Chapter 1

It was already late at night, but the Lingyu Commercial Building, a landmark of S City, was still brightly lit.

Most floors of the entire building were filled with people, but instead of the weariness of overtime workers, their faces were flushed with excitement.

Until they received the latest news that ignited the emotions throughout the building:

“The new development zone strongly supported by the government this time is entirely on the land plots we, the Jiang company, bid for!”

“The Urban Defense Construction Group has been acquired by us!”

“The Jiang company has become the largest company in China, and President Jiang has also become the world’s richest person!”

“President Jiang said everyone has worked hard this year, and the year-end bonuses for all employees will be doubled!!”

The successive good news made all the employees in the building boil with excitement. That night, the Jiang Group held a celebratory banquet with lights blazing, and the orders for surrounding shops increased significantly.

After Jiang Lingyu leaped to become the world’s richest person, global media competed to report on this darling of the world:

“World’s Richest Person is Actually a Woman!” “Youngest Global Billionaire Turns Out to be an Orphan with No Background!” “What Has Jiang Lingyu Done in These 29 Years to Become the World’s Richest Person!”

Seeing her name on the front pages of major global headlines, Jiang Lingyu revealed a satisfied smile.

In fact, her journey wasn’t as arduous and inspirational as the reports suggested. She just had good luck in choosing a promising industry to start her business, and then, like every gamer playing a game, before she knew it, she had completed the game.

In her heart, besides the joy of achieving her goal, there was also an indescribable… emptiness.

It was like reading a novel, always wanting to know the ending while reading, but feeling… quite unaccustomed when finally reaching the conclusion.

At this moment, there was a knock on the office door, and in came a handsome man standing 185cm tall, wearing a three-piece suit and gold-rimmed glasses.

Beneath the gold-rimmed glasses were slightly elongated, deep-set fox-like eyes.

The corners of his eyes tilted slightly upward, clearly a pair of bewitching eyes that could smile without speaking, but because they were too perfect, they inevitably gave people a sense of unreality.

But when an indescribable emotion was added to the bottom of his eyes, the whole person suddenly became three-dimensional and real, and even more charming.

Perhaps due to the fatigue of overtime work these past few days, his hair was slightly disheveled.

A forbidden handsome man paired with a somewhat wild dishevelment.

Tsk, it was pleasing to the eye no matter how you looked at it.

Jiang Lingyu felt that her heart, which had just begun to feel a bit empty, suddenly didn’t feel so empty anymore.

This person was Jiang Lingyu’s personal secretary. He placed the documents on Jiang Lingyu’s desk, skillfully tidied up the desktop, and then handed over a cup of warm ginger tea.

Jiang Lingyu took the ginger tea and asked puzzledly, “Why not coffee?”

Hearing Jiang Lingyu’s words, a momentary panic appeared in the secretary’s deep eyes:

“Now that things are mostly done, there’s no need for coffee to stay alert. Drinking some ginger tea is good for your health.”

The secretary’s demeanor was as calm as ever, only his gaze slightly lowered, and his fair ear tips revealed a faint pink.

Jiang Lingyu used to be like an internet-addicted teenager, obsessed with making money. Any other beautiful scenery would only affect her speed in drawing her sword, naturally not worth paying attention to.

But now that the game was completed, looking at the… ginger tea in front of her, it seemed very sweet and delicious.

Suddenly, it was like discovering a new continent.

Jiang Lingyu’s cat-like slightly upturned eyes seemed to have discovered some new interesting food, curious and eager to try.

Jiang Lingyu’s light red lips curled into a beautiful arc as she took a small sip of the ginger tea and said:

“It’s very sweet…”

The personal secretary, seeing that President Jiang had drunk the ginger tea, finally let out a sigh of relief. Then he heard Jiang Lingyu say it was sweet and immediately said:

“I’ll go brew a cup with less sugar right away.”

Jiang Lingyu grabbed the secretary’s sleeve, her voice taking on a hint of huskiness:

“It’s very sweet, but I like it very much…”

Hearing these words, the personal secretary’s expression froze for a moment, followed by shock and disbelief… and wild joy.

The indescribable emotion that had been suppressed at the bottom of his eyes surfaced, looking so vivid and intense.

It was the first time Jiang Lingyu had seen such emotion in his eyes, and she was involuntarily scalded by it. Her gaze also shifted away slightly uncomfortably, but the hand holding his sleeve slowly tightened… pulling closer…

Whether it was the warming effect of the ginger juice or the tea being too sweet, the temperature in the entire office rose imperceptibly, and the distance between the two people also grew closer and closer without them realizing.

The personal secretary’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, his voice carrying an uncontrollable tremor and serious yet cautious probing:

“So, does President Jiang have any plans next?”

No matter how cautiously he probed, the blush on his face had already betrayed his inner thoughts.

Seeing such a dignified, restrained handsome man’s eyes misting over because of herself, Jiang Lingyu also felt an indescribable emotion rising in her heart.

Her brain automatically flashed through the memories of their seven or eight years together, and she had already made a decision in her heart:

“I want to find a boyfriend. I wonder if Secretary Yang is interested in joining me?”

The personal secretary’s breathing became rapid. He seemed to be trying to discern the credibility of Jiang Lingyu’s words, but facing Jiang Lingyu, whom he had openly and secretly loved for so many years, suddenly becoming aware, and the object being himself, he couldn’t consider so much at once.

Before his brain could analyze the cause and effect of the situation, his body had already answered most honestly:

“Yes!”

That single word of agreement filled both their eyes and brows with smiles. Some tacit understanding is just like when you look up and see that person, everything becomes natural and smooth.

