Su Ling hugged Hua Hua tightly, trying to absorb whatever meager warmth she could.  

“So, the impact on this world is that the cheat system was delayed?”  

Hua Hua nodded. “Yes. Originally, the lucky female lead was supposed to have good fortune from birth. But now, the female lead is already five years old—pitifully thin, barely getting enough to eat.”  

Su Ling grabbed Hua Hua’s paws and waved them forward in a pleading motion.  

Hua Hua: ???  

“Hurry up and bring the lucky female lead here. I’m freezing to death.”  

New Mission: Serve and complete transactions with over 30 customers (0/30). Reward: Underfloor heating.  

Su Ling clutched Hua Hua tightly and praised her enthusiastically, “Hua Hua, you’re such a good system!”  

……  

Meanwhile, Wang Baozhu finally dug up a tree root.  

The root was about as thick as an adult’s finger, covered with tiny tendrils, and emitted a faint fragrance when she brought it close.  

Wang Baozhu’s eyes lit up—tonight, they could have tree root soup!  

She carefully tucked the root into the inner pocket of her clothes, hoisted her small bamboo basket onto her back, and trudged step by step through the howling wind and snow.  

Before long, a brand-new wooden cabin appeared before her eyes.  

Ding-a-ling—

The wooden door creaked open as Wang Baozhu cautiously stepped inside. Her gaze immediately landed on Su Ling, who was sitting at the back.  

“Welcome! Would you like to buy something, dear customer? We have rice and flour here.”  

Su Ling stood up with a warm smile as she introduced the goods.  

Hua Hua sat elegantly beside the cash register, startled at the sight of the female lead—so thin she was practically skeletal.  

Wang Baozhu shrank back nervously under Su Ling’s gaze, her ears red from the cold. She glanced down at the black footprints her shoes had left on the floor, guilt creeping in.  

“Sister… do you really sell rice here?”  

“Of course! Come closer and take a look. Don’t worry about the floor—it’s meant to be stepped on.”  

Su Ling gently beckoned her over, then rested her arms on the glass counter as she smiled at the little girl.  

“What’s your name?”  

“Sister, my name is Wang Baozhu.”  

Su Ling nodded with a grin. “That’s a lovely name. I’m the owner here—you can call me Sister Su. The shop just opened, so for now, we only sell rice and flour. But tomorrow, when the delivery truck comes, we’ll have more goods. Do you see anything you’d like?”  

Wang Baozhu cautiously approached the glass counter, her eyes widening in amazement.  

Real rice!

But she had no money. Her expression fell.  

Still… she could bring her grandmother here to buy some!  

Wang Baozhu’s face brightened, and she looked up at Su Ling excitedly.  

“Sister, I’ll bring my grandmother to buy some! Since I dirtied the floor… you can have this tree root to make soup!”  

Su Ling stared at the muddy “tree root” and silently communicated with Hua Hua.  

“How did she dig up ginseng in several feet of snow?!”

Hua Hua replied telepathically, “Host, this is a ‘Lucky Koi’ story. She can get whatever she wants.”

Su Ling mentally conceded the point, then handed the root back.  

“Baozhu, this isn’t a tree root—it’s ginseng. It’s very valuable. You should go home and tell the adults, okay?”  

Wang Baozhu clutched the ginseng, her eyes sparkling. Her mind raced with thoughts of how this “tree root” could buy rice—how they could finally have a proper meal!  

“Thank you, Sister! I’m going home now.”  

She pushed the door open and dashed off into the snow.  

Hua Hua lifted a paw, about to clean the floor, but Su Ling stopped her.  

“Don’t clean it yet. If it’s too spotless, people might feel awkward. We’ll clean up after closing.”  

Hua Hua lowered her paw.  

Suddenly, Su Ling had an idea. She borrowed some money from Hua Hua to buy a small whiteboard, then wrote down the prices in black marker:  

Premium rice: ¥0.5/jin

White flour: ¥0.5/jin

Aged rice: ¥0.2/jin

(Pricing simplified for the author’s convenience; not reflective of actual market prices.)

At the bottom, she added a note: First three days of opening—all items 12% off!

Meanwhile, Wang Baozhu—fueled by some inexplicable burst of energy—raced home and rushed into Granny Liu Juhua’s room. Seeing her frail grandmother lying in bed, she anxiously grabbed her hand.  

“Granny! Granny!”  

“Hmm?”  

Liu Juhua drowsily opened her eyes, then immediately tucked Wang Baozhu’s freezing little hands under the blanket, clasping them tightly in her own rough palms.  

“Baozhu, come here, get under the covers.”  

“Granny, there’s a new shop over there! A sister is selling things—she sells rice! And, Granny, I dug up a tree root, but the sister said it’s called… um… something really valuable! Granny, let’s go buy rice!”  

Liu Juhua’s mind was filled with: ???

Wang Baozhu pulled her hand out and took the ginseng from her pocket, handing it to Liu Juhua.  

“Grandma, look!”  

