Chapter 1 Searching for Relatives What parents wouldn't abandon their own child? We'll see...
In the spring of 1990, heavy snow fell and all was silent.
A group of children around ten years old came out of the train station, their faces blasted by the chilly wind.
Standing in front of Beidu Railway Station, they waited in vain for any of their relatives to pick them up. Only the newsstand and lottery shop next to them were still lit up.
Disappointment mixed with acclimatization issues caused the children to start sneezing.
It's so cold! Even though I brought the warm clothes my parents left me, it still feels like I've entered a completely unfamiliar world.
The group has eleven children in total, the oldest being Qiu Xiaoman, who just turned eighteen after the Chinese New Year.
The youngest, Li Yuanyuan, is only twelve years old this year. She was forced into labor by her mother before returning to the city. She is in poor health, and her older brother, Li Tuantuan, took care of her the whole way.
Ironically, this sickly girl was beautiful with delicate features and a fair complexion, which attracted the attention of a lecherous man in the carriage.
That scoundrel followed Li Yuanyuan to the toilet, and barged in as she closed the door, intending to commit a crime.
Hearing the commotion, Qiu Xiaoman rushed over and fought with the thug to protect Li Yuanyuan.
Unexpectedly, the thug had a bottle of liquor in his pocket. He slapped her, causing her head to bleed profusely. Fortunately, the train police arrived in time to prevent a tragedy.
There happened to be a doctor on the bus who was going home to visit relatives. He gave her some basic treatment, but she had been running a fever since the night before last, and it was uncertain whether she could make it to her parents' home in Beidu.
At this moment, her face was flushed red with fever, and her exquisite features were all tinged with a sickly glow. She was both beautiful and haggard, just like a sickly Xi Shi, making passersby unable to take their eyes off her.
There were two other seventeen-year-olds in the group, one of whom was Li Tuantuan. Because Qiu Xiaoman was injured while protecting his sister, he took on the responsibility of taking care of the other children while she was unconscious.
So he suggested, "It's too late today, let's just stay in the waiting room for the night, and go see our parents tomorrow when the snow stops."
Another seventeen-year-old was named Feng Shengnan. She loved to make decisions on her own, but every time she came up with a bad idea, she attracted a lot of complaints along the way. So when she opened her mouth, everyone else covered their ears, not wanting to listen.
But she still said, "Li Tuantuan, what are you thinking? It's snowing so heavily, the waiting room must be so cold. Why don't you find a hotel to stay in for the night? At least there's heating."
"But we only have a limited amount of money, so let's save where we can." Li Tuantuan didn't want to spend money recklessly, and she didn't even know if their parents would accept them.
After all, they hadn't received any response since they wrote the letter to find their relatives.
But they had no choice. Of the eleven children in the group, their adoptive parents had either died, divorced and no longer wanted them, or had encountered an accident and could no longer afford to raise them.
In short, they had no other choice but to come back to their biological parents.
However, they also knew that their biological parents had started new families and might not want them back.
If you really find yourself in a dilemma, having some money on you can give you some breathing room. But if you just recklessly spend your money, who knows what the future holds?
So he still advised, "Let's go to the waiting room. I heard from my friend that there are heating systems in the north. Let's find a place with heating to sit."
Feng Shengnan was unhappy and pouted, saying, "Then you guys go ahead, I can't stand it, I'm going to stay at a hotel, I'm not keeping you company!"
After saying that, she turned to look at the other children: "Is any of you willing to come with me? It's so cold, there aren't even any blankets in the waiting room, and you're all just wearing these cotton-padded coats. Do you want to all end up in the emergency room of the hospital?"
The children looked at each other, and finally two younger ones, a boy and a girl, both around thirteen or fourteen years old and lacking in assertiveness, came out and left with Feng Shengnan.
Li Tuantuan called out to their retreating figures, "With such heavy snow, don't bother. Out of all of us, only Sister Xiaoman is an adult and can check into a proper hotel. You guys can only find shady hotels; be careful not to get scammed."
Feng Shengnan turned around abruptly and cursed, "Who do they think they are? I've been resentful for a long time. Why do you all listen to her? She's only a year older than me, what's so great about her?" As she spoke, she grabbed one of the children's hands and said disdainfully, "Let's go, ignore them. What kind of parents don't want their own children? We'll definitely be able to go home tomorrow, and we won't suffer this injustice! Let them be envious then."
Li Tuantuan couldn't persuade them otherwise, so she had no choice but to lead the other children to the waiting room.
During this time, a man named A Yong suggested buying lottery tickets, but everyone refused.
