“I… I don’t want to go, I have to take care of my little sister.”
Facing threats from a group of female thugs, Aier clenched her teeth tightly, her whole body trembling, but she still stubbornly held her head high, trying to defend her last line of dignity.
“Little cutie, oh, little cutie.” Daila took the opportunity to pinch Aier’s soft cheeks again. “We’ve said everything we could, good or bad. You owe so much money now, you’ll never be able to pay it off in your lifetime. We’ve even paved a road for you to survive, so don’t be ungrateful. Besides, look at how miserable your life is right now—what’s the point of clinging to dignity you can’t even eat?”
Aier knew in her heart that they weren’t wrong. She was already living in the slums—what was the use of holding onto that pitiful dignity from the past? If she couldn’t swallow her pride to make money, it was only natural she’d be so poor she couldn’t even eat.
But… that kind of thing, she really just…
Aier hesitated for a moment, and the image of her little sister, who had grown thinner by the day, floated through her mind. Her heart couldn’t help but ache.
“Then… can you give me some time to think about it? Just three days, I promise I’ll give you an answer as soon as three days are up.”
“Three days? No way! One day, just one day. Once you’ve decided, come find me at the Incense and Fine Wine Hotel in the Central District. If you refuse, that’s fine too. If you can pay back the money tomorrow, I won’t make things hard for you.”
Daila placed a slip of paper with the location details into Aier’s hand, and couldn’t resist pinching her cheek one more time.
This soft, squishy little face felt so nice, she really didn’t want to let go.
“I’ll be waiting for your decision, don’t let me down.” With that, Daila led her girls away in high spirits.
One day… was this even giving her time to think? This was just the ending set in stone, waiting for her to walk into it herself, with no way to escape.
Aier’s legs gave out and she slid down the corner of the wall, her body shaking uncontrollably in despair and fear.
A long time passed before Aier managed to stand up with the help of the wall.
She trudged home in defeat, her head hanging low, her steps dragging and uncertain, as if her feet were shackled by invisible chains.
Her small hands unconsciously kept rubbing at her skirt, as if trying to untangle the mess in her heart.
She’d thought her luck was finally turning, but a single misfortune had left her utterly powerless.
No! No matter what, I’m a Reincarnator! Now that it’s come to this, I’ll find three more jobs in one day and get my pay in advance. I’ll show you natives what a real overachiever from the new era looks like!
Having long since become skilled at comforting herself, Aier quickly mustered her fighting spirit and devised a plan in her heart.
At the same time, on her way back, Daila instructed her subordinates, “Tomorrow, you lot follow that girl from earlier. No matter what job she tries to get, mess it up for her. If any shop owner refuses, just drop my name.”
“But Boss, even though the Central District is full of paupers, there are still a few shops with some backing. Our name might not scare them off…” one subordinate reminded her.
“Idiot, we’ve got backing too. Besides, who’d go to war over a stranger? If it comes down to it, just throw some money at the problem.”
“Uh, alright, I’ll go arrange it right away.”
The next day, Aier discovered something strange: every job she tried ended in failure.
First, the grocer where she usually did odd jobs told her that a full-time worker had been hired, so they didn’t need her anymore.
It was normal for shops to hire new staff, so at first Aier didn’t think much of it.
But then, at the workshop, the bakery, the tailor shop, even the households that always seemed desperate to drag people in off the street to help—all of them said they weren’t short on hands and didn’t need Aier.
No matter how much Aier pleaded, no one was willing to take her in.
Not only did she fail to find extra work, she even lost her original job.
Aier was completely crushed by reality.
Without a job, let alone paying off her debt, she wouldn’t even be able to afford Xiqi’s Strongbody Potion, and even daily meals would become a problem.
Just yesterday, Xiqi had taken a Mid Grade Body Strengthening Potion. Her complexion had visibly regained some color!
Aier sincerely hoped to provide Xiqi with a steady supply of potions…
Did this mean she could only agree to that female thug and go to the tavern to pay off her debt by serving drinks?
Aier’s pride was tormented… but after struggling for a while, she gave up.
If a person couldn’t even survive, then dignity became meaningless.
Aier accepted her fate, and could only pray humbly over and over, hoping that the tavern was really as that woman claimed—a proper, legitimate establishment.
“Sigh…” Aier let out a heavy sigh.
On her way home, her heart felt unbearably heavy.
The road in front of their house was an uneven dirt path, easy to trip on if you weren’t careful, and there wasn’t even anyone to repair it.
The street was littered with all sorts of unidentifiable garbage, who knew how long it had been since it was last cleaned. When the wind blew, a stench of rot and mold that could make one gag assaulted her nose, with flies buzzing everywhere.
The houses on both sides were dilapidated, the walls full of pits and cracks from years of neglect, spiderwebs filling every corner.
The Northern District was where all the commoners of the Royal Capital gathered. With her little sister Xiqi living in such a place, it was a miracle she wasn’t even sicker.
When she got home, Aier was exhausted. She’d spent nearly the whole day running around the Northern District, her legs nearly giving out, unable to find a single shop that would take her.
She was already frail, with poor stamina—this kind of exertion was too much for her.
She only spoke with her sister for a short while, ate a little, and then collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
Xiqi tucked the blanket in for her and then slowly lay down on the bed herself.
She could see how tired her big sister was and felt heartbroken. If it wasn’t for her, her sister wouldn’t have to suffer so much.
Xiqi leaned over and gently kissed Aier on the cheek.
“Big Sister, everything will get better, it definitely will…”
In the Iron Eagle Fortress at the northeastern edge of the Royal Capital, Xie Yier had just finished going through the information her subordinates had gathered for her.
“Address: Room 7, Heishi Street, Northern District”
If Xie Yier remembered correctly, that street had the highest concentration of vagrants in the entire Royal Capital. Only those who were desperately poor, yet still unwilling to sleep on the street, would choose to live there.
Poverty, low status—it was a complete slum.
And with the flood of refugees back then, the security situation had only gotten worse.
Just seeing this, Xie Yier’s gorgeous red lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile: “Looks like I can win her over with money alone.”
She crossed her long legs, the sheer black stockings faintly revealing the pale skin beneath, making one unable to help but let their imagination run wild.
Xie Yier’s rare golden eyes sparkled with a unique light as she continued reading the report:
“Has a sickly younger sister named Xiqi Weirley, hasn’t left home in half a year.”
Only then did Xie Yier recall that she’d seen the second daughter of the Weirley Family at Aier’s birthday banquet years ago. But at the time, all her attention had been on Aier—how could she remember what Xiqi looked like?