What to Do, I've Been Targeted by the Villain Again [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 7

At some point, Xu Sangning’s parents had also left, leaving only Xu Sangning and Ji Ying sitting close together in the living room.

Xu Sangning lifted her head after hearing Ji Ying’s words, glanced around in confusion, then turned her gaze back to Ji Ying.

“Want to take a walk in the garden?” Ji Ying asked, pretending as if nothing had happened, her eyes fixed on Xu Sangning.

“No, I don’t feel like moving. Do you know how to play chess?” Xu Sangning looked at Ji Ying.

Ji Ying hesitated for a few seconds. “What kind of chess?”

A minute later, Xu Sangning and Ji Ying were seated in the tea room playing Ludo.

“Knocked out—you’re back home again.” Xu Sangning propped her chin on her hand and flicked Ji Ying’s piece off the board.

Ji Ying resignedly retrieved her piece. She lowered her head and stared at her four planes still stuck at home, letting out a sigh. Every time one of her pieces ventured out, it wouldn’t be long before Xu Sangning sent it right back.

Feeling a little frustrated, she looked up at Xu Sangning’s gently swaying fingers and suddenly decided that being frustrated wasn’t so bad after all.

Besides, the game was turning in her favor—at least all of Xu Sangning’s pieces were now ahead of hers.

But she soon realized she couldn’t roll a six to save her life.

Ji Ying: “……”

Propping her chin on her hand, Ji Ying glared at the dice on the table. She suspected they were rigged but had no proof.

“I win,” Xu Sangning declared with satisfaction.

Ji Ying stared at her still-crowded hangar. “Next Saturday, come with me to the temple to pray for luck.”

“Sure. Let’s play Monopoly now.”

“Dinner’s about to start soon.”

“We’ve got time.” Xu Sangning packed away the Ludo set and pulled out a Monopoly board from the cabinet.

Hearing this, Ji Ying finally understood—Xu Sangning had definitely cheated.

“You’ve got a lot of games here,” Ji Ying remarked, noticing the cabinet stuffed full of board games.

“Mhm.” Xu Sangning nodded. “I liked playing these when I was little. Sometimes I’d invite classmates over to join.”

Sure enough, even though Ji Ying won rock-paper-scissors and secured the first move, she rolled a one—the only property she would ever own in this game. From then on, she landed on Xu Sangning’s properties every single time.

By the end of the round, Ji Ying was bankrupt, completely penniless—just as dinner was announced.

Ji Ying: “……”

She chuckled and glanced at Xu Sangning. Their eyes met briefly.

Xu Sangning was now certain—Ji Ying was most likely also from the Fast Travel Bureau. No normal person could stay this calm in the face of such bizarre circumstances.

Following behind Ji Ying, Xu Sangning began wondering if she had unknowingly offended someone.

Was it Agent 3767? His mission completion rate was also 100%, but her points were just slightly higher than his. The next promotion would go to one of them.

But if he wanted to mess with her, surely he wouldn’t go this far.

Besides, Ji Ying only acted strangely around her—most of the time, she maintained her character’s persona flawlessly… Wait, no. She seemed utterly disgusted by Xu Qiexing and didn’t even bother hiding it.

Xu Sangning took her seat at the table and stole another glance at Ji Ying, her eyes now filled with deeper scrutiny.

The conversation at dinner soon turned to work, which Xu Sangning preferred—it meant she could eat in peace without having to engage much.

After the meal, convention dictated that Xu Qiexing should be the one to see Ji Ying out.

But Xu Qiexing excused himself, citing work, and went upstairs early. In the end, it was Xu Sangning who walked Ji Ying to the door.

Before seeing Ji Ying off, Xu Sangning walked over to her mother and lowered her voice, “How can Brother be like this? He didn’t even see his fiancée off. A grown man in his twenties with no sense of propriety—what kind of work could possibly be so urgent?”

“Mom, you should’ve kicked him a few more times,” Xu Sangning said, demonstrating a forceful kicking motion.

With that, she went to Ji Ying’s side to escort her out.

“You have an early class on Monday, so are you heading back tomorrow night?” Ji Ying asked.

“Yeah,” Xu Sangning nodded.

“Oh, then I won’t leave today. I can take you back tomorrow.”

Xu Sangning: ???

She gave Ji Ying a puzzled look.

“I also own a place in this neighborhood.”

Xu Sangning: …

“Just walk me to the gate. I can get back on my own,” Ji Ying said considerately.

Xu Sangning very much wanted to say she hadn’t planned on sending Ji Ying home anyway.

“Oh, then be careful on your way.”

“Bye.”

Hands in her pockets, Xu Sangning watched as Ji Ying walked away.

“What exactly are you up to?” Xu Sangning frowned deeply.

Back in her room, she hesitated for a while before deciding to resort to special measures.

After all these years in the Quick Transmigration Bureau, she still had a “few” tricks up her sleeve.

Though it came with some risk—the Bureau wasn’t as full of “loopholes” as it used to be, making it easier to get caught.

Xu Sangning closed her eyes and summoned her core. Countless strange symbols and characters floated in midair, flickering like fireflies.

She located the symbol representing Ji Ying, tapped it, and saw the annotation: “Ji Tangmian—Human (Mission Agent).”

