Chapter 2: Aren't We Friends Too?
Three months ago.
Su Qingsi opened her eyes in a foreign land, propped herself up, threw off the covers, and stepped barefoot onto the carpet.
The carpet beneath her feet was cream-colored, stretching all the way to the floor-length mirror on the other side of the room.
The person in the mirror had almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, and naturally rosy lips.
Her skin was blindingly white, black hair spilling over her shoulders, the ends curling lazily.
This face was her own. Bao Si’s face.
“You’re awake.”
A cold electronic voice sounded in her mind.
Su Qingsi looked at the mirror, fingers brushing her cheek. “What are you?”
“System No. 076,” the electronic voice said.
“This is the world of the novel *The Substitute Bride*. You are the male lead Fu Linzhou’s white moonlight, Su Qingsi.”
Su Qingsi turned and walked to the window. Outside was a foreign morning.
“What about the original host?”
“Drank too much last night. Died suddenly in her sleep,” the system said.
“Your soul bears some resemblance to hers, meeting the transfer conditions. This body has now fully fused into your original appearance.”
Su Qingsi nodded. She had slept for far too long; these supernatural oddities no longer stirred even a ripple in her.
“What is my mission?”
“Push the world toward the grand finale.” The system pulled up a light screen, dense text surfacing on it.
“This is an old-school substitute novel.”
“Male lead Fu Linzhou, heir to the Fu family, head of the capital’s top family. Height 193, personality cold and ruthless.”
A photo appeared on the light screen.
The man wore a black suit, seated at the head of a conference table. High nose bridge, thin lips.
Even just a photo carried that oppressive aura.
“He has a white moonlight in his heart. That’s you, Su Qingsi.”
“Three years ago, during the Fu family’s internal strife, you went abroad for your future and broke up with him unilaterally. He found a substitute—the female lead, Wen Yirou.”
The light screen switched, another photo appearing.
A girl in a cream-colored knit sweater smiled gently at the camera, clear brows and eyes, a clean aura.
“Wen Yirou. Kind and naive, the standard female lead of old-school novels.”
“She secretly loved Fu Linzhou for years, willingly becoming a substitute, giving everything for him, and finally earning his regret and deep affection.”
“Your role is the catalyst for their romance.”
“According to the original work, after returning to China, you will constantly frame, scheme against, and humiliate Wen Yirou.”
“These actions will push Fu Linzhou to see your true colors, making him realize he truly loves Wen Yirou, triggering the groveling crematorium arc.”
“In the end, Fu Linzhou sends you to prison, marries Wen Yirou, and reaches the grand finale.”
The system poured the entire novel into Su Qingsi’s mind.
The Su Qingsi in the original work faked depression for sympathy after returning, stole design drafts to accuse others of plagiarism, using every low and vicious trick in the book.
And Fu Linzhou went from nostalgia to disappointment, eventually sending her to prison with his own hands.
In the side stories, Su Qingsi was set up by Wen Yirou’s admirers in prison and violated by multiple men.
After her release, she lived in poverty and froze to death on a snowy night.
Wen Yirou became Mrs. Fu in name and truth, spoiled by Fu Linzhou for a lifetime, enjoying endless luxury.
Su Qingsi said faintly, “I don’t like this ending.”
The system paused. “These are the original settings.”
“But as long as you complete the mission and push Fu Linzhou to put the wedding ring on Wen Yirou’s finger, this world will break free from the original constraints and become an independent space-time.”
“Then, you can live freely as Su Qingsi, no longer controlled by the plot, and never have to sleep again.”
Su Qingsi turned around. “Just getting them married is enough?”
“Yes. The moment the ring goes on is the finale node.”
“After that, this world won’t be controlled by anything.”
Su Qingsi laughed softly.
It was a shallow smile, just a slight curve of her lips, but that tiny bit of laughter instantly made her whole face breathtakingly vivid.
“Bao Si was the beauty who made the king light beacon fires to fool the lords. Naturally, she deserves the offerings of the whole world,” she said slowly.
“How could she end up impoverished?”
The system fell silent. It was smart, but couldn’t read between the lines.
Su Qingsi turned and walked into the walk-in closet. It was filled with the latest haute couture of the season, arranged by color palette, exquisite tailoring, luxurious fabrics.
Her fingers trailed across a row of dresses, finally stopping on a smoky pink knit maxi dress.
Su Qingsi slipped off her robe. The mirror reflected a snow-white body, a waist slender enough to grasp, full breasts, round and perky hips, long straight legs.
Every inch was stunningly beautiful, devastatingly seductive—a natural, flawless softness.
She changed into the dress.
Then, standing before the jewelry cabinet, she picked out an extremely thin diamond necklace and fastened it around her neck.
“Where is the plot right now?” Su Qingsi asked casually while arranging her long hair in the mirror.
“Not long ago, Wen Yirou was schemed onto Fu Linzhou’s bed, and Old Master Fu walked in and misunderstood.” The system pulled up the timeline.
“To appease his grandfather, and because Wen Yirou resembles you somewhat, Fu Linzhou signed a contract with her to pretend to be a couple in front of outsiders.”
“Currently, Fu Linzhou still treats Wen Yirou purely as a substitute.”
“Occasionally he’ll be slightly gentler when a certain angle reminds him of you, but most of the time he’s cold.”
“Wen Yirou has always secretly loved him. Right now she handles all the housework, cooks for him, and imitates your past clothing style and perfume.”
Su Qingsi was picking up a lipstick to examine it. Hearing this, her hand paused.
“They slept together?” she asked, tone flat.
“Halfway,” the system answered.
“That night, Fu Linzhou mistakenly thought Wen Yirou orchestrated it to carry a Fu family heir. He refused to truly submit, so at the last moment he changed the method. So it only counts as half.”
Su Qingsi’s brow lifted slightly.
“In the original work, their first real time happens in the middle-to-late stages, when the white moonlight starts causing trouble,” the system added.
Su Qingsi blinked at the mirror. The beauty in the reflection rippled with charm, pure and innocent.
“How long until I return to China and the original plot officially begins?”
“Three months.”
She stood up, walked to the window, and watched the foreign street below slowly waking up.
“System,” she suddenly spoke.
“I’m here.”
“You said that as long as Fu Linzhou puts the wedding ring on Wen Yirou’s finger at the specific time point, my mission is complete, right?”
“Yes.”
Su Qingsi’s eyes curved, her smile enchanting, yet her gaze remained perfectly clear.
“Then that is... simply wonderful.”
...
Three months was more than enough time for Su Qingsi to figure out this world.
Using the original host’s phone and computer, she looked up everything she needed to.
History, technology, politics, economics, the rules of social networks, the rise and fall of luxury brands.
She learned fast. So fast that even the system was surprised sometimes.
But thinking twice, for a woman who could make an emperor light beacon fires to fool his lords deep inside the imperial harem, what was a little learning ability?