On a weekend morning, a loud wail of a child echoed through the residential building.
The one - bedroom, one - living - room apartment was tidily and warmly furnished. On the balcony, several pots of hanging plants thrived, clearly well - cared - for.
"What's going on?"
Almost as soon as the crying started, a tall figure on the bed sprang up. He quickly scooped up the child and rushed out.
"Don't wake Mommy up, baby. Be good."
Gently soothing the little one in his arms, Shen Yi's voice was incredibly tender.
Shen Nanyi, feeling unexpectedly like she'd been hit with a load of romantic sweetness, was a bit disheartened. But she was really hungry. Kids got hungry easily, so she pouted and continued to cry.
Shen Yi fumbled to prepare the milk powder and fed it to Shen Nanyi. Sucking hard on the nipple, Shen Nanyi closed her eyes contentedly and stopped crying.
"Missy, where's your dignity?"
A sweet voice rang out in her mind, tinged with a bit of disdain. It was one thing for a baby under one year old to cry, but for Shen Nanyi, an old soul, to act so childish was just too much.
Shen Nanyi was a bit confused. Looking around, there was only Shen Yi. Obviously, the one talking to her wasn't Shen Yi. What was going on?
"You've lived three lifetimes, each filled with wealth and privilege, yet you died before reaching eighteen. Don't you want to know why?"
The voice sounded again, and Shen Nanyi finally realized it was coming from her mind.
"Why?"
Caught off - guard by this revelation, Shen Nanyi was naturally shocked.
It was true. She carried the memories of her past lives, and in each life, she had been extremely powerful and wealthy. But she never lived past eighteen.
In her third life, she had taken every precaution. She didn't leave home after she turned fifteen, just to stay alive. She had finally reached eighteen, thinking she had escaped the curse at last. But on her birthday, there was an earthquake, and she died.
One incident could be a coincidence, but multiple ones couldn't be explained away so easily.
So in this life, she made a deal with the King of Hell and was reborn into an ordinary family, just to live a peaceful life. But was that still not possible?
"Because... I hadn't appeared yet."
Shen Nanyi was eagerly waiting to uncover the mystery, but the answer made her want to punch someone. She replied with a "Hehe" to express her dissatisfaction.
Fortunately, no one could hear their conversation. Otherwise, they might think Shen Nanyi was a monster.
System: "Complete the tasks, and I can help you."
Shen Nanyi: "What tasks?"
System: "The first task is to spend two million yuan before your first birthday."
"So easy?"
After listening for a while, Shen Nanyi thought there would be some high - level requirements. It turned out to be just spending money, which she was most good at.
"You probably don't know that I once spent two hundred silver dollars in a year during the Mingguo era."
Saying this proudly, Shen Nanyi showed she had no pressure.
If she could achieve that almost a hundred years ago, this was hardly a task.
"Friendly reminder, take a look at where you are now."
The system's voice rang out again. It was a sweet little girl's voice.
"I'm at home..."
Shen Nanyi answered quickly. But as she spoke, her voice grew softer. She finally remembered where she was.
This wasn't a princess's mansion covering hundreds of acres, nor a single - family villa from the Mingguo era. She was now in a residential building with a total area of less than a hundred square meters. Shen Nanyi was desperate.
"Before your first birthday, if you complete the task, I will automatically wake up and give you the next task. If you fail, you'll repeat this cycle."
The sweet voice sounded again, but at this moment, Shen Nanyi didn't find it cute at all.
"Hey, you haven't told me what counts as the money I've spent! You can't expect a baby in swaddling clothes to go shopping! People will think I'm a monster and burn me alive!!!"
Shen Nanyi wailed. She had read many strange novels during the Mingguo era, but this system she encountered was just too casual!
"This is a civilized society. No one will burn a child. Any money spent on buying things for you in front of you counts as your consumption."
The system finally answered Shen Nanyi's question. After that, it fell silent again. No matter how much Shen Nanyi shouted, it didn't appear.
If it weren't for the progress bar in her mind, Shen Nanyi would have thought she was dreaming.
There was a very prominent progress bar with a goal of two million and a completion rate of zero. Yes, it just stayed there, motionless. It was truly suffocating.
She should have been happy that she could finally escape the shackles of fate, but now she just couldn't be happy.
So the question was, in what way could a baby under one year old earn at least two million yuan and then spend it all without being thought of as a monster and burned alive?
Shen Nanyi was deeply troubled. This was even more difficult than simply spending tens of millions.
Ahh, could she ask the King of Hell to cancel the deal and be a rich person again? At least the tasks would be much easier.
The task was indeed difficult, but Miss Shen had a stubborn heart. Since it was related to her own fate, Shen Nanyi decided to give it her all.
"Wow, I won! I won the lottery!"
Shen Yi next to her jumped up from the sofa, extremely excited. Turning to look at Shen Yi, Shen Nanyi was also excited!
Winning the lottery meant getting rich. Maybe they could even win tens of millions without any effort. Was her luck really that good?
It seemed that there was always a way out.
"Nanyi, look, Dad won the lottery. You're really a lucky star."
Shen Yi had been buying lottery tickets for years and had only won a maximum of five yuan. He was so excited holding Shen Nanyi.
Shen Nanyi was also infected by his excitement. She strained to look at the lottery ticket in Shen Yi's hand, eager to see how big the prize was.
"Five hundred yuan! It's five hundred yuan!"
Before Shen Nanyi could see clearly, Shen Yi had already revealed the result.
Shen Nanyi now understood what it meant to fall from the peak to the valley. She slumped in Shen Yi's arms, feeling completely hopeless.
The question was, if she relied on Shen Yi's lottery - winning luck, even if Shen Yi was incredibly lucky and won five hundred yuan a day, how long would it take to reach two million?
After living for so many years, Shen Nanyi was worrying about being poor for the first time. Her mind was filled with thoughts of how to make money.
For several days in a row, Shen Nanyi had been racking her brains on how to make money, but she just couldn't come up with any ideas.
The methods she could think of were impossible for a child her age.
All she could think about was what to do. As a result, she didn't drink her milk properly for several days, and her chubby little face quickly became thinner.
Shen Yi and his wife were extremely worried. They thought Shen Nanyi was unwell. After all, she was still a baby with a relatively weak immune system.
"Shall we take her to the hospital?"
Shen Yi paced back and forth anxiously. He really didn't know what to do. She wasn't drinking much milk at a time when she needed the most nutrition. This couldn't go on.
Hearing that they were going to the hospital, Shen Nanyi burst into tears. She sucked hard on the nipple, indicating that she was perfectly healthy.
She really wasn't sick. She was just worried about being poor and didn't need to go to the hospital.