After reincarnation, attack as a female imp!

Yang Qichao was stunned. He was busy eating just now, but was suddenly targeted by Qin Zhixin. He looked up in confusion.

Tang Yuyu's expression remained unchanged.

"Boys need to grow up, so they need to eat more. A man's appetite reflects his temperament. The more he eats, the better he is."

Yang Qichao smiled foolishly and continued to eat, but he was secretly watching her out of the corner of his eyes.

"Even if you eat a lot, you can't eat so ugly!"

"A man doesn't live by his eating manners. Qichao's relish in his food proves I'm a good cook. If you're picky about the food, I won't be happy no matter how polite you are."

Qin Zhixin's face was bitter. Yang Qichao saw Qin Zhixin baring her teeth and claws like a fur-ruffled cat, and he felt only amusement, grinning foolishly at Qin Zhixin and Tang Yuyu. Qin Zhixin was furious, seeing him gain an advantage was more painful than she herself suffered a loss.

"Mom, why can't I just poke it with chopsticks?"

"I didn't say no, but it seems you also know you shouldn't."

Tang Yuyu stared at Qin Zhixin, her expression cold and dangerous. Qin Zhixin felt guilty and gave a flattering smile.

"Qi Chao is here so I'm giving you some face. If you dare to wipe your hands after eating outside, and then wipe them on your body, I will hit your hands with my chopsticks."

"Mom, you have double standards."

Tang Yuyu seemed not to hear and just picked up the food by herself, pausing for a few seconds.

"Men and women have different identities. Do you consider yourself a man?"

Qin Zhixin seemed to remember something, was stunned for a moment, and muttered.

"I do think so. Look at Chaozi, he's so happy all day long. Even if he eats like a pig, he'll just be praised as a man. Even if he eats on the ground, people will say he's not particular about small matters. He'll still be happy even if he's slaughtered one day."

Tang Yuyu chuckled, seemingly disdainful of Qin Zhixin's words. She had long been accustomed to her precious daughter's occasional outlandish and unrealistic musings, which often came to nothing.

"You can try. It's not like no one is forcing you to be the man you want to be."

Qin Zhixin smiled awkwardly, her smile was as fawning as a lackey.

She suddenly realized how foolish her statement was. Even if she considered herself a man, would others see her as one? Humans are social animals, after all; it's not difficult to influence others' perceptions of themselves based on their own perceptions. Rather than dwelling on unrealistic fantasies, it's better to simply get on with life. The "last life" is the "last life." Memories can deceive, experiences can mislead. Trapping oneself in a false "if" is foolish, especially when the "if" is in the past tense, its truth or falsity uncertain.

Qin Zhixin retracted her smile, sighed, sat up straight, and put the lion's head that was stuck on the chopsticks into the bowl.

"Forget it. Look at Chaozi's behavior. The way he eats is so ugly."

"Don't use me as an example! I ate in a hurry. Isn't this because I think Aunt Tang's cooking is delicious?"

Yang Qichao didn't dare to say anything else, but just started to flatter her, which made Tang Yuyu cover her mouth and laugh again, but he couldn't help feeling guilty when he looked at Tang Yuyu.

"I run a restaurant near the university town, and I can really feel that young girls' mindsets have changed. Last time, a couple came to my place. The man was a regular customer, and he invited his girlfriend to dine here. Because my restaurant wasn't fancy enough, the woman immediately turned her back on him and slapped him. The man didn't dare to fight back at all, as if being hit by a woman in public was an honor. Qin Zhixin, do you want to be that kind of man?"

"Tsk, that's not really a man at all, he just sounds like a sexually repressed little Chu man."

Qin Zhixin looked disdainful.

"When I was young, men were supposed to act like men, even if their teeth were broken, they had to endure it. Women were supposed to act like women, being virtuous and managing the household. They might not be completely obedient to their husbands, but at least they shouldn't treat them like enemies. But now? Television, novels, the internet are all teaching men how to abandon toxic masculinity, as if men are the root of all evil just because they act like men. Now some people want men to learn how to use makeup, how to act like a spoiled child, how to fear their wives and girlfriends, and how to please like eunuchs serving Empress Dowager Cixi, as if being a new-age eunuch is some great advantage."

Even though Tang Yuyu was in her thirties, her voice still resembled that of a young girl. Her aura was so strong that it made people stand at attention whenever she spoke. Yang Qichao lowered his head and ate fiercely. He glanced up to secretly check Qin Zhixin's reaction, his ears perked up, afraid to miss a word, and inexplicably feeling a little scared.

"How can that be called manly? I told Chaozi this because he will probably be henpecked in the future."

"No. He can't do that, because you're not the kind of person who messes around."

Qin Zhixin became anxious.

"I didn't say I was going to marry him!"

Yang Qichao shuddered, and raised his eyes quietly.

"Even if you and him don't end up together in the future, he's seen someone like you before, and he knows how to get along with girls his age."

"Aunt Tang, I don't know. When Qin Zhixin and I were little, we peed and played in the mud together, and she never treated me as a man."

Tang Yuyu smiled.

"This is how you should get along with a woman. Aside from the subtle differences in the division of labor, are there any other differences between women and men? Is it because men and women are not the same species that they need special training methods to appease them?"

"That's dog training, mom, what you said is too harsh."

"Don't young girls nowadays ask the same of their boyfriends and husbands as a dog?"

"Isn't this the evolution of society? Girls now value emotional value. There's a girl in our class who constantly complains about the bad manners of the boy in front of her when passing papers. My classmate listens and changes his answers."

Yang Qichao spoke cautiously.

