Chapter 4: Threads of Coin and Calculation
Two weeks passed.
The perilla leaves unfurled like tiny purple fans under the sun, delicate and fragrant. Her garden—once a patch of forgotten land—was now a quilt of green and violet life. Shen Ci had coaxed it into thriving, the same way she was learning to coax the village.
With precision. With patience. And just enough poison laced into her honey.
The gossip mill had caught scent of her success.
"Did you hear? The Shen girl's selling snacks now."
"She's got buyers from town coming in, I swear!"
"She's been spending money like a city woman again… but where's it coming from?"
Let them whisper. She didn't need to speak for the facts.
The facts were working overtime.
---
At dawn, she crouched at the field's edge with a ledger and a cup of hot barley tea. The system pinged softly.
[Perilla harvest projected in 2.5 days. Yield estimation: 78% above local average.]
[Temperature variance ideal. Soil pH optimal.]
"Good," she murmured.
Behind her, the chickens squawked lazily. The goats bleated in protest over absolutely nothing. Rural chaos had become oddly comforting.
She flipped open her notebook and reviewed Phase Two.
Phase Two: Income Diversification
Establish herbal product line (in progress)
Initiate small lending program (coded as "friendly mahjong float")
Locate rare buyers for metals (pending)
Begin restoring forest-edge land
She tapped her pen. The system had hinted at skill unlocks tied to her actions. The more she engaged with the world, the more the world unfolded like a puzzle waiting to be solved.
Fine. She'd solve it.
Piece by piece.
---
Later that morning, she walked into the village teahouse. The place was old, faded, and run by one of the most underappreciated forces of chaos in the entire region—Granny Wu.
Granny Wu, who knew everything about everyone, and could make or break a person's reputation over a single game of go.
Shen Ci placed a small red envelope on the table before her.
"For your grandson's school fund," she said with a smile.
Granny Wu squinted suspiciously. "What do you want, child?"
"Just a little…information. And maybe a seat at your mahjong table."
The old woman stared at her, then cackled. "Finally got some bite, huh? Fine. Sit. Let's see what you're made of."
By evening, Shen Ci had lost two games, won three, and walked away with six IOUs discreetly tucked into her coat pocket.
She wasn't there for money.
She was there for connections.
And now she had six reasons for certain villagers to back her ideas without knowing they were being maneuvered.
---
That night, she pulled out the cloth-wrapped bundle from the iron box again—the anomaly seeds. She planted one in a small ceramic pot, kept it near the window, and made a note to monitor it daily.
The system chimed.
[Unknown Seed Status: Dormant.]
[Requires unknown catalyst: environmental or magical.]
"Of course you're a diva," Shen Ci muttered.
Still, she watered it.
You never knew which thread would pull the whole tapestry together.
---
By the weekend, she hosted her first "Village Sample Fair"—just a tarp, a folding table, and a tray of pickled perilla, fried leaf crisps, and a jar of fermented tea.
The villagers came out of curiosity.
They left with surprise.
The flavors were clean, addictive, nostalgic with a twist. Shen Ci stood behind the table like it was a war front, smiling gently and offering free samples with the strategic cunning of a seasoned merchant.
"I'll take five jars," one uncle said, already licking his fingers.
"Do you do bulk orders?" a woman asked. "My cousin in the next town runs a teahouse."
Shen Ci took names, numbers, promised follow-ups.
By noon, she'd sold out.
And the system pinged with a new alert.
[Milestone Reached: "Village Recognition."]
[New skill unlocked: Local Influence.]
[Effect: Increases persuasiveness in familiar areas. Opens passive network benefit: word-of-mouth marketing.]
Nice.
She was building more than a business.
She was building a reputation.
---
At sunset, she stood under the plum tree in the yard, breathing in the rich smell of turned soil and roasted tea. A memory tugged at her—her mother's laugh, the way her father always came home with dirt on his boots and stardust in his eyes.
She wasn't just doing this for revenge.
She was doing this to prove that the life her parents tried to build wasn't foolish.
It was just ahead of its time.
---
Later that night, as she calculated projected profits and marked down the IOUs, the system pinged again.
[New opportunity detected: Black Market Trade Route - Encrypted Access Available.]
[Warning: High risk. High reward.]
Shen Ci stared at the alert, then slowly smiled.
"Open it."
---
End of Chapter 4