid strong public demand, nationwide chess houses began requiring ID registration starting in 2017.”

The above answer is sourced online and for reference only.]

Shang Shiqian scratched her cheek.

So, it was because of her?

She asked again: “Any quick ways to make money?”

[Recommend browsing the “Xia Country Criminal Code”, all the fast-money methods are listed there.]

“System, you’re hilarious.” Shang Shiqian burst into laughter, her gloom instantly dispelled.

–

Even though it was only late May, Dongcheng’s temperature had already soared close to 30°C.

The scorching sun baked the ground, the urban heat island effect in full display.

Even a luxury imported car worth seven million couldn’t withstand the heat. As it drove under the blazing sun, the engine malfunction light suddenly lit up, accompanied by a sharp “beep, beep, beep” alarm. The car vibrated like a tractor.

The male driver panicked and pulled over, flustered and embarrassed. Apologetically, he turned to Wei Yixian in the back seat: “President Wei, the engine’s malfunctioning. It needs repairs. I’ll arrange another car for you immediately, please wait a moment.”

As the driver, his responsibilities included not only chauffeuring Wei Yixian but also scheduling regular maintenance and hazard checks. Clearly, he had neglected his duties, leading to this situation.

Wei Yixian’s expression darkened.

This avoidable mishap only worsened her already foul mood.

Then, another [beep] echoed in her mind.

Suppressing her irritation, she ordered: “Turn it off.”

The driver complied.

Yet instead of peace, Wei Yixian heard a strange voice in her ears:

[System, you said I need enough energy to resolve my identity issue, but to gain energy, I must get close to Wei Yixian… Yet without solving my identity problem, how can I approach her? Isn’t this a deadlock?]

Approach me? Wei Yixian’s gaze turned icy, locking onto the driver.

But the driver was only busy calling to arrange another car, showing no suspicious behavior.

Moreover, the voice was clearly that of a young woman, a rough male voice like the driver’s couldn’t produce such a pleasant tone.

She glanced around again.

The sidewalk was empty at the moment, and though cars streamed past on the road, none had stopped.

A ridiculous premonition struck her.

If there was no one around, then who was speaking?

After a few seconds of silence, another voice, synthetic like an AI, chimed in: [Host, you could appear on the target’s usual commute route and arrange a romantic encounter.]

The girl replied: [You want me to stage an accident?]

[Not an accident, a serendipitous meeting! A romantic beginning! Fate’s design!]

The girl scoffed: [Do you think I can just bump into her randomly on the street? What kind of wealthy CEO walks to work? She definitely rides in a car! The only way I can force a conversation is by timing a dramatic collision to stop her car, how else am I supposed to “coincidentally” meet her?]

The driver, having finished his call, turned back and found Wei Yixian standing on the sidewalk, scanning the surroundings.

Driver: ?

He hurried over. “Ms. Wei!”

Wei Yixian cut in, “Did you hear a girl talking to an AI just now?”

The driver was even more bewildered. After a long pause, he cautiously asked, “Ms. Wei, are you suffering from heatstroke?”

Wei Yixian pressed her lips together and strode toward the park.

She spotted people there. If she wasn’t hallucinating, the voices had to be coming from them.

The driver quickly followed.

“Don’t come with me,” she said.

She needed to test whether the issue lay with the driver or the park.

“But—”

The driver faltered under her icy glare, swallowing the rest of his words.

Ms. Wei is getting harder to please. Must be the fallout from that argument with the Shang family’s young miss this morning, then dealing with the Wei family’s nonsense back at the office.

Having driven for Wei Yixian for years, he prided himself on understanding her temper. Besides, her bodyguards were nearby, why bother meddling?

As Wei Yixian entered the park, the strange voices grew clearer, confirming her suspicion: the source was here whether human or something else.

–

Beneath the shade of a tree, Shang Shiqian remained oblivious.

After the setback of being unable to earn survival funds through “gambit chess,” she realized that without an identity, her lifelong dream, one she’d failed to achieve before death now seemed even more out of reach.

Faced with this double blow, she had no choice but to consider the system’s proposed mission.

Of course, she had no interest in breaking up Wei Yixian and her beloved. So she’d take a roundabout approach: pretend to comply, stabilize the system, then collaborate with Wei Yixian to resolve her identity issue and enter the Go Tianyuan Tournament.

Once she claimed the Tianyuan title and reached 9-dan, her wish would be fulfilled, and she could return to where she came from.

As for how to secure Wei Yixian’s cooperation?

Shang Shiqian was certain that a control freak like Wei Yixian would never tolerate outside forces meddling in her affairs.

If Wei Yixian learned that an organization (the system) was scheming to sabotage her relationship with her sweetheart, she wouldn’t just sit back and take it.

Even if she eliminated Shang Shiqian as a pawn, the organization (system) would just send more “Black Moonlight” strategists.

So if Wei Yixian was smart, she would choose to cooperate with Shang Shiqian.

Shang Shiqian tested the system: “Then do you know where Wei Yixian is?”

[Energy-saving mode cannot locate the female lead.]

Would she have to ambush Wei Yixian outside the Wei Corporation building?

Shang Shiqian checked the location of the Wei Corporation and found it was about seven or eight kilometers away. However, the Wei family residence was only two kilometers from here, just an hour’s walk.

But if she remembered correctly, Wei Yixian had already moved out of the Wei family home.

Shang Shiqian tried to recall where Wei Yixian’s house was.

A few seconds later, she gave up.

Even though she had been married to Wei Yixian for a year, she had never been to her house and didn’t know the exact address.

Search using offline maps?

Without a specific address or landmark, offline maps seemed useless.

Take the chess club as an example. When she searched for “chess club,” the system could retrieve nearby locations by scanning for the term. But Wei Yixian’s home wouldn’t display her name, making it impossible to find.

–

After studying several directions and using the clarity and volume of the sound to pinpoint the right path, Wei Yixian arrived under a banyan tree.

She “heard” the girl inquiring about her location.

Fury made her clench her fists involuntarily.

What kind of thing could actually track her?

Had someone planted a tracking device on her?

Was it the restless remnants of the Wei family who refused to accept defeat, or her so-called siblings?

Or perhaps the Zhou family, on the verge of bankruptcy and ready to strike back before their downfall?

And who was playing tricks here?

Wei Yixian circled the banyan tree and saw a figure sitting rigidly beneath it.

Even though the person had their back to her, she was absolutely certain that strange voice came from this girl.

Wei Yixian sneered.

Found you.

Bystander: “Call me sister? Oh my, a natural-born lesbian saint.”

Shang Si: “Huh?”

CEO Wei: “…”

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