The woman standing before Wei Yenwu was named Wenyue—or, to be more precise, Wei Wenyue—his beloved wife.
And for Governor Wei, a man who always presented himself to the outside world as stern and iron-fisted, he too had a few little secrets that were difficult to speak of.
For example, to the public, he was the formidable Wei Yenwu.
At home, however, he was just Old Second Wei, a man who was terrified of his wife...
And his wife Wenyue, who was also Chen Huijie's aunt, was obviously even more concerned about her niece. Especially since she was always saying that Little Chen had already reached the age where she ought to be dating seriously and thinking about marriage, yet her progress in romance was practically the polar opposite of her progress at work.
As Chen's actual aunt, how could she not be anxious?
And now, at long last, someone had actually stepped forward and confessed. Judging from Little Chen's expression, there was even a good chance the two of them might have something there!
How could Wenyue possibly let an opportunity like that slip by?
And yet, when faced with his wife, Wei Yenwu surprisingly put on a rare show of backbone as he argued back:
"But that guy sells ramen!"
"So what if he sells ramen? All I see is a hardworking young man. Isn't that better for Little Chen than some rich second-generation brat who only knows how to waste money and fool around? Doesn't she happen to admire grounded, practical people like that?"
"That guy was acting suspicious before! He was following Huijie around every day!"
"I think he was just gazing at her from afar in admiration. Or what, are you saying you didn't do plenty of the same sort of thing when you were courting me back then?"
Wei Yenwu was instantly choked speechless by his wife's retort. After a long pause, he finally brought out his trump card.
"But that guy's background is unknown! We have no idea what kind of person he was before he came to Lungmen."
"Are there really that few people in this city with unclear backgrounds? Of all the people who come here, how many are trying to leave their past behind and begin a new life?"
At that point, Wenyue even gave Wei Yenwu a meaningful look before continuing:
"I also had Bai Xue investigate that young man named Zuojian. When he first arrived in Lungmen, he didn't have a penny to his name. He only managed to save up enough for a ramen cart by working several jobs at once. On that street, people are always full of praise for that young ramen chef—both for his cooking and his character."
"At the very least, I think he deserves a chance."
Meanwhile, Zuojian slowly pulled his ramen cart back toward the temporary room he had rented.
After settling everything, he lay down on the narrow, shabby single bed and asked:
"System... uh, now that I've signed up with you, does the interface change or anything?"
The moment he finished speaking, the blue-and-pink screen lit up once more.
Zuojian narrowed his eyes slightly and began examining the interface, which had once looked rather simple.
Name: Zuojian
Race: Human
Title: Widely Praised Ramen Chef (You seem to be rather gifted in this field.)
Strength: 10
Skill: 30
Constitution: 10
Willpower: 70
Luck: 2
Evaluation: A very standard "fragile college student" stat sheet. Other than your willpower being unusually high, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about you. Could it be that repeatedly bouncing back from failed confessions increases a person's willpower?
Items: None
Skills: None
Come to think of it, there wasn't even a Charm stat?
He had assumed the system would work like some kind of trainer or cheat tool—something that would simply dump a ton of points into Charm and instantly turn him into a master of romance.
But apparently not?
Unable to hold back, he asked:
"System, when you say you're going to make me some kind of love master... what exactly are you relying on? It's not going to be some weird body constitution effect or bizarre skill, is it?"
[No. The assistance this system provides in that regard is merely auxiliary, intended to allow the Host himself to achieve genuine growth. There will be no such thing as simply raising a few stats and becoming irresistible to girls.]
"Then how exactly are you going to help me?"
Zuojian raised a brow in surprise.
[By naturally providing the Host with a massive amount of practical experience!]
[There is nothing that cannot be improved through sheer quantity—not even romantic skill. The system will provide you with a vast number of romantic simulation scenarios. Within those simulations, the Host will experience environments recreated one-to-one from reality, while the system stands by to assist you and help you make the correct choices.]
[As long as you simulate enough times, even the most hopeless fool in matters of love can eventually become proficient.]
"That really is... a simple and brutal method."
The corners of his mouth twitched. He clearly hadn't expected his system to use such a... well... such an old-school, purist approach to improving his romantic abilities.
[Incidentally, the shop system has now been unlocked. You may browse it for romantic items of your choice and bring them into your simulations to assist you on your journey of love.]
