Chapter 117: Do you think Xu Lin might develop feelings for me?

Qin Fang made up her mind that whenever she ran out of money, she would write to the Qin family and play the victim. As long as they still wanted to cling to the Su family's influence, they would certainly not ignore her.

With this thought, Qin Fang immediately shrugged off her backpack, and without another word, took off running for her life.

When several men saw Qin Fang abandon her sack of rice and flee, two of them stopped their pursuit while the others continued. Since she was able to procure such high-quality rice, they suspected she might have a secret supply chain, and they were not willing to let her go.

Seeing Qin Fang being chased like a dog, Xu Lin felt relieved and turned to leave. As for protecting Qin Fang's safety? That was out of the question.

Once Xu Lin left the perimeter of the black market, she returned to her original appearance and continued strolling through the streets. She first went to the Jishitang Pharmacy to buy some herbal medicines, then headed to the state-run restaurant for a hearty meal, taking the opportunity to pack a few meat dishes to go.

Checking her watch, she saw it was still a long way from three o'clock, so Xu Lin headed to the scrap yard. She wanted to see if there were any hidden treasures in the county's collection of junk.

When Xu Lin arrived at the scrap yard, the old man guarding the gate was dozing off at his desk. He merely glanced at Xu Lin as she entered before continuing his nap, showing no concern that she might steal anything.

Xu Lin entered and scanned the yard. Her mouth twitched; the layout here was nothing like the orderly, well-categorized scrap yard in the capital. The junk was piled here and there in a chaotic mess. You might find a clay pot buried in a stack of wooden boards, with no one caring if it got crushed. You could even find broken plates mixed in with a pile of old newspapers. It was less of a classified collection and more of a haphazard heap; if you wanted something, you had to dig for it yourself, provided you didn't mind getting dirty.

Xu Lin crouched in front of a pile of old newspapers, deciding to take a stack home. It would help her understand the current political situation and broaden her perspective. While sorting through the papers, her spiritual sense was far from idle. Within a short time, it detected treasures hidden among a stack of old furniture.

First, she found a table leg that was hollow, containing several gold bars. Xu Lin used her spiritual sense to whisk them into her storage space. Inside the crevices of a broken bed, she discovered a few old banknotes; although well-preserved, they were no longer legal tender, but they would make fine collectibles, so she tucked them away as well. She also found several hundred yuan hidden inside a tattered pillow. These were ownerless items, and Xu Lin felt no guilt in taking them. Among a heap of old basins and bowls, she uncovered a few vintage blue-and-white porcelain bowls and several plates that clearly looked like imperial ware.

She also found a few dilapidated rosewood jewelry boxes. Because they were so worn and dirty, they caught no one else's eye, but Xu Lin loved them. She knew that in a few decades, these would be valuable antiques. She didn't hesitate to collect them into her storage space.

Just as Xu Lin was busy collecting, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to look and found, to her surprise, an acquaintance. It was Qin Fang, who had been beaten quite badly earlier. However, the bruises on her face had already vanished—presumably the work of her system.

Seeing Xu Lin sorting through newspapers, a look of disdain crossed Qin Fang's face, and she felt it was bad luck. Why did she keep running into Xu Lin everywhere? Qin Fang rolled her eyes, spat, and turned toward the old furniture.

As she walked, she spoke to her system: "Xiao Qi, take a look and see if there are any treasures in this old furniture."

"One point," the system countered.

"I’m just asking you to help me look. Isn't one point too much? No, no, Xiao Qi, you aren't cute at all anymore. You were the one who said you'd help me make money; how can you charge me points?"

The system scoffed. It was always the one doing the "freeloading," but this host actually wanted to freeload off it? That was never going to happen. "Host, it is you who wants to get rich, not me. If you aren't willing, then forget it." The system was incredibly arrogant; it wasn't the one lacking money. As a system, the only thing it ever lacked was "fate energy."

Qin Fang was fuming. She couldn't help but complain: "It's not like you don't know how hard it is to earn points. Can't you just..."

"No," the system interrupted. "However, I can issue more target missions. As long as you can conquer them, you won't be short of points."

"But didn't you say there's a limit to the number of targets, and that I have to conquer the previous ones before I can move on to new ones?"

System: ...

After a silence, the system retorted, "Host, is there a possibility that you simply cannot conquer those targets, and we have no choice but to abandon them and switch to new ones?"

*Pfft.* Xu Lin bowed her head to hide her smile. She was truly going to die of laughter because of Qin Fang's system.

Qin Fang understood the system's implication: it thought she was too useless, so they had to abandon the previous tasks and start over. But would there be any loss for her? She asked, "Will that have any negative impact on me?"

"Naturally. There is a penalty for abandoning a target, but I will convert the penalty into points and deduct them from the points you earn in the future."

Qin Fang blinked. That didn't seem so bad. After all, if she couldn't conquer those targets, they were just taking up space. With that, Qin Fang agreed to the system's suggestion and rolled up her sleeves, ready for action.

Xu Lin tied up the newspapers she had gathered and moved on to check a pile of old books, all the while continuing to listen to the conversation between Qin Fang and her miserable system.

"You know there are two targets with strong fate energy in your educated youth dormitory, right?"

Qin Fang nodded. "Huang Zishu and Lin Zihao?"

"Correct. Those two have fate energy only slightly inferior to a 'Chosen One.' If you can conquer them, you definitely won't lose out. Then there are Wu Siyu, Fu Yaqin, Zhao Qing, and Zhao Nan; these four women also have decent fate energy. Although not as good as Huang Zishu and Lin Zihao, they are still worth something. Besides these six, that guy Han Hong also has decent fate energy."

The system smacked its lips and hesitated. "Actually, the one with the best fate energy is Xu Lin. If you could conquer her, it would be perfect."

Qin Fang rolled her eyes. "Do you think Xu Lin would have any positive feelings toward me?"

"No," the system replied honestly. It checked Xu Lin’s favorability rating toward Qin Fang; while others were neutral, Xu Lin’s was actually negative. From the initial indifference to the current -20, the system almost wanted to ask why. It decided to drop the subject of Xu Lin; that woman looked too difficult to conquer, so it was better not to waste a slot on her.

"Is there anyone in Wangzhuang Brigade with strong fate energy?" Qin Fang asked. "I feel those country bumpkins should be easy to conquer."

"Them?" The system agreed. "They should be easy to conquer. After all, those bumpkins have limited knowledge and narrow horizons. Besides, two of them have exceptionally good luck: one is the old village chief's grandson, Wang Jingcong, and the other is the brigade leader's youngest son, Wang Jingren. Their fate energy is about the same as Han Hong's. With a little effort, you should be able to win them over."