"System, can I exchange flour for rice at an equivalent rate?"
Tang Ning took stock of her current inventory. It was rare for her to take the initiative to speak to the system.
[Beep—Task 2: Make a man grieve for me. Task rewards include rice, eggs, and flour; the specific quantity will depend on the quality of the man.]
The Long Live Love System had suddenly issued a task. Tang Ning noticed that whenever she had a strong need for food, the system would follow up by issuing a task. But was making a man grieve for her really a part of "love"?
It was truly baffling. Life was wonderful, there were so many interesting things to do, and every day was an opportunity to strive for better—why make such a fuss over these petty, boring emotions?
Still, as she had thought before, if it could be exchanged for food, she would do it. Besides, it wasn’t as if she were the one suffering.
"As the task level increases, will the task rewards get better?"
Perhaps there would be higher-quality food options in the future? Tang Ning carefully analyzed the information the system had provided, noting that the rewards seemed to be backwards compatible.
"Yes. You performed quite well in the first phase of the task, host, and had a successful start. I believe you will continue to strive for excellence in this phase! Good luck!"
"The broad categories are determined by you, meaning they can't be changed, but can I make choices within the subcategories? For instance, with rice, can I choose Northeast rice or Zhejiang rice?"
"Basic commodities cannot be selected."
"Oh, I see. So more refined goods—like meat, milk, or fruit that might appear in the next phase—will be selectable, right? Got it, got it."
Long Live Love System: ...
*Shock!*
How did the host know everything? She had even guessed the rewards for the next phase with startling accuracy... The system was certain it hadn’t leaked any information.
Before the system could respond, Tang Ning heard voices outside her shack. They sounded strangely familiar.
She walked out and saw Li Guilan and Zhu Dani wailing and tearing up, and more remarkably, the two of them were flanking Zhu Goudan, who was bound with rope.
What kind of play was this? A "bearing the rod to ask for punishment" routine?
The trio made no attempt to hide. They had dragged the trussed-up Zhu Goudan all the way from the village, naturally attracting a crowd of onlookers. This time, having learned their lesson from last time, the villagers didn't dare get too close; instead, they stood by the roadside in twos and threes, hugging their arms.
"Daniu, I, Li Guilan, have wronged you. I shouldn't have tied you up, and I shouldn't have hit you."
Before Li Guilan could really get into character, Tang Ning interrupted her.
"My name is not Daniu." Tang Ning’s face was cold.
"...Tang Ning," Li Guilan stammered. "I gave birth to a foolish son and should have accepted my lot. I am the one at fault; I shouldn't have tried to ruin a good girl's life!"
She sobbed heartrendingly and fell to her knees with a loud thud, pulling Zhu Dani and Zhu Goudan down with her.
"If you have anger in your heart, come and hit me. Goudan is a fool; he doesn't know any better. I’ve brought him here tied up today—you can beat him all you want. As long as you can let out this frustration, just let us off the hook!"
Zhu Goudan, bound by his mother and sister, kept writhing and howling.
The family of three looked truly pathetic, enough to make even the villagers who usually despised them feel a twinge of pity. In contrast, Tang Ning watched with a stony expression, her cold, indifferent gaze making them feel as if they were nothing more than rocks.
The villagers' sympathies began to shift. Whoever was the weakest seemed to be in the right. Besides, in their eyes, no matter how great the offense had been, the woman was already kneeling and begging for forgiveness—how could Tang Ning still be so unrelenting? Was she trying to force them to their deaths?
Li Guilan sensed the change in the atmosphere. Seeing Tang Ning unmoved, she began kowtowing against the ground.
"I’ve lived all these years in vain," she wailed. "I’m kowtowing to you! Tang Ning, have mercy on us, please, let us go!"
Zhu Dani thought this should be enough, but the young girl standing there, thin and gaunt, had eyes so dark they were unsettling. It was as if she could see right through people, colder and harder than the ice and snow beneath her knees.
"Tang Ning, say something. Whatever you want, or whatever you need us to do—I, Zhu Dani, will give you everything we have if that’s what it takes to satisfy you. Will that do?"
As she spoke, she crawled forward on her knees, trying to grab Tang Ning, but Tang Ning dodged aside, leaving her clutching at empty air.
Zhu Dani had seen many types of people in the city, but she had never encountered someone like Tang Ning. She couldn't help but resent her mother—of all the people to pick, why had she chosen such a woman for Goudan?
"A person can only be killed once. Say something, Tang Ning! Don't be so insulting!"
Zhu Dani was losing her temper now. She looked at the villagers, sensing that they were on her side. She spotted Zhu Fugui in the crowd and quickly shouted, "Uncle Fugui, say something fair! We were in the wrong, but does a person have to be nailed to a cross forever just for making a mistake? Tang Ning is clearly holding a grudge against our family—how are we supposed to go on living like this?"
Zhu Fugui took a drag of his cigarette, his brow knitted tight. He looked up at the sky and cursed Zhu Dani for having sharp eyes; he had been trying to slip away unnoticed.
"Oh my, looks like it might rain. I haven't brought in my quilts from the yard yet."
With that, he hurried away. He wasn't stupid; he hadn't suffered enough at Tang Ning's hands yet, and he wanted nothing to do with this.
The villagers were speechless. Who would be drying quilts on the second day of the Lunar New Year? And the sky was perfectly clear. Many of them realized what Zhu Fugui was implying, and no one else stepped forward, all waiting to see how Tang Ning would deal with the three of them.
Tang Ning listened to it all with a wooden expression and returned to her room. Just as the crowd was waiting with bated breath, she came back out with a wicker basket on her back, walking right past the family without a glance. She even locked the door to her shack.
"Where are you going?" Li Guilan asked, forgetting to weep.
"Asking me?" Tang Ning finally spoke. "I'm going up the mountain to gather firewood. I have plenty to do; I can't just stand around."
"So... so you're just going to ignore us? Tang Ning, there are three people kneeling right in front of you!" Zhu Dani was furious. She finally understood why her mother hadn't wanted to come here. This stubborn girl was heartless and thick-skinned!
"If you want to kneel, that's your business. What does that have to do with me?"
Tang Ning glanced at them indifferently. "You come here 'bearing the rod,' acting weak and begging for mercy, hoping to use everyone’s sympathy to force me to forgive your crimes so you can get Zhu Changling’s sentence reduced, right?"
She scanned the onlookers, seeing that many of them were already starting to catch on.
"And you, Zhu Dani—why are you in such a hurry, kneeling and begging until you’ve lost all shame? Could it be that it’s been exposed that you paid to buy a wife for your idiot brother, and you can no longer stay in your husband’s home?"
The faces of Zhu Dani and Li Guilan turned ashen, and the villagers suddenly realized the truth.