The original Wen Jiang had indeed been head over heels for a certain boy.
That boy was Song Yingchen.
However, Song Yingchen was a child of the Noble Song Family, though he had only been acknowledged by them a short while ago. He and Wen Jiang had been childhood sweethearts, living together in the slums.
Neither Wen Jiang nor he had parents; they relied solely on each other to survive.
Song Yingchen always considered his time in the slums a disgrace. This was especially true after he returned to the Song Family, where he was identified as a Spirit Card Master with S-Rank talent and became a key training target for the Song Family. Consequently, a gap as vast as heaven and earth naturally formed between him and Wen Jiang.
But Wen Jiang maintained her affection for Song Yingchen, who, in return, seemed to harbor a tangled mix of love and hate for her. Under his arrangement, Wen Jiang entered a noble school that was far above her status.
From the day she set foot in the noble school, she knew no peace. She was constantly bullied, while Song Yingchen turned a blind eye, never once standing up for her.
He even forbade Wen Jiang from revealing any connection to him, all while keeping her firmly within his grasp.
Even when Wen Jiang nearly lost her life this time, he hadn't come to see her even once. According to school rumors, he had recently grown very close to a girl from another noble family, the Qiao Family.
What an unparalleled asshole!
The current Wen Jiang cursed aloud. Having just entered this body, she had immediately listed Song Yingchen as her number one enemy.
Male lead? Hah! She just wanted to kill him.
The previous Wen Jiang was gone, and Song Yingchen was one of the perpetrators. She had taken this body to avenge the original Wen Jiang; that was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?
So, Wen Jiang remained silent after the System finished its nonsense.
Zero Egg reviewed the information and said, "[You're not a Spirit Card Master, so battle cards are useless to you. Unlike heroine cards, you can't just use them directly once you draw them.]"
Wen Jiang didn't rush to counter the System. Instead, she continued to ask, "What are the mission requirements?"
"[Quite simple. You need to collect energy from extreme emotions, such as inducing jealousy in other women towards you. The more extreme the energy, the more Points you'll collect.]"
For a mistreated heroine, obtaining extreme energy was all too easy. People either loved her to bits or hated her guts.
With Song Yingchen's charm, there were plenty of people around him who despised Wen Jiang. Even without their relationship being public, some in their close circle knew Song Yingchen had arranged for Wen Jiang to attend the school. Among those who had bullied Wen Jiang this time were some of Song Yingchen's admirers.
Zero Egg, thinking Wen Jiang had accepted, displayed an information box: "Here's your information."
"Name: Wen Jiang (Mistreated Heroine)"
"Age: 20"
"Points Collected: 0"
"Card Sets Available: R-Rank Card Set, B Rank (Battle Card Set), ?-Rank Card Set (Sealed Status)"
"Drawing Rules: A 10-consecutive draw for R-Rank Cards guarantees one B-Rank Card; a 10-consecutive draw for B-Rank Cards guarantees one A-Rank Card. Card sets above A-Rank are not included in this rule."
"Promotion Available: First-time bonus of 6 Points grants one 10-consecutive draw opportunity for an R-Rank Card Set."
"Note: All interpretation rights of the Drawing System belong to Sky Vault Company. Please report any fraudulent activity. Report hotline: (You do not have the right to view)"
Wen Jiang was speechless.
She did her best to ignore the thuggish nature of this Drawing System and focused on the key point. "Extreme energy—it's not just women's jealousy, right?"
Zero Egg: "[Of course not. Hatred, love, admiration—any emotion that reaches an extreme will overflow with energy. That's what we need. Although, for you right now, women's jealousy is the easiest to obtain.]"
It simply didn't think Wen Jiang was capable of harvesting other types of emotional energy. For a mistreated heroine, suffering insults and jealousy was the norm.
Wen Jiang glanced at the Battle Card Set. "I can't open the B-Rank Card Set yet?"
"[You don't have enough Points; it takes 100. Given your current situation, it will take you a long time to accumulate 100 Points. The more frequently a person experiences an extreme emotion towards you, the less energy can be converted from it, unless you hit a critical point. A person can contribute at most one Point, or perhaps two if they continue to contribute. We have our own calculation method.]"
"[Battle cards are useless to you, and a B-Rank Card Set isn't much use to the male lead either. When you reach 1,000 Points and unlock the A-Rank Card Set, you'll be able to get A-Rank or higher battle cards. Then, the male lead will start to see you in a new light.]"
Wen Jiang considered its last sentence utter nonsense.
One hundred Points were hard to come by, even for a tortured female protagonist. Otherwise, why would there be a discount for the first-time purchase—or rather, the first draw?
As for the card set marked with a question mark, Wen Jiang didn't ask.
She touched her face, which was already covered with gauze.
Her phone rang.
It was an old model. Song Yingchen had mixed feelings about her, keeping her by his side but offering no preferential treatment. The previous Wen Jiang had felt content just being beside Song Yingchen. The current Wen Jiang, however, thought: Contentment? My ass!
She glanced down; it was Song Yingchen. After all, no one else ever contacted this phone.
Zero Egg urged: "[Answer it quickly! Let's see if the male lead feels any guilt towards you. Maybe you can earn a Point or two?]"
Wen Jiang silently answered the call, not bothering with a greeting.
On the other end, a voice as melodious as a harp, seemingly laced with concern, spoke. "Ah Jiang, are your injuries better? Sorry, I was a bit busy yesterday. I only just found out you were hurt."
See? Song Yingchen knew she was injured.
Zero Egg clicked its tongue: "[Although the concern is insufficient, there's still a flicker of guilt. Keep it up! We'll press on!]"
Just a flicker.
Wen Jiang took a deep breath, a warm smile spreading across her face, and said softly, "So, you motherfucker finally decided to call? Why don't you just wait until your old man kicks the bucket and show up to offer incense then, huh?"
Zero Egg: "[...?????]"
Zero Egg: "[Host, what are you doing? What are you doing?! You must have hit your head to be spouting such nonsense, right? Right?!]"
The male lead hadn't broken down, but the System was on the verge of crashing.
Song Yingchen was speechless.
He was utterly shocked by Wen Jiang's words and seemed unable to process them. "Ah Jiang, what are you saying? Are you really Ah Jiang?"
"Of course, I'm your one and only, genuine dad." Wen Jiang had always had a fiery temper, and changing bodies hadn't changed her personality. "Your father was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon, and you only found out at noon today. What happened? Did you take a trip to outer space yesterday? No signal up there, so you didn't get your lackey's report?"
Zero Egg: "[You must have damaged your brain! You absolutely must have!]"
Song Yingchen was so choked up he didn't know what to say.
He refused to believe the person on the phone was Wen Jiang. His voice turned cold. "I don't know who you are. Give Wen Jiang's phone back to her."
"You can't even recognize your own grandpa's voice? Grandson, I'm deeply disappointed in you."
With that, Wen Jiang elevated her supposed familial rank yet again. Not wanting to waste any more words on him, she hung up the phone.
The hospital room fell silent.
After a long moment, Zero Egg spoke, its voice trembling: "[Host... Wen Jiang??]"
Wen Jiang smiled cheekily. "What's up, my little grandson?"
Zero Egg: "[...]"
Song Yingchen is the great-grandson—bah!
Damn it, could it have gotten the wrong person? Aaaah, this is going to be a huge disaster!
At that moment, Zero Egg felt its future was bleak.