Chapter 1: Exiled in the Stars
Xiao Qicai felt her head splitting with pain, yet she couldn't open her eyes.
Faint voices of two men reached her ears.
"What do we do now? The client just wanted her to sign the annulment papers. Who knew she'd be so stubborn as to kill herself by crashing into something!"
"What's there to do? Dead is dead. On a Class D planet, a few deaths daily are normal, especially for someone this weak with no power or backing!"
"But did you forget? We're recording this video. What if the employer sees we drove her to death..."
"Do you think the mastermind cares? They sent us to deal with her like this—what's the difference from killing her? Though this girl's covered in allergic rashes, she's quite pretty. Heard she used to be a Class B citizen—what a pity. Normally, even if young mistresses commit crimes, they rarely get exiled to low-level planets like this. Must've offended someone. Heh, let me check if she's faking it. Either way, we get 100,000 star coins for completing the mission. Dead or alive makes little difference..."
As the man finished speaking, Xiao Qicai heard footsteps approaching her.
Another set of footsteps followed—clearly, the two had reached an agreement about what to do with her.
Confusion swirled in Xiao Qicai's mind. What was happening?
Had she been kidnapped?
By business rivals? Or that competitor who lost the CEO election?
But they mentioned annulment papers and "young mistress"?
And they dared to lay hands on her—how audacious!
As the footsteps drew nearer, Xiao Qicai's fury grew, desperate to rise.
Yet her soul felt trapped in a cage—her body wouldn't move, her eyes wouldn't open.
This infuriated her, and her headache intensified.
Suddenly, an explosion seemed to erupt in her mind—a blinding white light shattered, unleashing a flood of foreign memories that surged through her.
At the same moment, the scar-faced, vicious-looking man in front reached for her face, pinching her chin and moving to check her nose.
Fortunately, Xiao Qicai's eyes snapped open just then.
The instant her eyes opened, she seized the man's wrist—the one groping near her clothes—and, catching him off guard, delivered a brutal kick between his legs.
"AAAAARGH!"
The man instantly crumpled, clutching his groin and howling like a slaughtered pig.
The bald man behind him shrieked in terror: "A ghost!"
"Ghost my ass—she's alive!" the scarred man snarled through gritted teeth.
"This bitch attacked me! Get her!"
The bald man hesitated, but as he stepped forward, Xiao Qicai fixed them with a venomous glare: "Negotiate if you want, but lay another finger on me, and I'll make sure you watch me die for real!"
The girl's pitch-black eyes were clear and beautiful, yet now radiated a piercing sharpness. Combined with the blood on her face and head, she looked like a vengeful spirit.
The bald man, already cowardly, instinctively retreated two steps at her words.
Enraged, the scarred man forced himself upright and cuffed the bald man's head: "Why fear her? Her death means nothing to us!"
With that, he advanced again, intent on revenge.
But Xiao Qicai wasn't waiting for him. She quickly retreated several steps, leaning against the wall to support herself as she adopted a defensive stance, her tone unyielding:
"Think carefully—I'm still someone from a high-level planet, still the fiancée of a major family's heir. If you dare lay hands on me, you must have a death wish!"
Her voice carried even more venom than the scarred man's, a stark contrast to her earlier vulnerable, bullied demeanor.
This approach proved effective. Weakness invited unrestrained abuse, but her sudden fierceness made the two men hesitate.
The scarred man ultimately didn't dare approach, though he still blustered: "High-level planet my ass! You're just low-class trash now, and about to get dumped too. Still expecting your precious fiancé to come save you?"
"Listen up—our job today is to make you sign that annulment. Refuse, and we'll kill you! Threaten us? Then die faster! Once you're dead, I'll still get paid. If not... my brother and I will have some fun first!"
The pain between his legs fueled his resentment, vulgar thoughts resurfacing as he leered at her with obscene malice.
Xiao Qicai took a deep breath, nauseated by his gaze.
If not for the head wound and this body's weakness, she'd have fought to castrate this bastard already!
But the headache was unbearable.
Frowning, she reached up to touch the source of the pain—her fingers came away bloody.
The metallic scent and sharp pain jolted her awake again.
The unfamiliar surroundings, throbbing wound, and these very real men all confirmed it—the memories in her mind weren't random. She'd crossed over, becoming someone else.
A disgraced young noblewoman exiled to a backwater planet after her family's downfall.
This was no longer Earth, but a hyper-advanced interstellar society with rigid social hierarchies.
She didn't know why she'd transmigrated, but survival took priority now.
Sign? Of course, she'd sign. The original owner chose death over annulment, but she wasn't that foolish.
Dying for a man who abandoned her? Beyond stupid!
Lifting her head with icy composure, she hissed:
"Who said I wouldn't sign? Back the hell off, and I will! Take your disgusting eyes off me—dare touch me and you'll regret it! Remember—your employer wants that signed annulment. Dead women can't sign documents. Think carefully—can you afford to fail your mission? Kill me, and do you live?"
Her razor-sharp tone and glacial stare—utterly unlike her earlier fragility—made both men falter again.
Hesitating, the bald man rubbed his shiny head: "She does have a point. That person only told us to force her to sign. If she refused, we were to humiliate her and teach her a lesson—all to make her sign. If she really dies, her irises would be gone, and this annulment document could never be signed. Now that she's relented, once she signs, we can get our money. Let's not take unnecessary risks. This girl really went all out smashing her head—losing so much blood, yet still alive!"
