The Romance Extras Turned Out to Be a Yuri Story - Chapter 54

The System Swap and Plan Confirmation

After arriving home and saying goodbye to Zhang Qiu, Lin Luoluo glanced at her phone and saw a barrage of messages from Sang Jing.

【Ah! Have you gone back? Is my system with you? Did our systems switch?】 【Say something! I’m panicking!】 【Your system is so serious! It told me to find you. How do we switch back?】 【Haven’t you gotten back yet?】 【Gu Beichen just left.】

Lin Luoluo quickly replied: 【I just got back.】

Seeing the message, Sang Jing immediately sat upright. 【Your system said we can’t switch back for now. What about the missions?】

Sang Jing was anxious because her mission had a deadline: she had to get the female and male leads to cancel their engagement within a month so she could return to the real world.

Lin Luoluo replied: 【The missions can continue.】

Sang Jing thought about it—although the systems were switched, it didn’t interfere with their original plan.

With Lin Luoluo talking to her, she felt less frantic.

Lin Luoluo comforted her with a few more words before asking the system: 【Why are there two transmigrators in this world?】

The system gave an eerie chuckle: 【I am different from it. It is the past, and I am the future.】

Lin Luoluo frowned. Why was Sang Jing’s system being so cryptic?

【When a work is released, it is split into many versions—novel, animation, film and television. Each branch can create different trajectories.】

【In my version, the protagonist is you, my dear Female Lead.】

【Are you the film adaptation of the novel?】 Lin Luoluo asked.

【Yes, it’s not hard to guess, is it?】 the system replied.

【Then why did you appear in the world of the novel?】

According to the system, the film adaptation and the novel should be two separate, independent worlds.

The system sighed helplessly: 【The film production side was very mindful of the novel’s fans and specifically invited the novel’s author to handle the adaptation for the film.】

Lin Luoluo’s heart skipped a beat: 【Did the author write the novel’s extra chapters yet?】

The system countered: 【What extra chapters?】

【I am currently on the novel’s side story world-line. What is the extra story like?】

【I don’t know that,】 the system said. 【I only know the film adaptation parts.】

Lin Luoluo’s heart tightened: 【Then, according to the novel’s storyline, the female lead shouldn’t be me. Isn’t this a drastic alteration?】

System: 【The author has a strong bias for you. It was her request to promote you to the female lead. She said that the ‘White Moonlight’ archetype is out of fashion now and that the trend is for the third party to prevail, with ‘Lick the Dog’ literature. I don’t know how she convinced the investors, but they agreed.】

Lin Luoluo frowned. The system reassured her: 【As long as you complete the missions properly, returning is not a dream.】

A Sweet Video Call

Just as they finished talking, the phone vibrated. Lin Luoluo looked down—it was a message from Zhang Qiu, letting her know she arrived at school safely.

Lin Luoluo lowered her head, a smile inadvertently touching her lips: 【What is big sister doing tonight?】

Zhang Qiu messaged back: 【Reading case files.】

【Big sister is so diligent. Can I watch big sister?】

【Do you like the White Moonlight?】 the system suddenly interjected. Lin Luoluo’s hand shook, almost dropping her phone.

【Is it that obvious?】 Lin Luoluo asked.

Before the system could answer, a video call invitation popped up on her phone.

Lin Luoluo clicked it open. Zhang Qiu was leaning on her desk looking at her, a book spread open beneath her hands.

【Very obvious,】 the system replied, but Lin Luoluo was in no mood to deal with it. She said to Zhang Qiu, “I hope I’m not disturbing you, sister?”

“No, you’re not.” Zhang Qiu smiled at the camera.

She had just finished washing up. The hair at her temples was damp, and her complexion looked good. Her pair of long, narrow eyes looked at Lin Luoluo, and she reached over to put on her black-framed glasses.

The frames were large, but Zhang Qiu’s face was small. When she looked down at the book, the frames slipped slightly down her nose, and she pushed them up with her index finger.

