Salted Fish is a Rebellious Person – Chapter 10

The food at Linlan Garden was worth every penny, and Xing Shi thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, he hadn’t had a proper rest in over half a month. The dull throbbing in his temples reminded him of his fatigue. He leaned back slightly and muttered, “Don’t lose your mind.”

The system immediately muted itself.

Xing Shi placed his phone back on the table and asked again, “Could Lin Kecheng be the host?”

The system unmuted and replied, “Systems can’t detect each other, so I have no way of knowing.”

Xing Shi made a mental note to find an opportunity to test this theory.

The system held back for a while but couldn’t resist blurting out, “Don’t you have anything else to say?”

Xing Shi’s gaze shifted to Fu Xiuning, who was seated across from him.

The young president appeared calm and collected, as if the brief mishap earlier hadn’t affected him at all.

That gentle, elegant, and aloof demeanor made him seem like someone who hated physical contact. Yet, somehow, he’d gained a point in favorability after their hands touched.

So… don’t judge a book by its cover?

Xing Shi asked internally, “Is your favorability program broken?”

The system was indignant. “Impossible!”

Still, it double-checked everything just to be safe. After completing its scan, it reported confidently, “All systems are running perfectly fine~”

This meant that Fu Xiuning had genuinely gained 1 point in favorability just because of that brief touch.

The system began analyzing with newfound excitement: “Fu Xiuning gave you 1 point when he first saw you—he must’ve liked your face. His ID wasn’t lying: Face Control is the Best. This devil who ruined countless hosts is actually just a face control!”

“Who could’ve guessed? If I shared this in the group chat, no one would believe me!”

It wanted to scream with joy but held back to avoid disturbing its host. Instead, it continued its analysis: “Good-looking people naturally make others like them. But Fu Xiuning is a pervert—if he sees someone better-looking than himself, he’d probably hate them. That’s why he initially gave you points and then deducted them after seeing you for the first time.”

“After not seeing you for half a month, the score stabilized at -8. But when you spent more time together, it dropped back to -10. Then, after a few hours apart, it rose to -9 again.”

“Tonight, it should’ve dropped back to -10, but physical touch can bring people closer together. And since you’re so pretty, he gave you another point!”

It suddenly changed its tone, “That’s just my general guess. Want to hear my second theory?”

Xing Shi replied flatly, “No.”

The system ignored him and pressed on: “I suspect he actually fell in love with you at first sight but doesn’t realize it yet. His first reaction to falling in love wasn’t to get closer but to feel disgust. He’s struggling internally, avoiding you, and refusing to admit it. That’s why his favorability keeps fluctuating. The sudden hand-holding must’ve stirred something in him, leading to the increase!”

Xing Shi didn’t refute this. He was also considering the possibility.

He thought back to the parking lot when Fu Xiuning’s favorability increased by 1. It might indeed have been because of his face.

Although he’d lost his pre-time-travel memories, he’d never forgotten what he looked like. His body in the magical world had resembled him by 70%, yet he’d still attracted unwanted attention. Now, with his appearance restored to 100%, it was no surprise that so many people had asked for his WeChat in the past half month.

His handsomeness was an objective fact.

Seeing that Xing Shi remained silent, the system pressed, “Think about it carefully. Is there anything wrong with what I said?”

Xing Shi replied sincerely, “No problem.”

The system was thrilled. “Then should we change the strategy to a love route?”

Xing Shi said, “No.”

The system didn’t push further. Today had proven once again that the host’s face was a powerful weapon. Feeling reassured, it imagined a future of lying down and counting money.

Meanwhile, Fu Xiuning remained composed.

Over the years, he’d heard it all—hosts and systems insulting him, angrily scheming against him, setting traps, making malicious guesses, or indulging in wishful thinking. None of it fazed him anymore.

It seemed that Xing Shi’s situation was no different.

After dinner, the two left Linlan Garden.

Xing Shi returned to the company to continue training, only to find the practice room buzzing with activity.

He raised an eyebrow. “Teacher, did something happen? Did you suddenly give me a day off?”

Everyone laughed and explained.

It turned out the teachers had paused classes to divide the trainees into dance groups.

The idea was to arrange the choreography in ascending difficulty. This way, the simpler moves performed by the less experienced dancers would gradually build up the audience’s excitement, culminating in a finale by the more skilled performers.

Although Xing Shi was a novice, his talent and quick learning had earned him unanimous approval as the center for the final group dance.

Xing Shi accepted this calmly.

