☆ 7. Happiness Points

The issues between Wu Kaifen and Su Dazhi had been mostly resolved, and Ji Meng felt much better.

During dinner, she rarely bothered to cook a couple of extra dishes.

Dinner was still served in the house, this time in Fang Aihua’s room. Unlike the hasty meal at noon, the atmosphere during dinner was noticeably better.

Perhaps stimulated by the incident with Wu Kaifen, Fang Aihua’s spirits were clearly lifted compared to before, and she even took the initiative to ask for more rice.

For Qiuqiu, this was the second time she had eaten food cooked by her mother.

At noon, she had been worried about her grandmother, so she was distracted during the meal. But now that her grandmother was obviously feeling better, she realized that her mother’s cooking was really delicious.

Even a simple stir-fried bamboo shoot tasted exceptionally fresh and tasty. She ate until her belly was round and still wanted more.

It was Ji Meng who worried that she might overeat so she coaxed her to put down her bowl.

After dinner, it was already dark. Ji Meng boiled two pots of water in a wood stove, first helping Fang Aihua with some basic cleaning, and then prepared to give Qiuqiu a bath.

The little girl hadn’t been taken care of for several days and couldn’t carry the bathing water herself. She hadn’t bathed or washed her hair, and her body was covered in dirt, with her hair all tangled.

Given the limited conditions in the rural countryside, even though Fang Aihua loved her granddaughter, there were few resources she could provide for Qiuqiu.

With the cold weather, they could only manage to wash indoors, they didn’t have the means to warm the room.

Ji Meng took a large wooden basin and poured some hot water into it, preparing to let Qiuqiu soak and wash up.

But at this moment, Qiuqiu tugged at her own shirt and quietly said to Ji Meng:

“Mom, Qiuqiu can do it by herself. Qiuqiu is grown up now and can take a bath by herself.”

Even a four-year-old child, no matter how capable, still can’t do everything. Ji Meng glanced at her small, skinny hands that could barely hold a towel and coaxed her:

“But Mom wants to help Qiuqiu. Doesn’t Qiuqiu want Mom to help?”

Upon hearing this, Qiuqiu became conflicted. She twisted her fingers, not sure how to respond.

Of course, she wanted her mom to help, but she hadn’t bathed in many days and felt so dirty. What if her Mom got really mad later?

It was hard to imagine how a delicate and cute little girl could have such a worried and pitiful expression. Ji Meng felt her heart melt at the sight.

The little girl was truly beautiful, and even though her hair was messy and her clothes were gray and dull, it didn’t diminish her cuteness at all.

In just a brief moment, Ji Meng already envisioned how she would dress up the little girl in various adorable dolls in the future.

“Mom will help Qiuqiu wash. Mom will make sure Qiuqiu smells nice, and then Qiuqiu can sleep with Mom tonight. How about that?”

Sleep with Mom!

Qiuqiu’s eyes lit up. Since she could remember, she had never slept with her mom. Not to mention sleeping together, her mom rarely even hugged her.

At just over four years old, no matter how scary her dreams might be, she still longed for her mom to be close to her and to care for her.

The temptation of sleeping with her mom was simply too great and powerful.

At this moment, Qiuqiu pushed all her worries aside and eagerly nodded, “Yeah, okay! Mom will help Qiuqiu wash.”

The little girl was so easy to coax.

Ji Meng couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his lips.

Qiuqiu was a particularly sensible child and she’s obedient during bath time.

Since it was Ji Meng’s first time helping a child wash, her hands felt a bit clumsy, and sometimes she would accidentally splash water into Qiuqiu’s eyes or ears.

But Qiuqiu was very cooperative, if something was uncomfortable, she would try to help herself. Ji Meng noticed and adjusted accordingly, and quickly finished washing Qiuqiu’s body and hair.

After the bath and changing into fresh clothes, Ji Meng dried Qiuqiu’s hair and then took a bath herself.

The original body didn’t care much for Qiuqiu but was quite generous with herself.

She had a lot of bathing supplies, including shampoo, soap, floral water, and skincare products for her face.

Although the bathing products of this era were relatively simple, they weren’t as difficult to use as one might imagine, and Ji Meng found her bath quite pleasant.

After taking a shower, she let her hair down and returned to the room. At this moment, Qiuqiu was already in bed. When she saw Ji Meng, she immediately sat up, her eyes sparkling.

Ji Meng couldn’t help but smile, “Aren’t you asleep yet, Qiuqiu?”

“I’m waiting for Mom.”