Lin Luoluo’s heart stirred. This was the first time she had seen Zhang Qiu wearing glasses. Lying on the bed, she kicked off her slippers and asked, “What’s your prescription?”

“Not very high, about 100 degrees. They’re mainly for blue light protection.”

Zhang Qiu multitasked, setting her phone down and propping it up, while simultaneously typing a few keys on her computer.

As Lin Luoluo watched, she gradually felt sleepy. Her head tilted to the right, her hand dropped, and her heavy eyes closed.

Zhang Qiu finished reading a case file. When she looked up again, she saw Lin Luoluo had fallen asleep on the phone screen. She rested her right hand on her chin, watching her quietly for a moment before leaning closer to the camera and saying, “Goodnight, Luoluo.”

The Family Discusses Finances

Lin Luoluo slept soundly, unaware that her bedroom door had been pushed open and then quietly closed.

Her mother came in, saw she was asleep, and quietly backed out, putting a finger to her lips to shush Lin Xiangdong. The two walked lightly downstairs.

Downstairs, her father had just changed into his pajamas and was drinking water by the table. He asked, “Where’s Luoluo?”

“She fell asleep.”

The mother instructed, “Put these snacks in the fridge. I don’t think she’ll be waking up anytime soon.”

The nanny smiled and agreed.

Lin Xiangdong unbuttoned his shirt, sat down, and drank some lemon water.

Starting today, he was officially going to learn from his father how to manage a company, which was why there had been a company team-building event today.

His mother was also a little tired. She yawned and said, “I can’t stay up. I’m going to bed.”

The father waved his hand. Once only the two of them were left in the dining room, the father asked, “How much money did you invest in Cloud Tech?”

Today’s financial news had broken the story that Cloud Tech’s CEO had run away with the money, the investment had gone bust, and the company building was surrounded by investors. However, the entire company was just an empty shell; the grassroots employees knew nothing and only realized the sky had fallen when they woke up.

Lin Xiangdong chuckled: “Not much. Mu Yunchun was very optimistic about Cloud Tech. He not only invested in stocks but also followed suit by investing in Cloud Tech’s wealth management products. But I saw it was a P2P model and thought it was risky, so I only invested a little. I pulled out before the company went bust; only the stocks are still trapped, but that little bit of money exactly offsets what I earned.”

His father laughed: “A good son is born of a good father! Well done, my son!”

Lin Xiangdong scratched his head, slightly embarrassed: “It’s because you taught me well, Father.”

When he was in high school, Lin’s father took him to play with virtual discs. When he went to college, he gave Lin Xiangdong an account to buy and sell stocks. At first, Lin Xiangdong was just dabbling and lost quite a bit of money. Later, he slowly grasped the laws of the stock market and learned how to manage finances.

He had a substantial amount of capital over the years, and his father had even prepared five million for him to learn. He had told Lin Xiangdong that in three years, he would check his results. If the money doubled, Lin Xiangdong would enter the company to learn. If he lost it, the company would not be handed over to him but would be managed by a professional agent. Fortunately, Lin Xiangdong did not disappoint. Although he didn’t double the five million many times over, his investments in the Internet, finance, and entertainment industries all showed results. Not only did he meet his father’s expectations, but he tripled the money.

Lin’s father nodded with satisfaction: “That friend of yours lost a lot.”

Lin Xiangdong thought of Mu Yunchun and pursed his lips: “He was too aggressive.”

It was Mu Yunchun who first told him about Cloud Tech and encouraged all their brothers to invest. Lin Xiangdong and Dongfang Qing were cautious and made only small investments, but Mu Yunchun and Gu Beichen were optimistic about Cloud Tech’s P2P lending business. Unexpectedly, in less than a year, Cloud Tech had too many borrowers. Investors couldn’t recover their principal, and borrowers were delinquent on their loans.

Cloud Tech’s initial plan was excellent: use investors’ money to make money and lend it out. However, they didn’t anticipate that the funding gap would balloon like a snowball, making it impossible to pay the interest owed to investors. Furthermore, consecutive losses in multiple investment areas caused investors’ principal to be lost entirely.

