Especially Murong Yanran, that fiery mare, had actually climbed from negative numbers to thirty-five…
What kind of strange turn was this?
At the same time, Xu Lang grew curious and called out inwardly, “System, come out. How exactly is this favorability calculated? Hua Yourong and Xia Zhiruo are both at eighty already, almost full. Once it reaches one hundred, can it still increase?”
[Ding! Host, please note, 100 favorability equals ‘Utter Devotion,’ but it is not the upper limit.]
[Love is infinite! After exceeding 100 points, favorability can continue accumulating without cap!]
Xu Lang was stunned.
It could work like that?
[Additionally, friendly reminder from this system: For each wife, every time her personal favorability accumulates to an integer multiple of 100, the system will issue a special reward!]
Damn!
Joy exploded in Xu Lang’s heart. He quickly began calculating.
Hua Yourong and Xia Zhiruo were both at eighty. Only twenty more points to reach one hundred. That was practically a single push away.
Two special rewards!
Especially Xia Zhiruo, that little girl was practically a treasure chest. It felt like he did not even need to do anything and she would completely fall for him on her own.
Hua Yourong’s favorability had risen bit by bit under his careful effort.
As for Xia Zhiruo, she was adorably blind and far too easy to raise.
And Murong Yanran…
Xu Lang glanced at the proud third wife beside him. Though her face remained stern, her aura had clearly softened.
35 was still not high, but at least she was out of the danger zone.
The future looked promising. Very promising.
Suppressing his excitement, Xu Lang cleared his throat and led the three women deeper into the center of Qingshi Town.
The town looked even more desolate than the village entrance. The streets were empty. Most shops were closed, and the few pedestrians wandering about were weak from hunger, their eyes dull and lifeless.
Before long, they found the only cloth shop still open in town.
Calling it a shop was generous. It was a small storefront. The characters on the signboard had faded, and the wooden door panels were broken.
A gaunt man, so thin he looked skeletal, lay slumped over the counter. When he saw someone enter, he only lazily raised his head.
“What do you want?”
His voice trembled as though he might stop breathing at any moment.
The bolts of fabric inside were covered in thick dust, clearly unattended for a long time. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Boss, how do you sell cloth?” Xu Lang asked.
Shopkeeper Zhang weakly waved his hand. “Cloth isn’t for sale. In times like these, what use is silver? Can it fill your stomach?”
He paused and swept his cloudy eyes over the four of them before saying, “Only food for exchange.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Xu Lang calmly reached into the cloth bag behind him and grabbed a large handful of rice.
Not coarse rice mixed with sand, but pure white, crystal-clear grains, plump and shining.
In the dim shop, that handful of white rice gleamed brightly.
Shopkeeper Zhang’s breathing froze.
The three women were stunned as well.
“Husband!” Hua Yourong reacted first, tugging at Xu Lang’s sleeve. “That… that’s too much rice. It’s such a waste…”
Her face was filled with reluctance and heartache. If they rationed it carefully into porridge, that rice could feed the four of them for days. And now it was to be exchanged for cloth that could not be eaten.
Xia Zhiruo pouted softly. “Yes, Husband. Our clothes are still wearable… It’s not worth it to trade for cloth.”
Murong Yanran was even more direct. “Xu Lang, have you lost your mind? Do you know what a single grain of rice can be traded for outside? And you want to exchange this for a few feet of ragged cloth?”
There was urgency in her voice, a concern for their household that she herself did not notice.
Before Xu Lang could respond—
Thump.
A heavy sound echoed.
Shopkeeper Zhang, who had been half-dead behind the counter, suddenly slid down and knelt heavily on the ground.
He stared at the rice in Xu Lang’s hand, his frail body trembling violently, strange rasping sounds escaping his throat. “Rice… white rice…”
The next second, this man in his forties burst into loud sobs.
Crawling forward on his hands and knees, he clutched Xu Lang’s leg, crying uncontrollably. “Sir… Great Sir! Please, sell that rice to me! I beg you!”
“I… I have a daughter at home… She’s only six… She hasn’t eaten in three days… She’s about to… about to starve to death…”
“I don’t want your money! Take all the cloth in this shop! Take everything! I only beg you… give me some rice. Save my daughter’s life…”
His cries were desperate and piercing, each word striking the three women’s hearts like a hammer.
They stood frozen.
Hua Yourong and Xia Zhiruo’s eyes reddened instantly. This story is hosted at g.com.
Murong Yanran stiffened as well.
Just moments ago, they had felt heartache over that rice and complained that trading food for cloth was wasteful.
Now they understood.
That handful of rice did not represent a few feet of cloth or several meals.
It represented a living human life.
And their husband had been willing to trade this life-saving food merely to buy them new clothes.
An indescribable warmth, mixed with guilt, emotion, and shock, swept through them, washing away the last trace of calculation in their hearts.
Hua Yourong gazed at Xu Lang’s profile. This man might appear carefree and even roguish at times, but within him lay the deepest tenderness toward them.
Xia Zhiruo was utterly moved. To her, Xu Lang was simply the best man in the world.
Even Murong Yanran felt shaken to her core.
She looked at the father kneeling at her feet, begging for his daughter’s life, and then at the man beside her who quietly gave for them.
The two figures overlapped in her mind.
Suddenly, the man forced upon her by the royal authority did not seem so detestable anymore.
As the three women’s thoughts churned, heavenly chimes rang in Xu Lang’s mind.
[Ding! Hua Yourong favorability +20! Current favorability: 100 (Utter Devotion)!]
[Ding! Xia Zhiruo favorability +20! Current favorability: 100 (Utter Devotion)!]
[Ding! Murong Yanran favorability +20! Current favorability: 55 (Deeply Moved)!]
It worked.
Two one-hundreds.
Ecstasy surged within Xu Lang, though his face remained calm.
He bent down and helped the nearly fainting Shopkeeper Zhang to his feet. “Boss, stand up first.”
Then he poured the entire handful of rice into the man’s trembling palms. “Take this rice and cook porridge for your daughter first.”
“As for the cloth, just give whatever you think is fair.”
The moment his words fell—
[Ding! Detected that two wives’ favorability has reached 100 for the first time. Calculating special rewards…]
[Ding! Distributing rewards…]