Chapter 167: The 999th Registered Member (Bonus Chapter for everyone who donated)

Pan Feng looked at the communication number on his wristwatch and mentally complained: This old lady Gu is too ruthless, isn't she?

Membership in the Ninth Forum is extremely valuable. Even as a C-level member, he only has the authority to invite three people to join each year. Yet this old lady is taking up one of his invitation slots for such a trivial matter!

But he didn't dare to object. If he had known this would happen, he would have just given out the spots directly. Why did he have to spend 5,000 points and 1 million silver coins?

It is said that old people are shrewd and cunning. This old lady was indeed cunning. She first revealed that she wanted to win a reward for her friend. After he made a promise, she added the most important bargaining chip, causing him to lose both his wife and his money!

But who could he afford to offend? Who could he blame but the patrol team he hired for being so incompetent, allowing a second-tier mutated grassland wolf pack to slip through their net and not be discovered and wiped out in time? And to make matters worse, the old lady's friend ran into them.

If this had happened to an ordinary poor person, he would have given them some hush money afterward and let it go. But with Old Madam Gu, he wouldn't dare to suppress it even if he had ten lives.

Thinking of this, District Chief Pan reluctantly transferred the money and then sent out invitation codes.

Zuo Shan listened to Old Madam Gu bargaining with the person on the other end of the phone, and it sounded like she was trying to get benefits for her. She couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

Originally, Lele felt she already owed Madam Gu a favor, but she didn't expect that Madam Gu had simply overused her supernatural abilities and fainted today, so Lele made a big fuss and ran to ask for help.

Then, in a rather muddled way, it turned into the old lady extorting money from management on her behalf, which is really... hard to explain.

Zuo Shan was startled when his wristwatch quickly sent him a notification that one million silver coins and five thousand points had been credited to his account. He was surprised that the reward had arrived so quickly.

A few seconds later, another link and an invitation code of more than ten characters were sent. She looked at Madam Gu with a puzzled expression.

"What are you waiting for? Quickly click the link and then enter this invitation code as prompted."

"Remember, you can't copy and paste the invitation code; you have to enter it one symbol at a time," said Madam Gu.

"May I ask what this invitation code is for?" Zuo Shan asked curiously.

"Eh? Old man, have I never told this girl about the Ninth Forum?" Madam Gu turned to look at her old housekeeper.

"I don't recall, but I'm old and my memory isn't very good anymore. Maybe you said I forgot?" the old butler said, squinting his cloudy eyes.

"Never mind, I'll just repeat myself from the beginning."

This Ninth Forum is a membership-based forum with very strict membership management. You are only eligible to register and use it if you receive an invitation code from a member at level C or above.

I was originally allowed to send out invitation codes, but for a while people kept bothering me with these codes, so I permanently disabled the invitation function.

Ahem! Unfortunately, this operation is irreversible, so I no longer have the authority to do so. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked Xiao Pan for a spot.

As for the specific benefits of becoming a member of this forum, you can find out for yourself after registering and logging in.

"Yawn! It's very late, I'm sleepy, I'm going home to sleep, see you tomorrow!" Old Madam Gu said goodbye while yawning.

Pan Duole escorted her and the old housekeeper to the gate and wanted to see them all the way home, but the two old people chased them back.

Zuo Shan thought that Old Madam Gu wouldn't try to scam her, so she clicked on the link Pan Feng had sent, and then a message appeared:

"Please enter the invitation code! Note: Please enter it carefully. The invitation code will expire if you enter it incorrectly three times in a row, or if you fail to complete the registration within half an hour."

Left fan:......

This forum is ridiculously overbearing! Why doesn't it just make it so that you have to pay a million to join?

Unfortunately, she had to type it out carefully, one character at a time, and luckily, she passed on her first try.

Then the next page appeared: "Please pay a deposit of 1 million silver coins to become a registered member of the Ninth Forum."

Left Fan: Isn't this a scam platform?

On the other side, Madam Gu and the old butler strolled leisurely home. The old butler said, "Arong, did you deliberately not tell her about the one million deposit beforehand?"

"Haha! You guessed right! Ah Zhong, do you want to make a bet with me and guess whether she can successfully register tonight?" Old Madam Gu laughed mischievously.

"You! You've lived for hundreds of years, why are you still teasing a little girl who has just come of age?" the old steward sighed.

“I’m willing, is that not allowed?” said Madam Gu.

"Fine, fine, all the people in this world who could control you are long gone. You can still do whatever you want!" the old butler said helplessly, his tone full of indulgence.

As night fell, the two elderly people walked further and further away, while Zuo Shan hesitated for a few minutes before decisively transferring one million.

It wasn't that she didn't care about the million, but no matter how she thought about it, she felt that Madam Gu had no reason to cheat her. Besides, the old lady had just extorted a million from the management for her, so she decided to just pretend she had never seen the money.

On the other side, Pan Feng, who was wide awake and full of hope that someone would be tempted by money, was also waiting for them to give up their registered membership on the Ninth Forum.

After sending out the invitation code, he used his status as the highest administrator of District 48 to check information about the owner of that communication number.

Zuo Shan's information is very simple: he was born in District 50 and was an orphan whose parents died. His only adopted brother married into the Lin family's small shop in District 49 more than half a year ago.

She had just given birth; both mother and child were ordinary people.

The hospital records were very simple, only showing her admission time and the child's birth time. Coincidentally, Madam Gu was also injured and hospitalized that day.

The two had no prior connection. The old lady's help to her must have come from their encounter during her hospitalization due to her injury, and they likely hit it off.

After all, this old lady had an eccentric personality, and no one could be sure of her preferences. Countless people had tried to please her in the past, but all had failed.

An orphan from District 50, even if she has some little-known special characteristics, her background determines her perspective. Pan Feng bets that she would not give up a million silver coins for a vague membership!

Even if you remove the two zeros from this number, it's enough to make any scavenger in District 50 take the risk.

However, he was destined to be disappointed.

"Ding-dong!" The watch beeped, and a message appeared after tapping it:

"Your invitation code has been successfully registered. Your invitation codes for this year are all used up. Please wait for the next year's invitation code quota."

Pan Feng: ...

On the other side, a message appeared on the wristwatch on the left: "Congratulations on becoming the 999th registered member of the Ninth Forum!"

Since the lucky number 999 was drawn in advance by the forum founder, Mr. Red Fox, your deposit for this registration will be fully refunded.

Furthermore, you will receive the bonus of skipping the lowest level, F, and being directly promoted to level E membership. Congratulations! Double happiness!

Seeing the transfer notification on his wristwatch, along with the room full of bright red lanterns and the holographic projection of the four golden characters "Double Happiness" falling down, Zuo Shan was dumbfounded!

The forum administrator must be a prankster lunatic, right? First, he deducts a million from your account, then returns it, and he secretly hides in the shadows, enjoying the emotional ups and downs of others to entertain his twisted mind.