Xu Sangning opened her eyes as the characters and symbols plummeted downward, as if sinking into an abyss.

“Mission Agent?”

“What the hell is a Mission Agent?”

She glanced at her own tag—”Employee (NPC).” Though she sometimes referred to herself as a Mission Agent, her official designation wasn’t that.

Was this some new department? Xu Sangning didn’t recall encountering it before.

After showering, she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

While she’d uncovered Ji Ying’s true identity, it only deepened her confusion.

If even the Quick Transmigration Bureau didn’t know what this person was up to, that might explain why they hadn’t made any progress for so long.

She also noticed that Ji Ying’s tag was formatted differently from hers.

Xu Sangning frowned, clutching her blanket.

Honestly, she wasn’t entirely sure what the full potential of her ability was. She’d just woken up one day to find she could view the world from another perspective, occasionally using it to cheat a little during missions.

But she’d always felt there was more to it—she just couldn’t figure out how to unlock it.

Mission Agent.

What exactly was Ji Ying’s mission?

Was the target her? Ji Ying only acted strangely around her, but aside from being annoying, she hadn’t done anything else.

If they both belonged to the same department, she could probe for information outside the script. But if they weren’t—or worse, if they weren’t even from the same “company”—then discussing off-script matters could jeopardize her mission.

Xu Sangning punched the bed twice. It had been a long time since she’d faced such a thorny problem.

Her phone vibrated on the nightstand. She picked it up and glanced at the screen.

Of course, it was Ji Ying.

Xu Sangning sighed. Ji Ying really had too much free time.

Ji Ying sent a picture of a small black kitten hiding in the grass. It didn’t look very old, with round, amber eyes, gazing timidly at the camera—utterly adorable.

Ji Ying: It’s been so long since I’ve been back here that wild cats have started making a home in my yard.

Xu Sangning: Are you going to chase it away? It looks pretty cute.

Ji Ying: What if I adopt it?

Xu Sangning: You could try? Though some stray cats don’t like being kept indoors.

Ji Ying: I think it’ll like it.

Ji Ying sent another photo—the little black kitten was now rubbing against her leg.

Ji Ying: Took it home.

Xu Sangning: Remember to take it to the vet for a checkup and deworming.

Ji Ying: Yeah, tomorrow morning. Want to come with me?

Xu Sangning sat cross-legged on her bed, conflicted.

She really liked cats.

But if she went from the start, she might inevitably end up interacting more with Ji Ying because of this cat—and Ji Ying was already troublesome enough as it was.

But…

Xu Sangning zoomed in on the picture Ji Ying had sent. The kitten was seriously adorable.

Xu Sangning: What time?

Ji Ying: How about nine? Sleep in a little longer.

Xu Sangning: Okay.

Xu Sangning set her phone down and lay back again.

That feeling of being played by Ji Ying was back.

The realization made her even more annoyed. She really should have been harsher during their chess game earlier.

——

After getting Xu Sangning’s agreement, Ji Ying was in high spirits, humming a tune while showering.

Once she finished, she picked out her outfit for the next day and had her assistant bring it over in the morning.

Xu Sangning slept until 8:30. After washing up, she threw on some clothes and went downstairs to wait on the couch for Ji Ying to pick her up.

When Ji Ying’s message came, she hurried out the door.

Standing at the entrance, she stared at Ji Ying—fully made up and sitting in the car—for a few silent seconds before calmly getting in and taking the passenger seat, yawning.

“Still sleepy? I should’ve picked a later time,” Ji Ying said. “Did you eat breakfast?”

“Yeah… It’s fine. Even if you let me sleep till afternoon, I’d still yawn.”

Xu Sangning turned to look at the little black kitten in the back seat. Ji Ying’s assistant had brought a cat carrier earlier, and the kitten was curled up peacefully inside, paws tucked in, staring back at Xu Sangning when she glanced at it.

“So cute. It’s even smaller than in the pictures. Where are you planning to keep it?” If they weren’t driving, Xu Sangning would’ve scooped it up onto her lap.

“At Chanyun,” Ji Ying replied.

Chanyun was the apartment near Xu Sangning’s school.

“I’ll give you the passcode. That way, you can visit the cat whenever you want,” Ji Ying said.

Xu Sangning: I’ve really been played.

“Didn’t expect you to adopt a cat. I thought you didn’t like small animals.”

“I do. If I didn’t like small animals, I wouldn’t like sweets either,” Ji Ying remarked.

Xu Sangning’s fingers stiffened for a second.

“Ji Ying” didn’t like sweets. She rarely ate desserts.

But Ji Tangmian did.

This character break shouldn’t have anything to do with me, right?

Xu Sangning pretended not to notice, rubbing her stiff neck before turning away.

“Should we name the cat first?” Ji Ying suggested. “We’ll need to register it at the vet soon.”

“What do you want to call it? It’s your cat after all.” Xu Sangning refused to name it.

“I don’t know either. Ji Little Black?”

“Sure.”

“I thought you’d say that’s too casual.”

“Simplicity is elegance, and besides, I trust your literary taste. You must have chosen this name for a deeper reason.” Xu Sangning said with a light laugh.

Ji Ying: …

She felt like Xu Sangning was mocking her, but she had no proof.