Chapter 22: Is the Little Girl a Debt Collector?

Lunch was had at the canteen.

The menu featured stewed potatoes with green beans, braised tofu, and, for a rare treat, stir-fried pork slices with green peppers. However, upon seeing the massive chunks of fat, Shen Zhiyu decided to stick to the vegetarian options. Even though meat was a luxury in this era, the sight of those oversized slabs of fat was so greasy it made her stomach turn; she couldn't bring herself to eat it.

Yet, Shen Zhiyu ultimately could not escape the assault of the fatty meat. An older woman eating at the same table, seeing that Shen Zhiyu hadn't ordered any meat, kindly shared half of her own portion with her. Helpless, Shen Zhiyu steeled herself and forced it down, fighting back the urge to gag. Even that single piece of meat left her feeling queasy for the rest of the afternoon.

This lunch experience completely killed any desire Shen Zhiyu had to eat at the canteen again. She would rather walk a few extra steps after work to go home and cook for herself.

After finishing work in the afternoon, Shen Zhiyu made a detour to a nearby market with some of her colleagues, but she didn't manage to buy anything. Supplies in the market were extremely limited. As soon as anything decent appeared, it was snapped up immediately. People like them, who arrived after work, were purely relying on luck.

Upon returning to the residential compound from the market, Shen Zhiyu saw Rong Yu again, along with the little girl she had encountered earlier. Rong Yu was carrying a mesh bag filled with various items: canned goods, malted milk powder, biscuits, and even pickles from Liubiju. Those Liubiju pickles were quite a find!

"Sister, you're back!"

Seeing Shen Zhiyu, the little girl let go of Rong Yu's hand and trotted toward her. Shen Zhiyu smiled at the child, but before she could get close, Yuanbao, who was tucked into Shen Zhiyu’s pocket, poked its head out and started barking at the girl.

Shen Zhiyu could understand Yuanbao’s barks. Once she grasped what the creature was saying, she felt an inexplicable sense of repulsion toward the girl's approach. Yuanbao was very hostile toward her, calling her a "debt-collecting demon." Since others were around, Shen Zhiyu couldn't ask Yuanbao what was going on—why, when they had only just met, would it call her a demon and urge her to stay away?

"Little sister, it's you!" Shen Zhiyu made an excuse to keep the girl at a distance. "I just got back from work, and I'm not very clean. I don't want to dirty your clothes!"

She then turned to Rong Yu with a serious expression. "Comrade Rong, I hope this is the last time we meet."

Rong Yu was stunned. It was the first time in his life an woman had treated him this way.

"If this is a token of gratitude, I will accept it," Shen Zhiyu continued. "However, we are not from the same world. It is better if we don't meet again to avoid gossip. I am a married woman, after all."

"Comrade Rong, don't you agree?"

"Yes." Rong Yu handed over the mesh bag, responding with equal gravity. He wasn't the type to force himself on a woman who was already married.

"Then, goodbye." Shen Zhiyu took the bag and effectively dismissed them, not even offering for them to come inside.

Rong Yu took the little girl's hand and walked out of the compound, picking up his pace until the girl complained she couldn't keep up, at which point he slowed down.

***

Inside, Shen Zhiyu took Yuanbao out of her pocket and held it by its ears. "Confess. What's the deal with that little girl?"

"Master, that child is strange. She’s a debt-collector. Anyone who gets close to her will have their luck drained!"

"Luck? Are you joking?" Shen Zhiyu didn't believe it.

Yuanbao barked incessantly. "Master, I’m not lying. I’m a spirit beast; I can see luck! You, Master, possess great luck yourself, otherwise, you wouldn't have ended up here or met me. But if you get too close to that girl, you’ll be cursed with misfortune."

"And what about her uncle? If he gets close to her, what will happen?"

"He'll have bad luck, too," Yuanbao replied indifferently. "That man already has a dark aura between his eyebrows. If he stayed by your side, he might have been able to escape the calamity, but why do you dislike him, Master?"

"I don't dislike him. I just dislike trouble." Shen Zhiyu spoke with a calm mind. Having read so many novels, she was wary of certain sensitive surnames. For instance, a certain novel famously said, "Once you meet Rong Zhi, you are ruined for life." While this guy wasn't named Rong Zhi, his surname was Rong, and his name was Rong Yu.

Most importantly, both times Shen Zhiyu had summoned an air-drop, it had been linked to the Rong family, which made her very cautious. Coincidences do exist, but when a system is involved and coincidences still occur, only a fool would believe there wasn't something fishy going on.

"Master is truly wise!"

Yuanbao wiggled out of her grip and dashed out of the room, barking—it had some personal, or rather, "beast-related" business to attend to.

Once Yuanbao was gone, Shen Zhiyu started cooking dinner. Because of the grease from that piece of fat at lunch, she decided to make something with a strong flavor: boiled spicy pork slices. The fragrant, numbing, and spicy dish immediately whetted her appetite.

To her surprise, the little creature Yuanbao turned out to be a huge glutton, and it wasn't picky about what it ate. In the end, it polished off the entire small pot of pork, including the broth, which actually saved her the trouble of cleaning it.

The compound's water tap was in the middle courtyard, not inside the units. When she went to wash the dishes, she ran into several neighbors. Some were gossiping and asked about her family, while others inquired about her relationship with the man, Rong Yu, who had visited earlier.

Shen Zhiyu just smiled and didn't say much. Her experiences were truly more bizarre than any novel, but this was reality—and reality is often far more magical than fiction.

After washing the dishes, Shen Zhiyu returned to her room to read. Preparing for the college entrance exam, she was determined to work hard now to get a head start.

"Master, Master, why are you reading that stuff?" Yuanbao asked. "What do you want to learn? Why don't I teach you?"

"Go away. What could you possibly teach me?"

"I can teach you magic!"

"Please, there’s no spiritual energy returning in this world. Even if you taught me magic, I wouldn't be able to use it!" Shen Zhiyu pushed Yuanbao away with disdain.

Yuanbao tilted its head, watching her for a moment, then suddenly raised a small paw. A point of white light landed between Shen Zhiyu’s eyebrows. In an instant, her mind cleared, and her memory became exceptionally sharp.

She finished an entire book in a short amount of time. This efficiency was something the "semi-slacker" version of her could never have achieved!

"Yuanbao, how did you do that?" Shen Zhiyu looked at the creature with burning eyes, reached out, grabbed it, and prepared for a harsh interrogation.