Tang Qing opened her eyes, greeted by warm sunlight and a sea of pink, signaling the arrival of a new world.
The system in her mind was still chattering incessantly, "Tang Qing, we were never willingly bound! We must unbind immediately!"
"This is forced bonding—you're not my rightful host!"
The white light sphere seemed furious, its voice piercing and annoying, making Tang Qing frown in irritation.
In her past life, Tang Qing had been the most dazzling star in the entertainment industry, meticulously building her career with smooth success, on the verge of claiming her throne as an award-winning actress—until Gu Xiaoman came out of left field.
The two had battled for years, with Tang Qing trying every trick in the book, yet she still lost to Gu Xiaoman.
On the night of the Best Actress awards ceremony, both Tang Qing and Gu Xiaoman were in a car crash. Just as Tang Qing thought she was about to die, she caught sight of an eerie white light emanating from Gu Xiaoman.
Driven by a bad girl's gut feeling, Tang Qing went for it without hesitation...
Everything went spinning, and Tang Qing found herself bound to an unknown entity, finally understanding why Gu Xiaoman—who seemed inferior in every way—had triumphed. It was all because of this system!
This white light was scientifically known as the Heartthrob System, with a core function summarized as: every man would fall in love with Gu Xiaoman...
Even if Gu Xiaoman was nothing more than an ungraceful swan, she could drive men wild, making them lose their minds to defend her, showering this fool with lavish resources...
Now, the system, forcibly bound to Tang Qing, was freaking out. Tang Qing spoke up, "If you had a way, you'd have unbound already, wouldn't you?"
"Being tied to an idiot like Gu Xiaoman must've made missions hell. Aren't I a better choice for you?"
The system: "I won't let you insult my master!"
"Hmph! If you hadn't taken advantage while I was healing my master, we'd never have been bound!"
"You vile, wicked woman—give my master back to me!"
The thing in her head started screeching nonsense again, and Tang Qing, unable to tolerate it any longer, cut off the chatter.
Based on the information Tang Qing had gathered, this Heartthrob System resembled a series of interconnected story arcs, each with its own clear mission line. To escape these mini-worlds, Tang Qing needed to win over the men in these tasks.
This world was set in a university campus, where the original female lead shared the same name—Tang Qing. Currently attending University A, a mid-tier university she had worked hard to transfer into.
Originally just an ordinary college student, Tang Qing was burdened with a draining family that demanded she send home 6,000 yuan every month for her younger brother's wedding.
With no special skills and relentless pressure from her family, Tang Qing turned to scamming men online for money.
Just as she felt the timing was right and the money sufficient, Tang Qing was planning how to break up with each of the men in her contact list—when her web of lies collapsed.
It turned out the photos Tang Qing had been using all belonged to her high school classmate, Jiang Yiyi. One day, someone who knew Jiang Yiyi in real life noticed something off, and after verifying the details, Tang Qing's online scams were fully exposed.
Jiang Yiyi herself was furious and exposed Tang Qing on University A's forum. In an instant, a flood of insults followed:
"OMG, seriously? Our school has a scammer like this?"
"This Tang Qing is from the Chinese Literature Department, Class of 2021. Disgusting—playing with feelings is bad enough, but judging from the comments, she also conned people out of money..."
"If I were Jiang Yiyi, I'd be pissed too. Someone impersonating you? That's messed up."
...
Even the victims Tang Qing had scammed came back demanding payback.
"May photo scammers' whole families drop dead."
"Give me back my money! You damn catfish, I'm calling the police!"
The original female lead's phone kept buzzing incessantly. Tang Qing had to grit her teeth through all the messages. "Tsk, the original female lead's taste is just awful!"
Being someone with relatively low moral standards, Tang Qing had no problem with the female lead's catfishing. In her past life, Tang Qing had spent nearly all her time dealing with men.
But Tang Qing had standards when it came to relationships. The "fish" in the original female lead's pond were such bottom-feeders that Tang Qing couldn't stomach them.
"Just an inexperienced small-town girl with terrible taste—nothing but trash fish in that pond."
"Date me? In their dreams." Casually scrolling past the furious rants in the contacts, Tang Qing did the math—she had scammed them out of around 270,000 yuan in total.
For the superstar Tang Qing of her past life, 270,000 yuan might not even cover the cost of a single bag. But for the current college student Tang Qing… it was undoubtedly a fortune.
