Chen Ningxi stared at the information she had uncovered, curled up on the small bed in her rented apartment, giggling foolishly to herself.
The door to the room was kicked open. She turned her head and saw a man with sunken eyes—her uncle, the one who had squandered the family’s demolition compensation money.
"Ningxi, look who I brought with me," he said.
Chen Ningxi glanced behind him and saw a familiar figure.
"Shikai..."
The hollow-eyed man eagerly turned his head. "We had a deal. I take you to my niece, and you give me a hundred bucks to turn my luck around."
Zheng Shikai pulled a crumpled hundred-yuan bill from his pocket. Chen Ningxi’s uncle snatched it and ran off without a second glance.
The two of them stood there, staring at each other.
"Shikai... I’ve missed—" Before she could finish the word "you," Zheng Shikai slapped her across the face.
"I ended up like this because of your Fang Family! You wretched woman!" Over the past two years, Zheng Shikai had gone from being a high-flying corporate CEO to an unemployed young man. His mindset had twisted—he despised everything, hated the Fang Family, and now resented Chen Ningxi. It was all her fault! Every time he tried to do something, someone from the Fang Family would interfere, plunging his life into darkness.
Zheng Shikai moved straight into the rented apartment shared by Chen Ningxi and her mother. Every day, he either drank or beat Chen Ningxi, then forced her to go out and earn money.
Watching this scene, Xiao Hei couldn’t help but feel uneasy. "Host, aren’t you being too harsh on Zheng Shikai?"
Fang Zhiyi lay lazily basking in the sun. "If—just if—in the original storyline, Zheng Shikai had spared the original host after the Fang Family’s ruin, I wouldn’t have bothered with him. But this is what he deserves."
"Host, speaking of which, does the Fang Family really not know about you tricking Chen Guodong into becoming a laborer overseas?"
Fang Zhiyi chuckled. "The people I used were all my own. If they found out, it’d be chaos. Chen Guodong only targeted the Fang Family—his crimes didn’t warrant death. But how could I tell them that he arranged for someone to run over his own daughter or even smothered Fang Yueyao with a pillow? They’d never believe me."
"Still, having power and money really is nice..." He stretched contentedly.
"Host, Chen Ningxi ran away."
"Oh?"
Unable to endure Zheng Shikai’s abuse any longer, Chen Ningxi fled in secret, abandoning her mother. Incredibly, she ran straight to the Fang Family’s villa.
"Second Brother! Second Brother!"
Hearing the shouts outside, Fang Zhiyi sighed and simply ordered someone to drive her away.
Soon after, Zheng Shikai arrived. He cast a resentful glance at the Fang Family villa in the distance before focusing on the woman in front of him. Without hesitation, he swung his fist. Beating their former daughter right outside the Fang residence filled him with vicious satisfaction.
Chen Ningxi took the blows silently, then suddenly, like a madwoman, grabbed a brick from the ground and smashed it into Zheng Shikai’s head. Staggering from the impact, he stared at her in disbelief.
"You dare hit me?"
Chen Ningxi gritted her teeth, her face bruised. "Why shouldn’t I?"
They fought again. Whether it was being near the Fang Family or something else, Chen Ningxi erupted with a ferocity that forced Zheng Shikai to beg for mercy. Looking down at him, now cowering like a dog, she let out a self-mocking laugh, dropped the brick, and walked away.
Watching through binoculars, Fang Zhiyi raised an eyebrow. "Alright, that’s enough."
The Fang Corporation implemented a series of reforms—lowering product prices, improving employee benefits, and even establishing a public welfare fund. Their reputation in the market soared.
Meanwhile, Chen Ningxi left the city with her mother, settling in a small town. Starting with a humble street stall selling fried skewers, she gradually built up her own shop.
"Host, something strange happened," Xiao Hei said, shaking its newly regrown little head.
"Hmm?"
"Zheng Shikai found Chen Ningxi again!" Xiao Hei began transmitting the scene to Fang Zhiyi in real time.
Inside a small shop, Chen Ningxi bustled about in an apron while a scruffy, unshaven Zheng Shikai swept the floor and greeted customers. Occasionally, she would scold him, but he simply kept his head down and worked.
"Host, do you want to...?" Xiao Hei asked.
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "Forget it. Bullying people with power is just boring." He looked at Xiao Hei. "Remember this—I’ve done what I needed to. If they choose to ruin themselves now, that’s their fate. But if they turn their lives around, that’s also their fate."
Xiao Hei nodded half-understandingly, making Fang Zhiyi sigh in exasperation.
How could this thing be the Heavenly Dao?
After this world, Xiao Hei had finally regained a human-like form. It stubbornly insisted on resembling Yue Anyao, though its skin remained dark. Fang Zhiyi decided not to dwell on it.
"Xiao Hei."
Still examining its new body, Xiao Hei didn’t look up. "Yes, Host?"
"Do you... know how you were born?"
Xiao Hei lifted its head, as if searching its memories. After a long pause, it shook its head. "I don’t know."
"Alright."
"Host, are you getting ready to leave?"
Fang Zhiyi nodded, and in the next moment, he was pulled out of the original host’s body.
The "Fang Zhiyi" sitting below froze for a long moment before suddenly bursting into laughter and tears. Watching him rush downstairs to embrace his mother, then his grandparents, Fang Zhiyi and Xiao Hei exchanged a glance.
"See?" Fang Zhiyi smiled. "People never understand what they’re doing until they’ve been hurt badly enough."
Xiao Hei nodded vigorously—whatever the Host said was right.
"What’s the next world like?"
"Uh... pretty challenging, Host. Ready to go?"
"Sure."