Chapter 12: The Wealth Base Has Been Activated

Li Jixiang fell silent, inwardly cursing her luck. What a strange night—why was the little rascal still awake at this hour, his eyes glittering mischievously? There was no doubt; he was here for her.

Now, the real question was: how could she make her escape? How could she shake off this precocious little pest and hurry back to check on her fresh, fragrant fortune base?

Inside the window, An Chen blinked his sparkling eyes. He was still up at midnight, not because he was mischievous, but because his father had just returned from buying soybeans, bringing home a slab of pork. An Chen's mother had cut off a piece of pork and two ribs, intending to deliver them to Granny Li the next day as a tonic.

An Chen was eager for dawn; he wanted to deliver the gift to Li Jixiang himself. When he heard her muttering about sleepwalking, he was puzzled. “What’s sleepwalking?” he asked.

That was a deadly question. The little chubby kid was wide awake, and now her excuse about sleepwalking had thoroughly embarrassed her. Even the bravest soul would lose their nerve in her shoes.

Li Jixiang tried to muddle through, forcing a smile, pressing a small hand to her lips, feigning confusion and helplessness.

“Ah... Jixiang, you—” An Chen began, but Li Jixiang cut him off abruptly.

“Oh? How did I get here? Ah! An Chen, what a coincidence, what are you doing here?” she blurted, trying to seize the initiative, hoping to steer the conversation away from the glaring question of why she was climbing the wall in the middle of the night.

“Oh, I know! Jixiang, you’re sleepwalking!” An Chen answered eagerly, as if proud to get the right answer.

Good, the little fatty was playing along. She pressed on.

“Oh? What should I do? It’s a bit high up here, I’m afraid to come down, boohoohoo~” She threw dignity to the wind, transforming into a pitiful creature, as if to say: I didn’t mean to be here, I know nothing, it’s not my fault, I’m so delicate.

“Jixiang, you… just wait, I’ll come out and help you down.”

An Chen blushed, fumbling to open his door.

Seeing her scheme was working beautifully, Li Jixiang was satisfied, wiping away the cold sweat that had broken out during her performance. The prospect of her fortune base shimmered before her eyes, dazzling her into a daze.

Soon, An Chen hobbled eagerly into the courtyard. Seeing Li Jixiang standing there in a trance, he called her name softly, but she stood stock still, as if rooted to the spot.

When she still didn’t respond, An Chen frowned, sensing something amiss. Maybe she really was sleepwalking? He called out again, louder this time, finally snapping her back to her senses. She grew anxious, realizing that if he kept shouting, his parents would surely wake up.

If that happened, it would be a showdown she couldn’t win; it was hard enough deceiving one child, but facing the adults was a whole different matter.

Her mind raced, and suddenly a brilliant idea flickered to life. She swayed backward toward his voice, then staged a dramatic but safe tumble from the wall.

An Chen was terrified, thinking he’d caused her to fall, and burst into noisy tears.

His wailing quickly brought his parents out to investigate.

Li Jixiang stuck to her plan, continuing her sleepwalking act to the end.

Luckily, Uncle An was a worldly man, not easily rattled. Hearing his son’s sobs and his talk about sleepwalking, he guessed what had happened. He urged everyone to keep quiet, so as not to wake Li Jixiang. Then, seeing it was almost dawn, he told his wife to carry Li Jixiang home, and decided to send the pork along as well.

As she was carried home by Uncle and Aunt An, Granny Li woke up in alarm, and Li Jixiang felt a flush of embarrassment. In the end, she’d disturbed everyone after all.

The night had been far too exciting; she couldn’t sleep. She might as well study the fortune base that had cost her so dearly.

The fortune base, now activated, revealed itself as a Primary Granary. All she had to do was imagine a crop, and it would appear, any grain currently known in this world.

Li Jixiang was dumbfounded. Did that mean she could only produce things like millet, sorghum, sweet potatoes, and chestnut flour? She sighed—what a letdown. Why couldn’t it be golden grain, golden chestnuts? Then, a new line of text appeared: Limited offer—three grains of golden rice can be exchanged for a certain amount of popularity points.

Li Jixiang had seen her share of storms, but even she couldn’t help but laugh at this twist. Just when she thought she’d hit a dead end, a new path opened up.

These days, gold was worth a fortune. Even if it was only the size of a rice grain, little by little, she could become rich again, as long as she worked hard to gather popularity points.

Three golden grains—better than nothing. She clicked to exchange, only to see her popularity points drop by a thousand in an instant.

She found three… grains of rice in her palm. They were lustrous and radiant, clearly extraordinary.

But, at the end of the day, they were just rice grains. Where was the gold? Where had her gold gone? The wretched fortune system—if it had a face, she’d give it a good beating.

How naïve she had been.

Heartbroken and disillusioned, Li Jixiang pulled up her quilt and sulked, banishing the fortune base from her thoughts.

When she finally drifted off, she dreamed she was a pitiful waif, cold and hungry, begging in the street with a battered bowl. A wealthy man passed by, took pity on her, and tossed in a handful of golden grains. Overjoyed, she looked down—only to find a few translucent grains of rice in her bowl, so beautiful they seemed fit for an immortal.

She woke with a start, glancing at the three grains of rice by her bedside, her heart aching. These three little grains had cost her a thousand popularity points.

She couldn’t dwell on it any longer, or she’d go mad. Instead, she decided to experiment with other functions. Focusing hard, she pictured a sweet potato in her mind, and instantly, a large red sweet potato appeared in her palm.

She concentrated, conjuring more and more, until her head throbbed and her body strained under the effort. When she finally stopped and opened her eyes, the floor was lined with sweet potatoes, each one plump and heavy.

Delighted, Li Jixiang climbed out of bed to weigh one in her hand, planning to add it to the pile.

But as soon as her foot touched the floor, her legs buckled, and she nearly toppled over. After a few deep breaths, she understood: the granary couldn’t be used recklessly—there was a limit. Producing food through sheer willpower drained her strength, and if she pushed herself too hard, she’d collapse. To outsiders, it would look like sudden death.

Li Jixiang was at her wit’s end.

Tomorrow was market day; she had to make some money. Granny Li wanted to sell some odds and ends at the market, but why bother with trinkets when she could sell grains instead, or even supply them to the blacksmith’s shop?

It was a risk-free, cost-free venture!

With that thought, Li Jixiang felt as happy as a flower in bloom…