Their breaths slowly intertwined, and they were about to kiss.

Jiang Lingyu only felt her vision go black, and then her body actually passed directly through Secretary Yang?!

She turned back in shock to find that there was still another her who had already fainted in Secretary Yang’s arms, while the man’s panicked expression and actions of calling for help on the phone.

“I’m here!”

Jiang Lingyu tried to grab Secretary Yang, but she passed through his body.

Jiang Lingyu was filled with doubt, and all kinds of guesses ran through her mind.

“Could it be that my soul suddenly left my body?”

Jiang Lingyu ran to her own body, but when she tried to touch it, she passed through it again.

Just as Jiang Lingyu was about to make other efforts, she suddenly heard a weak voice from beside her feet:

“It’s… it’s useless… like that…”

Jiang Lingyu looked down following the voice and saw a child of three or four years old, like a doll from a New Year’s painting, who had appeared at her feet at some point.

However, this New Year’s painting doll was now holding a huge hook that was completely disproportionate to its body, directly hooked onto her?!

The New Year’s painting doll, looking at the shocked and angry Jiang Lingyu, dropped the hook with a thud and stammered:

“He… his lifespan was up, I… I was originally going to hook him… but you two were too close…”

Jiang Lingyu said through gritted teeth: “…So you hooked the wrong person?”

The New Year’s painting doll lowered its head almost to its feet and said in a barely audible voice:

“Mm.”

Jiang Lingyu was originally at the height of excitement, and suddenly encountering such a bizarre situation, the alpacas rushing through her brain were about to burst out of the Milky Way.

But she clearly knew that no matter what, solving the current problem was the most important thing.

Jiang Lingyu used all her lifetime’s speed of expression management to retract her face that was as black as the bottom of a pot, and showed a kind smile to the little ghost in front of her who seemed to be the victim himself with tears streaming down:

“Since you hooked the wrong person, can you send me back now?”

The little ghost, whether it was because it saw the nuclear benevolence behind Jiang Lingyu, shuddered and cried even harder:

“I’m… I’m sorry, once a soul is hooked by the hook of heaven and earth spirits, it can never return to its original body!”

Jiang Lingyu took a sharp breath and asked, “What if such a dangerous thing hooks the wrong person? Don’t you have any defense mechanisms?”

The little ghost weakly said: “The hook of heaven and earth spirits is not so easily summoned. Today is my first day on the job, so I secretly brought my father’s treasure with me.”

The voice got smaller and smaller as he spoke…

So this was actually a second-generation immortal. Jiang Lingyu paused for a moment and asked:

“Then what was my original lifespan?”

The little ghost carefully glanced at Jiang Lingyu, saying guiltily:

“…Originally you had 99 years of life.”

Even with Jiang Lingyu’s good demeanor, upon suddenly hearing this news, she jumped up in anger:

“What?! Just when I became the world’s richest person and was about to start dating and enjoy life, you hooked away 70 years of my life with one hook!!”

“I’m… I’m sorry!”

“Wait, you just said I can’t return to my original body, but with your great powers, can’t you create a body exactly like my original one? I won’t even pursue your mistake, I just want to go back!”

The little ghost cried golden beans in anxiety: “That’s not possible so easily. Everyone’s soul is unique and irreplaceable in this world. Once your soul has been hooked out, it means you can no longer stay in this world.”

Jiang Lingyu’s hands clenched and relaxed, back and forth several times before she could control herself to continue speaking calmly.

“Then… your father is so powerful, is there anything that can solve the current situation?”

Jiang Lingyu’s words seemed to remind the little ghost. His eyes lit up, and he took out a book as if by magic:

“This is the Book of Fate of the Three Thousand Realms. It is said that by writing in it, one can change the fate of mortals. I can directly place your soul into the body of a Jiang Lingyu who has died in another world.”

Jiang Lingyu looked at the little ghost in front of her with a complex expression, wondering if it was the privilege of a second-generation immortal that mortal fates could be hooked and changed at will. Then were her previous actions just a couple of strokes from some immortal’s unintentional…

Jiang Lingyu suppressed her emotions and brought out her business bargaining skills:

“Since today’s mistake was caused by you, it’s reasonable for me to ask for some compensation in the other world, right?”

The New Year’s painting doll asked timidly: “What do you want?”

“The person I transmigrate into can’t be older than I am now. I don’t want to start from scratch again. I want to be born into a wealthy family, just being a rich idler who doesn’t have to bear the family business would be fine.”

The little ghost was originally afraid that Jiang Lingyu would make some outrageous demands. He didn’t expect her requirements to be so simple, and his heart also relaxed. Then he heard Jiang Lingyu say softly:

“Since I’ve already been soul-hooked in his place, let him live in this world for me.”

Jiang Lingyu saw the man kneeling on the ground like a soulless person after hearing the doctor announce her death, and revealed a faint smile:

“He’ll probably be sad for a while, but when he finds out that he has a share in my inheritance, he shouldn’t be so sad anymore.”

The little ghost saw that Jiang Lingyu was smiling, but it looked so sad that it made one want to cry.

It was the first time he regretted making a mistake so much. He hurriedly patted his chest and promised: “I’ll do my best to fulfill your wishes!”

After saying this, the little ghost somehow magically produced a golden pen and began to modify the Book of Fate. However, he had barely written a few words when thunder rumbled in the sky.

The little ghost said in terror, “I just changed a few words in the Book of Fate, how could it provoke the anger of heaven and earth?!!”

Of course, no one answered his question. A bolt of lightning struck from the sky, and Jiang Lingyu and the little ghost disappeared directly from this world.