radicalducati Chapter 6: The Lie of "Many Children, Many Blessings"
Chapter 6: The Lie of "Many Children, Many Blessings"
The campfire crackled, and a few sparks flew up before being scattered by the night wind.
The blue moonlight bathed the entire beach in a dreamlike hue, the waves rhythmically crashing against the rocks, and the distant mountain silhouettes, illuminated by the blue light, resembled a sleeping behemoth.
Qin Chuan added two more pieces of driftwood to the fire, and the flames blazed up again.
Fan Yubing sat to his right, her legs curled up, her banana leaf dress swaying in the firelight. Lin Shishi sat to his left, hugging her knees with her uninjured hand, her head nodding occasionally, extremely sleepy but too afraid to fall asleep.
The three of them remained silent for a long time.
Lin Shishi's question, "Can we go back?", is like a stone thrown into water, still causing ripples.
Qin Chuan felt the atmosphere couldn't stay gloomy any longer: "Let's talk about something happy, stop thinking about those trivial things."
Fan Yubing turned her head and glanced at him: "What's there to be happy about?"
"Isn't being alive the happiest thing? When you were in the sea just now, did you think you could still breathe?"
Fan Yubing opened her mouth, but didn't refute. Ultimately, if Qin Chuan hadn't performed CPR on her, she would be a corpse on the beach right now.
Lin Shishi softly hummed in agreement: "Brother Chuan is right, it's good that we're alive."
Qin Chuan grabbed a handful of sand, letting it slowly slip through his fingers: "What did you guys do on cruise ships before? Let's chat."
Fan Yubing thought for a moment and then said, "I teach yoga classes to first-class passengers on the cruise ship, three times a day, one in the morning and two in the afternoon. Most of those ladies are there to enjoy themselves; they complain of being tired after just a couple of poses."
"How much do you earn in a month?" Qin Chuan asked directly.
Fan Yubing glared at him: "It's impolite to ask a girl about her income."
"We're stranded on a desert island, what's the point of being polite? Let me say it first, I make five thousand a month."
Fan Yubing was stunned for a moment. Five thousand? On that cruise ship, five thousand wouldn't even buy a cocktail.
"I... fifty-five thousand." Fan Yubing's voice lowered a few decibels.
Qin Chuan whistled: "Okay, that's eleven times mine."
"That was in the past." Fan Yubing lowered her head and drew circles in the sand with her toes. "Now, nobody's better than anyone else."
Lin Shishi whispered, "I work as a temporary nurse in the ship's medical room, earning around ten thousand a month. But it includes food and lodging, so I'm quite satisfied."
Qin Chuan nodded: "Shishi, how many years have you worked in medicine?"
"Three years. Not long after I became a full-time employee, the department head recommended me for a three-month internship in the ship's medical clinic, saying it would broaden my horizons. But then..."
At this point, Lin Shishi's voice became hoarse.
Qin Chuan quickly chimed in, "You ended up witnessing two suns! You'll never forget that; it'll be something you can brag about for the rest of your life."
Lin Shishi chuckled and quickly covered her mouth.
Fan Yubing couldn't help but smirk, "You can always come up with something like this."
The atmosphere relaxed.
The three chatted about this and that, from their work on the ship to their respective families.
Fan Yubing said her family runs a small supermarket, and her parents supported her in learning yoga and obtaining international certifications, thinking their daughter was doing well.
Lin Shishi said that both of her parents are government officials, and she studied nursing because her score was just high enough. After working in the field for three years, she found that she actually quite liked it.
Qin Chuan said he was from a farm and dropped out of school at the age of fourteen. His family sent him to a martial arts school where he trained in Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) for three years. Later, he injured his knee and could no longer compete, so he quit and got an emergency rescue certificate. He moved around to several cities and eventually worked as a security guard on a cruise ship.
"You hurt your knee?" Lin Shishi's professional instincts kicked in.
"It's an old injury, nothing serious."
The wood in the fire hissed as it burned, and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks drifted over from afar.
During a break in the conversation, Qin Chuan's mind was preoccupied with something else.
The system gave him the "eat more, be more lucky" cheat code, which means he can become stronger by eating, no problem. But "special ingredients" must be obtained from people.
To put it simply, it's mouth-to-mouth contact.
I got it from Fan Yubing and Lin Shishi once today, with a 12-hour cooldown. That means I can do it again around dawn tomorrow.
But the question is, how do we get it?
You can't exactly walk up to her and say, "Hey, miss, can I borrow your saliva for a drink?"
Qin Chuan felt his face burning just thinking about it.
