What Shuqi did not know was that while she was confronting Wang Erya, a woman dressed in cyan arrived at her home. The woman had an ethereal appearance, her face half-hidden behind a light veil. From afar, she exuded a refined and noble air. She stood alone in front of the thatched cottage and politely knocked on the door.
After waiting for a long time without anyone opening the door, the woman could not help muttering softly to herself, "Did I find the wrong place? That makes no sense. I followed the navigation prompts—could the map be broken? Damn it."
After giving herself a pep talk for quite a while, the woman finally decided to go inside and take a look.
She pressed her palms together and chanted, "Offense taken, press one. Heaven, please forgive me." Then she strode openly and swaggeringly into the courtyard. She thoroughly inspected almost the entire thatched cottage. There were indeed traces of a little girl living inside, and judging by the quality of the daily necessities, she must have not found the wrong person. Thinking of this, she patted her chest with a look of extreme relief. She certainly did not want to break into a private residence either.
Meanwhile, Shuqi was truly at a loss for words. Did she look like someone who was that easy to bully? Why was there always someone making trouble for her for no reason?
Seeing Wang Erya exasperated and looking as if she wanted to tear her to pieces, Shuqi helplessly closed her eyes. It seemed she had overestimated their intelligence; they truly had not realized how formidable she was yet. She really did not want to make things hard for them. At seven or eight years old, Shuqi knew that a little girl like Wang Erya probably did not have an easy life at home either. Even so, why did she harbor such deep hostility?
Shuqi took two steps back, lowered her head to clear her throat, and then said in a milky, childish voice, "It hurts a lot, doesn't it? I think it hurts a lot too. Don't do bad things anymore, okay?"
With that, she turned, picked up her tools, and started to leave. After walking a few steps, as if remembering something, she turned back to look at the other girl, tilted her head, and said, "Oh right, I've heard people say it's because my destiny is ill-fated. You tell me, isn't it true that bad things happen to anyone who gets close to me? My Granny told me not to talk to strangers because bad things happen easily, and I suppose we're strangers now." Having said that, she flashed the other girl a sweet smile, paid no more mind to the child who was already fuming with rage, and walked off on her own toward the mountains.
She was afraid that staying any longer would make her stupid. It was just a bit of a pity about those mushrooms. She would just have to find another opportunity next time.
Shuqi had originally not intended to venture deep into the mountains, but now she had changed her mind. Following the greenery all the way, she did find quite a few good things. Since she was still too small and could not carry much, Shuqi only picked out the rarest ones. Fortunately, today Shuqi even managed to find some Migu.
Perhaps because she had found good things, her steps on the return journey were much lighter, and even the mountain breeze brushing past her ears felt much fresher.
Then...
A intense sensation of weightlessness struck her. When she regained consciousness, Shuqi found herself at the bottom of a deep pit. Her lower abdomen ached dully. She looked down and saw a sharpened bamboo stake impaled in her lower abdomen, bright red blood bubbling out continuously. She had fallen into a hunter's trap. Summoning whatever strength she had left, Shuqi cried out loudly for help. But after a long while, not a single figure appeared.
Shuqi's vision darkened, and a profound sense of grievance welled up in her heart. Was she really going to meet her end in this trap? Could the world really not tolerate even one more person living?
Yet she was unwilling—truly unwilling. She had not even grown up yet, and she had not yet figured out what had happened to Granny.
She shouted out again, "Help! Is anyone there to save me?" Her voice was nearly split from screaming, and her consciousness began to blur.
Just as Shuqi was about to give up, in a daze, she felt a flash of light. Opening her eyes again, she saw a woman in cyan appear before her, looking utterly depressed and resigned to her fate. The woman very roughly shoved a pill into her mouth. Then, with another flash, she vanished.
Shuqi felt something enter her mouth. Before she could even taste it, her body grew warm, and her hazy mind cleared up considerably. Was she saved? While she was filled with doubt, a cold, lazy voice sounded beside her ear: "I just gave you a Rejuvenation Pill. It's very expensive, so please remember to pay up."
Shuqi thought she must have run into some kind of unclean spirit. She did not answer the voice, only nodding blankly.
Seeing how blank and dull the unclean creature looked, the woman could not help rolling her eyes toward the heavens and made a decision to protect her own interests.
In the brief moment that Shuqi's mind wandered, a bizarre voice drilled into her mind.
"Hardwork King System, at your service. Would you like to bind?"
"???..." Shuqi would only turn six after the new year; she had no idea what this meant.
"Alright, system binding in progress, please wait..."
"???..." Shuqi indicated that she still did not understand.
"System 20% loaded... Please wait!"
Shuqi: "....."
"40% loaded..." She was practically being bound by force.
Shuqi did not know what a Hardwork King System was, but this loading speed was a bit ridiculous. Would this so-called system only finish loading after all the blood in her body had drained out? Fortunately, no.
After a long while, once the Hardwork King System had fully loaded, the system said in a weird tone, "I am the Hardwork King System, your life-saving savior system—non-human, but completely clean. Also, remember to pay for that Rejuvenation Pill..."
Alright, Shuqi understood. She had encountered the kind of golden finger mentioned in storybooks. It was just that, for now, this golden finger of hers seemed a bit different from the ones in other books; it appeared to be exceptionally fond of money.
"But I don't have any money." It was a bit awkward, but she really was broke.
Hardwork King System: "......." Silence was her night.
Getting a free ride was impossible. The Hardwork King System stated brooked no argument, "Therefore, I have bound myself to you. We are signing a contract. Starting today, you are going to work for me to pay off your debt."
Shuqi: "....." She suddenly felt that perhaps dying like that just now might not have been such a bad thing after all.