Chapter 012: Why Don't You Rob?

This lunch was truly a satisfying one.

Soaking the beans would take a considerable amount of time, and they would need to be ground into tofu in the evening, leaving no time for proper sleep. Therefore, Zhuang Qingning decided to take Zhuang Qingsui to sleep.

"Sister," Zhuang Qingsui said, laying in bed with a furrowed brow. "Those beans...Are you sure they will be okay without us watching over them?"

"The beans will soak up the water on their own, there's no need to keep an eye on them continuously."

"But, sister, you said this morning that we could make even tastier tofu. I noticed Aunt Wen looked upset, almost angry. What if she is resentful and sabotages our beans in order to prevent us from making good tofu?"

Zhuang Qingsui sat up, "Why don't I go guard the pot of soaking beans? It will put my mind at ease."

"You're going alone? Wait, are you not afraid of Aunt Wen anymore?" Zhuang Qingning teased, laughing.

"Scared..." Zhuang Qingsui shrunk back at the mention, "But..."

Even if she was scared, she had to go. Protecting the beans for Zhuang Qingning's tofu was her top priority.

"Alright, alright." chuckling at Zhuang Qingsui's anxious yet determined look, Zhuang Qingning hugged her sister's neck, "Just trust me, Aunt Wen wouldn't do such a thing."

"Aunt Wen may have a bad temper and appear intimidating, but in all these years, have you ever heard of Aunt Wen sabotaging anyone? Or shortchanging anyone while selling tofu?"

Zhuang Qingsui shook her head.

Honestly speaking, over the years, she only heard about Aunt Wen's toughness and foul mouth. She had never heard of her being underhanded in her business.

Zhuang Qingning explained, "Craftsmen always strive to improve their skills. When they encounter something better than what they can make, they seek to learn from it. Aunt Wen is no exception. Knowing that someone could make better tasting tofu, she naturally would want to see and taste it for herself to figure out the secret of making it."

"Didn't you notice that Aunt Wen's eyes lit up when I mentioned that we could make better tofu? She was so eager to try the tofu we are going to make."

"So, go to sleep at ease, Aunt Wen won't sabotage us."

After hearing Zhuang Qingning's explanation, Zhuang Qingsui found it reasonable and laid down peacefully.

Children get tired quickly. In the past, she was always busy working all the time under Zhuang Ruman and Mrs. Song, never getting enough sleep. Now, being allowed to sleep as much as she wanted, she quickly dozed off after lying down.

Seeing Zhuang Qingsui's even breathing, Zhuang Qingning softly called out a couple of times. Getting no reaction, she quietly left the bed, exited the room, and entered the courtyard.

The courtyard, now free of weeds and desolation, was perfectly neat. Zhuang Qingning pulled up a homemade bench and sat in the yard, basking in the warm and comforting sunlight. However, she didn't have the luxury to enjoy the leisure time as she was busy summoning Xiaowu.

[Host, what can I do for you?]

How many hardworking points do I have now?

[Host, you currently have 9 hardworking points. Deducting 1 point needed for the normal operation of the system, you have a remaining 8 points. The items you can exchange are listed as follow. Since the host has not yet solved the subsistence problem, you can enjoy a discount if you exchange for clothing and bedding now...]

Wait a moment?

She worked all day yesterday, and she only earned 8 points, all of which were used to exchange for items. This morning, she had already gained 9 points. How is this possible?

[The number of hardworking points are determined by all factors of the work done by the host. In addition to normal labor like cooking and cleaning up the tofu workshop, the host's activities such as planning for the future, preparing for preliminary negotiations, which are for the purpose of winning more hardworking points in the future, can also generate hardworking points.]

So...

In the future, I can just lay there daydreaming and generate a large number of hardworking points to exchange for all kinds of things, and thus reach the peak of my life?

[Host, wake up.]

[In terms of planning for the future and aimless daydreaming, the system can make precise judgments. Host, please do not harbor illusions about exploiting system bugs.]

Fine then.

It seems this system, which has suffered from the harshness of society, doesn't allow her any loopholes to exploit.

Zhuang Qingning shrugged, then looked over the list of exchangeable items. In addition to daily food, bedding, indeed, there was a discount. The most common coarse cloth spring outfit only required 2 hardworking points, and a regular thickness quilt needed only 4 hardworking points. However, because it was a discount deal, it could only be exchanged once.

[In order to prevent the host from being suspected in this world and exposing the existence of the system, the clothing and bedding prepared by the system have been made to look old and unremarkable. Host, please feel free to redeem.]

That's considerate...But...

Hey, Xiaowu, do you have any secret tofu-making recipes or something?

In her previous life, Zhuang Qingning, living in the modern era, was very interested in traditional crafts, especially tofu making. She had researched the process in detail and had even tried her hand at the craft. After reincarnating, during the New Year period, Mrs. Song would have Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui make tofu. They were quite skilled at it.

With the skills she possessed, she could make decent tofu. However, she could not be sure that the tofu she would produce would be awe-inspiringly delicious or even able to compete with Aunt Wen's.

If she wanted to use tofu making as a way to pave a rich future, the tofu she initially made must have an absolute competitive edge. For this, Xiaowu's ability was required.

After all, didn't a certain system claim to be super capable?

[Yes, there's a basic tofu production recipe. Once redeemed, it will unlock the basic tofu production secret recipe.]

[So…Host, before you made this bet with Aunt Wen, you didn't have any certain winning tactic and just said things without thinking?]

His host was extremely bold, wasn't she?

Well, it's not entirely without basis. There's a little bit to it, but to be 100% sure, it's always better to be safe.

Moreover, if the host does everything, won't it make you, the system, appear useless?

[...It's the first time I've ever seen a host depict reliance on the system in such a refreshing way.]

This can be attributed to me being your first host. Once you have more hosts, you'll find out that there are all kinds of hosts! (Serious face)

[Alright, let's not talk about that. There is a basic tofu production recipe, but... um... the price for redemption is 666 hardworking points.]

Isn't that a heist?

Zhuang Qingning rolled her eyes prominently.

By her current rate of earning hardworking points, even if she earned 10 points a day, it would take over two months. If she waited until she had amassed that many hardworking points before redeeming the tofu recipe, the golden opportunity would have already passed.