Zhao Fan’s transmigration didn’t involve getting hit by a truck. He simply closed his eyes, opened them, and found himself here.
Maybe it was missing that one step that made the whole thing feel a little incomplete.
That was why, even now, he still didn’t know whether he’d been transmigrated as a baby or had his soul transported into someone else’s body.
He’d even wondered if his predecessor had actually been himself, and whether three days ago, he’d awakened the memories of his past life and undergone a fusion of memories.
And not a complete fusion, either. Zhao Fan always felt like some of his memories were missing.
In fact, ever since he woke up three days ago,
Zhao Fan had silently run through every method he could remember from the webnovels of his past life for activating a system.
But there had been no response at all!
After going through them all again today, as usual, he sighed.
It seemed transmigration webnovels were all lies. He was just an ordinary, unlucky guy.
His identity in this life sounded pretty good, but according to his memories, he was just an unremarkable imperial prince.
He wasn’t even a playboy, just one of the many imperial princes nobody paid attention to.
Forget it. He stood up, planning to get some air in the back courtyard.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
【Don’t you feel like you can’t get by without me?】
Zhao Fan stopped in his tracks.
“Who’s there?”
Xiao Shunzi, standing nearby, jumped in fright. “Y-Your Highness?”
Zhao Fan was thrilled, but still pretended to be calm. He waved Xiao Shunzi away, signaling for him to leave.
Though confused, Xiao Shunzi obediently closed the door behind him and went out.
With Zhao Fan alone in the main hall, he asked in a low voice,
“Who are you?”
The voice sounded again.
【You can call me… Taoduoduo.】
Zhao Fan fell silent for a full three seconds. His first thought was, The system’s here? Then I’m set!
But then he thought, The name “system” doesn’t sound all that impressive, though.
So he asked again.
“…What did you say your name was?”
【Taoduoduo. What, not imposing enough for you?】
Not just unimposing—what kind of system had a name like that? Zhao Fan asked uncertainly,
“Are you a system?”
【Yes and no. So, do you agree to bind with Taoduoduo?】
Did it even need to ask?
Zhao Fan answered at once. “Bind us! Bind us!”
The voice seemed to sigh.
【Once we’re bound, you’ll be my Host. You don’t have to say anything aloud every time, Host. Just think of me, and I’ll hear you.】
As soon as it finished speaking—
“Ding—Taoduoduo System activating… Activation complete. Host identity confirmed: Zhao Fan, Ninth Prince of the Great Xuan Dynasty. Binding successful.”
Then, a translucent panel appeared out of thin air, hovering before Zhao Fan.
The interface layout was very familiar to him—the words “Taoduoduo” in large characters at the top, a search bar below, followed by various categories: clothing, food, digital products, books, sports, mother and baby…
It was basically a shopping app, just without all those flashy promotional ads.
“System, how about you explain this?” he said in his mind.
The System no longer answered with a voice. Instead, a dialogue box appeared directly.
【The Taoduoduo System connects to the shopping platform from the plane where the Host’s past life was located.
The Host can use this plane’s currency, converted at the applicable rate, to purchase goods from the plane of your past life.】
That was a powerful feature.
Zhao Fan took a deep breath and asked the question he cared about most. “What about the prices? How are they converted?”
【In the Host’s current world, one copper coin equals one yuan. One tael of silver equals 1,000 yuan. One tael of gold equals 100,000 yuan.】
Zhao Fan quickly worked out the figures in his head.
One tael of silver was worth 1,000 yuan.
Rice sold for two or three yuan per jin in modern supermarkets, so one tael of silver could buy three or four hundred jin of rice.
In this ancient world, where grain yields were low…
This was an incredible bargain.
But Zhao Fan didn’t rush to celebrate. He’d read enough webnovels in his past life to know that when something this good fell from the sky, there was usually a catch.
“System, are there any restrictions?”
【First, money earned by the Host from selling goods cannot be used to make further purchases.】
【Second, purchased goods cannot be reused. This includes, but is not limited to, planting purchased grain or dismantling weapons to copy them.】
【Third, the Host’s current level allows three Shopping Attempts per month. The Host can level up after making a total of ten, one hundred, and one thousand purchases.】
【Fourth, the Host’s current credit limit is zero. All purchases must be paid for before they are shipped.】
Zhao Fan went over the rules in his mind.
The first and second rules were clearly there to block money-farming and duplication exploits, preventing him from creating an infinite loop.
The third limited how often he could buy things, so he couldn’t purchase too much all at once.
As for the fourth, he thought about his remaining funds. On the first day after transmigrating, he’d figured out that he had 150 taels of silver. With only that much, a zero credit limit seemed reasonable.
Zhao Fan continued asking,
“System, do I get a Beginner’s Gift Pack?”
【Yes. But the Host must claim it manually. Would you like to claim it?】
“Of course! I’ll claim it right now!”
【Please recite the following: “I want the Beginner’s Gift Pack, and I accept full responsibility for whatever it contains.”】
Zhao Fan froze for a moment. “System, why do I have to recite a liability waiver?”
【Those are the rules.】
Zhao Fan hesitated for two seconds, then recited it.
The System’s notification sounded.
【Ding—the Beginner’s Gift Pack has been delivered to the Host’s account.
Gift Pack contents: Authenticity Guarantee on the first three purchases.
Note: 1. Each of the first three purchases costs a fixed 100 taels of silver, and each purchase must be from a different category.
2. The purchases made with the Beginner’s Gift Pack do not count toward the limit of three purchases per month.】
Zhao Fan nearly cursed aloud.
One hundred taels of silver for each of the first three purchases? Even a jin of rice would cost 100 taels? What a rip-off!
He hurriedly said,
“System, each of the first three purchases costs 100 taels? That’s way too expensive! Wait, what did you just say? ‘Guaranteed authentic’ for the first three purchases—does that mean I can normally end up buying counterfeits?”
【Counterfeit goods are rampant on the shopping platform from the plane where the Host’s past life was located.
A Rolex for 9.9 yuan with free shipping, Flying Fairy Moutai for 38 yuan, a top-of-the-line phone for 500 yuan—have you forgotten?
If these goods are sent over, they’ll still be counterfeit.
The first three purchases undergo the System’s Authenticity Guarantee. No matter what you buy, what arrives will be genuine. Host, you’ve struck it rich!】
Zhao Fan fell silent.
He read the rules again, and his heart began to race.
The first three purchases were guaranteed authentic.
In other words, even if he bought some roadside-stall-grade knockoff on the modern platform, it would turn into the real thing here?
Then what was he waiting for? He could just buy an aircraft carrier! One hundred taels of silver for an aircraft carrier?
Well, never mind whether he could buy one. Even if he could, someone would have to know how to operate it.
None of that mattered. The important thing was, even if he bought an aircraft carrier just to sell it for scrap, he’d still make a fortune!
He suppressed his wild thoughts, opened the search bar, and tried searching a few keywords.
“Truth.”
The page refreshed.
There were plenty of results, priced from a few hundred to a few thousand. But when he scanned the product titles, his heart sank halfway—
“1:1 scale model,” “outdoor tactical toy,” “non-firing,” “prop”…
Almost every title honestly included the words “simulated” or “model.”