This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

Hungry.

So hungry.

Youyou was so hungry.

Under a half-dead tree with sparse leaves was three-year-old Xu Youyou, leaning against its trunk. Her head was lowered as she touched her growling belly and her tiny chubby cheeks were puffed up into balls. Unhappiness was written all over her face.

Clearly, at an age when she should be carefree, she was experiencing an existential crisis too early.

That day at noon, the orphanage was very generous. Each child was given a large chicken leg, which was a treat usually reserved for the New Year or the children’s birthdays. Naturally, everyone was very happy.

Xu Youyou had a habit of saving the delicious food for last, but who knew that before she could enjoy the feast, several older children led by Huahua, would snatch away her chicken leg when Grandma Director and the others weren’t paying attention.

Huahua and the others even threatened Xu Youyou that if she dared make a complaint, they would snatch her food every day!

Seeing a few children finish the delicious big chicken leg in two or three bites, and even have their mouths coated with oil, Xu Youyou held back from crying on the spot.

It’s my chicken leg!

She wanted to rush forward and snatch the chicken leg back, and she also wanted to tell Grandma Director and the cafeteria aunts, but…… but…… good children don’t fight.

A good child should be obedient.

No one likes a disobedient child.

The words of the cafeteria aunts and the orphanage director took root in the young Xu Youyou’s mind. She didn’t want to be disliked by others or make Grandma Director worry, so she would rather endure it on her own.

〖Dang! Endure? What endure?!〗

This sudden voice startled Xu Youyou. “Who?! Who’s talking?”

The little one looked around in a hurry, but the nearest people were far away from her so it was impossible it was them talking.

Xu Youyou looked up the tree but saw nothing.

The voice seemed to come from…… her head?

The little girl suddenly had tears in her eyes, obviously frightened.

〖Stop searching, you can’t see me!〗

System 5874 ‘looked’ at the little one in front of it. If it had a body right now, it would definitely poke the girl’s little head. Doesn’t she know that humans are insatiable creatures?

Putting up with it this time, those people would only intensify their bullying!

Soon, there would be a second and third time. It’s simply impossible to expect bullies to have a guilty conscience.

But the system thought of Xu Youyou’s actions in the future. It wasn’t surprising that she would react like this.

Otherwise, when most people encounter those things, they either silently explode or silently turn abnormal. Only Xu Youyou, the female protagonist of an angsty novel, would choose to forgive in silence.

5874 took a deep breath. It’s alright!

Wasn’t it there to change Xu Youyou’s fate?

Under its guidance, it would definitely make this child understand what it meant to be a ‘self-reliant, independent and outstanding woman of the new era’!

Now the first step.

It has to make Xu Youyou trust it first, otherwise the following steps would be difficult to handle.

This small world was derived from a novel and was among thousands of other small worlds. But compared with those worlds where people could cultivate immortality and have special abilities, this was just an insignificant one. The rules were also rigid and lacking.

As it wasn’t as perfect and sophisticated as the real world, the system suffered from many restrictions, such as not being able to reveal a hint of what would happen in the future, and not being able to force Xu Youyou to do something, but it wasn’t completely without room for maneuver.

Otherwise, what’s the use of it coming there?!

System 5874 was very proud that it had successfully graduated from the 2333th batch of the Sweet Literature Department at System University in 51349th place. Although its ranking was relatively low, it still graduated successfully!

The problem was that this was an A-level task and two seniors had already failed in completing it before. Logically speaking, a novice like it wasn’t qualified to take on A-level tasks, but 5874 secretly used some tricks.

Once it completes the task……

〖Wow, 5874, you’re so awesome, you’ve managed to complete an A-level on your first official mission!〗

〖5874, you’re the idol of our Sweet Literature Department! From now on, the Sweet Literature Department will be proud of you!〗

〖Look, look, it’s 5874. I heard that its first mission is A-level and it managed to complete it!〗

Hehehe~

5874 felt motivated just thinking of this beautiful picture. It would definitely complete the task!

For this reason, it spent a lot of points to purchase the book 《Human Baby Manual》 from the database. It was said that as long as one followed the instructions in the book, one could raise an excellent, confident, and wonderful human!

