Chapter 16: Wanton Wastefulness

After a full day of work, Ning Hua felt as if her waist was about to break.

Her task today was weeding, with a full work score of six points.

Having never done farm work before, Ning Hua felt hopeless about the future, especially since it was only the year 1975.

"Ning Ning, are you too tired from work today? How about your mother goes tomorrow and you stay home..." Su Qiuxin looked at Ning Hua's sunburned rosy face, filled with worry.

"I'm fine," Ning Hua replied with a glance that silenced Su Qiuxin from saying more.

It wasn’t that she wanted to rest at home, but living in a rural environment, she couldn’t afford to stand out too much.

After drinking half a bowl of sweet potato soup, Ning Hua put down her bowl and went back inside.

Hao Hua looked at the oily, fishy-smelling greens left untouched on the table by Ning Hua and swallowed his saliva with envy, lowering his head to drink his somewhat thick sweet potato soup.

Even so, he hated Ning Hua and her mother fiercely.

There was clearly meat at home, but they never let him eat it. He saw everything.

Without Ning Hua, Su Qiuxin barely ate dinner either, still worried about her daughter.

Night fell.

The entire Hua family was shrouded in darkness.

The door to Ning Hua’s room quietly opened.

A slender, fragile figure tiptoed out of the Hua home, swiftly heading toward the mountain behind the village.

She ran all the way to the edge of the deep forest before slowing her pace.

“Damn it! Why do I have to run into the deep mountains in the middle of the night for some glitch task?” Ning Hua muttered in frustration as she aimlessly searched.

She had planned to sleep early tonight, but the constant beeping of the system in her mind woke her up.

Then she saw the latest bug task flashing with a red warning exclamation mark.

If it weren’t for the reward attached to the task, Ning Hua wouldn’t have come out to suffer in the middle of the night.

The reward was too tempting!

Completing this bug task would unlock the game’s marketplace.

Thinking of the dazzling goods and her previously accumulated vast amount of game currency, Ning Hua gritted her teeth and pressed deeper into the mountains.

“What’s with this coordinate? Why does the dot keep jumping east then west?” she complained, following the small red dot on the mental map, stumbling forward.

After walking east for a while, the red dot suddenly jumped to the other side on the map, making Ning Hua furious.

“This won’t do. If the dot keeps moving, I’d be exhausted and still find nothing,” she muttered, leaning against a tree, panting.

“Oh well, if I can’t finish this task, then so be it. Once my game account recovers to level thirty, the marketplace will open anyway. I can wait longer if needed.”

At that moment, Ning Hua completely forgot that without completing the bug task, her game account wouldn’t level up.

She sat down on the ground, took two meat buns from her game inventory, devoured them, then casually pulled out an apple to munch on.

Halfway through the apple, she glanced at the map in her mind and saw the red dot moving closer!

“What’s going on?” she murmured, swallowing the apple, staring at the map in astonishment.

Was this an unexpected stroke of luck?

Ignoring the unfinished apple, a smile spread across her face as she cautiously scanned her surroundings.

This was thanks to her night vision unaffected by darkness.

Otherwise, no reward could have tempted her to come to the deep mountains at night.

“Crack!”

The sound of a twig snapping reached her ears.

She quickly hid behind a tree, breathing lightly, blending into the night.

Heavy footsteps rustled closer.

As a strong scent of blood wafted toward her nose, Ning Hua guessed the person must be seriously injured.

If not for the wildly pulsing red dot on her map, she would have already unleashed her “Flying Flower Leaf Thorn” on the figure.

Even so, though this was her mission target, she didn’t reveal herself.

Better safe than sorry.

This was a lesson learned from years of gaming.

After all, to become the revered and legendary Mumu大神, known to all on gaming forums, she had to be cautious and meticulous.

“Thud!”

A muffled grunt as the figure hit the ground made Ning Hua frown suspiciously.

What a coincidence!

Her task came close to her, then suddenly passed out without a sound?

If there was no foul play, Ning Hua would gladly have her game character’s neck cleaned and be ready to be slain.

Hmph! Trying to fool a seasoned gamer like her? Impossible!

She waited patiently for nearly ten minutes.

As for how she kept time, of course, she had a cheat — the game account page displayed the date and time, a pleasant surprise.

Though the date wasn’t from her current year, the time was accurate.

Ning Hua stepped out from behind the tree, moving quietly toward the fallen man.

At a glance, her pupils suddenly dilated.

It was him!

She frowned and took two steps back.

She knew well the caution and care this man exhibited.

Even when she deliberately made her footsteps heavier retreating, the man on the ground remained motionless, easing her tension a bit.

For her safety, a stick appeared in her hand out of nowhere.

She poked the man with it.

“Hey!”

“Are you unconscious or dead?”

“No response? Could you really be done for?”

“Tsk tsk! What a waste! Such a perfect face, gone so young. Such a pity!”

She squatted before him, her eager hand just about to touch his cool cheek when a large hand suddenly grabbed hers.

“Who... exactly... are you?” The man opened his deep, dark eyes, shooting a sharp and fierce gaze at Ning Hua, his voice weak but cold as he interrogated her.

“Heh—”

Ning Hua wasn’t surprised by her predicament.

She chuckled lightly, her eyes sparkling as she looked into his ink-black eyes, as if holding the vast universe.

She thought silently: indeed, these eyes are the perfect finishing touch.

“Speak!” The man seemed to notice the admiration in her eyes, his ears reddened, and he growled through clenched teeth.

“If you hold me like this, do you think I’d honestly tell you who I am?” Ning Hua mischievously shook her fingers trapped in his grip.

The man hadn’t expected her reply and instinctively tried to loosen his hold.

But suddenly remembering something, his expression turned icy, and he gripped her hand even tighter.

Then, unexpectedly, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His grasp on Ning Hua’s hand weakened and fell away helplessly.