The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 23

Pei Wang slightly fluttered his eyelashes.

The system was still chattering away in his mind. Pei Wang furrowed his brow, nodded at the doctor, and thanked him, saying, “Thank you for your trouble.”

He left the office and did not return to the ward. Instead, he went to the public restroom and locked the door behind him.

The eleventh floor was filled with VIP wards, single rooms, each equipped with a private bathroom, so this public restroom was usually deserted.

Pei Wang stood in front of the sink, gently tapping the marble counter with his fingers, and said, “System.”

The system responded enthusiastically, “I’m here, I’m here.” It eagerly asked, “Host, do you have any questions?”

It proactively suggested, “Would you like to see the system mall?”

Pei Wang frowned. Before he could respond, a tapestry of intertwining lights appeared before him, swirling in a kaleidoscope of colors, forming an almost 3D makeshift shelf.

On the shelf were various chibi-style products, cleverly labeled with their names and point prices for his understanding.

At the top of the shelf was a black, round object, entwined in a halo of shimmering golden light, as if it were afraid of being overlooked.

Pei Wang glanced at the item, then focused on the name indicated below.

It was the Cure-All Pill that the system had mentioned.

The electronic synthesized voice continued to chatter in his mind, “Don’t let the high exchange points scare you; it works really quickly to slap faces. Just look, in only two days, the vicious supporting female character has already provided so many face-slapping tasks—”

Pei Wang interrupted its sales pitch, calmly querying, “How can you prove that this medicine is effective?”

The system’s prepared persuasive speech came to a halt, producing a mechanical sputtering noise: “Prove?”

This was the first time it encountered such a situation. Not only was the host uncooperative with the face-slapping tasks, but he was also questioning the efficacy of the mall’s products.

The system really wanted to retort to Pei Wang, saying “If you don’t trust it, then don’t exchange points!” but it didn’t dare to.

From its interactions with this host over the past few days, it was evident that he would indeed refrain from completing tasks.

The system begrudgingly updated the mall, temporarily refreshing a product on the last row: “I can offer you a trial version.”

The new product was also a black, pill-shaped object, but it lacked the golden effects. The shelf displayed its name and point cost—

Cure-All Pill [Pirated Version]

Exchange Points: 10

Pei Wang slowly raised his hand, lightly touching the new product, and its details quickly popped up.

[After taking this pill, all ailments will be temporarily cured for one day and will revert to their original state after twenty-four hours.]

Pei Wang frowned slightly. He read the description carefully two times and then reached to click on the exchange button.

He hesitated for a moment and then asked, “How do I obtain the product?”

The electronic synthesized voice mysteriously hinted, “Feel your pocket.”

Pei Wang instinctively checked his pocket.

Previously, it had a hard candy stuffed in it by Jiang Shu, but now, when he reached in, it felt empty and flat.

Pei Wang immediately pressed down on the pocket’s opening, paused for a moment, and then extended his fingertip into the pocket, pulling out a black pill wrapped in a transparent plastic bag.

He held the pill in his hand, lowered his brow in thought for a while, and then walked back to the ward.

Pei Songyu was still asleep, and the care worker sat at the bedside, doing nothing, likely afraid he would return suddenly, as they hadn’t even dared to take out their phone.Pei Wang smiled at her apologetically and said, “I’d like to spend some time alone with my mother. Could you please step out for a moment?”

The care worker quickly jumped up from the small stool, saying, “Of course, of course, it’s no trouble at all.”

She moved to the door as if the floor were hot beneath her feet, but Pei Wang called to her softly again, “Could you tell me where the Fruit Knife is?”

The care worker pointed in a direction, “It’s in the drawer on the first floor.”

She left the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

Suddenly, the room fell into silence, interrupted only by the faint sounds of medical equipment. The system reminded him, “You can take the pill to give it to your mother.”

“And then take her for an exam,” the electronic synthesized voice added cheerfully. “Then you will really believe in the items in the mall. Wait, what are you doing—”

Pei Wang opened the drawer and took out the Fruit Knife.

This pill was only effective for a day, and he couldn’t possibly give it to Pei Songyu.