But first, how to explain the matter of it talking inside Xu Youyou’s mind?

What identity should it assign to itself?

——Youyou, I’m a fairy from the sky that specifically came here to help good children.

No, no, this would not give it much favorability. That couple would arrive there soon and it would be very troublesome if Xu Youyou still got adopted by them.

——Youyou, I’m your guardian angel. I can’t bear to see you being bullied, so I showed up.

It shouldn’t be hard to trick a three-year-old child, right?

After careful calculation, 5874 has already decided that the next step was to guide Xu Youyou on how to fight back against the children who bully her and gain favorability.

Once the favorability reaches forty, it could have a physical body.

Many things that follow would be difficult to handle if it was just talking inside Xu Youyou’s head.

Now it would first check Xu Youyou’s initial favorability towards it. 5874 casually opened the favorability query page.

Female protagonists in novels like this were usually soft-hearted and easy to deceive. They think that the whole world is full of good people, and their initial favorability would be at least 10. Maybe because of its domineering entrance, it could get 20? In that case—

Huh?

Its beautiful imagination came to an abrupt end.

5874 fell into silence as it looked at the bright ‘-20’ in front of it.

Why was it negative?

How could it be negative?

Then what should it do next?!

To go up to 60 favorability in one day, even if 5874 has a lot of confidence in itself, it didn’t mean that it would indulge in wishful thinking.

5874 urgently opened the 《Human Baby Manual》 and took another second to ‘read’ it from beginning to end, only to discover that there was nothing in it that could solve the current situation.

Damn it! Was this mission about to end before it even started?

No way! It was 5874. It mustn’t admit defeat!

“W-who are you?”

Xu Youyou asked again. There was a hint of tremor in her young voice, obviously trying to muster up the courage to speak.

To make the children obedient, the aunts at the orphanage would occasionally tell stories about the big bad wolf. The general idea was that disobedient children would be captured and eaten, and apparently, Xu Youyou regarded 5874 as something bad.

Under this situation, an ordinary child would have cried and gone to an adult long ago, but Xu Youyou was brave.

〖5874: ……〗

It was silent for a second and scanned the entire orphanage. It saw the crude dinner being prepared in the kitchen and Xu Youyou’s extremely faded and somewhat ill-fitting clothes.

If it couldn’t gain Xu Youyou’s trust before tomorrow, this task could be said to be more than half a failure.

5874 decided to tell a complete lie.

〖Youyou, don’t be afraid, I’m your mom.〗

When it was in the system school, the teacher had repeatedly emphasized that favorability obtained through lies not only was 20% less effective, but it would also be likely to be exposed, causing irreversible consequences for the task and even triggering bad endings, such as the character turning dark and seeking revenge.

All in all, it’s better to lie low than lie!

But in this case, 5874 really couldn’t think of any other way to quickly increase favorability.

“Mom?”

Xu Youyou sniffed. Her voice wasn’t trembling like before, but she didn’t believe it immediately either.

〖That’s right. I’m sorry, Youyou. Mom had to handle something unexpected, so I can only talk to you like this right now, but don’t be afraid, Mom will come pick you up soon. Then Youyou can eat as many chicken legs as you want in the future!〗

A lie requires thousands of lies to maintain, but 5874 seemed to have unlocked some kind of skill after telling one, and really thought of itself as Xu Youyou’s mother.

“Mom will come pick up Youyou?”

〖Of course, but it’ll take a few days. Can Youyou wait?〗

“Yes, yes! Youyou will definitely wait for Mom!”

In three minutes the favorability bar reached 80 where it stopped moving. 5874 breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little guilty at the same time. However, it thought that the probability of this lie being exposed was very low. Xu Youyou’s mother, Xu Wenyin, was originally an orphan and had already passed away, so no one should be able to expose it.

Now that the favorability level could allow it to switch to a body, it could simply use Xu Wenyin’s identity. Even if the current situation meant it could only last for a maximum of two hours a day, it would still be better than now.

After encouraging itself, 5874 quickly moved on to the next topic, 〖Is Youyou hungry?〗

Xu Youyou lowered her head and bit her lip. “I’m not hungry, don’t worry, Mom.”