What made it worse was that, not long ago, she had given her brother 220,000 yuan in one go to buy a car. After deducting rent, she now had only 16,000 left across all her accounts.
Tang Qing sighed. "Between both lives, this is probably the poorest I've ever been…"
~~~
Once she'd settled the money matters, Tang Qing finally began to properly examine her new self. The face in the mirror felt both foreign and familiar—about seventy percent similar to her original appearance, but with terrible skin and bloodless lips, making her look like a ghost who'd just clawed her way out of hell.
Compounded by the original host's self-loathing fashion choices—habitually hiding behind oversized glasses and long bangs that obscured her striking features—her slumped posture and lifeless strands of hair clinging to her neck left her with zero charisma.
The only redeeming quality was her surprisingly good figure, despite the overall malnutrition.
"This bust is really nice," Tang Qing mused, studying her own body with frank appreciation. Aside from the dull complexion, the curves were unmistakably sexy—full cleavage paired with a slender waist, embodying the currently popular "sexy older sister" aesthetic.
Yet the original host, ever the insecure wallflower, had never once thought to flaunt such assets.
"Her voice wasn't half bad either." Naturally sweet, unlike Gu Xiaoman's artificial affectations from her past life. Tang Qing's voice now was like freshly brewed wine, sweetly intoxicating, especially when she drew out her words—the trailing notes seemed to hook into the listener's soul, drowning them in velvet temptation.
"Come out. Let's talk."
The white orb in her mind burst forth eagerly, launching into a rant. "You vile woman! How dare you shove me into the dark like that!"
"My original master never treated me like this!" The system squawked like a spoiled child. "I don't like you! I want to unbind!"
"Save the whining for someone who cares," Tang Qing said, taking a sip of water, unfazed. "If you could unbind, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?"
"What's so great about Gu Xiaoman?"
"You hand-held her through everything, and in the end, she still died with me."
The system squawked, its voice rising. "That was because of you! Don't pretend the accident had nothing to do with you!"
"And I was healing my master at the time! If not for you, she'd be awake by now!"
"Pfft. Gu Xiaoman really hit the jackpot—even at death's door, someone dragged her back from the underworld." Tang Qing recalled the white glow that had enveloped Gu Xiaoman back then. So it was the legendary resurrection technique.
How fucking unfair. She'd schemed and clawed her way up her entire life, never once encountering true devotion, while Gu Xiaoman—utterly useless—had people mourning her even in death.
Her lashes dipped, hiding the darkness in her gaze. "The reality is, you can't unbind. So let's talk."
"Starting with this mission—if I'm not mistaken, I need to earn men's affection to leave this world?"
Dream on! The system snapped, still fuming. "You're a notorious catfish now. No one will ever like you!"
"Soon, you'll be public enemy number one!"
"And I won't help you either!"
Tang Qing seized on a key detail. "So you always helped Gu Xiaoman before?"
"Of course! Without me, how could my master—" Catching itself, the white orb cut itself off mid-sentence. "I won't tell you even if you ask!"
"Hmph! You're my master's worst enemy. I'll never help you!"
Suits me fine. Eternity in this dump might even be fun." Tang Qing shrugged, unaffected.
"Yeah, I'm broke and infamous, but hey—I'm alive. And younger. Not a bad deal."
Thirty-seven, suddenly seventeen years younger. No surgeon's knife could've pulled that off.
A smirk curled her lips. "I do wonder about Gu Xiaoman, though. After a wreck like that, without you… think she made it?"
"What a waste. On the cusp of stardom, only to croak with me."
"Why don't you guess how many people will be bawling their eyes out for Gu Xiaoman, that stumpy little swan?"
"Shut your mouth! Don't you dare call my master a stumpy little swan!"
"If it weren't for you, my master would be fine right now!" As if struck by a nerve, the system flew into a rage again. "It's all your fault! That day was my master's award ceremony, and you just had to come bursting in!"
"You've got a viper's heart! Not only did you harm my master, but you also forcibly bound me."
As the system continued its tirade, Tang Qing impatiently cut it off. "So what? You want to go back to Gu Xiaoman? Maybe we can figure something out."
Given the severity of the injuries, this foolish system had just claimed it could heal them—it must have some extraordinary abilities. "Let me guess. You spent a huge price trying to save Gu Xiaoman, so much that you can't even unbind from me now?"
