When Tao Ran returned home, Su Ru also followed her back. As a woman who had not been a woman for many years, Tao Ran had some psychological shadows about women's sensitivity and bad temper. So she tried to put it subtly, "That...you have a house, right?"
Su Ru said: "Yes." She said without affecting her action of taking off her shoes.
Tao Ran was a little depressed: "It's not very appropriate for you to live in my house like this. I don't have any change of clothes for you here."
Su Ru's actions paused, she looked at Tao Ran and said: "Are you trying to drive me away?"
"No," Tao Ran said, "I mean I want to sell the house..."
"Sell the house?" Su Ru asked, "Why?"
Tao Ran thought for a while and still said, "I want to leave here."
Su Ru widened her eyes and looked at Tao Ran, as if she saw through her shell and could see the soul hidden deep inside, "You want to leave this sad place?"
"???" Tao Ran looked puzzled, "Sad? I don't find it sad here."
"Then why do you want to leave?"
Tao Ran said: "If I tell you, you may not believe it, I just want to find a place with clear waters, green mountains, birds singing and fragrant flowers blooming to spend some quiet days."
Su Ru said: "Are you implying that I'm annoying?"
Well, to be honest Tao Ran did feel she was a bit annoying. But she was used to it, after all, which of her previous female partners hadn't started out a bit annoying and developed from there? It's just that now she was a woman, she just wanted to live her comfortable days peacefully, and didn't feel like dealing with such matters as much. Tao Ran sighed, "I think you need some time alone."
Su Ru left Tao Ran's house and returned to her own. After calming down, she realized something was off about herself. The job was going fine, so why did she impulsively resign just because of a man? Moreover, she felt she liked being close to Tao Ran, and seemed to dislike Tao Ran interacting with men.
Su Ru was scared by her own thoughts. She quickly called her manager, "Manager, I resigned in a moment of impulse because of break up. I still want to come back to work, please give me another chance..."
The manager cursed her out over the phone and told her not to be late for work tomorrow. Afterwards, Su Ru posted online: "What should I do, I have a special possessive desire for my female colleague."
1st comment: Huh? After that post this morning, I'm starting to question the gender of the poster.
Su Ru: The poster is a girl.
3rd comment: What's going on these days? Have girls started liking other girls? No wonder there are more and more single men in society.
4th comment: OP, do you like your colleague? I'm in the same boat as a gays, I support you confessing to her.
5th comment: Are they even leaving us men any room to live?
6th comment: Well, 5th comment, you can still find a man to live with.
7th comment: I've lost all hope in this gay world…
Su Ru threw her phone on the bed, then stuffed her head under the blanket. What should she do, did she really fall for a woman? But before she obviously didn't feel anything for Tao Ran, how come these past two days she's changed like this? Wah wah wah...no…please, no.
Su Ru crawled out of bed, opened her computer, and started searching for lewd photos of idols, the idol's face, the idol's figure, yeah that's what she liked. Then she clicked on a video of the idol, who was talking with a gentle smile.
Hmm...why does it feel a bit fake and effeminate?
She thought of how Tao Ran talked, serious but with a hint of helplessness and indulgence in her expression. When Tao Ran looks at you, it feels like you are the only person in the whole world. Gentle in a way that made you want to indulge, and in front of her it seemed you could act spoiled…
No, snap out of it, can't go further down this path!
After sending Su Ru away, Tao Ran felt greatly relieved. She couldn't stand to see women unhappy, but as long as the unhappy woman was not in front of her, she could pretend she didn't know anything. She was still hungry from dinner, so Tao Ran ordered takeout. Before the takeout arrived, a best friend she had frequent contact with called her.
"Ranran, what are you doing?"
Tao Ran took a bite of her food, "Having dinner."
"Why are you eating at this hour?" Her best friend asked, "Are you too lazy to cook again?"
Tao Ran wanted to say it was because of an unexpected situation during dinner, but she didn't want to go into details, so she simply said, "Yeah."
"How about I come over to your place and cook for you?" her best friend suddenly suggested.
Tao Ran was a little surprised, "Why did you suddenly have this idea?"
"It's my parents, they keep introducing me to blind dates, and I don't want to go. So, I thought I'd come to your place for a couple of days, lie low for a bit."
Having just seen Su Ru off, Tao Ran initially wanted to decline. But this was her best friend, they had grown up together, and in the end, Tao Ran agreed. She also told her friend that she had quit her job, so she could come pick her up anytime.
Her friend was very happy and said she'd come tomorrow, telling Tao Ran to have good food ready for her.
