The Cold Heroine Turned Into a Yandere After Being - Chapter 3

Caught in the Act

“0.01?” Mo Zhu repeated the number, her voice thick with disbelief.

That is correct.

“What exactly is this 0.01? Is it the final shred of humanitarian pity she has left for me?” Mo Zhu couldn’t help but ask.

Xiao Ta sensed the subtle shift in its host’s mood and offered some consolation: It’s alright, Host! After all, your starting favorability with her was 0.01 to begin with.

Hearing this, Mo Zhu shifted the clothes from her right hand to the crook of her left arm and took a deep breath.

“So, what you’re saying is that after all that effort just now, her favorability hasn’t moved an inch?”

Don’t worry, Host! You’ve only just begun. Besides, as a newbie, you have three chances to negate damage. You don’t need to fear even if the score goes negative.

Xiao Ta quickly shifted gears, enthusiastically trying to cheer her up.

Mo Zhu, however, was not comforted in the slightest. If anything, her mood soured further.

“I think there’s a flaw in your mechanics. If I have to follow the original plot, how am I supposed to increase favorability?” Mo Zhu felt that the lack of progress was entirely the fault of the system forcing her to follow the script.

She hadn’t taken the system’s rules very seriously before, but now she realized she had been far too dismissive.

Anything outside the main plot is a blank canvas. As long as your actions remain logical within the character’s framework, you are free to improvise.

“Free to improvise.” Mo Zhu became thoughtful, though she couldn’t think of a clever strategy at the moment.

She glanced at the clothes in her hand and muttered under her breath, “What a hassle.”

Admittedly, her actions toward Ji Shubai earlier hadn’t been entirely sincere, but surely the woman shouldn’t be this indifferent?

Recalling Ji Shubai’s expression from a moment ago, she began to wonder with a hint of suspicion: what kind of mindset was Ji Shubai in while watching her performance?

The thought left her feeling somewhat disgruntled.

However, she adjusted her mindset quickly. She hadn’t expected much to begin with, and upon reflection, this version of Ji Shubai actually bore a stronger resemblance to the “Commander” she knew.

But then again, they were the same person, weren’t they?

She turned and walked toward the living room, making sure to fix her facial expression before re-entering Ji Shubai’s space.

The spilled coffee and broken glass had been cleared away. A fresh, steaming cup of coffee now sat on the island. Detecting her presence, Ji Shubai turned to look at her.

“The coffee is ready.” As she spoke, she pushed the cup toward Mo Zhu. Her gaze lingered for a split second on the clothes in Mo Zhu’s hand.

Mo Zhu noticed the ointment and cotton swabs she had provided earlier were sitting untouched to the side.

It seemed she truly held no favor in Ji Shubai’s heart; the woman didn’t even want to accept a shred of her concern.

She glanced at the red patch on the back of Ji Shubai’s hand. Luckily, it didn’t look serious, so she didn’t insist on the medication.

Forced fruit is never sweet—it just ends up bruised.

“Go change your clothes.” Mo Zhu handed the items over.

The coffee stain on Ji Shubai’s light-colored shirt had spread further than before, making it look particularly unsightly.

“No need.”

Predictably, she was rejected again.

With that “0.01 favorability” acting as a buffer, Mo Zhu didn’t take it to heart. She tried a different angle. “Surely you don’t plan on wearing that sticky shirt all day?”

She remembered from the files that Ji Shubai was a bit of a neat freak.

Seeing a flicker of hesitation in Ji Shubai’s eyes, Mo Zhu added, “Don’t worry, the clothes are brand new.”

Ji Shubai looked down at herself, remained silent for a long moment, and finally took the clothes from Mo Zhu’s hand.

Mo Zhu intended to lead the way, but after being declined, she simply pointed toward the guest room.

Before leaving, Ji Shubai didn’t forget to remind her to drink her coffee.

She was certainly diligent in her role.

Mo Zhu wasn’t really in the mood for coffee, but she picked up the freshly brewed cup anyway.

It was still a bit hot, so she blew on it and took a small sip.

The moment the liquid hit her tongue, her brows knit together. She pulled the cup away quickly, her eyes filled with confusion.

A thick, cloying sweetness clung to the inside of her mouth like a spiderweb, making even the simple act of swallowing difficult.

How much sugar had Ji Shubai put in here? Was she doing this on purpose?

Mo Zhu decided not to finish it and pushed the cup far away.

While Ji Shubai was changing, Mo Zhu took out her phone to scroll through the other woman’s social media.

