Chapter 86: Chapter 85: Uncooked
Once she was done, Joanna Kennedy looked up, and he immediately averted his gaze.
Joanna Kennedy sighed. "You’re so concerned about me eating cold food and how it’s bad for my stomach. Why do you treat yourself this way?"
The fingers at Simon Lockwood’s side froze for a moment, but then he said nothing, as if he hadn’t heard her.
’Why?’
’He didn’t know why, either.’
’He only knew this was the most effective way to ensure that, if only for a moment, he would be the sole focus of Joanna Kennedy’s eyes and heart.’
The bowl of steamed egg custard had gone cold and developed a slight eggy smell. Simon Lockwood only had a few sips of the vegetable congee before going to the study to deal with his emails.
After the housekeeper finished cleaning and left for the day, Joanna Kennedy sat alone in the living room, pondering matters as she petted 166, her strokes growing rough without her noticing.
"OWW! Be gentle! You’re going to make me bald!" 166 squirmed in her lap.
Joanna Kennedy quickly loosened her grip. 166 took the chance to leap from her lap, then looked up at her, its little cat face full of disdain. "You two still haven’t made up? You’re so slow!"
Joanna Kennedy gave its little head a firm tap. 166 sprang three meters away in a huff as Joanna retorted, "What do you know, you little dummy."
166: "!"
’Fine, fine, fine! I never should have asked!’
It suddenly thought of something, and its tone grew much more serious. "I have something to tell you. You should prepare yourself."
’166 is just a kitten now. How important could it be?’
Joanna Kennedy’s mind was currently full of Simon Lockwood, so she asked dismissively, "What is it?"
But in the next moment, 166’s words left her frozen in place.
"These past few days, right after I stabilized my consciousness, I detected another system. This means there’s another host in this world on a mission, just like you."
"..." Joanna Kennedy was dumbfounded. "Why didn’t you say so before?"
"I didn’t detect it before."
"..."
The energies of systems were compatible with each other, so it naturally couldn’t detect another one when it was just a system itself. But now that it had a physical body, had absorbed the protagonist’s energy by being near the male lead, and had formed a consciousness, it could finally sense the presence of another system.
Joanna Kennedy was speechless. The corner of her mouth twitched. "Who is the host?"
"I’m not sure about that," 166 answered honestly.
There was another host just like her in this world. After getting over her initial shock, Joanna Kennedy calmed down.
She thought about the people around her but couldn’t recall anyone acting strangely, so she put the matter out of her mind.
She didn’t care who this person was, as long as they weren’t targeting her and Simon Lockwood.
The hour hand on the wall clock ticked to nine, and Simon Lockwood still hadn’t come out of the study. Recalling how little he had eaten for dinner, Joanna Kennedy got up and walked toward the kitchen.
Inside the study,
Simon Lockwood’s gaze was fixed intently on his computer screen. An unknowing observer would have thought he was engrossed in his work, but a closer look revealed he was watching an interview video.
"Was he your first love? Why did you break up? Are you still in love with him?" a reporter, who remained off-camera, asked as she shoved a microphone in front of the sweet, pretty girl.
Simon Lockwood stared unblinkingly at the girl on the screen, unconsciously holding his breath.
Through the cold screen, his eyes met the girl’s as she looked into the camera.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP... It was the sound of his heart beating.
Simon Lockwood watched as the girl slowly opened her mouth. "I do."
His heart stopped for an instant, and his tightly clenched fist suddenly relaxed.
A message from Sean Grant popped up at just the right moment: "Simon, this interview hasn’t been aired yet. I only sent it to you, y’know. So, what’d you think?"
Simon Lockwood rewound the video and watched it several more times, the girl’s soft, gentle voice echoing in his ears.
’I do...’
He slowly typed out a single word.
In a bar, Sean Grant, with his silver-gray hair, was lounging with his legs crossed, looking every bit the rogue. He downed a glass of liquor in one go. His phone lit up, and he immediately checked it, then burst out laughing.
The message was simple: "Buyout."
BAHAHAHA! Sean Grant was overjoyed, slapping the thigh of Jack Warren, who sat beside him.
Jack Warren brushed his hand away with a gloomy look. "No matter how excited you get, please slap your own thigh."
Sean Grant switched to slapping his shoulder instead.
Jack Warren: "..."
"Oh man, I can’t..." Sean Grant finally laughed his fill and showed the message to Jack Warren. "JJ, you tell me, how can Simon be this hilarious?"
’JJ my ass,’ Jack Warren thought, rolling his eyes. It was the first time he’d ever heard someone call Simon Lockwood "hilarious." What a terrifying thought.
"I should quote him a high price. How about a hundred million?"
"I’m afraid you won’t live long enough to spend it," Jack Warren said, shattering his fantasy.
Sean Grant thought about it and agreed. Simon Lockwood wasn’t some foolish big spender. A hundred thousand was more like it. But he still wanted to push his luck, so he slowly added two extra zeros.
Ten million for a three-minute interview.
Sean Grant waited for Simon Lockwood’s cold threats. The next second, a bank transfer notification came in.
Ones, tens, hundreds...
Th-th-this...
Sean Grant swallowed hard, feeling like things had gotten out of hand. Holy crap, ten million. He’d sent it over just like that.
Panicked, he immediately dialed his number.
*
His phone began to ring. Simon Lockwood glanced at it just as he heard footsteps approaching the door.
He immediately closed the video and rejected the call without hesitation.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. A knock sounded at the door, followed by the girl’s voice. "Simon Lockwood? I’m coming in."
Simon Lockwood casually picked up a proposal from the side and pretended to read it with a serious expression.
He leaned back in his office chair in a relaxed posture, looking lazy yet poised. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his high nose, catching the dim yellow light with a cool glint and casting a faint shadow on his sharp, handsome profile.
It was truly a pleasing sight. Joanna Kennedy was momentarily dazzled by his good looks. She placed the white porcelain bowl on the desk and said in a soft voice, "Have a late-night snack."
Simon Lockwood stared at the bowl of small sweet dumplings for a moment, his grip on the proposal tightening. "Did you make this?"
"The dumplings were from the freezer, but I cooked them," Joanna Kennedy said honestly.
Simon Lockwood selectively heard only the last part of her sentence. He nodded, picked up the bowl, and scooped up a plump, round dumpling with his spoon.
Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, he paused. He lifted his gaze to meet the girl’s expectant eyes and said, "Have you eaten?"
Joanna Kennedy shook her head. "I’m not hungry."
Simon Lockwood frowned. Under Joanna Kennedy’s eager gaze, he ate a dumpling, then said flatly, "It’s not cooked through."
’How could that be? She was afraid they’d be undercooked, so she’d boiled them for a long time!’
Joanna Kennedy didn’t believe him, so Simon Lockwood scooped up a dumpling and held it to her lips.
Without a second thought, Joanna Kennedy leaned in and ate it. It was soft and sweet in her mouth—it couldn’t have been more thoroughly cooked, okay?!
"See? It’s cooked," she said.
Simon Lockwood just said, "Oh," and then told a bald-faced lie: "Then maybe the one I ate wasn’t cooked."
They were all cooked together, so how could some be cooked and others not? Joanna Kennedy felt something was off, but she’d never been skilled in the kitchen, so she didn’t question it further.
’Maybe... they just didn’t cook evenly?’
