THD Chapter 6
I've seen shameless people before.
But I've never seen anyone this shameless.
The system laughed in anger.
“Through me? You sounded so ambitious just now that I thought you'd want to rely on yourself.”
Ye Xiqing tilted her head calmly.
“Why would I think that?”
“Aren't you my system?”
“Just because we've argued a few times doesn't mean you're not going to help me.”
“Wouldn't it be a little stingy if you didn't?”
System: ...
Who's stingy?!
At least show the attitude of someone asking for help!
Do you look like you're asking for help at all?!
But the system couldn't actually refuse.
No matter what, it had already bound itself to Ye Xiqing.
And once a show had started, it couldn't simply end halfway through.
Its backend chat was already flooded with "HAHAHAHA" comments. One could easily imagine the disaster that would unfold if it became so angry that it forcibly sent Ye Xiqing back.
Stay calm.
Stay calm.
Let Ye Xiqing be the one who gets angry.
Suppressing its frustration, the system forced a smile.
“Haha. I was only joking with the host.”
“As your system, I will naturally help you whenever possible.”
“However, the system has already explained that it cannot provide cheat abilities beyond the scope of the mission world.”
“It isn't realistic for the host to rely entirely on the system to reach the pinnacle of life.”
“Don't worry.”
Ye Xiqing smiled.
“I don't have that intention.”
“Just give me the complete set of high school textbooks and practice papers from my world and my time period.”
“That isn't beyond the scope of the world, is it?”
System: ...
Forget whether it was beyond the rules or not.
What did she even need those for?
This was a transmigration novel set in the 1990s, not the 1980s.
Did she think this was a story about the restoration of the college entrance examination?
Even setting aside the fact that the college entrance exams in the two worlds were different—
Ye Xiqing herself had dropped out of school six years ago!
Why was Ye Shiying known as Widow Miao?
Because her husband was dead.
He had been struck and killed by a truck.
Originally, the family should have received compensation.
Unfortunately, the driver had only recently taken over the vehicle and hadn't completed the ownership transfer.
After killing someone, he fled without looking back.
When the family went looking for him, all they found was his wife, who stubbornly insisted the matter had nothing to do with her.
Taking the matter to court wasn't much better.
Legally, they could only sue the truck's original owner.
Naturally, he refused to accept responsibility as well.
So the family sought help again and again.
Appealed again and again.
Went to court again and again.
In the end, the original owner simply accepted his bad luck and paid for the funeral expenses and legal fees.
After Miao Shuangshuang's father was buried, the family had nothing left.
Over the years, Ye Shiying had supported the household alone while her younger sister worked in the city to supplement the family income.
Supporting two daughters was already difficult.
Paying for their education was impossible.
As a result, both Ye Xiqing and Miao Shuangshuang dropped out after junior high school and began working.
Even if Ye Xiqing somehow had the qualifications to sit for the college entrance examination, she didn't even meet the enrollment requirements anymore.
What use were high school textbooks?
Ye Xiqing smiled slightly.
“Don't get so worked up.”
“I simply don't want my knowledge to become rusty while I'm away.”
“No matter how wonderful the mission world may be, only my own world is real to me.”
“I won't put the cart before the horse and neglect my studies.”
She paused.
“But you're reacting very strongly.”
“Is this difficult to do?”
“Is it a technical limitation, or a rules issue?”
System: ...
Of course it wasn't difficult.
As a digital intelligence, a database was one of its most basic functions.
If something as simple as a search engine could do it, how could the system not?
The problem was precisely that it was too easy.
That was what made it so irritating.
“Host, are you certain you want to spend precious points on something so useless?”
“You only have one hundred points.”
Ye Xiqing stared at it.
After receiving confirmation, she smiled.
“Good.”
“So it can be done.”
“Then give me what I asked for.”
“Whether it's useful or not is my concern.”
---
The system eventually provided the materials.
However, such a massive stack of books would have been impossible to explain in the impoverished Miao household.
Therefore, it only provided digital copies that Ye Xiqing could access within the system space.
“Digital copies aren't as convenient as physical books.”
“You can return them if you don't want them.”
“I'd rather not.”
“Ten points is equivalent to one thousand yuan.”
“Heh.”
The system had deliberately set the price at ten points to discourage her.
Yet she bought them anyway.
Fine.
