Although the little girl was young, her remarkable knack for business was already showing.
She knew how to attract more customers and sell more goods.
Seeing how frail Little Ningguang was, and how she had spent all day carrying heavy Starconches, Fang Xun knew it couldn't have been easy.
He decided to lighten her burden.
"Little girl, I'll buy all these Starconches."
Fang Xun had a hundred thousand Mora from the system, so buying the Starconches was no problem at all.
To him, the transaction was a drop in the bucket—barely worth a thought.
But for Ningguang, it could ease the burden on her whole family.
Sure enough, when Ningguang heard him, her big, watery eyes lit up.
"Big brother, do you really mean it?"
Ningguang had thought Fang Xun might want just one or two Starconches.
She hadn't expected him to buy every last one!
It was a wonderful surprise.
But even as she felt happy, Ningguang couldn't help worrying.
She was afraid Fang Xun was teasing her, and that in the end he wouldn't buy even one.
This sort of thing had happened before.
A merchant had said he would buy all of Ningguang's Starconches.
But after she had painstakingly sorted them, he'd changed his mind and said he didn't want a single one.
He'd even gloated over successfully playing a trick on the little girl.
From then on, Ningguang hated being lied to most of all.
Fang Xun nodded and replied earnestly, "Of course I mean it. I never lie, and I'd never lie to an innocent little girl like you."
Little Ningguang's eyes glistened with tears, and she was deeply moved.
She felt that Fang Xun was truly different from those cold, heartless adults.
"There are fifteen Starconches here. Four thousand Mora for all of them is fine."
Even with the discount, these Starconches should have sold for five thousand Mora.
But Little Ningguang thought Fang Xun was a good person, so she decided to give him a discount.
Obtaining an Intertwined Fate, and Getting a Five-Star on His First Wish
What could four thousand Mora buy?
In the game, a serving of Mora Meat at a restaurant cost 430 Mora.
A serving of the famous local specialty, "Squirrel Fish," cost 6,600 Mora.
Even in Liyue twenty years ago, prices wouldn't have been all that different.
In other words, four thousand Mora wasn't even enough to buy a decent meal in Liyue.
But for a poor family like Ningguang's, it was enough to cover several days of expenses and feed the whole family.
"Thank you, big brother!" After getting the Mora, Ningguang smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling like a flower in full bloom.
It was the first time she'd ever received so much Mora, so she carefully tucked the purse into her clothes and held it tight, afraid it might fall or someone might steal it.
Little Ningguang didn't know how to express how happy and grateful she was to Fang Xun.
After thinking for a long while, she finally bowed to him earnestly to show her gratitude.
As far as Little Ningguang was concerned, Fang Xun had helped her so much.
"Big brother, my name is Ningguang. What's yours?"
It had only just occurred to Ningguang that, despite talking with Fang Xun for so long, she still didn't know his name.
His clothes looked unusual, and she hadn't seen him in Liyue before, so he was probably a traveler from somewhere else.
"Little Ningguang, my name is Fang Xun."
"If anything happens, you can come find me."
Fang Xun paused, worried that he'd sounded too abrupt and might scare Ningguang.
So he added, "You look a lot like someone I used to know."
"Whenever I see you, I can't help thinking of her."
"She went through much the same things as you when she was little, so I want to help you as much as I can."
Little Ningguang blinked her big eyes. She was still so young that she didn't really understand what Fang Xun meant.
She only understood that he wanted to help her.
Little Ningguang quietly committed Fang Xun's name to memory.
Then she nodded vigorously. "Okay, I'll remember."
"Then, Brother Fang Xun, I'll head home now!"
The sun had completely set, and Ningguang realized it was time to go home. She waved goodbye to Fang Xun.
Just then, the system's voice rang out in Fang Xun's mind.
"Ding! Detected an increase in Ningguang's favorability toward the host!"
Fang Xun's heart stirred, and a bitterness he couldn't describe welled up inside him.
He'd only helped Ningguang a little, and he'd already earned her favor.
That alone showed how hard her life had been.
In endless darkness, even the faintest glimmer of light could shine brilliantly.
Fang Xun decided to keep helping Ningguang.
Not just to raise her favorability so he could have a rich woman support him and save himself a few years of hard work...
More importantly, he felt that he and Ningguang had a lot in common.
The little girl was tenacious and refused to give up.
Those who believed in miracles were themselves as remarkable as miracles.
At that moment, the system's voice sounded again in his mind.
"Ningguang's favorability has increased from 0 to Level 1. Congratulations, host, you've obtained 1 Intertwined Fate. You've also received an extra reward: a five-star artifact, Gladiator's Nostalgia."
Fang Xun wasn't surprised to get an Intertwined Fate.
The system had already explained that increasing a heroine's favorability would earn him an Acquaint Fate.
However, he hadn't expected to receive an extra reward.
Artifacts were one of the game's defining features.
Once a character's level and talent skills were maxed out, artifacts were the only way to improve their build.
A good artifact could raise a character's potential.
Fang Xun opened his inventory and checked the artifact's stats.
He'd thought he would have to collect fodder artifacts and Mora to level it up slowly.
But to his surprise, it was already max level when he got it.
And the artifact the system had given him was maxed out at Level 28!
That meant there was even more room for improvement!
Fang Xun couldn't wait to check its stats, hoping for a few more CRIT DMG or CRIT Rate rolls.
But when he saw the artifact's stats, he was stunned.
DEF +35%
DEF +39
CRIT DMG +7.8%
CRIT Rate +3.2%
Fang Xun: "???"
This artifact—
Why won't it roll upgrades??
It really was a cowardly Gladiator!
Every single roll went into DEF!
What's this supposed to mean?
You want me to stack DEF, is that it?
The ultimate shield build?
Fang Xun was speechless.
He couldn't help remembering all the times his artifact upgrades had rolled poorly, and just thinking about it made his liver ache.
Just then, Fang Xun turned his attention to the Intertwined Fate.
If his artifact had rolled badly, he might as well try wishing.
Back when he played the game, he'd often gone wishing after getting bad artifact rolls.
It was practically a kind of superstition.
Maybe the luck he'd missed out on with artifact upgrades would carry over to his wishes?
Before you continue