Salted Fish is a Rebellious Person – Chapter 61

99 let Green Bean Soup follow its heart and pick a voice again.

Unfortunately, the latter had no memories of its time as a human and viewed itself as a higher-dimensional being, so it still chose the same voice.

Seeing this, 99 figured that, at the very least, it must be a girl mentally. So whenever Xing Shi went to the bathroom, he’d dutifully activate the privacy shield to prevent it from seeing anything.

Green Bean Soup said, “Sweetie, I’m just a machine.”

99 retorted, “No, you’re human.”

Green Bean Soup didn’t argue, “Okay, I’m human. But by your logic, I’m already dead. The dead don’t matter.”

99 replied earnestly, “It’s fine for dead people who haven’t revived yet. But for folks like us, who aren’t fully dead, we should still be careful. When you were bound to Chai Xiaoyu, did you just casually watch?”

Green Bean Soup answered, “He asked me about gender once, and I told him systems have no gender. He didn’t mind.”

99 sighed, “If he knew the truth, he’d probably dig his toes into the ground out of embarrassment.”

Green Bean Soup said, “Probably not. I told him I don’t enjoy watching people use the toilet or shower.”

After a pause, it reasoned patiently, “Dear, I think you should be more cautious than I am. Xing Shi and Fu Xiuning are a couple—which means they like men. And you’re a man.”

99: “…”

Green Bean Soup emphasized, “It’s not like we enjoy peeping or something!”

Green Bean Soup quickly backtracked, “I’m just overthinking things.”

Then it added, “Qinqin, you’re so responsible and well-mannered~”

99 beamed, “Of course!”

Best Fortune: “…”

It wasn’t until 99 activated the shield and Xing Shi returned to class and sat down that it suddenly realized something felt off.

It asked, “Is this how you normally flatter your hosts?”

Green Bean Soup replied, “Yes, dear. What do you think?”

99 analyzed seriously, “It’s kind of over-the-top and not that great, honestly. People can tell.”

Green Bean Soup said, “This works for most male hosts. Those who can see through it are either experienced or really smart. See, I couldn’t fool you.”

99 nodded, “That’s true.”

Best Fortune looked at it silently.

99 was used to being countered, so he turned to Green Bean Soup and asked, “Wait, are you trying to butter me up again?”

Green Bean Soup said innocently, “No, honey, you figured it out on your own, right?”

99 said, “Yeah.”

Green Bean Soup replied, “See? That just proves you’re amazing. I’m just stating facts.”

99 looked at Best Fortune, who also looked back at him.

After a few seconds, 99 gave in to the brainwashing and said solemnly, “That… makes sense.”

Best Fortune: “…”

Xing Shi asked, “What are you talking about?”

Green Bean Soup immediately shut up and lowered its presence.

99 recounted the conversation, emphasizing how it protected the host’s privacy and saw through the tricks.

Xing Shi responded casually, telling them to shut it.

After a full morning of classes, he went to the company.

When he reached the elevator on the first floor, he looked up and saw Sang Chenhao standing there.

Probably because Sang Chenhao only wore a baseball cap around the company and looked relaxed, he was a little surprised to see Xing Shi and smiled, “What a coincidence.”

Xing Shi greeted politely, “Brother Sang.”

The two stepped into the elevator together. When Sang Chenhao saw him press the floor for the cafeteria, he asked, “Were you out for something this morning?”

Xing Shi answered, “I was at school.”

Sang Chenhao was slightly surprised, “You’re still a student?”

Xing Shi nodded.

Sang Chenhao understood, “No wonder the boss hasn’t scheduled any more announcements for you—you’ve got to balance studies.”

Xing Shi said humbly, “Mainly because I’m a rookie and don’t know anything yet.”

Sang Chenhao agreed, “Yeah, the entertainment industry is too fast-paced these days. Taking things step by step is better. It’s rare to see someone with your looks think that way.”

Xing Shi replied modestly, “That’s all thanks to my brother’s good guidance.”

Sang Chenhao smiled, “The boss is really impressive—he’s achieved so much at such a young age. It’s hard to keep up.”

Xing Shi nodded in agreement, “I think so too.”

With a “ding,” the elevator arrived.

Sang Chenhao said goodbye and left.

Xing Shi watched the elevator doors slowly close before heading up to the cafeteria.

In the past, he wouldn’t rush back just for a meal because he didn’t want to eat leftovers. But ever since he started eating at this small cafeteria, that wasn’t a concern. As long as he came during meal hours, there would always be fresh, hot food waiting.

Fu Xiuning was already there, waiting at their usual spot.

After Xing Shi got his food, he came over and sat down. “I just ran into Sang Chenhao and chatted with him a bit.”

Seeing he didn’t elaborate further, Fu Xiuning assumed it was just casual greetings and gave a soft “Mm.”

Xing Shi asked, “How’s your shoulder?”

Fu Xiuning replied gently, “Much better, don’t worry.”

After a peaceful morning, Green Bean Soup had finally settled its nerves. But now it noticed something odd and whispered, “Didn’t he have a head injury yesterday?”

99 answered, “That was just a blood bag he crushed.”

Ever since it got captured, Green Bean Soup had suspected they’d planned everything. Now it was certain. Still confused, it asked, “How did you know my host was a Captor? You only had dinner together three times!”

99 said, “What’s hard to guess? There were new people in the group—I immediately notified my host. The only new face around us recently is your host. Plus, he already knows Xing Shi and just so happened to move to Z City. Obvious much?”

Green Bean Soup wanted to cry again.

It had stayed in City C for most of summer break just to make the transition feel natural. It had coached its host every day on expression control and social skills, planning to build things up slowly—but in the end, they walked straight into a trap.

