Chapter 71 System Runs Away After lunch, Cheng Xin leads...

After lunch, Cheng Xin held her mother's hand and talked for a while before reluctantly getting on her bicycle and leaving with Geng Yunye.

The cold wind blew Cheng Xin's bangs onto her temples, revealing her furrowed brows.

Geng Yunye slowed down the car, turned his head and looked at her tightly pursed lips.

"What did you talk about with mom? You didn't look very happy."

"We talked about Chen Ying and Aunt Liu." Cheng Xin stared at the potholes on the road.

Geng Yunye didn't respond and waited for her to continue.

"I asked my mother if it was too harsh to break up with Aunt Liu." Cheng Xin said anxiously, as if she was afraid of being misunderstood. "I'm not speaking for Chen Ying. I feel sorry for the friendship between my mother and Aunt Liu that has lasted from childhood to adulthood. My mother said that I'm the most important to her. She knows Aunt Liu's character, but she can't forgive Chen Ying for scheming against me. The safest thing to do is to cut off contact."

Geng Yunye stopped the car, propped one foot on the ground, turned around and faced her: "Mom must have thought about this decision for a long time." He paused and softened his voice: "Besides, your two families are relatives, it's not like you will never have any contact with each other again."

When Chen Ying's name was mentioned, his tone became a little colder: "At such a young age, she likes to sow discord behind people's backs, is full of lies, and is selfish. The parents who raised such a child are not innocent."

Cheng Xin also stopped the car. It was impossible for her not to be angry at Chen Ying's behavior. If it weren't for the relationship between her mother and Aunt Liu, she would never have let Chen Ying into the house: "I feel sorry for my mother. She has revolved around her family all her life, and now she doesn't even have close friends. I don't know what to do to make her happy."

Geng Yunye's eyes softened, and he patted her shoulder gently: "Friends are not everything in life, Mom knows that." He got on his bike again, and said with a firm tone: "Look, as long as we don't have a quarrel, my brother studies hard, and Dad makes money with the villagers, these can make Mom happy."

Cheng Xin looked at his straight back, and most of the depression in her heart disappeared. She took a deep breath, followed his speed, and her tone became lighter: "Well, you are right, Mom still has me, a caring little cotton-padded jacket."

——

After Chen Ying returned home last year, the system stopped responding.

She originally thought that getting close to Cheng Xin and absorbing her luck would allow the system to recover, but no matter how she tried, the system remained motionless.

It was not until she and her mother were kicked out by the Cheng family that the system's cold prompt tone finally rang in her mind.

"System! What on earth happened?" Chen Ying roared silently in the dilapidated thatched hut: "I was clearly reborn! Why did everything change? Can't you absorb luck?!"

[Illegal intrusion detected, the will of this plane intervenes. The plundered luck value has been forcibly returned. The host's gains from plundering luck value in the previous life have been cleared and deducted. The system has been locked due to illegal operations and will be out of the plane. Deduct 50 points of basic luck from the host as compensation for energy loss.]

Chen Ying was struck by lightning: "Why do you deduct my luck? Give it back to me!" She couldn't accept it, because luck was the capital for her to turn things around!

[Data correction: The host's initial luck value is 60 points, and after deduction, there are 10 points left.]

"No, impossible!" Chen Ying's eyes went dark and she fell down on the dusty mud ground. The dust swept up by her trouser legs made her cough violently.

Only ten points of luck left? That's worse than an ordinary person!

"You are a luck-plundering system! How can you backfire on the host?!"

[Core Agreement: Equivalent Exchange. Providing a second life consumes a high amount of energy, and deducting luck is necessary compensation, including system service costs and the protagonist's luck intervention loss.]

The logic of the system is cold and irresistible. [If you insist on returning the deducted luck value, you can choose to implement the "Life Replacement" plan and immediately send the host soul back to the original plane and the original time point.]

