The Zuan System had collected millions of Zuan insults and guided generation after generation of Zuan players. It had insulted scumbag men into retreating, snapped love-struck fools out of it, and won every verbal battle under the sun.
But just before retirement, it accidentally bound itself to a three-year-old girl, Shi An'an, and its stellar career came crashing down.
Facing a villain with a contemptuous, sinister, vicious face, the System taught her: "Who do you think you are?!"
Shi An'an gathered her courage and stammered, "Y-you... what kind of... what kind of little cookie are you?!"
The villain: What's going on? She's kind of cute.
Facing a pitiful, artsy, sweet-talking girl, the System taught her: "I've never seen a lotus this green. It really does emerge from the mud unstained."
Shi An'an beamed sincerely and slurred her words: "Big sis, are you a little flow-flower? I wuv flow-flowers!"
The sweet-talker: Whose kid is this? Can I take her home?
The System was exasperated and pleaded with her: "Do you remember what I told you?!"
Shi An'an put her fingers together, looking aggrieved. "But the director said we mustn't say bad words!"
The System... The System spent the whole night deleting its Zuan insult database.
*
Shi An'an struggled through life at the orphanage until she was three and a half, but one winter day, she died of a high fever.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in a strange home, with a chattering voice in her head. The voice told her she had transmigrated into a book, and could only grow up if she successfully changed the original plot.
Shi An'an hadn't read many books and didn't know what villains, cannon fodder, or sweet-talkers were. She only knew that all of a sudden, lots of people liked her, and she liked it here, too.
Theme: Be polite and civilized.