The brief disappearance of the illness followed by its return—this kind of hope offered only to have it taken away could bring pain and despair even greater than the moment of the initial diagnosis.

There were other methods to test the pill; he didn’t need to let Pei Songyu suffer again.

Pei Wang lowered his brow, pressing the tip of the knife against the vein in his hand and calmly applied pressure.

Blood quickly flowed out, and amidst the system’s noisy screams, he swallowed the pill.

He felt a slight itch at the site of the wound, which miraculously began to scab over, only to shed away rapidly, leaving just a small stain of blood.

Pei Wang lowered his head, staring at the pristine state of his hand for a while, then stood up, took the fruit inside the restroom, and turned on the faucet.

The clear water quickly washed away the drop of blood from the knife tip.

Pei Wang placed the Fruit Knife back into the drawer, then sat on the sofa at the edge of the bed, silently gazing out the window.

Today was a lovely day, with bright sunshine and clear skies—Pei Songyu’s favorite kind of sunny summer day.

He didn’t want to hurt others, but he hoped even more that Pei Songyu could see next summer.

He clearly struggled with this decision for some time, but that hesitation was quickly nailed down by the system’s effect. Pei Wang asked quietly, “What counts as completing the face-slapping task?”

Jiang Shu found it very difficult to deliver her gift.

Her grandmother was happy when she opened the door to see her, but as soon as she noticed the nutritional supplements in Jiang Shu’s hands, her expression darkened, and she pretended to push her away, saying, “If you’re bringing something, don’t come to see me.”

Jiang Shu had to flatter her at the door for a while before her grandmother finally let her and the items in, and then her grandmother turned to look for her Money Box. After some effort, she counted out a stack of money and stubbornly shoved it into Jiang Shu’s hands.

Jiang Shu could only accept the money for now, sitting on a Small Stool while chatting with her grandmother for a bit. Then, when her grandmother wasn’t paying attention, she quietly pressed the money under the pillow.

The elderly woman didn’t see her little maneuver and continued to tell her about the changes in the Small Fishing Village: “Fishing is tough and risky, and often you can’t be with the kids, so many young people in the village don’t do this anymore and have gone to the Neighboring City for work.”

“All of my children have gone out to find work,” she said, handing Jiang Shu some snacks she had just bought yesterday. “Here, eat.”

The old woman sighed, “Although they’re sending back quite a bit of money, and we’ve built new houses in the village.”

She shook her head, “But what good is it if the people don’t come back? The houses are empty, and the village feels empty too.”

Jiang Shu didn’t respond. She chatted for a couple more sentences with her grandmother before saying her goodbyes and getting in the car.The driver clearly had a good rapport with Father Jiang and Mother Jiang; when she arrived home, both of them were sitting in the living room.

Perhaps they heard her opening the door, as they both turned to look at her, anxiously staring, “How was the recording? What did you think?”

Jiang Shu: “?”

Jiang Shu walked inside, puzzled by the sudden concern from Father Jiang and Mother Jiang, “Do you want me to write a reflection on the recording for you?”

Father Jiang and Mother Jiang fell silent. After changing her shoes, Jiang Shu realized in the quiet that she had been tricked by Father Jiang into participating in the recording; they were worried she would be angry.

Jiang Shu deliberately adopted a stern expression: “Don’t you know what you did? How can you still have the nerve to ask me?”

Mother Jiang and Father Jiang exchanged glances, and then she pushed Father Jiang aside, walked over, and hugged Jiang Shu’s arm, nervously saying, “It was all your father’s terrible idea.”

Father Jiang begrudgingly took the blame: “I just thought you and Xiao Wang weren’t getting along very well, and there was this opportunity…”

He also came over and asked with concern, “How did it go?”

Jiang Shu felt it was quite good. Although the director appeared

rather stingy, she hadn’t suffered any hardship from the program.

She pulled Father Jiang and Mother Jiang over to the sofa, shared a few interesting stories, and then hesitated before telling them about the elderly woman’s situation, quietly asking, “Can it be developed into a resort over there?”