Having dealt with the source of the noise.
Su Ning naturally went to sleep. Before sleeping, she yawned and glanced at the reward she had just squeezed out—one, two, three, four, five, six... there were actually six zeros, and the starting number was a five... Hehe.
"Is this guy's acting really that good?"
To hate someone this much and still manage to act like he was deeply in love.
Moreover, why did she feel like the second male lead's reward amount had experienced inflation?
Fang Lin's whole family had been sacrificed.
And it still wasn't as much as what was squeezed out of Antonio in one go!
"Because this is evaluated based on multiple factors: plot proportion, reader affection, and character importance. Someone like Fang Lin, in this regard, doesn't even reach half of the richness of Su Zhenzhu's prize pool."
The system explained weakly.
It had taken a blow.
Originally, relying on its honed reaction speed and glib tongue during the argument, it hadn't fallen at a disadvantage. But two fists are no match for four hands... and more peers were arriving one after another.
A complete defeat.
"Antonio is different. This volume is already very popular, and he is the king of popularity within it. Actually, both the male and female leads are..."
Oops, these things couldn't be said!
"Are what?"
Su Ning raised an eyebrow with a smiling face.
"Nothing, hurry up and forget it, forget it." The system jumped out in a panic. The silvery-white dumpling bounced around wildly, wishing it could just gag Su Ning directly.
If it was detected by the higher-ups.
And investigated.
It had skirted the rules so many times, practically an outlaw system. With multiple offenses piling up, it might even get formatted. Thinking of this, the 'Rich and Heartless' system was on the verge of shedding data tears...
At this moment, a heavenly voice descended.
"Alright."
Su Ning scooped up the dumpling. It was cool, soft, and very nice to squeeze. She pulled it from both sides and found that it would snap back with a 'boing' and quiver a few times. How fun.
The system wanted to resist.
"Hmm?"
It wilted.
Enduring the "humiliation," it wept silently in its heart, wishing it could let those peers who flamed it see just how much of a system-bully its host Su Ning was. It wasn't humblebragging at all!
Su 'Bully' Ning played while thinking.
According to the new standards, she reordered the importance of the plot characters in her mind, referencing the original text and her perceived popularity.
Of course, the ones who had already been squeezed dry.
Were deleted long ago.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she sighed softly. The remaining people were more troublesome than the last, and there were also "her own people" like Lin Sen and the Su family. Even if she made a move on them, her conscience would hurt.
So troubling, truly troubling.
Whatever.
She would take it one step at a time and focus on the present. "System, how much of my 100 million spending task balance is left?"
"See for yourself."
The system's tone was aggressive, but its actions were swift. On the unfolded page, the task balance thoughtfully included comma separators, making it clear at a glance.
"Sigh, why is there still so much?"
Su Ning sighed in disappointment.
She clearly felt she had spent a lot of money within the extreme limits, but these cold numbers were mocking her: Hehe, don't underestimate us, you're still far off.
"Is the host humblebragging?"
The system suddenly said.
It felt like it somewhat understood the anger of its peers.
"?"
"Compared to the previous spending tasks, one hundred million is actually a watershed. According to calculations, nearly half of the task-takers fall here." Comparatively speaking, Su Ning's progress was already among the best.
One could even say success was right before her eyes.
"Since it's so difficult, the reward after completing the task must be very considerable, right?"
Su Ning acutely grasped the main point.
She could understand that the 100 million task was a watershed. When you have no money, you feel earning money is hard. Only after you have money do you discover another truth—
Spending money is actually also very hard.
Millions, tens of millions.
Ordinary people can manage to spend it all. But 100 million, even in modern times, without the right channels, you couldn't lose it even if you wanted to. Even tipping on live streams would catch the eye of the cyber police, who would investigate the source to see if it was money laundering.
Not to mention, how could the system let the task-taker off so easily?
It was bad luck for her to come to the Republican era.
Other seniors probably didn't have it much better.
System: "..."
After a long while.
"I can't say."
"I know."
Su Ning's eyes and brows instantly filled with a smile. She mercifully let go of the system dumpling, which vanished with a flash of white light. She didn't mind. Now devoid of sleepiness, she simply rolled out of bed, found a notebook, and started writing and drawing on it.
The bright lamplight spilled outside.
Having finished the matters at hand, Lin Sen, who came over out of habit to take a look, halted his steps. He reached out to knock on the door but lowered his hand a few seconds later.
He went back and summoned a subordinate:
"Find a few people to go to the police station. Bribe them thoroughly from top to bottom. Don't be stingy. Just say we feel bad asking them to handle things in the middle of the night, so consider it tea money."
"Understood."
The subordinate nodded like a pestle pounding garlic.
They had already bribed them when they sent the person over. Going again now, what it was for went without saying... When Lin Sen approved the bribe money, the subordinate's eyes widened.
This much "tea money"?
The police station here in Nanjing had a decent reputation; they put in as much effort as they were paid for.
