41: Once signed and sealed, there is no going back.
If I focus on accompanying the Empress to farm lottery tickets for a few years, I'll be able to live a peaceful retired life.
Speaking of which... I just pointed out another Cultivation error to the Empress, and she only thanked me once without giving any lottery tickets. That gratitude wasn't very sincere.
No, I have to find a way to earn it back.
Otherwise, the shift change is coming up soon. Once the watch changes and we rest, I won't have any more chances today.
Should I try to fleece her again?
How should I farm her favorability? Could it be because I gave too much today?
Regardless, I have to give it a try.
“Weiyu, you look so beautiful when you're focused on Cultivating.”
[Ding! Gained Xia Weiyu's favorability. lottery ticket +100.]
“Huh!”
The sudden comment caught Xia Weiyu off guard. She lost control of the water in her hands for a moment, and it splashed onto her pants, soaking through a large patch.
“What nonsense are you talking about!”
After shouting, Xia Weiyu realized her voice was too loud. She gave Su Chen a light punch as a form of retaliation.
“I'm telling the truth. Xia Weiyu, you really are beautiful.”
Silence. After a long while, no System notification rang out. Su Chen was a bit helpless.
As I thought, I can't exploit a bug. Once gained, it's hard to get it a second time.
It's fine; I'll try again in a couple of days.
It's just a few words, a guaranteed win-win situation. I can make the Empress happy and get lottery tickets.
lottery tickets: 4355.78
Lottery Wheel: Purple Quality
It's all about opportunities. I'm about to break the five-thousand mark. With a bit more effort, a ten-thousand-draw streak will be a piece of cake.
“I...”
Xia Weiyu lowered her head, feeling her face burning. Aside from her father and younger brother, this was the third man to tell her she was beautiful.
Oh! Did I just hit Su Chen? He won't be angry, will he?
What was I thinking? Su Chen complimented my looks, so why did I hit him for no reason?
Having done something wrong, she was suddenly at a loss. She wanted to apologize but didn't know how to start.
After hesitating for a long time, she couldn't find the right words; she was still too clumsy with her speech:
“I'm sorry.”
“What's wrong?”
“I was a bit out of it just now and accidentally hit you.”
“Oh.”
Su Chen wondered if that even counted as hitting. He raised his hand and tapped Xia Weiyu on the head:
“Now we're even.”
Xia Weiyu said no more. She raised her palm and drew the water that had soaked into her pants back out.
Although she wanted to practice a bit more before the watch changed, she decided to give it up upon further thought.
Her Spiritual Energy consumption was a bit high; if she continued practicing and an emergency occurred, she wouldn't be able to attack.
Suddenly, a blanket appeared over her, and she was pulled into Su Chen's embrace, leaving her a bit dazed.
She wanted to sit to the side, but perhaps because she was too tired, she had no strength in her body.
“Rest for a while if you're tired.”
“Mhm... okay.”
Lying in Su Chen's arms, the words Wang Xiaoting had said to her earlier flashed through her mind:
“Su Chen, I...”
After hesitating for a while, she still didn't dare to say it and could only change the subject:
“Our watch is about to end. It wouldn't be good if we were seen, right?”
“What are you afraid of? Look at those two.”
Seeing Wang Xiaoting hugging Yang Junlong like a koala hugging a tree, she realized that lying in Su Chen's arms wasn't that strange after all... As she rested against him, something was suddenly pressed into her hand. It was hard, and the moment she felt it, she became a bit embarrassed.
“Su Chen, this...”
“Don't you like it?
It's fine, just use it. No need to be polite with me. Absorb the Spirit Stones to recover; they're also good for Cultivation.
Your strength is too weak right now; you need to speed up and raise your Realm.”
As he spoke, Su Chen stuffed two more Spirit Stones into Xia Weiyu's hand:
“Use them. There's no need to be polite with me.”
“It's too much!”
Too much? But you've given me tens of thousands of Spirit Stones; how is giving you a few too much?
Seeing her trying to push them back, Su Chen refused and stuffed them back to her.
At the same time, he held her hand to stop any thought of her returning them.
