Her look of supreme malleability made Elder Gu recall how she had been last time—wielding coercion through both force and money.
Elder Gu wore an expression of utter detachment. "As long as Miss Shen's money arrives on time, everything is negotiable."
"Zhouzhou is very fond of traditional Chinese acupuncture."
Before Shen Zhiyu could even finish her opening sentence, Elder Gu already knew what she wanted to say next.
Glancing at the owner of those chubby little hands who was currently flipping through a medical book over there, he said flatly, "Before a child's mind is fully mature, Miss Shen shouldn't be harboring any grand ambitions for him."
"I don't expect him to achieve any great feats by learning this. As long as he likes it."
In this lifetime, her most modest wish was simply for him to grow up safe and healthy, learning whatever he wanted to learn.
Looking at her with a mixture of exasperation and disappointment, Elder Gu protested, "You are burying my talent."
"So, does that mean Elder Gu agrees to teach Zhouzhou traditional medicine?" Shen Zhiyu tilted her head to look at him, her pretty eyes smiling at the bottom. "Then let me thank Elder Gu on Zhouzhou's behalf."
Only then did Elder Gu realize he had once again fallen for this little fox's roundabout strategy.
While Elder Gu was teaching Zhouzhou to recognize medicinal herbs, Shen Zhiyu got up and went back to her room.
She needed to confirm whether the voice that had appeared in her mind the other day was real.
Back in her room and certain she was secure, she called out to the empty air, "System?"
[I'm right here.] Unlike the crisp and proper voice from the other day, the one that sounded now was soft and sweet.
"Who are you? And what on earth is favorability?"
The favorability rating seemed to have appeared in connection with Zhouzhou. Was this thing targeted at him?
[I am the Villain System. You can call me Xiao Bai.]
A villain system?
She already knew that her son had become the foil to the male lead—in other words, the villain.
Was this system here because of Zhouzhou?
"Explain clearly. Are you asking me to collect Zhouzhou's favorability toward me?"
[No. That's the job of the affection system.] Interrupting her train of thought, Xiao Bai explained, [Our job here is to collect favorability from people who like the little villain.]
[The more people who like the little villain, the higher the favorability. And the purer the affection, the higher the favorability value.]
[Host, even though you have been reborn, your date of death and the circumstances of your sons have not changed with your rebirth.]
[Everything the little villain and his younger brother suffer begins only after you die. Favorability can be exchanged for an equal amount of life force. As long as you don't die, their fates can be changed.]
Getting more people to like Zhouzhou, and trading the resulting favorability for life force.
It didn't seem entirely unfeasible, but what she worried about more was whether this would have any negative impact on Zhouzhou.
[Not at all. On the contrary, the more people like him, the more feasible it is to change his destiny.]
[However, since we are altering his life along its original track, he will inevitably have to pay a certain price.]
[After all, he's not hundred-dollar bill; just as some people like him, naturally there will be those who don't.]
[But I believe our Zhouzhou will be very well-liked.]
Shen Zhiyu knew better than that. She couldn't even manage to make everyone like her.
"Fine," Shen Zhiyu agreed. "I accept."
No matter which path it was, she had to try them all with Zhouzhou.
She believed that sooner or later, she would find a path that worked.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
At six-thirty on the morning of the third day, the production crew's staff arrived outside the gates of the Lu Family Villa with their cameras set up.
Everyone was just waiting for the chief director's command to turn on the live stream.
Inside the villa, Shen Zhiyu was woken up by Xiao Bai: [Host, the production staff is at the door. Hurry up and get up to dress Zhouzhou so he can appear before everyone looking sharp and spirited.]
That way, he'd have an easier time winning people over.
Shen Zhiyu wasn't someone who got grumpy in the mornings, but with Xiao Bai yakking away in her ear, her morning temper was practically being prodded out of her.
Could it just make Xiao Bai shut up?
The next second, the system's voice vanished.
Both she and Xiao Bai froze, mutually taken aback.
Shen Zhiyu whispered tentatively, "Xiao Bai?"
A flash of light, and Xiao Bai regained its sight.
[Host.]
Xiao Bai covered its mouth and whimpered. The host was so smart and figured things out so quickly that it felt a bit useless. What should it do?
After all this tossing about by Xiao Bai, Shen Zhiyu couldn't get back to sleep.
She simply got up and washed up.
As for Zhouzhou, she didn't wake him.
Little children needed to sleep enough to grow tall.
Downstairs, at the director's command, the staff opened the live stream.
Shen Zhiyu's fans had already been waiting, having learned that she was taking her child on a show.
Once the time was confirmed, they had all gathered on the show's page.
Seeing the live stream begin, they poured into the chat room.
—Aghh~ My baby Yu, I'm here!
—Who else is up this early? Oh. Just me, someone who has early morning classes at eight.
—I've finally waited for my Zhi, my Yu, my baby. Good thing I didn't give up.
—I knew that based on my understanding of the show's first few episodes, they would never obediently start broadcasting on time.
—Where's my baby Yu? Where is my giant baby Yu?
The camera faced the imposing front gates of the Lu Family Villa.
Fans were howling for the staff to hurry up and ring the doorbell.
They couldn't wait to see Shen Zhiyu.
The crew members exchanged glances. The live stream had been hyped up enough.
Under everyone's expectant gazes, a staff member raised a hand and pressed the doorbell.
The next second, the villa's heavy gates slowly swung open.
Uncle Wang, acting on Shen Zhiyu's instructions, opened the main gates for everyone, his voice carrying through the monitor: "Welcome everyone to the Lu family estate."
With the gates wide open, the scenery inside came into full view of the staff and the online audience.
Dawn had yet to fully break, and the streetlamps were still working.
The walls were covered in climbing roses, slumbering in the chilly morning light.
On the left side of the courtyard was a garage, parked with a fleet of limited-edition luxury cars. On the right side was a children's playground.
Play equipment, both large and small, was available in abundance—even more comprehensive than a professional amusement park.
Next to the playground was a small gazebo, whose furnishings suggested it was designed to a woman's taste.
Could they assume the left side was the master of the house's preference, while the right side was the leisure area for the young master and the mistress?
—With playground facilities like that, let alone kids, even I love it. I want to play!
—The left side belongs to the man of the house, and the right side belongs to the woman and the child. Sob, what a happy family of three.
—Luxury cars and children's play facilities take up the vast majority of the space, but the mistress only has that tiny little spot. You can tell at a glance she's someone who doesn't get treated well by her husband's family.
—I think so too. Over at the Xu family, now *that* is being doted on by the in-laws. Sob, her parents-in-law were worried she couldn't handle the child alone, so they all got up to help her out. The scene is so warm and happy.
—The Xu family looks entirely over-staged. The truly happy one is still the Triple Crown Best Actress's family. As expected of a union between a Best Actress and a Best Actor, my boy is drop-dead gorgeous.
—I'm watching the live stream while holding a baby not even a month old, listening to the baby's dad snore. If only I had half of Xu Anxin's good luck. <Crying>
Shen Zhiyu had never marketed the persona of a happily pampered little wife in front of the media and fans, nor had she ever revealed her private life.
Aside from necessary promotional appearances where her figure could be seen, she devoted the rest of her time entirely to her family.