A familiar flash of white light swept past.
Su Ning opened her eyes. Her first reaction was to check her system balance. Her heart pounded like a drum, and sure enough, the number that had once started with an eight now started with a five.
A full thirty million had been consumed!
"Thrilling, isn't it?"
The Rich and Heartless System watched the beaming Su Ning and poured cold water on her excitement:
"But opportunities like reward missions are hard to come by. For the remaining fifty-plus million, the host still needs to spend money in a down-to-earth manner. Don't pin all your hopes on taking shortcuts."
"Thank you."
Surprisingly, Su Ning didn't talk back to the system. Instead, she nodded earnestly.
"I know that."
It was just like ordinary people acquiring wealth they couldn't earn in decades of work through demolition compensation or the lottery. If their will wasn't firm, they could easily become addicted to such shortcuts and scoff at honest work.
The result was often losing everything.
Ending up worse off than before they struck it rich.
The system felt quite gratified; this child was teachable... But then it heard Su Ning muttering to herself, "Yeah, tomorrow I'll go find my dear uncle to rub off some of his good luck. Plus, saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda. I've practically built the Tower of Babel by now."
"Maybe I can even draw another reward mission!"
It flew into a rage.
Gritting its teeth, it said, "Host, how is this down-to-earth?"
"Who says it isn't?"
Su Ning spread her hands nonchalantly:
"I earned all this merit through hard work. Even a good uncle like Half-Immortal Su was someone I managed to acknowledge through my own efforts. Therefore, it's all based on my ability. How can it be considered a shortcut?"
"It just isn't!"
"Heh."
"..."
Su Ning felt that she couldn't really be blamed for being too mean, constantly bickering and arguing with the system. The pressure to survive was so immense. She was human; she also felt exhausted, anxious, and restless.
Yet she couldn't show it on the outside.
In the entire world.
Only the system was her eternal ally, an existence to whom she could unreservedly reveal her multifaceted self, much like how a child only throws tantrums in front of those they are close to.
Su Ning lowered her eyes.
Thinking this as a matter of course.
The rewards exchanged for thirty million filled an entire page. She gave it a cursory glance.
There were manors, city mansions, plots of land, plantations, and mines. There was even a historical castle, specifically noted with the noble surname it originally belonged to and the fact that it had even hosted members of the royal family.
It was different from modern times.
Nowadays, aristocrats were still revered, and their noble bloodlines were recognized.
An aristocrat deep in debt could still use their surname and bloodline to marry into a wealthy family, acquiring a massive dowry or bride price to maintain their luxurious lifestyle.
And the wealthy were often more than happy to do so.
One could imagine, possessing an ancestral castle passed down through a long line of nobles.
How capable the owner behind it must be.
Su Ning was very satisfied.
Suddenly, she noticed that most of these properties were concentrated in the UK and the US, and there seemed to be faint connections between them—
For example, there was a ranch in the US that mainly raised long-haired sheep for wool, and coincidentally, there was a textile mill in the UK.
"The host guessed correctly."
The Rich and Heartless System explained:
"Fabricating industrial wealth out of thin air would arouse suspicion. According to a rationalized arrangement, in the eyes of the people in this world, these properties have their own origins. It is roughly the result of a union between a sparsely populated British noble family and wealthy American tycoons, mutually supplying each other's needs."
"In the setting, they rarely make public appearances. High society knows this family exists but doesn't understand their specific circumstances."
Su Ning drew inferences from this:
"In that case, the properties I obtain in the future can also be reasonably added to my name without arousing suspicion... Moreover, the identity issue of my father, Su Huaishan, is also resolved."
There could be many explanations.
On the darker side, he could have usurped the accumulated wealth of this family from below.
Hiding it out of fear of being discovered by outsiders.
On the brighter side, Su Huaishan could have saved the last remaining heir of this family and inherited their legacy, or even more straightforwardly, married their only daughter... It even explained why he hadn't returned to the country for so many years—
How could a kept man who married into his wife's family return home!
Su Ning's eyes shone brightly.