"How did you—"
"How did I know? Want to praise me for being sharp as a tack?" Tang Qing rolled her eyes. "Tch, you've been following that idiot Gu Xiaoman all this time. Never crossed paths with anyone with half a brain, have you?"
The system: "..."
"You don't want to save Gu Xiaoman anymore?"
"Of course I do!" The system replied sorrowfully. "But to save my master, I used up all the Affection Points I'd collected. Now I can't even go back."
"My master must still be waiting for me..."
Cutting off the system's melancholy rambling, Tang Qing spoke again. "Affection Points—that's how much men like Gu Xiaoman?"
She deduced, "So, the more people like Gu Xiaoman, the more energy you have?"
"Not just men. Everyone's affection can be converted into Affection Points, but ordinary people's affection isn't as valuable as that of specific male leads. Only by winning over the men in the storyline can you earn more Affection Points."
"Then I should be able to earn Affection Points too."
"I'll go after the men. Once you have enough energy, you can go back and save Gu Xiaoman."
"So, do we have a deal?"
The system's first instinct was to refuse. After all, this woman had always been Gu Xiaoman's greatest enemy—wicked to the core and a total pain to deal with. "Think carefully."
"I don't care either way. I'm younger now, with a new life. Worst case, I'll just live this life all over again." Tang Qing's voice was eerily reminiscent of a temptress from folklore. "But then, she won't come back to life, will she?"
"That sweet, kind Gu Xiaoman will just stay dead, will she?"
"Don't you love your master the most?"
"She is so fragile and delicate—she must really need you, right?"
"I..." After much hesitation, Tang Qing finally heard the answer she wanted. "Fine! But you have to earn those Affection Points seriously—no funny business!"
"I'm only working with you temporarily for my master's sake!"
"There are three Male Leads in this world. The first is Si Yuechen from the Computer Science Department at University B—your high school crush. The second is Yang Mingyue from the Department of Physical Education at your University A, who was also in your harem and just got scammed out of five thousand yuan by you. The third is Zhong Yu, Jiang Yiyi's childhood friend, who exposed you for pretending to be Jiang Yiyi."
"Three Male Leads? Seems Gu Xiaoman was quite the man-eater." Tang Qing smirked, eyes sparkling with glee. "But right now, all three must really hate me, huh?"
The system: "You bet they do! Not just them—everyone hates you!"
Starting off as public enemy No. 1, with a debt of 270,000 yuan...
"What are you going to do next?" The system's question dripped with schadenfreude, clearly enjoying the fact that this woman it hated had landed in such a mess.
"Crisis management." Tang Qing quickly made a decision. "Admit the mistakes, play the reformed bad girl, clean up my act, and repay the debts."
"Aren't you going to mention your brother?" the system asked. "According to the plot, you were forced into scamming by your family. You could totally explain that—maybe people would forgive you."
"That would only backfire." Tang Qing opened the wardrobe, speaking as she sorted through clothes. "Only when others tear open the wound themselves will they feel guilty."
"Right now, I'm under fire. If I step forward and claim I was forced—that I have a leech of a younger brother and parents who favor sons over daughters—how many people do you think would even listen?"
"Since the truth is already out, there's no point in making excuses. Might as well own up to it openly."
The system pressed, "You're going to apologize? But if you do, people will remember this forever. It might affect your ability to gain affection points."
"Do you really think I can hide it now?" Tang Qing raised her phone, arching an eyebrow with a flicker of charm. "Those pathetic trolls are already itching to tear me apart. There's no way out—apologies it is."
She picked out a simple white shirt, no excessive embellishments, and kept the same black square-framed glasses. She pulled all her hair back, changing from her usual messy-haired look.
Then, she started recording a video.
"Hi everyone, I'm Tang Qing. Sorry our first intro has to be like this."
"This video isn't meant to justify myself. I was wrong, and I owe an apology to everyone I deceived. To Jiang Yiyi especially—I'm truly sorry for using your photos and information, causing you unnecessary trouble because of my selfishness and vanity. I've sorted through all the transactions and will post them soon. I promise to repay every single debt, and I'll keep everyone updated."
"I chose the wrong path, and I apologize once more to those I've hurt."
In the video, Tang Qing looked sincere as she bowed deeply to the audience.
The moment it was posted, it sparked heated discussions:
"Is this the real scammer coming forward to confess?"
"Online scammers deserve the worst. She's so much uglier than Jiang Yiyi (according to them)! No wonder she didn't dare show her real face."
