5: Chapter 5 Affection System? Seriously?!

The next day, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

The thick fog in the 666th Menial District had not yet dispersed, and the air was permeated with a bone-chilling damp cold.

"Bang!" With a dull thud, Qin Feng, along with his tattered bundle, was kicked violently out of the courtyard gate.

"Get lost right now! Just looking at a freeloader like you brings me bad luck!"

Ji Boxiao stood on the threshold, holding a wooden stick, his face full of disgust and rage. He pointed at Qin Feng's nose and cursed, "If you ever dare to step foot into my courtyard again, I'll break your dog legs!"

Qin Feng sat in the muddy water, staring coldly at the man who had occupied his parents' inheritance for fifteen years.

He did not argue, because in a place where fists ruled, the life of a low-tier Menial Laborer was worth less than a blade of grass.

One had to understand that in this place, there was the concept of Cultivate. Being a Middle-tier Servant wasn't just a status; it was a testament to one's own strength.

Gritting his teeth, Qin Feng silently grabbed his bundle from the ground and climbed to his feet.

Just as Ji Boxiao turned to go inside and grab a broom, a plump figure quickly slipped over to the courtyard gate.

Wu Mengmeng cast a vigilant glance at the house, then quickly grabbed Qin Feng's sleeve and pressed a few copper coins, still warm from her body heat, into his palm.

"Sister-in-law, this..." Qin Feng was stunned.

"Shh, keep your voice down!"

Wu Mengmeng lowered her voice, her eyes swimming with a mixture of heartache and reluctance as she whispered, "The Shed No. 10086 area is freezing cold. Take this money, and after you finish registering at the Management Hall, remember to buy yourself a quilt. Don't get sick from the cold..."

Qin Feng gripped the five slightly rough servant coins, a complicated emotion rising in his heart.

"Sister-in-law, thank you."

"What are you thanking me for, you little ingrate?" Wu Mengmeng took the opportunity to pinch the back of his hand lightly, then cast a seductive glance at him. "Remember to get your living quarters settled. When I have some free time, I'll sneak over to see you."

Having said that, before Qin Feng could recover, Wu Mengmeng swayed her slender waist and hurried back into the courtyard.

Qin Feng took a deep breath of the cold morning air, tucked the five servant coins close to his body, and turned to head toward the Management Hall of the Servant District 666.

The Management Hall was located in the center of the district and was the place where all Menial Laborers were assigned tasks, paid taxes, and received their living quarters.

By the time Qin Feng arrived, a long line had already formed outside.

Looking around, they were all sallow and emaciated low-tier Menial Laborers with numb expressions, and the air was filled with a sense of desperate Death Qi.

After queuing for a full hour, it was finally Qin Feng's turn.

"Name, which sector were you originally from? What did you do to get kicked out?" The deacon in charge of registration didn't even look up, impatiently tapping the table with his pen.

"Qin Feng, originally under the Middle-tier Servant Ji Boxiao. I also need a quilt." Qin Feng immediately handed over the five servant coins and replied in a low voice, "I didn't do anything wrong, it's just..."

"Alright, alright. You wouldn't have been kicked out if you hadn't done anything wrong. You're just a piece of trash."

The deacon took the servant coins, made no move to get the quilt, and snorted coldly. He casually made a mark in the ledger and said, "Go to the Menial Laborer Shed Area, find an empty spot, and build your own shed. Remember to pay your tax of 50 servant coins on time next month. If you can't pay, you're going straight to the spirit mines."

Just as the deacon was about to toss a broken wooden placard to dismiss Qin Feng, a lazy and seductive voice suddenly came from the inner hall of the Management Hall.

"Oh? I was wondering who it was. Turns out it's the handsome young man who wanted to buy medicine last night."

The entire room fell into instant silence. Everyone instinctively shrank their necks, not even daring to breathe loudly.

A pair of snow-white, jade-like hands parted the beaded curtain of the inner hall, and Yang Liu, draped in a fiery red fox fur coat, walked out with a bewitching gait.

Even with just these few simple steps, her snake-like waist and the subtly revealed, provocative allure caused the breathing of every male present to hitch.

Yet, no one present dared to lift their heads to look at her more than once. After all, this was Steward Wang's legitimate wife.

"Ma... Madam!" The Disciple in charge of registration trembled all over, quickly stood up, and bowed repeatedly.

Qin Feng's heart also skipped a beat, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. The thrill of last night flooded back into his mind.

Yang Liu ignored the deacon and walked straight to Qin Feng. A rich, rose-scented fragrance immediately wafted into his nose.

