Chapter 4

For a moment, the flight attendant couldn’t think of a suitable adjective. All she knew was that just locking eyes with her made her heart skip half a beat.
It was the kind of instinctive holding of breath a person did when facing danger.
“I, uh, this…”
Panicking all at once, the attendant dropped her gaze, her mind going blank for a few seconds before she came back to herself.
That bloody aura, that sense of slaughter, that bone‑deep feeling that if she made even one suspicious move, the other woman would twist her head off… All of that wariness had surged up in just a single glance and sent a chill down her back, goosebumps rising on her skin.
Could this person be some foreign assassin, the kind who was “washing her hands of the business” and preparing to return home?
The attendant’s thoughts ran wild, but her hands stayed practical: as she took out cups and poured drinks for Xiang Changge, she said the line she’d repeated countless times before, “Sorry, ma’am, but the number of snack sets is limited. If there are any left after I finish serving everyone, I can bring you some more.”
“…Okay. Thank you?”
Xiang Changge answered a bit awkwardly.
The attendant, body still stiff, moved on to the next passenger. Xiang Changge looked at the little tray table in front of her, now filled with food, and slowly pulled the corners of her lips up into a contented smile.
The plot‑rewrite system, which had seen everything: “…”
Why did its host’s smile give System‑tongtong the feeling of a big villain who had plotted in secret for many years and was finally seeing her plan bear fruit?
So weird. Was this really a proper host?
Xiang Changge neither knew nor cared what the system was thinking.
She first picked up the cup of water. Looking down at the pure, transparent, odorless drinking water in the white paper cup, she brought it carefully to her lips with an almost reverent air and took a small sip.
The slightly cool water, with the faintest hint of sweetness, moistened her lips and tongue before slowly sliding down her throat.
In that instant, Xiang Changge knew with perfect clarity that she was still alive.
*Burp~*
Having finished two snack sets, five cups of water, two cups of orange juice, two cups of cola, and five airline meals, Xiang Changge leaned back in her seat, hands over her stomach, eyes closing in lazy satisfaction.
Her only thought was that this body was really useless—how could it already be full after eating so little?
Perhaps because it was an international flight, the airline meal was beef‑and‑vegetable pasta. The other passengers might have found it nothing special, but Xiang Changge thought it was so delicious that, if she could, she would have packed a few dozen portions to carry with her.
It couldn’t be helped. Anyone who had starved and frozen for years in an apocalypse and had finally been reduced to breeding simple earthworms as a daily food source would have felt the same way on tasting this kind of meal.
At the thought that she might be able to live like this every day from now on, Xiang Changge couldn’t suppress the joy rising from the bottom of her heart.
Sensing Xiang Changge’s emotions, the plot‑rewrite system said sympathetically, “Host, this is just a regular airplane meal. Once you’re with the supporting female, you could eat state banquets every day if you wanted.”
Xiang Changge: “…”
Almost the instant the system’s voice faded, scenes from the novel floated up in her mind—those passages describing the Yu family’s extravagant life and the lavish dishes on Yu Qing’s dining table.
The seat next to her had remained empty all this time; whoever it belonged to had probably missed the flight. Alone in this corner, Xiang Changge felt quiet and comfortable.
Leaning back in the plane seat, head tipped slightly up as she stared at the cabin ceiling, Xiang Changge couldn’t help slowly revealing a smile full of yearning and delight.
At that very moment, behind a curtain not far away, the flight attendant from before tugged another attendant over. Peeking through a small gap in the curtain, they both looked in Xiang Changge’s direction.
“Look, look—that’s her. I feel like she’s really strange. I don’t know if it’s just my imagination…”
“Which one? What do you mean, strange…”
Both of them fell silent mid‑sentence.
Because, just as they looked over, they saw Xiang Changge wearing a stiff, faintly eerie smile as she stared up at the cabin ceiling.
In a flash, images from movies about hijackings, serial killers, and mad slayers rushed through their minds like a roller coaster.
“Should we, uh, maybe… c‑call the p‑police?”
The attendant who had been dragged over asked, shivering.
The one who’d handed out the meals gripped her colleague’s arm hard, as if to gain reassurance. “So you think she’s really weird too, right?”
Though the woman did have a very nice face—with thick brows and large eyes and a wild, vital beauty—the aura around her was simply too chilling.
It was so overwhelming that it completely eclipsed her looks. When others saw her, they couldn’t even register her features; like small animals sensing danger, they only wanted to flee.
In truth, Xiang Changge had long since noticed the two attendants’ stares, but she didn’t care. They were still some distance away from her, and they didn’t seem to pose any threat, so they weren’t worth worrying about.
The plot‑rewrite system, however, was far less calm than Xiang Changge.
“8802, I have to remind you: even though this is a book world, everyone here has their own set course in life. They can’t be summed up completely in just a few lines of text.”