"Hah! I just wanna know if those guys regret it now!"
"If I were Jiang Yiyi, I'd be so disgusted."
...
Tang Qing ignored the rest of the comments, copy-pasting the breakdown of debts to each "fish" in her pond, promising she would repay.
The system still seemed uneasy. "That's it? How are you going to pay back that much money?"
"You'll help me, won't you?" Tang Qing removed the ugly black glasses. "Hmm? If it were Gu Xiaoman, how would you help her?"
The system suddenly grew hesitant. "I—I can't right now..."
"I'm out of juice..."
Tang Qing scoffed. "Of course. All the perks went to Gu Xiaoman."
"Whatever. Not like I was counting on you anyway..." *sigh*
The simple-minded system must have used up everything to save Gu Xiaoman, leaving only an empty shell for itself. So far, it's been pretty much useless.
However, since the system brought her into this small world, squeezing some info out of it shouldn't be a problem.
Tang Qing quickly ran through all the info she had gathered so far. She was currently a college student, and she had to continue her studies—at least until she got her diploma.
Her voice was decent, so she could consider using that to her advantage.
According to the system, she needed to get lots of people to like her. Her first order of business was figuring out how to change her current reputation as a scammer.
"Let's eat first. In modern society, there's no reason to look like a malnourished refugee." She glanced disdainfully at her sickly yellow, rough and dull skin—clearly the result of poor nutrition.
She chose a food alley near University A. Considering the original body's owner hadn't eaten properly in a long time and likely had a weak stomach, Tang Qing ordered a plain bowl of millet congee and sat down.
As soon as she took her seat, she overheard the conversation at the next table:
"Hey, look! Tang Qing apologized!"
"Is that girl really from our school? Never seen her before. Not ugly, just kinda basic."
"Totally disgusting, though. Jiang Yiyi is my goddess—feels like she's been tainted."
"Hahaha, guys, check this out! Isn't this Brother Yue?" One of the boys suddenly raised his phone excitedly. "It's him, right? The profile pic matches Brother Yue's."
"Brother Yue was glued to his phone, smiling like a fool a while back."
"No way, was Brother Yue one of Tang Qing's sugar daddies too?"
"And conned him out of five grand..."
Just then, Tang Qing saw a tall, muscular guy walk in—easily over six feet.
He wore a loose basketball jersey, sweat dripping from his forehead and chin, clearly just finished playing.
"Tang Qing, Tang Qing! That's your Second Male Lead, Yang Mingyue! Winning him over will get you five million affection points!" The system, perked up suddenly, shrieked inside her head. "Wow, Tang Qing, he's so tall!"
"Yang Mingyue is a year ahead of you. Last month, you two matched on a voice chat. He's a total voice fetishist and was instantly hooked by yours."
"You told him you forgot your bank password and needed rent money, then conned him out of five thousand."
While the system rambled, Tang Qing checked out the Second Male Lead of this world. Admittedly, Yang Mingyue was a decent catch.
His exposed muscles were well-defined, clearly the result of long-term training—a far cry from the scrawny pretty boys in the entertainment industry from her past life.
Not to mention, Yang Mingyue had a handsome face—sharp brows, starry eyes, and a slightly upturned gaze that made him look constantly pissed-off. But judging from his chats with the original host, he was just a paper tiger.
Outwardly a tough guy, but inside, he was still an inexperienced college boy who thought he'd found love. He'd spoiled the original Tang Qing rotten, giving her whatever she wanted without question.
Five thousand yuan? Forked over without hesitation, never even mentioned repayment.
"Brother Yue's here!" The guy with the phone—a blond—immediately bolted over. "Brother Yue, Brother Yue! Is this you?"
Eager for confirmation, he shoved Tang Qing's public debt list in Yang Mingyue's face. "This profile pic is identical to yours. Didn't you say you'd introduce us to your girlfriend soon?"
"Don't tell me that 'girlfriend' was this kind of scammer?"
The blond was too focused on getting an answer to notice the sudden tension in Yang Mingyue's muscles.
Tang Qing...
Damn it! Yang Mingyue had never felt such humiliation in his life. The thought that his so-called girlfriend from last month was this kind of scammer made him want to throttle his past self.
A month ago, out of sheer boredom, Yang Mingyue had tapped into a random voice chat on WeChat. By sheer coincidence, the first person he matched with was Tang Qing.
He'd been about to hang up—until she spoke...