"So I just pick what I want? Everything in there is free?"
[Of course—absolutely not.]
[You are merely allowed to preview them in advance. Redeeming items requires the corresponding amount of Love Points, which are earned through simulation settlement.]
"Then what's the point of showing them to me now?" he asked, startled.
[Because one of them may happen to catch your interest. It is entirely possible that some miraculous item will motivate you to work harder at your simulations.]
"What do you mean 'catch my interest'... By the way, since this is a Love Points shop... the stuff it sells should all be appropriate, right? Don't suddenly throw in weird computer accessories or suspicious purple toys or anything."
Pursing his lips suspiciously, Zuojian opened the shop button, which was decorated with all kinds of little heart icons.
Item No. hp001 — Anti-Love Patch
Price: 2000 Love Points (P.S. Only one may be purchased per month.)
Effect: An item that looks very much like a cooling gel patch. Applying it to the forehead temporarily suppresses one's love toward a specific person for 72 hours.
Side Effect: The love does not disappear during suppression, but instead continues to accumulate throughout those seventy-two hours. Once the patch expires, all accumulated feelings will erupt at once, potentially causing the target to exhibit various irrational behaviors. Please use with caution.
Item No. fz001 — Riddle Translator
Price: 1000 Love Points
Effect: A miraculous item shaped like a miniature earpiece. After use, it can translate the other party's obscure, hard-to-decipher confession into a simple and direct declaration. It can also convert the user's otherwise plain confession into an enigmatic, cryptic one. (Note: For certain people, this may prove extremely useful.)
Side Effect: Prolonged use may cause the user to temporarily exhibit "riddle-speaker" tendencies after removing the device.
Item No. sss001 — Multi-Purpose Strategic Guided Missile
Price: 20000 Love Points.**
Effect: Without question, it looks like a guided missile, functions like a guided missile, and behaves like a guided missile. But in reality, it is merely an oversized firework designed to add a bit of romantic atmosphere to your love life! Once activated, it marks a circular area with a radius of 3.5 kilometers on the nearby map, then launches your dazzling fireworks display into that zone!**
Side Effect: .....**
"Wait wait wait wait!!"
The moment he saw that, Zuojian practically sprang off the bed, eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at the blue-and-pink system shop, which looked like some cheap gacha game.
He had already scrolled through a row of seemingly normal—but on closer thought, actually not that normal—"romantic items," only to suddenly be confronted by a gigantic cylindrical monster coated in lead-gray anti-corrosion paint, with the word HIGH RISK thoughtfully printed in the center.
He immediately closed the system, then rubbed his dazed eyes, smacked his own cheeks a couple of times to make sure he was fully awake and not hallucinating, and reopened the shop.
Yep.
All the strange items from before were still there, though now he no longer had the emotional bandwidth to worry about whether those counted as normal or not, because on the final page of the shop that guided missile capable of covering a 3.5-kilometer radius was still sitting calmly in its launch silo on the cover image.
And the price was still that familiar 20000 Love Points.
So if you converted it, ten of those Anti-Love Patches could be exchanged for one enormous black giant missile?
Wasn't that pricing a little unreasonable...?
No, no, that wasn't the point here! Also, how big exactly was a 3.5-kilometer radius...? Damn it, why am I even thinking about that?!
Zuojian's thoughts were in total disarray, until the system's voice pulled him back to reality.
[The system has detected a degree of emotional turbulence in your thought processes. It seems a certain item has stirred your interest? Even so, the system advises you to restrain your emotions, lest they affect your upcoming sleep. After all, simulation is a rather physically demanding activity, and the Host is advised to rest appropriately...]
"What do you mean stirred my interest?! I was just scared by you!"
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zuojian took a deep breath, pointed at the missile on the page, and demanded in utter confusion:
"You'd better explain why something like that is in the shop. And are you really a romance system?"
[Please do not question this system's professionalism. As for your previous question, was the product description not already perfectly clear?]
[It is merely an oversized firework intended to add a bit of excitement to a date.]
"A firework?! What kind of sane person's fireworks look like that? Just look at that lead-gray paint job radiating pure intimidation... that thing is obviously a weapon!"
He pointed furiously at the missile's appearance while questioning the system, and at the same time began to feel a faint but growing anxiety about his future.
