After backstabbing the villain, the system allowed me to enter the book again - Chapter 5

Following an online tutorial, Fang Xiaozheng spent two hours cooking scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised pork with potatoes, stir-fried greens, and crucian carp soup. For dessert, she even made a strawberry milkshake. To ensure the benefactor could eat the dishes fresh out of the pot, she left the braised pork and potatoes covered in the pan for warmth.

As for the results, she could only say she tried her best. From peeling the potatoes to cleaning the fish, she worked step by step until the dishes were cooked through. Tasty might be too generous a word, but at least it was barely above a beginner’s level.

After dinner preparations, Fang Xiaozheng suddenly felt the urge to relax by studying. She set her phone on the desk, pulled out her textbooks, and started picking the questions she knew how to do—filling here and there, leaving big blanks in between. After all, she wasn’t planning to rely on academics to change her fate. Her path to success was licking up to a rich woman, and if she could get close to some rich guys through Shen Huaixin, all the better.

Not long after, her phone buzzed. She hurried to check it, only to see a notification flashing across the screen:

No appetite. Next time.

Darkness swam before her eyes.

The sky gradually dimmed. The yellowed walls reflected the clock’s ticking hands, already pointing past eight. In the living room, the lamp cast a warm glow. In one corner stood Fang Xiaozheng’s little study desk.

She scratched her head with her pen, flipping through the pages in agitation, unable to focus on studying—just like always. Of all the difficult problems in the world, why did they have to gang up on a poor high schooler like her?

At the door came the click of a key turning in the lock. The metal handle pressed down, opening to a crack, letting in the night’s chill along with a familiar figure.

“Xiaozheng, I’m home.”

Fang Xiaozheng hurried over to take her mother’s bag and hung it on the rack.

As always, her mother placed the keys into the drawer by the entrance. Carrying the takeaway cold noodles she had picked up from a nearby shop, she walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of hot water.

“…Xiaozheng?”

Hearing her name, Fang Xiaozheng replied, but it was a moment later that her mother’s voice came again from the kitchen:

“You made all this?”

“Yeah.” Fang Xiaozheng felt a pang of regret at the untouched dishes she’d prepared. With no other choice, she had eaten some herself, leaving the rest on the table. She figured her mother could have them later as a late-night snack before she cleaned up.

Her mother came out from the kitchen and hugged her tightly. When she reached up to pat her daughter’s head, she was startled to find that Xiaozheng had already grown taller than her by a head. She spent her days bowing her head at work, and somehow hadn’t noticed when her daughter had shot up, becoming so considerate and mature. A wave of emotion struck her as she sighed,

“Our Xiaozheng has really grown up.”

“…”

Fang Xiaozheng froze for a moment. A strange ache welled up inside her chest. Forcing herself to act thick-skinned, she accepted the praise, though with some awkwardness. “I’ll heat it back up. It’s gone a little cold. You can take the leftovers to work tomorrow.”

“Alright, alright. I have to properly taste my daughter’s cooking.” Her mother dabbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, the faint crow’s feet shimmering with moisture.

She kept repeating how thoughtful and grown-up her daughter was, how she finally knew to care for her mother. But Fang Xiaozheng lowered her head as though she had done something wrong, unable to respond.

When everything was tidied away, Fang Xiaozheng yawned. The evening had been surprisingly eventful. Ready to relax, she reached for her phone. But as soon as she turned it on, she saw a message Shen Huaixin had sent half an hour earlier:

2. Finish your homework. Make sure it’s accurate. I’ll copy it tomorrow.

“Hah?”

Fang Xiaozheng couldn’t hold back a shout of protest.

Seriously? Didn’t Shen Huaixin know what her grades were like? The two of them—one failed at level one, the other failed at level ten. What was the point of copying? And making sure it was accurate? How was that even humanly possible?

She rubbed her eyes vigorously, rereading the task several times just to make sure she hadn’t misread. Nope. She hadn’t.

She tilted her head back, staring up at the ceiling in despair, finally understanding the true meaning of the phrase “hopelessly illiterate.”

Late that night, Fang Xiaozheng reluctantly photographed her homework and uploaded it. To prevent Shen Huaixin from misreading her scrawls, she even wrote more neatly than usual—better handwriting than she ever managed in exams.

When Shen Huaixin received it, she was quite pleased. Although the book said Fang Xiaozheng’s grades weren’t very good, at least they were better than her own—after all, she’d been out of school for years. Copying while learning might even get her more correct answers.

But the moment she opened the first page, she fell into silence. After a pause, she pinched a pen between her index and middle fingers, pretending to smoke.

Yeah… better to rely on herself. Self-reliance was the way to go. Even though in the future human civilization wouldn’t exist anymore, and studying now was meaningless, Shen Huaixin wouldn’t live to see that day. So why not take this chance to relive her long-lost student life?

When the imaginary cigarette burned down to her fingertip, Shen Huaixin came back to herself. She gripped the pen, stood up, and knocked lightly on the wall at the edge of her room. “Asleep?”

“…”

Right. It was already past ten. He should be asleep.

Just as Shen Huaixin turned away, she heard two answering knocks from the other side of the wall, mimicking her rhythm exactly. She couldn’t help laughing. If only her real younger brother were this cute and obedient.

