: Isn't it because her face is passable?

"Ahem..." Liu Dong cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "I... bought 40,000 jin."

"What?!"

Upon hearing the number, Chen Xueru's mind went blank, and she almost jumped up: "Say it again? I didn't hear you!"

Liu Dong rolled his eyes: "Could you please keep your voice down?"

She immediately nodded like a rattle-drum.

Liu Dong lowered his voice: "Forty thousand jin."

"hiss--"

Chen Xueru gasped, her mouth agape. "You... what do you need so much rice for? Are you going to eat it all your life?"

"My friend said that the current strict regulations are because goods are in short supply. Once the country's economy improves next year, the market will naturally loosen its restrictions."

Liu Dong smiled and said, "But I think that in these tough times, we shouldn't expect to turn things around within three to five years."

"But aren't you being a bit too ruthless?" Chen Xueru frowned. "Forty thousand catties? Can you eat that for a lifetime? Are you planning to raise rats?"

Liu Dong held up three fingers and said slowly, "Thirty years' worth of food rations."

"Cough cough cough..."

Chen Xueru choked on her breath, patting her chest repeatedly, her face turning red.

Thirty years?!

She was really terrified.

"Are you crazy!" she yelled as she recovered. "Even if you wanted to store it, grain can't last thirty years! It'd be moldy and rotten long ago!"

Liu Dong grinned: "Don't worry, my family has an ancestral treasure. Storing grain is like soaking it in liquor—it won't get infested with insects or mold, and it'll look brand new even after ten or eight years!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a crisp notification sound rang in his ears.

"Ding-dong—"

"Mission complete! Reward credited to your account: 888 million RMB!"

"Bonus: One [Good and Evil Vat]!"

As soon as the sound disappeared, Liu Dong suddenly noticed that three pink little hearts had appeared out of thin air above Chen Xueru's forehead.

? ? ? ?

What's going on?!

"Ding-dong—" The system is back again.

"Reporting to the host, hearts represent favorability points. One heart equals 1 point, with a maximum of 10 points."

"Once the affection level reaches 6 points or higher, the option to develop a closer relationship will be triggered!"

Oh……

Understood!

So it turns out that Chen Xueru already had some feelings for him?

and many more!

Something's not right!

He and she had barely met, at most they had bumped into each other a few times at a small bar, and they hadn't even exchanged more than a few words, so how could he have developed feelings for her?

Could it be... that Chen Xueru is also someone who judges by appearance?

Liu Dong lowered his head and thought for a moment: his face was indeed presentable. Putting everything else aside, in terms of looks, he was definitely a cut above the average person.

Looking closer at Chen Xueru's past, it seems that this is indeed the case—

Her first husband's surname was Hou, and he ran away with the money to the United States.

Her second husband was Liao Yucheng, the manager during the public-private partnership. He was a terrible person, but he was good-looking, so she still married him.

Her third husband, Fan Jinyou, was a street-level cadre, a complete scoundrel, utterly morally depraved, yet she still got a marriage certificate with him.

Why?

Isn't it because that guy's face is passable?

If even someone like Fan Jinyou could win her over, then a man like myself, who is handsome, strong, and good at getting things done, only getting three points of favorability seems like too little!

As she was pondering this, Chen Xueru swayed her hips and leaned closer, blinking her eyes and pleading, "Oh, what's the method? Tell me about it!"

Liu Dong said in a serious tone: "My family has been brewing wine for generations. We have a special kind of wine vat that is sealed and sterile. Not to mention rice, it won't taste bad even after ten years, let alone get moldy."

"Really?" she asked, half-believing.

"Why would I lie to you!" Liu Dong said frankly. "Real skills, not to be shared."

Chen Xueru's eyes lit up, and she was probably convinced: "It's a pity we don't have this kind of vat at home, otherwise I would have stockpiled tens of thousands of catties of it!"

"Alright, Boss Chen, I'm off!" Liu Dong prepared to slip away. "If you're going home, I can give you a ride."

He patted his tricycle as he spoke.

Chen Xueru glanced at the dilapidated vehicle and tentatively asked, "I just bought 500 jin of rice, could you help me carry it?"

"Sure!" Liu Dong readily agreed.

After saying that, he actually started carrying the bags upstairs.

He divided the 500-pound bag into five bundles and deliberately transported them in three separate trips, afraid that carrying them all at once would scare people.

On the first two trips, he carried two bags each time, tossing them lightly onto the vehicle with the nimbleness of carrying cotton.

"Wow!" Chen Xueru's eyes widened. "Liu Dong! You can really carry that much! Two hundred pounds at a time, and you're not even out of breath or red in the face!"

The grain station manager next door chuckled and interjected, "Young lady, you don't know, do you? He just carried all five hundred jin into the warehouse by himself!"

"What?!"

Chen Xueru took a half-step back in shock: "Really?!"

Her gaze towards Liu Dong instantly changed, shining as if she had seen a treasure, filled with admiration.

At that very moment, Liu Dong caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye—the little pink heart on Chen Xueru's head was jumping three times in a row!

3 o'clock → 6 o'clock!

Holy shit! !

Liu Dong's mouth opened into an "O" shape.

Is that all?

Six points of goodwill?

Didn't the system just say that once you reach a six-point level of affection, you can try to develop a romantic relationship, or even fall in love?

that……

Does this mean that she won't refuse if I make some unreasonable demands now?

"Let's go!" Chen Xueru nimbly climbed onto the tricycle, sat up straight, and even winked at him playfully.

Liu Dong asked, "Don't you mind that this car is dirty? It's covered in rice ash and flour scraps."

"I don't mind." She smiled and shook her head, her eyes crinkling. "As long as it's yours, I'll think it smells good even if it's dirty."

Liu Dong rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed: "Alright, Boss Chen, please have a seat!"

"Don't call me boss!" she protested, pouting. "From now on, just call me by my name. My name is Chen Xueru, you can call me... Xueru."

"Okay, Xue Ru!"

Liu Dong pushed off with his foot, and the tricycle shot off with a whoosh.

Liu Dong pedaled the tricycle, pushing off with his feet, and the wheels rolled forward. As he hurried along, a thought struck him, and he opened the system panel in his mind.

With a flick of his finger, he entered the underground wine cellar hidden within the data.

Inside, there was a large jar—a black jar with red patterns that looked a bit eerie, with two words engraved on it: Good and Evil.

【Good and Evil Wine Jar】: A treasure given by the system. With it, you can clearly see whether anyone who has drunk your wine is close to you or hates you (divided into two levels: goodwill and enmity).

The instructions state: It's purely for auxiliary use, no need to worry about it, it takes effect automatically and updates in real time.

He closed the interface, and his mind suddenly became clear.

No wonder when I brought Chen Xueru back earlier, there were two pink little hearts floating on her forehead.

So it was this tank that was causing the trouble.

The meaning is clear: anyone who has tasted his wine will have a mark appear on their head—a red heart if they like him, and an axe if they hate him.

When we arrived at the small courtyard behind the silk shop, we unloaded 500 jin of rice and carried it into the warehouse. Not a single drop of sweat was wasted.