Ten years later, Qiao Jia and Gao Shiying appeared at Yuncheng Cemetery, holding their son's hand.
"Mom, why has someone already laid flowers for Aunt Lingling?" Gao Muqiao, who was eleven years old this year, asked, pointing to the fresh flowers in front of a tombstone.
"It must be your Uncle Chen! He wouldn't forget this day." Qiao Jia also placed the flowers she was holding down and, looking at Su Ling's photo on the tombstone, couldn't help but her eyes reddened again.
Gao Shiying put an arm around his wife and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Don't be too sad. So much time has passed. I believe Su Ling wouldn't want to see you like this in heaven."
"I know, but sometimes I really miss her. How could such a good person like Ling'er just disappear!" Qiao Jia wiped her tears, sobbing.
Su Ling's life was brilliant. At the age of thirty-two, she won the Golden Dragon Award for "Best Actress" and married film emperor Situ Chen in the same year. Over the years after their marriage, they were deeply in love and chose to live a life as a couple without children. Simultaneously, they did not abandon their passion for their acting careers, creating one classic role after another.
This heavenly couple was also very kind, frequently engaging in charitable work, providing genuine support to countless people in need.
However, on a certain day in Su Ling's thirty-ninth year, her body suddenly failed. Medical examinations revealed organ failure, but no cause could be found. Before anyone was mentally prepared, Su Ling departed this world forever in just two days.
"Perhaps it's jealousy of talent! Su Ling was not only an excellent actress but also a person with a strong sense of social responsibility." Gao Shiying, recalling Su Ling's short yet glorious life, also expressed deep emotion. "It's just a pity for Situ who was left behind..."
"Mom and Dad, are you talking about Uncle Chen? I haven't seen him for a long time either. Will he come to have New Year's Eve dinner with us this year?" Gao Muqiao's innocent child's voice echoed in the cemetery.
The family of three walked away hand in hand, and Qiao Jia's reply could be faintly heard in the wind: "I hope so, if he can move on..."
Situ Chen, after watching them leave, emerged from a hidden corner and returned to Su Ling's tomb.
"Ling'er, today marks the third year since you left me. You said time would heal everything, but why hasn't my longing for you diminished? I'm taking care of our parents, so you don't have to worry. I've also remembered to listen to you, eat well, and live well. I've done everything I promised you! Except for forgetting you, which I still can't do. I'm sorry." Tears slowly streamed down Situ Chen's face, but he tried his best to smile as he spoke. "However, I won't be hiding from people anymore. Give me a few more months, and I will definitely go to Gao Shiying's house for New Year's Eve dinner this year. That way, you can rest assured in heaven..."
Situ Chen gazed at the photo on the tombstone, and in his daze, it seemed as if his beloved wife was still smiling at him. The corners of his mouth also curved into a faint smile... httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Upon returning to the system space, Xiao Wenqiang was in a very low mood. In fact, the moment she won the Best Actress award, the original host Su Ling's mission was already completed. The subsequent days were maintained by the energy generated from the soul artifact that Xiao Wenqiang had nurtured in her soul space. Unfortunately, the energy was insufficient and could only last for seven short years.
Moreover, any body that her energy had entered could no longer accommodate a robot soul replicated by the system. The body could only die as Xiao Wenqiang's soul withdrew.
Seeing how sad the person in front of her was, system number 86365 clumsily comforted her: 〔Wenqiang, don't be too upset. At least your second mission was successful, and you've earned 20,000 points! Your current point balance is -60,000 points!〕
"Thank you, 86365, but I'm not comforted at all." Hearing that she was still in debt, Xiao Wenqiang felt even worse.
〔Cheer up. Our last mission took a while, let's proceed to the next one quickly!〕
"You've already received a new mission so soon?" She thought she had heard 86365 say that missions had to be snatched up before.
〔Of course, don't you see my 86365's speed! Our goal is to be number 1 in the world of quick transmigration systems.〕 86365 disliked wasting time, and while speaking, it ejected Xiao Wenqiang from the system space.
Xiao Wenqiang woke up in bed and found a beautiful young woman lying beside her. Looking down at herself, she exclaimed, "Good heavens, how am I in a man's body?"
"86365, did you make a mistake? How am I in a man's body?" Xiao Wenqiang quickly contacted the system in her mind.
〔That's correct! Wenqiang, the original host who needs to complete the mission this time is a man.〕
"Aren't we supposed to fulfill the wishes of female supporting characters in novel worlds? How can there be a man?"
〔No, no, no. I am a supporting character mission system. Therefore, the original host's gender is not limited to women; it could also be men, or even non-humans!〕
Xiao Wenqiang finally realized that the original hosts of her previous two missions were women, and she had always assumed she was a female supporting character mission taker. Recalling now, 86365 had indeed never specified gender or race.
"Alright, then quickly transfer the memories to me! I feel a bit uncomfortable in this body. Let's complete the mission as soon as possible!" Xiao Wenqiang lay back down and closed her eyes.
The original host in the third mission was named Dong Zhenhua, the head of a real estate company. The world he inhabited was a novel titled "Women Should Be Strong."
Judging by the title, this should be a story about female growth. The protagonist was a woman named Xu Xinyi, who married Dong Zhenhua, a man twenty years her senior, right after graduating from university.
Unfortunately, less than two years after the marriage, the man died of thallium poisoning. She herself was imprisoned for excessive self-defense after killing her stepson. When she was released from prison, she discovered that her first love, who had always claimed to love her deeply, had also abandoned her. Every man Xu Xinyi relied on had failed her.
However, none of these things broke the young woman. She still had some of the money left to her by her husband Dong Zhenhua. Using this money as seed capital, Xu Xinyi ventured into business and eventually became a powerful and wealthy woman in the region.
But this was a growth story constructed from Xu Xinyi's advantageous perspective, with many details left undescribed. For Dong Zhenhua, the situation was entirely different.
However, Dong Zhenhua only learned these truths after his death.
The death of his son, Dong Bin, was orchestrated by Xu Xinyi and her lover, the so-called first love Sun Liang. The poisoning of himself was also planned by this pair of adulterous scoundrels. Perhaps from the very beginning, they had their sights set on his money.
Although the adulterous lover Sun Liang later swindled most of Xu Xinyi's inheritance and abandoned her, Xu Xinyi dared not report him to the police because she herself was involved in a homicide. Therefore, she could only rely on herself to start a business.
Xu Xinyi was ultimately successful, but Dong Zhenhua, who was killed by them, could not let go of his resentment. Even now, he could not understand. He had been so good to his wife; even a骗子 (pian zi - cheat/swindler) should have developed some feelings, right? Yet, this Xu Xinyi not only deceived him of his money but also killed him and his son.