She quickly snapped some photos of the questions she hadn’t solved and sent them to him, asking, “Can you do these?”

“Never done them.”

As expected. Shen Chumo had never studied human knowledge. Even if he could learn on his own, it would take time. She sighed. “Then forget it, just go wash—”

【System: Yellow Card Warning!】

“Wash up and sleep! Talking to a brick wall here!” Shen Huaixin backpedaled just in time to stop the OOC warning. Wiping cold sweat from her brow, she groaned. Keeping in character was too damn hard. She wasn’t a professional actress; she couldn’t stay immersed 24/7.

The next morning, Shen Huaixin’s alarm dragged her out of sleep. A faint trace of school-weary resentment escaped her lips in a sigh, but she still got up obediently to wash.

She knew perfectly well it was meaningless. When the apocalypse arrived, exam scores and school attendance would mean nothing. Even the original host’s existence would be erased. But she still wanted to savor this fleeting sense of purity from her high school days.

When she reached the classroom, she handed in her homework. Fang Xiaozheng peeked at her workbook, scratching her head and dodging eye contact. “Sis Xin, about the accuracy… let’s just say fifty-fifty.”

“Optimistic,” Shen Huaixin gave her a sidelong glance. “From now on, don’t bother giving me your homework. Just focus on cooking. Get your cooking skills up.”

Fang Xiaozheng laughed awkwardly, her tone puzzled. “I just don’t get it. With all the chefs you’ve got, why make me cook?”

Because the apocalypse was coming. Cooking was a survival skill. And because Fang Xiaozheng’s mother had lived a hard life, never knowing comfort, only to be infected when the world ended. On the surface, Fang Xiaozheng had stayed strong, but in her final moments, she cried for her mother over and over, like begging for help, like confessing regret.

Shen Huaixin couldn’t change that ending. But at the very least, she could ease their regrets.

“Just want some homemade cooking,” Shen Huaixin replied casually. Then, after a thought, added, “Also, go watch some shows like Adventures with Grandpa Long. I’m planning a wilderness cookout this summer. You’ll be the one handling fire and food.”

“…”

Fang Xiaozheng fell into stunned silence. After a long moment, she reluctantly nodded, looking pained but agreeing to try her best.

Shen Huaixin then turned to the other two girls in her little entourage, giving them a few words of guidance too. They hadn’t even been given names in the book, but since they’d stuck with her, she might as well teach them something. Better than letting them come up with bad ideas and drag her into bullying classmates.

Time passed. Classmates studied according to the schedule. Shen Huaixin listened half-heartedly, her pen tapping lightly on the book as her gaze drifted far away. Teachers had long since grown used to her attitude. Honestly, the fact that she even came to school on time was a miracle, so they didn’t bother reminding her.

In the back row, a boy slouched, distracted as always. Propping his chin in one hand, sometimes gazing out the window, sometimes at Shen Huaixin’s back.

Sunlight dappled through the trees, falling on her dark hair. It was the same back view as always, yet somehow seemed clearer, gentler, more captivating than before. The boy’s eyes drifted toward her side profile. She was staring blankly toward the blackboard, eyes unfocused.

Following her line of sight, he realized she wasn’t looking at the board at all, but at something slightly off to the side—the bulletin board? Covered with trivial notices the teacher had pinned up yesterday.

So, just spacing out. He concluded, and then went back to daydreaming himself.

When the bell rang, Shen Huaixin took a deep breath and walked to the Chinese teacher’s office, handing in the application form she had filled out the night before.

The teacher raised his brows, a little surprised. Taking the form, he scanned it up and down, confirming it wasn’t a prank.

Probably just a rich kid’s whim, he thought. Still, he’d been worrying about the upcoming cultural showcase with no volunteers. Shen Huaixin signing up was a timely relief.

“A singing performance?” The teacher adjusted his glasses, smiling. “Practice well. I’ll be cheering you on.”

Shen Huaixin pinched her sleeves nervously but nodded.

The teacher looked again. “Just a solo? If you’re nervous, you could do a duet, or gather some classmates as backup singers.”

That… sounded reasonable. “Alright. I’ll rally them.”

Up until now, Shen Huaixin had considered herself an outsider, never thinking to involve anyone else. But on second thought, the original host’s three friends could absolutely join in, if they were willing.

She acted quickly, gathering her little clique for an impromptu meeting and persuading them to sign up.

Troublemaker-in-chief Fang Xiaozheng immediately balked. If it was making trouble, she was a pro, but talent shows? Let’s just say she had seven orifices but none for music. She admitted honestly: “I can’t sing.”

“It’s simple. Just relax. It’s not some official grand gala. Just open your mouth and hum a little. Plus, there’ll be prizes. At worst, a consolation prize,” Shen Huaixin coaxed.

That struck right at Fang Xiaozheng’s soft spot. She nodded in agreement.

Next, Shen Huaixin turned to the other two girls. One had a baby face and a soft, timid voice; the other wore twin ponytails, tall and lanky.

Baby Face hesitated. “Too many people. I’ll get nervous.”

“Don’t worry, just stand to the side and blend in,” Ponytails said confidently, patting her chest. “Put the mic between me and Xiaozheng.”

Baby Face burst out laughing. “Alright then.”

Seeing them talk themselves into it, Shen Huaixin felt a rare warmth of satisfaction.