A New Beginning and Plans to Get Closer to the Villain

---

"So, I guess all I have to do is protect him from his brother and that... witch. Also, teach him to love his life and himself more. It's not too difficult."

"Xiao Jiu, is there any help you can give me? Or do you expect me to dive into the mafia without anything? Forget protecting the villain—I won't even be able to protect myself."

"No, dear host. Of course, I'll provide you with a golden finger to help. Please look at your wrist. There, you'll find the mission completion level and the villain's favorability level, along with a book that can randomly select a power from each world and give it to the host."

Liu Xingyu lowered her head to see her wrist glowing golden. Her first instinct was to cover it, worried that others might see it, but the system reassured her that only she could see it. Relaxing, she moved her hand aside, but what she saw next made her eye twitch.

"Xiao Jiu, didn't you say the original owner of this body barely interacted with anyone?"

"Yes, host. Not much interaction, just a few words exchanged with a couple of classmates each day."

"Then I must still be suffering from the effects of world transfer. Otherwise, why would the villain's favorability be negative? Not just negative—it's at -40."

"I assure the host that there are no lingering side effects from the transfer. There's no error in the favorability level either. As you can see, it's indeed negative."

"So, does he hate this girl even though he doesn't know her? How? Oh, my God. I'm starting to doubt if this mission is as easy as I thought."

"Forget it. I'll think about that later. Now tell me, how do I get the power?"

"Simply tap your wrist and swipe to the right. You'll find a book storing different powers from each character. All you need to do is tap it, and the wheel will spin. You'll receive the power it lands on."

"As I mentioned before, in every world, you get one power. But you can store each world's power and use them in subsequent worlds freely."

"There's just one caveat: in the first world, your power will remain with you until death. But in the following worlds, since you'll have multiple powers, you can only choose one to use each month. Its effects will last the whole month without the ability to change it."

Liu Xingyu thought this was pretty good. At least she'd have Superman-level abilities, which would allow her to protect herself and the villain without any fear of the mafia or gangs. With that positive thought, she tapped her wrist. After a flash, a wheel appeared and started spinning. It stopped on large letters, probably so she could read them clearly. However, her eyes twitched upon reading the result.

"Xiao Jiu..." she gritted her teeth as she said the name. "Are you joking with me or what?"

Of course, she knew it wasn't a joke, but she couldn't help but grind her teeth. The reason was simple: the character that appeared was a mermaid.

Yes, you heard right. A mermaid. She had expected at least a useful superpower, like teleportation to escape enemies or telekinesis to stop bullets. She would have even accepted Spider-Man's abilities.

But a mermaid? From what she knew, mermaids had nothing but pearl tears. What was she supposed to do with that? Give them to the mafia and beg them not to kill her?

It seemed like the system sensed her anger and disappointment, so it quickly explained.

"Host, no need to worry. Mermaids have incredible healing powers. They can heal themselves or others. It's even said that a tear filled with true love can bring someone back from the dead."

After hearing the explanation, her heart calmed a bit. Forget it, it's not like she could change it anyway.

After taking a deep breath, Liu Xingyu looked up to see the teacher writing on the board. It might seem like she spent a long time understanding the world's plot and talking to Xiao Jiu, but in reality, only a few minutes had passed.

Liu Xingyu noticed some students playing on their phones while others chatted comfortably. Only two or three were actually paying attention to the lesson, which wasn't surprising. Most of these students were either planning to study abroad after high school or take over their family businesses.

She sighed, thinking how different the world of the rich was, and then glanced over at Shen Yuan, who was still staring out the window with that empty look in his eyes.

The bell rang, signaling lunch. The students left, and Liu Xingyu packed her things and headed to the bathroom to check her face first. Thankfully, Xiao Jiu could act as a navigation system, or else she would've gotten lost, which would be embarrassing to ask for directions at her own school. Once she arrived, she looked in the mirror, and her throat went dry when she saw her reflection.

Her entire face was covered by her hair. It seemed the original owner of this body had grown her bangs down past her nose, covering everything.

Liu Xingyu brushed her hair away from her face. The girl standing in the mirror was like a lotus flower gently rising above the water. Her face was soft, like summer silk, glowing with a faint radiance, like the early morning light. Her skin was as white as ivory, almost transparent like porcelain. When the wind brushed her cheeks, they turned a faint shade of pink, as if the spring breeze had kissed them. Her eyes were wide, like deep mountain springs, sparkling like two stars in a clear sky, reflecting both childlike innocence and deep wisdom. Long eyelashes shaded her eyes, whispering ancient secrets between light and shadow. Her black hair flowed down like a waterfall.

The system had mentioned that, due to the mermaid's abilities she had activated earlier, her beauty had increased exponentially. Naturally, mermaids were beautiful.

Even Liu Xingyu was mesmerized by this face. She sighed and tied her hair into a light ponytail. She definitely couldn't live the same way the original owner of this body had. Fortunately, there were no close family or friends, so no one would question the sudden change. And if they did, she could just say she felt like changing.

When she left the bathroom, she returned to her class—not because she loved studying, but because Xiao Jiu had told her that the original Liu Xingyu didn't have any money, so she couldn't afford to buy any food right now.

But she wasn't in a bad mood, because Xiao Jiu also told her she didn't need to worry about money. Since she needed to focus all her time and energy on the mission, the system would provide her with anything she needed, including money and food.

Liu Xingyu's eyes lit up when she heard this. She forgot all her previous complaints about the system. Now, her Xiao Jiu was the best and coolest system in the universe.

