The sterile scent of disinfectant. The soft hum of an air conditioner. The gentle rustle of a starched white curtain. These were not the sensations of a cold marble floor or the icy bite of death. Ye Xia's eyes fluttered open, her vision blurry at first before focusing on a familiar ceiling tile. She was lying in a hospital bed, a thin blanket pulled up to her chin. The bright, unforgiving light of the room made her wince.
"Ye Xia! You're awake!"
A voice, young and sweet, full of genuine concern. It was her mother, Li Meilin. Ye Xia's heart seized in her chest. Impossible. Her mother had died ten years ago. She reached out a trembling hand, her fingers brushing against her mother's soft skin. It was real. This was not a dream. She was in a hospital room, and her mother was alive, looking at her with an expression of tender worry.
But what was she doing here? She remembered the betrayal, the needle, the suffocating blackness. Her eyes darted to the calendar on the wall. The date: September 10, 2015. Ten years ago.
"Mom… how…?" she stammered, her voice thick with confusion.
Li Meilin smiled gently. "You fainted during a PE class, honey. The doctor said you're just a little anemic. We were so worried."
Ye Xia tried to sit up, her mind racing. She was seventeen again. Ten years in the past. It was a miracle. But the memory of her death, the brutal betrayal by Jiang Chen and Lin Mei, was as vivid as if it had happened moments ago. A fire ignited in her chest, a burning desire for revenge. She would not be a pawn this time. She would not be a victim.
Just as the thought solidified in her mind, a cold, mechanical voice echoed inside her head.
[Ding! Welcome, Host, to the "Money Wasting System."]
Ye Xia's eyes widened in alarm. She looked around the room, but her mother was the only one there, humming a soft tune while tidying up a vase of flowers.
[The System is bound to your soul. Only you can hear me. Your mission is simple: get rich by spending money. The more you spend, the more you earn. Your starting funds have been credited to your account.]
A small holographic screen, invisible to everyone else, appeared before her. It showed a single, dazzling number: $50,000,000,000. Fifty billion dollars. The number was so absurdly large that Ye Xia almost laughed. It was more money than her former in-laws could ever dream of. It was more than enough to topple the empires of both Jiang Chen and Lin Mei.
[Initial mission: Spend 1 billion dollars in 24 hours to unlock the first-tier rewards and physical enhancements. Failure to do so will result in a penalty.]
The voice was emotionless, but the threat was clear. Ye Xia had to spend an outrageous amount of money, and fast. But how? She was a high school student in 2015. How could she spend a billion dollars without drawing a huge amount of suspicion?
A glimmer of an idea sparked in her mind. This wasn't a punishment; it was a gift. A second chance. A way to reclaim her life and get her revenge. She looked at her mother, who was still alive and well, and a fierce resolve hardened her features. This time, she would protect her. This time, she would not be the fat, naive, ugly girl they all laughed at. She would be powerful. She would be untouchable.