Grandfather Zhao lovingly pulled Chu Chu into his embrace: “I thought you usually didn’t dare to speak loudly to others, but I didn’t expect you to be so reliable when it really matters.”

Pei Yuan and the other Pei brothers walked up to Old Master Zhao, a smile that wasn’t quite a smile on their faces: “Grandfather Zhao, you know that Chu Chu has always liked to be clever, right?”

Chu Chu proudly lifted her chin: “Big brother, you haven’t even seen my little cleverness yet!~”

Pei Yuan snorted.

Old Master Zhao was pleased: “Seeing you like this, I’m relieved. But you’re at an age where you should be thinking about dating, shouldn’t you?”

Chu Chu was stunned.

The Pei brothers tensed up in an instant.

Pei Yuan chuckled lightly: “She’s still too young; I don’t plan on letting her date just yet.”

Old Master Zhao was shocked: “In your twenties and still not dating? How is it that you’re younger than me and even more old-fashioned?”

Pei Yuan lowered his head, a faint smile on his lips: “I just don’t trust anyone else to take care of my sister.”

Old Master Zhao sighed: “That’s true. After your parents passed, the only emotional support you had left was Chu Chu. I know how much you kids loved her back then.”

Chu Chu looked at her brothers.

Each of her brothers had a stern expression, glancing at her awkwardly, and said nothing more.

She felt uncomfortable.

When they were younger, her brothers doted on her the most. Every time she fell ill, they treated it like a major crisis, taking turns to care for her until she recovered before they could relax.

But ever since the system intervened, the pure family affection had twisted into what it was now.

Chu Chu lowered her head in guilt.

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out—

“Get away!!!”

Chu Chu froze, looking up, only to see a shadow darting toward her, a knife plunging into her forehead!

Chu Chu collapsed to the ground with a thud!

Her brothers’ expressions changed in an instant, and they rushed towards her in panic: “Chu Chu!”

“Call an ambulance! Quickly, call an ambulance!!”

Pei Yuan stared at her face in shock: “Chu Chu, don’t be afraid, the ambulance is coming soon. Don’t sleep, Chu Chu!! Wake up! Don’t sleep!!”

—

“Ah!” Chu Chu screamed, sitting up from the ground, frantically pressing her hand to her forehead.

Her forehead was empty, no knife embedded there.

She was dazed, looking around and realizing she was in a vast, white world.

Chu Chu: “……”

Am I dead?

“Yes, you’re dead,” a small golden ball floated in front of her: “You were accidentally stabbed by a knife that was flung at you, and you died instantly.”

Chu Chu recognized the voice: “Are you the system?”

The golden ball responded: “Yes.”

She was enraged: “Are you messing with me? You didn’t let me die from jumping off a building, but let me die from a knife stab, and in front of so many people? You’re a rotten system, always causing trouble!”

But she quickly adjusted: “Forget it, just send me back to my original world. I don’t want to waste any more energy; otherwise, I’ll end up feeling reluctant.”

The system sighed: “Host, you can’t go back.”

Chu Chu: “?”

The system: “To tell you the truth, you haven’t been in a novel world at all. You’ve been in a parallel world, one of its dimensions. What you’ve seen as a ‘novel script’ is just the fate of those people.”

Chu Chu blankly listened: “Then why did you lie to me saying it was a novel?”

The system nodded: “Describing this fate as a novel helps you transmigrators understand things more quickly and easily. Also, Xia Xue Chun and Ji Yan Chuan are indeed the male and female leads in your fate. They come with their own halo, so calling them novel protagonists is quite accurate.”

Chu Chu: “……Then why can’t I go back?”

The system sighed helplessly: “Because you’ve already been judged as a citizen of this world, and the fate of the people involved in this matter has collectively become unknown. There’s no longer a need for our system to intervene, so I can no longer be bound to you.”

Chu Chu was stunned: “So, I just died for nothing?”

“No,” the system replied, “The reason you can’t return to your original world is due to our system’s judgment failure. We will give you ten chances to revive, to return to the time before your death. It could be a few minutes or a few hours, to allow you to save your life.”

Chu Chu was even more confused: “Since you said I can’t go back to my original world, I won’t commit suicide. Why do I need to save my own fate?”

The system explained: “Because according to our ‘script,’ you’re already dead, Host.”

Chu Chu felt as if she had fallen into an ice pit!

The system’s voice grew lower: “Although the fate of all the characters in the ‘script’ has begun to twist, the story still follows the original plan. That’s why I’ve given you ten chances to revive. You can change your fate.”

Chu Chu wanted to say something but felt her body float up, as if a gust of wind was pushing her forward!

The system’s voice rang in her mind: [You are both inside and outside the script. If you survive until the end, your death buff will disappear.]

[Take care, Host.]

Chu Chu gasped, her body staggering as she stood beside Old Master Zhao.

Old Master Zhao looked at her in confusion: “What’s wrong, Chu Chu?”

Chu Chu was dazed, and in front of her, a “10” appeared.

The “10” slowly changed to “9.”

Indicating she had nine lives left.

Chu Chu looked around.

She was back where she had been talking to Old Master Zhao.

Pei Yuan and the brothers looked at her in confusion, still showing no signs of sadness.

Lin Qing curiously stared at her: “Could it be that Grandpa Zhao mentioned you should date, and you got shy?”

The guests nearby chuckled lightly.

Chu Chu looked around and her gaze froze on a little boy.

The boy was casually playing with a sharp dagger, showing off to a little girl: “What do you think, cool, right?”

The girl frowned: “How can you bring a knife in? Your parents will scold you.”

The boy sneered: “So what if I brought a knife in? It won’t hurt anyone. If you’re so capable, you take it away!”

He raised the knife above his head and ran toward Chu Chu, teasing the little girl: “Come on, come on!”

Suddenly, the boy tripped, and the dagger flew straight at Chu Chu!

Someone screamed: “Get away!!!”

Chu Chu pushed Old Master Zhao away and reached out to catch the dagger!

The scene erupted in gasps!

Chu Chu held onto the knife tightly, blood dripping from her palm.

She didn’t feel pain, only a sense of immense calm spreading through her, warming her limbs.

She… survived.

The people around her froze.

An adult reacted and ran to find the little boy: “How could you bring a knife in? You almost killed someone!”

The boy realized his mistake and quickly ran away!

Several people gathered around, seeing the blood and shouting: “Ah! Miss Qiao is bleeding a lot.”

Chu Chu stared at the knife in her hand, still shaken.

Aunt Zhao was standing nearby, stunned: “You saved my dad, Chu Chu.”

Chu Chu froze, meeting Aunt Zhao’s excited gaze: “This knife was clearly aimed at my dad. If it weren’t for you, he would have been injured. You saved his life!”

Chu Chu: “No, I didn’t—”

Old Master Zhao gripped her shoulder, gratitude overflowing from him: “Don’t say that, child. I understand. Go get your wound treated!”

Old Master Zhao instructed his son: “Go bring some thank-you gifts for Chu Chu!”

His son replied, “Yes!”