Chapter 33

The system mulled over Xia Xi’s words. At first glance, her reasoning seemed somewhat sound, but for some reason, the system had a gut feeling that Xia Xi was trying to trick it.
Still, it couldn’t quite pinpoint what was off.
"System?" Xia Xi called out when the system remained silent for a while. "Why the sudden silence? Have you made up your mind? This deal is definitely not a loss for you, it’s pure profit with no upfront cost."
"Well, alright." Although the system still felt a bit hesitant deep down, after a careful analysis of its database, it had to admit that Xia Xi’s proposal was quite beneficial for it as well. Moreover, the system tutorial stated that a competent system shouldn’t always dampen the host’s enthusiasm and should make appropriate compromises.
"However, I have one condition: you can only borrow one book at a time. If you want to borrow a second book, you’ll need to pay first. What do you think?" The competent system, heeding its intuition, decided to play it safe and proposed this condition.
To the system’s surprise, however, Xia Xi didn’t negotiate at all and agreed immediately.
She agreed, just like that, without any hesitation.
Her straightforwardness left the system momentarily stunned.
Logically, the system should have been pleased that Xia Xi agreed so readily, but instead, her attitude only deepened its confusion.
Whatever the system was thinking, Xia Xi paid it no mind. Her attention was now completely captivated by the book Introduction to Singing Techniques.
Although she only grasped bits and pieces of the content, it didn’t dampen the intense curiosity of a naive beginner who had just encountered entirely new knowledge.
She marked all the parts she didn’t understand, planning to ask the music teacher, whom Da He had found for her, for guidance later.
And so, the brand-new book was naturally and thoroughly marked up with red ink by Xia Xi,
One could only imagine the expression on the system’s face when Xia Xi returned the book to it in such a state.
It must have been quite spectacular.
But then again, for Xia Xi to rise from an unknown actress in her previous life to become a film queen, she must have possessed immense patience and confidence. It was precisely these qualities that made her acting career so smooth.
Patience allowed Xia Xi to immerse herself in studying scripts and characters, ensuring she was thoroughly familiar with every role she was about to play. Confidence gave her the determination to succeed every time, and the characters she portrayed were often praised by professional film critics as textbook examples of acting. This, in turn, bolstered her confidence, fueling her desire to continue on this path.
It was also this patience that enabled Xia Xi to sit quietly in a chair for an entire afternoon when she got her hands on the book Introduction to Singing Techniques, meticulously marking everything she didn’t understand without being disturbed by the outside world. Of course, she had no idea how quickly time was passing. To Xia Xi, it felt like only a blink of an eye before it grew dark outside.
Just as Xia Xi was engrossed in the book, her phone rang at an inopportune moment. She frowned slightly, placed the pen she was holding onto the book, rubbed her slightly throbbing temples, and slowly walked toward her phone. Her unhappiness with the ringtone made her reluctant to answer, so she was in no hurry.
However, the caller was incredibly persistent. As Xia Xi walked leisurely, the ringing continued like background music, with no sign of the caller hanging up.
Finally, Xia Xi reached her phone.
She picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number on the screen. She pursed her lips almost imperceptibly and pressed the answer button.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end of the line remained silent for a while after hearing Xia Xi’s voice before speaking in a deep tone, "Xia Xi, it’s me, your brother."
Xia Xi froze at the sound of his voice. She blinked a few times, took a moment to calm herself, and only then did her mind clear up. After a moment’s thought, she quietly said, "Brother."
To be honest, she was both nervous and surprised. Although she was deeply curious and concerned about the original host’s brother, she wasn’t the original host herself and had no clue about their past interactions. Xia Xi was now extremely worried about being exposed.
"You… you’re actually willing to call me ‘brother’?" Yan Wei’s voice sounded utterly astonished, trembling slightly with emotion. "After all this time, you’ve finally… finally…"
Hearing this, Xia Xi’s heart sank. She felt incredibly foolish. She had intended to avoid exposing herself in front of Yan Wei, but she hadn’t expected her very first words to contradict the original host’s personality and behavior. This was truly… despairing.
She narrowed her eyes, thought for a moment, and decided to throw caution to the wind. "I… I know now. So, Da He has been taking care of me because of you. Thank you… thank you, brother."
"You're my little sister, why bother saying thank you?" The voice on the other end of the line carried obvious delight as it chuckled softly. "As long as you're happy, that's all that matters."
“...”
Xia Xi didn’t quite know how to describe her feelings, a little sour, a little bitter. She gently rubbed her eyes and stayed silent on her end of the call for a long while, unsure of what to say. In the end, she could only call out once more, "Brother."
"Hmm?" Yan Wei, hearing Xia Xi call him again, responded with a faint trace of confusion in his voice. "What’s wrong? Do you have something upsetting to tell me?"
"No, Brother, nothing." Xia Xi sighed inwardly. "It’s just, suddenly, I miss you a little."
"Miss me?" Yan Wei chuckled softly on the other end. "How come I haven’t heard from Da He that you’ve gotten so sentimental?"
"Really?"

After hanging up, Xia Xi stared blankly at her phone. She pressed her lips together, burying her guilt deeper and deeper inside.
"System."
"Host, I’m here. What do you need?"
Xia Xi sighed quietly to herself, squinted her eyes, and then said, "System, what method did you use to make everyone around me not suspect at all that I’m not the original owner?"
“...”
"What, can’t say? Is this question too hard to answer?" Xia Xi’s voice was full of sarcasm. "Does it involve permissions again?"
"Not exactly." This time, the system seemed to sense Xia Xi’s irritation and answered promptly. "It’s just, I didn’t expect you to think of this. It’s a bit sudden."
Xia Xi: “...”