What Does a Long Aotian Want in Jinjiang?

Huo Yuan is the poor but kindhearted heroine of an old-fashioned romance, a little ray of sunshine.

One evening, a System suddenly activates and assigns her a task: rescue an injured young man.

For every point his affection rating increases, she earns ten spirit stones.

Ten spirit stones are what she can save up after four years of planting crops and digging for wild vegetables, working day and night.

Ten spirit stones would buy her two ounces of beef every day for a whole year.

Beef for an entire year. An entire year.

Huo Yuan's tears of longing trickle from the corners of her mouth.

She risks her life, sneaks into the warding barrier with a kitchen knife, and brings the young man home.

She bandages his wounds with her head bowed, sneaking glances at him now and then.

The young man has a very handsome face, but his gaze is cold. He looks at her as if he's been forced to sell himself to her.

When she's done bandaging him, the System announces: Congratulations, Host! The male lead's affection has increased by 0.01. Keep up the good work.

Huo Yuan: ...

The System explains that 0.01 means she'll have to risk her life saving the young man another hundred times to earn a single affection point.

So much for something falling from the sky.

Huo Yuan kicks the young man out and dutifully goes back to planting crops and digging for wild vegetables.

Then, one evening, the young man returns to her thatched hut.

She doesn't have time to cover the ramshackle furniture with straw.

She actually likes things clean, but the old wood looks filthy.

Poverty prowls around them like a beast, roaring in their faces.

Huo Yuan thinks, He'll think I'm a slob. That 0.01 affection I worked so hard for is going to disappear.

But he ignores everything around him. His eyes are fixed only on her, his gaze burning with urgency.

"Huo Yuan, I know you're a System Host too. It's assigned another task. According to the plot, we have to share our first kiss tonight. If we fail before dawn, we'll be struck by heavenly lightning three times."

Huo Yuan opens the System panel and checks the task list: [Share a first kiss with the male lead].

Reward for completion: [Spirit Stones +50]. Penalty for failure: [Lose three strands of hair].

The System is as stingy as ever.

Would a pure, kindhearted, steadfast, traditional sunshine heroine like her really sell her first kiss for 50 spirit stones?

Make it at least 62.

She closes the task panel and looks up at You Huang. "We're not even friends. We can't do this task. Let the lightning strike wherever it wants. I don't care."

You Huang: ?

You Huang: What's your penalty for failing? Is it different from mine?

Huo Yuan: More or less the same, just a little lighter than yours. Mostly, I don't mind pain that much.

You Huang: What exactly is this penalty that's "a little" lighter?

"Uh..." Huo Yuan is about to make something up when she suddenly hears a System notification:

[CP Popularity +1288], congratulations, Host! Keep up the good work.

Theme: Cherish every ordinary moment.