Chapter 2: With the System’s Blessing, Lin Xi Is Full of Confidence

“Don’t eat those. We still have a bit of money left — I’ll go buy you something,” Xiao Yongyan said, stopping Lin Xi’s movement, his face full of concern.

Speaking of that, Lin Xi found it odd. “Where did you get the money?”

Xiao Yongyan looked slightly embarrassed. “I borrowed it from Aunt Wu’s family in the village.”

Lin Xi was quite surprised. In her memory, the villagers were extremely unfriendly toward exiles — they’d avoid them from afar. Yet someone was actually willing to lend him money? That was contradictory.

As if sensing her doubt, Xiao Yongyan explained, “I promised Aunt Wu I’d repay her with two ^[1]“dou” (斗) is a traditional Chinese unit of measurement for volume, primarily used for measuring grain. In ancient times, 1 dou was roughly equivalent to 10 liters.dou of grain in the autumn.”

“You’ve never farmed a day in your life, and she believed you?” Lin Xi found it hard to believe.

“Don’t worry, my wife. Since I promised her grain, I will do whatever it takes to fulfill that promise,” Xiao Yongyan said, his eyes shining with determination, eager to clarify.

“So, what’s your plan?” Lin Xi asked, testing the waters.

“I’ll open a private school and collect tuition,” Xiao Yongyan replied.

Lin Xi was taken aback. It seemed Xiao Yongyan wasn’t making empty promises — he had a plan in mind.

Although he didn’t have a talent for farming, he had been raised under the meticulous guidance of the Regent Prince. He was well-educated, and becoming a teacher was a practical choice.

“No need to rush and buy food,” Lin Xi said after thinking it over. “We don’t even have basic household supplies. I’ll go buy some first.”

Xiao Yongyan didn’t object but reminded her, “The villagers are wary of people who’ve been exiled. I only happened to run into her on a back path. Better to wait until nightfall before I go again.”

“No, I’ll go. You’re a grown man — knocking on someone’s door late at night might cause misunderstanding,” Lin Xi said.

Xiao Yongyan said no more. His wife had a point — it would indeed be a bit frightening for a man to show up at someone’s door late at night.

In the middle of the night, someone knocked on the Wu family’s back door.

“Who is it?” Aunt Wu woke from her sleep — who could be knocking at this hour?

“It’s me, Auntie. My husband came to borrow money from you earlier today,” Lin Xi said.

Aunt Wu quickly got up and opened the door. Seeing a frail-looking young woman standing outside, she pulled her in at once. “Girl, why are you running around in the middle of the night?”

“Auntie, we won’t be able to repay the money just yet. Would you be willing to sell us some pots and bowls?” Lin Xi asked with a gentle smile, looking at Aunt Wu with hopeful eyes.

Aunt Wu hesitated for a moment and said, “I’ve got some used ones. You can have them if you don’t mind.”

Soon, Aunt Wu brought over a basket of items. “Girl, I got you a stone pot, two coarse porcelain bowls, and two pairs of chopsticks. Make do with these for now. But you absolutely must not tell anyone I gave these to you.”

Aunt Wu had lent Xiao Yongyan a total of forty copper coins. Lin Xi grabbed half of that amount and firmly stuffed it into Aunt Wu’s hands. Then she carried the bundle of supplies home, happily hugging it all the way.

Watching Lin Xi busily unpacking and organizing, Xiao Yongyan felt deeply guilty. He made up his mind to find a way to earn money and improve their living conditions.

Early the next morning, Lin Xi gathered some stones and built a simple stove. She placed the stone pot on top and got ready to cook the kalimeris (Indian aster) she’d picked the day before.

As steam began rising from the pot, Lin Xi swallowed hard. After so many days, she was finally going to have something hot to eat.

【Detected that host is consuming the plant Kalimeris indica. +1 experience point. Current total: 10 XP】

Lin Xi froze. So that’s how experience points are earned in this system — no wonder it’s called the ^[2]Shennong System refers to a fictional technological or supernatural support system based on Shennong, the legendary Chinese god of agriculture and medicine.Shennong System.

After eating her fill, Xiao Yongyan said he was going to speak with the village chief about opening a small private school.

Lin Xi stayed home to rest, taking the opportunity to explore what other features the system might have.

Just as she was thinking, Lin Xi noticed a greyed-out button on the system interface labeled “Toolbox.”

【Would you like to spend 1 experience point to unlock the Toolbox function?】

With the house nearly empty, of course she needed to unlock it.

【1 experience point successfully deducted】

【Toolbox function unlocked.】

After the toolbox interface opened, Lin Xi saw a variety of farming tools: machetes, iron shovels, hoes, waterwheels, stone mills, and more.

Each type of tool came in different quality levels. For example, the machete was available in bronze, silver, gold, and diamond grades, each with different durability.

However, Lin Xi currently had only 9 experience points and could only afford to redeem bronze-quality tools.

Since the household didn’t even have a knife for chopping vegetables, Lin Xi decided to spend 5 experience points to exchange for a machete.

【Item: Machete】

【Quality: Bronze】

【Durability: 30 days】

The next second, a brand-new machete with a sharp edge appeared in Lin Xi’s hand. It looked like it had just been freshly sharpened.

According to the system, this machete would only last for 30 days. But that was fine with Lin Xi — once she accumulated more experience points, she could exchange them for higher-quality tools.

The kalimeris she had picked yesterday was already finished. Lin Xi looked toward the lush mountain behind the house and decided to go there to find more food. She rummaged through the house and found an old, worn-out basket, slung it over her back, and set off.

Not long after stepping out of the house, Lin Xi quickly noticed that everyone who saw her would immediately avoid her, as if she were carrying some kind of contagious disease.

Well, if they didn’t want anything to do with her, so be it. She had the Shennong System — it wasn’t like she’d go hungry.

Without glancing around, Lin Xi kept walking forward, but the surrounding chatter still reached her ears.

“Did you hear? The Wu family actually lent money to that exiled man.”

“I heard. Tsk tsk, does she really think he has the ability to pay it back?”

“Pay it back? They’ll be lucky to survive until autumn. Even the best land only yields four shi of grain per mu. Our family only gets eleven shi a year. Like they could manage that.”

Lin Xi didn’t have much concept of grain yields, so she asked the system, “Is it true that one mu of land only produces four shi of grain at most?”

【The current regional average yield per mu is 3.85 shi. Under ideal conditions, it can produce 4 shi of grain.】

【However, the system can upgrade the current crop varieties to increase per-mu yield.】

That put Lin Xi at ease. With the system in her hands, why worry about growing ten shi of grain?

Just watch — she’d make everyone’s jaws drop.

With the machete in hand, Lin Xi headed toward the mountain behind her house. Although people around her continued gossiping, no one dared approach.

Unexpectedly, halfway there, Lin Xi ran into Xiao Yongyan, who was just coming from the village chief’s house.

Upon seeing the machete, Xiao Yongyan frowned and snatched it away. Thinking she’d bought it from Aunt Wu, he didn’t ask where it came from, only said, “What if you accidentally hurt yourself?”

Lin Xi explained she was planning to gather some wild vegetables and fruits from the mountain, and also cut some bamboo to build a bed.

Xiao Yongyan was a little surprised. “Weren’t you raised in the manor since childhood? How do you even recognize wild vegetables in the mountains?”

Lin Xi froze mid-motion. Crap — she got too carried away and forgot about her backstory. As a delicate young lady raised in a wealthy household, she shouldn’t have known any of this.