Chapter 23
On the way through the transmission, the system issued a reminder: "Due to internal adjustments, I will not appear in this world. You need to complete the task on your own."
Jiang Yan felt that the system's tone was somewhat urgent, as if it had encountered a thorny problem. She silently pondered for a moment, then opened her eyes again, finding herself amidst a group of children with radish-like hairstyles.
The task and plot also came along.
[Task: Help the male lead overcome the darkness and reach a positive conclusion.]
This time, the plot revolved around the male lead.
The male lead, Gu Yuming, was born into a wealthy family but experienced hardships. First, his mother passed away early, and he suffered bullying from his stepmother. Later, the Gu family went bankrupt, and Gu's father fled abroad with his new wife and young son, abandoning Gu Yuming. These tragic experiences caused Gu Yuming to become dark and twisted at a young age.
Jiang Yan's task was to help the male lead overcome this before he met the female lead.
"Is this the task of an evil second female lead? Isn't this doing a good deed?" Jiang Yan raised doubts, but the system had already left.
This was in the backyard of a villa.
Looking at the group of children playing in the distance, Jiang Yan looked down at herself, and sure enough, she had small arms and legs, appearing to be around four or five years old.
The original host should have been the same age as those children, but Jiang Yan was spoiled and willful, disliking interacting with others, so no one played with her.
Jiang Yan scanned around and did not find the male lead among the lively group of children. Turning her head, she saw a young boy standing in front of a flower bed, with handsome features but a cold and fierce expression, already showing signs of darkness at such a young age.
Wanting to get a closer look at the male lead, Jiang Yan slowly took a few steps towards him. However, Gu Yuming abruptly looked up, his eyes glaring at her like a wounded wolf cub, and growled fiercely: "Who told you to come over here!"
Jiang Yan was still a little girl in this body, unable to control her instinctive reaction, and trembled. Seeing his fierce expression, she took two steps back.
Unexpectedly, a group of people, who appeared to be servants, surrounded her, their expressions full of concern: "Young Miss, were you scared? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Young Miss, shall we stop playing and go home?"
"There are many toys at home, dolls, Legos, and cars."
"The nanny has also made delicious pudding and cheese sticks. Shall we go home?"
She had almost forgotten that she was playing the role of a spoiled little princess who was adored and pampered. Just like that, Jiang Yan was carried back home in a daze.
As she left, it seemed like Gu Yuming glanced at her. Shortly after, the current Madame of the Gu family came out, scolding Gu Yuming without even understanding what had happened, and ordered him to continue standing as punishment.
Jiang Yan then realized the nature of this plot. At this time, the stepmother had been in the Gu family for a year. The children had gone to the Gu family as guests, and that stepmother found an excuse to drag Gu Yuming out and punish him by making him stand in front of everyone.
Gu Yuming had already developed a defensive mindset by this point.
But there was no time to think about all this. Jiang Yan was carefully carried back by the servants, her feet not touching the ground, to another villa. They gently changed her clothes, washed her hands without her realizing, all while coaxing her: "Young Miss is so amazing!"
"The Young Miss loves being clean, doesn't she?"
Jiang Yan slowly realized how spoiled and pampered the original host was. These servants were all carefully selected by Yu's Father and Yu's Mother, either with extensive nanny experience, parenting experts, or professional caregivers. Of course, their salaries were satisfactory.
The original host's parents rarely appeared, as they were dedicated to their careers and had no time to accompany their five-year-old daughter. So they went to great lengths to provide her with the best.
With her parents' indulgence and the servants' careful coddling, it was no wonder she developed a spoiled and willful temperament over time.
In the following days, Jiang Yan intentionally or unintentionally approached Gu Yuming several times.
Usually, as soon as Gu's father's car left, Gu Yuming would be chased outside. The servants of the Gu family naturally understood the current situation, knowing that the stepmother was now in charge, and pretended not to see him.
The once arrogant and domineering young master had now become an unwelcome existence. However, he disliked everyone even more, feeling hatred towards everyone because everyone treated him this way.
So when Gu Yuming saw Jiang Yan again, he was slightly surprised, as she had been scared away by him that day.
Jiang Yan did not speak, only silently observing him for a moment, appearing to be scared of him.
The Yu family's servants recognized the young master of the Gu family and hurriedly carried her away.
After a few repetitions, the butler mentioned this to Yu's Father in his report.
That day, after finishing a nutritious and delicious breakfast prepared by the nutritionist under the care of a beautiful nanny, Jiang Yan suddenly heard the angry scolding of a woman coming from next door.
Next door was the Gu family.
Jiang Yan walked out with small steps and saw the stepmother wielding a feather duster, fiercely lashing it at Gu Yuming while cursing sharply: "At such a young age, you don't know how to behave properly! Your paws are truly shameless, daring to touch anything..."
Although she had only recently married into the family, she treated everything here as her own possessions. No matter how dark Gu Yuming became, at that moment, Jiang Yan disliked this stepmother who beat him.
Fortunately, as soon as Jiang Yan came out, a group of servants followed her.
The stepmother of the Gu family glanced at them, aware of the Yu family's status, and fearing that someone might take note of her actions, she gripped the feather duster and went back into the villa.
Jiang Yan walked up to the railing of the villa and stared at Gu Yuming, observing how severe his injuries were.
The Yu family's servants started persuading her to go back, but this time Jiang Yan did not listen.
No matter how much the stepmother abused Gu Yuming, she did not dare inflict any visible injuries in plain sight.
Before she could take a closer look, Gu Yuming bristled and turned his head, growling fiercely: "What are you looking at!"
But no matter how fierce he appeared, he was still a small boy less than a meter tall. In Jiang Yan's mind, she saw him as a bad-tempered child.
The little princess, accustomed to being treated with utmost care and pampering, stretched out her soft, white fingers and said to the servant beside her: "Medicine."
The servant was surprised for a second, thinking that the young miss was kind and compassionate despite her young age, and obediently went to the Yu family to fetch some medicine from the private doctor.
The medicine was specifically for treating external injuries in children.
Gu Yuming stared at the group of people. The little princess, who seemed to have been scared by him earlier, still did not approach but took the medicine and placed it on the ground inside the railing.
Then she slowly turned to be carried away by the group.
Only after they were out of sight did Gu Yuming move, his expression inscrutable as he picked up the medicine.
However, when Jiang Yan returned home, she was greeted by a small white fluff ball.