Am I in her debt, then!?

Yun Ran suddenly shuddered. She had encountered many vicious and cruel people, but never before had she seen a mother who would so thoroughly exploit her own child.

And this woman was the female lead—how terrifying.

"Ginseng Fruit, are you sure this book is a legitimate story? How can someone like this be the 'white moonlight' female lead? Good grief, she’s even more horrifying than an evil cultivator; she eats people without even spitting out the bones!"

【Ding-dong! Congratulations, Host, you have unlocked a new plot point!】

【Host, the original owner was supposed to have a blessed life of both fortune and prosperity. The reason she died so miserably and stiflingly was entirely because her luck was being drained away!】

"Is it Qu Ying? But I haven’t discovered any methods she’s using to drain people's luck."

【There are only so many clues for the new plot. To get the answers, you must unlock further plot points.】

Yun Ran: ...

She knew it; nothing about surviving was going to be easy. There were bound to be plenty of troubles waiting for her.

However, right now, the bounty money was the most important thing on her mind.

The Yun family had returned for ancestor worship because the old matriarch of the family had fallen gravely ill. They had consulted a master who claimed there was an issue with the ancestral graves, which led to this fifteen-day ritual.

She had to take advantage of the time while the Yun family was too busy to pay attention to her and get this matter finalized.

Otherwise, given Qu Ying’s habit of being generous with other people's money, she would surely find a way to intercept the reward to maximize her own benefits.

Early the next morning, Yun Ran ran to the police station to wait. After her confrontation with the Xie family and the incident involving Hua Zhao, there wasn't a single person at the station who didn't know her.

They had investigated Yun Ran thoroughly, and their initial suspicions had vanished.

Especially since they had seen how Yun Ran protected her biological mother like a little hedgehog, only to end up with a ruined reputation, while her mother enjoyed a sterling reputation among the socialites.

Many of the officers who had daughters of their own couldn't help but feel sympathy for her, thinking Yun Ran was a pitiable person, and their attitude toward her had become much kinder.

Unlike the gossiping masses, they had no personal stake in the matter and could look at things objectively; in fact, they had even started to notice the hidden schemes at play.

The deputy captain saw Yun Ran’s eyes darting around and couldn't help but smile. "Are you here to ask about the bounty?"

"Yep!"

Yun Ran, fearing that the police might tell her she was under eighteen and needed a guardian present, quickly handed over the documents she had tricked out of the lawyer earlier.

"The authorization papers are all here!"

The deputy captain took them and glanced over them, especially noting the official stamp, and didn't ask about anything else.

"Got it. The case has been submitted. You'll have the results in a week at the earliest. Just wait."

Knowing the money was secure, Yun Ran couldn't suppress the smile at the corners of her eyes.

She also felt the deputy captain's goodwill, so she whispered, "You’re going to be promoted soon!"

The deputy captain was left standing there in a daze, watching the direction in which Yun Ran had disappeared.

A few days later, the ancestor worship concluded. Yun Ran knew she had to say goodbye to her good life of staying up late watching shows, sleeping until she naturally woke up, and eating takeout whenever she pleased.

She was in a foul mood, but unexpectedly, the bounty hit her account on the return trip. Her mood soared like a roller coaster, and she spent the whole way back grinning like a fool.

The others weren't in such a good mood; each of them was suppressing their anger, ready to explode at any moment.

During the half-month of ancestor worship, the Yun family members had to do many things themselves, which exhausted these people who were usually pampered and spoiled.

While resting at a service area midway, Yun Wan, the young miss of the family, began complaining about her stepmother, Qu Ying, in front of everyone.

One moment it was about the lack of her preferred imported water, the next it was about the food provided not being to her liking.

The rest of the group, already feeling irritable, seemed to have finally found an outlet for their frustration and began pointing their fingers at Qu Ying as well.

In the past, the original owner, that little fool, would have jumped out to argue with them for three hundred rounds. She would have felt these people were being unreasonable—they had brought servants along, yet they blamed her mother for everything, clearly just because they thought her mother had a good temper and was easy to bully.

But now, their bickering and accusations were interfering with Yun Shaotang’s work on his documents.

Yun Ran didn't say a single word, acting as if she were deaf.

Qu Ying noticed that Yun Ran wasn't protecting her as she used to, and a flash of disgust crossed her eyes.

When Yun Wan gave her a cold look once again, Qu Ying, who usually maintained a magnanimous smile, finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

She looked at Yun Ran, her voice filled with feigned concern: "Why are you being so spiteful, child? You haven't said a word the whole trip."

Yun Ran’s good mood shattered instantly, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She complained to Ginseng Fruit: "Here we go again, here we go again. Every time she gets into a conflict with others, she doesn't want to break her 'kind' persona, so she shifts everyone’s attention onto me, making me the target of everyone’s rage. Do I owe her something!?"

What could Ginseng Fruit do? It was just a system. It would have been happy to provide weapons from its armory to send these idiots to the sky, but Yun Ran didn't dare use them.

【Who told you to walk around with the identity of her daughter? She’s definitely going to take advantage of you.】

"Heh. Heh."

Yun Ran turned her head away and pressed a few special acupoints on her body, causing her face to turn deathly pale instantly.

"Mom, don't talk to me. I'm feeling terribly carsick. If you keep talking, I'm going to vomit!"

The members of the Yun family habitually stopped their previous complaints, preparing to turn their focus onto Yun Ran, but they stopped short when they saw her paper-white complexion.

They immediately became disgusted. "Does she have some kind of illness? Don't let her travel with us later; it's bad luck!"

"Exactly. Sister-in-law, it’s not that I can't tolerate your daughter, but look at her like this—do you really think it's appropriate for her to keep traveling with us?"

"She’s always causing trouble. I said from the start that a tagalong like her wasn't worth bringing, but you wouldn't listen. Now look, she's wasting our time. Why don't we just split up? You can take care of her yourselves in the main branch!"

...

The focus of the crowd fell back onto Yun Ran.

But this time, Yun Ran didn't scream or yell like a lunatic to confront these adults.

She just shed tears pitifully; they fell like beads from a broken string. Paired with her now-pale appearance, she truly looked like a damsel in distress.

There were many people resting at the service area, and plenty of travelers were already feeling irritable.

Many had already been dissatisfied with the Yun family’s constant complaining, and now, seeing them directing all their hostility toward a young girl, someone finally stood up, looking indignantly at the Second Mrs. Yun, who had been the loudest of the lot.