Even though they hadn’t gotten along in high school, they had never actually deleted each other from their contact lists.

Mo Zhu clicked into Ji Shubai’s “Moments.” The most recent post dated back to just before her family’s downfall.

The posts were exactly as she expected—sparse and minimalist. Most were just random snapshots with brief, simple captions.

She scrolled through quickly, finding nothing of use, but just as she was about to exit, a photo caught her eye.

The shot featured a piano, with long, fair fingers resting on the black and white keys.

Just as Mo Zhu clicked on it to take a closer look, her phone rang. It was her secretary from the company, reminding her to check some recent messages.

After finishing the call, she didn’t go back to the photo. Instead, she began clearing her unread messages. She rarely bothered to save contact names with aliases, so as a newcomer to this world, she had no idea who half of these people were.

She tapped on a recently received message box and casually hit play on a voice note.

“President Mo~ you haven’t visited me in so long. When will you be free?” A woman’s sugary-sweet voice blared out, the deliberately flirtatious tone echoing through the living room.

Right then, a set of light footsteps approached from behind. Mo Zhu slammed the screen off, flipped the phone over in her palm to hide the display, and stood up to turn around.

After doing all that, she felt she had overreacted. It felt as though she had just been caught in an affair.

Fortunately, Ji Shubai’s face remained unreadable. She had changed into the beige sweater Mo Zhu had given her. The slightly loose collar revealed a hint of her collarbone, while the lines above were lost in her falling black hair. She had pushed her sleeves up half an inch, exposing her slender, pale wrists.

“Do you have a bag?” Ji Shubai asked, holding her soiled clothes.

Mo Zhu looked around and spotted a spare bag. Ji Shubai used it to pack away her old clothes.

Once she was done, Mo Zhu spoke up. “I need to head out now. There doesn’t seem to be much for you to do today, so I’ll have the driver take you back.”

She knew Ji Shubai had arrived in the assistant’s car.

“I can get back on my own,” Ji Shubai refused without a second thought.

Mo Zhu shrugged slightly and didn’t press the issue.

Fifteen minutes later, they stepped into the elevator together. Mo Zhu noted that Ji Shubai stood at least half a meter away from her.

Mindful of that precarious 0.01 favorability, Mo Zhu decided to choose her words carefully and remained silent.

The floor numbers on the display flickered slowly. The buttons for the first floor and the basement glowed quietly.

“Are you going to the company?” She hadn’t expected Ji Shubai to initiate conversation.

Mo Zhu nodded. Although she had a reputation as a useless socialite, her family hadn’t given up on her yet.

She sensed that Ji Shubai had something else to say. “Is something the matter?”

The air remained still for a few heartbeats.

“The 20% mentioned in the contract.” Ji Shubai seemed to find the topic difficult to broach, her voice dropping several decibels. “Please don’t forget it.”

Host, the initial payment promised in the contract hasn’t been transferred yet. Ji Shubai doesn’t trust you right now.

Xiao Ta’s voice served as a reminder.

“Doesn’t the contract state it? The first 20% will be transferred within seven working days, and the remainder will follow in a month.”

When the original Mo Zhu had drafted this contract, she had done her research. One month from now was the final deadline for Ji Shubai’s debt repayment.

“Can’t I just give her the money early?” Mo Zhu asked Xiao Ta in her head.

You cannot.

You need to use this month to work on increasing her favorability without contradicting the plot’s development. That is how you achieve your ‘Happy Ending’

Happy ending, my foot.

Mo Zhu realized this system might actually be out to get her. If she followed the original plot strictly, that money wouldn’t be paid out at all.

In times like this, she couldn’t help but miss Tianshu; at least he actually solved her problems.

“Fine.” Ji Shubai heard her words and still felt uneasy, but she had no other choice but to trust her. “Should I come at the same time tomorrow?”

Seeing her like this, Mo Zhu worried that her crumbling favorability might break through the floor and hit zero, so she tried to do something to salvage it.

“If you find it inconvenient to come over every day, you don’t have to.”

What Mo Zhu didn’t expect was for her words to sound like a threat to Ji Shubai’s ears. Thinking of the flirtatious voice she had just heard from Mo Zhu’s phone, Ji Shubai closed her eyes. “Fine. I will move in as soon as possible.”

Before Mo Zhu could say another word, Xiao Ta’s voice piped up.

Warning! Detection shows favorability has dropped below 0. One instance of negative score immunity has been activated. Duration: five minutes. You have two charges remaining.