Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 40

Lu Tang glared at the box of books with a look of anger and betrayal, gritting her teeth. “Do I have to finish reading all of these? If I don’t, does it mean I failed to claim the reward and will be punished again?”

[The host is getting smarter. Indeed, motivation comes from a little pressure.]

Lu Tang slowly closed her eyes.

Forget it. I won’t claim the other reward.

[What are you thinking? You earned that reward with your effort, of course you should claim it!]

[The reward is being generated. Please wait patiently.]

Bang!

Another heavy object landed, this time on the other side of Lu Tang.

Kneeling on the bed with her eyes closed, Lu Tang didn’t want to look.

[This reward is time-sensitive. Please hurry to claim it.]

Lu Tang:!

Damn it!

At this moment, Lu Tang felt like a loyal soldier about to defect. Slowly opening her eyes, she turned her head with a solemn expression.

Sure enough, it was another box.

However, this box was half the size of the previous one.

With a sense of dread, as if uncovering a shroud from a corpse’s face, Lu Tang lifted the lid of the box.

A single book lay neatly inside.

The Encyclopedia of Accounting Problems

Lu Tang:!

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!

A roar erupted from her.

“What’s the system up to now? I feel like my script should be titled Has the Host Read Today? Aren’t you supposed to be a champion system? Why have you turned into a principal? And The Encyclopedia of Accounting Problems? Give me a book like The Tyrannical Prince’s Nightly Pet instead!”

Grabbing the Encyclopedia of Accounting Problems from the box, Lu Tang furiously threw it into the air.

“I worked hard to complete the task for this?”

[Congratulations, host. You have used the total annihilation reward.]

Lu Tang paused, “What did you say?”

[Well, host, I didn’t finish explaining. The total annihilation reward not only includes a book but also a skill.

The skill allows the content of the first book your finger touches to be automatically transferred into your brain as existing knowledge.

Since you touched The Encyclopedia of Accounting Problems, you now possess all the knowledge from that book.]

Lu Tang:.

Her face of anger gradually transformed into surprise. After checking her brain and confirming the system’s words, the surprise turned into frustration!

Lu Tang’s gaze shot to the Comprehensive Guide to Water Management beside her, “You mean, if I had touched The Comprehensive Guide to Water Management first…”

[Then you would now be an expert in water management.]

Lu Tang jumped up, hands on her hips, and shouted, “Damn it! Why didn’t you say that earlier!”

Reading The Encyclopedia of Accounting Problems and The Comprehensive Guide to Water Management was not the same!

It’s like comparing a primary school student to a postdoctoral researcher!

At least, that’s how she felt.

Water management?

Her only concept of water management was a book called The Little Explorer of the Three Gorges she received in primary school, and she had only read the cover.

Looking at the box full of water management books, Lu Tang felt like crying.

[Host, don’t be sad. You should start working hard. After all, there’s another assessment in seven days.]

Lu Tang: RIP.

Oppressed by the system’s tyranny, Lu Tang took the unfamiliar Comprehensive Guide to Water Management and began to study with tears in her eyes.

Rising with the rooster’s crow, not sleeping until the dog barked.

She found opportunities to study at the Qiao Family Inn during the day and continued in her study at night. She was so dedicated that she didn’t even go to watch when Madam Qiao replaced the mansion’s nameplate with Qiao Residence yesterday.

One morning, Madam Qiao looked uneasily at her son, who was buried in his books, and asked Lu Shuqing worriedly, “Do you think your brother’s brain is broken?”

Lu Shuqing sighed, “Hard to say, Mother. He might be possessed by a spirit. Didn’t we hear about that scholar in the neighboring county who drowned himself? Maybe we should invite a Taoist priest tomorrow to perform a ritual. How could a perfectly fine child suddenly become so studious?”

Inside, Lu Tang:.

“I can hear you, you know? Can’t you talk behind my back?”

Lu Shuqing rolled her eyes, “Are we the kind of people who talk behind others’ backs?”

Lu Tang:.

So you’re saying you’ll just talk about my broken brain to my face?

“I’ve said it many times, there’s nothing wrong with me. I just suddenly developed a love for studying. What’s wrong with someone loving to study?”

Lu Tang closed the thick book she was holding, put it into her shoulder bag, and got up to stretch and head outside.

Madam Qiao took Lu Tang’s hand.

“While it’s good to love studying, why the sudden change, Little Brother? Is there something bothering you? Why the sudden interest in water management?”

Lu Shuqing took Lu Tang’s other hand.

“Is it because I called you a spoiled brat the other day? I was just joking. Our Little Brother is so outstanding, so handsome, so…”

After a moment of hesitation, Lu Shuqing couldn’t continue and added, “Even if you’re just average, you should still be confident. You have us; you don’t need to prove yourself. If you really want to prove yourself, just manage the inn in Sihe Town. Why go into water management? Are you afraid you’ll always be overshadowed by your sister in business and want to take a different path? Little Brother, you don’t need to do that. I even looked through The Comprehensive Guide to Water Management last night and understood all the questions you marked.”

Lu Tang:!

Is that even humanly possible!

She didn’t even know where to start with Lu Shuqing’s comments!

Forget calling her Lu Shuqing; she should be called Lu “Versailles” Shuqing!

“You understood everything?” She yanked her hand away from Lu Shuqing, glaring at her.

Lu Shuqing reached into Lu Tang’s shoulder bag and pulled out her book, casually flipping to a page and pointing to the marked content.

“In the process of trench excavation, it is crucial to ensure the foundation’s bearing capacity to the greatest extent. Therefore, before the construction work officially begins, a corresponding soil bearing capacity survey must be conducted. What’s so hard to understand about this, Little Brother? Different soils have different bearing capacities. If soil with low bearing capacity suddenly has to hold an overload of water, the water channel will collapse, won’t it? Not only I understand this, but I bet all the farmers in our village do. If you really want to study water management, it’s useless to bury yourself in books. You’d be better off chatting with a few old men on the farm.”

Lu Shuqing originally intended to express concern for her brother’s sudden change.

However, it seemed she hadn’t unlocked the skill of being a comforting sister.

As she spoke, the tone and content changed, and it ended like this.

Seeing no way to salvage the situation, Lu Shuqing gave up on the kind sister persona. “You’re not pretending to study to avoid managing the inn in Sihe Town, are you?”

Lu Tang:!

Nonsense!

I’m afraid of the exam!

Seeing that the siblings were about to start bickering again, Madam Qiao quickly patted Lu Tang’s head.

“You’ve learned to read the ledgers, so go to Sihe Town today to take over the inn. You’ll be in charge of everything there. Your sister and I won’t interfere. Success or failure will be up to you.”