Chapter 257 – The Runaway Little Sweetheart of the Top Actor – Encounter (01)
[Point settlement: 200 points awarded for breaking up the male and female leads. Side mission reward: 800 points for helping more people in need.]
The mechanical female voice sounded again. Qiu’er came out of the main system database, looking dejected.
The moment it saw Bai Tang, it let out a loud “Waaah!” and threw itself into his arms.
“Did the upgrade fail? It’s okay, once we save up enough energy next time, we’ll try upgrading again…” Bai Tang comforted the husky that had thrown itself into his arms.
“N-no, it’s not that…”
Qiu’er sobbed, “Being human is so hard…”
Through Qiu’er’s tearful and intermittent explanation, Bai Tang and Xiao A learned that, because Qiu’er was a bound system linked to Bai Tang, during its secluded upgrade process, it sensed the host’s intense emotional fluctuations—again and again—which made it extremely worried. On top of that, Bai Tang’s fleeting thoughts of giving up on the mission directly affected Qiu’er’s emotional state.
Although the upgrade eventually succeeded, it came with side effects.
Qiu’er could only maintain its human form for five minutes, and the cooldown time was unknown. To remove this bug, a large amount of energy would be needed.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault,” Bai Tang said, feeling guilty. He hadn’t known there could be such a deep connection between the system and the host.
Qiu’er wiped its face. “It’s okay, as long as you’re fine, Tang Tang.”
Even if the upgrade failed, it could always be retried. But there was only one Tang Tang—it didn’t want a new host. Where could it ever find one as good as him? If it ended up with someone like Xiao A’s previous host, it would rather self-destruct.
Xiao A patted Qiu’er on the head. “Come on, let’s recharge. The host did a lot of good deeds in the last world—the energy collected is quite substantial.”
Hearing that, Qiu’er’s attention was immediately diverted. It happily followed Xiao A to the storage tank to check the energy levels.
“Waaah~ Tang Tang, you’re amazing!” Qiu’er exclaimed in awe.
“I’ve prepared a storage tank for you. Once the energy reaches this level, you can upgrade again,” Xiao A said.
“You’re so kind, Xiao A.”
The Samoyed looked gently at the husky. “As long as you’re happy. No more crying, okay?”
Bai Tang: Why does that sound so familiar? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before…
Once Qiu’er let go of the negative emotions from the failed upgrade, Bai Tang asked the question that had been on his mind. “Is Sha Yao actually Ling Xue?”
Qiu’er flipped through the data. “Oh yeah, the female lead from the last world is the same as the one from the first world! And the second male lead Jiang Hongzhe is actually Owen. They ended up together in both worlds! Owen is awesome—he stole the male lead’s thunder two times in a row.”
Qiu’er, as always, was critical of the male lead. “Second male leads for the win!”
“But that was just a coincidence. Since Ling Xue is a female lead from a beginner-level world, as long as we avoid beginner worlds in the future, we won’t run into her again. Also, beginner worlds don’t give as many points as they used to. It’s only because Tangtang did so many good deeds that the side mission rewards were higher this time,” Qiu’er explained as it flipped through Bai Tang’s record from the previous world.
Bai Tang nodded. “Alright then.” As long as Ling Xue is doing well, that’s all that matters.
“So, what’s our next world?” Bai Tang quickly let go of the nostalgia. While the past was something to remember fondly, the future was what truly mattered.
Qiu’er took out a pink book, with the title printed in stylized fonts: “The Runaway Little Sweetheart of the Top Actor.”
Xiao A: “Why do the names of the last two worlds sound so…”
Qiu’er: “Shut up. Not allowed to comment.”
The bickering between Qiu’er and Xiao A had become routine by now, and Bai Tang was used to it.
He opened the script. This was the plot summary:
The male lead, Pu Hexu, was a god-tier actor in the entertainment industry.
At a party, Pu Hexu was drugged by a minor male character who had a crush on him. Using the last of his rationality, Pu Hexu fled the venue—but still couldn’t resist the effects of the drug. He pulled a passing hallway staff member into a room—who just so happened to be the female lead, Wen Anni.
