Chapter 8

"Any questions?"

A hand shot up in the air. "Are we really going to be given three meals a day?"

"Aren't you already having three meals a day these two weeks?" 

"If we're being fed, why would we run away? You're our savior then."

I raised my eyebrow. "You aren't afraid I might sell you off to somewhere bad when you've gained some fat?"

"At least we have warm food, new clothes, a bed to ourselves, our own cupboard and even a place to play in now." The girl stared straight at me, eyes burning. "So what if you're schemeing something bad? What important to me is now."

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The eyes of those little girls left a very strong impression on me. Some filled with despair, some with nonchalance, some with happiness and some, like that girl who treasured now more than the future, burning with determination. I certainly hoped the orphanage could help them one way or another. 

And I certainly hoped the charity I did this month could increase my renown. Leveling up would be great. I mean in other games leveling up from Level 1 to Level 2 should be very easy. But look where I was, it had already been 6 months and yet I was still stuck in the first level.

Aren't there newbie protection rules? I thought angrily. 

"Have you ever considered the chances that maybe because you're stupid?" The violent crow appeared suddenly. I was pulled into the white room again. 

"Excuse me?" 

"Look at your panel. With just a month of charity, look how much renown you gained. That's the correct way of starting the game."

I opened my mouth and then closed again. I... if I had clicked open [expand] at that time, would things have changed? The importance of reading instructions!

But I still believe the effort I made for my grandchildren would be worth it someday. I humphed. 

The game panel appeared in front of me. 

Name: Old Lady Lau

Number of family members: 23+ (1)

Wealth: 994000 gold

Splendor: Noteworthy

[Renown: 50 (↑)

Prestige: 10

Legacies: 0]

"Level of splendor: Noteworthy accomplished. Reward unlocked: 40 credits. Online shop unlocked." The robotic voice of the crow drifted into my ears.

I pumped my hand in the air. 

Charity is the way to go! I thought. 

I have already decided to continue giving out porridge twice every month. Of course that would be done by my three lovely daughters in law. They did not have anything better to do anyway. With something occupying their mind, they no longer huddled near the school complexes in the estate. They even came up with plans themselves, like how to efficiently deliver porridge and what type of porridge they were giving out next time. 

 I even rented a tiny stall near the city gate to sell cheap food for those who did not have a lot of money, of course the main point was to have a storefront where people could send girls to the orphanage. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was some sort of human trafficking criminal. 

"Wait, what's online shop?" 

"And I thought you will let that info slip through your empty brain like how you did last time." 

I rolled my eyes in response. Just how many times did he have to rub it?

"When I have another thing to ridicule you with," the evil crow chided.

"Can you stop reading my mind! Where's my privacy?"

"Nonexistent." 

I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Keep calm. I have to keep calm.

"Don't try to distract me, what's the online shop, what can it do?"

"It's on your panel. Read it yourself." 

I have never seen such a lazy system!

I recalled the VR panel and found a new shop icon at the top right corner of the semi transparent screen. I clicked on it. 

"Online shop activated. You can use your credits to buy products you want," Crow explained robotically. 

"Wait, but why is every product blurred?" I scrolled through the shop. There were dozens of products, but all of them were blurred.

Crow landed on my shoulder and tsked. "You only have 50 credits. These products are out of your scope. Adjust the filter."

I clicked on the filter and chose to set the products in descending order according to price. 

"The cheapest product is at 45 credits! You evil businessman!" I glanced through the products available and my excitement died down. 

"What's the point in buying any of these stuff?" I asked angrily. "Are you kidding me?"

"You guess."

I glared at him and logged off. 

I was still fuming when Sparrow entered the room. 

"Old lady, you have an invitation from Countess Wong."

I took the invitation letter from Sparrow and read through it. The countess invited me to a flower viewing gathering, the orchids in her garden were going to bloom soon. 

Why did she invite me? The Chiu's family was always left out of such functions, the nobles usually looked down on us. 

Well it's a good opportunity to improve our prestige. After reading through the manual and panel one more time to avoid any more blunderings, I had come to an understanding that 'Splendor' was divided into three parts. 

Renown, indicating how famous our family was. That's why I gained more renown after my charity events. Many peasants now heard of us and had a positive opinion of us. 

Prestige was linked to our reputation and relationship with the nobles and Emperor. Basically, it's a judge of our social level. If we formed more alliances with powerful noble familes, our social level would raise, thus our prestige. The easiest way of forming alliances was of course through marriage. 

As for legacies, members of our family had to accomplish a legacy for me to gain a point. The system did not provide an explanation. And I guessed from the situation we were in now, we would not be able to accomplish any legacy in the next 10 years. 

So this flower viewing gathering was an opportunity for me to enter the nobility circle. I had to grasp this opportunity. 

I pondered on this for a moment and then said, "Sparrow, let's head to Floral Court."

Floral Court was the name I gave to the school complex for my granddaughters.