Ah Yong sat down with a puff of courage, without saying a word.
Li Tuantuan ignored him, carefully helped Qiu Xiaoman sit down, got up to touch the radiator, found the hottest one, and helped Qiu Xiaoman back to it.
"Yuanyuan, check how much brown sugar is left in the bag. I'll go get some hot water for Sister Xiaoman. You guys, don't wander off. Wait for me to come back." Li Tuantuan is now the oldest in the group besides Qiu Xiaoman, so he has to take good care of all the children. But he can't ignore Qiu Xiaoman's life or death, so he can only look at the three sixteen-year-olds, one boy and two girls. It would be more convenient to talk to the boy.
So he pointed to the one who looked bitter and resentful: "A-Yong, you keep an eye on the younger siblings, I'll go get some water. Those of you with water cups, take them out, I'll fill them all at once."
In an instant, all the bottles and jars were stuffed into his arms. Afraid he couldn't carry them all, he simply took the things out of his backpack and placed them on the seat next to him: "Yuanyuan, keep an eye on them."
Li Yuanyuan was already in poor health, and she had already sneezed more than a dozen times and had a runny nose. She quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe her nose and said, "Brother, you go ahead. I'll take good care of Sister Xiaoman."
Hearing the noise, Qiu Xiaoman, still dazed, slightly lifted her eyelids.
The wound on her head still stung, reminding her that she had indeed returned, from that alien continent teeming with birds and beasts, to a world filled with regret and resentment.
Her purpose on this trip was different from the other ten children; they were looking for their biological parents to raise them, but she was there to borrow money from them.
She was admitted to the county high school with the highest score. Her adoptive parents treated her very well and sold everything they owned to support her through high school.
However, her adoptive father broke his leg while working in the south, and her adoptive mother had to beg her to stop going to school because the family simply couldn't afford to support him anymore.
But she wanted to go to school, to finish high school, and to go to university. Her only way was to find her biological parents.
Unfortunately, she was punished by a bottle on the train for her act of bravery. Because the wound was not treated in time and effectively, it caused inflammation, and she eventually died of a high fever in the hotel.
Until her death, her cold-blooded parents never came to see her.
After her death, she went to another world, where her master took her in and made her the youngest disciple of the sect, where she became a powerful beast tamer.
Unfortunately, her obsession remained, preventing her from breaking through the bottleneck and becoming the ultimate beast tamer—Yu Wanling.
After much deliberation, the master had no choice but to send her back, allowing her to rewrite her tragic life and settle scores.
Don't be polite to those parents. Once the resentment is gone, she can go back and try again.
When she left, the entire sect was reluctant to part with her, especially her senior brother who was like a mother and liked to meddle in other people's business. He even claimed that he would come to help her, but she refused. It is unknown whether he listened to her or not and stayed obediently in the other world.
As for her kind-hearted master who took her in, he just smiled silently and watched her step into the wormhole that traversed time and space, sparing with words.
Unfortunately, even her master couldn't control when she returned. Unexpectedly, when she opened her eyes, the world was already collapsing. Her brain was damaged, she still had a fever, and her whole body was weak and sore.
Qiu Xiaoman tried to lift her eyelids, but it didn't work; she was too tired. She had no choice but to close her eyes and think about what to do next.
Just as I was in a daze, a soft, sweet little voice rang in my mind: "Ding, detected that the host hates evil and has a strong will to survive. Request to bind with the host."
"Bound to me? Who are you?" Qiu Xiaoman was weak and could only communicate with her mind.
The system felt a little sorry for her and tried to be gentle, saying, "I'm the gossip-loving system. After binding with you, I can help you acquire lots and lots of good things. You've had a tough past, so you'll definitely cherish me and work hard with me to achieve the top performance, right?"
Qiu Xiaoman had even been to the Beast Spirit Continent, so a small system was easy for her to accept.
She asked curiously, "Your system also has performance targets?"
"Of course! Even the lazy bum system next door has performance indicators, to see who's the best at slacking off and the most like a useless person. As for our gossip-eating system, we generally look at these indicators—the quantity of gossip we eat, the quality of the gossip we eat, and whether we help the gossip owner deal with these troubles after eating the gossip, and whether we can get the gossip owner's praise, etc. In short, just eating gossip isn't enough, you have to participate, punish evil and promote good, and make this world a better place." The system's voice was childish, and by the end, it even had the feel of a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) teenager's enthusiasm.
Qiu Xiaoman asked curiously, "What good things can you help me get?"
