Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 1

Song Yingshi put down the half-peeled mandarin and carefully read the mission the system had assigned to her. Then, she said seriously, "I can't do this."

"You can. You won a Best Actress award in your past life. Acting is your specialty," the system reassured her.

"I..." Song Yingshi tried to argue.

However, the system did not intend to negotiate, stating, "The mission is non-negotiable. Either you do it or die. Also, this mission series isn't difficult."

Song Yingshi sighed helplessly at the system's insistence. However, the system's last sentence piqued her interest, so she hesitantly and sincerely asked, "Will a mission only be considered difficult if it requires me to sleep with Huai Xu?"

System: "..."

Song Yingshi felt as if the system was messing with her.

Previously, the system told her it could extend her life so long as she transmigrated into a novel after her death. Being at death's door, she bought into the system's words and agreed to the deal. However, before she could explore the wonders of her second life, she had a mandatory mission shoved in her face.

It turned out that the system's so-called life extension only extended her life by a measly three hours. She'd have to complete the system's missions if she wanted to live longer.

As Song Yingshi stared at the words "2h 50min" displayed in bright red before her, fear gripped her chest. With no better alternatives, she opened the mission list and found that there were different categories of missions:

Daily Missions

Special Missions

Song Yingshi opened the Daily Missions tab and found nothing. Based on her experience playing games, the Special Missions tab was likely to hold missions more troublesome than those found in the Daily Missions tab.

When she clicked on the Special Missions tab, she saw—

Share a passionate kiss with Huai Xu.

"..." Song Yingshi nearly had a mental breakdown.

No wonder the system went silent at her last question!

It must have been feeling guilty!

Song Yingshi didn't dwell on the system's guilty conscience. With the ever-ticking countdown threatening to end her new life, she pursed her lips and asked a more useful question:

"Who is Huai Xu?"

Was the other party another innocent victim like herself?

At Song Yingshi's question, the system silently pulled up a document to her system interface—it was the novel Song Yingshi had transmigrated into.

Song Yingshi briefly scanned through the novel, learning that Huai Xu was the female protagonist of a cliche Mary Sue+Domineering President drama novel. The novel never saw completion due to the three male protagonists' inhumane acts against the female protagonist causing many readers to demand they be killed off and replaced. Although the author had tried to salvage the situation, she ultimately crumbled under the negative reviews and dropped the novel in limbo.

Song Yingshi looked at the date displayed on her interface, compared it with the novel, and realized that she had transmigrated to the beginning of the novel.

In other words, today was when Song Ming, one of the male protagonists, would force Huai Xu into a lover's contract.

Song Ming...

He had the same surname as she did.

Song Yingshi had a hunch they were somehow related, but before she could sieve through her inherited memories, sounds of chitchat came from the front door.

When Song Yingshi transmigrated into her current body, the original owner's family was not home. There were only servants around her. Hence, after looking through the original owner's recent memories, she strolled around the house before taking a break on the sofa.

When Song Yingshi looked up from her system interface, she saw fountains gushing outside the French windows on both sides of the front door, surrounded by a small but delicately trimmed garden. She also saw two beautiful women walking in from the entrance hall, followed by a tall man.

"It's been so long since I last saw Little Shi. The last time I saw her was when she left the country. I've really missed her," said one of the women.

"Tell me about it. Even as her mother, I rarely get to see her," said the other woman. Then, she looked toward the tall man behind them and added, "Song Ming is much more sensible in comparison. He's always home to keep you company."

Song Yingshi effortlessly matched the faces of one of the two women with her memories, recognizing the other party as the original owner's mother. The woman would also become her mother from now on.

Unexpectedly, Song Ming, who should be shoving a lover's contract in the female protagonist's face, was also present.

Song Yingshi calmly scrutinized Song Ming.

Song Ming possessed all the outward features of a male protagonist: a handsome face, a seemingly heat-resistant black suit, and a demeanor that allowed him to converse and smile while frequently checking his watch.

As if noticing someone was sizing him up, Song Ming turned toward Song Yingshi. The two mothers also followed his gaze, and one of them said, "Little Shi, your sister-in-law is here to see you."

"Little Shi, do you still remember me?" the other woman asked while pinching the distracted Song Ming and pulling him toward Song Yingshi.

Song Ming naturally got his mother's hint, reluctance appearing on his face as he looked at Song Yingshi, who was several years younger than him. Then, he awkwardly greeted her, "...Aunt Shi."

?

Aunt Shi?

This situation caught Song Yingshi by surprise, so much so that her calm demeanor broke momentarily as she responded, "...Hello."

Who would've thought that one of the novel's charming and domineering male protagonists would be her nephew?

This situation was simply incredible.

