Chapter 37: Schemes of the Past Life

I arrived in S City on the morning of the 13th and headed straight to the hospital from the airport. The old man was still bedridden. As for Yu Xunhuan, he was no longer confined to his bed; with his wedding just a few days away, Su Yitong had dragged him off to rehearsals.

It was the first time Yu Xunge had ever heard of a wedding requiring rehearsals.

Upon reaching the hospital, she shoved two primary healing potions at Yu Qingshan.

Yu Qingshan was staring blankly at the ceiling. Yi Qiuguo pried his mouth open and poured the medicine in, but he showed no reaction. Yu Xunge watched with cold eyes, wondering if the old man had become a vegetable.

She pulled Yi Qiuguo aside and whispered, asking what exactly was going on.

Yi Qiuguo stammered, unsure of how to explain. They had kept this secret from their daughter for so many years that revealing it now would be too painful. In the end, she merely said she didn't know.

Yu Xunge didn't truly care; her primary purpose for this trip was to investigate their Divine Gifts.

In her past life, she hadn't possessed any detection items. All the information she had gathered was either through her own observations or what they had told her themselves.

In her previous life, Yi Qiuguo had claimed her Divine Gift was related to cooking; the food she made had a chance to increase a person's attributes, though the success rate was only 5%.

At the time, Yu Xunge had remarked that Yi Qiuguo and Yu Xunhuan were truly mother and son, as both their gifts involved cooking.

But looking at it now, Yi Qiuguo’s Divine Gift was actually related to the Fire element. The more she spoke, the higher the damage bonus her fire-based skills received, resetting daily.

It dawned on her in an instant why Yi Qiuguo had always called her home for dinner in her past life. Every time she returned, the food was already prepared. The dishes tasted average, but the ingredients were incredibly high-grade. Because Yu Xunge was the type of person who would return at least four or five points of kindness for every ten she received, she would always leave something behind for Yi Qiuguo and Yu Qingshan after eating.

So that was it... all of this had been to support Yu Xunhuan’s "God of Cookery" talent, hadn't it?

Premium ingredients ensured the dish’s rating wouldn't be low, but the mediocre taste meant the overall score remained average. As long as the score didn't exceed 80, it wouldn't trigger a critical consumption effect. Thus, Yu Xunge would never associate these meals with Yu Xunhuan, and there was no question of gaining attribute points.

In this way, she could be moved and, in turn, give back to her family, all while never actually benefiting. Not only that, but she was unwittingly paying away her own invisible luck as the "price" for these meals.

Looking back, she recalled that every time she went home and ate, she would have a streak of bad luck afterward. She had even thought at the time that she and her hometown were just cursed.

As for Yu Xunhuan, he hadn't completely lied to her. He said his talent doubled the beneficial effects of the food he made, and the effects did indeed double when she ate it.

Yu Xunhuan would even go out of his way to prepare original, creative dishes just for her, ensuring the effects doubled 100% of the time. Yet, despite eating them for two years, she had never gained a single attribute point.

How brilliant. By dancing on the edge of various skill limits, he earned her trust while calculating against her, all without letting her touch a single real benefit.

Yu Xunge could only conclude that she had learned a hard lesson.

***

She didn't find it strange that Yu Xunhuan coveted her luck. Her luck had been good since childhood; her initial luck stat in the game was 8, surpassing most people. Though, she still didn't know why, with such good luck, she had missed the game's closed beta...

Wait? She missed the first closed beta because Liu Zhengliu had schemed against her.

But why did she miss the second and third? What was she doing on June 6th and October 10th in her past life?

It had been too long; logically, Yu Xunge shouldn't have been able to remember clearly.

But those two dates were too significant. They weren't just the dates of the closed betas; they coincided with the days surrounding Yu Xunhuan’s engagement and wedding!

Some memories quickly surfaced.

While she couldn't recall exactly what she had done on those specific days, she could remember the events of that period. She remembered that a few days after Yu Xunhuan’s engagement, he had suddenly called her one morning, claiming he had used the Su family's connections to find a project for her and asked her to meet the relevant people. She remembered that when the Su family's driver picked her up that day, she had looked out the window and seen that the sky was only just beginning to brighten.

Before Yu Xunhuan’s wedding, he would constantly ask her to accompany him to rehearsals, and later, he even begged her to go to the wedding venue every day to keep an eye on things—even though the Su family’s people were already running everything and there was nothing for her to do.

She remembered being incredibly annoyed during that time because, besides having nothing to do at the venue, every time she tried to kill time on her phone, the Su family members would drag her off to look at the decorations.

Yu Xunge stood in the hospital bathroom, clenching her fists tightly.

Had he been plotting against her from that far back?

Yu Xunge stared at the water flowing into the basin. The hatred that had slightly dissipated after stealing Yu Xunhuan’s "God of Cookery" talent surged back with a vengeance.

Why?

Not only did they keep these things from her, but they forced her to miss those opportunities again and again?

She turned off the faucet and looked calmly at herself in the mirror.

Why waste time pondering the reasons behind her enemies' malice?

There was no need, and no meaning.

All she needed to do was return the favor, one by one.

Yu Xunge said goodbye to the bedridden Yu Qingshan and left. Yu Qingshan’s talent was called "Liar." For every lie he told, his attack power increased by 0.1%, resetting daily. Furthermore, he could identify lies.

This was exactly what he had told her in her past life; he hadn't lied about that.

But the most advanced form of a lie is sometimes the truth.

He didn't need to fight; how could she verify how many lies he told her?

What a family...

Yu Xunge walked out of the hospital and stood in the sunlight, yet she still felt a chill seeping out from her very bones.

How was she even biologically related to these people?

Never mind. Thinking about her own actions, she wasn't much better.

They were all insidiously cunning creatures: Yu Qingshan, the old silver fox; Yi Qiuguo, the foolish silver fox; Yu Xunhuan, the young silver fox; and herself, the beautiful silver fox.

And Yi Qiuguo—that idiot.

Let them all just live together in their twisted, loving misery!

On the 15th, Yu Xunge accompanied Yu Xunhuan to the venue where he and Su Yitong were rehearsing for the wedding. She watched him from afar. He was smiling, appearing as though he felt no pain, no despair, no anger, and no grief.

But the more Yu Xunge watched, the happier she became. The more successfully they suppressed their emotions, the better. Just like her, every time she smiled at Yu Xunhuan and the others, she would retaliate even more ruthlessly. She was waiting for the day he finally snapped.

After enjoying the performance and the mask Yu Xunhuan wore, she pulled Su Yitong into a corner. "I have a wedding gift for you," she said with an air of mystery. "It's an item from the game. Where would be a convenient place to give it to you?"

Su Yitong was curious; items from the game were still quite rare at the time. She led Yu Xunge into the dressing room. Yu Xunge gestured for Yu Xunhuan to join them, and once inside, she produced the bed that made everyone who saw it blush.

A game item in an unowned state reveals its information the moment it is touched. Su Yitong thanked her with a neutral expression, though her eyes were shining.

Yu Xunhuan also breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was a bit awkward, this item... well, it was exactly what he needed! He needed it—urgently!

After several days of gloom, Yu Xunge had brought him the only good news he'd heard in a while. Yu Xunhuan gave Yu Xunge a look of gratitude.