Chapter 96: Chapter 96

One had to admit, Ji Ze's tone sounded genuinely sincere at this moment. But in reality? An Ning inwardly scoffed. These words were being heard by her, Shen Anning.

And what about the original host from the previous life?

Almost no one had been willing to consider things from her perspective, not even a little bit.

Including this "deeply loving" boyfriend before her now.

The love might have been real.

But beneath the differences in status and identity, that subconscious disregard and neglect had undeniably existed. Ignoring the seemingly pained look in his eyes, An Ning thought: Naive?

Hah. When it came to personal interests, no one was truly naive.

If Madam Ji's previous attitude had been directed at her current self, would anyone still consider it justified?

So what was wrong with prioritizing oneself and putting yourself first above all else?

An Ning admitted she was exactly this kind of selfish person.

Nor did she think the original host had done anything wrong in her previous life.

Was her mistake not forcing herself to give her boyfriend a warm farewell despite having her dignity trampled and her body and mind wounded?

Even though this boyfriend was the biological son of the very person who had hurt her?

Gently pressing a hand to her still-heaving chest, An Ning silently declared:

"You did nothing wrong. Loving yourself more is never wrong."

No one had the right to lecture or discipline her about this.

Watching Ji Ze's retreating figure, An Ning suddenly felt a wave of relief. Meanwhile, inside her consciousness, the system abruptly remembered something:

"Wait, I just recalled - we still don't know what the original host's lingering regret was! What if it's about this guy?"

Wouldn't that mean this world was doomed from the start?

Accepting a thermos from security, An Ning felt utterly speechless:

"Do you really think that's possible?"

"Unless it's about not loving someone, who would want another person using their body to romance the person they liked?"

"W-well... you have a point there!"

Could this be why so many task-takers had failed in this world?

Ignoring the dog system's little musings, An Ning returned to bury herself in lab equipment and code as usual.

Over the next several years, AI applications became increasingly widespread. The multi-functional robot Xiao Ba - integrating nursing, therapy and entertainment functions developed by An Ning's hands - gained worldwide popularity. The constantly upgraded AI systems became highly sought-after by countless people.

Yet despite this, apart from holding a guest professor position at Jing University, An Ning never joined any research institute. All external affairs were still handled by Fu Sheng.

Fu Sheng was indeed capable - at the very least, An Ning had never been troubled by external nonsense these past years.

But watching Fu Corporation's meteoric rise, countless people both inside and outside their circles envied Fu Sheng's incredible luck in casually stumbling upon such a golden goose. To this, Fu Sheng would only smile faintly.

Was he proud? Naturally.

What man lacked ambition? Who didn't want career success, respect, and to elevate their family's standing?

Yet regrets weren't absent either.

Fu Sheng glanced sideways at An Ning reviewing reports nearby. Dressed in a plain white lab coat with her thick black hair casually pinned up, she remained stunningly beautiful even approaching forty.

Such peerless intelligence and beauty - who wouldn't be moved?

He'd certainly made attempts earlier. But as their intertwined interests grew increasingly significant, he'd become unwilling - even afraid - to indulge his feelings anymore.

Truthfully, their years of collaboration had been extremely harmonious. Whether as friends or business partners, they occupied perfectly comfortable positions in each other's lives. But romance? That introduced far too many variables.

He didn't dare gamble. The stakes were too high.

Thinking this, Fu Sheng couldn't help a bitter smile.

No wonder she'd never considered him a romantic prospect from the start, hadn't even spared him a chance...

Yet how could someone as extraordinary as her ever be forgettable?

Still, perhaps the present situation wasn't so bad. Watching the beauty bent over calculations nearby, even the most passionate feelings would eventually fade or grow stale. At least all these years, the person standing closest to her, spending the most time with her, had always been him, hadn't it?

If Fu Corporation was soaring, the neighboring Ji Group's situation had deteriorated considerably. Without An Ning's indication, Fu Sheng naturally wouldn't deliberately suppress the Ji family - at most applying minor delays. Yet even so, the surrounding disdain, subtle exclusion from social circles, complaints from company directors and family members, plus her son's cold indifference had become bitter pills for Madam Ji to swallow.

The most terrifying thing was never having never obtained something.

But rather having had an opportunity for greatness within reach, only to discard it like worthless trash.

"Money-grubbing and blind! She couldn't recognize a gold mountain even when it was right in front of her, even managed to lose it!"

To such comments, Madam Ji could only sneer:

"Easy for them to say! They all call me shallow and snobbish, but would any of them be happy if their own children took up with some penniless nobody?"

Unfortunately, just as no one had cared about the original host's circumstances before, no one cared about Madam Ji's "reasons" now either.

What awaited her remained mockery and ostracization.

An Ning merely heard about this in passing before dismissing it.

Ultimately, it was simply the victor writing history while the defeated became bandits. Hadn't the original host suffered the same fate in her previous life?

An Ning never married in this lifetime. As her scientific achievements accumulated and her academic standing grew more prominent, layered security measures eventually made even her hobby of traveling to seek out good food inconvenient.

It could be said this was the most arduous and monotonous of all her lifetimes. Some research projects might take eight or nine years without yielding results. Mountains of foreign documents required her to learn multiple new languages for accurate comprehension.

Yet no matter how difficult, An Ning gritted her teeth and persevered.

Even at sixty years old, she finally made "full immersion holography" shake the entire world. The name Xu Anning resounded in hearts across the globe.

Naturally, equally exhausted was a certain system.

Good heavens, what kind of life was this?!

Watching its host still tinkering in the lab, the system could only resign itself to near-24/7 monitoring duties.

In the early days when security was lacking, round-the-clock surveillance had been necessary. Later, as its host grew increasingly accomplished and valued, protective measures intensified accordingly.

Logically, the system should have been able to relax.

Yet instead, its host's risk factors multiplied exponentially! The threats became increasingly hard to prevent - especially after the holography breakthrough.

And so, under its host's daily psychological pressure, the system could only dry its tears and carry on!

Like now - wearing the expression of a world-weary dog, the system blankly continued monitoring, completely missing its host's nearby movements... until suddenly.

It felt its data form being uncontrollably pulled outward...

"Wait, host, didn't you say you weren't using the Intelligence-Enhancing Pill?!"