Chapter 7

"Mother, are we really going to give out porridge for an entire month?" one of my daughters in law asked. 

"Of course," I said. "And the three of you will be responsible for every single one of them. I won't appear next time." 

It's way too tiring, no one can force a 50 years old granny from her afternoon nap. 

"But... mother... we..."

"Do you three have anything better to do? Look how much prettier you three look now. Doing good stuff will bring out you inner beauty." I smiled and asked sweetly, "Or do you want to give up your pocket money?"

"No. No. No." They replied immediately. 

"As you have heard just now, one young girl is worth 50 copper coins." I eyed the three of them up and down. "Do you think you are worth 2 gold coins?" I raised my eyebrow. 

"We'll go. We'll go." They nodded empathetically.

"Smile!" I ordered in a singsong voice. "No one is forcing you."

Their mouth quirked up. 

I nodded, "That's much better. Sparrow will be there with you as well." To spy on you, I added silently. 

So that's what it felt to order people around, so that's what my boss felt. There's certainly an upside becoming the oldest in the family. 

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When I returned to my room, I quickly pulled out the VR panel to see if there were any changes. 

Name: Old Lady Lau

Number of family members: 23+ (1)

Wealth: 994500 gold

Splendor: Insignificant 

[Renown: 10 (↑) 

Prestige: 10

Legacies: 0]

Our renown increased! By 20! This event is a success! I jumped happily in my room and nearly sprained my back. 

This game is ridiculous, I thought. Yes, my character is an old lady, but do they have to give me an old lady body? 

I felt my head being whacked by something, when I opened my eyes again I was back in the white room with the violent crow. 

"Who's violent?" the crow cawed. 

"Said the one whose way of saying hi is by whacking people on the head."

"Health will only be granted to people who work for it, not old ladies who lie on their recliner every day." 

I rolled my eyes. "You spying on me? Do you know how much work I did today?"

The crow replied by rolling his eyes as well. Then suddenly the crow said in a mechanical voice, "Newbie Reward unlocked: 10 credits."

"What's the use of credits?"

The serious mechanical crow disappeared and then he was back to his usual self. He was busy tidying up his feathers. 

"Useless."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Until you can unlock some other function. Which I estimate will take forever. So pretty much useless for you."

"Just wait you see."

"Hope you can live till then. With the rate your plan is going, it might take you more than 30 years to reach the end point."

"You think I can reach the target in 30 years?" I asked excitedly. "Don't worry, I will start doing TaiChi today. I will just be 80 years old in 30 years, I won't die." I winked. "But poor you, you have to be stuck with me for 30 more years."

My head was whacked by him again and then the white room disappeared. 

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Today was another day for my lovely daughters in law to distrubute porridge to those in need. Our renown had been steadily increasing, granting me 5 points of Renown for every porridge distrubution day. The feel of earning points while my daughters in law did all the work was spectacular. It's just like juniors earning money for you while you're lying on bed reading novels. 

"Should I gather the girls, old lady?" asked Lark. I nodded in response. Lark was another servant of mine, she's usually responsible for managing my house, but since Sparrow was sent to spy on my three daughters in law, she accompanied me instead.

I took in the view in front of me. The serveral lodgings of the newly established orphanage was situated on top of a hill. I specifically chose this villa to establish the first orphange. It's away from the eyes of the public and well protected by fences around the hill. This entire hill was ours. It was granted by the Emperor back then. But this entire villa was useless. The soil wasn't exactly fertile, we could not grow food. This villa was known for its seclusion and rows of trees. 

Maybe I could start a paper making business, I mused. 

The old lodgings were torn down and new ones were built. I built four dormitories, each one could hold up to twenty girls. There was a larger building as their schoolroom and another situated next to it as their canteen. There was even a park for the young girls to play in. 

Lodgings for the staff of the orphange and a nursery for infants and toddlers were also built. 

"Old lady, they're here," Lark said. 

I turned around to find around twenty girls standing there, most of them had their heads down. Only a few of them who were brave enough tried to peek at me through their lashes. 

Lark handed me a scroll, it had all the names of the girls in front of me. They were taken in during these two weeks. They're the first batch. Their parents sold them in exchange for 50 copper coins and a small bag of rice. Their parents did not care where their destination was, as long as they could be exchange for food and money. 

"Good morning," I smiled. "I am the family head of the Chiu's family. Welcome to your home for the years to come. We will support you until you're eighteen. I hope that when you leave you all can take something with you.

Here, you will have three meals per day. Two sets of clothes each season. You have to attend your daily lessons. When you passed all the elementary classes, for girls over the age of thirteen they can apply for simple chores on the bulletin board to earn a few pennies. But first you have to pass all elementary classes. 

You're not allowed to leave this complex. As for your family, you can very well go find them when you reach eighteen, but before that I am the one paying money to raise you, so you're not allowed in any way to bring food or money you earn here back home to your family members."

I knew some families might instruct their daughters to steal food or valuables and run back home, in this way they earned the 50 copper coins and a bag of rice, but as she escaped home she could once again be sold again. That's why usually the dealers immediately took the girls away from their homeland to prevent them from escaping. 

But this is still near the capital, to prevent such thing from happening, their eyes were blindfolded, and the carriage circled the captial thrice before heading to the orphanage. 

"Your family signed a contract. If you escape, I will send all of you to the prison. I think that's all for now. Hope you enjoy your stay here."