What the hell kind of setting is this?
'Why don't I remember this?'
'I don't think the novel mentioned it much.'
According to the plot, the female lead relied on her foreknowledge ability from her rebirth to attract and win over the four male leads. The matter of a female's scent was never really mentioned.
Bai Su glanced suspiciously at Lu Tingyan. Seeing that he didn't appear to be lying, she quickly cleared her throat. "Of course I didn't forget. But... but I was just worried that the little ones on the mountain—and an old-timer like you—would go hungry."
"..." This time, Lu Tingyan was certain she had truly forgotten.
Bai Su awkwardly averted her gaze. "I... uh, well, I'll be heading back now."
But Lu Tingyan beat her to it, easily hoisting the bag of rice onto his shoulder and walking ahead.
'This meant he was going to carry the rice up the mountain for her.'
Bai Su smacked her forehead. As she followed him, she cursed the System in her mind, 'You didn't even remind me!'
The System sounded extremely aggrieved. 'I thought this was your strategy for seducing the male lead.'
Bai Su fumed. 'Have I lost my mind? Seduce him? You said it yourself, he's a male lead, and male leads are destined for the female lead. I just want to use him to figure out what really happened back then!'
The System said, 'Alright, alright... but are you sure you don't want to do some quests? Even though the System hasn't assigned you any mandatory ones, completing quests allows you to redeem points, which you can use to buy things you want in the System Mall!'
After Bai Su had transmigrated, she never made a special effort to study the system, since it hadn't forced any quests on her and she already had a firm grasp of the novel's plot.
Curiously, she opened the System Mall and saw that it was filled with items sorted into various categories.
In the Lifestyle section, nearly any real-world physical item could be redeemed with points.
Opening the Skills tab revealed more abstract abilities: offensive skills, healing skills, life-saving skills, and various other unique skills, and so on.
There were even all kinds of elixirs that could boost one's Spiritual Power Level.
'With these elixirs, wouldn't evolving into a Level 9 female Beastman be a piece of cake?'
The abilities corresponding to a male's Spiritual Power Level were different from a female's.
The higher a male's Level, the more superpowers and combat Skills he could potentially awaken, and the stronger he would be.
For a female, however, a higher Level represented greater fertility, which also made her rarer.
Females capable of awakening a superpower were exceedingly rare; you might not see one in a century.
She asked curiously, 'How do I buy these?'
The System began its enthusiastic pitch. 'It's super simple! Just win over the male leads, make them fall for you, and you'll acquire Heartbeat Value! You can then exchange Heartbeat Value for points at a one-to-one ratio and use the points to shop in the System Mall!'
'Of course, if you want to redeem Skills or elixirs that raise your Spiritual Power Level, you'll need golden points. And you can only get golden points by having children with the male leads, you know!'
Bai Su raised an eyebrow. 'Fine.'
'She had no need for that at the moment.'
The System was about to continue its sales pitch.
But Bai Su couldn't be bothered to listen anymore.
'All she wanted was to start a wonderful new life in this world, raise those children on the mountain well, and turn all those detestable future villains into perfectly behaved, upstanding little treasures.'
The System spoke again. 'Don't you want to take back everything that originally belonged to you? Your parents favor the female lead, Bai Xue, so much, and they pay you no mind...'
Bai Su's voice grew considerably colder. 'That's enough. I don't want to hear it.'
She had suffered enough at the hands of her family in her previous life.
Being reborn far away from her family in this life was the greatest blessing she could have asked for.
She had no interest in helping the body's original owner curry favor or fight for so-called parental love, let alone the glory or wealth of the Bai family.
The group of children on the mountain was her only concern right now.
*
Suddenly, rumors began to spread at the foot of the mountain, saying that Bai Su, the exiled female from the orphanage on the peak, was promiscuous and seducing men everywhere.
"You have no idea! Goodness me, every night on the road from the bottom of the mountain to the top, that honey peach scent is so strong I'm almost too embarrassed to mention it."