“Su Chen, it's too much. If you lend me this many, your own Cultivation will be affected.”
Her hand was held, and although Su Chen spoke casually, she felt too embarrassed to use them.
She indeed needed Spirit Stones for Cultivation, but she also knew their value.
If one wanted to speed up their Realm progression, Spirit Stones were unavoidable. The fact that her strength still hadn't reached the First Rank after four months was largely due to the lack of Spirit Stone assistance.
The school only provided one as a subsidy per semester, and she had sold the only one she had at the start of the term to pay for hospital bills.
This caused her strength to fall behind even further. A single Spirit Stone had sold for ten thousand back then, so she knew how precious they were.
At her Realm, Spirit Stones were truly precious; if her strength didn't improve, completing missions would be very difficult.
Because of this, she hadn't refused the 3 Spirit Stones Su Chen lent her before, thinking she would pay him back double once her strength improved.
But with him lending to her again, she really couldn't bring herself to take more.
“No, it will affect your Cultivation.”
“It's fine. I earned these by doing missions, and I have plenty of Spirit Stones to spare, otherwise I wouldn't be lending them out.
I'm not giving them to you; I'm lending them. You have to pay me back.
When your strength reaches the First or Second Rank and you start doing Class C or Class B missions, then you can pay me back.”
[Ding! Gained Xia Weiyu's favorability. lottery ticket +100.]
Alright, you've already paid me back enough. If you don't take them this time, I, Su Chen, will be the first to object!
With the lottery tickets the Empress gives me for free every day, do these few Spirit Stones even deserve to be called Spirit Stones?
I wouldn't even pick them up if they fell on the ground.
I could easily give Xia Weiyu ten thousand stones, but she wouldn't be able to use that many, and lending so much for no reason would inevitably make her suspicious.
It's better to give them little by little—lend them as she uses them up. Plus, there's a chance of getting high lottery ticket rewards in return.
Why wouldn't I do it?
Hearing that they were to be repaid, Xia Weiyu could accept it a bit more.
“But won't this affect your Cultivation?
I heard that although Advanced missions reward Spirit Stones, it's not a lot.
And as your strength increases, your demand for Spirit Stones will also grow. This will affect your Cultivation.”
With a wave of Su Chen's hand, a pile of Spirit Stones appeared in front of the sofa—thousands of them. After a few seconds, he put them away again.
“Alright, now you've seen it. I still have plenty in my storage bracelet.
I told you I'm not lacking. Use them with peace of mind. Do you need a storage magic treasure? If you do, I can lend you one of those too.”
“Then can you let go of me first?”
Seeing Xia Weiyu run to the side to write something with a pen and paper, Su Chen shook his head and didn't try to stop her.
Let her write it; that way, she can keep the stones with a clear conscience. As for the IOU, I'll keep it as a souvenir... Xia Weiyu took out a pen and paper from her backpack and quickly wrote an IOU with a three-year time limit. She left the interest blank; she wouldn't object no matter how much Su Chen wanted to write.
They had only known each other for a few days, but she trusted Su Chen's character.
“There's no need for a thumbprint.”
“No, this makes it more formal.”
Xia Weiyu shook her head. Since there was no ink pad, she directly cut her finger and pressed a bloody thumbprint.
After confirming everything was correct, she gave it to Su Chen.
Su Chen glanced at the IOU, not paying much attention to it, but the last sentence surprised him.
‘If you have any trouble in the future, tell me. I will definitely help you!’
“Are you serious about this?”
“Yes!”
Su Chen had helped her so much; writing that sentence was also a way to repay the favor. As long as Su Chen needed her, she would certainly help.
Her cheek was poked by Su Chen, leaving her heart in a mess.
So soon?
“Then how about you pay some interest first?”
Is he going to pinch my face again? I've already experienced it, so another pinch doesn't matter.
It was written clearly in black and white, and she had already signed and sealed it. To back out now would be to break her word.
She could only comfort herself this way.
“O... okay.”
[Ding! Gained Xia Weiyu's favorability. lottery ticket +100.]