Chapter 43: Taking on an Underling

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Taking on an Underling

Soon, Shi Zhile received a private message from "Old Man Le."

[Old Man Le: Boss, can we trade?]

Shi Zhile replied, [Sure, we’ll use a contract.]

She was halfway through writing the contract when another message popped up from him before she could send it.

[Old Man Le: Uh, I have to be upfront about this. My luck is really, really, really terrible. The chest you get might be empty, or it could have poisonous plants or animals inside. But I can guarantee it’s never been opened. With that said, do you still want to trade?]

He sent an emoji of two index fingers poking together. It was a little childish, and somehow, a little sad.

[Contentment Brings Happiness: Deal!]

’Bad luck for him doesn’t necessarily mean bad luck for me.’

’She had the Wish Drifting Bottle, and she still hadn’t made her wish for the day.’

Seeing her reply, he immediately sent over the trade agreement.

After carefully reviewing the agreement and confirming there were no issues, she signed it and sent over the instant noodles.

He claimed the noodles instantly and sent the treasure chest over just as fast.

After she claimed the treasure chest, many players in the chat channel started accusing "Old Man Le" of being a shill she’d hired. Shi Zhile responded by directly posting a screenshot of the completed transaction.

’She normally didn’t care what people said, but she couldn’t let this get in the way of acquiring more supplies.’

’After all, there were plenty of rich suckers out there.’

[Big Plane: Contentment Brings Happiness is just a profiteer, making money off this disaster! Don’t let her fool you, everyone. A single treasure chest can contain tons of supplies—you might even get ten packs of instant noodles from one!]

He was deliberately exaggerating, trying to stop Shi Zhile from getting her hands on any more treasure chests.

Unfortunately for him, the louder he shouted, the faster he was about to be proven wrong.

In the chat channel, Old Man Le uploaded a video.

The video showed a steaming bowl of instant noodles in the foreground. In the background, a man was huddled under a blanket, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Thank you so much, Boss. This is the first time I’ve eaten anything with broth since this game started.

SOB... You guys have no idea. I’m fucking stuck with the Sweeping Star System! Any chest I open is either empty or full of poisonous crap. Nobody dared to trade with me.

The Boss is a good person! I told her it might be an empty chest, and she still traded with me. SOB... SOB... SOB..."

The video cut off abruptly.

A moment later, another video appeared.

In this one, the man was hunched over, slurping his noodles. The way he ate made that single pack of instant noodles look like a gourmet feast.

Forget the players who had been craving food for ages; even Shi Zhile, who had just eaten her fill, felt her mouth water after watching the video.

Big Plane didn’t believe a word of it and started a group voice call directly in the chat.

The master system, probably wanting to watch the show, silently forced Shi Zhile into the call.

To divert everyone’s attention, Shi Zhile chose to open the treasure chest she had just traded for, right then and there.

[Do you wish to open the treasure chest?]

"Yes!"

The chest opened, and a flash of green caught her eye. A green snake with a round, dopey-looking head poked out, baring its fangs.

It was trying to look as ferocious as it possibly could.

A chorus of "Holy shit!" startled Shi Zhile. She looked up and realized a video chat window had opened on her panel at some point.

She closed the video with a blank expression, only looking back at the green snake after making sure it wouldn’t pop up again.

"XiaoQing?"

"HISS~"

XiaoQing was much bigger than before. If its head had been the size of a clementine before, it was now the size of a large orange.

Combined with its bright colors, it was easy to mistake it for a bamboo pit viper if you weren’t paying close attention.

’Just as she expected, everyone in the chat was mocking her.’

[Big Plane: HAHAHAHA, she wasted a pack of instant noodles on a bamboo pit viper! If that thing bites her, she’s as good as dead. Go, viper, go! Bite her! Kill her!]

[Du Heng: Am I the only one who noticed what Old Man Le said? He said he’s bound to the Sweeping Star System, and now Contentment Brings Happiness opens a poisonous snake. Doesn’t that prove he’s seriously jinxed?]

[Anonymous: Since Contentment Brings Happiness traded with him, could she have taken on his bad luck?]

[Jian Cang: Who cares? He might be unlucky, but his supplies aren’t. Her other stuff is definitely fine. She has plenty of resources, and I’m still going to trade with her.]

Meanwhile, Shi Zhile was already happily playing with XiaoQing.

’She thought she might never see it again. She never expected the system to be so awesome and just airdrop it to her like that.’

’How was Old Man Le’s chest unlucky? It was obviously blessed with good luck.’

Thinking about the Sweeping Star System he’d mentioned, Shi Zhile mentally prodded her own system, which had been silent for a while.

"Tong’er, are there other systems besides you in this game?"

[There might be. An Advanced System can perceive the existence of others. As long as you have come into contact with them, I can sense them.]

"Wow, you’re that amazing!"

[Indeed! Jiang Yuxing, with whom you’ve had contact, has energy fluctuations around him. Do you remember fainting when you killed the giant python? That power saved you before I had a chance to intervene.]

[However, this type of energy fluctuation is not from a system’s power. It seems to be... high-tech?]

The system wasn’t entirely sure either.

Shi Zhile grew thoughtful. ’It seems Jiang Yuxing has more and more secrets,’ she mused.

"Can these energy fluctuations have malicious or benevolent intent?"

[They can! His is benevolent.]

"Wow, you’re amazing! You even know that!"

[...]

"Today’s wish: a blessing of good luck."

A golden light flashed past, and Shi Zhile knew her wish had been granted.

She found Old Man Le again and was even more direct this time, immediately starting a video call.

"Old Man Le, I’ll take all the treasure chests you have. I’ll trade you eggs and green vegetables for them."

’She could trade the chickens themselves for meat, but they were laying eggs now, and she couldn’t bear to part with them.’

"A-All of them? Boss, I don’t want to rip you off. You saw it yourself, the Sweeping Star System is a real jinx."

Shi Zhile waved her hand dismissively. "I get a kick out of a good challenge when I’m bored. I’ll take as many as you’ve got."

The man’s eyes lit up. "I have thirty-nine right now. My luck is weird—good and bad at the same time. I keep finding chests one after another, but they’re always full of poison or just empty. Boss, you really want them all?"

Shi Zhile nodded. "All of them. For a total of fifteen eggs and five pounds of green vegetables. I’ll give you the eggs in batches, but you’ll get the vegetables all at once. The price is non-negotiable."

"Yes, yes, absolutely!"

He thought the Boss would just fob him off with a couple of packs of instant noodles. He never imagined he’d be getting such rare items in return.

Eggs were a good source of protein. They might be small, but for players sick of eating fish and shrimp, they were the best thing imaginable.

Green vegetables were rich in vitamins. Going without them for too long could affect blood clotting, cause osteoporosis, or, in more severe cases, even lead to scurvy.

If he advertised them properly, he’d have no trouble selling the eggs and vegetables.

’The Boss must be helping me because she feels sorry for me.’

He was deeply moved. "Boss, from now on, you’re my leader. If you tell me to go east, I won’t go west. If you tell me to beat a dog, I’ll never chase a chicken. From this day forward, I, Wang Dacheng, am your man."

Shi Zhile was speechless. "..."

"I’m serious, Boss! I know you’re helping me out of the goodness of your heart, and I, Wang Dacheng, am not one to forget a kindness. I’ll prove it with my actions."

He raised a chipped porcelain bowl. "Boss, it’s all in the tea."

Shi Zhile hung up the video call.