"No wonder my Beast Husbands have been showing signs of going into heat lately. They're completely wearing me out!"
"Hahahahaha! With so many Beast Husbands, you'd better keep them in line, lest you spoil them."
"That Bai Su is so shameless. What is she even doing every night? She must be going crazy with desire for a male, right?"
"My guess is, she's just lonely and doing it on purpose to seduce people!"
"So shameless! Ptooey!"
Bai Xiaolang emerged from out of nowhere, his expression terrifyingly dark. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
The gossiping females jumped in fright. Seeing it was him, they rolled their eyes. "I wondered who it was. Little one-eyed wolf, are you trying to scare us to death?"
"Such an ill-mannered little male. Why are you sneaking around eavesdropping on people's conversations?"
"Ah, all the children from the mountaintop orphanage are like that. Sneaky and engaged in petty theft. What good can come from them?"
"Let's go, let's go. Such bad juju!"
"Let's go."
Bai Xiaolang stared at their retreating backs, a dark look flashing in his eyes.
Little Tiger, standing beside him, looked at him pleadingly. "Brother Xiao Lang, what should we do?"
Bai Xiaolang's icy gaze swept over the women. "We'll teach them a lesson. Make them shut their filthy mouths!"
Bai Su had also heard the rumors.
However, she paid them no mind, merely switching her outdoor activities to indoor ones.
She had recently crammed a lot of background knowledge about the Interstellar Beast World from the System. Whether for her own safety or for other reasons, it was clearly better to exercise indoors.
Aside from the construction crew outside making noise from morning to night, her days were relatively peaceful.
She just never expected that even if she didn't go looking for trouble with the female lead, the female lead would take the initiative to come find her.
Bai Su frowned at the uninvited guest at her door, Bai Xue, an impatient look on her face. "Is there something you need?"
The two of them were alone in the living room.
Bai Xue made no attempt to hide her intentions. She crossed her arms and looked at Bai Su arrogantly. "Sister, is this really necessary? Do you have to fight me for everything?"
Bai Su asked, "What did I fight you for?"
Bai Xue replied, "Aren't you deliberately trying to seduce Lu Tingyan? You're well-informed, aren't you? You found out that I've recently taken a liking to him and want him to be my first Beast Husband."
"..." The corner of Bai Su's mouth twitched. "If you're that bored, go down to the village and help the villagers shovel manure."
Bai Xue sputtered, "You!"
She covered her mouth in disgust, her voice dripping with loathing. "You've spent too long in this place of exile; you've become so vulgar. Someone like you shouldn't even think about competing with me!"
Bai Su shot back, "And which of your eyes saw me competing with you?"
Bai Xue sneered. "Not competing? You racked your brains studying historical cooking techniques to make all that food. Wasn't it just to get Lu Tingyan's attention?"
"I'm telling you, if you don't stay far away from Lu Tingyan, don't blame me for getting nasty."
Bai Su laughed in exasperation. "I'm actually very curious. Just how are you planning to 'get nasty'?"
Bai Xue snorted coldly and turned to leave.
"Mother, was she causing trouble for you?" Bai Xiaolang's voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
Bai Su jumped, startled. She turned to see Bai Xiaolang standing silently at the top of the stairs, his gaze frighteningly sinister.
She frowned. "It's nothing. Don't overthink it. She was just running her mouth."
Fearing this little villain's heart would turn dark, Bai Su quickly added, "Alright, the world of adults is complicated; it's not as simple as you think. If you're bored, take Little Tiger and the others out to sunbathe by the entrance, or go to the back mountain and help me dig up some wild vegetables."
Bai Xiaolang nodded obediently. "Okay."
Suddenly, a clamor erupted outside the door, as if a boisterous crowd was gathering.
"Bai Su! Get your ass out here! How the hell do you look after your kids? Your kid stole from our house!"
"Where's that little blind brat? Tell him to get his ass out here."