"Go back to the modern era?!" Chen Ying's eyes burst into ecstasy, "I want to go back! Send me back quickly!"

Modern times! The world she was familiar with! High-rise buildings, online delicacies! Leave this damn era! She still had a chance!

[Confirming the life replacement plan...] [Warning: State of the original plane body: highly decayed, structurally collapsed. After the repatriation is executed, the soul will be bound to the body. Do you confirm the execution?]

The ecstasy on Chen Ying's face froze and distorted in an instant, leaving only extreme horror and disbelief.

Go back and become a rotten meat? Staying here only has ten points of luck, which means bad luck. She saw with her own eyes how unlucky she was, and she didn't want to experience a life where drinking a sip of water could send her to the hospital for rescue.

Despair and anger almost tore her apart. She was forced to accept the cruel reality with great reluctance, her teeth clenched: "No deportation."

At least she still has modern memories! She can still rely on this knowledge to become a wealthy woman! She can only comfort herself in this way.

But the reluctance was gnawing at her heart like a poisonous snake. She asked hysterically, "Why is this life so different from the last? Geng Yunye and Cheng Xin only got married this year!"

[Data anomaly analysis: During the execution of the host's first instruction to modify the target Cheng Xin's memory, it was intercepted and traced back by an unknown higher-level force. This force also acted on the associated individual: Geng Yunye.]

[The correlation and mechanism of action are beyond the parsing authority of this system. Supplementary risk warning: The target individual Geng Yunye has locked on to the host's abnormal behavior, threat level: high. Please avoid risks on your own. ]

It was like being poured over her head with a basin of ice water mixed with hot oil! Chen Ying instantly felt like she was falling into an icy cave, her whole body was shaking violently, and her blood seemed to have solidified.

Geng Yunye was reborn like her?! He discovered what she had done to Cheng Xin behind her back!

In the previous life, Geng Yunye's eyes, which were full of violence and murderous intent and wanted to eat her alive, appeared in front of her very clearly! If Cheng Xin hadn't stopped him, he would really kill her! Cold sweat instantly soaked her back, making her tremble violently uncontrollably.

"You can't leave! If you leave, he will definitely kill me!" Chen Ying screamed wildly in her mind, her voice shrill with fear. She frantically called out to the system in her mind as if she was grasping at the last straw, "Help me! You can't leave me!"

[Risk Assessment: Geng Yunye's behavior pattern shows that his core constraint is Cheng Xin. If the host stops violating this constraint, the probability of extreme behavior is less than 5.3%.]

“Cheng Xin!” She cried out, with a kind of despair of sudden enlightenment, “His bottom line is Cheng Xin! It’s Cheng Xin!”

A huge regret engulfed her. If she could still stay with Cheng Xin and pretend to be that good sister, everything would still be possible!

It’s all my fault for being too impatient and greedy.

One wrong step, all wrong!

[Supplementary terms of the core agreement are activated. ]

The system's voice sounded without warning, like a final verdict.

[Based on the host Chen Ying's continuous illegal luck plundering of the key individual Cheng Xin in this plane in the previous life, a total of 90 points, the causal law countermeasure mechanism of this plane has been triggered. The "Luck Debt Settlement Agreement" will be enforced before the system leaves.]

Chen Ying's heart sank suddenly, and a feeling colder than death gripped her throat.

[The agreement is as follows: 1. All the host's future additional luck will be forcibly transferred to Cheng Xin's account. 2. The total amount of repayment is 90 points of luck, which is the total amount of plundered by the host in the previous life. 3. The agreement will last until the debt is settled, and is not restricted by time and space. ]

"No——!" Chen Ying screamed miserably, "You can't do this! That's my future destiny! Why should I give it to her! You want me to be her blood bag!" This is more vicious than killing her, and it is a shackle that will never allow her to turn over.

[Basis of the agreement: Equivalent exchange. Illegal gains must be repaid.]

