Had a good night’s sleep.
When Su Ning woke up, she felt completely relaxed in every limb. Anyone who’s been through the grind of a corporate job or high school life knows just how much a quality, full night’s rest can restore both body and mind.
She didn’t rush to get up.
Eyes still closed, she was about to savor the feeling a little longer.
“Host.”
“Mm… Huh!”
The first “mm” meant nothing special, but the second came out drawn out and higher in pitch—because she suddenly saw the balance interface the System had pulled up in front of her. How had it gotten so much more than it was before she fell asleep?!
“Ding. Detected that the Host enriched herself through unscrupulous means. Primary plot figure Su Zhenzhu has taken a heavy blow. Reward… Draw…”
That was the first reward notification.
Then—
She kept scrolling downward, and the long string of reward alerts went on and on without reaching the end.
It wasn’t just Su Zhenzhu’s, of course.
After about an hour, notifications appeared for Half-Immortal Su and Su Chen. The common thread was that the first several rewards were huge—really huge, enormously huge—then they gradually shrank, but occasionally an especially large one would pop up again.
Adding it all up.
Su Ning made a rough estimate. Based on her experience, even if the reward pools of those three hadn’t been completely drained, they’d been squeezed by at least half.
That could be considered good news.
Because the “enrich through unscrupulous means” mission leaned toward squeezing rewards out of plot figures. True, with Su Ning’s relentless efforts and brilliant performance in building her persona, non-plot figures could help fill the funding gap.
But plot figures still had one advantage that non-plot figures couldn’t match—
Drawing!
There was no way around it. Just relying on spending money herself—no matter how hard she tried to buy luxury goods or acquire assets—was too slow. Drawing, on the other hand, let money flow out instantly.
And it didn’t require much effort from her.
This time, the rewards and critical hits from the Su family’s troubles had come close enough to finance a luxurious thirty consecutive draws for Su Ning.
Going from rags to riches overnight, basically.
But there were downsides, too.
“Host, I think things aren’t looking too good. So many rewards exploding all at once—that kind of trigger usually requires a blood feud. But we didn’t even do much.”
Last night, after Su Ning lowered her voice, the System had also taken a break to rest.
It had been pretty startled to see so many rewards, too.
Seeing Su Ning’s calm expression.
The System grew anxious: “Something weird is definitely going on. You can’t just ignore it. The Su family are villains. You humans have a saying: ‘A leopard can’t change its spots.’ They might be plotting something foul. Don’t think I’m just crying wolf—a lot of Hosts have fallen because they got backstabbed by people close to them.”
Of course.
With Su Ning’s unusual approach, it was rare for “people close to her” to get involved. Usually, it meant partners—people who let wealth go to their heads, indulged in harems, and ended up in messy emotional tangles leading to betrayal.
Plus, the mission requirements—enriching through unscrupulous means—naturally invited hatred.
Some people lost their minds.
They actually thought they were Dragon Lords or Phoenix Empresses, believing true love could conquer all.
One day they’d ruined someone’s whole family.
The next they’d be cuddling up with them.
And then… they’d crash and burn.
“Is that really how it is?”
Su Ning said.
Seeing that she seemed ready to listen, the System perked up. It began pulling up mission records to add persuasive weight—edging into gray territory and racking up another demerit—while speaking a mile a minute.
Things like “defense is never unnecessary.”
Like “we’re a unscrupulous wealth system—you don’t need to carry guilt.”
Like “strike first to gain the upper hand.”
Then it noticed Su Ning was listening, but slowly furrowing her brow—Hmph, the System could tell it was just an act. Fine, since it was her Host, it would pretend not to notice and let her have this ladder to climb down.
After furrowing her brow a bit, Su Ning let out a long sigh:
“Enough. I really can’t listen to this anymore.” She waved a hand.
Then, with righteous indignation:
“System, neither humans nor systems should be too ungrateful and unrighteous. Without the Su family, we wouldn’t have gotten started and built our persona so easily. Nothing’s been settled yet, and you’re already thinking about moving against them? That’s burning bridges after crossing them. Sorry, but my conscience won’t let me do it. If they really do betray me, then I’ll accept it.”
“Consider it the price I pay for the righteousness I hold in my heart!”
The System was caught off guard: …huh?!
What kind of move was this? For a moment, it felt like it didn’t understand at all.