Of course, Xiao Jiu said it would hack into the bank and archives to make it seem like she inherited a fortune from her deceased real family. That way, she'd become rich overnight without any need for complicated explanations.

Feeling ecstatic, she headed back to class, but the moment she entered, everyone fell silent. Only a few students remained in the room, perhaps because these wealthy young masters had already eaten hearty breakfasts and didn't feel hungry enough for lunch.

She looked around at the few students who were staring back at her in silence. After a few moments of this staring contest, Liu Xingyu made her way to her seat and sat down. The students snapped out of their shock, and two girls approached her.

"Excuse me, are you sure you're in the right class?"

"Yes, this is my class and my seat," Liu Xingyu said, pointing to the name tag on her chest.

The two girls gasped, and whispers spread through the room. Of course they would react this way—suddenly, the girl who always hid her face behind her hair had turned into a stunning angel with snow-white skin and big, round eyes. Even her voice seemed charming and beautiful.

After their brief shock, the girls asked about the skincare products she used and how her skin was so smooth and delicate. One of them, named Su Yue, came from a moderately wealthy family. She was open-minded and somewhat naive, saying whatever came to her mind.

Su Yue asked, "But Liu Xingyu, why did you always cover your face? I thought you were a pessimist with some twisted views. Who would hide such a face like yours?"

Liu Xingyu laughed when she heard this, and nearly everyone was stunned by her laughter. It was like the fragrance of flowers in spring, spreading joy in everyone's hearts and making the world seem brighter.

Of course, not everyone was affected. Shen Yuan remained by the window, in the same position as before. Aside from the initial shock when Liu Xingyu first entered, he didn't spare anyone another glance.

After her laughter, Liu Xingyu simply said that she had been feeling a bit depressed but was fine now. Of course, it was an easy lie to tell, as this was her first year in this high school. She had transferred after receiving a scholarship, and since it was still early in the year, it was believable that she had suffered from severe depression and recovered.

As for how she recovered miraculously after just two lessons in the morning? Well, no need to worry about such details, people.

    Predictably, everyone believed her. After a few more words with Su Yue and the others, the students returned, and the bell rang as the teacher entered. Throughout the rest of the class, Liu Xingyu was watching Shen Yuan until the classes ended.

She hadn't planned to attend the evening classes because she needed to go resign from her part-time job at the café. Then she would go to confirm her identity and claim her inheritance.

She needed to look for a house because she didn't plan to live in that shared apartment. Who knows if the others would become suspicious of her?

When she picked up her bag to leave, she glanced at Shen Yuan again, who was packing his bag. Perhaps he sensed her gaze because he lifted his head and looked back at her. Then he picked up his things and walked out in front of her.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but she felt he was saying, "Look more and I'll pluck out your eyes." Well, it wasn't an illusion, as confirmed by the preference points for Shen Yuan on her wrist, which had dropped to -45…

"Damn it," Liu Xingyu couldn't stop herself from cursing. She hadn't done anything, yet her preference points had decreased. How could she get closer to him now?

With a long sigh, Liu Xingyu left the school. All the way, she was thinking about how she would approach Shen Yuan. Maybe if she helped him with his studies—no, no, that wouldn't work. Shen Yuan had been smart since he was young, and she couldn't even solve a third-degree math equation. It wouldn't work out.

So, Liu Xingyu would plead with Shen Yuan tomorrow to teach her. It didn't matter even if she had to kneel; she would make him communicate with her and accept her into his life.

With this positive thinking, Liu Xingyu went to the bank. After handing over the documents that Xiao Jiu had prepared, she took all her so-called inheritance. After linking her information to her bank account, she officially became a wealthy lady.

Liu Xingyu left the bank excitedly, then went and apologized to the café owner and resigned. The funny thing was that he didn't believe she was the same person until she showed him her ID.

Only the house was left. She made Xiao Jiu look for a house near Shen Yuan's villa, then called the apartment owner and told him she needed to sign the purchase contract and move in immediately.

The man was happy and scheduled an appointment with her. Liu Xingyu kept running from place to place. It was good that she bought a ready meal on her way to the bank, but she was still hungry.

All that was left was to move into the villa. Well, the owner said it was a small apartment. Who would have guessed it was a two-story villa with a small swimming pool and a garden? Now Liu Xingyu understood the difference between her and the rich. Of course, Shen Yuan lived in a villa in an upscale community; even the (apartments) neighboring him were not ordinary.

When Liu Xingyu entered the apartment rented by the previous body owner, she found no one there, and that was fortunate for her. She took her things, which were not many, after packing a medium-sized box.

She wrote a message to her roommates in the apartment saying that she found another place and had paid the rent for next month to the landlord, and she wished them a good future.

After a long day, Liu Xingyu was dying of exhaustion. When she arrived at her new apartment, she thanked God that it was furnished, and everything was new and tidy; even the kitchen had everything.

She took a shower and slept in the room on the first floor. She liked the French window in this room, so she chose it. She didn't even unpack her things; she wanted to buy everything new. She only brought them in to let the girls know that she had moved.

In the morning, Liu Xingyu woke up energized, washed up, and wore her school uniform, then called a taxi to take her to school, primarily because the rich area naturally didn't have a bus station.

On her way to school, Liu Xingyu was thinking about how she would make Shen Yuan become her teacher and help her with her studies so she could get closer to him.

She couldn't offer him money to become her private tutor, could she? Did the son of China's richest man need money? Obviously not. So, she had to pretend to be pitiful and stick to him until he accepted to teach her. Yes, that's what she would do.

---