Your Preference (1)
“You are God.”
The story happening in another dimension is unknown to Xu Jiao. Rarely does she not sit in that leisurely, relaxing chair with her eyes closed, but instead, she slightly raises her hand, her fingertips gliding over the books on the shelf. In fact, only those books emitting a golden glow can she touch; the rest are merely illusions.
Yet she strums them like playing the strings of a zither, smoothly gliding from the left to the right of the bottom row, as if brushing over a flowing stream. Her gaze slightly lifts, following the movement of her fingertips.
Her thoughts move slightly, arranging these books in chronological order of their publication in her mind. The books on the shelf seemed to be blown by the wind, gently and neatly trembling a few times, and then quieting down.
Looking again at the names that seemed to be covered by a layer of fog, from left to right, they had already changed order according to her thoughts. The lower ones were the oldest works, and the higher up, the closer they were to her time, with the content settings becoming more mature and rich.
Xu Jiao asked aloud, “What is the next one?”
The system heard her question and replied, “Are you ready to modify the ending of the next book? Don’t you need to rest for a while longer? After all, you just came here from the last world.”
Xu Jiao lowered her eyes, looking at the furnishings in this virtual space: a computer with an LCD screen, a keyboard with slightly worn keycaps, and an ergonomic, expensive chair, as well as a particularly sturdy wooden bookshelf…
And on it, her own works, both those that could be published and those unpublished, in virtual form.
It was exactly like her bedroom in real life.
But——
Xu Jiao’s lips curved slightly, then quickly disappeared. “What’s the point of staying in a fake place?”
Even though the system tried hard to replicate her real-life environment and create a comfortable atmosphere for her, it wasn’t her actual bedroom. So, what was the point of staying?
Better to move on to the next world as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, Xu Jiao suddenly asked, “You said before that as long as I successfully modify the endings of a few books, I can leave here?”
The system sincerely replied, “Five. As long as you can successfully modify the endings of five books, or continuously succeed in three worlds, we will consider that you have changed your ideological consciousness. After that, as long as you promise that your written works will absolutely conform to the core values of socialism, we will send you back to the real world.”
Xu Jiao remained silent, neither nodding nor speaking, as if she tacitly agreed yet harbored her own unspoken thoughts.
After a while.
She finally said, “Next one.”
The system responded, “Okay, starting to randomly select the next work, transmitting for you——”
……
Before entering the world within the book.
Xu Jiao’s gaze wandered over the bookshelf. She first looked at the middle of the bottom row, fearing she might once again unluckily draw one of those early black history pieces. If it wasn’t something like “Big Brother Fell in Love with Me,” it would be “The Overbearing President and His 108 Escapes with the Little Sweetheart.” No matter which one she drew, it would leave her depressed for quite a while.
Fortunately, there was no movement from the bottom row of the bookshelf.
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Instead, the golden glow came from above.
She looked up, and the moment she saw that book, her pupils couldn’t help but contract slightly.
The name of this book
is…
《She Who Is Favored》.
The reason Xu Jiao had such a reaction to this book was that it was the new project she had just started before crossing over; hot, freshly baked, which meant——
This book wasn’t finished yet!
If she remembered correctly, before she crossed over, she had only written the beginning of this book. Although she had spent a month and a half researching various materials and perfecting the outline, feeling that this was the most thoroughly prepared novel she had ever worked on, it didn’t change the fact that only ten chapters had been updated!
And in those first ten chapters…
The female protagonist hadn’t even revealed her true face.
Because this female protagonist, from the time she was born, had been living with her stepmother. She had three older sisters and one older brother, all of whom treated her like a rag doll, bullying her. The family was poor and miserable, leaving her without even a cupboard to sleep in. Her life was worse than Harry Potter’s, and because she had to do all kinds of hard labor for years and had no ability to wear new clothes, her appearance was that of a complete little soot-covered child.
The descriptions of the female protagonist in the first ten chapters were all similar to, “She stood in the dark corner, nervously clutching the hem of her gray-black, oil-stained apron, carefully and longingly watching her sisters attending the party in the hall. More precisely, she was staring at the bread in her sister’s hand. But even such a longing could not be too obvious, because if discovered, she would be beaten again…”
“Today, Lilith was whipped by her brother with a belt from the second floor to the first. As she tumbled down the narrow wooden stairs, her thin bones collided with the steep steps, causing her so much pain she couldn’t even cry out. The only sound in her ears was the whooshing of the whip until she lay motionless and silent in a corner, a gray-black lump. Then, her stepmother’s shrill voice came from the kitchen, ‘Tom! Go easy! We just spent three rubles1 last week to have these wooden stairs repaired! If you break the stairs again, I’ll have you all sleep on the streets!'”
