Qin Jia didn't have time to guess what Lu Tingzhou was thinking.
She turned over, lay flat on her back, tucked the blanket in, and quietly closed her eyes to rest.
Whether it was because the spiritual energy in this world was too poor, or because she had been drugged, after arriving here, her body became extremely lethargic, and her mind was filled with nothing but eating and sleeping, unable to accommodate anything else.
In the Misty Forest, apart from the first few years, she didn't suffer much hardship.
After settling down at Grandma Locust Tree's place, Grandma taught her how to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate. Gradually, she abandoned her original habits and learned a whole set of skills.
It seems now that without the nourishment of spiritual energy, the wildness deep within the soul is hard to eradicate.
Overwhelmed by sleepiness, Qin Jia followed her body's instincts and quickly drifted off to sleep.
In her dream, she returned to the familiar Misty Forest and was reunited with her friends.
Everyone held a grand welcome party for her, with singing and dancing, and it was a very joyful occasion.
As Qin Jia dreamt of this, her brows relaxed slightly, and a smile gradually appeared on her lips.
...
The night was deep, and the moon was high in the sky.
The cruise ship sailed steadily on the sea, striving forward along its predetermined route.
Inside the fourth-floor medical room.
Lu Tingzhou threw away the cotton swab that had been pressing on the blood spot. He lowered his sleeve and quietly looked at the woman sleeping soundly in the next bed, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him.
Throughout his life, he has received many confessions of love, and each time, he has firmly rejected them, leaving no room for the other person to have any illusions.
Even so, many women still fawned over him, using all sorts of tricks to attract his attention.
However, no one had ever dared to flirt with him so openly as Miss Qin.
Lu Tingzhou initially thought the woman was trying to hook him, until the restaurant manager appeared and told him the cake might be poisoned, at which point he realized how despicable his thoughts were.
The company was recently negotiating a multi-billion dollar deal. At a crucial juncture in the third round of cooperation meetings, his door lock happened to break, and she happened to appear and promptly took away the strawberry cake. Afterwards, she even risked her own life to force the staff to conduct an urgent investigation.
Upon closer reflection, she was either someone sent by his father to secretly protect him, or an admirer who accidentally discovered the poisoning plan.
On his way to the clinic, he asked the person in charge, who said that this Ms. Qin worked in the design department of Zhenyuan Group and seemed to have no connection with their Lu family.
Lu Tingzhou thus drew his second conclusion.
Qin Jia had a crush on him.
However, he didn't know her well, and he had no idea how to respond to her feelings.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded in his ear, and Lu Tingzhou came back to his senses, meeting the gaze of the female doctor beside him.
Just as the female doctor in the white coat was about to speak, Lu Tingzhou, afraid of waking Qin Jia, raised his hand and made a shushing gesture, indicating that she should speak to him privately.
Lu Tingzhou sat down on the sofa near the window, crossed his legs naturally, and looked at the doctor with a calm gaze, asking, "What was the result?"
"Mr. Lu, you are not poisoned," the doctor said slowly, "but Miss Qin's condition is not optimistic."
"She was given a potent hallucinogenic drug containing prohibited ingredients. It can cause a normal person to have a mental breakdown within a few hours. Fortunately, it was discovered in time; any later, and the consequences would have been unimaginable..."
Potent hallucinogens? Contraband?
What kind of competitor would want to do something so ruthless to him?
Several faces flashed through Lu Tingzhou's mind, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
He raised his hand to rub his temples and instructed the doctor, "Take good care of Miss Qin. I'm going out for a bit."
"Yes, Mr. Lu."
-
Warm sunlight streamed into the room, mingling with the loud sound of a ship's horn, waking Qin Jia from her sweet dream.
She opened her sleepy eyes, groggily sat up, and the clear blue sky and white clouds came into view. Only then did she realize that it was already dawn.
The IV bag on the shelf had been removed, and the needle in her hand had been pulled out. Faint needle marks remained on the back of her left hand, reminding her of everything that had happened last night.
Qin Jia threw back the covers and got out of bed. She walked through the curtains and ran into the female doctor who had examined her the night before. The doctor smiled at her and asked kindly, "Ms. Qin, how are you feeling? Are you still in pain?"
"I'm not feeling unwell." Qin Jia shook her head, her stomach growling at an inopportune moment. She lowered her eyes and said embarrassedly, "I'm just a little hungry."
Are there any dietary restrictions?
The doctor said, "Try to eat some light and easily digestible food. Mr. Lu has sent someone to prepare it. Go back to your room and the staff will deliver it to you."
Qin Jia nodded.
Back in her room, Qin Jia went into the bathroom to take a shower. She took off her clothes and stood under the showerhead, admiring her own body, her cheeks unconsciously flushing.
She quickly looked away, methodically washed her body, changed into clean clothes, and then washed up at the sink.
Just as I finished doing all that, there was a knock on the door.
Qin Jia opened the door, and a waiter pushed a food cart in and placed the food on the table in the small living room.
"Ms. Qin, the ship has docked. After you have your meal, you can call room service and we will help you pack your luggage and escort you off the ship."
Qin Jia: "Okay, thank you."
Breakfast included purple sweet potato, steamed pear, zucchini, boiled egg, and a bowl of fish ball soup.
When she first arrived, Qin Jia couldn't get used to the food. She imagined the food in front of her as sweet locust leaves and ate it slowly, bite by bite.
The original owner didn't have much stuff, and Qin Jia packed her suitcase in less than ten minutes.
When she went out, she found that the door to the next room was open, but Lu Tingzhou was not there; it seemed that he had already left.