Gu Beichen’s Financial Crisis

Lin Xiangdong had been wary of this aggressive investment method from the start and had even tried to persuade Mu Yunchun and Gu Beichen, warning that this interest model was likely to lead to disaster. However, because the two were acquainted with Cloud Tech’s CEO, they invested with absolute confidence.

Lin’s father said, “Investment requires caution. What you did was very good. Don’t be blinded by immediate profits; know that the more elaborately someone talks, the harder it is for them to deliver.”

Lin Xiangdong nodded. The father and son chatted for a while before parting. Lin Xiangdong went back to his room and checked his phone, seeing a message from Gu Beichen.

【Asleep yet?】

Lin Xiangdong knew what Gu Beichen wanted. He replied, “Not yet,” and immediately transferred ¥10,000 to Gu Beichen. His brother had lost the last of his savings in Cloud Tech, and his stocks were currently inaccessible. Now that his funds were being restricted by his family, he was likely broke.

【Take this for now.】

【Thanks.】

After all these years of brotherhood, some things didn’t need to be said.

Lin Xiangdong hesitated before opening Mu Yunchun’s chat window, then decided against sending anything.

Since he was currently riding high, he didn’t know what to say to comfort Mu Yunchun.

Gu Beichen breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the money. He had run into his father when he got home earlier, and his father had given him a cold, angry stare. Gu Beichen, who was originally planning to ask his mother for money, had immediately turned and left.

He was currently staying in a hotel. At ¥5,000 a night for accommodation, that expense immediately ate up half his remaining cash. With Cloud Tech’s collapse, he only had a few thousand left. Gu Beichen hesitantly started browsing the classified ads for apartment rentals on the company computer.

He had been assigned by his father to a real estate branch company to work as a planner. Only the company general manager knew his true identity, but under his father’s instructions, even the GM didn’t dare to give Gu Beichen any special treatment.

The GM had cautiously apologized the day Gu Beichen arrived and then, according to rumors, went to India to handle a real estate project, and Gu Beichen hadn’t seen him since.

The company was recently launching a new property development. If their project team’s plan was successful, they would earn a great opening day, and the team would be rewarded ¥1,000 per unit sold.

Gu Beichen never expected that he would one day work hard for a mere thousand yuan.

But he had to work hard; he could barely afford gas for his car.

Looking at the nearby rental ads, Gu Beichen saw that the minimum contract was one year. Even for three months, a “deposit plus three months’ rent” was too much for him. After all, he had just paid ¥5,000 for the presidential suite the day before and only had a few thousand left.

He had never been this poor before. Gu Beichen debated whether he should go home to live, but the thought of his father’s sour face made him grit his teeth, thinking he’d just sleep in his car if necessary.

Just then, his female manager came over with a proposal to call an all-hands meeting. She saw the rental information on Gu Beichen’s computer, hesitated, and asked, “Do you have nowhere to live?”

Gu Beichen nodded coldly.

The female manager hesitated, then said, “I’m looking for a roommate. Would you like to move in with me?”

A Morning Visit and Couple Avatars

…The next day, Lin Luoluo woke up to find her phone dead.

She yawned and plugged the phone in. Zhang Qiu had sent her a message earlier that morning.

【I’m off to work.】

Lin Luoluo quickly replied: 【I’m going to the temple to pray today. How about I get you a good luck charm for your work?】

Zhang Qiu’s reply was quick: 【Okay.】

She followed up with: 【I have to accompany my professor in court this afternoon, so I might not reply right away. Don’t worry.】

Lin Luoluo felt sweet inside.

【I know~ Work is important~】

She quickly rushed to get ready. Sang Jing was also messaging her: 【When are you coming over? Mao and I are having breakfast first; we won’t wait for you.】

【You guys eat. I’ll be there in half an hour.】

When Lin Luoluo finished getting ready and went downstairs, her mother was arranging flowers in the living room. Hearing Lin Luoluo’s footsteps, she called out, “Where are you going? I saw you were sleeping soundly this morning and didn’t call you. Breakfast is on the table.”

