Only a small nightlight was left on in the living room, casting a warm yellow glow that cast a dim light in the corner of the wall.
Wenqing sat on the sofa, hugging her knees, her dark eyes staring blankly at the halo of light.
She couldn't quite describe how she felt at that moment.
She is not the original owner of this body. She has the original owner's memories and body, but she always feels that she is someone else.
Her kindness towards Wen Fan initially stemmed from rational judgment: he was her only support in this world.
Later, a little more sincerity came over me, but that sincerity was closer to the pity one feels when seeing a good person repeatedly crushed by fate than to familial affection.
That's what she always thought.
But when she heard that sleep-talking just now, her nose started to sting.
An uncontrollable sour feeling filled her chest, leaving her momentarily at a loss.
Just as I was thinking, a voice suddenly rang in my mind.
"Ding—System loading complete. Hello, host. Welcome to bind to System 003."
Hearing that voice, Wenqing froze, and the bitterness in her chest gradually dissipated.
system?
She thought her cheat ability was just to see the comments, but she didn't expect there was also a proper system.
"Host, the main function of this system is to help you collect 'like points' from bullet comments. These points can be used to improve your physical condition and can also be exchanged for various items in the system's shop. When your 'like points' reach 100, your heart disease will be cured, and your current 'like points' are 10."
Hearing that the affection value could cure her heart disease, Wen Qing's gaze couldn't help but move. After a moment of contemplation, she asked.
"Does this 'like' rating represent the viewers' affection for me?"
"Yes."
"When I disrupted the storyline before, I noticed my body felt a little better," she asked. "Is that related to the affection level?"
The system said, "Yes, some viewers in the bullet comments like Wen Fan. In the original work, the plot involving Wen Fan is mostly heart-wrenching and physically abusive. After you disrupted these plots, the viewers who like Wen Fan have increased their favorability towards you, and their liking value has increased accordingly. This is the reason why the host's physical condition improved slightly before."
Wenqing suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."
"And what caused the sudden restriction of my movement before that?" she asked again.
The system explains, "You can think of it this way: the collective will of the viewers in the bullet comments creates a kind of narrative pressure. This pressure can affect the plot and the characters' behavior. When most of the viewers in the bullet comments don't want you to appear in a certain scene, the narrative pressure will restrict your actions. Simply put, bullet comments can influence the plot."
Wenqing tapped her knee lightly with her fingers, which seemed to confirm her guess.
The comments section is not composed of neutral bystanders; the commenters are co-creators of this world. Their preferences, emotions, and expectations converge into an invisible force, like an unseen hand, pushing the story in the direction they want to see.
"So," she said slowly, "I need to get enough likes so that I can be free from the limitations of bullet comments and the plot."
"You can understand it this way: when your liking level reaches a certain threshold, you will have greater autonomy and will no longer be completely subject to narrative pressure."
Wenqing remained silent for a moment.
She thought of another question—one she had always wanted to know but had no way of finding out.
"System, do you know the complete plot of the original book? Can you tell me?"
The system did not respond immediately.
There was a moment of silence in the air, then its voice rang out again, still devoid of emotion, but within that emotionlessness seemed to lie a subtle, almost imperceptible solemnity.
"Okay, loading the original plot summary for you, please wait."
Wenqing's view suddenly changed.
She saw a story unfolding in her mind, in a minimalist, almost synopsis-like form.
The main character is Wen Fan.
He works as a bartender at a bar called "Twilight," taking care of his sister who suffers from heart disease during the day and working at the bar at night, supporting two people on his own.
One night, a group of spoiled young men came to the bar, led by Gu Qin, the young master of the Gu family.
Gu Qin mistakenly drank a glass of wine laced with drugs. After the drugs took effect, his henchman knocked out Wen Fan, who happened to be passing by, and took her to Gu Qin's room.
Wen Fan was undoubtedly raped. Afterwards, Gu Qin woke up, threw down some money, and left indifferently.
But after that, Gu Qin found that he couldn't forget Wen Fan.
He started frequenting bars and, after learning that Wen Fan was short of money, he directly proposed a deal—to be his mistress, he would provide the money, and Wen Fan would provide her body.
Wen Fan gritted his teeth and agreed to pay for his sister's surgery.
At the same time, Gu Qin's cousin, Lin Zhiyan, also noticed Wen Fan.
The Lin and Gu families are evenly matched, and Lin Zhiyan himself is more mature, more restrained, and more dangerous than Gu Qin.
His initial interest in Wen Fan was merely curiosity, but it quickly evolved into an uncontrollable possessiveness.
The two brothers began to openly and secretly compete for the same person.
Outside of this love triangle, there is a young master named Su Yi'an.
Su Yi'an has liked Lin Zhiyan for many years, and has tried her best to get his attention, but has never succeeded.
When Su Yi'an noticed that Lin Zhiyan's gaze was drawn to a bartender, jealousy grew like wild vines, entangling him completely.
But he dared not touch Wen Fan, because Wen Fan was being protected by Gu Qin and Lin Zhiyan.
So he inquired about Wen Fan's weaknesses and learned that he had a beloved younger sister. He then sent several people to teach that sister a lesson, wanting Wen Fan to taste the pain.
However, his men acted recklessly, and the girl, who already suffered from a serious heart condition, suddenly fell ill during the shock and conflict and died on the spot.
Wen Fan's world shattered into dust in that instant.
His sister was the only person he cared about; she was the reason he worked so hard, endured so much, and gritted his teeth to survive in this world.
He had never hated anyone in his life, but from that day on, he hated Su Yi'an to the core.
In order to seek revenge, he changed his previous gentleness and passivity, and took the initiative to get close to Gu Qin and Lin Zhiyan, using their feelings for him and their resources to gradually erode the Su family's business.
He also hooked up with another man who had a conflict of interest with the Su family—Fu Anhe—using every means to maneuver between several men, exchanging his body for the power to bring down the Su family.
He succeeded.
The Su family went bankrupt, and Su Yi'an fled abroad with huge debts, eventually dying on the streets of a foreign land.
The day the news came back, Wen Fan sat alone in her empty rented room, with her sister's urn in front of her.
He thought he would feel great, he would cry, he would laugh, he would be hysterical.
But he just sat there for a long time, and then he found that he didn't want to think about anything anymore.
While hatred burns, it can sustain life; but when hatred is gone, nothing remains in the ashes.
He may have cared about Lin Zhiyan for a moment, but compared to the pain of losing his sister, that care was as light as a feather.
So, in the end, he held his sister's urn in his arms and walked into the winter sea.
The final image freezes on the moment the icy seawater washes over his ankles.
He looked down at the urn in his arms, and the corners of his mouth seemed to curve slightly, as if to say—Qingqing, your brother has come to find you.
With her eyes closed, Wenqing felt something warm slide down her cheeks, down to her chin, and onto her knees.
She reached out to wipe it, but the water kept flowing down, and she couldn't get it clean no matter what she did.
And my chest hurts so much, it feels like an invisible hand is gripping and twisting it hard.
She was confused and puzzled. She wasn't even involved, so why was her heart aching so much?
The system heard her soft murmur and remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"Host, because you are warmth itself."
Wen Qing opened her eyes wide, and then with a bang, her remaining rationality collapsed instantly.
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