Afterward, the two mothers sat in the living room, reminiscing. Meanwhile, Song Yingshi played the obedient child, sitting quietly by her mother as she went through her inherited memories to make sense of the situation.

Apparently, the Song family was a large clan rooted in the south of the country. The clan valued kinship greatly, and Song Yingshi's seniority was high within the extended family. Her immediate family had also achieved great success in life, leading to all their relatives maintaining close ties with them, which was also why Song Ming's mother had brought him here today to get acquainted with her.

No matter how Song Yingshi looked at it, Song Ming could only behave like a junior before her.

…

Throughout the conversation, the system issued three reminders to Song Yingshi.

"Host, please be reminded you have two hours and forty minutes of life remaining."

"Host, please be reminded you have two hours and thirty minutes of life remaining."

"Host, please be reminded you have two hours and twenty minutes of life remaining."

Song Yingshi felt like her head was about to explode, and her heart began to beat heavily.

Fortunately, her nephew finally lost his patience as he said, "Third Grandaunt, Aunt Shi, Mom, I have a meeting to attend..."

"How can you be so insensible?! What can be more important than having a conversation with family?! Postpone your meeting!" Song Ming's mother scolded.

"It's been so long since we last met. Why don't you stay for a meal?" Song Yingshi's mother chimed in.

"I want to go!" Song Yingshi suddenly interrupted. You can't stop Song Ming from moving the plot! I need to meet with the female protagonist to live!

At Song Yingshi's words, the three other people in the room turned to look at her.

"I heard Little Ming is running a media company. I've never met any of the country's artists," Song Yingshi added, blinking her eyes cutely.

At Song Yingshi's words, Song Ming's mother changed her tune on the spot, saying, "Oh, in that case, Little Ming, go and show your Aunt Shi around! Invite all your artists out for a meal!"

"Will that be too much trouble for Little Ming?" Song Yingshi's mother asked politely.

"How can that be? No need to be so polite!" Song Ming's mother replied without hesitation.

"..." Song Ming grew depressed at the unequal treatment.

...

When Song Yingshi stepped out of the house, Song Ming's secretary and chauffeur were already waiting outside.

Song Yingshi rode in Song Ming's car, the two of them sitting at the back.

Faced with her impending death and the question of whether Huai Xu would cooperate with her, Song Yingshi started to worry.

When she got in the car, she briefly glanced at the document pouch in the middle of the back seat. If she wasn't mistaken, the pouch should hold two contracts: one was the standard artist contract of Song Ming's company, and the other was a lover's contract.

Perhaps concerned that an outsider might see the lover's contract, Song Ming's secretary quickly stashed the pouch into his briefcase.

On the way, Song Ming made a phone call. As Song Yingshi had already read the plot of this arc, she knew Song Ming was giving Huai Xu an ultimatum demanding her to sign his lover's contract.

Song Yingshi tapped her chin with her finger and fell into thought. She suddenly got the idea of replicating Song Ming's plan to solve her predicament.

However, before she could hash out the details of her plan, the system suddenly made its presence known again:

"Host, you have less than two hours of life remaining. Your body will start to experience premonitions of sudden death: headache, weakness in limbs."

At the system's words, Song Yingshi grew dizzy and weakly leaned against the window. Her back also grew limp, and her fingertips grew numb.

"..."

Song Yingshi nearly cursed at the system out of anger. She also felt wronged and wanted to cry.

When Song Ming ended his call and noticed Song Yingshi's situation, he asked, "Aunt Shi, are you feeling unwell?"

With her head leaned against the glass window, Song Yingshi weakly answered, "Have you never seen a carsick maiden?"

"...Little Dong, drive slower," Song Ming instructed.

"Okay," the chauffeur answered.

However, Song Yingshi immediately interrupted, saying, "Don't. Drive faster. I only get dizzy if you drive slowly."

If they continued at this pace, her suffering might escalate beyond merely suffering from the premonitions of sudden death. She needed to meet the female protagonist urgently, even more so than the domineering president who sought to cage a canary.

Song Ming and the chauffeur: "..."

...

With the concerted efforts of Song Ming and Song Yingshi, the chauffeur drove as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, the traffic in S City was not cooperative in the slightest. By the time the car arrived at the office building of Peach Tree Media, Song Yingshi experienced even more symptoms of sudden death.

"Host, you have less than one hour of life remaining. Your body will start to experience premonitions of sudden death: chest pains, panic attacks."

The car decelerated near the building's entrance. When Song Ming saw the crowd of people coming and going from the building, he frowned and said, "We'll enter from the parking lot."

At these words, Song Yingshi lifted her head with great difficulty and looked out the window, saying, "I'll get off here."

"Aunt Shi, I have a meeting I need to attend upstairs since today is the last day of the auditions. If you have any artists you want to meet, I can have Little Chen bring you to their studio," Song Ming said.

