Chapter 238 – Report to the CEO: Madam Has Run Away Again – Hanging Up the Call (01)
[Points settlement complete. Main reward: 1000 points for breaking up the male and female leads. Side reward: 500 points for saving the people of Xiang Village.]
As the mechanical female voice finished announcing the points, Qiu’er felt waves of energy surging into his body. Excited, he turned to Bai Tang and Xiao A and said, “I’m about to level up—I can feel it!”
Thanks to Bai Tang completing the tasks so well, the energy Qiu’er received was far more than what he got in the first world. It hadn’t been long since he transformed from a sphere into a dog-shaped form, and now he was leveling up again.
“Congratulations, Qiu’er! Go and level up!” Bai Tang sincerely wished him well.
“But…” Qiu’er looked troubled. “Tang Tang, I have to shut down the system in order to upgrade. I won’t be able to accompany you to the next world.”
This was what worried Qiu’er the most. Every time he wasn’t there to protect Tang Tang, Tang Tang would end up doing missions in dangerous worlds all alone.
Two small dimples appeared on Bai Tang’s cheeks as he smiled. “It’s okay. I’ve still got Xiao A~”
Oh, right. There’s still Xiao A.
Qiu’er looked at Xiao A, his eyes shining. “Now, I’m entrusting you with the important mission of protecting Tang Tang. Can you handle it?”
“I can,” Xiao A replied.
Hearing Xiao A’s firm response, Qiu’er happily ran up to Bai Tang. “Tang Tang, since I won’t be by your side, you must stay safe, okay? It’s alright if you can’t finish the mission—worst case, we just give up on the points.”
“Okay~” Bai Tang replied. Honestly, he didn’t care how dangerous the world was, as long as the male lead was his beloved.
After getting Bai Tang’s confirmation, Qiu’er happily trotted back to Xiao A and carefully gave him instructions. “First, and this is the most important: make sure Tang Tang is safe. Second is completing the mission. And also, if the male lead makes Tang Tang angry, you have to help him come up with ways to punish the guy! Don’t think just because I’m not around, he can do whatever he wants…”
Qiu’er went on and on, and Xiao A responded indulgently to everything, “Got it. Go level up already. Don’t worry—I’ve done missions too, you know.”
Only then did Qiu’er remember: Xiao A was also a system, and not just any system—he was a “Good Luck System,” and ranked even higher than Qiu’er himself.
He pouted, but then thought—once this upgrade was complete, maybe he’d be even more advanced than Xiao A. Then he’d no longer have to take orders from him. He could eat whatever he wanted without having to check with Xiao A first. That thought cheered him up again.
Even after finishing all his instructions, Qiu’er still felt uneasy. After all, this was Xiao A’s first time doing a mission alone with Bai Tang, and they’d be using his system’s script. It was Qiu’er’s turf, not Xiao A’s.
To play it safe, Qiu’er specially picked a B-rank world with a low difficulty level for Bai Tang. It didn’t matter if the points or energy were less—as long as it wasn’t too hard, Tangtang would be able to handle it.
At this moment, Qiu’er had completely forgotten that his primary mission was to have the host break up the male and female leads. How had it suddenly turned into the host’s personal safety being the top priority?
The cover of the script for the new world was pink, exuding a sweet, girlish romantic vibe.
They looked at the title on the script’s cover: [Report to the CEO: Madam Has Run Away Again.]
It was very clearly a modern urban romance plot.
In this world, the male lead was Gu Yan, the CEO of the Gu Group. The female lead was Sha Yao, a senior majoring in finance who was about to graduate from university.
One day, Gu Yan was invited by a finance professor at the university to give a lecture. During his speech, Sha Yao was captivated by his exceptional demeanor and presence, and then drawn in by the content of his talk.
She realized that Gu Yan was unlike the successful figures she’d seen on TV or in magazine interviews—those who only offered some textbook theories on business matters. He had real knowledge and practical experience, and he generously shared it with students like them who had yet to enter society.
From that moment on, Gu Yan became Sha Yao’s idol. She dreamed of one day standing at the top of the finance world, just like him.
