Chapter 114: Shut Down
Although Su Yongshi and his wife suspected Su He was bragging, they still felt a sense of relief—seemed like their niece had a plan.
Cao Hongmei asked, “Little He, so what do we do next?”
Su He yawned. “Stay calm and steady. Let’s wait and see what tricks that Fu Peng wants to play.”
After escorting Su He back to the bungalow, the couple returned home.
Inside, the two old ladies were still awake, waiting for Su He’s return.
As soon as Su He entered the room, Old Mamda Su exclaimed, “Su He, I’ve been watching at the street corner so many times. If I didn’t have to look after your grandma, I’d have gone to the night school to find you!”
Old Madam Zhao curled her lip. You didn’t even leave the house, okay?!
But she didn’t dare speak up—afraid Old Madam Su might take off the wheels of her wheelchair in retaliation.
It wasn’t that Old Madam Su didn’t care about Su He—she just trusted that Su Yongshi and his wife would bring her back safely. A little verbal affection was enough.
Su He beamed. “Granny, with Second Uncle and Aunt there, no need to worry.”
“How can I not worry? You’re the apple of my eye! Tired, right? Let your grandma massage your shoulders!”
“I’m not trying to boss her around,” she added, “but your grandma needs some movement or she’ll go stiff!”
Old Madam Zhao: …Well, thanks a lot!
Of course, Su He didn’t let Old Madam Zhao massage her. She missed living alone—massage chairs, baths… Now with the two elderly ladies around, it wasn’t so convenient.
Before bed, bored, she opened the trading system and typed into the search bar: hitman.
Unsurprisingly, no related results were found.
Su He scoffed, “Useless thing! Can’t even offer ‘hire-a-killer’ services! If you could just off Shen Ruyi, I could finally chill.”
“You’re lucky I’m such a reasonable host. Otherwise, you’d be a homeless, wandering trading system—no better than a stray cat or dog!”
“Shouldn’t you be grateful? Maybe send me a voucher or reward points?”
Trading System: …That’s what this is really about, huh?
[This system has no such policy.]
Su He blinked innocently. “Fine, no reward. But aren’t you ashamed to give me nothing at all? Tell you what, take the soybean seeds I exchanged from the agri-supply last time. I won’t ask for much—just ten or twenty thousand in return.”
Trading System: …Why don’t you just rob me?!
[This system does not buy back items.]
Su He snorted. “Not buying? Then I won’t deposit a single cent in you again. Back when I had nothing, you were useful. Now I’m doing great—whether I have you or not, makes no difference!”
“As for that ‘Green Pouch Manual’? I’m not buying it anymore! Forget about meeting your KPI!”
She closed the system interface with a flourish.
Then she counted silently in her head: one, two, three…
By the time she reached five, the system popped back up.
“Just this once. Don’t expect it again.”
Su He noticed the soybean seeds were still there, but her balance had increased by 2,000. She grinned.
Once there’s a first time, there’ll be plenty more.
Just you wait, I’ll bleed you dry one day!
She was feeling quite pleased with herself.
The trading system? It shut down in despair.
It hadn’t earned much from her and was now giving her free credit? Was this even fair?!
What kind of terrible fate had led it to such a bizarre, cheapskate of a host?!
*
The next morning, Su He went to Professor Yuan’s house. She’d been busy with the night school recently and hadn’t had time to visit.
Professor Yuan looked annoyed. “You, young lady, are so unprofessional! You show up once and disappear for days. My documents are practically piling up to the ceiling!”
Su He explained patiently that she’d been taking her grandma to the hospital and managing night school affairs. But the professor kept on grumbling.
At first, Su He stayed polite and explained calmly. But his complaints grew more unreasonable, and her temper finally flared.
She slammed the documents on the table. “Professor Yuan, I told you from the beginning my schedule wasn’t fixed, and you agreed. So what’s with all the nitpicking now?”
“If you don’t want me around, just say so! Pay me my wages, and I’ll leave right now!”
Professor Yuan slammed his teacup down. “You brat! Now you’ve got an attitude? You’re the one being unreliable, and you still dare talk back? If you want to leave, go ahead! But don’t even think about getting paid!”
Su He laughed in disbelief.
So the old man’s trying to use her pay as leverage, huh?
“You think I’ll cave for a few dozen yuan? You really underestimate me!”
“Even if it were tens of thousands, you couldn’t make me bow! I only worked for you out of respect for your age and your contributions. But try and withhold my pay, and see what happens!”
“Willing to pay? Great. Not willing? I don’t care!”
With that, she turned and walked toward the door.
Professor Yuan panicked!
He had hoped to intimidate her a little—figuring she wouldn’t dare leave without her money. But Su He didn’t play by the rules.
Seeing her about to leave, he shouted, “Such a fiery temper for a young girl!”
“I was just joking! You took it seriously?”
“I already prepared your wages. I’ll get it right now!”
Su He snorted. “So you’re giving me the money to fire me, is that it?”
He rushed over and grabbed her arm. “How could I? You’re my lucky charm—cough, I mean, my capable assistant. I’d never let you go!”
“Wages?”
He hurried to fetch a sealed envelope from the drawer. Su He took it and counted: 58 yuan and 65 cents.
She felt both amused and exasperated—this professor sure was precise.
Still, to be fair, what she earned here was more than most part-time jobs combined.
Professor Yuan grinned. “I was just teasing earlier. Didn’t expect you to take it seriously.”
“By the way, you mentioned your grandma has leg issues? I’ve got an old friend with great medical skills. Want him to take a look?”
Su He replied flatly, “No need. The hospital meds are working fine.”
Rejected, Professor Yuan awkwardly handed her fruit and snacks in an overly enthusiastic attempt to please her.
Su He wanted to laugh but held it in as she began organizing documents.
Professor Yuan was beyond frustrated.
He’d hoped to pressure the girl a little and then propose taking her in as a god-granddaughter—to one-up that smug old man, Zhuge Hongqiang, who’d been bragging about his new granddaughter like she was a treasure.
Wouldn’t even say her name, acting all mysterious!
As if he couldn’t get a granddaughter himself!
Even if not by blood, adopting one would do just fine!
Su He seemed perfect—surely better than Zhuge’s!
But now… instead of reeling her in, he’d been the one completely outplayed.