Qiuqiu replied in a crisp voice, unable to resist sneaking a glance at Ji Meng.

Ji Meng had just finished her bath, and her fair, translucent face was misted with water. The two long braids she had earlier were now loose, softly curling to one side. Her delicate brows and eyes appeared gentle, and as Qiuqiu looked at her, she couldn’t help but say,

“Mom, you’re so beautiful!”

“Is Mom beautiful?”

Ji Meng was taken aback by the compliment and subconsciously raised her hand to touch her face.

Come to think of it, she had been so busy that she hadn’t really noticed what she looked like now.

The books Ji Meng read spanned a long time from when the male and female leads met at age of six, and there was hardly any description of the original body’s appearance.

It only mentioned that when she was in her forties, she was still mistaken for a sister when standing next to the female lead, and the years of living in comfort had filled her with an elegant and noble aura.

“Yes, very beautiful!” Qiuqiu nodded vigorously, her eyes still fixed on Ji Meng’s face.

Whether it was an illusion or because her mom was kinder today, Qiuqiu felt that her mom looked especially more beautiful than usual, and her complexion appeared much fairer—fairer than the milk popsicles her dad had once bought for her.

“Qiuqiu really likes Mom, you’re the most beautiful person Qiuqiu has ever seen!”

What a sweet little mouth.

Ji Meng felt sweetened by the words, her heart feeling like it was filled with honey. She smiled and replied, “Qiuqiu is also the cutest baby I’ve ever seen!”

“Alright, baby, it’s time to sleep. Look, it’s already dark outside, it’s very late.”

In this era’s countryside, there wasn’t a single black-and-white television set, and there were no entertainment activities in the evening. Ji Meng had been single for many years. She occasionally visited the orphanage to see the children, but she had never put a little girl to sleep or told stories, so she could only softly coax her.

Qiuqiu didn’t want to sleep, it was rare for her to be able to sleep with her mom, and she wanted to talk to her as much as possible. But when Ji Meng called her “baby,” it made her blush, and she liked it very much. She obediently replied, “Mm, okay,” and soon closed her eyes obediently.

Children fall asleep quickly. Since Qiuqiu hadn’t napped during the day and had experienced so much, it didn’t take long before her breathing became even, and she was asleep.

Ji Meng stayed by her side for a while but soon couldn’t resist getting up to look in the mirror at the dressing table.

She wanted to see what she looked like now.

The original body’s room was the wedding chamber she had with Su Cheng.

Although she had used dishonorable means to marry Su Cheng, the Su family hadn’t mistreated her for it. When she got married, she had a sewing machine, a radio, and a watch, and Fang Aihua even had someone make a dressing table for her, with a round mirror about the size of a fan mounted on it, which was placed next to a tall cabinet beside the bed.

As Ji Meng walked over, her face appeared in the round mirror.

It was an exceptionally beautiful and delicate face, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. The face shape was between an oval and a round face, with two slender eyebrows resembling willow branches and a pair of slightly rounded, watery eyes that gave a charming impression, with the outer corners slightly upturned in a flirtatious manner.

There was a small mole on the inner side of her bright red lower lip, and when her lips parted slightly, they exuded an inexplicable allure.

It was exactly the same… the same as her face in her previous life!

Ji Meng opened her mouth, a bit disbelieving, and mentally shouted, “Sansan, is this the appearance of the original body?”

Ji Meng’s finger touched the small mole on the inner side of her lower lip, and then she pinched it a little harder, making her lips even redder, along with the mole deepening in color.

Even the position and size of the mole on her lower lip were identical. Wasn’t this her own face?

Could there really be someone in the world who looked so much like her?

Sansan, not knowing if it was due to a lack of energy, took a while to respond this time.

【Yes, host. In countless worlds, the reason Sansan chose you is because your compatibility with the original body is extremely high.】

“This compatibility refers to looks, right?”

【Well… you could say that, but it’s more about the compatibility of energy fields. Otherwise, the small world wouldn’t have accepted you.】

“That sounds a bit profound.”

Ji Meng stared at her reflection in the mirror, pondering thoughtfully.

For some reason, she felt that something was off.

【Is the host not satisfied? It’s not entirely identical to the host’s original face. Haven’t you noticed that you look much younger?】 Sansan’s tone carried a hint of cautious probing, likely because Ji Meng had been silent for a while.

“Do I?”

Hearing this, Ji Meng stepped two paces closer to the dressing table and observed her face in the mirror carefully. She wasn’t sure if it was a psychological effect due to Sansan’s reminder, but she noticed that her skin was indeed much more delicate and much whiter.