Thanks to her outstanding academic performance, she received a letter of recommendation from her professor. After surviving round after round of competitive interviews, Sha Yao successfully became an intern at the Gu Group—and not just any intern, but a member of the elite team directly under Gu Yan’s management. She was overjoyed.
Within the team, Sha Yao was proactive and hardworking. The senior members recognized her efforts and natural talent and were willing to mentor her without holding back.
During a competitive project against other companies, Sha Yao performed exceptionally well, catching Gu Yan’s attention with her brilliance.
Gu Yan was a workaholic, and Sha Yao worked hard to become the person she dreamed of being. The two of them often worked late into the night. Over time, as they collaborated on more and more projects, their chemistry grew, and feelings began to develop.
As time passed, they came to understand and appreciate each other. Their relationship gradually evolved into romance. Eventually, they got married, had children, and together led the company into the ranks of the world’s top fifty.
Judging purely by the plot, this world seemed completely normal—no issues. The male lead was outstanding, and the female lead wasn’t an idiot; in fact, she was a lovable, ambitious young woman.
But how can the love between a male and female lead exist without supporting characters to provide contrast? And that supporting character… was the original story’s foolish, naive, and malicious male side character—Bai Tang.
The elder of the Bai family had once saved the life of the Gu family patriarch. In return, the Gu patriarch had given the then-impoverished Bai family both money and jobs, and even arranged for their descendants to be engaged.
Thanks to that, the Bai family rose to prosperity. But the younger generation failed to live up to expectations. Bai Tang’s uncle was a compulsive gambler who racked up enormous gambling debts, and the Bai family fell into ruin.
Bai Tang’s parents had died, and he had grown up with his uncle. His uncle and aunt were deeply dissatisfied with this “burden,” but having taken the compensation money from Bai Tang’s parents, they had no choice but to raise him.
His uncle and aunt, pleased with the compensation money, promptly quit their jobs and lived a carefree life for a while. But their lavish spending and gambling habits quickly drained the funds—in less than two years, it was all gone. Not a single cent of Bai Tang’s parents’ compensation had been spent on him.
Once the money was gone, they began treating Bai Tang with open contempt—scowling at him, snapping at him, constantly beating or yelling at him. They didn’t allow him to attend school and kept him locked at home doing chores all day, serving their family of three. Their son, following his parents’ example, treated his cousin Bai Tang like a servant too.
Because he had never gone to school and had been abused from a young age, Bai Tang was extremely timid. The only words he knew were the few he had learned during his brief time in kindergarten.
As Bai Tang grew older, he became very good-looking. His uncle and aunt, noticing his increasingly handsome appearance, decided to sell him off in exchange for a sum of money.
At that time, they saw Gu Yan on television and remembered how the old master of the Bai family had once saved the Gu family patriarch’s life. Among the wealthy people they knew, who was richer than the Gu family?
Without hesitation, the couple approached the Gu family, bringing up the life-saving favor and proposing a marriage alliance. The bride price they demanded, however, was astronomical.
Gu Yan was extremely disgusted. He didn’t want his elderly grandfather to be angered by such shameless people, and for the sake of the Gu Group’s reputation, he agreed to their demand. He gave them a large sum of money, married Bai Tang, and made it clear that the Bai family was never to contact him again—as if he had paid to sever the debt of gratitude once and for all.
The couple, delighted with the money, didn’t care at all about Gu Yan’s attitude. As long as they got paid, he could say whatever he wanted.
And so, Bai Tang was taken away by Gu Yan’s assistant. Gu Yan didn’t want to see the Bai family, nor did he want to meet Bai Tang. He simply had his assistant arrange for Bai Tang to live in a remote villa.
Three years later, Gu Yan decided on a whim to sell the mountain villa. When he discovered that someone was still living there, he ordered his assistant to evict the person and forced Bai Tang to sign a contract terminating their engagement.
During those three years, Bai Tang never once saw Gu Yan in person, but he watched him on TV every day and had long since fallen in love with him. After being forced to sign the termination papers, Bai Tang was left homeless, wandering the streets.