A flicker of amusement passed through Su Ning’s eyes.
Shock aside, with a little thought, she figured out roughly what was happening. The System was right about one thing—the Su family were textbook villains. Even their love ran deep enough to border on hatred… So this must be about that.
The Hawthorne family, or whatever.
Ridiculous. She’d known about that all along, of course, but she couldn’t care less.
What was Hawthorne anyway?
Like a freebie tossed into an online shopping package—no, more like that annoying yellow tape wrapped too tight around the box, irritating just to look at.
Still, she had to admit.
Given the Su family’s personality, and the mud-splattered situation they’d been in before—if the whole family recognition thing hadn’t happened, and she’d just beaten them down like any other plot figure, she probably couldn’t have squeezed out this many rewards.
“So you’re just going to let it slide?”
The System couldn’t believe it.
“Not let it slide—just handle it slowly, carefully, optimally. Figure out the situation to make sure nobody gets hurt. After all, they’re my only family here!”
“So what are you going to do now?”
Su Ning was already dexterously climbing out of bed.
While getting dressed, she fondly recalled the good old days when Su Er was around so she didn’t have to do this herself, and answered casually:
“Send out word that I’m ready for interviews.”
People outside should already know she was in Shanghai. Do the interviews early and get out—
Getting caught would be a real hassle.
…
Meanwhile.
A private plane had arrived in Beiping. After news spread that this whole lavish operation was just about Su Ning sending souvenirs to her family, the number of envious people was countless.
“Is it really just some candies and pastries? Nothing valuable?”
“Absolutely true.”
“Phew. Just the fuel for a single trip like this must be pretty steep, right? My nephew’s father-in-law pulled strings to buy a car and was over the moon—but once he got it, he could barely ever find fuel! Only brings it out on holidays to show off.”
“You comparing him to Su Ning? The woman has her own oilfields. Funny thing, I heard they started production ages ago, but they still haven’t started selling. Can’t wait for her to cut down those foreign devils’ arrogance and drop their prices a bit.”
“I don’t care about oil or whatever. I’m just jealous of the Su family.”
“Who isn’t?”
The plane traveled fast. From Shanghai to Beiping took less than five hours. The pastries and candies had been kept chilled with ice, so even now in summer they were fresh, sitting on the table giving off a sweet fragrance.
The atmosphere in the room seemed to liven up a bit because of it.
“These Shanghai pastries are nothing like Beiping’s steamed cakes—they’re soft and sweet. The candied fruits are fresh too. My dear niece sure knows how to eat, and she remembers us.”
Half-Immortal Su was eating with great relish.
He spoke cheerfully, urging his children to eat too, since the weather wouldn’t keep the food fresh for long.
What? Can’t finish it all? Give it to others?
No way!
Both of them nodded. For the convenience of treatment, Su Chen had his hair shaved very short. Having walked through the jaws of life and death, he had also lost quite a bit of weight, which only accentuated the superiority of his facial features. The peach blossom eyes beneath his long brows seemed to carry affection even without a word, and after eating some pastries, his smile deepened even further:
“This tastes wonderful. I think I’ll just eat this for dinner tonight.”
“Me too.”
Su Zhenzhu was eating a flaky pastry, which inevitably left quite a few crumbs, so she ate a bit slower. Clearly, she shared the same mindset as her biological father—better to stuff herself than give a single morsel to anyone else.
The two of them started discussing how to store the pastries and what tea or coffee would complement the flavors best.
Half-Immortal Su, sitting nearby, was still fuming over the telegram he had received. Ach, spit on that dogshit nonsense! Even a beggar knows to say a few decent words, and yet they dare to point fingers at my big niece.
He sighed again.
They are relatives, after all.
In his heart, he couldn’t help but secretly complain about his dear cousin. Going after someone’s inheritance like a vulture, and you don’t even bother to check thoroughly? Now there’s still a stray left at large, messing with my meals and my sleep.
The real issue was that, aside from the name Hawthorne, he didn’t even know the person’s full name.
He couldn’t even fall back on his old profession…
…
Sending gifts via airplane was just a minor talking point.
To the outside world, however, what truly held their attention was Su Ning’s upcoming interview. They didn’t have to wait long; under the watchful eyes of the public, the day of the interview arrived quickly. Like the prelude to a magnificent symphony, the opening was already extraordinary.
