Chapter 83

The man on the kang edge looked to be around thirty years old, with a fair face and delicate features, resembling a mature scholar.

Shen Cui stared at him, speechless for a long time—because the person the system transformed into was none other than Mu Cheng!

He was her original husband who had gone missing!

Shen Cui had encountered quite a few frustrating things on this journey through time, but there weren’t many good things.

Perhaps the happiest thing for her was that there was neither a man nor the pain of childbirth that she had to endure personally. She had picked up a filial and obedient chubby son for free.

Who would have thought that the system, which just wouldn’t die, didn’t choose Mu Er Pang or Mu Yunchuan, but instead chose to transform into Mu Cheng.

Shen Cui had almost forgotten that she had a cheap husband on her data panel!

“Do I not look like it?” he asked strangely, touching his face after Shen Cui remained silent for a long time.

Now it was quite easy to distinguish. The face was still Mu Cheng’s, but the voice was the familiar, deep and rich voice of Shen Cui.

Moreover, in the original memory, although Mu Cheng looked like a scholar, he had a dull and honest temperament.

The person the system transformed into had much livelier eyes and expression.

So the system’s transformation didn’t actually become that person, it just created a similar shell.

It was just like her journey through time; physically, there was no difference, but the essence was different, and it couldn’t deceive those who were truly familiar with the original person.

“It’s not that you don’t look like it, it’s just… why did you turn into the appearance of Mu Cheng?”

“The Number 1 cultivation target is in the neighboring academy, and it’s almost time for him to finish school. If I turn into him, it could fail at any moment. As for Mu Yunchuan… it seems like the host wants to hit me.”

Surprisingly, he was quite smart, becoming more and more like a real person.

While chatting with her, the system sat with his hands on his knees, looking around the room in an orderly and curious manner.

His gaze was clean and curious, not making Shen Cui feel repulsed.

But that face… still made Shen Cui feel very strange. She turned her head away and said, “Alright, I’ve understood your new function. You can go back now.”

“So soon?” There was a moment of confusion on his face, then he said, “I can help the host with many things. You’ve spent all your shopping points, so won’t you let me do something?”

He talked about helping with things, but his eager expression seemed like that of a young explorer looking forward to exploring a new world.

The effect of the system’s transformation was different from that of the Transformation Pill. The time for the Transformation Pill could be stored, and it could be reverted at any time within twelve hours.

But the system’s transformation was a one-time thing; if it failed midway, it would have to be paid for again.

With Shen Cui’s usual frugality in mind, it was difficult to persuade her to spend more shopping points again!

“A mosquito’s leg is also meat. You’ve already spent everything, and I’ve only been out for a quarter of an hour…”

He suddenly looked pitiful, making Shen Cui feel a little sorry for him. “Then help me…”

She glanced around the room. The Zhou family’s small business had been thriving lately, and today they were even drawing blueprints, so no one had come to clean her room.

“Then help me tidy up the room.”

He immediately stood up, excitedly spun around the room, but didn’t know where to start. He grabbed a broom and began sweeping the floor.

The room didn’t have any flooring; it was just dirt. Sweeping on such ground required sprinkling water; otherwise, dust would fill the air with each sweep.

He obviously hadn’t thought of this. Shen Cui coughed, “In your world… do you not need to do household chores?”

“We don’t need to. In our world, it…” He stopped himself, probably realizing it wasn’t appropriate to discuss such matters, and vaguely said, “Anyway, those things don’t exist there.”

Shen Cui waved it off, saying, “It’s getting late, and I need to rest soon. There’s nothing for you to do today. Plus, Er Pang will be back from school soon. If he sees a light on in my room, he’ll come to check on me. How do I explain having an extra person here?”

“Alright.” The system sighed helplessly and disappeared on the spot.

With the room quiet again, Shen Cui breathed a sigh of relief, able to communicate normally with him in her mind.

【I noticed you’re curious about everything. Have you never been to this plane?】

【No, I haven’t. In this world, I’m just a spiritual entity. In your terms, I guess you could call it a ‘soul’? I can understand this world through the host, but it’s completely different from having a physical body to experience things firsthand.】

Shen Cui paused for a moment, amused, and said, 【Isn’t that the real reason you chose to become Mu Cheng? After all, there can’t be two Er Pang’s in the house, and Mu Yunchuan is unlikely to be home at this time. But if you use Mu Cheng’s identity, he hasn’t appeared again in the original story, his fate unknown. Then you can openly use his identity to experience this world… It’s not really because you’re afraid I’ll hit you, is it?】

The little guy was quite cunning, thinking of a long-term plan!