Then it would wait and see what Ye Xiqing planned to do with her remaining ninety points.
Although, come to think of it, there wasn't much difference between ninety points and one hundred points anyway.
At some point, the system realized that watching the host derail the original script was actually more entertaining than the original script itself.
---
In the countryside, healthy adults rarely had time to rest.
Yet both Ye Shiying and Ye Xiqing were idle.
Why?
Because both of them had lost their jobs.
Employment opportunities in rural areas were scarce to begin with.
The situation was even worse in the 1990s.
As the largest enterprise in the surrounding region, the Lu family's winery provided most of the available jobs.
Naturally, the Miao family relied on it as well.
In truth, Ye Shiying had already anticipated the consequences the day the engagement was canceled.
But after supporting the family alone for so many years, she understood one thing:
Pride was the least useful thing in the world.
So she shamelessly went back to the winery anyway.
The moment she entered, someone laughed.
“Well, well.”
“Isn't this the boss's future in-law?”
“Why are you still working here yourself?”
Ye Shiying forced a smile and pretended not to hear.
She simply tried to collect her tools and begin working.
The result was exactly what she expected.
Her tools were taken away.
And she was thrown out.
Even after returning home, her face remained red with humiliation.
Remembering what had happened at the winery, she finally exploded.
“You little brat!”
“You debt collector!”
Unfortunately, Miao Shuangshuang had already left.
There was nobody left to hear the scolding.
Only Ye Shiying and Ye Xiqing remained.
The Miao family had never been wealthy.
And in a moment of excitement, Ye Shiying had handed all of their savings to Miao Shuangshuang for her trip to the capital.
Now they barely had enough money to eat.
Losing a job wasn't something they could solve by borrowing a few yuan from a neighbor.
After wandering around the yard for a long time, Ye Shiying finally stopped beside the pile of corn.
Sighing heavily, she said,
“Maybe we should sell some corn.”
“I wonder what price we'll get...”
Every household in the village grew corn.
Locally, everyone called it bangzi.
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiqing looked up.
“How much is corn selling for right now?”
“Last I heard, around twenty-five cents a jin. I don't know if the price has gone up since then.”
“How much does bulk liquor sell for?”
“Bulk liquor?”
Ye Shiying blinked.
“That's expensive. Nearly twenty yuan per jin.”
“Then why don't we turn the grain into liquor and sell that instead?”
“Huh?”
Ye Shiying laughed.
Such childish thinking.
“Let's not talk about whether we could sell it.”
“Who in this family even knows how to brew liquor?”
Ye Xiqing looked serious.
“When I was little, our family used to make liquor.”
“Auntie, don't you know how?”
Mentioning the past, Ye Shiying smiled with nostalgia.
“That was years ago.”
“Shuangshuang's father was the one who knew how.”
“I only helped out occasionally.”
“How would I know the process?”
“And even if I did—”
She waved her hand dismissively.
“Who would buy homemade liquor these days?”
“The Lu family runs a massive distillery.”
“They brew liquor by the truckload.”
“There are ready-made products everywhere.”
“Who would bother buying the few bottles made by an ordinary family?”
Ye Xiqing remained unconvinced.
“But the Lu family's liquor isn't very good.”
Ye Shiying paused.
That was an open secret among the locals.
The Lu family frequently cut corners and mixed inferior products into their liquor.
Outsiders who knew nothing about alcohol might be fooled.
Locals weren't.
Most of the workers at the winery were distant relatives or neighbors.
The moment one person discovered something, the entire village knew.
The only reason nobody reported it was simple.
The winery fed their families.
And people rarely destroy the hand that feeds them.
“Qing'er, why do you keep talking about this?”
“Do you actually have something in mind?”
Ye Xiqing nodded.
She was usually quiet, and the original owner of this body had been the same—a well-behaved child whom elders naturally trusted.
Because of that reputation, even unusual suggestions were more likely to be taken seriously.
So she spoke boldly.
“Yes, Auntie.”
“I really do have an idea.”
“I recently came across a very good brewing recipe.”
“It can guarantee high-quality liquor.”
“Let's turn all this grain into liquor and sell it!”
Silence.
Neither Ye Shiying nor the system spoke.
After a long pause, both finally reacted.
And immediately arrived at the same question:
You're an ordinary young woman who can't even drink alcohol.
Where exactly did you get a brewing recipe?
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