Now that its questions were answered, it stopped trying to grab attention, afraid it would displease Xing Shi and get torn apart.

Xing Shi didn’t care. After lunch, he went straight to the third-floor practice room.

The rest of the day passed normally. That evening, after returning home and showering, he went to the living room to find Fu Xiuning. First, he checked on the bruises and re-applied medicine, then he got down to business.

“The first thing I asked Green Bean Soup this morning was whether the main system plans to start the elimination protocol.”

He continued, “It says it didn’t report anything—but I want to push for it.”

Fu Xiuning said, “If it can’t eliminate you, it will just keep targeting you.”

Xing Shi replied, “I know.”

They had already learned about this from several systems before and had made a rough estimation.

As an external system, the main system couldn’t monitor the world constantly. Before any progress is made in a mission, it can only inject a small amount of energy—not too much.

As for its understanding of the target, it relied on a combination of limited-range sensing and the intelligence reports sent back by the systems. The latter accounted for the majority and was the most important source of information.

Systems were responsible for reporting any changes in the target’s life or new developments, but since every character had a different personality, it was up to them to decide whether to report such things immediately.

For example, when Best Fortune first encountered Xing Shi, its first instinct was to use him. Later, after falling out with its own host, it hoped the host would self-destruct so that things could return to normal.

And when Jushang first met Xing Shi, a new host had already arrived. Although it later observed the developing relationship between Xing Shi and Fu Xiuning, it still hoped that other hosts with romantic plotlines would fail, so naturally, it never reported the information.

That’s why neither Xing Shi nor Fu Xiuning could determine if the heightened surveillance directive Green Bean Soup received this time came from the main system sensing Xing Shi’s presence—or from another system’s report.

Their memories remained fragmented, and their understanding of the main system’s methods was limited. They didn’t know if the system had other ways of collecting intel. Nor did they know if the system would resort to more drastic measures if repeated elimination attempts failed.

But they couldn’t keep passively waiting for the next host to show up.

Especially now that Xing Shi had already caught the system’s attention, and it was very likely that more old acquaintances like Chai Xiaoyu would appear in the future. Chai Xiaoyu turned out to be a local native this time, but they might not be so lucky next time.

The two exchanged a silent glance.

Fu Xiuning took Xing Shi’s hand. “Let’s do it.”

Xing Shi squeezed his hand back, then brought up the second matter.

When he absorbed energy yesterday, he had also recharged Best Fortune. So now, the “little celebrity” they had chosen earlier could be put to use.

But since this was the host with the best fortune, they had to go about it more indirectly.

The two of them created a detailed plan and began to carry it out.

This new target had been handpicked by them—a small-time actor with ambition, a mischievous streak, and the kind of personality willing to do anything to become famous. There were already many negative rumors floating around about him.

The key detail? Fu Xiuning had met this person at a cocktail party before—and the guy had actively tried to get close to him. They had interacted briefly.

So step one: Xing Shi would go out to social events with the second-generation heirs and “coincidentally” meet this little star.

Then Fu Xiuning would pick up Xing Shi, letting the actor clearly see their relationship.

What happened next went just as they predicted. The actor began messaging Xing Shi whenever he had free time and covertly tried to dig up details about Fu Xiuning. Finally, thanks to the pair’s silent indulgence, he successfully triggered Fu Xiuning’s jealousy.

When the first wave of hot searches hit, Fu Xiuning deliberately left some space for the actor to react, pretending as if he had a system guiding his moves.

Then, once everything had reached a boiling point, they released the most damning evidence, completely ensuring that the guy could never make a comeback.

The hot searches trended well into the night. Best Fortune, observing it all, felt that it was time.

99 had seen this once before and knew what it meant.

It grew reluctant. “You’re… leaving?”

Best Fortune gave a short “mm.”

99 had always been teased and pushed around by it, but now that the time had come, it still felt sad.

“Will we meet again?” it asked.

Best Fortune replied, “If you return too—and don’t get lost.”

99 didn’t say anything more.

Best Fortune pointed toward Green Bean Soup. “I need two minutes of shielding.”

99 paused a second, then asked, “So I’m blocking it?”

Best Fortune replied, “Mm.”

99 asked worriedly, “You’re not going to disappear on me when I open it, right?”

Best Fortune: “I won’t.”

99 decided to trust it and floated to Green Bean Soup to activate the privacy shield.

Xing Shi had been listening to their exchange and could tell that Best Fortune wanted to say something in private. So he simply waited.

Best Fortune said coldly, “Xing Shi, if I hadn’t recovered my memories at the start, and had reported you to the main system as soon as I came into contact with Yan Feng, or once I gained enough energy—even if you dismantled me and the others later, you would’ve been a step too late. What would you have done then?”

Xing Shi chuckled. “It’s better if you don’t know.”

Best Fortune committed this to memory.

It had always sensed that Xing Shi held some reservations about them, that he had never truly trusted them—and that there was likely a self-destruct program in place.

That was fine.

It had died long ago, and its dissipation was inevitable. It didn’t need any overly sentimental allies.

It let out a rare laugh. “Yeah.”

It had many guesses, but it didn’t seek confirmation, nor did it ask more.

Because it had to return—and the path ahead was unknown. The less it knew, the better.

It borrowed the same parting words another system had once used: “Xing Shi, I hope we never meet again.”

Xing Shi replied, “Alright.”

When 99 opened the shield again, Best Fortune had already left Xing Shi.

As midnight struck, a notification popped up in the chat group. The user ID belonging to Best Fortune disappeared without a trace.