This reasoning made sense, and the scar-faced man also paused.
He looked Xiao Qicai up and down, his gaze finally settling on her delicate face. Though unwilling, he held back.
"Fine, hurry up and sign. Once it's done, we can report back!"
With that, he tossed over a high-quality contract.
In interstellar society, most contracts were digital. Only truly significant matters or important agreements required physical copies for record-keeping.
Clearly, this annulment was being treated with utmost seriousness.
Xiao Qicai took the contract and, out of habit, began carefully reading from the first page.
But the scar-faced man grew impatient again:
"What's there to read? Just sign it and be done!"
Xiao Qicai immediately stopped.
Hurry up and sign? In your dreams!
Given the current situation, even if she signed, these two men might not let her go.
She raised her eyes to meet theirs: "Signing a contract is a matter for both negotiating parties. You don’t think I’d sign alone, do you? Tell your employer—I want to speak to my fiancé in person. I’d like to see if my high-and-mighty fiancé truly wants me dead at your hands!"
Her words instantly darkened the men’s expressions.
Xiao Qicai pressed on:
"According to the current United Government treaty, a marriage contract remains valid for three years even after death. If whoever sent you doesn’t mind me dying as the Luo family’s second young master’s fiancée, then I’ll smash my head again right now!"
As she spoke, she defiantly glanced at the camera above them.
Xiao Qicai said this because she was certain these two couldn’t have been sent by her so-called fiancé.
No matter how much he wanted to annul the engagement, given the Luo family’s young master’s pride, he would never resort to threatening his own fiancée into submission.
So, these two men must have been sent by someone else who wanted the engagement broken.
In negotiations, you had to maximize your leverage to achieve the best outcome and secure the most benefits—a lesson she’d learned from countless contracts.
Sure enough, her words stunned the two men.
Eventually, they gritted their teeth and left the small room, presumably to consult their employer.
Seizing the moment, Xiao Qicai tore a strip from her skirt to bandage her head.
Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped after she woke up, so she likely wouldn’t die—for now.
At the same time, she sorted through the memories in her mind again.
A once-privileged young lady fallen from grace, her engagement annulled—it sounded like the plot of some wish-fulfillment novel. Had she somehow become the protagonist of an annulment-themed story?
Just as she tried to console herself with dark humor, an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
"Data loading complete. Respected host, Love System 002 is at your service!"
Xiao Qicai listened carefully to the voice, even scanning the room multiple times to confirm no one was present, verifying the voice came from within her own mind.
She immediately furrowed her brows: "What are you? Some kind of system?"
"Correct. I am Love System 002 from an advanced civilization, bound to your soul when you were still Xiao Qicai, and have accompanied you to this new world."
"Bound before? So you know who I am?"
"Indeed, I am bound to you. Xiao Qicai, current CEO of Anford Group, age 37, single, with zero romantic inclinations—the first perfectly qualified host I've encountered since activation."
"Then, do you know why I came to this world? What's happening now?"
"After binding with you, your original body died. I utilized reserve energy to find you a new identity in the universe—the current owner of this body, Bai Yushan."
"Died? I was just revising contracts in my office—how could I have died?" Xiao Qicai sharply detected something amiss.
"Apologies, I cannot speculate on your cause of death."
Can't speculate? Murder? Sudden death? Killed by this system?
Countless conspiracy theories flashed through Xiao Qicai's mind.
Eventually, she calmed down.
"Can I go back? If you can traverse time and space, surely you can return me?" she asked.
"Apologies, insufficient system energy for bodily return. Rough calculations indicate this world is at least billions of quantum particles away from your Earth. Even with this world's highest technology, return would be extremely difficult."
"So?" Xiao Qicai gritted her teeth.
"You should settle in here for now!" 002 tried to make her accept reality. "This body is 20 years younger—absolute profit! With me here, I'll help you become a life champion and reach the pinnacle of success. Trust me!"
Silence again.
Xiao Qicai mentally weighed pros and cons, realizing since reversal was impossible, survival in this world came first, with return attempts later.
New to this world, with this body in dire straits, and this so-called advanced civilization system—she'd keep it temporarily to see its uses.
Calling it a system, it barely qualified as a golden finger.
Never one for complaints, after mental preparation, her eyes regained determination.
"As an intelligent system, what's my best escape from current difficulties given present circumstances?"
The previously despondent, nervous system perked up at her question:
"Host, data indicates Luo Meng's breakup with Bai Yushan wasn't entirely his decision—someone else instigated it! Those two men earlier weren't sent by Luo Meng either, but by that person."
The system's tone turned excited: "System analysis suggests you're perfectly suited for the 'Chasing Wife to the Crematorium' plotline now!"
"Clearing up misunderstandings, reconciling, and ultimately turning Luo Meng into a doting husband who avenges all those who wronged you—what a perfect love story everyone would adore!"
Xiao Qicai: "..."
In the typical broken engagement trope, shouldn't the protagonist rise up, turn the tables, and become the ultimate winner in life?
How did it end up being about falling in love and having a man fight her battles for her?
Who on earth would actually use a system like this?!
"Unsubscribe!"
"Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying!"
[EN: This will be a preview translation of the free 20 RAW chapters.]
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