After a passionate night, Pu Hexu gave her a sum of money and sent her away. Meanwhile, reporters had been staking out the hotel entrance and managed to capture photos of Pu Hexu and Wen Anni entering and leaving together.
Pu Hexu’s fans were outraged, believing it was Wen Anni who had seduced him—otherwise, why hadn’t their idol released a statement?
Within just a few days, Wen Anni was overwhelmed by the relentless cyberbullying. Meanwhile, Pu Hexu discovered who had set him up and took steps to blacklist the male supporting character involved.
Feeling guilty for dragging Wen Anni into the dark side of fan culture in the entertainment industry, Pu Hexu decided to make it up to her. Not only did he transfer her to his side to work as his assistant, but he also arranged for her family to live in a high-end, secure residential community.
In fact, Pu Hexu was Wen Anni’s idol. She had never even dreamed that one day she’d get to work alongside him. Despite all the difficulties and people giving her a hard time, she accepted it all willingly and without complaint.
Wen Anni was someone who tended to be scatterbrained. Even with Pu Hexu shielding her, she still made countless blunders while coordinating with film crews, often leaving Pu Hexu to clean up the mess.
To make matters worse, Wen Anni’s parents were an insatiably greedy couple. After seeing their daughter catch the attention of a superstar like Pu Hexu—and thanks to her connection, moving into the luxurious home they had always dreamed of—they began pressuring Wen Anni to marry him. That way, they could demand an exorbitant bride price.
They relentlessly urged Wen Anni to seduce Pu Hexu, and little by little, she started to be swayed by their words.
She became increasingly attentive toward Pu Hexu, which aroused the jealousy of another actress on set who also had a crush on him.
Cleaning up after Wen Anni became a habit for Pu Hexu. After enduring multiple schemes together, his feelings gradually shifted from admiration for her soft yet resilient personality to genuine affection.
After that, they faced a series of challenges—parental pressure to marry, eccentric and greedy in-laws, and more. But the strong-willed Pu Hexu led Wen Anni through it all, and in the end, they found happiness together.
Whether it was because systems naturally liked to learn or not, after reading the entire script, Xiao A was the first to comment.
“Isn’t this just a classic Cinderella-and-the-Prince story?!” Xiao A exclaimed. “So Qiu’er’s system even has fairy tale scripts? My system library doesn’t have this—I’m updating immediately!”
Qiu’er: “Is now really the time to update your system? The real issue is that my Tang Tang is being cast as cannon fodder the moment he enters the world!”
In the plot, the male supporting character who admired the male lead and tried to create an opportunity for him to be with the female lead—that was the role Bai Tang would be stepping into.
The second male lead, Bai Tang, was a minor celebrity—a barely-known D-list actor. He had liked Pu Hexu for many years and finally got a chance to work on the same production as him. Under the instigation of another actor who was jealous that Pu Hexu had stolen his lead role, Bai Tang ended up drugging Pu Hexu.
But at the critical moment, Bai Tang got scared. To give himself some courage, he drank the same drugged wine. In the end, Pu Hexu avoided him, and Bai Tang was instead dragged into a room by some lowly extra.
After the incident, Pu Hexu’s team issued a warning and blacklisted him. Bai Tang was completely shut out of the entertainment industry. With nowhere left to go, he eventually died alone on New Year’s Eve, out on the streets.
That’s probably what they call “hurting others and hurting yourself,” Bai Tang thought. Truly a foolish, naive second male lead. After over a year of struggling in the entertainment industry, how could he still be so gullible—so easily manipulated?
Still, it was one thing for the original Bai Tang to be punished and blacklisted—he deserved that as a consequence. But for people who wanted to curry favor with Pu Hexu to go so far as to push Bai Tang to ruin, just because they knew Pu Hexu hated him… that was going too far.
Bai Tang took a deep breath. “Xiao A, Qiu’er, let’s enter the world.”
The main system opened a teleportation portal, and Bai Tang stepped in with his two dogs.