Liu Juhua sat up abruptly, staring in disbelief at the dirt-covered ginseng.  

Without hesitation, she got out of bed, put on her shoes, wrapped herself tightly in her coat, and took Wang Baozhu to Lin Mei’s place.  

Lin Mei was sitting by the door, mending clothes by the faint daylight.  

“Second daughter-in-law, second daughter-in-law!”  

Liu Juhua panted, exhausted, as she led Wang Baozhu into the room. Lin Mei quickly helped her sit down.  

Liu Juhua handed over the ginseng. “Baozhu dug this up.”  

Lin Mei was stunned. “In this heavy snow? In our run-down village?”  

Liu Juhua couldn’t explain it either, but there was no mistaking it—this was real ginseng.  

Lin Mei hugged Wang Baozhu and carefully listened to her story. Then, she glanced at Liu Juhua, who looked a little embarrassed, and handed the ginseng back.  

“Mother, our second branch doesn’t need this ginseng right now. If the eldest branch wants to buy it but can’t afford it, they’ll have to write an IOU and pay later.”  

Liu Juhua sighed in relief and immediately agreed. This ginseng would be perfect to help her eldest daughter-in-law recover her health.  

“Don’t worry, the eldest branch will definitely write an IOU.”  

“Mother, the ginseng isn’t the important thing right now—didn’t you hear what Baozhu said? There’s rice for sale!”  

Lin Mei’s heart pounded wildly. She knew her daughter wouldn’t lie—so there really was a new shop in their village.  

Liu Juhua snapped out of it. “I’ll go get the money, and we’ll go take a look together.”  

First, Liu Juhua went to the eldest branch to deliver the ginseng, explaining that it was a purchase.  

Zhao Xing tearfully tried to thank her, but Liu Juhua stopped her. Then, she returned to her own room, reached into a hidden spot atop the cabinet, and pulled out a handkerchief. She carefully unfolded it layer by layer, revealing twenty yuan inside.  

Liu Juhua took ten yuan, tucked the rest back, then took her second daughter-in-law and Baozhu to the shop.  

……  

Ding-a-ling— 

The doorbell chimed, and Su Ling stood up.  

“Welcome! What would you like to buy?”  

Lin Mei felt a little nervous. She had been to the supply and marketing cooperative before, where the girls working there were all pretty but had terrible tempers—ask a couple of questions, and they’d get impatient. Ask again, and they’d snap, Take it or leave it! before ignoring you.  

But this young woman greeted them with a smile, warm and open, making them feel at ease.  

Liu Juhua cautiously stepped forward. After confirming they indeed had rice, she hesitantly asked, “Miss, how much is your rice?”  

Su Ling smiled gently. “My surname is Su—you can call me Xiao Su or Boss Su. The premium rice is fifty cents per jin, and a bag is ten jin. The white flour is the same price. This is aged rice from last year, twenty cents per jin.”  

Liu Juhua took one look at the pristine white rice and knew it couldn’t be cheap. But after hearing the price, she thought it was quite reasonable. Even the aged rice looked decent—for home consumption, there was no need to buy the best.  

But…  

Liu Juhua hesitated. Her husband had earned some money before, so they still had savings to buy rice. But she knew some families in the village had almost nothing. If she bought too much aged rice, others might not get any.  

Lin Mei stepped forward. “Boss Su, is this all the aged rice you have?”  

“Mm, just a hundred jin for now. More will be delivered tomorrow.”  

Su Ling added, “The delivery truck can make it here easily, even in heavy snow.”  

Liu Juhua made up her mind. “Boss Su, can you sell the premium rice by weight?”  

“Of course. How much would you like?” Su Ling asked.  

“Five jin of premium rice and five jin of aged rice.” Liu Juhua glanced at Lin Mei. “We’ll go to the village chief’s place after this and spread the word.”  

Lin Mei nodded.  

Su Ling swiftly opened a bag, poured out five jin into another bag, then used a sieve to fill a red bag with rice. After weighing it to ensure it was exact, she handed it over.  

“New store opening discount—twelve percent off. The premium rice is two yuan twenty, the aged rice is eighty-eight cents. Total is three yuan and eight cents.”  

Liu Juhua counted out the money and handed it over, unable to hide her joy.  

“There’s actually a discount? We should bring more people here!”  

Su Ling smiled. “Then I’ll have to thank you.”  

As she spoke, she opened the cash drawer—empty!  

She had no change!  

Hua Hua quickly pressed a paw down, exchanging some money from the system. Su Ling took out the change and handed it over.  

Lin Mei asked curiously, “Boss Su, why did you decide to open a shop here? And why sell at such low prices?”  

Su Ling replied, “A big businessman I know said he was helped by an elder from this village when he was young, so he sent me here to open a shop and arranged deliveries for me. Oh, and the discount only lasts three days—after that, prices go back to normal. Better buy while you can!”  

Lin Mei was overjoyed. This is truly ‘One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade’—what a blessing!