Qiao Nian wasn’t the kind of person who meddled in other people’s affairs.
She had beaten everyone she needed to beat, cursed everyone she needed to curse, and collected the money she was owed. Now that she had gotten everything off her chest, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with Old Man Qiao anymore.
So what if he wanted to drive her away?
She had experienced much worse in her previous life.
She didn’t care about the Qiao family anymore, and their words couldn’t provoke her.
Wang Xiuying didn’t dare demand justice anymore either. She was afraid that if she kept talking and Qiao Nian lost her temper again, she would be the next one to get beaten.
Once her momentary courage faded, she immediately became timid.
She needed to hurry to the hospital.
She didn’t even dare call out to Qiao Nian. Instead, she hopped onto her bicycle and sped away as though a ghost were chasing her.
Qiao Nian looked at her in confusion twice, scratched her head, then leisurely rode her bicycle back to the Li family.
The moment she entered the living room, a pungent stench assaulted her nose.
Seeing someone return, Old Man Li, who was lying helplessly on the bed, let out a series of urgent groans and tried desperately to move toward her.
Qiao Nian knew immediately that he had soiled himself again.
She ignored him, covered her nose, walked into Li Dazhuan’s bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
Only then did she have time to look at the pendant in her hand.
The pendant was milky white overall, with a warm, smooth texture in her palm.
Sunlight streamed through the window, causing the tiny golden specks inside to shimmer more vividly. As time passed, their movement became faster and faster.
Qiao Nian felt her mind becoming increasingly hazy.
The pendant seemed to possess a strange attraction, drawing her in and making her want to sink deeper into it.
She didn’t sense any malice from it, so she slowly relaxed her body.
Gradually, the haze in her mind disappeared.
In its place came a clarity she had never experienced before.
A warm current slowly flowed from the top of her head all the way down to her toes, gently soothing her entire body.
She let out a long breath and felt as though her body was filled with strength.
“Ding! Welcome to the Wealth-Building System.”
Just then, a mechanical voice sounded inside her mind.
“Who?”
Qiao Nian jumped in fright, immediately leaping off the bed and looking around warily.
“Ahem. Host, there’s no need to worry. This system means you no harm.”
Qiao Nian was now certain.
There was no one hiding nearby and pretending to be supernatural.
The voice really was coming from inside her head.
She had already died once.
If there were things in this world that didn’t conform to common sense, perhaps they were simply another form of common sense.
Qiao Nian managed to calm herself down and asked,
“What exactly are you, and what can you do?”
“This system is a Wealth-Building System. The host can work hard to earn money, and everything can be purchased here.”
The mechanical voice sounded again.
A translucent screen suddenly appeared in front of Qiao Nian.
“Take a look, Host. Whether you want to become fairer and more beautiful, spiritual spring water and medicinal pills, or even a storage space, you can purchase them here.”
Following its instructions, Qiao Nian slowly swiped through the screen.
When she reached the end, she couldn’t help clicking her tongue.
Whatever this thing was, it was seriously expensive.
The so-called storage space it offered was only five square meters, yet the price was an outrageous 7,000 yuan.
It wasn’t even bigger than this room!
Li Dazhuan was already extremely greedy, and yet all they had found in the house was a little over 6,000 yuan.
Including the 1,000 yuan she had just extorted from Old Man Qiao, she had only 8,500 yuan in total.
And the system wanted her to spend 7,000 yuan on a storage space?
No way!
She hadn’t even had time to enjoy having her little fortune in her hands yet.
The system sensed her expression and continued trying to persuade her.
“Host, I strongly, strongly recommend purchasing the storage space. The space is connected to the host’s mental sea. No matter when or where you are, it will always be with you. It’s extremely convenient!”
Qiao Nian: She was a little tempted, but she still wasn’t buying it!
“I’m not buying it!”
Qiao Nian’s eyes rolled as she suddenly had an idea.
“If I refuse to spend any money at all, what will happen to you?”
The system froze.
