Chapter 4
The night was hazy, and the fallen wheat seemed to cover the barren soil like a thick blanket.
Lin Xiaohe watched with her own eyes as a plant, no bigger than her palm, laboriously pulled half of its roots from the soil, then, at a visible speed, fell at her feet.
Under Lin Xiaohe's complex and unspeakable gaze, it tucked its only two leaves into the gap between Lin Xiaohe's shoe and the ground.
With a plop, it lay motionless!
Lin Xiaohe was shocked!
Oh my god.
The stardust wheat was trying to scam a human!
This scene was like Mars colliding with Earth, hitting Lin Xiaohe so hard that she momentarily forgot to react.
Just then, a mechanical voice sounded in Lin Xiaohe's mind.
"Plant Summoner System activated!"
"Name: Lin Xiaohe"
"Stamina: 7 points (weakling)"
"Mental Power: 50 points (not mentally deficient)"
"Skill: Plant Speaker (cannot be upgraded)"
"Summonable Plants: None"
"Available Points: 0"
"Mutated stardust wheat detected. Do you wish to record it?"
Record?
Record it, I guess?
Lin Xiaohe answered hesitantly.
A green light shot out from Lin Xiaohe, shining on the stardust wheat that lay as if dead at her feet.
Immediately, the stardust wheat floated in front of her, and a palm-sized flowerpot appeared beneath its roots.
The stardust wheat unhesitatingly plunged its roots into the soil of the flowerpot, letting out a comfortable sigh.
"I'm so great! I found myself a good master."
Lin Xiaohe watched as the stardust wheat visibly perked up, its two small leaves even swaying proudly, only then daring to believe that she wasn't dreaming!
Her golden finger had finally come online!
Lin Xiaohe was overjoyed and tearful, eagerly opening the panel in her mind with her thoughts.
The information inside had already changed.
"Name: Lin Xiaohe"
"Stamina: 7 points (weakling)"
"Mental Power: 50 points (not mentally deficient)"
"Skill: Plant Speaker (cannot be upgraded)"
"Summonable Plants: stardust wheat (can be renamed)"
"Available Points: 1"
Next to "Summonable Plants," there was a "View" button.
Lin Xiaohe clicked "View."
This time, the information for the stardust wheat appeared.
"Name: stardust wheat (can be renamed)"
"Intimacy: 20"
"Stage: Seedling"
"Level: 1"
"Life Force: 15 / 100"
"Attack Power: 5"
"Skill: I'll just rub, not go in (to be activated)"
Lin Xiaohe's gaze lingered on the skill for a long time, unable to move away.
As a small seedling, it already had such a dirty skill. What would happen when it grew up?!
"Hey, this 'rubbing' of yours, uh, how does it 'rub'?" Lin Xiaohe asked in a low voice, like a thief.
If the skill wasn't useful, she wasn't going to activate it.
The stardust wheat played dead, not answering.
Lin Xiaohe reached out a finger and poked the stardust wheat floating in the air.
It seemed as if it had been poked in a ticklish spot, and its two small leaves wrapped tightly around the stalk.
Lin Xiaohe tilted her ear, but surprisingly didn't hear the stardust wheat's voice!
This little guy was quite tight-lipped.
"Isn't this when you begged me to save you? Trying to burn bridges now?"
The stalk bent, as if bowing.
Lin Xiaohe laughed in exasperation: "You're not going to speak, are you? Fine, from now on, I'll rename you Dazhuang."
The stalk swayed wildly in the wind, twisting frantically.
"System Tip: stardust wheat rejected your naming, intimacy decreased by 2 points."
Lin Xiaohe raised an eyebrow, ignoring the 2 points of intimacy.
You can't spoil a child; the more you spoil them, the more they'll take advantage.
It must be made to understand that the biggest rain it had ever experienced since its birth was given by Lin Xiaohe!
"Dazhuang, if you don't make a sound, I'll assume you agree to this name, alright!"
