Chapter Four: Living Expenses

No one knew whether Jiang Hu had actually taken Mo Nianian's words to heart, but he had been behaving with excessive obedience lately—going to and from school on time every day, and, most importantly, preparing breakfast and dinner to Mo Nianian's utter satisfaction.

To be fair, the meals he made were unexpectedly just to her taste.

Yet, as for her mission, there had been no progress at all.

According to the system’s report, Jiang Hu had started reading books on criminal psychology in private.

The male lead truly lived up to his role—even at such a young age, he possessed a mind like that.

The system nagged in Mo Nianian’s ear day and night, insisting that if this went on, Jiang Hu would surely follow his old path and once again become a notorious criminal.

And a high-IQ criminal like him was the most terrifying: everyone suspected him, but there was never any evidence, and he escaped punishment time and again.

Mo Nianian forced a smile and looked at the quiet Jiang Hu. “How have things been at school lately?”

Jiang Hu paused, his body tensing almost imperceptibly. His eyes flickered. “Very well.”

Mo Nianian was never one for small talk. She asked a few more questions, but soon gave up, ending the pointless, awkward conversation.

Jiang Hu wasn’t at all like a typical child; no matter what she asked, he always deflected with skillful indifference. She’d meant well, wanting to show concern for his school life.

But he always answered with generic responses—fine, not bad, alright.

Mo Nianian gave up. She’d just go with the flow—after all, there were still nearly ten years before he would become a criminal for real.

The system sometimes suspected its host had been a salted fish in her past life—and likely suffered from procrastination to boot.

Of course, the cowardly system would never say these things in front of Mo Nianian, only muttering complaints behind her back.

Mo Nianian lay on the sofa, scrolling through job postings. At the moment, her most pressing problem was money—they were out of living expenses.

And she was still a student. The school had just celebrated its anniversary, so there’d been a few days off, but now she had to attend classes again.

Just thinking about money and school gave Mo Nianian a headache.

Why did the human world have so many troubles?

Fortunately, she was studying acting and could apply for an internship early. But for now, money was the real issue.

After some serious thought, Mo Nianian realized she hadn’t mastered a single money-making skill.

She stared at her flat wallet and, for the first time, sighed for the sake of survival.

Life was truly too hard!

Mo Nianian mulled over how to survive with just fifty-three yuan left when a rough, scarred hand appeared before her.

If she ignored the scars, she could see that the hand was actually slender.

What delighted Mo Nianian the most was the five hundred yuan bill offered to her.

Her eyes brightened as she looked up. Jiang Hu was lowering his head, his expression unreadable. “This is... my scholarship. I... I can earn money to support myself.”

As he spoke, he tightened his grip on the money.

Mo Nianian, pleasantly surprised, took the child’s scholarship without hesitation.

“Talk about perfect timing! We won’t go hungry for a while now,” Mo Nianian said.

Jiang Hu still kept his head down, his eyes flickering with complicated emotions. So, she was already this poor?

But if money could buy him a period of peace, he was willing—he only hoped this woman would behave herself for a bit longer.

Jiang Hu had thought about leaving her.

But last time, even when he’d been so secretive, she had dragged him back. This woman surely had hidden means he didn’t know about. Besides, he was too young and had nothing—if he ran away, he’d only end up homeless.

He was too weak, weak enough for anyone to bully. Back then, he’d watched helplessly as his parents were pushed to desperation.

Like a dog, he’d knelt and begged those people, but all he’d gotten was mockery and abuse.

One day, he would trample everyone who looked down on him beneath his feet!

Desire surged in Jiang Hu’s heart, darkness seeping through his eyes, but he pushed it back down again.

That vicious woman had been right about one thing: before gaining power, the most important thing was to bide his time.

The system immediately sounded a shrill alarm: [Warning! Warning! Malice level detected too high in the male lead! Host, please resolve this at once! Warning!]

Mo Nianian’s eyes widened. Was it really that serious? She’d only taken five hundred yuan—was that enough to turn him dark already? Surely not!

The system’s warning blared on as Mo Nianian, pained, took the just-warmed money from her wallet back out.

“This is your money. How could I possibly take it? Haha. You keep it for yourself; I’ll find a way to cover our living expenses.” She forced a smile, though it looked a bit unnerving.

Jiang Hu was a little puzzled, but replied calmly, “It’s only right. Food and lodging cost money, and I’m still young—I have no use for this scholarship.”

Mo Nianian snatched it back, her smile suddenly much more genuine. “You said it yourself.”

[You heard him, didn’t you? He said he didn’t want it.]

System: [...]

Fine then—at least the malice level hadn’t gone up.

After a few days with Mo Nianian, even the system had become philosophical.

Because of those five hundred yuan, Mo Nianian found Jiang Hu much more pleasing. Look at that—what a gentle, considerate child, so obedient and kind, so understanding.

She’d never really taken a good look at Jiang Hu before.

Now that the abuse and torment from “Mo Nianian” had ceased, his complexion was much rosier. Looking at him now, he was actually quite handsome.

Mo Nianian’s opinion of Jiang Hu rose a few more points.

The system was tempted to believe it was all thanks to the five hundred yuan. Who would have thought she’d bow for such an amount? Tsk, if only it had asked the main system for a money-generating feature, it would have had this money-grubbing host calling it “daddy.”

Mo Nianian’s school was just a street away from Jiang Hu’s. After signing her internship application, she happened to see the neighboring secondary school letting out.

Feeling cheerful, she decided to let Jiang Hu experience some affection and peace. Leisurely, she headed to his school, planning to pick him up.

Maybe if the child was in a good mood, his malice level would drop straight away.

But the moment she entered the school, Mo Nianian realized something important: she... didn’t actually know Jiang Hu’s class. The fact that she even remembered which school he attended was already impressive.

As for contacting him by phone—neither she nor Jiang Hu could afford it.

Her phone was one she’d bought five years ago and was still using.

She wanted to see where Jiang Hu was, and just as the thought arose, the system sternly warned her against it.

Thankfully, she got his location from the system, and she wandered over at a leisurely pace.