29: Chapter 29 Transforming NPCs

To be honest, Jiang Li had originally intended to go back. Yuan Yan had been drinking, and he was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to restrain himself again. After all, there was a precedent for him failing to hold back in the past.

But Tang Tang was right. That scumbag Fang Song had suffered such a huge loss at his hands today; what if he got desperate and came back to retaliate?

"Fine, Uncle Jiang isn't leaving."

Jiang Li rubbed Tang Tang's little head, messing up her two little bun hairstyles.

A bright, triumphant smile bloomed on Tang Tang's little face. "Mommy! Uncle Jiang promised not to leave!"

Yuan Yan had been leaning on the sofa, but upon hearing this, the movement in her hands came to an abrupt halt.

"You... you sleep in the guest room. I'll go get you a quilt."

She stood up in a panic, her steps somewhat unsteady, forcing herself to walk toward the bedroom.

Tang Tang stood where she was, looking up at Jiang Li with a smug curve to her lips.

After washing up, Jiang Li leaned against the headboard in the guest room, finally having the time to properly sort through the system. He pulled up the system panel, and rows of data appeared before his eyes.

[Ding! Tang Tang's favorability has reached 100. Rating: Unwavering Loyalty.]

[Congratulations to the host for completing the ice-breaking mission. Twenty million in exclusive spending funds have been credited to your account.]

[Note: Exclusive spending funds can only be used for NPC Tang Tang and related expenses; they cannot be withdrawn or transferred.]

Twenty million!

Jiang Li leaned against the headboard, staring at that string of zeros on the panel, and couldn't help but grin. This was a full twenty million!

In the past, this amount of money would have been enough to change his life. Although it wasn't money going directly into his own pocket, those four words, "related expenses," offered so much room for manipulation.

For example, buying an apartment for Tang Tang—Yuan Yan and Tang Tang move in, and he occasionally stays there. If that doesn't count as related expenses, what does?

For example, buying a car for Tang Tang—Yuan Yan drives Tang Tang to and from school, and he occasionally drives it. Isn't that also a related expense?

Or take Tang Tang's tuition, extracurricular classes, clothes, shoes, food, and daily necessities... In short, as long as you're quick-witted, you can find all sorts of ways to spend this money.

Just as Jiang Li was calculating how to reasonably utilize this money, the system notification sounded again.

[Ding! The NPC module has been fully unlocked. The host can now view the favorability panels of specified individuals.]

Jiang Li perked up. He had been wanting to try this feature for a long time. He immediately thought of Yuan Yan's name in his mind, and a translucent panel unfolded before his eyes.

[Name]: Yuan Yan

[Age]: 26

[Comprehensive Rating]: 87

[Favorability]: 85 (100 points required to convert into an NPC)

[Status]: Nervous, shy, struggling with whether or not to go to the guest room.

Jiang Li stared at the age column on the panel, stunned for several seconds.

26 years old?

Yuan Yan was only 26?! He had always assumed Yuan Yan was at least in her early thirties; after all, her child was already in kindergarten.

But then again, at 26, combined with Yuan Yan's face and figure, why was she only rated 87? Jiang Li was somewhat puzzled.

Yuan Yan's temperament, looks, and figure were impeccable, especially that intellectual style of a big-city office lady; in this small county town, she was definitely a cut above the rest.

She was more than a notch above Du Aoting. Although Du Aoting had a pure face, that was the result of both makeup and yoga; her foundation was actually just average.

Whereas Yuan Yan was the type who looked good even without makeup. Could it be because she had a child? This system was quite picky.

Jiang Li opened the panels of the others. First was Zhang Tong.

[Name]: Zhang Tong

[Age]: 22

[Comprehensive Rating]: 91

[Favorability]: 65

[Status]: Chatting with roommates in the dormitory, currently being grilled by roommates about her relationship with Brother Jiang.

A favorability of 65 wasn't low. Jiang Li understood; Zhang Tong was truly grateful to him. The commission from one hundred classes plus that gold bracelet—trading that for 65 favorability points wasn't a loss.

Next was Du Aoting.

[Name]: Du Aoting

[Age]: 24

[Comprehensive Rating]: 89

[Favorability]: 42

[Status]: Editing photos on Little Red Book, preparing to post a new recommendation caption.

42 points?

Seeing this number, Jiang Li was so angry his mouth twisted. He had waived the deposit for Du Aoting, given her a ten percent commission, and even transferred several thousand yuan to her successively, yet her favorability was only 42 points? She hadn't even passed the passing mark! This woman just took benefits without increasing her favorability?

It seemed he would have to properly whip Du Aoting into shape. Next time she came to rent a bag, he would have to make sure she put in some real effort, no matter what.

What surprised Jiang Li the most was that Wang Yaoyao actually had a favorability of 62 points. The more Jiang Li thought about it, the more interesting it became.

A woman like Wang Yaoyao was, to put it bluntly, goal-oriented and had strong execution. She had identified Jiang Li as a high-quality resource, so she went all-in, and her favorability rose accordingly.

Although her motives weren't pure, she had a good attitude and provided good service. He couldn't let that go to waste.

His contact with Wang Yaoyao wasn't actually that much—just two business dealings and two deep interactions. And he was very clear that Wang Yaoyao's purpose in approaching him had never been pure from the start.

She was a pure gold-digger, solely after his money. Yet, her favorability of 62 was a full 20 points higher than Du Aoting's. Was this the legendary "gold-digger"?

Jiang Li couldn't help but chuckle. Gold-digger or not, at least she knew how to be grateful. That stingy Du Aoting, who took his money and still looked down on him, had lower favorability than a gold-digger; it was a total waste of all the care he had shown her.

However, that 62 favorability from Wang Yaoyao did give Jiang Li a new idea.

Yuan Yan's favorability was at 85, still 15 points away from the 100 points needed to convert her into an NPC. But Wang Yaoyao already had 62, and she was a fitness coach with good physical fitness and was quite money-oriented, so she could do far more things than Yuan Yan.

Perhaps this little coach could be converted into an NPC faster than Yuan Yan? After all, Wang Yaoyao was after money, and money was the one thing he didn't lack right now.

Yuan Yan was after feelings, and feelings were exactly the hardest thing to quantify.

Just as Jiang Li was mulling over this new line of thought, the bedroom door was suddenly knocked. He looked up and subconsciously glanced at the time on his phone—eleven-thirty. At this hour, Tang Tang should have long been asleep.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open a crack. Yuan Yan stood at the doorway, still wearing the floral dress from the day, but wrapped in a thin cardigan sweater. Her face was flushed deeply, whether from the alcohol or some other reason, even the base of her neck was tinged with pink.

"Can... can you fall asleep alone?"