LOT -Chapter 334 Childhood Arc: The System Arrives

Looking at this entire letter of complaint, the King of Zhen’nan raised a very deep question.  “Does this little Lin Mo still not know how to write properly? Isn’t she already more than ten years old?”

That shouldn’t be the case. The Lin family had been a scholarly family for generations. They should value their children’s education—how could such a chicken-scratch handwriting possibly come from a Lin family child?

The King of Zhen’nan gave Lin Mo a very reasonable excuse. “It must’ve been written by a maid or a servant. That girl is always lazy—she probably didn’t want to write it herself, so she had someone else do it.”

After saying that, he even nodded to himself. Yes, that must be it. Absolutely.

Ji Qianhua: …Father, you’re overthinking this far too optimistically.

You know she’s lazy. So why would you think she would practice calligraphy?

Ji Qianhua decided to shatter his father’s fantasy. He stared straight at him and said seriously,  “Father, I confirm with absolute certainty that this letter was written by Lin Mo. I grew up with her—I know exactly what level she’s at.”

“This letter is already her extraordinary performance. If she didn’t overperform, the two of us wouldn’t be able to read it. If you pulled the entire army over, none of them would understand it. The fact that we can read this means she really pushed herself.”

Only two people in the world could read her handwriting: Minister Lin and Madam Lin. Everyone else couldn’t decipher what kind of abomination she wrote.

King Zhen’nan: …No way. Do those two really not care about their child? That can’t be right.

Seeing his father’s expression, Ji Qianhua began explaining.

“That girl Mo’er is a little demon king. At home no one’s words work on her. She gets beaten almost daily—if you don’t hit her for three days, she’ll tear the roof off.”

“She has read a lot of books, but they’re all miscellaneous, strange books. When she touches a proper book, she falls asleep shortly afterward. And if she walks into the study, she’ll be snoring within half an incense stick’s time.”

King Zhen’nan was dumbfounded. “Th-then your uncle and aunt don’t discipline her?”

Ji Qianhua sighed. “They do! Otherwise why would she be beaten all the time? But the girl always treats others’ words like air. She agrees on the surface and forgets it a moment later.”

“And she does all kinds of bizarre things every day. You know she calls me ‘Ji Ji ge,’ right?”

The king nodded. What was wrong with that? Children often spoke with reduplicated words; if she got used to it, she might never change it. That was normal.

“When she was little, she called whips—cowhide whips and horsewhips—‘jiji.’ I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t expect that name to get linked to me later. One day I asked her why she didn’t call me ‘Ji gege.’ Do you know what she said?”

The king shook his head. Though he didn’t return home often, he knew that girl had a mischievous personality—her thoughts and behavior were unusual.

“Stop stalling and say it. Why have you become so hesitant after returning? Just speak directly!”

Learning bad habits from scholars, all useless things.

Ji Qianhua expressionlessly said, “She said when I was small, my head was big and my body was small, so I looked exactly like a cow’s ‘jiji.’”

King Zhen’nan: …

Seeing his son’s dead-inside expression, the king dryly laughed, patted his shoulder, and comforted, “Hahaha… w-well… children’s thoughts are odd. Your head was big back then. I even called a doctor to check—it was fine, just naturally big.”

“But look at you now—you’re perfectly proportioned. It’s fine.”

Ji Qianhua glanced at his father’s twitching mouth corner and rolled his eyes.

Laugh. Go on, laugh. When he first heard it, the whole Lin family laughed.

Uncle and Aunt Lin’s eyes had almost popped out. How could a young girl say something like that?

“But I have another question. How did she even see a cow whip? Did she see it when Uncle Lin was eating it?”

Talking about this, the king’s eyes were shining.

Lin Huan wasn’t even that old—does he already need to eat that to ‘replenish’ his health? How weak was his body? A future official couldn’t be so frail!

Seeing his father’s expression, Ji Qianhua immediately knew what he was imagining.

“Father, wipe that smile off your face. It’s not what you think.”

“That girl roams around the streets every day and asks about all sorts of nonsense. So she’s seen all kinds of things. You and I know nothing compared to what she knows.”

“When she was only one or two, she already snuck out alone. And when she came back, she was beaten harshly. After she healed, she’d run out again—never learns from pain.”

Ji Qianhua truly admired her courage. Did daily beatings not hurt?? Couldn’t she be obedient just a little?

Listening to the descriptions, King Zhen’nan liked Lin Mo even more. This girl’s personality suited his taste.

“Not bad! You were too timid as a child. If you’d had her courage, I wouldn’t have needed to send you away.”

Sending him away was partly for protection, partly for education, but mostly because the boy was timid and didn’t like interacting with others. When he first arrived at the Lin family, he was cold and distant.

To be honest, the king now felt his current son was unfamiliar—shameless, full of lofty theories from reading too much, speaking in scholarly, flowery language.