After hanging up the phone, Tao Ran couldn't help but sigh. Now that she was used to being nice to women, how was she supposed to change?
No matter how conflicted she felt, she couldn't stop her friend from coming over. The next morning, while Tao Ran was still asleep, a knock at the door woke her up. She opened the door in astonishment, "So soon? Wasn't I supposed to pick you up?"
"I made a nighttime escape," her friend replied, bringing in her luggage, "Don't you know how scary my parents are? Do I really look like I can't get married?"
Tao Ran helped her friend settle her luggage and then said, "Wait for me a moment; let's go out for breakfast."
"Sure, you go wash up," her friend agreed.
As Tao Ran was washing her face in the bathroom, her friend dragged her luggage over, sweating from the effort. She opened her suitcase to get a change of clothes. She had just taken off her top, leaving only a little camisole, when she heard a knocking on the door. She peeked out and saw a young woman. So, she opened the door, still dressed in her sexy camisole, and asked, "What do you need?"
After spending the whole night pondering and realizing she might have genuinely fallen for Tao Ran, Su Ru's face froze upon seeing the scene. Meanwhile, Tao Ran was inside, saying, "I've put your clothes in the closet. It was so messy; I have no idea how you usually live."
So, Su Ru's other half also froze, and Tao Ran walked to the door, asking, "Who are you talking to?"
Then she saw Su Ru with an unpleasant expression. "What are you doing here?"
Then she saw Su Ru, looking both embarrassed and angry. She glared at Tao Ran fiercely, let out a huff, and turned to run away.
Tao Ran: "..."
Her best friend found it a bit amusing and commented, "This is so entertaining. She looked like a girlfriend who caught you cheating in bed."
Tao Ran almost couldn't maintain her expression. Her friend chuckled, "This is great material, I think I can definitely write a yuri novel about it."
Well, her bff was a professional online novel author…
Tao Ran thought of all the novels she had crossed over in, and asked a question that had been suppressed in her heart for a long time: "Why are there always vicious female supporting characters in novels?"
"No there aren't," her friend retorted. "Have you seen many vicious female supporting characters? Usually it's just vicious male characters, while the female characters are all beautiful and gentle."
Tao Ran raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Is that so?"
"Yeah," her friend continued, "I like bad boys."
Tao Ran: "..."
During their dinner outing, her friend asked, "You never seemed interested when I talked about what I wrote before? So why did you suddenly ask this today?"
Tao Ran sighed, "I just feel that sometimes, the vicious female supporting characters in novels are a bit pitiable. They're obviously so talented, yet they end up with such tragic fates."
Her friend blinked a few times, finding this conversation topic rather strange. She chuckled, "So, should I write a novel where you're the main character and you go into the novel to save the vicious female supporting characters?"
Tao Ran: "..." No need to write; I've already saved them and returned home.
Tao Ran asked, "You've written quite a few novels. Have you ever thought about transmigrating into one of your own stories? And who do you want to cross into it to be?
Her friend felt that today's discussion was getting increasingly bizarre. She took a bite of her deep-fried dough stick and replied somewhat despondently, "In my stories... the supporting characters have relatively plain lives, and the protagonists often have it quite rough. If I were to transmigrate, I'd prefer to go into someone else's novel."
Tao Ran felt melancholy. As they continued their conversation, she suddenly noticed a familiar creature crawling by her feet.
Tao Ran: "..."
"What's wrong?" Her friend chuckled, "Have the novels addled your brain?"
Tao Ran wasn't obsessed or confused with the novels; she simply noticed Xiaomei. Xiaomei wiggled its chubby body onto Tao Ran's lap, lifted its paw, and said, "Hi~"
Tao Ran: "..."
"Do you find life boring? Do you think your life lacks purpose? Xiaomei has good news for you. Do you want to find a part-time job?"
Tao Ran stared at Xiaomei, his intentions were very obvious: what kind of part-time job?
Xiaomei flipped open a small notebook and said, "Our company offers several types of part-time positions. First is being a temporary system, similar to what I am, but temporary. Second is being a salesperson, which was your previous occupation. Since you have experience, you can become a regular employee at any time. Third is in the HR department, responsible for recruiting employees for the company, mainly focusing on recruiting salespeople. You know, salespeople are always in demand."
Tao Ran's mouth twitched slightly. Her friend couldn't see Xiaomei, so she asked, "What's wrong? Have you seen a ghost? Why did you suddenly stop moving?"