The logic of the system is cold and ruthless. [Warning: If the host attempts to harm or hinder the development of the target individual Cheng Xin and its core associated individual Geng Yunye in any form, including but not limited to defamation, infringement, indirect guidance, etc., it will be regarded as malicious evasion of repayment obligations. ]

[Punishment measures: Each violation will deduct 10% of the upper limit of luck, and the fine will be included in the total repayment amount. Repeated violations will accelerate the exhaustion of the host's luck and increase the probability of encountering irresistible misfortune, including but not limited to accidental disability, fatal disease, mental breakdown, etc.]

The fear and despair in her heart suffocated her. She couldn't even have the thought of hatred or revenge!

[Ultimate advice: Host Chen Ying. Keep your distance and focus on survival. Paying off debts is the only viable way to survive. Any negative behavior related to Geng Yunye and Cheng Xin is an accelerator of self-destruction. Your future depends on you.]

[System disengagement program starts. Countdown: 3, 2, 1... Connection forced to terminate... Energy recovery completed... The anchor point of this plane is released.]

[Good luck. This is final communication.]

The system's last insincere "Good luck" was like a vicious taunt. The moment the words fell, the last sense of connection with the system in Chen Ying's mind completely disappeared.

The only sounds in the thatched hut were Chen Ying's heavy and desperate breathing and the cold wind whistling outside the window.

She sat there blankly, her eyes empty. All her intense emotions were drained away the moment the system completely disappeared, leaving only a dead ash.

It's over.

It's all over.

The luck and ambition brought by rebirth were completely crushed by the system's final cold declaration and agreement. She lost the system, lost her luck, and shouldered a debt that she could never repay. All the good luck in the future would be nourishment for Cheng Xin, and she didn't even have the qualifications to resent.

A suppressed strange laugh escaped from his throat, growing louder and louder, and finally turned into a howl mixed with sobs.

She thought of Geng Yunye's eyes that saw through everything. Now she finally understood that he didn't crush her to death immediately after his rebirth, perhaps not because Cheng Xin stopped him, but because he saw through that she would end up in a fate worse than death.

Despair was like a cold tide that completely drowned her. Her only way to survive was to stay away from the light of Cheng Xin and Geng Yunye like a rat in the gutter, and repay her debts bit by bit with her life that might always be barren in a corner where no one paid attention.

All the strength in her body was drained away, Chen Ying stopped crying, and pressed her face against the cold and dirty loess wall. Dust covered her face, and she was like a walking corpse, unconscious, staring at the spider weaving a web in the corner with empty eyes, losing all vitality.

Accept your fate.

What else can she do except accept her fate?

——

After the eighth day of the first lunar month, the brigade returned to its former bustle, mainly because the year-end dividends had made everyone taste the sweetness. After finally getting a job that could earn money, after visiting relatives, everyone was waiting to start work, and there was no time to rest.

Before the New Year was over, the workers at the underwear factory were urged to start work quickly, and the aunts went to the brigade every day to inquire about the list of silkworm breeders.

Geng Yunye came home from a meeting in the brigade and brought back good news. The brigade was going to open a literacy class, with an hour of literacy training for young people every night. Anyone who was willing could attend the class, regardless of age or gender, and Cheng Xin would be the teacher.

Cheng Xin was cleaning the table. She was happy to hear the news but also worried: "Can I go to class? I'm a little nervous."

Geng Yunye comforted her: "Don't be afraid, it's as easy as teaching elementary school students."

Cheng Xin tossed and turned in bed, and Geng Yunye reached out and held her in his arms. Her back was against his warm chest, and she listened to his steady heartbeat. Her tense nerves slowly relaxed, and she closed her eyes in peace.

The next day, Geng Yunye took her to the brigade headquarters.

Geng Fang came up to her and led her to an empty room where someone was moving a blackboard, tables, chairs and benches into the room.