〖5874: ……〗 It hated iron for not becoming steel^[1]regret that one cannot live up to expectation.

〖Youyou, a good child mustn’t lie.〗

5874 told itself to be patient. Xu Youyou is only three years old right now. It must guide her patiently, step by step, and— f*ck! If it wasn’t against the rules, it would definitely scare those brats.

Daring to snatch from the person it, 5874, was watching over? So bold ah!

“T-then, I’m just a little hungry. It’s dinner soon. Youyou can hold on.”

Listening to Xu Youyou’s cautious voice, 5874’s ‘motherly heart’ was instantly activated. But it knew that it was impossible for Xu Youyou’s small arms and legs to grab food. It’s not worth the gain if she gets injured.

〖Youyou, do you believe Mom?〗

Xu Youyou: “?”

A few moments later, Xu Youyou walked up to the director, Grandma Wu, who was watching the children playing under the eaves. Xu Youyou tilted her head up and carefully tugged at the corner of the director’s clothes. “Grandma, Youyou’s hungry.”

Her big wet eyes blinked, like a deer in the forest in the early morning, which made people feel soft and protective towards her.

Grandma Wu smiled. “Oh, Youyou’s hungry. Food will be served soon, can you hold on a little longer?”

She did have a few sweets, but if she gave them to Xu Youyou for no reason, it wouldn’t be good for other children to see. In addition, there were only about ten minutes left before dinner, so Grandma Wu thought it wouldn’t be a big problem to let Xu Youyou wait for a while.

“Okay.” Xu Youyou touched her belly and nodded obediently.

This well-behaved look made Grandma Wu finally couldn’t help but rub her head. Xu Youyou came to the orphanage as soon as she was born so it can be said that Grandma Wu raised her by her own hands. The little one was cute, sensible, and was also healthy. According to reason, she should have been adopted early on.

But it was unknown whether it was due to bad luck or what, several families interested in adopting Xu Youyou showed up but it always failed due to various reasons, and this delay lasted until Xu Youyou was three years old.

However……

Grandma Wu thought of the couple who had arranged for an appointment tomorrow and hoped that this time, things would go smoothly.

The condition in the orphanage was still poor after all, and she certainly hoped that Xu Youyou could grow up in a normal family.

“Youyou is growing so your appetite is getting bigger.” Grandma Wu smiled and picked up Xu Youyou, letting her sit on her lap. “Does the chicken this noon taste good? It’s donated by a kind person and there will be more tomorrow.”

As a small 18th-tier municipality, Yu County’s overall economic level was average, and the condition of the orphanage was naturally not very good. Getting a few donations a year was rare and the government’s funding was also very limited. After all, raising children nowadays is costly.

Not to mention that many children in the orphanage would have various health problems, which added to the cost.

This time, a kind-hearted person donated several boxes of frozen chicken legs, which Grandma Wu and the others welcomed.

“Youyou didn’t eat it.”

Xu Youyou’s answer stunned Grandma Wu. “Youyou didn’t get a chicken leg?”

“Huahua and the others took mine. Youyou didn’t get to eat.” Thinking of her mother’s advice, Xu Youyou gathered the courage to say those words. Once she was done, she immediately lowered her head, as if she was afraid that Grandma would think she was disobedient and ill-behaved.

However, it didn’t happen. Grandma Wu placed her hand back on Xu Youyou’s head and spoke in a kind and gentle voice, “It’s Huahua and the others who did wrong. Grandma will lecture them and compensate Youyou with a chicken leg at night, okay?”

Grandma Wu brushed Xu Youyou’s hair.

Xu Youyou raised her head instantly, her big round eyes filled with surprise. “Okay!”

What her mother said was true. It turned out that Grandma Director really wouldn’t find her troublesome!

〖How about it, aren’t I right?〗

5874’s smug voice appeared in Xu Youyou’s mind again. It knew that Grandma Wu was kind and would not ignore it if Xu Youyou told her what happened.

Sure enough, during dinner, Grandma Wu compensated Xu Youyou with a big chicken leg in front of all the children, and also lectured Huahua and several others, punishing them to clear the weeds on the vegetable plot tomorrow.