The little system was very enthusiastic: "Yes, everything you need is here, from food and drink to daily necessities, fine clothes, money, and jewelry. Come on, bind with me, and I'll guide you through the beginner quests. Then you'll see how good I am."
Qiu Xiaoman smiled and nodded: "Alright, let's bind. But I'm about to die, what are your thoughts?"
"It's okay, there's a newbie gift pack. It will randomly contain a cash gift pack, with an amount between 1 and 9999. As long as you bind your account to me, you can try your luck. Have you thought it through, host?"
Well, nothing is more important than her life. What if she asks for a large sum of money?
You should go to the hospital for proper treatment.
Qiu Xiaoman raised her hand tremblingly and clicked on the empty space in front of her.
"Ding, the open-source version 1.0 of the melon-eating system has been successfully bound. Dig and dig in the huge melon field, watch lots of fun, and eat huge melons."
The little system transforms into a cute little bee, dancing gracefully in the virtual interface.
Qiu Xiaoman thought to herself that this was quite in line with the busy image of a gossip-loving person, but what did this open-source version mean?
She was a little curious, and the little system explained: "The open-source version means that in the future, if you need any function, you can try to edit and input it yourself. As long as the God Space accepts the application, it can load the extension package and let you use the function you need."
"That's great!" Qiu Xiaoman was relieved. "Alright, from today onwards, we're sisters despite having different fathers and mothers. By the way, you're a female lineage holder, right?"
The little system blushed and said, "I don't have a gender yet. The host can set it himself because I'm an open-source system."
"Okay, you can be a girl then." Qiu Xiaoman found the interface and set the gender for her system.
He also married a woman with a nickname – Little Honey.
The little system blushed: "What a...so cute name."
Of course! Just look at her soft, sweet voice. How could she not be cute?
Qiu Xiaoman quickly opened the newbie gift pack. A golden light flashed across the system interface, and a number that pleased her appeared—6666.
Not bad. Even in 1990, more than six thousand yuan was a huge sum of money.
But she was too weak to do anything right now, and it was snowing outside, so she decided to wait for Li Tuantuan to come back.
She took the opportunity to check the rewards for watching the gossip. In short, the same gossip had three levels of rewards: basic reward, understanding; intermediate reward, helping; and advanced reward, solving.
Of course, if the person who posted the melon praised her afterwards, it means they gave her a positive review, which will trigger an extra positive review reward.
The quality of the prizes increases progressively, and there are even cash rewards.
For example, if she helps catch a thief, the system will reward her with 10,000 yuan; if she catches a criminal who commits intentional assault, the reward will increase to 50,000 yuan; and if she catches a murderer, the reward will be 100,000 yuan!
As for the serial killer, there was a reward of a full 500,000!
How wonderful! Quickly overwhelm her with cash!
Thinking about this, a bold idea flashed into Qiu Xiaoman's mind.
She quickly entered her organizational search requirements into the open-source system, and surprisingly, the God Space agreed, considering she was a novice.
The first use is free, and soon a map search and navigation system is loaded.
Qiu Xiaoman entered two keywords: police dog.
The next second, the names and coordinates of more than a dozen police dog training bases popped up on the screen.
There's one in Beidu, and it's quite large.
Qiu Xiaoman breathed a sigh of relief. Great! She decided to give it a try and become a trainer or something.
As for university, why bother with the exams? Hurry up and earn money to send back to your adoptive mother to support your family. It wasn't easy for her to raise you; you should know how to be grateful.
Just then, Li Tuantuan returned, and Qiu Xiaoman quickly struggled to call out, "Tuantuan, you stay here and watch the children. I'll go find a hospital to get an IV drip."
Li Tuantuan was startled and quickly came over to touch her forehead: "Your fever hasn't gone down yet, I'll go with you."
"No, you stay. We can't do without you here." Qiu Xiaoman didn't know how much it would cost to go to the hospital, so she couldn't generously invite everyone to stay at a hotel.
She had no choice but to find someone who kept quiet to go with her. She looked at the girl with thick-rimmed glasses and smiled weakly, "A-Yue, come with me."
In the end, even the bitter and resentful A Yong was pushed out by Li Tuantuan: "I'm worried about two girls walking alone at night. You come with them and meet up here after you see the doctor."
At the same time, Feng Shengnan and her two companions were refused entry by legitimate hotels and had no choice but to go to unlicensed motels.
The shop owner took the money and let the three of them share a room. After they left, he picked up the phone and called a human trafficker: "Hey, brother, I have three minors here, two girls and one boy. Want to come and take a look?"
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