Lin Luoluo rushed into the dining room, quickly glanced around, grabbed a small cake, took two bites, washed it down with milk, and then headed out, saying, “I’m meeting Sang Jing today to go to the temple to pray and ward off any bad luck for her.”

“That’s a good idea, but can she put her foot down?” Tan Yi asked.

“She’ll be in a wheelchair.”

“Then take good care of her.” Before Tan Yi could finish her instructions, Lin Luoluo was already gone.

“That child,” Tan Yi shook her head.

She had meant to ask her about how things were going with Gu Beichen.

Lin Luoluo flew out, where the driver was waiting for her.

Knowing the young mistress needed the car, the driver had washed it clean early in the morning.

Lin Luoluo got into the car and messaged Sang Jing: 【I’m on my way.】

She also sent a message to Zhang Qiu: 【What are you having for lunch, Big Sister? Sang Jing and I might have the temple’s vegetarian meal.】

Zhang Qiu was organizing the case files for the afternoon court session. Receiving Lin Luoluo’s message was a welcome break. She pinched her nose, took off her glasses, and replied: 【Probably ordering takeout with my professor.】

She picked up her cup, found it empty, and took her phone and cup to the pantry to brew a cup of coffee.

【Takeout isn’t very healthy,】 Lin Luoluo wrinkled her nose. 【How about I ask someone to pack up some of the temple’s vegetarian food for you? You should try it too.】

【Okay.】 Zhang Qiu did not refuse.

Lin Luoluo smiled sweetly.

At the hospital, Sang Jing sat in her wheelchair and waved at her. “Luoluo.”

Lin Luoluo walked over to push her. The driver also got out to help move Sang Jing into the car.

Mao Yutong got into the front passenger seat, yawning. “Don’t wake me up until we get there, anyone.”

Lin Luoluo buckled her seatbelt and quietly asked Sang Jing, “Did you make her exert herself? She looks like she didn’t get enough sleep.”

Sang Jing gave Lin Luoluo a look of distaste. “Can you fujoshis stop making ambiguous comments…”

“Cough, cough, cough!” Lin Luoluo was startled.

Sang Jing stuck out her tongue. “I’m just kidding.”

Lin Luoluo carefully checked that the driver hadn’t heard, then reached over and playfully smacked Sang Jing. Sang Jing quietly took two gentle slaps.

Lin Luoluo’s hands were gentle, and she held back her strength.

After the playful smacks, Sang Jing honestly explained, “Xiao Maozi took time off to look after me, but she still has her work to do. She was working overtime on her computer last night to submit things.”

“Oh,” Lin Luoluo nodded.

Sang Jing whispered, “Xiao Maozi is an illustrator. She was inspired when she saw you and Zhang Qiu yesterday and drew avatars for you two. Want to see?”

Lin Luoluo nodded eagerly.

Mao Yutong’s art style was very cute and captured the distinct features of Lin Luoluo and Zhang Qiu. Lin Luoluo fell in love with them after seeing them. She asked shyly, “Can I buy the rights to this?”

Sang Jing waved a hand dismissively: “She said she wanted to give them to you both, but she didn’t have your contact information. Just take it.”

Sang Jing sent the image. Lin Luoluo immediately set it as her avatar. Then she poked Zhang Qiu, carefully asking: 【I have an avatar here. Do you want to use it?】

Zhang Qiu: 【Send it over, let me see.】

Lin Luoluo: 【[Image]】

Zhang Qiu: 【Looks nice.】

A moment later, Lin Luoluo checked her avatar again; Zhang Qiu had changed hers to a similar style matching Lin Luoluo’s.

Lin Luoluo smiled sweetly.

It looks like a couple’s avatar.

Her phone vibrated.

Zhang Qiu: 【Is this a couple’s avatar?】

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