Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 100

After Song Qingzhan and Qin Mo left, Lu Tang looked in the mirror.

Besides the cut at the corner of her mouth, she also had three or four scrapes on her cheeks and forehead.

The ointment felt cool, and it didn’t hurt anymore. She just hoped it wouldn’t leave scars.

Tomorrow, she’d have to ask Grandpa Qin for more ointment.

Such a stingy person, how expensive could a bottle of ointment be?

Grumbling about Qin Mo for a while, Lu Tang regretted not sending Yuan Bao to escort Xie Yu. Yuan Bao was the best fighter among them, and with him there, maybe things would have been different. Then again, even Yuan Bao couldn’t handle the local bullies.

It had to be Qin Mo.

Tsk!

Why was that man so impressive?

[He’s impressive because he’s capable. Come on, lady, you should get moving. What about your tasks?]

Lu Tang had just laid down when the system popped up again.

“You’re quite cocky!”

[I’ve completed more than half of the tasks.]

Lu Tang whistled, punched the air, and sat up abruptly. “Tell me.”

The system displayed an interface without saying a word.

Host, please xxxx thanks to adulthood xxxx and become the champion xxxx little expert.

Lu Tang howled, “Get lost, you jerk!”

The system softly replied, [Task deadline, by tomorrow evening.]

“Get out!”

The next morning.

Lu Tang was sleeping when she heard loud knocking on the door. Startled, she thought Boss Duo’s men were back for revenge. She sprang up only to hear Xie Yu’s timid voice outside the door, “Brother Tang, are you awake?”

Lu Tang:

How could she not wake up!

Taking a deep breath, Lu Tang fell back onto the bed and pulled the blanket over her head, “I’m not awake!”

“Oh, then Brother Tang, keep sleeping. I’ll go call Brother Shu.”

Bang, bang.

The knocking started on the next door.

“Brother Shu, are you awake?”

“Get lost!”

Zhou Shu’s loud voice pierced through the wall into Lu Tang’s ears, making her chuckle as she got up.

When Lu Tang finished getting ready and opened the door, Zhou Shu, Xu Shen, and Guo Dawei were also coming out of their rooms.

Xie Yu was waiting in the hallway like a pitiful kitten. Seeing them, his eyes lit up, and he approached, “Brothers”

Before he could finish, the four of them pounced on him, giving him a good beating.

After a good stretching and muscle-relaxing beating, Lu Tang and the others went down to the lobby for breakfast, arms around each other’s shoulders.

Xie Yu, grinning despite the beating, followed behind.

As they pulled out chairs and sat down, Zhou Shu looked at Xie Yu in confusion, “Are you crazy? Why are you so happy after getting beaten up?”

The sturdy Xie Yu lowered his head and poked his fingers together, “Last night, I mentioned you guys to my grandpa. He said I must have gone mad with delusions and needed a Daoist priest to exorcise me.”

Zhou Shu and the others burst into laughter.

Xie Yu scratched his head, “He said it so convincingly that I almost believed I was hallucinating you guys.”

Xu Shen put an arm around Xie Yu’s shoulder, “Poor kid, that’s so sad. So you came banging on our doors early just to see if we were real?”

Guo Dawei chimed in, “Now that you’ve had a good beating, you know we’re real.”

Zhou Shu couldn’t stop laughing, “Do you want to make sure again? Help me up, I can still beat you.”

Xie Yu shook his head earnestly, “No need for that.”

Looking around, Xie Yu wondered, “Where’s Brother Liang?”

The four exchanged glances, and Lu Tang said, “He had trouble sleeping last night. Let him rest.”

Afraid that Xie Yu, being overly sensitive, would blame himself for yesterday’s events, Lu Tang didn’t mention it.

Zhou Shu and the others also kept silent.

While they were talking, the waiter brought breakfast.

Each person got a bowl of fish porridge, along with four baskets of soup dumplings.

“Wow! This porridge is amazing, tastes so good. Little Tang, it totally outshines your inn’s food.” Zhou Shu praised as he ate, giving Lu Tang a thumbs up.

Lu Tang took a spoonful.

Tsk.

Not as good as what I had last night.

“It’s just average, nothing special.”

As soon as Lu Tang finished speaking, the waiter sprang over.

“Guest, you find it average? Impossible, our fish porridge is the second-best in all of Yuhang. Maybe you’re not fully awake yet. Want to try again? No one leaves unimpressed by our fish porridge.”

The waiter stared at Lu Tang, making it seem like he wouldn’t let her go until she praised the porridge.

Zhou Shu, Xu Shen, and Guo Dawei quickly finished their bowls, “Can we have another bowl?”

The waiter raised an eyebrow at Lu Tang.

Lu Tang:

She twitched at the corner of her eye, “Then where’s the best porridge?”

“The best is at the Delight Pavilion at the end of the street. But their porridge costs twenty taels of silver per bowl, and you have to queue up for at least half an hour.”

Something clicked in Lu Tang’s mind, “Do they serve their porridge in clay pots?”

The waiter seemed surprised that this out-of-town guest knew, “That’s right, their porridge is simmered in individual clay pots, so it’s always in short supply. Even their dine-in customers have to queue up again for takeout.”

“Do they also sell rice noodles?”

“Have you been there?” The waiter looked at Lu Tang in surprise, “Their fish porridge and rice noodles are the most famous, but the rice noodles are even harder to get.”

Lu Tang felt a pang in her heart, “No, I just heard about it before.”

Then, she smiled, “I wasn’t fully awake earlier. Your porridge is really good.”

The waiter left, satisfied.

After breakfast, they all took their prepared gifts and headed straight to Xie Yu’s house.

Lu Tang had heard from Xie Yu that he lived with his grandfather and their living conditions weren’t very good. But she couldn’t imagine how bad it could be for a former Minister of Works like Xie Chengnian.

Until they reached Xie’s house.

The dilapidated courtyard stood in stark contrast to the grand houses around it. It was even worse than Yu Shunhai’s place.

However, it was neatly kept, with a small stone table in the yard, a book placed face down on it, and no one on the stone stool nearby.

Entering the yard, Xie Yu called out, “Grandpa, Grandpa, I brought friends over.”

An old man stumbled out of the house.

Judging by age, Xie Chengnian should be around fifty or sixty, but his old appearance made him look like he was seventy or eighty.

Lu Tang frowned and followed her friends forward.

“Grandpa.”

“Hello, Grandpa.”

“We’re Xie Yu’s good friends.”

“These are gifts for you, Grandpa.”

They greeted him one after another. Xie Chengnian stood there as if struck by lightning, staring at the young men in front of him. After a while, he trembled, “You are really Yu’er’s friends?”

Zhou Shu stepped forward and grabbed the old man’s trembling hand, “Grandpa, we’re all Xie Yu’s good friends. Xie Yu is very capable; we all admire him.”

Tears streamed down Xie Chengnian’s face.