Chapter 39: No Shame in It

1200 points per person, six people in their small team, came to a total of 7200 points. Even for these players, battle-hardened and having accumulated quite a few points, it still hurt.

They could spend tens of thousands of points to strengthen themselves without blinking, yet found it hard to drop 100 points to buy a can of cola. Thinking that before doing anything in this instance, they’d first be down 7200 points—and the kicker was, during exploration later, people might just kick the bucket, meaning they wouldn’t even get those 5000 points.

True, if they did absolutely nothing and just stayed put obediently, they could get 5000 points. After subtracting the points paid to Huang Wei, it would still be a tidy profit.

But many of the players who reached the final instance were only one last step away. They’d struggled so long and so hard—why put in all that effort to improve themselves if they were just going to slack off and laze around inside the instance? Still, having a temporary safe house wasn’t a bad thing for them either.

More importantly, if they offended the guide and got thrown out of the house, they probably wouldn’t survive even a second.

The captain took a deep breath and said to Huang Wei, “I’d like to discuss this with my team members.”

That was, of course, no problem. Huang Wei led Huang Chengcheng out of the room, giving the main hall over to the players so they could talk it over. When Huang Wei reached the courtyard, she saw Cheng Luyun sitting by the well, washing clothes.

She was even washing… the same outfit Huang Wei had worn yesterday. Seeing this made Huang Wei feel a bit guilty. A Big Boss washing her clothes—no matter how you looked at it, it was bizarre.

She rolled up her sleeves and walked over, taking over Cheng Luyun’s chore. “Let me.” Without another word, she bent her head and scrubbed the clothes. Cheng Luyun stood to the side, tilting her head and watching her.

Some water still dripped from her hands, pattering onto the ground. Cheng Luyun ignored it. Huang Wei didn’t notice. The only one who did, Huang Chengcheng, tried her hardest to shrink into a ball and hide behind Huang Wei, attempting to minimize her presence.

When Huang Wei finished washing the clothes, stood up, and was about to hang them to dry, she saw Cheng Luyun’s hands still dripping water. Huang Wei paused. “Why didn’t you dry your hands?” As she spoke, she flicked the water off her own hands with a shake and quickly walked to the utility room opposite the kitchen, found a towel, and wiped Cheng Luyun’s hands dry.

Only then did Cheng Luyun appear somewhat satisfied, causing even Huang Chengcheng to involuntarily sigh in relief.

Cheng Luyun spoke. “Those players actually agreed?”

Although Huang Wei didn’t know the current state of the players’ discussion, she was ninety percent certain they would agree. It was a simple calculation. Anyone who wasn’t a fool should know how to choose.

Huang Wei nodded and tossed the towel into the basin to scrub as well. She hung it on the clothes rack in the courtyard alongside the freshly washed clothes.

Then she looked at her bra and panties and realized these items definitely couldn’t be dried out here. After all, there were male players coming and going. It wasn’t appropriate. She left them in the basin, planning to take them upstairs to dry later.

Cheng Luyun noticed this too. It hadn’t crossed her mind earlier either; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been sitting here washing them. She felt a bit annoyed and then blamed it on Huang Wei. If Huang Wei hadn’t let those players come back to stay, she could do whatever she wanted at home.

Cheng Luyun’s expression turned sour. Huang Wei quickly noticed this. She was a little puzzled. “What’s wrong? Why are you unhappy?”

Huang Wei truly didn’t know why Cheng Luyun was suddenly angry. Earlier, she’d said “do as you please,” and now she was starting to get mad.

Online, people said girls were hard to understand. She’d always thought it was a joke. Now that she was genuinely in a one-sided crush, she realized it was no lie. Girls really were hard to understand, even though she was one herself.

Cheng Luyun turned her face away before speaking. “People can’t stay in the house.”

This sentence left Huang Wei dumbfounded. “Huh…” If people couldn’t stay in the house, then where would they stay?

Huang Wei’s expression was blank, completely different from her demeanor in front of the players moments ago. Or rather, this was her natural expression. Huang Wei’s face usually showed very little emotion. She wasn’t used to expressing herself, so she habitually lowered her head and hid her expressions. When facing others, her gaze was rather vacant, making her appear as if she had no expression at all.

But in front of Cheng Luyun, she had to maintain constant vigilance, her entire mind focused on Cheng Luyun, so even her expressions became much livelier.

Compared to Cheng Luyun, who constantly wore a gentle smile, Huang Wei actually looked more like a ghost. No wonder Cheng Luyun liked to toy with her, letting other players think she was the Big Boss. With that gloomy expression of hers, anyone would think she was bitter and full of pent-up resentment. In the current environment, they could easily assume she harbored deep schemes and was a big problem.

Her expression pleased Cheng Luyun. “Anyway, they can’t stay in the house. Figure out the rest yourself.”

Cheng Luyun wasn’t about to solve problems for Huang Wei. She just liked watching Huang Wei frown and struggle, trapped in a predicament. Huang Wei scratched her head, feeling this issue had to be resolved today. Otherwise, when evening came and the players returned to the house, if Cheng Luyun just dispatched them, that would be a huge problem.