But the system answered with perfect composure:
[It is a high-end item. It is only natural that the default coating would not look very attractive. Would you like a more colorful version?]
As soon as it finished, several more interface windows popped up around the missile. Zuojian focused his gaze and—
Good grief.
This thing actually had skins and stickers?
[For 200 Love Points, the overall color scheme can be changed to a more romance-appropriate girlish pink. Additionally, for 50 points each, you may customize a message on the outer surface. Incidentally, there is also an appearance loot box available for 10 points per draw. If you are willing to gamble, you may even have a chance of unlocking hidden rewards, such as special explosion animations.]
Watching the system suddenly begin introducing these features with the enthusiasm of a mobile game shopkeeper, Zuojian's eyelid twitched.
He had a strange feeling... that his future was going to look nothing like what he had imagined.
[Judging by your expression, you do not seem very satisfied with the system's explanation?] the system asked curiously.
Zuojian pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly nursing a headache as he tried to organize his thoughts before speaking:
"No... it's not that I'm dissatisfied exactly, it's just... System... honestly, even someone like me, who's gone zero wins in a hundred battles, knows perfectly well that weapons and things like that should not have anything to do with romance. Stuff like this is completely unnecessary when it comes to building a relationship—"
[No.]
The system's cold voice cut him off.
This time, its tone no longer seemed merely mechanical. It carried a faint trace of something else.
...Seriousness.
For a moment, Zuojian could only sit there quietly on the edge of the bed, staring at the soft pulsing light on the system interface as though he were gazing into a pair of eyes hidden in the dark.
[This system can guarantee that the items sold in the shop—and the things the system itself provides—may vary in effect, but none of them are "unnecessary." On the contrary, there will absolutely be moments when you need them.]
[You have spent all this time in Lungmen, and thus have had little opportunity to understand what kind of world you are truly living in.]
[There is only one thing the system can tell you: here, love is no different from war. And if you wish to emerge victorious in war, you must be fully prepared.]
"...That sounds kind of terrifying."
Zuojian shrank back slightly, finding it hard to believe. Could it be that all the women he was about to practice romance with were the sort who could pluck stars from the heavens and stride across galaxies with a single step?
[Of course, that was merely a warning. If the Host's luck is good enough, perhaps no such accidents will happen at all.]
"Good luck? At a time like this? You've got to be joking."
Zuojian said darkly, pointing at his status page—specifically at the Luck: 2 line.
He wanted to keep talking to the system, but in the very next second, someone knocked abruptly at the door.
The sudden sound made Zuojian jolt. He immediately stopped talking to the system, adjusted himself, cleared his throat, and called out:
"Who is it?"
"Zuojian, are you asleep yet?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Zuojian raised a brow slightly, glanced at the pitch-black street outside, and muttered to himself:
"What's that girl coming here for at this hour...?"
He got up, twisted open the door, and smiled brightly at the purple-haired rabbit-eared girl standing outside.
"Yo, Boss An Suo, what brings you here so late? Don't tell me the rent suddenly went up?"
The rabbit-eared girl in front of him called herself An Suo. It obviously didn't sound like a real name, but since she flatly refused to reveal anything else about herself, he had no choice but to keep calling her that.
In a sense, this petite rabbit girl counted as his benefactor. After all, when he had first arrived in Lungmen with nowhere to stay, she had taken him in and even cleared out a storage room for him to live in, saying he could worry about rent after he started making money. Only because of that had he been able to take on all sorts of odd jobs and save up some cash.
On top of that, she ran a bar in the area, though every time he passed by it there seemed to be barely any customers. Yet despite the terrible business, she never appeared to have financial problems and even had enough room to help someone down on his luck like him.
So instinctively, he had started calling her Boss.
Maybe she was the daughter of some wealthy family, just running a bar for fun.
But now, this "Boss" An Suo stood before him looking uncharacteristically anxious, hurriedly pressing a finger to her lips.
"Shh! Shh! Don't call me Boss!"
"Why not? Normally you look pretty happy whenever I call you that." Zuojian tilted his head, puzzled.
"That was before, this is now! I'm really just someone helping manage the place. The real boss wasn't around, so I could brag all I wanted—but now, now the real boss suddenly seems to have some free time. She's... she's coming to Lungmen!"
