Don't Upgrade Just Yet

She was unaware that her master was worried someone would ask her to paint their portrait, and had shielded her from such trouble.

If she knew, she would tell her master not to worry. As long as she spread the word that "black and white paintings are unlucky," even if she offered herself up and paid others to paint for her, they would beat her out with big sticks. It's hard to succeed, but it's easy to fail.

"Yes." She nodded vigorously. "My painting still has many flaws; I need to practice more, and there are many aspects that need improvement."

She sighed deeply as she finished speaking.

There's never enough time! She's busy as a dog every day. She has to go to school, practice calligraphy and painting, run painting classes, and the training center next door is opening in a couple of days. There's a ton of things to worry about in these three workshops.

She's having such a hard time.

But she dared not say this in front of her master, otherwise her master would persuade her to put aside other things and concentrate on painting.

Kang Shilin and Wu Zong stayed behind, worried that she might get carried away by everyone's praise at such a young age and become arrogant. They decided to give her a warning.

Seeing that she clearly knew her shortcomings, and that her little face was still full of worry, the two felt relieved, and then Wu Zong suddenly wanted to laugh for no reason.

"Sigh, Master finally took on a disciple, and I thought I'd have a chance to guide the younger generation. Who knew that Junior Sister would start her own sect so quickly? Compared to you, your senior brother is nothing. Life is just too hard." He started to play the victim and act silly in front of his master and junior sister.

But the comfort he imagined didn't come. Instead, he received a slap on the head from his master. "Knowing you're trash, why aren't you working hard? Even if you don't have talent, if you think about it more, you'll eventually achieve something. Don't you understand the principle of 'the early bird catches the worm'?"

Wu Zong: "..."

Seeing her senior brother's expression, which instantly resembled that of someone constipated, Zhao Ruxi couldn't help but laugh.

Wu Zong immediately glared at her.

Seeing him being scolded by his master, aren't you going to come to his rescue? Don't you have any brotherly or sisterly affection?

Threatened by his death glare, Zhao Ruxi quickly said, "Alright, Master, it's getting late, let's go back."

Disturbed by the Jia Family father and son, I painted another picture, and the afternoon flew by. Now it was time for the art academy to let out.

Kang Shilin glanced at the sky and realized it was indeed getting late. He had no choice but to stop his long-winded speech and stand up to tell the two to go home when he suddenly heard a knocking sound at the door.

The three of them turned around and saw Xiao Ruotong standing at the door.

"Um... I heard that Xiaoxi has pioneered a new style of painting?" Xiao Ruotong asked somewhat shyly.

She used to skip classes at the art academy and go straight back to her estate after class. But lately, she's grown fond of the atmosphere there. Even if she doesn't have time to paint, it's nice to see other people's work or listen to their discussions about sketching. So she goes there as soon as she finishes class.

But as soon as she entered, she heard everyone discussing Zhao Ruxi's paintings enthusiastically. She then learned that Zhao Ruxi had created a new painting style. Without caring whether she was disturbing the conversation between the master and his two apprentices, she rushed in to take a look.

"Sister Ruotong, come in quickly." Zhao Ruxi stood up and waved to her.

Seeing Xiao Ruotong walk in, she said, "Thank you so much Sister Ruotong, for standing up for me regarding the Jia Family's matter. Please convey my gratitude to the Princess for her help when you return. I will visit you to express my thanks when I have time."

The Jia Family's affairs are still the focus of everyone's discussion, and she is also receiving a lot of attention. She shouldn't go to the Prince of Zhennan's Residence 'Prince of Zhennan's Residence, lest she cause gossip there, so she plans to go in a couple of days.

Xiao Ruotong ignored her words, her entire attention was drawn to the painting that Zhao Ruxi hadn't had time to put away.

Nanny Yun, who was following closely behind Xiao Ruotong, quickly chimed in, "Miss Zhao, there's no need to be so polite. However, my young lady will certainly send someone to convey Miss Zhao's gratitude to the Princess."

Zhao Ruxi smiled at Nanny Yun, "Thank you."

"Alright, you two chat. We'll go pack our things and head back to Beijing together later," Kang Shilin said.

He said this not only to express his concern for Zhao Ruxi traveling alone, but also to remind Xiao Ruotong not to linger too long, as it wouldn't be safe for Zhao Ruxi to go home too late.

It didn't matter whether Xiao Ruotong understood the implied meaning in his words; as long as her shrewd old nanny understood, that was enough.

As expected, Xiao Ruotong didn't stay in the room for long before Nanny Yun pulled her away to say goodbye. Zhao Ruxi quickly packed up the painting and got into the carriage with her master and senior brother.

Only then did she have time to properly examine her system screen.

Sure enough, her screen showed that she now had over 21,600 points.

"System, what will happen if I take the Agility Pill?" Zhao Ruxi asked in her mind.

The system had been waiting for this moment for a long time. If it hadn't been taught a lesson by Zhao Ruxi about how to be a person—no, how to be a system—it would have already started yelling. The fact that it waited until Zhao Ruxi finished dealing with her business and spoke to it before appearing again shows that the effects of being beaten up by society are quite obvious.

Upon hearing Zhao Ruxi call for the system, it exclaimed with extreme excitement, "There's no reaction. After you finish eating, you'll only feel as light as a feather, and your movements will be agile. Your reaction speed will also be enhanced."

Zhao Ruxi knew that she had to take the initiative in all negotiations, and the system that was so eager for her to spend points at this moment should be very easy to fool.

She then asked, "After I bought the Agility Pill, what changes have occurred in your store?"

"Twenty thousand points will allow me to repair some of the obstacles. As for what will happen after the repairs, I have no idea," the system said.

Zhao Ruxi immediately became alert. "Are you going to use all 20,000 points for repairs? Aren't you going to save some points for restocking? Let me tell you, after I buy the Agility Pill, I also need to buy Great Strength Pill. If you can't restock, I won't be able to spend the points I earn, and you'll be stuck in a vicious cycle."

The system immediately tensed up. "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Luckily you reminded me."

Zhao Ruxi: "..." Although the Intellectual Disability System is easy to fool, it tends to let you down at crucial moments.

After the repairs, will this guy become incredibly cunning and hard to fool?

Zhao Ruxi's eyes darted around, and she asked, "I wonder what kind of things your place sells? If they're inexpensive and perfect for me, you could buy them and put them on display. Let me tell you, buying and reselling is the most profitable business. Don't you see that the merchants selling things on the street are always richer than the craftsmen who make them?"

The system seemed to be deep in thought.

"The most important thing in doing business is to be 'alive'—to keep cash flowing, constantly buying and selling. That's a virtuous cycle. If you use points to upgrade but don't have enough points to buy more, it becomes a vicious cycle, and you'll kill your business."

The system thought her words made a lot of sense and gratefully replied, "Thank you for reminding me, host. I understand."