Name: Was I Working for Free All Along?
Author: Chang Ying

Synopsis

Coming next: "The Female Alpha Who Wants to Marry into a Rich Family": a heartless girl who dotes on her little sister, and a bunch of love-brained ABos clawing at each other. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites~

Ning Li was a hardworking miner with one wish: to retire early.

To that end, she worked tirelessly day and night. She wore nothing but work clothes year-round, and every meal was a steamed cornbread bun with pickles.

Rest? Unless passing out from exhaustion counted.

Her diligence made her neighbor, Auntie Ant, and her whole family bow in admiration. Her frugality earned a thumbs-up from the miserly old man next door.

But fate always takes a sudden turn.

One sunny day, Ning Li dug up a priceless ore, worth enough to make her dream of early retirement come true.

But the moment she opened her storeroom door, she froze.

Heavens! Someone had robbed her!

Her retirement savings, built up over many years, had been stolen clean out! Gone, gone, all gone!!!

As Ning Li's eyes blurred with tears, the only precious gold nugget she had left in her arms suddenly vanished right before her eyes...

From that day on, Ning Li could always hear strange voices.

["Ding! Your miner is feeling down. We recommend cheering her up promptly."]

Ning Li was baffled: ??? What was that sound?

Later, Ning Li uncovered a shocking secret and learned where her retirement savings had gone.

It turned out this world was just a game.

And she was nothing more than a little pet with an 'owner'!

No, no, she didn't even count as a pet.

She was just a free giveaway from a lottery, a worker who got nothing, ate only cornbread buns, and did nothing but work!!!

And the retirement savings she'd scrimped and saved, going without nice food and clothes, had all been sold off and spent by her 'owner'!

This was simply too much!

Ning Li looked at her worn-out clothes, then at the cornbread bun and pickles in her bowl. Slowly, she revealed a row of little white teeth and gave a sinister smile.

After Chen Zishu took over the family business, the company's market value grew several times over in a very short time.

In short, he was rich.

But among his friends, he had a very prominent nickname: "The Miser."

To get him to spend money, his friends unanimously recommended a pay-to-win game called Wandering Through the Immortal World.

Chen Zishu downloaded the game and started playing.

But he refused to spend a single cent.

At first, he ran around in a set of rags, pinching every penny and getting beaten up by other players. It was a miserable existence.

But not long after his friends finished making fun of him, Chen Zishu got a new outfit and his combat power doubled.

The reason: In a free lottery, Chen Zishu had won a one-of-a-kind, growth-capable gold nugget miner, the only one on the whole server!

His friends: ??? What did he do to deserve that???

Everyone was insanely jealous. The stingiest miser on the server, too poor to spend even six yuan on the game, had somehow gotten incredibly lucky!??

But Chen Zishu had his own troubles. One day, his miner dug up a rare ore despite being underleveled.

After he sold it, everything went wrong.

The first major sign was that his once-hardworking miner started slacking off.

Later, the System sent him a warning:

[Your miner's current affection for you is -100. Your miner now resents you!]

[Warning! If your miner's resentment gets too high, she will transfer her affection elsewhere.]

[Consequence: She will run away from home.]

Chen Zishu: ???

To cure his miner, Chen Zishu tried all sorts of things, including feeding her, buying her anything she wanted, and helping her level up.

But the miner grew lazier and lazier, evolving completely into a freeloader who did nothing but eat.

Chen Zishu: …

To cure her, Chen Zishu not only spent all the money the miner had earned, but also had to farm in the game himself to make money.

Later, he went out of town on a business trip and didn't log into the game for several days.

When he got home and logged back in, he discovered that his miner had really run away for good!?

*Scene One

The System announced over the server-wide megaphone: [Congratulations to Ning's hardworking owner for defeating the Boss of the Dark Lands! Rewards: 10 Super Treasure Chests, 10 Vitality Pills, 1 Heaven-Rank Manual, 5 Earth-Rank Sets...]

Friend present: "Wow, Chen Zishu, you shamelessly changed your name to that?"

Chen Zishu: "Shut your jealous mouth. I don't want to see your ugly face."

Ning Li: ??? Ning's hardworking owner? Heavens! How could anyone be so evil???!!!

[System notice: Your miner's current affection for you is -200.]

Chen Zishu: ?

*Scene Two

Late at night, Chen Zishu couldn't sleep. He logged into the game and accidentally opened his miner's profile.

Name: Ning Li

Hobbies: Enjoying the good life

Likes: Chestnuts, chestnut milk tea, chestnut cake, big houses, pretty dresses, chestnut orchards...

Dislikes: Chen Zishu × 1,000,000, cilantro

Chen Zishu: ???