…
Bai Tang was jolted awake by the heat. He let out an unconscious groan, and the sultry quality of his voice startled even himself.
“So hot~”
His whole body was burning up. Instinctively, he tugged at his collar to loosen it.
A fat, greasy man stared at the flushed boy in front of him. The boy’s eyes were dazed, his white teeth biting at his lower lip, and fine beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his delicate collarbones—enough to drive the man mad with lust.
He recognized Bai Tang. Even a D-list actor was better than a nobody like him. If he could… wouldn’t that mean he’d landed himself a sugar baby jackpot?
“Tang Tang, wake up! Wake up!”
Why did they have to arrive at this moment?!
The two systems were panicking. They had just transmigrated with Bai Tang into this world, and their system functions were still on cooldown—temporarily unusable. If that man really laid hands on Bai Tang now, it would be a disaster.
Bai Tang’s head was spinning. He heard two familiar voices and forced his eyes open—only to see a greasy, bloated face looming over him.
“You… get away from me…”
Bai Tang tried to push the man off, but his body was too weak. The man took his resistance as an invitation. The moment Bai Tang’s fair hand touched him, it was like setting off a fire.
“Tang Tang, you’re the one who pulled me into the room. Since you’re offering yourself up, I’d be a fool not to take you,” the man sneered, unbuttoning his shirt as Bai Tang cried out in protest.
…
Meanwhile, Pu Hexu was walking down the hallway, his body growing hotter by the second.
D*mn it, someone drugged me.
He just wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible. Whoever targeted him had probably set a trap right here in this hotel, just waiting for him to walk into it.
Even if he were going to collapse, it wouldn’t be in this damn hotel.
Suddenly, he clutched his chest—an intense, prickling pain radiated from his heart. The closer he got to the elevator, the worse the pain became.
An overwhelming sense of dread froze him in place. His instincts screamed that if he left the hotel like this, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Following his intuition, Pu Hexu walked to the door of a room. If he listened closely, he could hear faint sobbing coming from inside.
The anxiety and panic in his chest intensified. Pu Hexu kicked the door open—inside, he saw a boy pinned beneath a fat man, the boy’s shirt already torn open.
“Get the hell off!”
The fat man was sent sprawling by a swift kick. He barely saw a shadow flash past before something slammed down hard on his lower body—his lust vanished instantly, replaced by agony.
As the man looked up to see who it was, he was met with a pair of murderous eyes. A punch came flying, knocking out several of his upper right teeth.
Pu Hexu was trembling all over, still shaken by the scene he had just witnessed.
He didn’t even want to imagine what might’ve happened if he’d arrived a second later.
At that moment, both systems—finally finished with their cooldowns—appeared red-eyed with fury. One held a straw doll, the other a cursed talisman, and they both took it out on the fat man.
Thank goodness.
He had made it in time.
The boy didn’t appear to have any injuries. Pu Hexu took off his jacket and gently wrapped it around him.
A familiar embrace. A familiar presence.
From deep within their souls, both of them let out a sigh of recognition.
“N-no… please…”
“It’s okay. I’m here now.”
His anger began to subside, but the effects of the drug were growing stronger—his body burned with rising heat.
“Damn it…” Pu Hexu cursed under his breath and quickly carried the boy out of the room.
They hadn’t even reached the elevator when both of their minds succumbed to the effects of the drug. Back pressed against the wall, they started kissing uncontrollably.
The two systems, having just finished dealing with the fat man, walked out and saw the scene. Xiao A silently covered Qiu’er’s eyes and, hacking into the hotel’s system, quickly reserved a room for the male lead and the host.
Once the two entered the room, Qiu’er crouched by the door, fuming as the sounds of “harmony” came from inside.
“Damn male lead, taking advantage of Tang Tang the moment he shows up.”
That’s what Qiu’er said—but deep down, if anyone had to be with Tangtang, he would rather it be the male lead.
Xiao A erased the hallway surveillance footage of Pu Hexu and Bai Tang’s heated moment and dragged Qiu’er into the little white space.
“See no evil, hear no evil.”
Author’s Note:
No-prize trivia time—what world number is this?