In her previous life, she had spent the last three years in the countryside. Although she had eaten and drunk purely natural products, her skin condition had always been good. During her live streams, many netizens often called her “fairy sister.” However, due to working in the fields, she had inevitably tanned a bit more than when she was in the city. While she had still looked very fair in front of others, it wasn’t the same as now, where her skin had the glossy, milk-white sheen of high-quality porcelain.

She was fairer, more delicate, and fresher, she indeed looked younger.

Come to think about it, although the original body had a child who was over four years old, she was only a little over 23 years old herself, just out of school, making the age difference almost five years.

With that in mind, it actually felt like a gain.

【Of course there is! Can’t you see it, host? You look much younger and more beautiful!】 Sansan seemed a bit anxious, perhaps displeased with Ji Meng’s doubts.

“Oh, if you say there is, then there is.” Ji Meng pressed her lips together, blinking to hold back a smile, responding as if it didn’t matter.

Her own appearance was still good, she couldn’t really imagine what she would look like with a strange face.

Even though her face had caused her a lot of trouble in her previous life, she still liked it.

It was beautiful.

Looking at herself was pleasing, and it also raised her standards of beauty.

“Sansan, I see that in novels, other systems can give hosts points, and there are malls and such. Do you have that?”

【Sansan… is a guardian system that keeps the small world from collapsing, different from those ^[1]“Mary Sue” is a fictional character who is unrealistically perfect, with few flaws, and often easily overcomes challenges, making them less relatable.Mary Sue functional systems!】 Sansan insisted, unwilling to admit that it couldn’t compare to other systems.

“Oh, so you have nothing at all, then.”

【Well, it’s not that there’s absolutely nothing!】

【If Sansan has enough energy, it can be very powerful, like an encyclopedia. Whatever the host wants to know or search for, Sansan can look it up. If the host wants entertainment, like watching movies, following dramas, or reading novels… Sansan can also fulfill that!】 Sensing Ji Meng’s hint of disdain in her casual tone, Sansan quickly added.

“A walking computer?” Ji Meng raised an eyebrow slightly.

【How could it just be a computer!】

【Can a computer help the host check the basic information of the people in this world and some future high-tech data?】

【Can it chat with the host?】

“I didn’t say anything,” Ji Meng replied.

“You’re doing well, much better than I expected.”

Feeling that Sansan was getting increasingly agitated, Ji Meng reassured it and asked, “So how can you gather enough energy?”

Sansan perked up: 【It’s quite simple, host. Sansan energy mainly depends on Qiuqiu’s happiness value and darkening value, which Sansan use to apply for energy rewards from the main system.】

【The higher Qiuqiu’s happiness value and the lower the darkening value, the more energy Sansan will receive.

When Qiuqiu’s happiness value reaches over eighty percent and the darkening value falls below ten percent, the main system will also give Sansan extra rewards, providing a significant energy boost. At that time, Sansan have plenty of energy!】

Happiness value…

Ji Meng asked, “What is Qiuqiu’s current happiness value?”

When it came to Qiuqiu’s happiness value, Sansan became quiet, speaking at an increasingly lower frequency. After a long pause, it sighed and slowly revealed a number:

【15%.】

Ji Meng stared in shock: “15%? That’s so low!”

【It’s really that low, at just 15%, and it only increased just now. This afternoon, it was only 5%! Sansan almost dropped out and couldn’t boot up.】

【Not only is the happiness value low, but for some reason, the darkening value hasn’t decreased at all.】

“……”

【Host, you need to work hard to quickly raise Qiuqiu’s happiness value. Sansan has already turned off all functions that can be disabled to conserve energy while staying online, like navigation and the function to transmit the original body’s memory images. These can only be reactivated once Qiuqiu’s happiness value reaches 80%, which will allow Sansan to receive the main system’s large energy rewards.】

“……”

“Got it!”

“It’s late, I’m going to sleep. You can log off now.”

Ji Meng replied wearily as she returned to bed.

The little girl was already sound asleep, with a very obedient sleeping posture, lying on her back with her small hands resting on her chest.

Qiuqiu looked very thin, probably weighing no more than 30 pounds, and bundled up in the blanket, she appeared even smaller and more obedient, like a beautiful doll.

Fifteen percent happiness value.

Children are easily satisfied, but this happiness value is surprisingly low.

Is it because she lost her dad and her mom doesn’t care for her, making her feel extremely insecure and unable to feel happiness?

Ji Meng reached out and gently touched her soft white face. For the first time, she felt the difficulties of raising a child.