The female lead thought she had a "proud and arrogant" character script.

Once on the street, Luo Qingcheng pushed through the crowd of onlookers: [System, find me a pawnshop.]

[Destination updated, route replanned, system map continues to navigate for you.]

Luo Qingcheng was penniless and had to find some money to take Hongdou to the clinic.

Anyway, the system said that Hongdou was just asleep and there was nothing wrong, so she wasn't worried about delaying Hongdou's treatment.

The pawnshop isn't far away.

She put the red beans down and went inside.

The pawnshop's transaction counters were always set very high; Luo Qingcheng even had to stand on tiptoe to reach the window.

"Boss, what do you think of this piece of jade?"

She raised her hand and lifted the phoenix pendant over.

He couldn't quite make out what the boss looked like, but he took the item and said, "The color is uniform, the texture is delicate and pure, it feels warm to the touch, and the carving is superb. Young lady, are you sure you want to be the boss?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, he then asked, "Do you want it to be pawned alive or dead?"

Luo Qingcheng: "What is 'live pawn' and what is 'dead pawn'?"

The pawnbroker explained: "'Active pawning' is charged at 8% monthly interest, with a term of 18 months. Upon redemption at the end of the term, the principal and interest are paid in full, and neither party owes the other anything. If the item is not redeemed by the end of the term, it becomes the property of the pawnshop. 'Dead pawning' is a face-to-face transaction where the money and goods are settled immediately. The item becomes the property of the pawnshop, and you cannot redeem it at the original price with interest."

Luo Qingcheng only cared about: "Who has more money?"

The boss smiled and said, "Of course, a 'dead pawn' is valuable."

Luo Qingcheng made the decision, "Absolutely!"

Holding the money in his hand, Luo Qingcheng was very pleased.

Sure enough, this token was valuable.

She said she was going to throw the keepsake into the pool, but in reality, she had already planned to use it to make her first fortune.

Picking up Hongdou, Luo Qingcheng headed towards the clinic according to the navigation. As they passed through a small alley, Luo Qingcheng suddenly lost his strength and collapsed on the roadside with Hongdou.

[System, what's going on?]

[Time for the cheat code is up.]

The fall brought Hongdou back to her senses.

"Miss! What's wrong?!" As soon as she saw Luo Qingcheng fall to the ground, she immediately got up and went to help him.

Luo Qingcheng was sprawled out like mud, and no matter how hard she tried to help him up, she couldn't. So she simply knelt down and placed Luo Qingcheng's head on her knees.

According to the law of conservation of energy, energy cannot be created or destroyed out of thin air, so you certainly won't suddenly become incredibly strong.

The system remained defiant in the face of Luo Qingcheng's insults.

[The "golden finger" is like lending your future energy to your present self. You just used up all your strength, so you're naturally feeling weak now.]

Luo Qingcheng: System, you son of a bitch—

While Luo Qingcheng was arguing with the system, Hongdou saw that she didn't react at all and assumed that Luo Qingcheng had suffered some inhuman treatment while she was unconscious, so she cried her eyes out.

"Miss, what's wrong, Miss?! Waaaaah, it's all Hongdou's fault, waaaah, I've made you suffer, waaaah." She sobbed uncontrollably.

"Clang—" A copper coin was tossed in front of them.

"Poor children," a woman said pityingly as she stopped in front of them.

Hongdou cried even harder.

Copper coins were tossed down from time to time, and some people advised, "Child, take this money and find a place to bury her. She should be laid to rest eventually."

The argument between Luo Qingcheng and the system ended when the system said it would kill her and find the next spring.

She finally regained some strength, opened her eyes, and saw many people surrounding them.

Hongdou was hugging herself, crying uncontrollably.

???

"Cough cough, Red Bean, you're crying too early. I'm not dead yet." Although the atmosphere has been built up to this point, she might as well just die now.

Fortunately, she has a thick skin, so she can pretend that she didn't hear the concerned crowd saying "How can you live like this?"

She frantically called the system, [System, quickly lend me the power of my future!]

She can't stay here any longer.

[No, you've already paid off the principal but not the interest. We won't accept loans until the interest is fully paid off.]

The system rejected her without hesitation.

Hongdou was overjoyed, "Miss, Miss, are you alright!"

Luo Qingcheng remained silent.

Seeing that she was indeed not dead, the onlookers booed, rolled their eyes, and spat, before quickly dispersing.

Luo Qingcheng gave up. She really couldn't save face today. Her face was ashen. "Hongdou, drag me to the corner."

She didn't want to be watched anymore.

Hongdou didn't understand, but luckily she was always very obedient.

