The next morning, warm sunlight filtered through the curtains as I groggily sat up in bed.

Not a dream, then…

The distinct weight on my chest reminded me of yesterday’s events.

I was Yi Yao—a girl who’d died from illness in another life, only to wake up in this parallel world inside the body of a girl named Yi Yao, ready to end it all.

The small alarm clock by the bed read 8:15 a.m.

It was Yi Yao’s habit: even on weekends, she always rose before 9 a.m. for breakfast and exercise.

Skipping breakfast wrecked your health. Having died once from bad habits myself, I knew this well. I’d keep her routine.

I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed into clean clothes, finished a taekwondo routine in the living room, then ate a simple, nutritious breakfast. Finally, I sat at the computer desk.

Honestly, a girl’s body felt incredibly light. No awkward morning reactions. No worrying about pulling something while stretching…

But it was also overly sensitive. Last night, after dinner with Dadi and the others, old habits kicked in during my shower. Just a careless brush against *that spot* sent shivers through me. It took a full half-hour to finish washing. By the time I slipped into pajamas, my face burned crimson.

Yi Yao wasn’t the cute type. She’d inherited her mother’s delicate features—slender legs, healthy skin, and curves that left no doubt she was a girl. Her short hair added a sharp, handsome edge.

My father had left early. From what I recalled, I’d have the house to myself all day. Perfect. I could do what I needed.

As soon as the computer booted up, I logged into Skyfire Forum. Nearly 99 summon notifications flooded my screen.

I opened them one by one. Almost all were messages of shock and awe.

*"Whoa—this code can actually be written like this?!"*

*"Holy crap! I crunched numbers all night after getting home. Your solution was right all along. Mad respect."*

*"Thanks for answering my question. Mind-blowing. Which company do you work for? My boss wants to talk."*

*"Are you a researcher in this field? Where do you work?"*

*"Hi, I have some private questions…"*

*"Online? Your skills stunned us. We’re Shangjing’s top software firm—"*

And so on. My eyes grew tired scrolling. I closed the alerts, headed straight to the Q&A section, and effortlessly answered every new question before shutting down the forum.

That wasn’t my goal today.

The forum was my safety net. Building a reputation here meant future income. Plus, in two years, Skyfire would explode in popularity. Networking early wasn’t a bad move.

But today? I had to deal with Long Fei first.

Joke’s on him—I wasn’t about to inherit some random boyfriend, even as a figurehead.

From Yi Yao’s memories, Long Fei *had* shown interest in "me." My first task: crush that hope.

The easiest way to end a relationship? Create distance.

Even the hottest couples drifted apart when separated by miles. And Long Fei and I weren’t even dating.

My plan was simple: hack into Long Fei’s father’s company, help them bypass their current crisis, then use it as leverage to force Long Fei out of the city.

If that failed? Easy. I was a girl. A simple *"I don’t feel that way about you anymore"* would work.

Just as I finished writing the intrusion software, a knock echoed at the front door.

I thought I’d misheard. Three seconds later, it came again—sharp and insistent.

*Dad’s back already?*

I glanced at the wall clock. My memory of his schedule that day was fuzzy. I got up and opened the door.

A soft, alcohol-scented body collapsed into my arms.

"Hey!"

I caught the unconscious girl before she hit the floor. One look at her face nearly made me drop her.

It was Xiaodie—the taekwondo beauty I’d brawled with at the food stall last night.

"Hey. Wake up."

I shook her shoulders firmly. Instead of stirring, she wrapped her arms around me like an octopus, clinging tight.

*What now?*

Standing in the hallway with a passed-out girl would raise eyebrows. I carried her to the living room sofa.

Rich girls carried phones, right?

Unlike last night’s tracksuit, Xiaodie wore a pretty dress and heels—like she’d stumbled straight from a ball. It made searching her pockets easy. I found her phone quickly.

Lucky break: it wasn’t locked. I scrolled to "Dad" in her contacts and hit call.

A middle-aged man’s voice answered instantly: "Xiaodie? Where are you?"

I lifted the phone to my lips: "I’m—"

*Beep-beep-beep-beep…*

The phone died mid-sentence.

*Seriously?*

I grabbed my charger from the bedroom, plugged in her phone, waited for it to reboot, then redialed "Dad."

*"Sorry, this number is suspended due to unpaid bills. Current balance due: 0.01 yuan…"*

*You’ve got to be kidding me.*

Resigned, I pulled out my own phone and dialed the number from her screen.

"Xiaodie?! Where the hell are you partying now? Get your ass home!" The voice barked before I could even speak.

"Uncle, I’m… a friend of Xiaodie’s." I settled on "friend" after a mental debate.