Later, during a bidding war, one of Gu Yan’s rival companies discovered the story and found Bai Tang. They incited him to ruin Gu Yan’s reputation, causing such a stir that Sha Yao—who had just become Gu Yan’s girlfriend—almost broke up with him.
In the end, it was only thanks to Gu Yan producing the legal document that severed ties with Bai Tang that the rumors were quelled. Meanwhile, Bai Tang was branded by netizens as a “scheming sl*t.” Eventually, a group of so-called “righteous citizens” tracked him down and beat him to death in an alley while hiding in a sack.
“…I don’t know,” Xiao A said. “It still feels kind of dangerous. Should we… pick another world?”
Even Qiu’er hadn’t expected the plot of this world to be like this. The cover clearly said it was a non-dangerous world!
“Maybe the ‘no danger’ label only applies to the male and female leads. I’m just the male side character. I died of starvation the first time I did a mission too—it’s all the same. I think it’s pretty safe,” Bai Tang said. In this plot, the male side character didn’t even appear that often.
He had entered the story at the point before he moved out of the villa. The female lead had just started her internship at the Gu Group, and there were no feelings between her and the male lead yet.
He didn’t want to hurt such a kind female lead. So he decided that before leaving the villa, he’d find a way to meet the male lead. He believed his dear hubby would never kick him out.
Once the plan was set, Qiu’er went into seclusion to upgrade, and Little A followed Bai Tang into the teleportation array.
After a bout of dizziness, Bai Tang felt a strange sensation under his nose. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a sharp-looking man in gold-rimmed glasses holding a bottle of medicated oil.
That elite-looking man—Assistant Jin—pulled his finger back from pressing the acupuncture point under Bai Tang’s nose.
He slid the documents from the table in front of Bai Tang and said crisply, “Mr. Bai, you’re awake. Please sign.”
The air was still filled with the pungent scent of medicated oil. Clearly, the pain under his nose had been caused by this Assistant Jin.
Bai Tang didn’t even glance at the documents. Assistant Jin heard the very first words Bai Tang spoke after waking up in the villa: “I want to see Gu Yan.”
He was already twenty-two, but his voice was soft and sweet, like someone who had just eaten a piece of fluffy cotton candy.
Assistant Jin was slightly surprised. He took a serious look at Bai Tang and realized he was indeed quite good-looking—more than that, he was beautiful. It was just that his skin was pale from lack of sunlight.
Unconsciously, Assistant Jin softened his tone. “Mr. Bai, Mr. Gu will not see you. Please just sign the papers.”
“I want to see Gu Yan,” Bai Tang insisted.
The young man looked at him pitifully, and Assistant Jin’s heart softened under that gaze.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Gu Yan’s number.
Soon, the call connected.
Bai Tang’s face lit up with joy as Assistant Jin pressed the speaker button. “President Gu, Mr. Bai would like to see you,” he said.
“I won’t see him. If you can’t even handle something this simple, don’t bother coming back,” came the cold, stern voice on the other end.
“I’m…” Bai Tang hurried to explain, but the call was abruptly cut off.
Beep—beep—beep—beep— The dial tone echoed in the room. Assistant Jin looked helpless.
The young man sitting across from him stared in disbelief. Then, Assistant Jin watched as his eyes slowly turned red, glistening with tears that slid down his pale cheeks.
“Hey—hey, don’t cry, okay? I… I really can’t do anything about this…” Assistant Jin wanted to comfort Bai Tang, but he had no idea what to say.
Stupid mouth, stupid mouth, stupid mouth. Normally he was quite eloquent, so why couldn’t he find the words now? Assistant Jin silently cursed himself.
Bai Tang hadn’t expected Gu Yan to be so unwilling to even speak to him—he had hung up without a second thought. Grief overwhelmed him. He sat on the sofa, hugging himself as tears rolled down his face.
Author’s Note:
Gu Yan, you’re done for.
The big surprise is in the next chapter—the female lead in this world is actually a good person~ ✨