"What's the matter? Kicked out by your master?" Yang Liu's voice wasn't loud, but it was soft enough to melt one's bones.

"Yes... This one is incompetent." Qin Feng lowered his head, not daring to meet her eyes.

"You are quite pitiful."

Yang Liu chuckled, then suddenly turned to look at the Disciple in charge of registration, her tone instantly turning cold. "Why didn't you give him the things? And aren't there still Menial Laborer sheds? Why didn't you assign one to him? Are you saving them to bury yourself in?!"

"I, I misremembered. Please calm your anger, Madam."

The deacon didn't dare to talk back, quickly digging out a brand-new wooden placard from the bottom of the drawer and handing it over with both hands. Yang Liu took the placard and casually grabbed a thick, new cotton quilt from the supply shelf nearby, stuffing it along with the placard into Qin Feng's arms.

"Take it. Your new residence is No. 10086."

After saying this, she took a half-step back, smiled seductively, and turned to leave, swaying gracefully.

She left behind dozens of Menial Laborers staring at Qin Feng, dumbfounded, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and the horror one might reserve for a dead man.

To be treated so favorably by the steward's wife—if Steward Wang were to be unhappy about it, it would surely be a death sentence!

Qin Feng also knew the stakes. Clutching the heavy cotton quilt and the wooden placard, his scalp tingling, he hurriedly fled the Management Hall area.

The Menial Laborer Shed Area, as the name suggests, was just a refugee camp. There were sewage pits everywhere, and the air was filled with the foul stench of decay.

Following the instructions on the wooden placard, Qin Feng walked for a long time before finally finding Shed No. 10086 near the edge of the Luanzang Mountain Range.

The shed wasn't really a shed in the traditional sense; although it leaked light and wind, it was, all in all, a small thatched cottage.

Qin Feng walked inside and laid the new cotton quilt, which emitted a faint scent of powder, onto the withered grass in the corner.

"Gurgle—" A deafening sound of protest came from his stomach. He hadn't eaten anything for an entire day and night. Last night, because of Ji Boxiao's rage, he hadn't even managed to scrounge up any leftovers.

Hungry. So hungry he felt dizzy, his vision blurring with golden stars. If he had servant coins, he could go to the trading house to exchange them for food, but the problem was he had none left. However, the cost of the quilt was necessary, because the temperature difference between day and night here was unpredictable; many Menial Laborers didn't starve to death, but froze to death.

"No, I cannot sit here and wait for death." Qin Feng walked out of the shed and cast his gaze toward the dark, deep forest less than two miles away from the shed area: the Luanzang Mountain Range.

That was where the entire Servant District dumped discarded corpses, but because no one dared to venture deep inside for years, the outskirts were home to many wild rabbits, pheasants, and other game.

Although there might be Yao Beasts or poisonous insects hidden inside, to survive, he had to try his luck. With his mind made up, Qin Feng picked up a sharpened piece of dead wood outside the shed for self-defense and plunged into the outer forest of the Luanzang Mountain Range.

The light in the forest was dim, the trees towered into the sky, and the layer of leaf humus underfoot felt soft and mushy, emitting a nauseating smell of miasma.

Like an experienced hunter, Qin Feng held his breath and cautiously wove through the bushes. After searching for nearly half an hour, he had found nothing. Just as he was feeling lightheaded from hunger, a sudden "rustling" sound came from the waist-high cogon grass ahead.

Suddenly, Qin Feng's eyes lit up... There was movement!

Judging by the sound, it wasn't small. Could it be a plump little wild boar?

He swallowed his saliva, gripped the wooden stick in his hand, hunched his waist, and lightened his steps, inching closer to the grass.

Ten steps... Five steps... Three steps... Qin Feng suddenly parted the dense grass, raised the wooden stick, and was just about to strike down when his entire body froze in place, as if struck by lightning.

Behind the grass, it wasn't any game at all! A woman with an extremely provocative figure was half-crouched on the ground. Her linen skirt was hiked up to her waist, appearing particularly eye-catching in the dark forest.

Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze in that instant.

"Ah—!" The woman let out a short, delicate cry, her face pale with fright. She immediately covered her mouth, her exquisite and bewitching face instantly turning crimson with shame, as if it could drip water. Her watery eyes were filled with shame, anger, and panic.

Bai Yuhe?! Qin Feng recognized her at a glance. In the 666th Menial District, Bai Yuhe was quite a famous beauty. She had a natural, fox-like allure, especially the tiny tear mole at the corner of her eye, which was incredibly captivating.