Several children dared to speak harshly to Xu Youyou, but they didn’t dare to resist the adults at all. Even if they felt unhappy, they wouldn’t do anything in front of the adults.

This was exactly what 5874 expected. They would definitely settle down for a few days. Xu Youyou would have left the orphanage by then, so who cares whether these children wanted to retaliate?

I’m such a genius!

The proud 5874 looked at Xu Youyou happily gnawing a big chicken leg. If this was a manga, there would probably be little flowers floating in the background. Human babies were really easy to satisfy.

At the same time, it was already thinking about how to replenish the little one’s body. Looking at her thin little body, she would definitely lose in a fight with other children.

———pr

That night, Xu Youyou, who was hiding under the covers, began to frantically ‘disturb’ her dear mother.

5874 didn’t need to sleep. It has to seize the time to prepare, and the sooner it brought Xu Youyou out of the orphanage, the closer it would be to victory.

But the most important thing right now was tomorrow.

Xu Youyou absolutely, absolutely couldn’t be adopted by that couple!

The pair who favored sons over daughters adopted a child as instructed by a fortune teller. This could be said to be the first ‘trial’ in Xu Youyou’s life.

When the couple’s precious son was born a year later, Xu Youyou became a ‘babysitter’ and was oppressed and exploited by the family, thus starting the miserable first half of the female protagonist’s life.

As for the other half……

Xu Youyou had a miscarriage and could no longer get pregnant. Was it considered HE^[2]happy ending to adopt her love rival’s child and be with the male protagonist?

Anyway, 5874 was disgusted with the way the story ended. Although it wasn’t a human being and it logically doesn’t have complex emotions like humans do, but!

Being emotionless doesn’t mean having no values. 5874 hates people who just take on everything under the guise of true love.

“Mom, can you pick up Youyou tomorrow?“

“Mom, do you and Youyou look alike?“

“Mom, Mom, Youyou wants to hear a bedtime story!“

“Mom, are you there, are you there?“

5874 whose train of thought was interrupted: 〖……〗

How could this kid chatter more than it does? Was raising a child this troublesome? It seems easy when reading the book.

But for the sake of favorability and subsequent tasks, 5874 still worked hard and told Xu Youyou a bedtime story.

〖Once upon a time, there was a mermaid. One day, while she was out swimming in the sea, there was a storm and a prince accidentally fell into the water……〗

Xu Youyou, who had learned to communicate with her mother in her head without anyone teaching her, closed her eyes and listened to the story. A cute and well-behaved smile couldn’t help but appear on her face.

It’s the story of the mermaid, she knows it!

Grandma Wu has told it to her several times, but it was still different when it’s coming from her mother. Next was saving the prince, right?

〖When the little princess saw the prince who fell unconscious, she immediately informed the king and queen of the mermaid kingdom, that is, her parents. Then the king sent someone to treat the prince, which won the gratitude of the prince’s parents. The two kingdoms established friendly diplomatic relations. A win-win ending oh~〗

Xu Youyou, who was a little drowsy at first, instantly woke up. “???”

Why was it different from what she heard before?

Although some words might be incomprehensible to her, she could get the general meaning.

5874 spoke up again, 〖Youyou, did you learn anything from the story?〗

The book said that a good baby should start learning from an early age and establish correct views from short stories.

5874 once again praised itself for being a genius at teaching children!

Xu Youyou was stunned when she was suddenly asked a question. She couldn’t help opening her eyes and looking at the dark ceiling. She hesitated for a few seconds, but still remembered to reply in her mind, “Mom, Youyou don’t know.“

5874 wasn’t disappointed either. It spoke seriously, 〖This story teaches us a principle!〗

〖When you come across an unconscious and injured man, don’t try to save him by yourself. You must call the police or ask for help from your elders and parents. Do you understand?〗

Xu Youyou nodded vigorously. “Understood!“

In fact, it’s still a bit hard to understand— just a tiny bit.

But it doesn’t matter, just listen to Mom!

If she listens to Mom, there would be big chicken legs to eat~