Chapter 5: Discovering the Female Lead’s Golden Finger

“Zhizhi, time to eat!”

At Wang Guifang’s call, Maomao darted to the table, carrying a small stool.

“Little Auntie, you sit. I’ll get you a bowl and chopsticks.”

The little guy was quick and efficient, and everything was set up in no time.

“Meat’s here!”

Wang Guifang brought a small bowl of meat and placed it in the center of the table, followed by a small dish of pickled vegetables.

She placed a small bowl of dough drop soup in front of Su Nianzhi, while the others only had watery millet porridge and coarse black bread buns in front of them.

No one complained. They simply picked up their bowls and began to eat.

Wang Guifang used her chopsticks to give Maomao two pieces of meat, and one piece each to Su Zhewen and Su Zhewu.

“Zhizhi, eat.”

Looking at the bowl of white flour dough soup and half a bowl of meat, Su Nianzhi felt a pang in her heart. “Mom, Dad, you two eat too.”

“Aiya, I already ate while cooking. I got sick of the smell,” Wang Guifang replied, glancing at Su’s father. “Old man, what about you?”

“I already ate when I was younger. Girl, you eat,” he said with a crinkly smile at the corners of his eyes.

Seeing him smile like that, Su Nianzhi didn’t say more. She simply picked up her bowl and distributed food to both parents, then shared the remaining meat with the others.

“Little Sister, Big Brother won’t eat—this is for you.”

“Second Brother neither. I’ll be going out with Hu Tou and the others later, we’ll have food.”

“Let’s treat today as a celebration—for me escaping from the claws of the Zhang family, okay?”

Everyone fell silent.

Wang Guifang: My poor Zhizhi.

Big Brother & Second Brother: Fists clenching with rage.

OldSu: Bam bam! (knocking the table) I swear I’m going to make trouble for the Zhang family.

Maomao: Next time I even see the Zhang family’s dog, I’ll kick it—twice! (▼へ▼メ)

Su Nianzhi didn’t know what they were thinking. If she had, she would’ve said, “No wonder I didn’t make it past the early episodes in my previous life.”

But she needed to change things in this household.

She liked this family.

It gave her a long-lost sense of kinship, and she was determined to protect them.

However, her spiritual power ability—great for killing zombies and controlling people in the apocalypse—didn’t seem as useful in this era. There were no convenient space or healing abilities around here.

“All right then, let’s eat. As long as Zhizhi is well, we’re all well,” Wang Guifang said with a smile. “You all know she cares about you. You better treat her well!”

“We will, Mom!”

“Grandma, Maomao will definitely treat Little Aunt well!”

The family finished their meal warmly, and Su Nianzhi headed to bed early.

In this era, there were no electric lights—only kerosene lamps. To save fuel, everyone turned in early.

The village soon quieted down.

Su Nianzhi lay in bed, restoring her mental strength. Once she sensed everyone in the household was asleep…

She opened her eyes in the dark, sharp and mischievous.

A dark and windy night—the perfect time to do bad things.

She stealthily climbed over the Su family’s wall. For a battle-hardened female soldier from the apocalypse, her current physical condition wasn’t great, but her experience made up for it.

With Su Maomao’s help over the past few days, she had already drawn a detailed map.

The village chief’s house was on the southern edge of the village, the best house with blue bricks. Hard to miss.

The countryside at midnight was incredibly quiet.

Any barking dogs were silenced immediately with a mental attack.

She crept up to the chief’s house. The wall was tall—what, they hiding treasure in there?

Resting her chin in her hand, Su Nianzhi thought for a moment. There just happened to be a big willow tree nearby.

She patted it. “I’m counting on you tonight.”

If it were during the apocalypse, she’d just scale the wall barehanded.

Wrapping her arms around the trunk, she gave a push with her feet and sprang up with ease.

She landed cleanly inside.

A pair of dog eyes glinted in the dark—almost blinded by her sudden entrance.

The dog that was about to bark shut up immediately and even came over to nuzzle her pant leg affectionately.

Su Nianzhi quickly pinpointed Lu Jiajia’s room and slipped inside.

The Lu household was silent.

Inside the room, Lu Jiajia was sound asleep.

Su Nianzhi enveloped her body with spiritual power and slowly began searching.

She wanted to confirm her suspicion.

As she reached the brain, Su Nianzhi suddenly sensed something strange.

A glowing cluster of energy was connected to Lu Jiajia’s mind.

Eyes narrowing, Su Nianzhi drew a thread of her power and slowly infiltrated it.

The deeper she went, the more amazed she became. This wasn’t any normal energy.

And it didn’t resemble the zombie crystals from the apocalypse either.

Curious, she moved into Lu Jiajia’s hippocampus—the memory center.

For a normal person, such intrusion would cause death or paralysis.

But not for Su Nianzhi. Her mastery of spiritual energy was already top-tier.

This was nothing for her.

A system?

Complete missions in exchange for rewards?

Su Nianzhi sensed a reaction from the energy cluster and quickly withdrew her mental probe.

She vanished from Lu Jiajia’s room without a trace.

In the courtyard…

Just as she was about to go home, Su Nianzhi paused.

Since she was already here, wouldn’t it be out of character to leave without a souvenir?

She scanned the Lu household with her mental power.

Applying her usual “locust swarm” principle, she left nothing behind.

She looted all the hidden money and documents from rat holes in the house.

Of course, the Lu family never noticed a thing.

She was a little worried the system might react—but apparently, it didn’t.

A system… Su Nianzhi had at least gone to college and read a few novels.

People with systems were always the chosen ones.

She had thought such things were just fiction—turns out they were real.

And she discovered that the system could actually strengthen her own spiritual power.

Having that juicy energy source right in front of her made Su Nianzhi’s heart itch.

But she didn’t dare attack the energy cluster head-on.

She needed a foolproof plan.

If missions are required… then what happens if Lu Jiajia fails them? Would the system malfunction?

Su Nianzhi pondered.

She had no interest in being bound to a system, working like some employee.

Dream on.

She wanted to strip that system away—and devour it.

To power up her own spiritual strength.

Just thinking about it made her happy.

After robbing the Lu family clean, Su Nianzhi snuck away silently—without leaving a trace.

Only… her body was still weak.

On the way home, she couldn’t help but cough.

Qin Xiaoyun, who had just returned from the town after handling some business, happened to spot a familiar figure.

The occasional cough and wheeze made him frown.

So late at night?

What was that girl doing out?

Didn’t she know it was dangerous looking like that?

He saw her whole body shaking from the coughing. His frown deepened.

It was so cold, and she was dressed so thinly—wasn’t she freezing?

He watched her enter the Su house safely before stepping out from behind a tree.

Am I crazy? Why am I watching a little girl like this?

Suppressing his inner thoughts, he cursed under his breath.

Qin Xiaoyun, you beast!

He was about to head home in frustration when the wooden door of the Su house opened again.

Two figures stepped out.

“Second Brother, where are we going now?”

“Just follow me, Big Brother.”