However, she was only eleven or twelve years old. Although she was the only maidservant serving Luo Qingcheng and often did chores, making her stronger than ordinary maidservants, it was still a bit difficult for her to drag Luo Qingcheng.

On the street, a thin, pale-faced girl was dragging another thin, pale-faced girl along, moving slowly, like an upside-down human mop, wiping a clean line down the street.

Several children ran past, playing and laughing. When they passed Luo Qingcheng, they stopped curiously. When they saw her covering her face with her hands, they shouted "weird!" and then ran away laughing.

In another corner, a guard in black reported to a dark-faced middle-aged man, "Master, the token has been redeemed."

The dark-faced middle-aged man was the leader of the Sima family's envoy group.

He looked at the girl, who was being dragged along and whose face was filled with despair, and smiled slightly, his black mask remaining perfectly still.

"The secrets of heaven are unpredictable!" he exclaimed.

"Let's go."

"Yes!"

Finally away from the crowd, Luo Qingcheng breathed a sigh of relief.

[System, what's the interest rate?]

[100%]

Luo Qingcheng: ? ? ?

Two hours of charging for five minutes of talk time?

[Don't worry, the high interest rate isn't because you have no cultivation at all.]

Luo Qingcheng laughed, realizing that this system was also proficient in PUA techniques.

But she doesn't plan to argue with the system right now.

He simply asked, "When will I be able to return to normal?"

[One more incense stick's time.]

Luo Qingcheng was no longer anxious after receiving a reply. Seeing Hongdou pacing around, he comforted her, saying, "It's okay, I'll recover in a little while."

However, before we could recover, two uninvited guests arrived.

"Little girl, hand over the money you have on you."

Two filthy beggars arrived, their tattered clothes patched with different colors, their hair disheveled and greasy, standing up in clumps, and they emanated an indescribable stench.

Despite her numb legs, Hongdou got up, spread her arms, and stood in front of Luo Qingcheng.

She was nervous, but assertive, "We have no money!"

In Hongdou's mind, her young lady usually doesn't even have enough to eat, so where would she get the money to be robbed?

"Hmph, who are you trying to fool? We brothers saw it ourselves, that little girl behind you just came out of the pawn shop."

Another added, "If you don't pay, don't blame us for being impolite!"

After saying that, they looked at each other with lewd smiles, revealing yellow and black teeth, with a piece of dark green vegetable leaf hanging on them.

Luo Qingcheng was about to vomit from the stench.

[System, please think of a solution for me!]

There's no other way; we suggest you cooperate.

Luo Qingcheng knew this broken system was unreliable, but he didn't expect it to be this unreliable.

Unfortunately, she is currently unable to move...

After weighing the options, Luo Qingcheng said, "Hongdou, come on, give them the money."

Hongdou, unaware of her thoughts, wore an expression that seemed to say, "I never expected that you, Miss, would actually hide money from me behind my back. Are we still good mistress and servant who depend on each other for survival?" At her signal, Hongdou took the silver notes out of her bosom.

"Wow!"

Hongdou had never seen such a large denomination banknote before; they usually spent money in copper coins.

The thought of the money notes disappearing soon filled him with pain.

"Give it to me!" The two beggars hadn't expected this to be such a big sum.

His face was full of greed.

Hongdou reluctantly handed over the silver note.

Her lips were pouting very high.

Just as the beggar was about to touch the corner of the banknote, she instinctively pulled her hand back—

"You brat, are you playing me for a fool?!" the beggar roared in fury.

Hongdou is innocent! She was just subconsciously reluctant to let the money disappear from her hands!

"Hongdou!" Luo Qingcheng called out to her, and Hongdou reluctantly tossed the silver note next to the beggar.

They took the silver notes, counting them as they went, saying, "You're smart to know what's good for you! And also! Hand over the copper coins you asked for by the roadside earlier!"

Luo Qingcheng: ? ? ?

She knew people could be shameless, but she never imagined they could be this shameless.

She knew about the copper coins and red beans, and picked them up one by one, putting them in her purse.

Although there were only a few dozen, she had never seen so many before, and she carefully put them into the innermost pocket of her clothes.

At this moment, Hongdou felt a lump in her throat and was about to cry.

But thinking that her young lady was still lying on the ground for no reason, she dared not anger the two men, so she forced back her tears and took out her purse.

Just as she was about to pour out the coins, the two beggars snatched her purse away.

"Hey you guys!" After being glared at, Hongdou dared not speak out, looking at Luo Qingcheng who was still lying on the ground with a wronged expression, like a punching bag.

