novelraw Chapter 1 – That year, that young lady
Chapter 1 – That year, that young lady
"Please, Mister, help me—"
The late autumn sky was slightly chilly, and Frostsky City was sparsely populated in the early morning, yet a yellow flag was planted on the street in the southern part of the city.
The flag bore eight characters: Only ferry fair maidens, young masters keep away.
Beside the flag was a long table, where Xu Qingzhou, dressed in a yellow robe, was receiving clients. He gazed slowly at the graceful young lady before him and said:
"Young lady, don't panic, let go first."
"If Mister doesn't help me, I will cling to you."
"I understand, but let go first."
"Mister, you don't know, my life is so bitter—"
"I told you to let go, let go!"
The fortune-telling fake blind man nearly roared, scaring the woman into letting go of his hand, her face pale with fright.
"I'm sorry, Mister, it was my loss of composure."
The woman covered her face, her hands restless.
"Ahem!" The fortune-telling blind man lightly coughed, stroked his beard, and smiled slightly, saying:
"No harm done, no harm done, our meeting is fate, and I will help you ease your worries."
With that, the blind man picked up a pen and swept it across the blank page on the table, and suddenly lines of blue text appeared in the air.
[Name: Madam Liu]
[Age: 23 years]
[Status: Virgin]
[Personal History: Native of Frostsky, life of hardship, sold by parents to the Zhou family five years ago, married to Old Zhou Third.]
[However, Old Zhou Third is a wooden man, half-paralyzed.]
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
[Worry: Lonely and longing to experience womanhood.]
[Solutions: (1) A Meridian Unlocking Pill to revive Old Zhou Third, cost: 300 Merit Points.]
[(2) A packet of rat poison to deal with Old Zhou Third, allowing her to remarry, cost: 1 Merit Point.]
[(3) Sacrifice oneself to illuminate others, take Madam Liu away, no cost.]
Xu Qingzhou put down the pen, carefully read the text before him, and looked at the woman in front of him.
In her twenties, in her prime, with a deep resentment in her eyes that was hard to ignore.
At the age of a wolf and a tiger, no wonder she was so determined.
He stroked his beard, pondering, caught in a dilemma.
"Mister—"
Xu Qingzhou snapped back to reality, silently reciting in his heart.
"As the old saying goes, it's better to demolish ten temples than to ruin one marriage. I'm destined for great things, how can I be swayed by women?"
With that thought, he chose the first option with a mere thought, and a pill appeared in his palm, which he handed to the woman.
"Young lady, take this medicine home, collect three liters of boy's urine, and administer it. In less than a quarter of an hour, your husband Zhou Pingsheng will recover and stand up."
Madam Liu was startled, her large eyes full of autumn waves. She hadn't told the Mister her husband's full name, nor had she gone into detail.
Yet with a simple stroke, without ink, he revealed everything.
She realized she had truly encountered a master this time.
Thinking of her husband's recovery and the prospect of future intimacy, she was so excited she was incoherent.
"Thank you, Master, for the medicine. If it cures my husband, I will exhaust my family's wealth to repay your great kindness."
Xu Qingzhou's eyebrows twitched under his dark glasses, and he waved his hand.
"Helping the world without seeking fame or fortune, no need to thank me, just go."
Madam Liu hurriedly got up, left ten taels of silver, and left in a rush.
Xu Qingzhou reached out, took the silver, weighed it in his hand, and smiled crookedly.
"Heh... money? Easily obtained."
[Congratulations, you have successfully relieved Madam Liu's worries.]
[Reward triggered, you have gained 400 Merit Points.]
[You have helped ten young ladies, earning an extra attribute point.]
Listening to the familiar prompt in his ear, Xu Qingzhou chuckled to himself, "Heh heh, truly delightful!"
The fortune-telling fake blind man named Xu Qingzhou had accidentally transmigrated to this world called the Vast and Righteous World half a month ago.
And awakened a system.
Named: Worry-Free.
As long as he relieved people's worries, he could earn Merit Points, which were invaluable, capable of killing, summoning gods, exchanging for divine skills... nothing was impossible.
Moreover, continuously relieving ten people's worries would earn him an attribute point.
However, this system was somewhat peculiar, only able to relieve women's worries, not men's, and only once a day.
So for convenience, he played the role of a fortune-teller, and for even more convenience, he pretended to be blind.