“Lilith carried a tattered bamboo basket as she walked past the shop window. She looked at the dress inside, a color she had never seen before, like the sky after the rain. However, before she could look for long, the shop’s pot-bellied owner came charging out, swinging a horsewhip and scolding her, ‘Hey, little beggar, stay away from my shop! If you dirty my glass, I’ll skin you and feed you to the wolves!'”
……
All these things.
Readers commented below, “????? This shouldn’t be called 《She Who Is Favored》, it should be called 《She Who Is Despised》.”
Newcomers who hadn’t heard of her reputation for writing angst-filled stories asked bewilderedly, “Does the author have a different understanding of the word ‘favored’ than I do?”
“I stared at the tag ‘爽文’ (feel-good story) and fell into deep thought. Does this ‘feel-good’ mean that as long as I adopt the twisted mindset within this story, I will get a strange sense of satisfaction? Honestly, is there something wrong with the author’s mind?”
Xu Jiao had been writing for so many years and had seen all kinds of storms and waves. She didn’t respond to these comments at all because she understood the principle of building up to a climax. There were still many important characters in this book that hadn’t appeared yet.
For instance, the town mayor’s son, who would take pity on the female protagonist and show her care. Or the most talented student in the seminary, who would also extend a helping hand to the poor female protagonist.
Furthermore,
Even God would love her.
Because the upcoming content involved the female protagonist passing through a town and discovering that the villagers, holding torches, were about to burn a heretic. This person was someone she had saved before, someone who had spoken to her with a gentleness she had never heard before, a well-mannered person who never looked down on her or bullied her because of her poverty.
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That person was like the stars, the moon, and the sun in her life.
On that occasion, the female protagonist silently prayed on the side, asking for a heavy rain to fall from the sky, praying that God could hear her voice and save this poor soul from the fate of being burned to death.
She did not know.
The person she wanted to save was the incarnation of God in this world.
So, naturally, God heard her voice, followed her will, and allowed her to save Her incarnation. From then on, she received the supreme favor of the Creator in this world.
This is the core of the book.
One can imagine how miserable the female protagonist was at the beginning, and how gratifying her life would become after receiving the favor of the Creator. Those who had bullied her so thoroughly would be repeatedly humiliated and defeated later on.
Unfortunately…
Xu Jiao was brought into this harmonious system, and now all the feel-good content cannot be shown to the readers. The readers haven’t even seen how, during the heavy rain that saved the incarnation of God, the protagonist’s appearance was stunningly beautiful after being washed by the rain.
Anyone who has seen her beauty in this world will never be able to take their eyes off her.
Thinking of this, Xu Jiao sighed, seemingly puzzled as to why the system would lock in even the ongoing serialized articles. She was unsure whether this choice was good or bad, after all…
This way, Xu Jiao lost her advantage as a prophet and a plot enthusiast.
Who knows if the plot will follow the development she originally set?
However.
The tasks in this world don’t seem difficult.
Even if Xu Jiao didn’t come out, the female protagonist Lilith’s life would still have many people who would help her, even God would favor her. Thinking this way, achieving a happy ending (HE) in this world doesn’t seem too difficult. Just going with the flow and lying down casually could lead to success?
Thinking this, Xu Jiao sighed slightly in relief.
Then she asked the system: “What is my identity in this world?”
Before she could get the answer—
Light had already appeared in front of Xu Jiao.
There was also a scorching heat she couldn’t imagine, as if her entire being was placed inside a furnace, forcing her to open her eyes and see what was happening in front of her.
The moment she opened her eyes, her pupils reflected a torch spinning and flying towards her.
Xu Jiao’s pupils suddenly contracted.
At this moment, she heard countless chaotic voices coming from all directions:
“Great Creator God above, please let us burn this heretic to death. Witness the true heart of your devout follower; I am willing to give everything for my Lord.”
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“Great God, please guide me, let me win the heart of Jerry next door.”
“My God, I am willing to give you everything. Please let my child serve you before your presence.”
……
Among all these voices.
A soft, breeze-like voice said, “My God, please save her. God loves all people; please give this poor soul, about to be burned to death, another chance.”
Xu Jiao looked at the torch being thrown toward her. Amidst these voices, she heard the clear message from the system in her mind:
“You are God.”
“You are the supreme Creator of this world.”
“You can create everything, destroy everything. Mortals cannot utter your name; they can only call you ‘God.'”
Footnotes
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