After Wanqi Aotian stepped inside and closed the door to the General Manager’s office, a bizarre silence fell over the secretarial pool outside. Both the secretary and Que Tang, well aware of the situation but knowing better than to speak of it, simply kept their heads down and focused on their respective tasks.
Suddenly, a loud bang shattered the silence. Wanqi Aotian threw open the office door and walked out, her hair—and the wax holding it—in a state of disarray. Her face bore a look of smug satisfaction that she couldn't quite hide.
Although Lan Mi seemed quite upset this time and was determined not to be the first to speak, Wanqi knew that Lan Mi would never actually break up with her. In the past, she had cheated countless times; every time, Lan Mi would be heartbroken and threaten to leave, only to return to her side in the end. This time, she had promised to stop her philandering. All it took was a little bit of acting weak and some sweet-talking to coax her, and Lan Mi had immediately softened.
After soothing her and sharing a few kisses, Wanqi felt a profound sense of fulfillment at the thought of Lan Mi returning to her. She felt she truly loved Lan Mi; no one else could make her feel this way. Other women were merely pastimes.
Thus, she was willing to promise Lan Mi she would stop cheating just to win her back.
Wanqi Aotian walked out of the office with an air of casual arrogance. As she passed Que Tang’s desk, she looked at her in surprise. She hadn't expected that the "ugly girl" would actually look decent without that makeup... in fact, she was quite pretty, a type she hadn't encountered before. However, still immersed in the joy of Lan Mi’s return, Wanqi Aotian didn't dwell on it. She gave Que Tang an appreciative glance and departed.
Que Tang maintained a "face-paralyzed" expression, as if facing a great enemy, until the Male Lead had left. Only after confirming that the Male Lead wasn't going to go into heat again did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"The Male Lead’s favorability for the Villainess is at maximum. Meow~"
"That was fast. It really is a simple mission," Que Tang remarked, surprised by the notification. She was quite pleased to find that this mission was so easy she didn't have to sell her soul or abandon her integrity. "So, when can I go back?"
"Host, I must solemnly inform you of one thing: this mission is only considered complete when the Villainess’s *Happiness Value* is full. Meow~"
"..." Que Tang fell silent for a moment. "Do you have the guts to tell me what the mission is at the very beginning? And do you have the guts to stop giving me the wrong scripts? Do you?!"
"I do not. Meow~"
To avoid falling into another meaningless argument, Que Tang suppressed her irritation and kept her patience. "Please explain what you mean by 'Happiness Value.' It’s the 'happiness' I’m thinking of, right?"
"It’s exactly that 'happiness'! Meow~"
"Are you sure? Positive? Absolutely certain? It’s *that* happiness, and not... 'sexual bliss'?"
"Ugh... I—I’m sure, positive, and absolutely certain it’s that happiness. Meow~" Little Mushroom answered vaguely.
"Wait, did you just hesitate?" Que Tang’s mind was sharp, not letting a single syllable slide.
"I did not! Meow~" came the immediate denial.
"No, you definitely hesitated!"
"Meow~ Host, stop being so wordy and get on with the mission. Remember, you must make the Villainess 'happy'!"
Left with a dial tone in her head after the call was abruptly cut, Que Tang’s forehead was covered in black lines. Thinking about that damn Happiness Value, she felt her future was in jeopardy.
What made her even more miserable was that the Male Lead, who had been quiet for a few days, seemed to be living too happily. To coax the Villainess and prove her loyalty, she came to the company every day to find Lan Mi, sticking to her side and eating lunch with her all day long. Curiously, however, Que Tang never heard a notification about the Happiness Value increasing.
But soon enough, Que Tang understood why.
"M-Master Wanqi..." Que Tang clutched the documents she was supposed to return to the Sales Department, looking nervously at the person blocking her path.
"Little Assistant, I didn't expect you to look so decent without that ghastly makeup." Wanqi Aotian blocked the hallway with one hand, her left hand tucked into her trouser pocket. The top two buttons of her well-tailored black shirt were undone, perfectly revealing the elegant lines of her collarbones.
"T-Thank you," Que Tang thanked her awkwardly, then asked in a small voice, "May I go now? I need to deliver these urgent documents to the Sales Department."
"Sure, if you promise to have dinner with me tonight. Then I'll let you pass." Wanqi raised her left hand to touch her hair, which had been styled with wax into a "Super Saiyan" look.
"Master Wanqi, that won't do." Que Tang gritted her teeth and looked up, summoning the courage to refuse. "You are the General Manager’s gi... girlfriend. You should be asking the General Manager to go with you instead."