"Lit... Little Menial Laborer, could you please turn around first?" Bai Yuhe bit her red lips tightly, her voice trembling with a hint of pleading.

"I, I'm sorry! I thought it was a wild rabbit..." Qin Feng's heart raced wildly. He hurriedly turned around, facing away from her, feeling his face burning hot.

Behind him came the rustling sound of clothes being adjusted. The two had met awkwardly in the middle of the wilderness, and the surrounding atmosphere became extremely subtle.

Just as Qin Feng was pondering how to explain himself, "Damn it, who is that brat?!" A rough, angry roar filled with intense killing intent rang out like a thunderclap on the edge of the forest.

Qin Feng was shocked and whipped his head around. Behind a tree not far away, a lean man with a scar on his face was brandishing a gleaming machete, charging over while cursing. The man's name was Chen Xiaodao, a well-known ruthless character, and also Bai Yuhe's man!

"You son of a bitch, you low-tier Menial Laborer scum, how dare you peek at my woman?!" Chen Xiaodao's rage surged, the veins on his forehead bulging. He suddenly raised his machete and slashed toward Qin Feng's head. "I'm going to chop you up and feed you to the dogs today!"

The machete whistled through the air, flashing with a cold glint. Every hair on Qin Feng's body stood on end, and he instinctively raised the sharpened wooden stick in his hand to block. But he knew clearly in his heart that in the world of Cultivate, every step was a ladder; with his weak body as a low-tier Menial Laborer who hadn't eaten for two days, he couldn't possibly block Chen Xiaodao's furious strike.

At the critical moment, a soft, slender hand suddenly reached out and grabbed onto the arm Chen Xiaodao was using to hold the knife.

"Xiaodao, don't be impulsive!" By now, Bai Yuhe had adjusted her clothes. She pulled tightly on her man, her tone gentle yet carrying a hint of unquestionable calmness. "It's fine, he just happened to pass by and saw nothing. If you hurt someone recklessly and attract people from the Management Hall, we'll both be in trouble. Let's go."

"Bullshit, this little piece of trash was clearly crouching here to peek!" Chen Xiaodao struggled violently, but hindered by Bai Yuhe's pulling, he didn't force the strike down.

"I already told you he didn't see anything. Don't you even believe my words anymore?" Water mist welled up in Bai Yuhe's eyes, and she bit her lip, looking aggrieved.

Once Chen Xiaodao saw his woman like this, half his rage was instantly extinguished. He glared viciously at Qin Feng and spat on the ground.

"Consider yourself lucky today, kid. If I catch you again, I'll gouge out your dog eyes!" With that, Chen Xiaodao wrapped his arm around Bai Yuhe's waist, turned around, and walked out of the forest, cursing.

Qin Feng clutched a handful of cold sweat in his palm, the relief of surviving a disaster causing him to gasp for breath. Just as Bai Yuhe was being led away by Chen Xiaodao a few steps, she suddenly turned her head back quietly.

Through the dappled tree shadows, Bai Yuhe looked at Qin Feng, who was still standing there stunned. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and she blossomed a smile at him that was extremely bewitching and meaningful. That look—three parts shy, seven parts fox-like—seemed to have a little hook that pierced straight into the man's heart.

And in the very instant she turned back and smiled bewitchingly... "Hum—" A crisp and cold mechanical notification sound suddenly rang out in Qin Feng's mind without any warning.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for gaining the preliminary approval of three beauties. The Helping-Others Favorability System is at your service!]

[The host can gain favorability with beauties by helping others, thereby obtaining rewards.]

What?! Qin Feng's eyes widened, his whole body standing there in disbelief, as if struck by a immobilization spell. A System?!

Eighteen years of Transmigration, eighteen years of pent-up frustration, and now it tells me I have a System??? Qin Feng had already prepared himself for a Mortal path, but then this comes... Hehe~

Before he could recover from his wild joy, the wonderful voice in his mind rang out again in succession.

[System activation successful. Newbie reward issued: one bottle of 'Ripening Water'. The host can use this spirit liquid to plant crops; one bottle increases the growth cycle by 30 years.]

[Reward has been issued to the System space. Please use it as you wish.] [Happy to serve you. See you next time!]

As the notification sound faded, Qin Feng moved his thoughts slightly and felt his palm sink. When he instinctively opened his hands, he saw a crystal-clear, emerald-green little jade bottle emitting a faint fluorescent glow, appearing right in his palm!