She would have taken the points, but failed to protect the people.

If word of this got out to other players, everyone would know she, the guide, was a crook. Who would give her points then? How would she ever make money?

To make her point-earning journey smoother, Huang Wei decided she’d take the child along and scout around the village to see if she could find a safe haven for the players to stay.

A good while later, the players inside the main hall also came out. As soon as the captain stepped out, he saw Huang Wei and her wife still in the courtyard, sunbathing. Huang Wei was sitting in a wicker chair with Huang Chengcheng in her arms. Cheng Luyun sat beside them, chatting idly with her.

Seeing the captain emerge, Huang Wei set the child down in the chair and walked over. “Well?”

The captain looked at his teammates and nodded. “We agree. We hope we can get along well during this upcoming time.” As he spoke, he extended his hand toward Huang Wei, looking like he wanted to shake hands as a gesture of goodwill.

Huang Wei glanced down at the captain’s hand but didn’t reach out to shake it.

It really wasn’t that Huang Wei was impolite. She was afraid that the moment she reached out, before they even clasped hands, the captain would be killed by Cheng Luyun.

Their deal couldn’t be declared over before it even began.

For the sake of points and the captain’s life, Huang Wei had no choice but to be impolite.

The captain stood there with his hand raised for a good while, then awkwardly lowered it. He rubbed the back of his head with his other hand to ease his embarrassment, then asked Huang Wei, “How do we transfer the points to you?”

Actually, Huang Wei didn’t know how to make the transfer either. But in the novel, she knew the method the male and female leads used to transfer points to each other—she’d seen them do it multiple times. So she told the captain to submit a trade request to her, the same way a player would to another player. The captain was dubious. A moment later, a virtual window appeared before Huang Wei, just like the system prompt from before telling her to be a good NPC. A trade prompt popped up.

【Accept trade request from player?】

【Yes】【No】

Why hesitate? Huang Wei quickly chose ‘Yes’ and saw the total: 7200 points. While internally marveling that players were such easy marks, she accepted the captain’s points. After the trade ended, the captain led his team out. They planned to explore the village further.

Their departing silhouettes carried a sense of determination. Huang Wei also knew that if they ever discovered Cheng Luyun was the Big Boss, this deal would ultimately be torn up. She’d fool them as long as possible; once they found out, she’d have to find another way to earn money.

Although Huang Wei had said she couldn’t guarantee the safety of their reckless actions, as long as there was a safe house, with their strength, they should at least be able to run back like Wang Ling did. But Wang Ling had been deliberately let in by Cheng Luyun. This group of players might get cut down by Cheng Luyun before they even touched the door.

After the players left, Huang Wei also decided to leave the house to scout out a place for the players to stay tonight. She’d been making bold claims in the main hall earlier, and Cheng Luyun hadn’t opposed her, which proved she probably wasn’t planning to go against her on this matter. So as long as she found a place for the players, she wouldn’t have to worry about Cheng Luyun making them silently drop dead during the night.

Huang Wei guessed that for now, Cheng Luyun was likely turning a blind eye to her actions.

That was actually enough. Her goal wasn’t to let the players live happily ever after, but to eventually stand before Cheng Luyun and make her see her. She wanted to be with Cheng Luyun, and with Huang Chengcheng, their family of three living a happy and fulfilling life together. If possible, she wanted Cheng Luyun to fall in love with her.

Saving up points, making the players less of an eyesore to Cheng Luyun—these could fulfill one of her small wishes: leaving the detestable Huang Family Village. Everything Huang Wei did wasn’t for herself.

Unrequited love was truly bitter, especially this kind of unequal, one-sided love.

Huang Wei couldn’t help but sigh.

Just as she was about to head out, Cheng Luyun called her back. “Where are you going?”

At that moment, Huang Wei’s hopeless romantic side flared up again, wondering if Cheng Luyun caring where she went meant she liked her.

Huang Wei really should reflect sometimes; being a hopeless romantic all day, she deserved to dig wild vegetables. But the problem was, if she wasn’t hopeless romantic enough, she might have already been killed by Cheng Luyun by now.

Hearing Cheng Luyun call her, Huang Wei turned back, even flashing a smile. “I’m going to see if there’s anywhere that could be an inn or a guesthouse. I need to secure it; when more players come later, I can put them there.” She was a woman of action. The moment she finished speaking, she turned to leave, scooping up Huang Chengcheng along the way to take with her.

She definitely couldn’t rely on herself alone. Those villagers were enthusiastic toward her, sure, but deep down they still looked down on her.

Especially that village chief. Although he’d been using Cheng Luyun to pick a fight with her before, his expression also clearly showed he didn’t think much of her. If she just went back and cried to Cheng Luyun, Huang Wei would look down on herself.

But taking Huang Chengcheng along and using the child’s presence to intimidate the villagers was a different matter. It was obvious those villagers were afraid of Huang Chengcheng too.

If she got bullied and went home to cry to her wife, that would indeed be embarrassing. But taking her daughter and borrowing her power to swagger around—that was her own skill.

Huang Wei adaptively chose to swagger. After all, her daughter even partly looked like her. Relying on her wasn’t shameful.