It had bound so many hosts before, but it had never encountered one who was so reluctant to spend money.
It had traveled through three thousand small worlds, and its inventory contained the most complete and useful items imaginable!
Yet it could clearly see that this particular host was a genuine miser.
Feeling utterly frustrated, it asked,
“What exactly do you want?”
Qiao Nian spread her hands.
“Look at my circumstances. I’m poor! How about giving me a discount? If I buy more things, you won’t lose as much either, right?”
The system thought about it.
“How about ten percent off?”
“One percent.”
The system nearly crashed from anger.
It had dealt with so many hosts. Every single one of them had complained that it was greedy and exploitative.
But compared to Qiao Nian, it wasn’t even one ten-thousandth as ruthless.
Qiao Nian began painting a rosy picture for it.
“Think about it. Even stores offer huge opening discounts when they first open, right? They attract more customers that way. But you’re different. I’m your only customer. If I don’t buy anything, nobody else will either.”
“And if I find your products useful this time, once I become rich, I’ll spend lots and lots of money with you in the future.”
The system thought about it.
She had a point.
Normally, it wouldn’t be worried. If a host refused to cooperate, it could simply wait until the host naturally died, unbind itself, and wait for the next person destined to become its host.
But the current situation was special.
Its previous host had suddenly and inexplicably severed their connection abnormally. All its accumulated points had been frozen, and it currently didn’t have enough resources to find another host.
So the electronic voice finally sounded extremely aggrieved and frustrated.
“All right, then.”
Qiao Nian was stunned.
It actually worked?
Could this be some kind of unofficial, knockoff system?
Fortunately, the system couldn’t hear her thoughts.
If it could, it probably would have coughed up three liters of blood.
Qiao Nian might have thought that way, but as the saying went, refusing a bargain was foolish.
She didn’t know whether she would ever get such a good deal again.
She scrolled through the screen.
Four large red characters appeared at the top:
LIMITED-TIME DISCOUNT
The five-square-meter storage space was now only 700 yuan after the discount.
Buy it!
After clicking “Confirm Purchase,” Qiao Nian immediately felt the thick stack of ten-yuan bills in her pocket become noticeably thinner.
Then, a space suddenly appeared in her mind.
Following the system’s instructions, she merely thought about it, and the table in Li Dazhuan’s room instantly disappeared.
Qiao Nian slowly closed her eyes.
Sure enough, the table that had just disappeared was lying quietly inside the space.
Qiao Nian’s eyes lit up.
This really was a good thing!
The system continued tempting her.
“Host, click on ‘More Upgrades’ on the screen. This is currently the most basic version. After upgrading, you can store living creatures, preserve food and other items, and even enter the space yourself.”
Qiao Nian was tempted.
With her temper nowadays, she was afraid that if she casually beat someone up, she might end up being beaten to death herself.
She might as well buy herself some protection.
Now that she had finally vented her anger, she no longer thought that she should simply live each day as it came.
The limited-time discount was only available for one hour.
She rushed outside and quickly dug out the money she had hidden previously.
She didn’t even leave behind the twenty cents and ration coupons she had tucked away at the base of the wall.
Upgrade the space to allow living creatures and food preservation: 1,000 yuan after the discount.
Allow the host to freely enter the space herself: 2,000 yuan after the discount.
Qiao Nian continued scrolling.
Many sections were still grayed out and unavailable for purchase.
Then she came across the medicine section.
She browsed through it little by little.
Hmm?
Strength Pill?
After taking it, physical strength would increase by one hundred times, resistance to blows would increase by one hundred times, and speed would increase by one hundred times.
Short-term effect: 100 yuan
Permanent effect: 1,000 yuan
Qiao Nian’s spirits immediately lifted.
This Strength Pill was definitely a good thing!
She might be able to go crazy and fight without holding back, but if Li Dazhuan or Qiao Weiguo really went all out against her, she wasn’t necessarily strong enough to beat them.
Buy it!
She absolutely had to buy it!
And she had to buy the permanent version!