Song Ming's media company wasn't particularly large, having sent only two artists to participate in Peach Tree Media's idol survival show. Nonetheless, as one of the participating media companies, he had to attend the internal meeting Peach Tree Media held today, so he couldn't accompany Song Yingshi.

"I'll look around by myself," Song Yingshi said.

Song Ming's mind was full of Huai Xu, so he simply instructed his secretary to escort Song Yingshi before having the chauffeur drop her off at the entrance.

When Song Yingshi got out of the car, she nearly tripped due to her weakened legs. However, she powered through the discomfort and strode into the office building with her head held high. As an actress, she was used to enduring discomforts and showing her best side to the public.

Little Chen, Song Ming's secretary, held his briefcase in one hand while pointing the way for Song Yingshi with the other. Thanks to his actions, Song Yingshi drew a lot of attention along the way. After all, this was the first time anyone had seen an artist bringing along a secretary or assistant to audition for an idol survival show.

When the auditionees saw Song Yingshi's face, many had their breaths taken away. However, their amazement quickly turned to fear when they realized they might be looking at a strong opponent.

Compared to the auditionees, their agents had a much keener perception.

Two talent agents in a corridor started a quiet discussion among themselves as they watched Song Yingshi looking around:

"Which company does she belong to? Is she an amateur?"

"That assistant looks familiar."

"What a high-quality amateur. She can probably rise to stardom with that face alone. I wonder if I can sign her under my name?"

"Keep dreaming. There's no way she hasn't signed with a company yet."

Song Yingshi's long acting career made her sensitive to cameras and sight, so she quickly noticed the two agents staring at her. Under their surprised gazes, she approached them, saying, "Hello."

"Hello," the agents responded.

"Do you know where Huai Xu is?" Song Yingshi asked, giving up on finding the female protagonist by herself. Otherwise, she'd likely run out of time before she found the female protagonist. The novel described Huai Xu as a woman of unparalleled beauty surrounded by gossip in the entertainment industry, so it shouldn't be difficult to find someone who knew of her whereabouts.

The way Song Yingshi brought up Huai Xu sounded natural, as if mentioning an old friend. Thus, the agents did not suspect her motives and simply said, "Huai Xu? She just went in for her audition."

Just after Song Yingshi had thanked the agents and was about to leave, one of the agents couldn't help her curiosity and asked, "Are you also here for the audition? Are you contracted under a company?"

In response, Song Yingshi shook her head and said politely, "I'm here to sign someone."

The agents: ?! The talent we've been eyeing turns out to be competition?!

Little Chen: ?! What?! The boss's aunt is here to sign someone? Who? Is she trying to start a company? Or is she keeping a lover?

After learning that Huai Xu was undertaking her audition, Song Yingshi knew what she needed to do next. Without hesitation, she called someone on her phone and got the other party to set up a meeting with Huai Xu as quickly as possible.

…

Five minutes later, a staff member of Peach Tree Media led Song Yingshi into an empty reception room.

After instructing Little Chen to wait outside the door, Song Yingshi lay on the table and gasped for air.

Despite the air being full of oxygen, none flowed into her body.

Song Yingshi's chest felt stuffy and sore, her heartbeat was erratic, her ears were constantly ringing, and sporadic white flashes overtook her vision.

…

Another ten minutes passed.

"Warning! You have less than 30 minutes of life remaining! You may fall unconscious at any time!"

Unconscious at any time.

She wouldn't be able to complete her mission if she were to lose consciousness. This also meant she would greet her second death, three hours after her first…

I've only lived for three hours…

I don't want to die…

Amidst the ringing in her ears, Song Yingshi heard conversation coming from outside the door.

"Miss Huai? Why are you here?" It was Little Chen's voice.

"Miss Song invited her here. Huai Xu, please go in quickly." It was the staff member's voice.

…

Little Chen dared not stop the staff member. Under the staff member's urging, he even took the initiative to open the door for Huai Xu.

With one hand in her pocket, Huai Xu entered the room without saying a word. However, her feet paused when she saw the room's sole occupant. Rather than Song Ming, the person who had compelled her to come here, the person inside the room was a girl lying on the table with her head buried in her arms. This person was likely the "Miss Song" mentioned by the staff member.

Huai Xu released her grip on the door and let it close behind her. With slow and light steps, she approached the girl, stopped five feet away from the other party, and asked in a distant voice, "Miss, are you feeling unwell?"

The other party did not speak or move, as if unconscious.

Did she fall asleep? Huai Xu knitted her brows and bent over to get closer to the girl. Then, she raised her voice and asked, "Miss Song?"

As if a resting butterfly had suddenly taken flight, the girl unexpectedly sprang into Huai Xu's embrace.

Before Huai Xu could react, a source of warmth planted itself on the side of her lips.