Lin Xiaohe waited for two seconds, then heard a cry of "Waaah." The sound was tiny and small, like a child's, making it impossible to tell if it was a boy or a girl.
"Wuwuwu, I don't want to be called Dazhuang, it's so embarrassing."
Lin Xiaohe's eyes curved, and she tried hard to suppress the smile on her lips, speaking in a strained voice: "Then what do you want to be called?"
"Xin Bao! I am your heart's treasure." The two small leaves secretly loosened a bit, seemingly peeking at Lin Xiaohe's expression.
Lin Xiaohe almost laughed out loud; this little guy was really smart, knowing how to climb the pole.
But who made it her only child at the moment? She could only spoil it.
"Alright, you can be called Xin Bao."
"System Tip: Xin Bao likes its name very much, intimacy increased by 12."
Xin Bao boldly controlled its flowerpot and landed in Lin Xiaohe's palm.
Seeing that Lin Xiaohe didn't refuse, but instead gently closed her fingers, fearing the flowerpot would fall, it couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
"Lin Xiaohe, my skill is to rub the Star Net! As long as I'm within a hundred meters of the Fúqì lái Internet Cafe, I can use the internet for free!"
Ah?
So that was the 'rubbing'!
Lin Xiaohe couldn't tell if she was more disappointed or more relieved.
Looking at it this way, she was the dirtiest one; Xin Bao was still a pure little baby.
"Okay, I'll take you to the Fúqì lái Internet Cafe tomorrow."
There were only three Fúqì lái Internet Cafes on the entire planet, and the closest one to Hengshan Village was the Fúqì lái Internet Cafe, run by Cheng Ge.
Lin Xiaohe carried Xin Bao home, secretly thinking about what she could do after getting internet access.
However, the original owner's memory was a blank slate regarding the Star Net, with no useful information.
After all, getting on the Star Net was very expensive!
The local network on Wasteland Planet No. 7 charged an annual fee of 300 star coins per person.
Lin Xiaohe was the only one in the entire Lin family who had activated the local network; usually, Lin Xiaohe handled any online tasks or research.
Getting on the Star Net was much more expensive.
For individuals or families to activate Star Net service, the installation fee alone was 300,000 star coins, and the cheapest Star Net helmet cost 100,000 star coins.
The Star Net charged by the second, at 500 star coins per second.
Anyway, Lin Xiaohe had never seen any family that had installed the Star Net. Wealthy children who wanted to go online all went to internet cafes.
Lin Xiaohe pondered, wondering if Xin Bao's skill could be used on other people? Renting it out cheaply to individuals for 100 star coins a second, that would be 6,000 star coins a minute!
In the blink of an eye, she could earn twenty or thirty thousand!
She hit the jackpot!
Lin Xiaohe couldn't help but drool.
After returning home, Lin Xiaohe saw the living room light still on.
Her elder brother, Lin Chiyang, poked a hedgehog-like head out from under the covers and quietly asked, "Little sister, what's that in your hand?"
Lin Xiaohe, as if presenting a treasure, held out her hand to show Lin Chiyang: "It's called Xin Bao. It's our family's hope for a turnaround!"
Xin Bao tried its best to straighten its stalk. Lin Xiaohe said it was hope! Proud! Self-assured!
Elder brother Lin Chiyang's eyes welled up with tears, and he buried his head back under the covers, biting the quilt and crying softly: "Oh no, little sister didn't get into university and has gone crazy!"
At the same time, low sobs came from all the other rooms in the house.
Lin Xiaohe followed the sound and exclaimed, "Well, I'll be!"
Lin Father, Grandpa Lin, Grandma Lin, and second sister Lin Jingqiu, who should have been asleep, had all opened their doors a crack, watching the commotion in the living room.
Meeting Lin Xiaohe's surprised gaze, Lin Father, as the head of the family, forced out a strong smile through his tears.
"Hello, Xin Bao. Welcome to our big family."