Wanqi Aotian hadn't expected this usually submissive assistant to actually reject her, and a flame of challenge ignited in her eyes. Just as she was about to continue her persuasion, her expression suddenly shifted. "Remember not to drop things in the future," she said, then stepped past Que Tang. "Mi." She walked over to Lan Mi, who was standing nearby with a raised eyebrow and a faint smile. "Your assistant is truly clumsy; she nearly tripped just delivering some files." She raised her right hand and gently stroked Lan Mi’s shapely chin.
"Is that so?" Lan Mi’s smile remained unchanged. "Que Tang, be careful when you walk. Even if it's an urgent file, it's not so urgent that you should risk getting hurt."
With her back to them, Que Tang rolled her eyes hard before turning around to nod nervously at them. Then, clutching her documents, she hurried toward the Sales Department.
As she left, she could still hear Wanqi Aotian’s voice from a distance: "I'm going out for drinks with friends tonight. Do you want to come?"
She didn't hear the General Manager’s response, but Wanqi Aotian suddenly looked quite dejected.
For a moment, Que Tang truly doubted whether the Villainess could find any happiness being with someone like that. Of course, if it were the *other* kind of "bliss," then perhaps...
That evening, Que Tang stayed late to work overtime as usual. Having previously noticed something fishy between the sales performance charts and the actual figures, she had pulled all the expense reports from the Sales Department for the last quarter. The more she looked, the more suspicious things became. She circled several amounts and entered them into a file, discovering that the flow of several large sums from the Sales Department last quarter was ambiguous and blurred.
"Que Tang."
Que Tang, who happened to be taking a bite of bread, was so startled that she swallowed the piece whole, and it got stuck in her throat. She coughed until her face turned red. A glass of water appeared before her, and she took it immediately, drinking it down. Once her coughing subsided, she looked up and realized it was the Villainess. "G-General Manager...?"
"Are you alright?" Lan Mi frowned with concern, gently patting her back.
"I-I'm okay, I'm fine now." Her voice was slightly raspy. "General Manager, didn't you already leave?" Lan Mi usually left the office as soon as it was time to clock out, and the secretary followed suit immediately. Que Tang was the only one left in the office, which was why her reaction had been so violent.
If she got startled a few more times like this, she would surely die young.
Seeing that she was fine, Lan Mi seemed to forget to withdraw her hand, leaving it naturally and intimately on Que Tang’s back. "I suddenly remembered I left something in the office, so I came back to get it. As for you, you said you’d leave on time, yet it seems you’re working overtime every day." She glanced seemingly casually at the screen, and seeing a few of the data points, she raised an imperceptible eyebrow.
"I..." Que Tang hesitated on whether she should inform the Villainess of her suspicions now. But considering she only had preliminary doubts and no definitive proof of the fund flow, she lowered her head and whispered, "Didn't you say you’d give me a month to master the job? I’m afraid of doing a poor job. That’s why I wanted to work harder while the secretary is still here."
Lan Mi’s gaze sharpened as she looked at the crown of Que Tang’s head, and her heart suddenly softened. She curled her lips in a self-deprecating smile. Since she had been reborn and already held Wanqi Aotian firmly in her grasp, what was there to fear? This was just an assistant with no background; she could mold her however she pleased.
Moreover, the Que Tang who hadn't hooked up with Wanqi Aotian was just a hardworking girl. She thought of how Que Tang had rejected Wanqi Aotian that afternoon and wondered if this life truly would be different from the last.
With that thought, Que Tang began to look more pleasing to her eyes. "Keep up the good work. After the secretary leaves, you can ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand." She patted Que Tang’s shoulder, went into her office to retrieve her things, and then came back out to bid her goodbye before leaving.
Que Tang watched her back until she was out of sight, then sighed in relief. Immediately, Little Mushroom’s notification rang in her ear.
"Meow~ The Villainess’s favorability for the Host has increased by 40. Current favorability: 10. The Villainess’s Happiness Value has increased by 10. Current value: 10."
"Eh? Why the sudden increase?"
"Meow~ Because the Host’s earnest attempt at acting cute made the Great Villainess feel happy. Please keep it up, Host!"
"...You’re pulling my leg, aren't you?" Que Tang was speechless. The real answer was likely that the Villainess had imagined something again. After these few missions, she had realized it wasn't chuunibyou, nor was it "Aotian" power, nor was it a Holy Mother saving the world—it was the power of overthinking that saved the world.
"Meow~"
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
万俟傲天 | Wanqi Aotian | The "Male Lead" of the original story (a woman in this world).
幸福值 | Happiness Value | A mission metric required to complete the world.
性福 | Sexual Bliss | A homophone for "happiness" (幸福) with a sexual connotation.
超级赛亚人 | Super Saiyan | A reference to the spiky hair from Dragon Ball.
重生 | Rebirth / Reborn | Refers to Lan Mi's status as a character who has lived this life before.
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Transmigrated as the Mary Sue: The Villainess's Revenge System | Chapter 37 | The Happiness Metric | Novela.app | Novela.app