“This is a normal, complete world with proper order. If you kill, you pay with your life. If you break the law, you go to jail!”
“Your life is full of onlookers. Now that you’re here, you’re one of them. If you don’t want this system to waste energy on resetting the world, you’d better act a little more normal!” There was thick anxiety in the system’s electronic voice.
“Normal?”
Xiang Changge tilted her head.
Where, exactly, was she not acting normal?
System: “!”
“That sudden head tilt you just did? Totally not normal!”
Nobody else knew she was talking to a voice in her head; from the outside, she looked like… like a mental patient, okay?!
Xiang Changge: “…”
She was already being very restrained, all right?
Seeing that talking wasn’t getting through, the system decided to find something for Xiang Changge to do.
“Here, this is some information about the world. Take a look, 8802.”
As soon as it spoke, Xiang Changge felt a stream of data rush into her mind.
In the novel “99 Tragic Loves: The CEO’s Love Nowhere to Hide,” the male and female leads tortured each other in love for a full seven years before finally getting their happy ending.
The supporting character Yu Qing committed suicide at the age of twenty‑four. After her death, the male and female leads spent another four years entangled in their guilt and sorrow, completing the seven‑year “tragic love” achievement.
Right now, Yu Qing was twenty‑one, with three months to go before her twenty‑second birthday. In other words, the male and female leads had already been tangled up for nearly a year, and Yu Qing still had no idea the heroine existed.
“Because there wasn’t a suitable identity for you in the original plot, this system has made a small addition.”
Made a small addition.
Xiang Changge looked over the information in her mind about her new identity.
Xiang Changge, female, 173cm, 55kg, twenty‑two years old. Orphan. Sponsored and raised from childhood by Mr. and Mrs. Yu, who placed great trust in her.
Three days ago she graduated from the Royal International Butler Management Academy in Bribatol and now holds both the Yu couple’s will and the sponsorship contract.
According to the contract, after graduation Xiang Changge must return home to become the personal butler of the Yus’ only daughter, Yu Qing. Her job includes—but is not limited to—taking care of Yu Qing and solving any difficulties or problems in her life.
Of course, if Xiang Changge wants to resign, she’ll be faced with a sky‑high penalty fee.
As for the will—that was something the system had forged.
The will stipulated that if Yu Qing dismissed Xiang Changge, she would not be allowed to inherit her parents’ estate. This was created purely to ensure that Xiang Changge could stay by Yu Qing’s side.
In short, Xiang Changge’s identity was that of an all‑rounder her parents had cultivated from childhood to look after their frail, sickly daughter.
With this contract and this will, Xiang Changge and Yu Qing were essentially “locked together” in this world.
There wasn’t much data; aside from that, it was just some supplementary everyday details about “Xiang Changge.”
Xiang Changge was more concerned about another question. “So how’s my salary and benefits calculated?”
System: “Don’t worry, host. The Yu family is so rich they’re practically leaking money. Your compensation will be excellent.”
Xiang Changge didn’t believe it; she chose to read the contract herself.
Very quickly, she found the part she wanted.
The contract stated that Butler Xiang Changge’s salary and benefits were: “A post‑tax monthly salary of 800,000, five insurances plus two pensions, fifteen months of pay per year, room and board included, and all expenses reimbursable…”
“!”
Even if she hadn’t already drifted through five years of the apocalypse, Xiang Changge would never have dared imagine, back before everything fell apart, that she might one day have a compensation package like this.
Her fists clenched tight.
Just as she was struggling to contain her excitement, she suddenly remembered the system’s warning.
So she sprang to her feet and followed the signs to the restroom.
The moment the door closed behind her, she could no longer hold herself back. Clenching both fists, she began punching the air in sheer exhilaration.
Because it was a long‑haul international flight and the plane was currently flying along the day‑night line, most of the passengers were already asleep, and the cabin had grown dim.
Only in the restroom tucked away in the corner were there faint, easily overlooked sounds.
If one listened carefully, one would hear a female voice saying—
“Eight hundred thousand! Eight hundred thousand! Room and board included! And every expense is reimbursable! Hahahahaha!!!”
“System, you said I can stay here and live like this forever, right?”
“Hahahahaha! To hell with zombies, to hell with dried earthworms, to hell with the apocalypse!”
“…”
As for the four tiny words “no days off” at the end of the contract—no one cared anymore.
Certain Ge: [throws flowers][throws flowers]
Certain System: [question marks][question marks]
After spending quite some time in the plane restroom punching oxygen and kicking carbon dioxide, Xiang Changge finally calmed the wild excitement of having a meat pie drop from the sky directly onto her head.
Since she was there anyway, she took care of her business.
When she washed her hands, she carefully savored the cool feeling of pure water running over her palms, staring at the sink as she murmured softly, “I really want to take a shower.”
She had already forgotten how long it had been since she last bathed.