The final loophole in her identity was patched. She could imagine that once the news spread, she wouldn't need to explain anything. Smart people would naturally fill in the blanks with their own imaginations, and she wouldn't have to care about what they imagined.
In short, the castle was real, the properties were real, and her wealth was real.
Then everything was settled.
No one would be able to question her identity!
Su Ning took a deep breath, pinched her voice, and said to the system with a sweet and affectionate tone, "Thank you, the best, most capable, and most considerate system in the world."
How could there be so many coincidences in the world?
"Hmph."
The system gave a proud, cold snort.
Unfortunately, its pride didn't last long. Under the bombardment of Su Ning's sweet words, its tone quickly softened:
"Don't overthink it. This system is also doing this for the sake of the mission. Isn't it the host's fault for making up such a background full of holes, attracting so much trouble, and making me help wipe your mess..."
"Thank goodness I have you, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do."
"Ahem, actually, I'm not that amazing."
The system's data streams tingled from the flattery. It feigned modesty, stating that this was nothing, just a piece of cake, and was then praised lavishly by Su Ning again.
It wasn't long before it made a promise.
It could help out with this kind of trifling matter next time too!
Su Ning knew when to stop while she was ahead.
If she continued, she was afraid the system would take a risk, cross the borderline, and get caught by the higher-ups, which would implicate her in the disaster... Sigh, it was too hard for her.
With the loopholes in her background basically resolved, Su Ning slept very soundly that day. She seemed to have had a particularly good dream, but couldn't remember it clearly upon waking.
She only had one vague thought—
Something good was going to happen to her.
Su Ning, who deeply believed in metaphysics, naturally regarded this as an auspicious omen from heaven.
Sure enough, this auspicious omen soon came true.
...
While Su Ning was sleeping soundly, Young Master Kong was incredibly busy. You reap what you sow. If he wanted more benefits, he naturally couldn't just wait for his father to exert effort—he had brothers and sisters who were more highly regarded.
So he mobilized all his connections.
He made all sorts of promises.
He staked almost his entire fortune and future on this matter!
Young Master Kong had no fear, only a heart full of passion. He had a vague premonition that this was his chance to change his destiny. If he missed it, he would only be able to live a mediocre life, becoming an idle rich man under the intimidating gaze of his legitimate mother.
This drive also infected Charles.
Originally.
After knowing that Su Ning hadn't cleared her name, he became hesitant again—mainly because he was a bit afraid of his uncle who served as the ambassador. His scalp went numb at the thought of how he would be scolded and blamed if something went wrong.
Of course, this reason was hard to say out loud.
He just dragged his feet.
Until Young Master Kong found him for a deep conversation, pouring out all his depression about not being valued by his family, as well as the pain of being looked down upon and repeatedly bullied by Su Ning.
"...I just want to prove myself and show everyone that I am not a piece of trash!"
What a similar situation.
Although Charles was not an illegitimate child, he was similarly marginalized within his family. While he did not regret converting his faith for his beloved wife, he occasionally felt disheartened by the consequences.
"Kong, I will help you."
"Really?"
Young Master Kong looked as if he could hardly believe it and thanked him profusely. That gaze of pleasant surprise and profound gratitude made Charles feel like a hero who was saving Kong's life.
Come to think of it, the powerful Chinese figure who had saved his father-in-law back then must have felt this exact same way, right?
Now it was his turn to save Kong.
Just as the Chinese saying goes—plant good seeds, and you shall reap a good harvest!
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a bit puzzled. Kong had promised to help him find the descendants of his father-in-law's benefactor. It had been several days now; was there still no news?
His gaze fell upon the sincere-looking Young Master Kong.
Charles thought good-naturedly that perhaps Kong had simply been too busy lately and just hadn't had the time to track them down yet.
Meanwhile, Young Master Kong lowered his head and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was in the bag. Fortunately, he was smart enough to thoroughly investigate Charles's background so he could play his cards exactly right...
This net was already airtight.
Su Ning.
You cannot escape!