"Oh? Where is she? Put her on!"

I glanced at the girl dead asleep on the sofa. "Sorry for not calling earlier. Xiaodie stayed over at my place last night. She’s still resting."

"Oh… really?" My polite tone seemed to cool his anger. "Bring her back soon. She’s always out causing trouble."

"Of course. I’ll send her home as soon as she wakes."

"Hmph. Sorry she’s bothering you kids."

"Not at all! She actually helped me with my studies last night. I’m really grateful."

"Pfft. *She* helped with studies? Kids these days can’t even lie properly… What’s your name?"

"Yi Yao."

"Yi Yao? She never mentioned you…" A pause. "Well, if she’s at a classmate’s house, I’ll stop worrying. Got work. Bye."

"Goodbye, Uncle."

I hung up. Xiaodie lay curled under the blanket like a defenseless kitten, bare feet peeking out. I gently tugged her dress down, slipped off her heels, and draped a blanket over her.

*This feels like playing with fire…*

How did she even find my address? Did she ask last night? Do drunk people automatically seek out their enemies?

I squashed the urge to strip her down right there. Instead, I grabbed ginger from the balcony and started brewing brown sugar ginger water in the kitchen.

*Great. One dad, one Long Fei—and now the mayor’s daughter. Shouldn’t have hit her so hard that night.*

Five minutes later, I carried the steaming bowl to the living room. Xiaodie was already awake, wrapped in the blanket, staring blankly at me from the sofa. Her pale, bare feet looked oddly delicate.

"I told your dad you stayed over. My name’s Yi Yao. Remember that story when you get home."

Silence.

"If you can’t hold your liquor, drink less. It’s bad for your liver. Take better care of yourself."

She lifted her head but said nothing.

"What? Still itching for a fight?" I set the ginger water on the table. "You couldn’t beat me last night. In this state? Save it. Drink this first to sober up. Your dad sounded scary."

"Hmph…"

A barely audible scoff escaped her lips. She threw off the blanket, shoved her feet into her heels, and tried to stand—only to sway violently. I lunged to catch her soft body before she fell.

She shoved me away reflexively, regained her balance, and clattered to the door in her crystal heels. Her slender fingers fumbled with the lock for a full minute.

"Slide the top hook down," I said dryly.

She finally yanked the door open.

"Next time you’re drunk, don’t cling to just anyone. Not everyone’s as kind as me."

Her back stiffened. The flush on her cheeks deepened to a full crimson.

"Don’t think this makes me forgive what you did to Qinghao."

She spat the words coldly, face burning, then bolted out the door. It slammed shut with a *thud*.

*I thought you were the emotionless type. Turns out you’re a tsundere.*

The ginger water still steamed on the table. Wasting it felt wrong. I carried the bowl back to my desk, sipping the sweet liquid while coding.

When everything was ready, I stared at the grid of windows on my screen and typed the IP address for Skyfire Network—a string I knew by heart.

*Intrusion initiated.*

Data cascaded like a waterfall across the black terminal windows.

Under the decade-advanced Hive King Algorithm, dozens of programs split tasks seamlessly. In under a minute, they shattered every firewall, escalated privileges, and seized the admin account.

I set down the half-finished ginger water and opened QQ.

Yi Yao’s QQ number matched mine exactly—same password, same contacts.

(Though in this world, her profile listed her gender as "Female.")

I glanced at a small utility still running in the corner. Statistically, it’d crack the locked file’s password within two minutes. That’d be my bargaining chip.

*The hacker who could suppress a giant like Skyfire for a whole week… now that was interesting.*

Hackers came in two flavors: red hats and black hats. The former honed their skills—breaking in but leaving systems intact, maybe patching a vulnerability on their way out. The latter? Pure destruction. Paid to ruin lives.

Well, let's set aside the hacker stuff for now. What I need to handle is Long Fei's problem.

Long Teng, Chairman of Skyfire Network Technology Co., Ltd.

Their names both follow the same pattern.

"If you back off now, I can pretend I didn't see anything."

This message suddenly popped up on the pitch-black screen.

Though I deliberately alerted them, I have to admit—the guy in charge of information security is pretty sharp.

"I want to make a deal with you."

Sipping sweetened water, I typed this with one hand on the screen.

"We're not interested in novice hackers like you."

A small app in the bottom-left corner dinged, signaling a successful crack.

"A novice? I'm no novice. I have something you need."

I copied the hacked data to a notepad on the side.

"Heh, kid, don't you know I can trace your IP and find your home address within ten minutes from this chat?"

"Your boss wouldn't want that. I've broken through all your server firewalls and recovered the tampered superuser password."

"You?"

"Superuser password: fclza.8812345. Try it."