Fan Yubing's slap is still fresh in my mind; another one and her head would probably be crooked.
What should we do? Qin Chuan stared at the fire, his brows furrowed.
To get them to cooperate willingly, you need to give them a reasonable reason.
What reason could make two women willingly kiss a man they've just met?
After thinking for a long time, a bold idea popped into Qin Chuan's mind.
The system is called "Eat More, Be Happy," but he can tell them that his system is called "Many Children, Many Blessings."
Dating, kissing and hugging, having children—all of these can earn you system rewards.
A kiss makes you a little stronger, a hug makes you even stronger, and having a baby will take you straight to the top.
The advantage of this narrative is that it packages the acquisition of "special ingredients" as a kind of "mission".
It wasn't that Qin Chuan wanted to take advantage; it was a system requirement, for everyone's survival.
"Damn, I'm a genius at brains." Qin Chuan gave himself a thumbs up in his mind.
But to make this lie work, there needs to be a trigger. You can't just say it out of the blue; it's too abrupt, and they won't believe it.
They need to see the effects of the "system" with their own eyes before they will believe it.
Qin Chuan decided to lay the groundwork first.
"Sister Fan, Shishi."
Both of them looked up at him.
Qin Chuan hesitated for a moment, then feigned a reluctant expression: "Never mind, I won't say anything more."
Fan Yubing frowned: "What is it? Just say it, stop beating around the bush."
"It's like this..." Qin Chuan took a deep breath, "After I arrived on this island, some strange things started popping into my head."
Lin Shishi blinked: "What strange thing?"
"I received an aid, what people call a system, the 'many children, many blessings' system."
The air was silent for two seconds.
Fan Yubing had heard of this thing before. She stared at Qin Chuan for several seconds, then let out a cold laugh.
"Qin Chuan, do you think I'm a fool?"
"What do you mean?"
Fan Yubing crossed her arms, her tone full of distrust: "The 'Many Children, Many Blessings' System? Isn't that just one of those typical male-oriented wish-fulfillment novel tropes online? The protagonist gets a system, then goes around picking up girls and having children to become stronger? At least come up with something original."
Qin Chuan's lips twitched. This woman had actually read online novels?
"You think I'm making this up?"
"Of course." Fan Yubing's eyes were direct. "You just want to take advantage of us being on a deserted island with no other choice, making up some nonsense to take advantage of us. Saying something about becoming stronger with a kiss, leveling up with a hug, do you think I've never seen a movie?"
Lin Shishi stood to the side without saying a word, but her expression was one of doubt.
Qin Chuan thought to himself, "Oh no, this whole thing has backfired."
But he didn't panic. This outcome was expected; after all, anyone hearing such words would immediately think, "Are you crazy?"
The key lies in the performance that follows.
"Fine, believe it or not." Qin Chuan stood up and dusted off his pants. "Anyway, I'm just mentioning it; believe it or not is up to you."
He deliberately acted indifferent, then sat back down in his original spot and added a piece of wood to the fire.
Fan Yubing snorted and said nothing more.
Lin Shishi hesitated before asking, "Brother Chuan, did the system tell you about that spring?"
"Um."
"Did the system tell you anything else?"
Qin Chuan thought for a moment: "It says I need to gain energy through intimate interactions with... with my partner. A kiss will slightly increase my power, and having a child will bring a huge reward. For example, having one child will reward me with a villa. Having two children will allow me to fly and dive into the depths. Having three will allow me to lead everyone away from this island."
Fan Yubing scoffed: "Alright, stop bragging. Do you think I can't tell you're talking nonsense?"
Lin Shishi fell into deep thought.
She was a rational person who had spent three years in the hospital and seen too many strange and unusual cases.
Two suns, a blue moon, a square coconut—these things are beyond normal understanding.
Since the rules of this world are different from those of Earth, it is not entirely impossible for a "system" to emerge.
But she still didn't completely believe it. After all, what Qin Chuan said did sound too much like a plot from an online novel.
Qin Chuan looked up at the blue moon in the sky, pondering his next move.
Fan Yubing's disbelief was expected. She's the kind of person who associates with wealthy people and is very wary. To convince her, words alone won't suffice; she needs to see tangible results firsthand.
Lin Shishi was skeptical, but there was a way.
She's a kind girl and a medical worker; she's all about evidence and logic. Give her a clear "chain of evidence," and she'll tend to believe it.
The problem is, how do we provide this evidence?
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You guys should go to sleep early," Qin Chuan said.
"Okay, I'm a little tired today too," Fan Yubing said.