After all, no matter where he stood, he’d be doing the same moves. It was just another way for him to slack off successfully.

He found a spot to lie down, then joined the training when the groups were finalized. They practiced until late at night before heading back to the apartment.

After washing up and lying in bed, Xing Shi instructed the system to pull up Fu Xiuning’s information.

When his consciousness sank into the system’s interface, he could see the records of favorability changes, shop items, and other data. Half a month ago, he’d already gone through the original owner’s information with the system.

The system, now treating him like a treasure, said considerately, “Aren’t you tired? There’s no rush. You can sleep first and look at it tomorrow.”

Xing Shi refused.

He would only lower his guard in trusted environments like the company or school dormitories.

“Right now,” he insisted.

The system, touched by his ambition, replied, “Alright. Which part do you want to see first?”

“Family,” Xing Shi said.

The system pulled up the relevant information, and in speed-reading mode, Xing Shi absorbed it quickly.

Fu Xiuning was the only son of a harmonious family. His parents had a strong relationship, and the Fu family was powerful. Despite this, Fu Xiuning was polite and well-liked from a young age.

“Did anything happen to him as a child? Like a kidnapping or something?” Xing Shi asked.

The system searched and replied, “No.”

Xing Shi requested Fu Xiuning’s primary school records and found nothing unusual. However, he noted that Fu Xiuning’s distant temperament began to develop early, likely as a defense mechanism against being overly popular.

“Did he have a crush or an early romance in middle or high school? Any significant fluctuations in his grades?”

The system replied, “No romance, but his grades did fluctuate once.”

“When?”

“In high school. He missed a monthly exam due to illness and injury, which placed him last. But whenever he took an exam, he consistently ranked in the top ten.”

Xing Shi continued reviewing Fu Xiuning’s records, eventually arriving at the second semester of high school, when the incidents began piling up.

• A classmate maliciously injured his leg during PE.
• He was surrounded by students from another school and rescued by a boy in his class, only to reject the boy’s friendship proposal, which led to rumors about his “ruthlessness.”
• He was pushed down a staircase by a mentally ill girl.

The list went on.

By his second year of high school, Fu Xiuning transferred to another school and enjoyed a brief period of peace before encountering similar incidents again.

Xing Shi asked, “When did this strategy mission start?”

The system replied, “Five years ago.”

Xing Shi fell silent.

Fu Xiuning was now a junior in college. Five years ago would’ve been the second semester of his second year in high school.

After a pause, he asked, “You said he’s antisocial?”

The system explained, “The main system predicted he would become antisocial in the future, so it wanted to intervene during his teenage years.”

Xing Shi sneered. “What if the main system’s intervention is what made him antisocial in the first place?”

The system sighed. “I thought about that too, but it’s too late to change the past. All we can do now is try to save him.”

Xing Shi thought this sounded more like hunting than saving.

But no matter the reason, he’d already decided—he was going to dismantle the system.

This time, it wasn’t just about making Fu Xiuning call him “dad.” He’d make him call him real dad.

The next day was Saturday. While school was on break, the company wasn’t.

Trainees trained six days a week, with only occasional breaks. Even then, most chose to practice during their free time.

Xing Shi trained at the company all weekend. On Sunday night, his friends finally treated him to the meal they owed him.

The following Friday, he ran into Fu Xiuning on campus.

Fu Xiuning stopped his car and asked, “Where are you headed?”

“South Gate,” Xing Shi replied.

“Get in,” Fu Xiuning said, motioning to the passenger seat. “What for?”

“Meeting Senior Lin,” Xing Shi explained.

Fu Xiuning frowned. “Didn’t I tell you to limit contact with him?”

“He insisted on treating me. It’s just a meal, nothing deep,” Xing Shi reassured him.

Fu Xiuning nodded, satisfied with his reasoning.

The system waited expectantly for a favorability update but was disappointed. “Why didn’t it change? Are you not dressed well today?”

Xing Shi shrugged. “It just means his baseline favorability for me is -8.”

The system thought for a moment. “That makes sense. Maybe he’s still in denial. Once he gets over it, everything will be fine!”

When they reached the South Gate, Lin Kecheng spotted them and immediately smiled, walking over to chat.

However, just as he started speaking, a familiar sound rang in his mind.

[Didi]

[Current Favorability Value: -5]

Lin Kecheng: “!!!”

His system: “!!!”

After half a year of effort to raise the score by 1 point, they were back to square one.

Both host and system were utterly devastated. “Why?!”