Tao Ran suddenly covered her head and said, "No no, I have a slight headache, I want to go lie down for a bit."
After saying this, she hurriedly ran back, with her friend chasing after her. "Headache? Let's go to the hospital! Why are you going back?"
Tao Ran hurried back home, then locked herself in her room. Her friend shouted outside the door: "Is there something you can't talk about? If there's an issue, just tell me. I'll help you figure out a solution..."
Tao Ran replied, "No need, I'll be fine in a while. You play by yourself for a while."
Xiaomei asked, "Have you made your choice?"
To be honest, Tao Ran was finding it difficult to adapt to reality after coming back. If she had to choose a job, she'd prefer one of these. Tao Ran asked, "So can I return to reality at any time?"
"Yes," Xiaomei replied. "But if you quit halfway, there will be deductions."
Tao Ran had previously worked as a salesperson, and now she wanted a change. So she said, "I'll go for the temporary system job."
"Okay," Xiaomei said and presented a bunch of avatars. "Do you want to choose a system avatar? You can use this to hide your true appearance when you don't want to reveal yourself."
Tao Ran looked at the options, which included cockroaches, spiders, and Transformers-style robots. She asked, "Are you also using an avatar appearance?"
Xiaomei replied, with a hint of sadness in its voice, "No, I don't. It's not like I'm a human."
"..."
Tao Ran's mouth twitched, then pointed to one of the images and said, "Let's go with this one, this is Kun right?" [鲲 (kūn) - legendary giant fish that could transform into a giant bird.]
Xiaomei commented, "Play less games, okay? This is just a whale, are you sure you chose this one?"
"I'm sure."
"Alright, let's move on to the task introduction. The host you are currently binding to is named Su Jue. Gender: male. Age is not important. His mission is to conquer a seductive bottom partner. Your task is to help him complete one mission, and after that, you can settle your salary."
"Does he only need to complete one task?" Tao Ran's expression was subtle. "Why did I have to complete ten tasks to come back?"
Xiaomei explained, "It's only you, who is coming back, but Su Jue has to continue. Since the company's system is in high demand, for hosts with average conditions, we often send temporary systems to assist them, one world at a time."
Tao Ran: "..."
At this point, Xiaomei blinked at Tao Ran and said, "Me being your exclusive system in the beginning means that you're really amazing."
Tao Ran: "..."
"Are you ready? We're about to set off!"
Tao Ran's vision blurred, and she found herself standing in front of a man. The man was handsome with a cold and aloof demeanor, sporting a pair of glasses that accentuated his well dressed beastly charm. Initially reserved, the man's eyes widened as he saw Tao Ran, and he exclaimed, "This is... a whale? What happened to the seahorse from last time?"
Tao Ran's whale avatar twitched its mouth slightly, and she replied, "The seahorse is taking care of a newcomer. I'm your system for this task. You can call me Kun."
The corner of Su Jue's mouth also twitched imperceptibly, he asked, "I've already completed three tasks. Why can't I get an exclusive system yet?"
Tao Ran flicked her whale's tail, "What, do you have a problem with me?"
"No, don't dare." Su Jue seemed cautious, not wanting to offend the system. "Let's go do the task."
Tao Ran opened the map and pointed to a red dot, saying, "See that? Your mission target is here."
Su Jue asked, "What's the name of this seductive bottom this time? Oh, it's Tony. He's attending a wedding. How do I get in without an invitation?"
Tao Ran sighed internally; he's so silly, no wonder he doesn't even have an exclusive system. She advised, "If you don't have an invitation, can't you just tag along with someone else? Find a girl with an invitation and accompany her inside."
"Good idea!"
Su Jue then approached several girls but had no success. In the end, he shrank into a corner drawing circles, muttering, "I'm gay, I can't pick up girls."
Tao Ran: "..."
Tao Ran was left speechless, but then she noticed an option in the system settings for 'embody.' What does that mean? Could I attach myself to the host's body? She clicked on it, and an option appeared in front of Su Jue: "Agree to let the system play on your behalf?"
Su Jue thought it was a good idea and he agreed.
Immediately, Tao Ran's perspective shifted, and she became Su Jue. After becoming Su Jue, Tao Ran adjusted her suit, thinking it was more comfortable being a man. Sporting a habitual charming smile, she approached a woman and said, "Miss, are you alone?"
The woman replied, "Yes."
Tao Ran: "For a beauty like yourself, you don't have a male companion?"
The woman blushed and stammered, "Sir, even though you're such a gentleman, aren't you alone too?"