"This room will be a literacy classroom in the future. When the new primary school is completed, the literacy class will be moved to the primary school. Students will have classes during the day, and adults will have classes at night." She was gesticulating while talking, with a smile on her face.

Cheng Xin looked at the blackboard and the desks and chairs in the room, and her heart finally settled down. She knew that this was a good opportunity for her to integrate into the group, and she must seize it.

But Cheng Xin was a little curious: "Why don't I see Huang Cai and Wu Kai?" Logically speaking, they have higher academic qualifications than her, so why did this job fall on her?

Geng Fang was wiping the blackboard with a rag. She turned around with round eyes and said, "The team is raising silkworms. Huang Cai and Wu Kai are leading another group of people to learn! They are in the silkworm room from morning till night. They are very busy now."

The silkworm room was set up in Huang Cai and Wu Kai's home. There was nothing wrong with raising silkworms, but a large group of people from the team went in and out of the warehouse every day, moving mulberry leaves and learning techniques. It was very noisy inside and outside the house. After a long time, even the most spacious house seemed cramped.

Cheng Xin’s worry didn’t last long, and it was time for class in the blink of an eye.

After dinner, she stepped into the literacy class classroom. The electric lights illuminated the room as if it were daytime. There were three kerosene lamps placed side by side in the corner, and the wicks were burning.

Geng Fang was standing on the desk pasting a multiplication table on the wall. The paste brush in her hand made crooked marks on the red paper. "Cousin, the classroom is ready. We're waiting for you to start the class."

More than thirty men, women, young and old crowded in front of the desks, their faces filled with a desire for knowledge.

Cheng Xin cleared her throat, picked up the chalk and wrote 1+1=2 on the blackboard, and immediately a buzz of discussion arose from the audience.

"Look carefully," Cheng Xin turned around, "this plus one is like you have a dime in your pocket and put another dime in..."

"I know!" Banben stood up suddenly, "It's twenty cents!" He craned his neck to look around, and seeing that everyone was laughing, he simply puffed out his chest higher, like a crowing rooster.

Cheng Xin pointed to the correct answer on the blackboard and nodded: "Yes! Addition is putting things together, and subtraction is taking things away."

Aunt Wang in the back row said loudly, "I understand now. Yesterday I bought matches and gave the seller ten cents. He gave me five cents in change." She counted with her rough fingers, "Is 1 minus 5 equal to 5?"

Amid the laughter, Geng Fang jumped down from the table, grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote an equation on the blackboard: "Aunt Wang! That's called 10 cents minus 5 cents! 10 cents equals 10 cents, and 10 cents minus 5 cents equals 10 cents minus 5 cents."

Aunt Wang frowned, the wrinkles on her forehead twisted into a knot: "Ten points minus five points, that's five points?"

"That's right!" Geng Fang put the chalk back on the table and winked at Cheng Xin, "I said Aunt Wang was smart and quick to react."

The bell rang for the end of get out of class, and Cheng Xin erased the last equation on the blackboard. The classroom, which had been noisy at first, was now extremely quiet.

Cheng Xin sorted out the lesson plan. She only gave arithmetic problems within ten, which included addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as decimal operations. There were a total of fifty problems, and the students were completely obedient.

Cheng Xin reminded again: "The get out of class is over, everyone can go home and continue working on it."

Geng Fang squeezed through the crowd holding a piece of straw paper, with sweat on her forehead: "Aunt, I've finished writing, please check if it's correct."

Cheng Xin took the rough paper and thought Geng Fang was good at math since it was an elementary school level question. But she got three questions wrong out of twenty.

"Thanks for helping me today." Cheng Xin took the enamel pot handed to her by Geng Fang, drank a sip of hot water, and found that her throat was a little hoarse.

"Why would you help me? I didn't help at all." Geng Fang leaned over to the rough paper, pointed at the wrong questions and smiled foolishly: "I only got three wrong, less than I expected."