At this moment, Luo Qingcheng was gazing at the sky, deep in thought.

So this is what life is all about – its ups and downs.

She realized.

They all ended up in their own separate ways, each facing their own fate.

She has never hesitated to speculate about the worst aspects of human nature with the utmost malice.

Sure enough, after receiving the money, the two beggars did not leave. "That girl behind you, since she can't move, it seems she's going to die sooner or later. Why don't you let us enjoy her first?"

Hongdou was still young and didn't understand what they were saying for a moment, but she knew very well that they wanted to hurt her young lady.

She rushed forward and pounced on Luo Qingcheng, covering him completely with her own body.

"What do you want to do? Come at me! Let my young lady go!" The speaker was both shocked and frightened.

"Did you hear that? This little girl is offering herself up as a bedmate!" one of them said with a lewd grin.

"Hehe, being young is just right, it has a unique charm."

Luo Qingcheng stared at the two of them with a cold expression and his inorganic eyes.

A beggar glanced over and said, "Brother, there's something strange about that woman."

Upon hearing this, the other beggar, still lost in his fantasies, looked in the direction of the gaze, and his rising desires were instantly extinguished as if doused with ice water on a snowy day.

But then he thought, she's just a paralyzed little girl, what can she do to them? He forced himself to remain calm and said, "It's okay, we'll blindfold her later."

Hongdou realized what the two beggars were up to. Tears streamed down her face, but she stubbornly refused to let go of Luo Qingcheng, squeezing him so tightly that it hurt him.

She leaned close to Luo Qingcheng's ear and whispered, "Miss, Hongdou will hold them off for a while. You find a chance to call for help and escape!"

She's going to fight them to the death!

Luo Qingcheng stopped laughing and joking, and his cold eyes turned to look at Hongdou's resolute expression, his gaze softening slightly.

[How much longer?]

[Ten, nine, eight...]

[Lend me the power I gain after my future spiritual practice.]

She wants them dead!

[receive!]

The two beggars chuckled and drew closer to them, the countdown ticking away second by second!

A pair of foul-smelling hands were about to touch Hongdou's body...

At the critical moment——

A child rushed out.

He looked to be about four or five years old, with delicate features and exquisite clothes. His chubby cheeks were puffed up, and a headband made of emerald made him even more adorable.

He stood with his hands on his hips and shouted, "What are you going to do to my wife!"

Eh?

young married woman?

Seeing his attire, the two beggars knew he was someone they couldn't afford to offend.

The two took two steps back.

He smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Young master, your wife isn't here. Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

The younger one is already eleven or twelve years old, and the older one is fourteen or fifteen years old. How could she be the wife of this child who looks no more than five years old?

Moreover, although the two girls were dressed cleanly, they were pale and thin, clearly suffering from long-term malnutrition, even worse off than the two beggars. The fabric of their clothes was decent, but they were all patched, indicating that they were just two relatively clean little beggars who had found clothes in the garbage of a rich person.

"Hmph, how dare they have designs on my wife! Guards, drag them out and beat them to death!" He didn't even bother to look at these two eyesores.

"Yes!" The guards who hurriedly followed took the order and dragged the two beggars away.

"We know we were wrong! Young master! Young master! Ah!"

The sound faded away.

Red Bean: Stunned and dumbfounded (jpg).

System: [Do you still need to borrow the power you've gained from your cultivation?]

Luo Qingcheng rolled his eyes.

Now that the crisis is over, why would she need to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates? She's been paralyzed for so long just trying to borrow her own future strength; she doesn't have any special fetishes.

Now that he could move, Luo Qingcheng propped himself up with one hand and sat up, patting Hongdou, who was crying and hiccuping from fear, to comfort her.

"Young master, please have your men collect my money back while they're disposing of the body. Thanks."

She gave the order without any politeness.

Unexpectedly, the little boy ran up to her, grinning foolishly, "Wife, I'll do whatever you say!"

Luo Qingcheng: Huh?

Luo Qingcheng stood up. Although she was malnourished and petite compared to her peers, she was much taller than the little boy.

"Little brat, what did you call me again?" she asked, pointing incredulously at her own nose.

The little boy naturally looked up, gave her a sweet smile, his fair, chubby face was incredibly cute, and called out in a clear voice, "Wife!"

Luo Qingcheng was amused. She reached out and pinched the little boy's chubby cheeks. They were soft and smooth, just as nice to the touch as she had imagined.

While kneading the child, he wondered in his mind: [System, what's this kid's identity?]

The system paused briefly, then its tone became somewhat complex for some reason: [Sima Sui, the eldest son of the Sima family, your former fiancé.]