Chapter 9

Lin Nanzhi looked left and right, thinking that she really needed a computer. Seeing that the store had quite a few, she stepped inside.

She scanned the store and noticed that it was large but eerily quiet—besides the owner, there was no one else. Her guard went up as she eyed the shopkeeper warily.

Could this be some kind of human trafficking front?

The shopkeeper, seemingly oblivious to her suspicions, enthusiastically pulled out several tablet computers and recommended them to her.

“Young lady, take a look at these. They’re brand new—top quality, stylish design, and the best configurations. And the best part? They’re super cheap!”

Lin Nanzhi: “…”

Aren’t these the same models she had criticized before?

A strange feeling crept into her heart, but the shopkeeper’s enthusiasm was relentless, so she had no choice but to take a look.

None of the computers were from brands she recognized. Other than a ginkgo leaf logo, there was no other branding. Their configurations were indeed top-tier, and they all came in white—her favorite color.

As for the price, she took a quick glance and was shocked—it was absurdly cheap, only 800 yuan. That made her even more suspicious. She instinctively took a step back, ready to leave at any moment.

Noticing her hesitation, the shopkeeper’s wife quickly grabbed her hand and enthusiastically added, “Young lady, I promise you, buying a computer here means no losses and no regrets! If you pay in full today, I’ll even throw in a brand-new phone worth 200 yuan, complete with a SIM card preloaded with 100 yuan in credit.”

At this point, Lin Nanzhi couldn’t help but silently roast: Boss, won’t you go broke doing business like this?

Before she could react, she suddenly heard—

“I’ve packed everything up and received the payment. Thanks for your business!”

Wait, what?!

Lin Nanzhi was dumbfounded. She had no idea when the owner had taken 800 yuan from her pocket, nor when the items had been packed. By the time she came to her senses, the computer bag was already in her hand, and the shopkeeper was ushering her out the door.

Outside, she instinctively checked her wallet—sure enough, 800 yuan was gone.

But as she looked down, she froze.

Her twelve-year-old hands were pale, but not particularly pretty—every winter, they would swell and develop frostbite. That, however, was not the main issue. The real problem was that, at some unknown point, a red jade ring had appeared on her thumb.

Ever since she encountered that old lady, everything had felt eerie.

When did she put this on?

She reached up to remove it, but it wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, she even tried biting it, only to hurt her teeth while the ring remained unscratched.

Not wanting to risk breaking a tooth, she gave up and looked around. Spotting a stone post nearby, she walked over and raised her hand, preparing to smash the ring against it.

Just as she was about to strike, someone grabbed her wrist.

She looked up to see a middle-aged man, around forty, with a receding hairline and a bit of a beer belly. He had a cheerful expression and said, “Young lady, you just bought a computer, didn’t you?

That’s my wife’s store! We’re running a promotion—buy a computer and get a free lottery ticket. Want to give it a try?”

Before she could respond, the chubby store owner dragged her back inside.

There was a high threshold at the entrance, and Lin Nanzhi tripped over it. Luckily, the shop was small, and the counter was just a step away, so she ended up leaning against it rather than falling to the ground.

“Didn’t hurt yourself, did you?

I’m telling you, tripping at the entrance of a lottery shop is actually lucky! It means leaving bad luck behind. Whatever you buy, you’ll succeed! Want to give it a go?”

This couple was really something else.

Still, ever since she met that old lady, everything in her life had felt both eerie and strangely convenient.

As a novel writer herself, Lin Nanzhi naturally read a lot of stories and was familiar with all kinds of tropes. She couldn’t help but wonder—had she somehow gained a “golden finger” after being reborn?

“Wanna try?”

“Alright, tell me a string of numbers,” the shopkeeper prompted.

The double-color ball lottery!

This one was tricky.

It required picking seven numbers—six red ones and one blue. To win the grand prize, all seven had to match. The second prize required matching the six red numbers. The third prize required matching five red numbers and the blue one, and so on. The grand and second prizes varied in amount, while the lower-tier prizes had fixed payouts.

She thought for a moment and said, “12, 12, 18, 27, 11, 05, 02.”

12 for the current year and month, 18 for the store number she just saw, 27 for today’s date, 11 and 05 for the time on the clock, and 02 for her birthday.

“Alright! How many tickets?”

“Hmm… 88.”

Eight was a lucky number—symbolizing wealth!

She had always had bad luck, so she didn’t expect to win anything.

The shopkeeper quickly printed out the tickets and handed them to her. When she reached for her wallet, he waved her off.

“This is a promotional giveaway—it’s on the house.”

With that, Lin Nanzhi walked out, carrying her newly purchased computer, free phone, and free lottery tickets.

As she walked down the street, she didn’t even bother checking the items she had spent only 800 yuan on. Instead, she kept staring at the red jade ring on her finger.

The ring was an intense shade of red, like fresh blood, with no impurities. It was so glossy that it almost looked wet. Although she knew nothing about jade, she could tell at a glance that this ring was worth a fortune.

And so, she kept staring at it all the way home.

When she arrived, Lin Nanxun wasn’t there—probably out playing at a friend’s house. Their father was also absent.

Only then did she temporarily set aside the ring mystery. Looking at the time, she saw it was just before noon. She made herself a bowl of instant noodles, then unwrapped the computer and prepared to insert the SIM card—only to realize that there was no slot for it.

She checked the computer bag and found an instruction manual. Following the steps, she turned on the computer and installed the SIM card in the phone instead, then connected it to the internet.

Lin Nanzhi: “?!!”

Technology was already this advanced?

She glanced at her old phone—a simple device that could only make calls and play games like Sokoban and Snake. Might as well give it to Lin Nanxun since she had a new smartphone now.

She transferred all her contacts to the new phone, updated her QQ login, and then opened her novel-writing platform to continue her story.

A week ago, her novel had been approved for a contract on the second day of submission. The platform stats were decent, with over a thousand readers urging her to update. By the end of the month, she would have earned back the cost of the computer and then some.

As a newbie author, her base pay was only 20 yuan per 1,000 words. With 100,000 words written, that totaled 4,000 yuan, plus revenue from paid readers—split 70/30.

Indeed, this era was more profitable than the future, where it was hard to stand out.

She sat on the sofa, typing away until she had saved 8,000 words. As the sky darkened, she finally stopped to cook. Just as she started the rice cooker, Lin Nanxun returned. Seeing the new computer and phone, he was thrilled but only asked to borrow them rather than demanding ownership.

Lin Nanzhi agreed readily and even gave him the old phone.

That night, their father went to the Wang family’s house. Apparently, Wang Zi’s father had returned and felt guilty about what had happened, so he invited Lin’s father for dinner.

Lin Nanzhi scoffed.

If he really felt guilty, why wasn’t she invited?

It was obvious—her father was a kind-hearted man who never refused to help others. By inviting him, the Wang family was just trying to smooth things over.

She understood but had no interest in playing along.

She had no intention of ever seeing Wang Zi again.