Tao Ran smiled sheepishly, "Well... would you do me the honor of being my companion for the evening?"
The woman gazed at the handsome man before her and shyly agreed.
Tao Ran stretched out his arm, and the woman shyly held onto it. Together, they approached the grand entrance. The woman dizzily handed over the invitation card before the two smoothly went in.
Though Su Jue couldn't move at the moment, watching this he couldn't help but be amazed. Are systems nowadays this incredible? What use do we even have if systems could do everything?
As Tao Ran walked in, he looked around and was about to return control to Su Jue. At that moment, someone patted him on the back. A woman's voice said, "What are you doing here? Take one of these pills; it'll make the drinking session more bearable later."
When Tao Ran turned his head, both of them were momentarily stunned. A very beautiful woman was standing in front of him, holding a pill in her hand.
Some long-forgotten memories were resurfacing, and Tao Ran blurted out, "Qiuqiu?"
Long Qiu's brows furrowed momentarily, her surprised expression turning icy. "I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else."
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Tao Ran standing there. There was no mistake. It was indeed Long Qiu, her first mission. Tao Ran lived with this woman for over sixty years...
After turning around, Long Qiu felt puzzled. It was strange that she had mistaken someone else for Tao Ran. At this moment, she saw Tao Ran and approached, saying, "I've been looking for you for a long time." (former Tao Ran)
Tao Ran was in the middle of a conversation with Tony and turned to her, asking, "What do you need me for?"
Long Qiu looked at Tao Ran, her soon-to-be husband, who appeared somewhat inexperienced and a bit nervous. The man she had just encountered radiated a mature charm from head to toe. For some reason, Long Qiu kept unconsciously associating the two together.
Tao Ran (system Tao Ran) gazed around and recognized the place. It was where he and Long Qiu had gotten married. A hazy, seemingly translucent feeling seemed about to break through barriers. He asked Xiaomei, "Why do I have this feeling? What were my feelings for Long Qiu back then?"
Su Jue: "Ah? What are you talking about? System, are you trying to replace me to seduce beauty?"
Tao Ran returned control to Su Jue and transformed back into a small whale. Su Jue stretched his body and said, "Systems are quite impressive nowadays. You have to teach me more later."
As he finished speaking, he saw his system, Kun, flick its tail and swim away in an unknown direction.
Tao Ran swam over to Long Qiu, who was talking to Tao Ran. A panda next to Tao Ran saw her and widened its eyes. "Wow, I didn't expect to see a colleague here. What mission are you on?"
Tao Ran looked at Long Qiu and told Xiaomei, "Scram!"
Xiaomei: "..." This colleague is not friendly at all.
Long Qiu was helping Tao Ran, who used to be the former Tao Ran, adjust his collar. She said, "Later, you need to make a good impression. My husband must be the most outstanding one here. I want all the women present to turn green with envy."
The former Tao Ran seemed quite helpless, and the whale version of Tao Ran swam up to Long Qiu's shoulder. Its unblinking eyes were fixed on her.
At this moment, Long Qiu's assistant found her and asked her to change her clothes. After Long Qiu left, the former Tao Ran turned to Xiaomei and said, "Hey, do we really have to get married? What if I can't perform in bed, and Long Zong moves on to look elsewhere for affection?"
The whale Tao Ran flicked its tail, thinking that Qiuqiu would always love Tao Ran; she had loved him for a lifetime. For some reason, the whale Tao Ran suddenly felt a bit proud. He swam to the dressing room and found Long Qiu sitting in front of a mirror with a happy expression.
The whale Tao Ran swam closer and transformed from a whale into a human form. Long Qiu couldn't see him, so he reached out to touch her face. His illusory hand passed right through her face, leaving Tao Ran with a sense of melancholy.
However, Long Qiu seemed to sense something. She tilted her head in confusion and said, "It's strange. Why do I feel like... I want to cry?"
The wedding began quickly. Tao Ran transformed back into a whale and circled around Long Qiu. He watched Long Qiu and his former self exchange rings, kiss in front of everyone, and bask in the happiness of all those present. Tao Ran, who had been worried and hesitant, seemed to find some kind of resolution at that moment. He firmly held Long Qiu in his arms. Long Qiu smiled very happily, just like when they went for walks holding hands in old age together.
Tao Ran flicked his tail and swam over to Su Jue, transforming back into a silent whale. In the virtual world, he had invested real emotions and had never truly forgotten. He brought those memories back to reality. However, the lover in those memories would forever exist only in the realm of illusion.