The system coughed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Shen Cui took off her coat and lay down in bed, then heard him say, 【Host, actually I know quite a lot of things. Like those math problems you learned last time, I know them too. As for the household chores done by the Zhous, I’m not very good at them, but I can learn…】

【Let’s not think about that for now.】 Shen Cui interrupted, pausing to carefully consider the system’s new function. Surprisingly, she thought of a clever use for it…

But it wasn’t urgent for the moment, so she continued, 【There aren’t any outsiders in the village’s daily life, and everyone nearby knows each other well. Suddenly having an extra person would raise suspicion. After Er Pang and I go to the capital later, and we move out of the academy, I’ll ‘recruit’ someone. But even if we ‘recruit,’ having you transform into a real person would cost two to three hundred shopping points per day. So let me think about it a bit more, and wait for now.】

Honestly, Brother Tongzi was pretty good to her, and the ‘person’ was reliable. If he could get a body by 10 o’clock, he could work as a janitor in the academy.

Thinking about recruiting a high-level interstellar worker who didn’t require pay, food, or worry about loyalty, a certain capitalist with the surname Shen’s mouth almost curved into a grin.

【Then should I transform into Mu Cheng…】

【Shut up. Mu Cheng and I were originally strangers, with no interest in marrying him. Besides, if Er Pang and Mu Yunchuan find out their ‘dad’ has returned, they’ll want to get close to you and ask what you’ve been up to during your disappearance. It’s easy with Er Pang; he barely remembers his dad from before his enlightenment. But Mu Yunchuan is so observant; could he not recognize his own dad? And you don’t act like him; I can even tell the difference.】

The system defended quietly, “I’ve collected a lot of data on Mu Cheng, and I can look very much like him. It’s not like I’m trying to deceive you…”

“No matter how much you resemble him, once ‘he’ appears, I’ll never be able to separate from Mu Yunchuan in this lifetime. We’ll be tied together forever.”

“Well, I can still use my original appearance, although I look slightly different from you guys. It just requires a simple disguise, much cheaper than transforming into someone else, only 100 shopping points per day…”

The system was still trying hard to sell its idea, but Shen Cui, tired from writing all day and reading through system notices, had already fallen asleep.

…

With the system update complete, Shen Cui continued her daily life. In the morning, she did morning exercises, then waited for the daily tasks while having breakfast.

Then she activated the time acceleration and completed the daily tasks of the academy first.

After finishing the tasks, Shen Cui quickly checked on the status of everyone in the academy before focusing on her own matters.

Recently, apart from practicing calligraphy, Shen Cui found joy in reading miscellaneous books. Not only were they interesting and informative, but reading more books also made it easier for her to concoct something new that didn’t align with people’s understanding of this era.

When tired of reading and writing, Shen Cui would take up needlework—she aimed to elevate her needlework skill to level 2 to create items that could increase luck for the three boys.

From the recommended items at level 1, Shen Cui chose to make shoe insoles. A pair of insoles required 60 shopping points, and although they didn’t have significant effects, they prevented fatigue when standing or walking for extended periods. The material was from an advanced plane, absorbing sweat and eliminating odor, and despite her centipede-like stitching, the user experience wasn’t particularly bad.

These insoles could be used all year round, especially useful for growing feet like Mu Er Pang and Wei Shu, and for those like Lao Bu Yu who stood for long periods daily, wearing out their insoles quickly.

Calculating the number of people, including Zhou family members, and making five pairs per person, Shen Cui needed to complete 30 more needlework tasks to level up and create items to increase luck.

In April, before Wei Shu’s exam, Shen Cui received a new mainline task—”Send one person from the academy to participate in the provincial examination.”

This task was also straightforward, but the rewards were just shopping points.

The more Wei Shu excelled, the more shopping points he would receive based on his ranking.

At the same time, the system suggested that Shen Cui could upgrade the academy again, allowing her not only to see everyone’s Q-version avatars on the academy map but also to see what the students were doing from a further distance.

Of course, upgrading again would cost 2000 shopping points.

Since Shen Cui didn’t have enough shopping points and also wanted to use them to upgrade needlework to boost the boys’ luck, and the ‘long-distance’ feature required the academy members to be in the same city, she decided to wait until she was more financially stable.

Although Wei Shu was far away in the capital, Shen Cui couldn’t see what was happening in real-time, but she could roughly gauge his situation through his mood value.

As Wei Shu was about to enter the examination venue, Shen Cui lit a candle, took out the needlework from the kang table, and skillfully started making shoe insoles while observing Wei Shu’s data panel.

By the time dawn broke, Wei Shu’s mood gradually recovered, indicating that he had safely arrived at his examination seat without any surprises.

As people outside began to stir, Mu Er Pang and Zhou Shi got up successively. Shen Cui also got up to freshen up, preparing for a day of accompanying study.

Obviously, everyone was concerned about Wei Shu’s exam today, as their usual focus values were slightly lower than usual.

“Don’t worry, Ah Shu can handle it,” Shen Cui had great confidence in Wei Shu. After all, as the system said, Wei Shu had the highest overall quality among the three boys, and he was also a loyal fan of the simulation game.

The high-pressure environment that others saw was something he had experienced many times before.

However, as soon as she finished speaking, Wei Shu’s mood visibly dropped, and his status changed to ‘startled’!