Chapter 4: 4. Chapter 4: She Has a System

Chapter 4: She Has a System

The family had no money and no grain. The only way to ensure everyone in the family could eat their fill was to head into the mountains.

However, she was skin and bones, lacking even a shred of strength. Aside from picking wild fruits and vegetables, she wouldn't be able to get even a morsel of meat from the mountains.

Just as Bai Jing was sighing, a sound popped into her mind: *'Ding! A matching host has been detected. Binding system now.'*

*'System binding in progress.'*

*'System binding 1%... 10%... 20%... 90%...'*

Bai Jing was so startled by the voice that she didn't dare move a muscle.

Although she had outlived that scumbag, her life had not been easy. But because she had lived in that advanced era, she knew exactly what a "system" represented.

Not just a system, but spaces, golden fingers—she understood all of these terms.

But she never expected that she would actually obtain a system, something that only appeared in novels.

【System binding 100%. Ding! System binding complete. Congratulations to the host for binding the Pay-to-Win Intelligence System.

The system operates on the principle: "Money is everything; without money, you can do nothing."

Please complete your first capital recharge as soon as possible. If the first recharge is not completed within three days, the system will unbind.

Ding!

Current unbinding countdown: 2 days, 59 hours, 48 minutes...】

Recharge?

Bai Jing was stunned. After all, who would believe that a family of six had not a single cent in savings, even though it was a household with a formal job?

Who would believe such a thing if she told them?

"Hello? Excuse me, how do I recharge this?" Since the system had appeared, Bai Jing waited until she had regained her composure before asking.

*'Ding! Any item of value can be exchanged for the system's internal currency. As long as an item is within one meter of the host, its value can be appraised. Would the host like to proceed?'*

Such a good thing! "Yes, proceed! Proceed!"

*'Ding! Host has insufficient balance. Please recharge as soon as possible.'*

Bai Jing stood there agape, cursing inwardly with quite a foul mouth.

Suddenly, she thought of something and ran quickly to her father's room.

That's right, her parents currently slept in separate beds. Her father slept in a small room behind the main house. Because he couldn't come home to stay even for a single night a month, it was considered an act of kindness from her mother to prepare a room for him.

Bai Jing hadn't come to tidy up for her father, but rather to...

Soon, a silver bracelet and several silver dollars appeared in Bai Jing's hand.

These were things she and her sisters had picked up back in the village, but they had later given them all to their biological father, hoping to earn even a sliver of a smile from him.

Unfortunately, they didn't get a smile; instead, they got a beating.

Since he didn't cherish them, she would take them back for her own use—consider it returning the items to their rightful owner.

With food in hand, one's heart remains calm. Bai Jing whispered inwardly, "Recharge."

She immediately noticed the items in her hand vanish, followed by several *dings* from the system in her mind.

【Detected one high-quality silver bracelet, weight 51 grams. Can be exchanged for 153 yuan, calculated at 3 yuan per gram.】

【Detected four silver dollars, in perfect condition. Can be exchanged for 400 yuan.】

【Host, would you like to recharge the 553 yuan?】

Hearing the amount calculated by the system, a bold idea struck Bai Jing. "System, can the money be withdrawn?"

If, if her guess was correct, then...

Could she go shopping online?

【~~Zzzzz~~】

【Zzz】

"Can I? Don't play dead," Bai Jing said, becoming nervous.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long before the system responded: 【Zzz, system error. Restarting... please wait... restart commencing...】

【Restart complete. The host can withdraw funds, but an 80% handling fee will be charged. Would the host like to proceed with the withdrawal?】

"Damn it."

Bai Jing couldn't help but curse.

Eighty percent? Even Li Jiacheng wasn't that unscrupulous.

"Can't it be less?"

【The handling fee will decrease based on the host's consumption amount. Spend 10,000, fee decreases by 10%; spend 100,000, fee decreases by 50%; spend one million, fee decreases by 80%.】

Bai Jing was dumbfounded. One million? Even in her previous life, she had never had that much in savings.

Heh.

"Recharge." If withdrawing wasn't cost-effective, she might as well just recharge. Wasn't this an intelligence system? Money was supposedly everything. She would test just how "everything" it really was.

【Ding! Recharge successful. Host has obtained 553 yuan in spending power.】

Bai Jing left the back room and headed toward the foot of the mountain. "System, where can I find a wild chicken that I can catch?"

That's right, Bai Jing was using money to buy information. Since this was an intelligence system, it would need intelligence too, right?

【Ding.】

It worked! Bai Jing was thrilled. Standing at the foot of the mountain, she almost jumped for joy, but she managed to restrain herself.

【Three miles ahead, under a tree, there is a wounded wild chicken. The host can catch it. Cost: 10 yuan. Remaining balance: 523 yuan.】

Ten yuan! For just ten yuan, she could get information about a wild chicken. Not only that, there was even a route map in her mind. Haha, worth it! It was so worth it!

Bai Jing hurriedly followed the red line.

Three miles wasn't too far; she could endure it.

The mountain path was bumpy and uneven, but with a wild chicken waiting for her at the end, Bai Jing didn't feel tired at all.

After walking for about half an hour, Bai Jing finally reached her destination.

She immediately saw a wild chicken with a broken leg flapping about.

Though she didn't know how it had been injured, it had given her an opportunity, and she wasn't about to let it go. She lunged forward and pinned it down; the chicken was crushed to death instantly.

There was no helping it; no matter how much it struggled, a wild chicken could not resist a weight dozens of times its own.

Holding the chicken, Bai Jing began to experiment again.

"System, where else is there a wild chicken I can catch?" Her body was currently weak, so she naturally had to look for ones she could overpower. Otherwise, what was the use of knowing if she couldn't win?

【Ding. Deducting 10 yuan. Fifty meters ahead, there is a wild chicken with an injured wing that the host can catch.】

Hearing that another ten yuan would grant her information regarding a wild chicken, Bai Jing was very happy.

Following the route map that appeared in her mind, she soon saw a wild chicken with a broken wing flapping there.

Without a word, she stepped forward and grabbed it. "Haha, good, good, very good! We're having meat tonight!" Bai Jing was extremely excited.

Having only returned a day ago, she was already experiencing a level of hunger she hadn't felt in years; it was truly agonizing.

Looking at the two wild chickens in her hands, the insecurity of her rebirth finally began to settle.

Returning to this era, one really wouldn't have the courage to try living if they didn't have a "golden finger." Fortunately, Heaven had not been unkind to her, sending her a system that only existed in novels.

Once she had the two chickens, she didn't plan to go deeper into the mountains. After all, her current physical state really couldn't handle more exertion.

Instead of wasting effort, she might as well hurry home, stew the two chickens, and nourish herself and her family.

Now that she was someone with a system, she naturally wouldn't let the mouths in her family go hungry.

On the way down the mountain, Bai Jing thought about the system's balance. To get any information, she had to spend money. If she wanted to live a good, prosperous life, the most important thing was to recharge the system.

Without the system's help, all her aspirations would be a hundred times harder to achieve.

Money, just as the system said, was truly indispensable.

*Sigh.*