And indeed, this trick worked, keeping him busy for ten consecutive days.
He rubbed his hands together, having waited a long time for this attribute point, and with a thought, he opened the system panel to take a look.
[Host: Xu Qingzhou]
[Age: 18/100]
[Current Realm: Mortal]
[Strength: 1]
[Agility: 1]
[Defense: 1]
[Mana: 1]
[Divine Essence: 1]
[Intelligence: Unknown]
[Merit Points Balance: 800 points]
[Worry-Free General Store Click to Enter.]
[System Motto: You didn't have a choice before, now I let you be a good person.]
He glanced over it briefly, without any hesitation, decisively adding the only attribute point to Strength.
Strength breaks ten thousand laws, great strength creates miracles.
Suddenly, he felt a surge from his dantian, coursing through his body.
He gathered strength in his right hand, clenched his fist, and struck forward.
"My fate is mine, not Heaven's."
Bang—
A wooden pole as thick as a fist in front of him broke with a sound, and the canopy above collapsed with a crash.
"Hiss—"
Moments later, a woman came running out, seeing the scene before her, one hand on her hip, the other waving a kitchen knife, cursing loudly.
"Xu Qingzhou, do you have a death wish?"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Xu Qingzhou clutched his fist and dashed towards the other end of the long street.
"Lady Boss, don't be angry, I'll give you a string of them another day, free of charge."
Watching his retreating figure, the Lady Boss stomped her foot in frustration, her chest heaving.
"Hmph, just you wait."
***
The next day, a "rumor" spread throughout Frostsky City.
It was said that the crippled son of the Old Zhou family, Old Zhou Third, suddenly recovered.
Moreover, insiders revealed that the Zhou residence that night was a scene of overturned clouds and rain, chickens and dogs restless, with moans lasting until dawn.
Truly a case of a pair of mandarin ducks becoming one under the covers, a tree of pear blossoms pressing on crabapple.
Pain, pain, gently pushing the man, gradually hearing trembling voices, slightly startled by the surge of red.
Hearing this news, Xu Qingzhou was secretly pleased.
"Ah! Another lonely woman in a deep boudoir pulled out of the abyss of loneliness by me."
***
Having helped another person, earning a small 300 Merit Points, he closed up early and went to a tavern, getting drunk for a day.
Two days later, Xu Qingzhou still got up early, setting up his stall at the restaurant entrance as usual, though the canopy damaged the day before was still under repair.
Thus, the light rain in the street felt slightly cool on his face.
He had just set up his stall when Madam Liu from the other day approached, accompanied by a refined gentleman.
Today, Madam Liu's cheeks were flushed, her complexion radiant, as if she had become a different person.
The two of them expressed their gratitude to Xu Qingzhou, bowing and kowtowing.
They even left a hundred taels of silver notes, and after a long while, they finally took their leave.
Watching the two of them playfully leave, Xu Qingzhou felt deeply moved.
Clicking his tongue, he said, "This land is fertile, but it needs a bull to plow it. The land is good, but the bull... is average!"
As he muttered, a shadow blocked the light, and he raised his eyebrows slightly, seeing a bright red oil-paper umbrella before him.
And the one holding the umbrella was a young lady, also dressed in red.
Xu Qingzhou was momentarily dazed, then smiled and asked:"May I know if the young lady seeks wealth or disaster relief?"
Bright eyes, long eyelashes sweeping, her white teeth and lips spoke softly.
This young lady's beauty was rarely seen in the world, her voice like a heavenly melody.
"Master, it's raining, be careful not to catch a cold."
Instead of an answer, Xu Qingzhou received an unexpected concern, which piqued his interest.
"No matter, mere rootless water, just a bit of wind and frost."
Hearing this, the young lady's eyebrows twitched, her gaze falling on the yellow flag behind him, staring for a few seconds.
"I heard that in the northern part of the city, there's a very skilled fortune-teller.
Who can help all the young ladies in the world, relieve worries, cure diseases, save lives, and I came here because of his reputation, not knowing if it's true."
Xu Qingzhou laughed and said:"A mere reputation, but I can relieve all the worries of the young ladies in this world.
I can cure all the diseases of the young ladies in this world. May I know what the young lady seeks?"
Upon hearing this, the young lady looked at him again, a hint of melancholy passing through her eyes, unnoticed by others.
"Can you relieve the pain of unrequited love?"
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