That foreign devil...
He subconsciously looked up. Assistant Lin seemed to be adjusting his cufflinks. Sensing the gaze, he frowned and looked over, prompting the subordinate to quickly lower his head and go do his job.
Meanwhile.
Su Ning had finally straightened out her plan. Calculating left and right, after handling the oil, what should she do about the remaining spending gap? Although it wasn't much, it was still nearly ten million.
"Ding, detected that the host is rich and heartless. Tier 1 plot character Antonio (Andre) has suffered severe physical and mental trauma. Rewarding one lottery draw."
What happened?
Whatever, the main point was the lottery draw.
Su Ning thought indifferently. She looked and saw she had already accumulated three lottery draws. She restrained her itching hands. No, good steel must be used on the blade's edge.
After drawing the oil extraction and production equipment, her luck had been completely exhausted.
Hold steady!
System: ...Superstitious.
No matter how effective mysticism was, it wouldn't believe it.
It was all a coincidence.
Coincidence!
Then it saw Su Ning pick up a piece of paper covered in names. It subconsciously asked, "What is this?" None of them were the names of plot characters.
"Candidates for oilfield exploration. Tomorrow, I'll have my dear uncle take a look to see whose luck is the most flourishing, and I'll choose them."
Her fingertips flicked the thin piece of paper.
Su Ning said as a matter of course.
Even if she knew there were oilfields in Yumen, exploring the exact location wouldn't be that easy. Naturally, she had to find the one with the best luck to help her do the job.
Fine, it shouldn't have asked.
The system completely shut up. It went back to prepare for another three hundred rounds of battle with its peers. Come on, this time it was going to throw all the evidence in their faces!
The next morning.
Half-Immortal Su stroked his beard and pondered for a long while. His finger tapped on the name in the middle of the first row: "This one. Although his luck isn't the absolute best, it is the most compatible with your destiny, my dear niece."
"Then it's him."
Su Ning nodded.
...
"Hey, hey, hey, don't pull me. It's no use coming to me for this matter. It really can't be done."
A decently dressed man frowned and mercilessly shook off Yan Jiangeng's hand, shooing him away like a fly. "Hurry up and leave, otherwise I'll call someone over and you won't have a good end."
After saying that, he shook his head:
"He's an educated man, how can he be so shameless?"
The people behind Yan Jiangeng clenched their fists as they listened. He did not even flush, maintaining an accommodating smile as he said, "Educated men need to eat too. We found two coal mines during this exploration. The bureau really should settle the agreed-upon exploration fees."
"Everyone's families are struggling to put food on the table. Old Zhou's kids need to pay their school fees, and Little Zhang is getting married—he is just waiting on this money to hold the wedding."
"Are you the only ones having a hard time?"
The respectable-looking official remained unmoved. "There is a war going on outside, and money is tight everywhere. My own salary has been delayed for three months, and when have I ever complained?"
"You need to be considerate of the government's difficulties. You really have no regard for the bigger picture!"
With that, the man turned and walked away.
"Bullshit bigger picture! If they don't get their salaries, they have plenty of other ways to line their pockets. If we don't get our money, we just starve to death," someone said through gritted teeth.
"We are not getting any money today. Let's go," Yan Jiangeng said wearily.
"But... but if I don't get the money, Xiao Ning's parents are going to marry her off to someone else!" Little Zhang cried out in despair. He turned and tried to charge into the bureau to demand the money, but the others scrambled to hold him back.
"I never should have gotten into this exploration business."
He beat his own head.
"Xiao Ning's parents were right. I am an idiot. I could have done anything else—been a clerk, worked an abacus in a shop, even been a lackey for the foreigners! Anything would be better than doing this job that can't even feed a family!"
The others all let their faces fall.
This was because Little Zhang was Yan Jiangeng's student, the one he had personally guided into the profession.
"You are a grown man, what are you crying for?"
Yan Jiangeng scolded sharply.
"I will just front you the money for now."
"Really?"
Hope sparked in Little Zhang's eyes, but dimmed the very next second. He muttered, "Where would you get the money, Teacher Yan? You already fronted all the money for everyone's food, drinks, and lodging during our previous expedition."
Hearing this, Yan Jiangeng wanted to pat his chest and proudly declare that he could easily come up with such a small amount.
But the moment the words reached his lips...
He remembered the sound of his wife scraping the bottom of the empty rice vat while cooking this morning, and his own children, who were also due to pay their school fees... and the words caught in his throat.
Even a hero can be brought to his knees by a single penny!
Seeing him like this, Little Zhang's tears welled up again, but he could not bring himself to say anything more.
The others also looked despondent.
What could they do?
Geological exploration was a luxury that only the government or major warlords could afford. Now that there was a war going on, their work was valued even less.
They could not even find private jobs if they tried!
Just then, a person came running over from the distance, shouting excitedly, "Everyone, come quick! We have a job, and we are going to get paid!"
