Chapter 25: An’an’s System

A piece of news set the whole village buzzing in the middle of the night.

Only the source of the news was quiet.

Bai Ruojiao came out of the bathroom and saw Zhao Sihai, who had also finished tidying up, wiping his hands as he walked out of the kitchen.

“I left some hot water for you. Go wash up quickly. You have to report to work tomorrow. Get some rest early.”

The west wing had been converted into a bathroom and toilet.

But they didn’t build a latrine. They just hung up a curtain to separate a large and a small dung bucket.

Anyway, the village had a dung collector who came to collect it regularly.

Zhao Sihai nodded as he took off his clothes, “Okay, you go to sleep early too. You’ve been tired all day.”

Bai Ruojiao yawned and waved her hand as she entered the main room.

She was indeed tired.

An’an was already sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep.

Many children had come to squat at the door today, and An’an had been playing with a group of children, accompanied by Fang Jingguo.

Since he was better, Bai Ruojiao didn’t bother him.

She smiled and walked over.

An’an suddenly waved his little fist and mumbled, “Don’t make noise, beat you…”

He turned over and continued to sleep.

Bai Ruojiao thought she had woken him up and couldn’t help but laugh. She softened her footsteps.

The next day, Bai Ruojiao was woken up by An’an.

She opened her eyes and found that it was already bright.

She quickly turned her head. Zhao Sihai had already gotten up, she didn’t hear any movement outside, so he must have already gone to the commune.

She quickly sat up.

She didn’t have a watch, so she didn’t know what time it was.

She had planned to get up early to make breakfast and lunch for Zhao Sihai, but she had overslept.

She looked down and saw An’an snuggling into her arms, and she lifted the blanket in confusion.

“An’an, what’s wrong?” Seeing that An’an was awake, his grape-like eyes were darting around, as if he was a little scared.

An’an quickly pulled up the blanket, hugged her waist, and only showed his little head.

He whispered nervously, “Mom, there’s a ghost.”

Bai Ruojiao couldn’t help but laugh. She thought he was remembering the rumors about the house.

She helplessly pulled him out and patted his little head.

He was sweating profusely.

“An’an, there’s really no ghost. It’s all made up, fake.”

But An’an hugged her even tighter, shaking his head like a rattle, clinging to her as if he was afraid she would disappear.

Seeing his red eyes, Bai Ruojiao couldn’t help but frown. She was a little worried and didn’t know how to comfort him.

She sighed, pulled the little guy out of the blanket, held him in her arms, and gently patted his back.

“Did you see a ghost, An’an?”

An’an paused, buried his head in her arms, and shook his head.

Bai Ruojiao couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s it. You didn’t see it, so there’s no ghost.”

But An’an raised his head, his little face pale, “But An’an heard the ghost talking.”

Bai Ruojiao was even more helpless, “It was just a dream. It’s gone when you wake up.”

“No.” An’an started to snuggle into her arms again, “Just now, just now it was still talking.”

Bai Ruojiao was stunned, “Who was talking? Did you hear someone talking outside?”

The house wasn’t soundproof. If someone passed by and spoke loudly, they would definitely hear it.

“No, it was the ghost.” The little guy directly reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck.

Bai Ruojiao was choked and couldn’t breathe. She quickly pulled him down and hugged him, patting his back soothingly, “Okay, what did it say?”

The little guy thought of something, his face turned even paler, and tears started to fall uncontrollably.

Seeing the little guy crying in fear, Bai Ruojiao felt both heartache and anger. She didn’t know who had told An’an all these crazy things.

“An’an, don’t be afraid. Even if there’s a ghost, Mom can drive it away. Don’t be afraid.”

But An’an sobbed, “That, that ghost, it said, it’s Mom’s friend, woo woo woo, Mom, is the ghost, going to take you away, woo, Mom, don’t leave, woo woo…”

Bai Ruojiao was stunned. Finally, she realized something was wrong.

She furrowed her brow, no longer caring if she would scare An’an.

“Is… that what the ghost said? Where did it say it? Did it say who it is?”

Her first thought was, could there really be a ghost?

They say children have weak yang energy, so they can indeed see some unclean things.

But An’an’s next sentence made her grip tighten.

“It, it said its name is Xue Shen… Thief.”

‘It’s the Xue Shen System! Xue Shen System, not a thief!’ The system was furious.

The little guy jumped in fright and burrowed into her arms again, “Ah, the ghost is talking again, woo woo, Mom, it’s scary.”

Bai Ruojiao was knocked backward and quickly propped herself up with her hand, holding the little guy’s shoulder with the other.

But at this moment, something flashed through her mind. Suddenly, she had an epiphany, and her eyes became hot. She quickly asked,

“An’an, is it called the Xue Shen System?”

As soon as she asked, An’an stopped moving and then raised his head, looking at his mother with tearful eyes, accusingly.

“Yes, An’an didn’t say anything wrong.”

Seeing his aggrieved and cautious look, Bai Ruojiao thought about his previous words and her face darkened.

“Did it scold you?”

An’an pouted and was about to continue complaining.

‘Wait, when did I scold you? I didn’t scold you at all. Don’t tell her I scolded you, or I’ll, I’ll… As long as you don’t tell her, I’ll give you delicious little cakes.’

The system went from being aggressive to deflated like a punctured balloon.

It was clear how afraid it was of Bai Ruojiao.

But it was true. The little system was just a ‘newborn’ first-generation system. It had been with Bai Ruojiao since it was a child.

It was constantly being taught how to behave and was always being PUAed.

It would be so happy to get rid of this host.

Originally, it didn’t want Bai Ruojiao to find out now.

But Zhao An’an was too difficult to communicate with, so it could only try to get Bai Ruojiao’s help.

Bai Ruojiao saw that An’an’s eyes suddenly became hesitant and expectant. She narrowed her eyes, “An’an, did it say anything else?”

An’an immediately widened his eyes, looking up at his mother with admiration, “How did Mom know? Mom is so smart.”

System, ‘…’

Bai Ruojiao was now certain that it was that useless system.

But she hadn’t gone to find the pocket watch yet. The system hadn’t merged yet. How could it have gone to An’an?

Could it be…

She remembered the system saying in her previous life that it had lost half of its data after binding with An’an because the host failed to go to the capital.

Did that mean that half of the data wasn’t in the pocket watch that currently housed the system, but on An’an?

But that wasn’t right. Time had been rewound, and An’an hadn’t fallen into the water yet. How could…

Could it be that An’an was also reborn?

Her heart tightened. She immediately hugged An’an and sat up straight, looking at him seriously.

“An’an, ask it if it has recovered.”

An’an blinked, confused about how to ask.

The system quickly said, ‘Tell your mom that I have successfully merged.’

An’an blinked, “Uh… the ghost said it’s soft.”

System, ‘…’ Forget it, I can’t expect too much from a three-and-a-half-year-old…

Bai Ruojiao understood. She furrowed her brow even tighter and was about to ask something else.

But when she saw An’an’s confused and curious eyes, she stopped.

She pursed her lips and said, “An’an, ask it if it can talk to me directly.”

Before An’an could ask, the system, hearing her words, immediately spoke, ‘Tell her that her faith is not strong enough. It can’t do it for now.’

An’an blinked, his expression confused, “It… said Mom, uh, faith not enough, can’t.”

System, ‘…’ Tell her not to worry. Everything is back on track.

“It also said, uh, back on track, told Mom not to worry.”

System, ‘…’