“When the war settles, I’m going to spend time bonding with that girl. Going home only once a year isn’t enough.”

He hardly remembered how long he had been stationed here—since the previous emperor. When the war broke out, he didn’t even make it back to attend the funeral.

Each year he only returned once. He couldn’t leave—his men weren’t yet fully trained.

But because of Lin Mo’s complaint letter, she now had a personal reply—written by King Zhen’nan himself.

Their handwriting wasn’t pretty—true meeting of soulmates. Dog-scratching script and chicken-scratching script.

Dog scratches were still readable. Chicken scratches required guesswork. Sometimes there were little doodles showing emotions. Lin Mo was very skilled at using modern emoji.

Time passed quickly. Lin Qi and Lin Ran had become the most well-regarded noble siblings in the capital. Lin Mo, meanwhile, had become the most infamous gossip-warlord of all the streets and alleys.

One day, she was carrying a little stool, listening to neighbors gossip. After the melon was finished and she planned to head home, a voice suddenly appeared in her mind.

【Eat-Melon System binding initiated. Please choose: Agree or Disagree.】

Lin Mo’s eyes lit up immediately. She knew she was a destined protagonist!

She had already experienced something as shocking as transmigration—getting a system wasn’t surprising at all.

【Agree! Agree! Totally agree! Quickly bind!】

Hearing her excitement, the Eat-Melon System: …

Why did something feel very wrong?

Did this host not want to question where it came from?

System: 【Aren’t you worried I’m an evil system?】

Lin Mo: 【I don’t care if you’re a good bucket or bad bucket—protagonists all have systems. If they can, why can’t I? Good or bad, I want it!】

She was so happy she could fly. This was what a chosen one looked like!

System: …Something felt even more wrong.

It picked the laziest person nearby, but this person also seemed… mentally questionable.

【Then let me introduce myself. I’m the Eat-Melon System—you know what “eating melons” means, right?】

The moment it bound her, it detected she had memories not belonging to this era, but that wasn’t too unusual.

Lin Mo: 【Of course I know. Even though I’ve lived here for ten years, I still remember modern things clearly. You’re basically a gossip system, right? Are you male or female? A gossip-loving system should be an auntie, right?】

The system roared indignantly: 【Don’t insult me! I’m a male system! Male!】

A male eat-melon system? Systems weren’t supposed to have gender—why did this one insist?

Lin Mo had a head full of questions. She asked nonstop, nearly driving the system insane.

But she walked home chatting aloud to it—startling the Lin family.

There was no one around—so why was she talking to a strange voice? And they could hear her side of the conversation?!

During that walk home, she fed the system countless bits of gossip. If the system ran on energy, and gossip benefited her, then why not feed it?

Dinner that night was tense. Lin Qi and Lin Ran wanted to ask questions but were stopped by their parents.

By the end of the meal, they realized something:

This so-called system seemed… not very smart.

System: 【Let me tell you! Among all systems, I’m under one and above ten thousand!】

Lin Mo: 【Wow! So you’re like the prime minister? Then why are you doing tasks yourself? Shouldn’t you order others? Do you have no real power?】

System: 【Uh… I didn’t want to come! I did something earth-shatteringly big, so I got kicked here.】

It didn’t want to come to this world.

It was exiled by the main system.

Lin Mo asked curiously: 【What did you do?】

System: 【We eat energy, right? I’ve always eaten whatever the main system gave me. But we argued recently, so I secretly fed him negative energy. I almost replaced him!】

As it spoke of nearly taking the throne, it sounded extremely proud—yet incredibly foolish.

The Lin family: …

So you were demoted?

Lin Mo: 【So you were banished because the coup failed.】

The system became unhappy. 【What do you mean banished? I only made him have diarrhea for a few days! He’s too petty! Such a small thing and he holds a grudge.】

As the main system, eating negative energy only caused mild issues. Was kicking it away necessary?

Everyone: …

This wasn’t about pettiness. The fact he spared you means he was merciful.

Meanwhile, in the system space—

The main system was furiously cursing.

“It kept saying it would replace me—and it was actually telling the truth! I can’t believe that idiot has that much cunning!”

The Flattery System nearby said, “Main System, I told you long ago not to keep the Eat-Melon System around. You didn’t listen. Did you forget what happened to the last one?”

The main system kicked it aside. “What do you know? That system is a fool. Even if it wanted to harm me, it shouldn’t have used such an obvious method! But it really almost succeeded. This time it’s working for me whether it likes it or not. Eating my food, drinking my drink, and making me have diarrhea—if I don’t make it suffer, I’m not the main system!”

Indeed, the Eat-Melon System had become too comfortable these days. Every day brought new gossip.

And the best surprise—its host could create gossip herself. She was a walking melon field.

It truly chose the right host!