Chapter 16: The Cubs Admired by Yun Qimu

The other four little cubs clutched their own pockets, their faces flushed red with grievance. So many, so many energy coins! Even if the five of them put their fingers together, they still couldn’t count them all.

The main system was also stunned by her latest price quote.

[Who would have thought that someone as delicate and pretty as you could be like this, even fleecing such adorable little cubs.]

Yun Qimu showed not a hint of shame, and replied righteously, “This is for the sake of unified pricing and long-term planning. If your exchange shop sells something for 100 spirit coins and I sell it for 100 spirit coins too, with no profit at all, then why should I work so hard as your porter for free?

A boss who makes their employees work without pay is not a good boss. Unless, of course, you want to pay me a salary. If you really pay me, say, hundreds or thousands a day, then maybe I’d consider being kinder to the cubs, caring for children, protecting the next generation of Earth Village, and giving them fair prices.”

Main system: …

[I think you’re absolutely right. Host, you really are the most suitable and outstanding village chief I could have chosen.]

Yun Qimu’s beautiful brows arched like mist, her lips curving in a delighted smile.

“Naturally. Besides, I’m doing this to protect them. In the future, when there are more people, if only they’re special, don’t you think they’ll become targets? After all, this is a vicious and lawless exile planet. Even with the game’s rules as protection, there’s no shortage of accidents caused by the greedy.”

The main system immediately became solemn. [Host, you really do think things through.]

“We… we don’t have that many energy coins. Big sister, can we rent instead?” The youngest girl, Zhuzhu, nervously twisted the hem of her clothes with her soft little hands, her big watery eyes looking timidly at Yun Qimu.

Al’s eyes also lit up. He looked up at her again, hope shining in his brown eyes.

“Of course you can rent.” A smile flashed in Yun Qimu’s eyes. The youngest girl was actually pretty clever. She’d already planned to let them rent a place to stay first.

“Let’s say one spirit coin per month. When you have enough spirit coins, you can buy the cabin and make it your own property.”

Then she gave the five little cubs a quick lesson about Earth Village’s currency. “One spirit coin equals one hundred energy coins. From now on, once you join Earth Village, you’ll mostly use spirit coins. Energy coins can be exchanged for spirit coins. As for how to spend and exchange them, you’ll find out once you agree to join Earth Village.”

“Oh, okay.” The five little cubs nodded, half-understanding.

“So, do you want to join Earth Village?”

“Yes, yes!” Except for the oldest, Al, who hesitated a bit, the other four immediately nodded. Joining meant hot soup and meat to eat! They’d never had such delicious meat at home before—of course they wanted to join.

The children thought very innocently.

Seeing this, Al gritted his teeth and agreed too.

[Ding-dong—Welcome players Al, Zhuzhu, Pidan, Doudou, and Gouwazi to Earth Village! Please summon your control panel and contribute to building a beautiful Earth Village!]

“What was that sound?”

The five little cubs stared wide-eyed in surprise. The two most timid boys, Doudou and Gouwazi, yelped and hugged each other, their little bodies trembling.

“Don’t worry, that’s just the system notification for Earth Village. Building Earth Village is a big game, and I’m the acting village chief here. Welcome to Earth Village! You can follow the voice prompts to summon your control panel and take a look.”

Yun Qimu perfectly fulfilled her role as village chief, flashing a neat eight-toothed smile as she delivered her welcome speech. But sensing the cubs’ fear of her, she could only shrug and hand over the glorious task of orientation to Yun Xiaodi.

Ahem, definitely not just because she wanted to slack off!

The main system nagged in her mind about her lack of professionalism, but Yun Qimu just lounged lazily in her chair, thick-skinned as ever, feeling no shame at all for making “child labor” work.

Watching Yun Xiaoyu not far away, looking all grown-up as he was surrounded by the five kids, their group erupting now and then in exclamations and excited shouts, Yun Qimu found herself quite amused.

The main system’s attempt to awaken her conscience: failed!

In the end, it could only grumble as it handed over her mission rewards. Now, she was a big spender with eight spirit coins in hand.

Still, it wasn’t enough!

After Yun Xiaoyu led the five cubs to the junk heap to scavenge for wood, Yun Qimu stood up, took the stash of private money Yun Dad had given her, plus her own eight spirit coins, scraped together a total of fifty spirit coins, and, with the wood Yun Xiaodi and Yun Dad had found earlier, successfully exchanged for a small wooden cabin. It was built right next to their own cabin, with a ten-meter-wide path between them.

With this experience, Yun Qimu offered some advice: swap the small wooden beds in the bedroom for a big communal bed, so the five kids could sleep side by side.

The main system seemed to care about the cubs too, and didn’t argue with Yun Qimu this time. It quietly added a bit more energy and enlarged the bed.

And the lucky gift packs it prepared for the five cubs were actually pretty practical.

Yun Qimu had overheard earlier: the oldest, Al, the brown-haired boy, got a small iron sword; the youngest, Zhuzhu, received five sets of linen clothes; Doudou got a big cotton quilt; Pidan received ten strawberry-flavored nutrient drinks; and Gouwazi got one spirit coin—just enough to pay the first month’s rent. The five kids were overjoyed.

With full bellies, they had the strength to work.

Zhuzhu’s injured leg was wrapped with a strip of cloth gifted by Yun Xiaodi, and she stubbornly insisted on helping dig through the trash, no matter how anyone tried to persuade her otherwise.

The other kids could only go along.

Poor kids grow up fast. The five of them didn’t cry or fuss, and were strong, sensible, and capable—just the kind of cubs Yun Qimu admired. So, after making sure Yun Dad would go along to protect them, she let them be.

With the addition of the five children, Earth Village underwent a dramatic transformation.

The most obvious change was that the area around Earth Village became a patch of pure land. The once endless, red, parched ground was suddenly full of life.

A circle of black earth quickly spread out, and as spiritual energy overflowed, tiny green shoots quietly poked out of the black soil.

In an instant, this breath of spring swept across the whole village. In Yun Qimu’s little courtyard, the patch of greens that had been harvested started growing again, spreading rapidly. In the blink of an eye, a lush carpet of greens took over the right half of the yard, stretching from the cabin door all the way to the fence gate.

The little vegetable patch was now a real vegetable garden.

At the same time, the greenery in front of the neighboring cabin also began to grow wildly.

But instead of the little greens in front of their own cabin, it was a tangle of vines, blooming and withering, and beneath the sea of green leaves, little green gourds began to take shape."