Nine out of ten gamblers lose; I've run into a jerk!

Chapter 35 This Fish Cares

Shuanzi witnessed a scene that shattered his worldview: a flock of geese landed on a branch and all looked at him. Could it be that what his brother said was true?

His heart pounded with excitement, and he quickly knelt down to kowtow devoutly, silently reciting his wish.

When he looked up, the flock of geese, as if possessed, flapped their wings and flew away in unison.

"Brother, the legend is true!" Shuanzi excitedly wanted to share Xu's wish with Shen Qing.

"Shh~" Shen Qing held up one finger, "It won't work if you say it out loud~"

Shuanzi quickly covered his mouth. This might be his only chance to change his fate in this life, and he dared not blaspheme the gods or ask for a second mercy.

"Heaven rewards diligence, and the gods will only bless you. But you still have to do things yourself, understand?"

"Yes!" Shuanzi nodded vigorously, his bright eyes wide open.

My brother is a wise man, and he said that God must be right to favor hardworking people! Because he believes in divine favor, he has gained more confidence in his actions ever since.

Years later, he finally realized his childhood dream and settled down in Yancheng. Although he always respected learning, he scoffed at the saying "Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits" and insisted: There really are gods in the world!

Shen Qing finally smiled with relief as she watched Shuanzi regain the energy appropriate for his age and join the children in their mud-throwing battle.

The system's voice echoed in my mind after a long absence: "I thought you'd use the Zhaojun trial card to survive the famine."

"I did have this idea, but I ran into this kid before I could put it into practice."

“System, I’ve been feeling really down these past few days. If you were an infrastructure system, I might have impulsively agreed to sell myself.”

The system didn't respond to him, thinking to itself, "Don't you know best that there's no such thing as a free lunch? Who would help a world for no reason?"

Everyone in the world suffers; can you save them all?

“I once heard a story about how many fish were stranded on the beach when the tide went out. A little boy picked them up one by one and put them back into the sea. An adult told him that he couldn’t save all the fish and no one would care. The little boy picked up a fish and said that this fish would care. He picked up another fish and said that this one would care too.”

"I can't save everyone, I can only save those I can save right now."

Why didn't you just give him a gold leaf, or take him away from this small mountain village?

"That could lead to someone's death. Besides, I don't have a hero complex. I'm not going to take on other people's lives. I'm just giving them a glimmer of hope. They still have to walk their own path in the future."

I thought you liked being a hero.

Shen Qing shook her head. "I don't want to be a hero. Heroes suffer too much and are always let down. I just want to be a human being."

The system pondered these words carefully. Was it implying that many people were not human?

When it was time to eat, the mission conscientiously boiled water and prepared dry rations, not expecting anything good from the village.

Shen Qing glanced at the center and saw that Que Shu had no appetite. His chubby face had become much thinner. The child had never eaten so poorly since he was a child. He did not cry or make a fuss along the way but remained silent.

He watched as Que Shu put down the dry rations and walked outside to stare blankly at the sky.

Shen Qing shook her head helplessly. Why are all the children she met today so sentimental?

He walked up to Que Shu and asked, "Why isn't Your Highness eating?"

Que Shu looked up in surprise. Few people in the delegation took the initiative to talk to him, making him feel like he was just an object that needed to be delivered to its destination.

On the day Jingchuan fell off the cliff, he was surrounded and in no danger whatsoever. He hid in the carriage and didn't dare to show his face. Afterwards, no one told him much about Shen Qing, so he didn't even notice her.

“This one…” Que Shu looked at Shen Qing and saw that he was not wearing a guard uniform, but had two knives tucked into his waistband. He also looked like he had come from the Xuan Kingdom delegation. Que Shu guessed that he was a retainer of the Shen family. How could he be so young?

Thinking that appearances can be deceiving, and that someone so young being sent to protect Shen Che must be extraordinary, he carefully examined Shen Qing for a few moments, finding his face familiar, and politely asked, "Brother, have we met before?"

"Brother is your classmate in the class next door," Shen Qing thought to herself.

“I have been part of the mission the whole time, so Your Highness will naturally find me familiar.”

Shen Qing coaxed the child and asked him again why he hadn't eaten dinner.

"It tastes awful."

With perfect timing, location, and people, Shen Qing took Que Shu to the village chief's house next door for a version of "The Prince's Metamorphosis".

"Ugh~"

Que Shu leaned against the wall and vomited incessantly. Shen Qing gave his own dry food to the village chief's family, who looked embarrassed, and walked over to Que Shu, patting his back to help him catch his breath.

"At this time of year, when food is scarce, the village chief's meals consist of wild vegetable soup sprinkled with wheat bran. It's not only unpalatable, but it's also not filling. It's gone after a quick pee."

Que Shu's face was grim. Shen Qing continued, "But it has one advantage: it allows them to live. Your Highness should be able to see what kind of lives the common people of Xuan Kingdom are living on your journey."

Que Shu roughly understood what Shen Qing wanted to express and said, "But I am of noble birth, and I am different from them."

"But Your Highness is going to Yu Kingdom as a hostage now." Shen Qing curled her lips into a wolf-like smile and told the tragic hostage stories from movies and TV dramas of her past life.

Hearing about things like starving and freezing, enduring illness, being bullied by palace maids and eunuchs, and eating dead rats, Que Shu trembled with fear.

"So Your Highness, this little hardship is really nothing."

Happiness is always relative, Que Shukaba kaba mumbled as he ate his dry rations.

Shen Qing nodded in satisfaction. After the lesson of setbacks, it was time to give the child some encouragement. So she took Que Shu to the Qi Kingdom delegation.

Jingchuan was somewhat surprised to see Shen Qing approaching and asked, "Shen San... Lang, what brings you here?"

"Collecting debts."

"..."

Jingchuan's heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, Shen Qing's request this time was not excessive; he only asked Shen Qing to share his survival experience as a hostage in Xuan Kingdom.

If Emperor Qi keeps his word and successfully becomes the crown prince, this hostage situation will actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise, serving as a positive example.

Looking back, Emperor Yongxi was concerned about his reputation. His days as a hostage in Xuan Kingdom were much better than his time in the cold palace in Qi Kingdom. As classmates, it was only right that he took care of Que Shu, even if it was just out of respect for Deyin.

With Jingchuan as a model, Que Shu felt much more at ease. The day's emotional rollercoaster was too torturous.

The system's opinion of the unethical host has changed somewhat. "You're actually a pretty good person."

"No, that's not it. In the end, Que Shu became the emperor. It's good to establish a good relationship as soon as possible."

【…】

The next day, after being discharged from the army, they set off and arrived in Yancheng, a place that would have taken Shuanzi two days to reach, in less than a day.

They stopped to replenish their supplies. Yancheng, though near the border and far less prosperous than Xuandu, was the most bustling place Shuanzi had ever seen, and his lifelong dream.

About ten more days' journey, after passing Pingqiu County, we would reach Qi State. Perhaps feeling apprehensive about returning home, Jingchuan was somewhat restless.

Since the last time they were attacked and fell off a cliff at Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, they have not encountered any further accidents on their journey. Small groups of bandits peeked out from a distance, but when they saw this army of nearly a thousand people, they immediately fled.

The first strike failed, and it was unclear whether the person behind it had given up or was preparing a big move. The closer they got to Qi Kingdom, the more tense the atmosphere became, with everyone on edge.