She glanced a couple more times in the direction of 302, when suddenly a mechanical voice came from the air: [Host, stop looking. Lu Tingzhou is long gone.]
Qin Jia gave a curt "Oh," and asked, "What about An Jun? How is he?"
Security has found evidence that he was taken away after the cruise ship docked. The police will investigate further and will likely summon you to testify.
[But seriously, host, aren't you even a little bit concerned about the male lead's whereabouts?]
001, exasperated: [If you keep acting so nonchalant, we'll both die.]
Qin Jia was stunned upon hearing this. "Aren't you a robot? You can die too?"
Of course, if the higher-ups are unhappy and delete my program, I'll simply disappear.
So, I'm begging you, just follow the plot and give me a way out, okay?
Is it following the storyline?
According to the plot, she and another innocent colleague were both sexually assaulted on the cruise ship last night. The colleague subsequently fell into depression, and she was kicked out of her family home.
For the sake of a happy reunion five years later, she had to watch everyone fall into the abyss...
She didn't want this kind of happiness.
"Grandma Locust Tree taught me to do good deeds. If I do as you say and fail, wouldn't I be harming myself and others?"
Last night, in her dream, besides her companions in the forest, Qin Jia also dreamed of the original owner of the body.
The original owner said that in her previous life, due to a system malfunction, she learned about the plot in advance and tried every means to avoid the male lead, thus avoiding the predetermined plot of a one-night stand and running away with a child.
Five years later, the whole world collapsed, but she did not regret it, because in those five years, she had experienced unprecedented happiness and freedom.
After a heated argument, 001 was completely defeated. He said helplessly, "You're older than me, and your arguments are full of fallacies. I can't argue with you."
If you don't want to follow the script, then cherish the last five years of your life.
Five years from now, if you haven't made the male lead fall head over heels in love with you, and haven't been able to marry him and have children, the world will definitely collapse.
Currently, Lu Tingzhou has no interest in you. He received a call from home this morning asking him to go back for a blind date, and he left without hesitation.
Even if he hesitated even slightly, I would still think you had a chance. But now it's hard to say...
The system became increasingly discouraged, so Qin Jia decisively said, "In that case, why don't you quit and take advantage of the time you still have to go to other worlds to make a name for yourself?"
"Just leave me a database."
001 was stunned when he heard this.
He hadn't expected the koala to be so laid-back. After a moment's thought, he replied, "Don't go back on your word."
"After I log off, I won't be back online for a long time. You're on your own, okay?"
Qin Jia pulled her suitcase and followed the crowd off the ship, calmly replying in her mind, "Okay."
"Grandma keeps her word."
001: "..."
If he can successfully save other worlds before this world collapses, his life can still be saved. For him, it's a sure-fire win.
According to the rules, the system cannot exit automatically, but it can exit completely if requested by the host.
001 left Qin Jia an NPC information database and gave her an extra resurrection armor.
[Host, you have one chance to revert to a previous save. Please use it carefully.]
"OK, thanks."
[System is logging out—]
[System 001 has exited, free strategy mode has been activated. Good luck!]
The dock was bustling with people. Following the signs, Qin Jia walked towards the station.
Suddenly, someone tapped her on the right shoulder. She turned around and saw a beautiful young woman smiling brightly, as if she knew her.
"Qin Jia, you walk so fast! I almost couldn't catch up with you..."
Qin Jia tried to recall, and the next second, specific information appeared above the other person's head.
The information indicates that this person is her colleague, Lin Luxi. If she had avoided An Jun last night, it would have been this colleague who was assaulted.
Qin Jia took the initiative to make amends: "Sorry, I was thinking about something and didn't notice you behind me."
"It's okay, I don't mind." Lin Luxi waved her hand, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked alongside her. "By the way, have you heard about Director An's matter?"
"I heard…" Lin Luxi looked around and lowered her voice, "Director An went into the wrong room last night and was beaten up by someone who mistook him for a pervert. When the police took him away this morning, his face was bruised and swollen like a pig's head."
Qin Jia feigned ignorance, "Really?"
Lin Lucy nodded vigorously, holding up three fingers with absolute certainty, "I'd be a dog if I lied to you!"
Qin Jia was amused by her, "You're so happy that Director An is in trouble?"
Lin Luxi shrugged. "How could I not be happy? An Jun usually acts like a tyrant at the company, does nothing but take credit, and everyone is fed up with him."
"Aren't you annoyed by him?"
Qin Jia chimed in, "It's quite annoying."
It's no wonder that the Qin family went bankrupt, given that a good-for-nothing like An Jun could stay in Zhenyuan for several years until he was brought down for embezzling huge sums of public funds.
"Ugh, let's not talk about him anymore, he's bad luck."
"Hey, are you free for the next two days? Interested in joining a social event?"
"A social gathering?" Qin Jia thought for a moment and declined, "I have something to do at home, I don't have time."
An Jun has been arrested, and the police will definitely call her in for questioning in the next couple of days, so she needs to prepare.
"Okay, I'll go by myself."
"Um."
Before I knew it, I had arrived at the station.
Before leaving, Qin Jia waved goodbye to Lin Luxi, who stared at her hand and suddenly widened her eyes.
"Qin Jia, what happened to your hand?"
Qin Jia looked down and discovered a horrifying bruise on the palm of his right hand.
She belatedly realized that there was a bruise on her left hand in the same spot.
"It was an accident, it's nothing serious."
She's alright; it's just that the person who bumped into her hand was in a worse situation.
Lin Lucy: "It's the weekend, why don't you go to the hospital to get checked out? Don't be careless."
Qin Jia smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern."