Sun Peng counts, too!
Tang Ning never expected that her impulsive test of the mission would yield such a result.
Suddenly a bit happy, she even forgot to chew her steamed bun.
As soon as Lin Shengwen came out, he saw the young woman in the thick padded cotton jacket smiling stupidly at the two buns, feeling both amused and somewhat heartbroken.
Sun Peng had already told him: seeing the poor young girl with nothing warm in her belly on such a freezing day, he had gone across the street to buy her some buns. Little did they know, this girl wasn't just pitiful—she was utterly foolish!
"Why are you just standing out here in the cold? You didn't even know to go inside and sit down."
Lin Shengwen strode over and gently patted her head.
Tang Ning looked up, the smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth. To his surprise, Lin Shengwen noticed that after not seeing her for a while, the girl had actually grown a bit fairer, and the fierce, resolute edge between her brows was gone. Now she actually looked a bit more like a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl.
Lin Shengwen noticed Tang Ning wasn't following him.
He turned back to look at her and saw the girl taking a large bite of her bun, her two distinct black-and-white eyes looking at him full of longing.
"Brother Lin, these buns are so delicious. I've never eaten anything so good in my life."
What a thing to say...
Remembering Sun Peng's smug expression, Lin Shengwen was in no rush to return to the office. "Wait here for me," he said, turning on his heel and heading to the state-run restaurant across the street, where he bought two large buns just like the previous ones.
He wrapped them in paper and handed them to her.
"Here, if you can't finish them now, save them for tonight."
It was freezing anyway, so the food wouldn't spoil.
[Ding!]
[Your task reward has arrived!]
Tang Ning's back basket suddenly grew heavier, sinking down slightly. Fearing Lin Shengwen would notice something was amiss, she quickly took a step back.
"What's wrong?"
"Thank you, Brother Lin. You are all so good to me. Oof, it is freezing today."
"Well, what are you standing there for? Let's go!"
Tang Ning's back basket was covered with dried grass. Logically speaking, a few pounds of flour shouldn't look suspicious, but Tang Ning still felt something was off.
Ever since Lin Shengwen bought her those buns, her basket was much heavier than it had been when Sun Peng gave her food.
What was going on here? According to the logic of that Long Live Love System, did this mean Lin Shengwen's "quality" rating was higher than Sun Peng's, so doing the exact same thing yielded different rewards?
It was so easy to give herself away like this. If only she had a storage Space—
[Ding. Storage Space activated.]
??!
So it had been there all along; she just hadn't triggered it.
Yet the Long Live Love System hadn't mentioned it at all. It seemed the system still held a grudge against her!
It had to use her, but it still wanted to make things slightly inconvenient for her in the details. What a petty system.
"Put all the flour from the back basket inside."
Tang Ning didn't have time to think. They had already reached the office, and as Lin Shengwen reached out to take her basket, she muttered the command directly in her mind.
She took off the basket and handed it over calmly. The moment their hands met, the basket suddenly felt light.
Tang Ning let out a secret sigh of relief, and information about the storage Space automatically surfaced in her mind.
[Flour: 11 KG]
6 KG!
If she had gained 1,000g from Sun Peng, then she had gained 10,000g from Lin Shengwen—ten times as much!
Realizing this, Tang Ning checked the storage Space again and saw it was divided into individual grids.
"Come sit by the stove and warm up. Didn't you just say you were cold?"
Lin Shengwen brought her a small stool and poured her a cup of hot water.
"Okay."
Tang Ning pulled her thoughts back; she could study it more when she got home. Lin Shengwen was a criminal investigator, so multi-tasking in front of him wasn't a great idea.
Lin Shengwen and Sun Peng asked about her life in Zhu Family Village, inquired about the situation in the village, and told her to come to them immediately if she ran into any trouble.
By the time Tang Ning left the Public Security Bureau, dusk was falling.
She wasn't in a hurry to go back; she just wandered along the streets, her eyes scanning the small alleys.
Sure enough, before long, someone sidled up to her and asked, "Sister, looking to buy something?"
"What do you have?" Tang Ning instantly perked up.
A tall, thin young man with his hands tucked into his sleeves sniffled and said, "Walk ahead, take a second left into the alley."
After Tang Ning walked away, he looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then followed after her.
When he arrived—good grief, where did this girl come from, and how was she so capable?
It wasn't that he was inexperienced, but Tang Ning's back basket was already packed to the brim. One look and anyone could tell it was their kind of goods!
Tang Ning produced ten pounds of premium white flour—top-tier goods simply unavailable on the open market. The packaging from the system bore zero information, and on top of that, Tang Ning had cash.
Fine white flour was rare in this day and age. Families who were slightly better off wanted to give their elders and children something nice to eat, but couldn't find a way. Tang Ning's purchasing power with her premium flour was still quite strong.
Eggs, vermicelli, sweet potatoes, potatoes... she traded for everything she could.
There was even a bag of dried wild mushrooms; those things made stewed meat smell amazing. Tang Ning's mind wandered to those extravagant recipes.
"Sister, I won't ask where you got your fine flour. Next time you want to trade for things, go straight to the quadrangle at the east end of the county, knock on the door, and ask for Old Fourth Liu."
"Got it."
Tang Ning returned fully loaded. She split the vermicelli into three portions, kept her own share, left the other two portions at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau, shouted out, and ran off.
When Sun Peng came out, all he saw was her braided pigtails flying behind her. "She sure runs fast."
He picked up the vermicelli and took it back to show Lin Shengwen.
"She even divided it for us. This little Tang really is an honest girl."
Well, this worked out. His wife had been fretting about making dumplings but didn't know what filling to use; they only had a tiny bit of pork, and if they cut up too much cabbage and radish, it wouldn't even taste like meat. This vermicelli had arrived just in time.
At this thought, he glanced at Lin Shengwen. Remembering that this bachelor was all alone in Daxing County, he offered a polite courtesy:
"Brother Lin, you probably don't know how to cook this vermicelli by yourself. Why don't I just take it all back with me, and you can come over to my place for dumplings on New Year's Eve?"
"Alright."
Lin Shengwen didn't even bother with polite refusals; he agreed directly.
This left Sun Peng feeling a bit depressed, but since the words were already out of his mouth, there was no taking them back.
In this day and age, what sensible person goes to someone else's house for New Year's dinner, especially during the New Year? Fearing his wife would pull his ears, Sun Peng began plotting how to explain it.
While Sun Peng was still inwardly guessing how much food a grown man like Lin Shengwen could eat in one sitting, Lin Shengwen put on his hat and headed out.
"Hey, where are you going, Brother Lin? It's about to get dark," Sun Peng asked.
"Going to the supply and marketing cooperative. It should still be open."
Lin Shengwen felt a bit unsettled inside. The poor girl had been abandoned by everyone and was desperately struggling to keep her life afloat—it must have been unimaginably difficult.
She had accepted a few buns from them, yet still thought of returning the kindness.
Even though it was just a few pounds of vermicelli, Lin Shengwen felt its heavy weight, knowing how much thought and effort she must have put into getting it.
The New Year was almost here, so he might as well go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things and send them to little Tang as a New Year's gift in the name of the Public Security Bureau.