An Suo's face flushed as she explained, then she looked at Zuojian with rare seriousness.
"Listen, Zuojian. If you want to keep living here, you'd better hear me out."
"I'm listening."
"Actually, the owner of this bar isn't me. I did mention that before, but you seemed to treat it like a joke. I'm telling you, though, it's true. And second, the boss isn't from Lungmen. I don't know where she's from, but I do know that she's not only rich—she's powerful too. She seems to hold quite a high position in some organization. Back when she opened this bar in Lungmen, it wasn't for the sake of making money or anything. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been asked to help manage the place..."
"And also, the boss has a terrible temper. People she doesn't like usually end up badly. Before me, there were a few people who applied to manage the bar—some of them were even management majors or something, all acting refined and bookish—and the boss kicked every single one of them out. It's only because of that that someone like me, just trying my luck, managed to land the job."
"And the boss also seemed to like the fact that I came from the slums and never had much education, which is why she picked me. So... you get what I mean, right?"
"If the boss comes back and asks who you are, just say you're someone I hired to watch the storage room. Say you're from the slums too. Educated, but not much. The sort who can barely read!"
"Remember that! I'm doing this for your own good... Wait, what are you doing?"
An Suo had been thumping her chest in complete confidence, only to watch Zuojian turn around, head into the room, and begin packing his things.
"Why are you folding your clothes?"
"Moving."
"Oh, moving... wait, what?! Moving?! Why are you moving?!"
The little rabbit nearly jumped in fright and hurried into the room, grabbing his hands to stop him from packing.
"Why move? From the way you describe it, your boss sounds pretty hard to deal with. So wouldn't it make more sense for me to just leave directly?"
"N-No... you can't leave!"
"Why can't I? Isn't this helping you out?"
"I... you... uh..."
An Suo suddenly began stammering.
What could she possibly say?
Tell Zuojian that she had actually reported to the boss ahead of time that she'd found someone to watch the storage room, and had been collecting the extra wages for that position from the boss while also taking rent from Zuojian at the same time?
And now, if the boss came back and found that there wasn't actually anyone "watching the storage room," then wouldn't she be finished?!
At that moment her mind was buzzing. She bitterly regretted being greedy for a little extra money in the first place, and now had no idea what to say.
"I... I..."
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration seemed to strike her, as though she had come up with the perfect excuse—but before she could say anything, Zuojian cut her off.
Still lowering his head and continuing to fold his clothes, he said blandly:
"If you choose to hurry up and tell the truth right now, I might consider helping you."
"W-What... you figured it out?!"
An Suo's whole body stiffened. She turned her face away on instinct, not daring to meet Zuojian's eyes.
Meanwhile, his packing only grew faster, and it felt like each movement was scratching at her conscience. In the end, she couldn't hold it in anymore and spilled everything.
Half an hour later, Zuojian watched the utterly dispirited An Suo leave the room before closing the door behind her.
[I had assumed you would choose to leave without looking back.]
The system's voice sounded at just the right moment.
[After all, she deceived you and used you to collect both the wages for the storage-room guard position and your rent.]
Hearing that, Zuojian simply shook his head.
"But when I was in trouble, she really did help me. System, just like you said, people are complicated creatures. It's true that she used me, but it's also true that she helped me before. Isn't that right?"
[So you have decided to help her put on this little performance? Pretend to be the warehouse guard in front of her boss, then later find an opportunity to resign properly and leave openly?]
[Not a bad plan. Unfortunately, that means Miss An Suo's days of collecting two paychecks are about to come to an end.]
"If she can learn from this and stop taking advantage of little things like that in the future, that'd be good enough... Honestly, just thinking about how much trouble this is makes me tired."
Zuojian sighed and rubbed his temples wearily.
"Once I move out, I'll have to find a new place to stay. Luckily I've earned a little money from selling ramen, so I'll be fine for a while."
"A new place might actually be nice. At least I won't have to worry about being disturbed while I'm doing simulations. And if possible, I'd like the new place to be a little closer to where I set up the stall... By the way, why did you suddenly go quiet?"
He turned his head and asked the suddenly silent system curiously.
[I was merely reminded of a very interesting human saying.]
"What saying?"
[Keeping your feet on the ground is a virtue.]
-------
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