Chapter Fourteen: The Surprise of the System Upgrade

She had already made up her mind: the system upgrade would take twelve hours, so if she started it now, by tomorrow morning, the system would be fully operational again.

After dinner and a shower, she carefully edited and saved the recordings from Li Hao's office earlier that day. These were solid evidence of the bullying she’d endured from Li Hao and Li Xiaofei, and she intended to keep gathering proof against them. Even if things escalated all the way to the higher-ups one day, she would have her own ammunition to fight back. In short, she wouldn’t resign of her own accord; and even if she was ultimately forced to leave, she would make sure those two paid the price.

...

The next day.

As soon as Ruan Mianmian woke up, the system announced:

[Congratulations, Host! The S-Class System has been successfully upgraded to SS-Class! You’ve received a Newcomer Gift Pack x1. Both your Confrontation Points and Life Value will now be doubled compared to before.]

Ruan Mianmian was in high spirits. “007, open the gift pack for me, let’s see what’s inside.”

[Of course, Host. The gift pack has been opened for you. Please check your rewards.]

She glanced through the contents and was momentarily stunned.

An apartment in Jiarun Tower?

What a huge surprise—it was incredible, and she absolutely loved it. Jiarun Tower was not far from her workplace, just three subway stops away, much better than the old, shabby rental she was living in now, and much safer, too.

She’d chosen her current place only to save money; the rent was cheap, and that was the main reason. But it took five subway stops to get to work from here, though it was still closer than commuting from her parents’ home.

Owning her own home had always been her dream. She never thought she’d achieve it so soon.

From now on, she would work hard to earn more points and life value, to live a longer, fuller life.

“007, when will I get the deed and keys to the apartment?”

She needed to have the actual items in hand to really believe it.

[Don’t worry, Host. The keys and deed are deposited with the apartment management office. You can pick them up whenever you like.]

“That’s a relief. I’ll go check it out after work.”

She’d go see it first and then move in as soon as possible. After all, who would want to stay in a shabby old rental if they had a choice?

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Here, the summers were sweltering and the winters bone-chilling. The outdoor unit of the air conditioner was so noisy it sounded like a plane flying overhead. There was no elevator, so she had to climb five flights of stairs every day. And that wasn’t the worst of it—the staircase lights were always malfunctioning, flickering on and off like some haunted corridor; coming home late at night, even the slightly timid would be scared out of their wits.

She was used to it, though, having often worked late and returned home in the dark. Even food delivery couriers were reluctant to bring orders upstairs.

After getting dressed and slinging her bag over her shoulder, Ruan Mianmian happily set off for work.

Li Xiaofei arrived right on time, but didn’t pick a fight with her today.

At ten o’clock, Li Xiaofei made an announcement: there would be a department dinner on Friday, attendance was mandatory, no one could ask for leave or be absent. Everyone was to dress up, as the venue was a high-end restaurant, and it wouldn’t do to embarrass themselves.

After delivering her instructions, Li Xiaofei returned to her desk and didn’t bother Ruan Mianmian further. But Ruan Mianmian noticed the malicious gleam in her eyes.

Clearly, this department dinner was meant to be unfriendly toward her. She guessed that Li Hao and Li Xiaofei had cooked up something together, and whatever it was, it was surely aimed at her.

Well, she’d see what kind of trap these two had prepared for her. She should also use the time left to prepare herself thoroughly.

“Mianmian, are you going on Friday?” Xu Weiwei asked.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I go? Didn’t Li Xiaofei say no one’s allowed to be absent or ask for leave? Besides, it’s a high-end restaurant, such a rare chance—wouldn’t it be a shame to miss it? Don’t you think?”

It was a good opportunity—maybe she could rack up a bunch of points and life value. Why not go? Besides, she was curious to see what exactly Li Xiaofei and Li Hao were scheming.

A venomous snake is most dangerous when hidden out of sight; only when it’s out in the open can you strike it down with a single blow.

“You’re right, Mianmian. Let’s go together and have a feast.”

Xu Weiwei had thought that, after all the conflict with Li Xiaofei, Ruan Mianmian wouldn’t want to go, and was prepared to skip it herself in solidarity.

Ruan Mianmian was unusually productive today—she wanted to leave work on time so she could go see her new apartment.

With five minutes left before clocking out, Li Hao came out with a file and announced, “I have an urgent task here. Three people need to stay and work overtime to complete it: Xu Weiwei, Ruan Mianmian, and Chen Jiemei. The rest of you can go home.”

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Ruan Mianmian immediately refused. “Supervisor Li, I can’t work overtime tonight; I have other matters to attend to. Please assign someone else.”

This bald jerk was always the same, dumping extra work on people right before they were about to leave—so annoying!

Li Hao frowned. “Ruan Mianmian, this is a work assignment. What’s more important, your personal business or your job?”

“Of course... my personal business is more important. If overtime was required, why didn’t you say so earlier, instead of waiting until the end of the day?”

“If you have to stay late anyway, what difference does it make when I tell you?”

Li Hao was irritated by her public challenge to his authority and glared at her, trying to silence her.

But Ruan Mianmian wasn’t intimidated by his scowl. She spoke up boldly, “It makes a big difference. If you’d told me earlier, I could have rescheduled my own plans. By telling me last minute, you’ve disrupted my arrangements, and I don’t accept that. Please assign someone else.”

Li Hao’s authority as supervisor was being challenged. He slammed the table and shouted, “Ruan Mianmian, when the team leader assigns you work, you refuse, and when I assign you work, you refuse too. Do you just not want to work here?”

“I’m not refusing for no reason. My refusal is completely reasonable. Your way of handling things is wrong. Am I not allowed to speak the truth?”

Everyone stared at Ruan Mianmian; no one else dared say a word.

She had been so bold lately, defying both Li Hao and Li Xiaofei time and again. Those two were practically untouchable in the advertising department—anyone who crossed them was sure to be targeted.

Only Li Xiaofei spoke up, “Ruan Mianmian, you’re being outrageous. When your supervisor asks you to work overtime, you do it. Why all this nonsense? Don’t you even understand the basics of obeying your superiors?”

Ruan Mianmian shot back, “Li Xiaofei, no one would think you were mute if you kept quiet. But since you’re so eager, you must really love working overtime. Why not take this opportunity yourself? As the team leader, you should set an example. If you don’t, how can you expect others to respect you?”

She’d been looking for a chance to put Li Xiaofei in her place, and hadn’t expected her to jump out so soon.

“You—”

Li Xiaofei didn’t dare retort; she didn’t want to work overtime either. But since Li Hao was her uncle, she couldn’t outright say she was unwilling.

“Supervisor Li, since Li Xiaofei is so keen, just let her stay and work overtime. I have important matters to handle tonight and can’t stay.”

He never assigned his own niece to overtime, only picking on the ones he thought were soft and easy to bully.

But she was no longer the pushover she used to be—she wouldn’t let him have his way.

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