"Where is the value of emotion? It's because we have everything we need that we assign value to something inexplicable. This kind of thing is superficial, completely based on the premise that men are still willing to listen, but this won't last forever. People should be smarter, whether they are men or women, and realize that a person's opinions can't remain unchanged forever."

"It's hard to say. Aren't there still protests about women's rights? There are girls in our class reading Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, as well as books by Chizuko Ueno, a Japanese feminist writer. Qin Zhixin, is anyone in your class reading those?"

Yang Qichao sniffed his nose.

"How would I know? I haven't read it. I don't need to. Women's rights and other such things, which overcomplicate the theory, are mostly intended to deceive people. If a theory that can work in society can't be summarized in a single sentence, but instead requires a large number of terms to define and explain it, then it's most likely a liar. Because he knows that his theory is contradictory and logically inconsistent, so he needs to keep beating around the bush. Mom, please don't read this stuff one day."

"Do I look like someone who likes to read?"

Tang Yuyu rolled her eyes at her daughter.

"But you're right. I guess a lot of young girls these days watch this kind of nonsense, and it's brainwashed, turning them into slogan-shouting machines."

"Aunt Tang, what do you think it means to be a man? Doesn't even count as being nice to women?"

"How can this be good for women? Unconditional pampering is deliberate, like treating people like kittens and puppies. Men think this shows they're responsible, but to put it bluntly, they don't treat the women they're dealing with as adults. When I was a child, several villages in the north of Tangshan competed for water with several villages in the west. Guns weren't banned back then, but a young man from my village took a gun and explosives and wiped out the entire family in the west village. He even returned with his life intact, and even the girls from the next village wanted to marry him."

Yang Qichao swallowed secretly when he heard this.

"People from Badger Hill? Are they that fierce? Aunt Tang, which family are you talking about?"

"His surname is Huang, and he's no longer in Huanzigang. He was afraid he'd be shot, so he took his family and fled to Anhui Province in 1990."

Yang Qichao was speechless after hearing this.

"Badger Hill is truly a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Killing an entire family is way too manly."

"Bah! What are you talking about? You're so sarcastic!"

Qin Zhixin was a little angry and glared at Yang Qichao, who also became anxious.

"Why am I being so weird?"

“Is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a good term?”

"Isn't Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a good phrase? You can't just look at things online, right? Aunt Tang, look at Qin Zhixin. She's obsessed with the internet. You should confiscate her computer and phone!"

Chapter 54 Free Krypton Gold

The Mid-Autumn Festival holiday at Nanshi High School is over, and no matter how reluctant Qin Zhixin is, she has to return to the classroom again.

After climbing to the fifth floor breathlessly, Qin Zhixin did not go directly into the classroom. Instead, she stood at the back door of the classroom, raised her feet, and secretly glanced into the classroom through the observation window of the back door.

Even though she could hear the clamor in the classroom from a distance, she still acted cautiously. Most of the students in the classroom had already arrived. Most of the students at Nanshi High School were boarders, and they had to come early to clean up their dormitories, often arriving much earlier than day students like Qin Zhixin.

After a blissful three-day break, the teenagers reunited, their conversations largely revolving around food, drinks, and fun. Zhao Jiajun was the loudest of the boys, shouting at Ma Lisheng at the top of his lungs. Zhao Jiajun's duck-like voice was exaggerated, a half-hoarse howl that Qin Zhixin had only heard back home: when she'd chased the neighbor's dog on her bicycle, the poor dog's whimpering, its suppressed howl sounding pathetic. He was talking about a character in a game, describing it vividly, as if describing the character's strength.

Tan Peiyue and Chu Keke were acting like crazy, their usual madcap ways. One of them had bought a brochure of some sort of merchandise, but instead of taking their seats, they stood at the table, looking at it. Tan Peiyue was shouting, "Junji is so handsome," dancing around like she was having a seizure. Tan Peiyue's dark, ugly voice was too penetrating, as sharp as nails scraping against a blackboard.

Even through the door, Qin Zhixin could hear her heart racing. She couldn't help but frown, as if she'd accidentally stepped in dog poop on the side of the road and cursed inwardly. Relieved that she didn't see the teacher, Qin Zhixin pushed hard, trying to open the back door, but it was locked, forcing her to enter through the front.

Qin Zhixin walked into the classroom with a cold expression. The moment she entered, the class instantly fell silent. The class, which had been chatting animatedly just a moment ago, was now like being muted. Everyone stared at her, even Tan Peiyue and Chu Keke, who had just been fascinated by the stick.

Qin Zhixin pretended nothing had happened and sat down in her seat while being watched. It took a long time after she sat down before the classroom became lively again.

Sitting in her seat, Qin Zhixin let out a long sigh as she heard the classroom commotion break out again. Although she was used to being looked at like a "rare animal" because of her looks and figure, she still felt uncomfortable being scrutinized. After all, people are visual creatures. Even she herself didn't want to look at her looks and figure, let alone these young men just beginning to fall in love.

She took her cell phone out of her schoolbag. There were still several little boys watching her. When they saw her taking out her cell phone, one of them even stretched his neck to look at it.

Qin Zhixin didn't care at all about these little boys who were peeking at her.

Even if they drank horse urine for courage and trembled as they confessed their feelings to her, it would only mean one more dispensable lickspittle. Qin Zhixin's student account had already blocked countless of these people. If she was expected to respond simply because they had feelings for her, she would have nothing to do all day but respond. Some of them were so good at checking in, sending her a message before bed, another when they woke up, and even a message if they had a car accident, for days on end.

Even though Qin Zhixin never replied to them once, they still enjoyed it, as if they regarded this as a sign of being moved by their persistence.

But Qin Zhixin herself didn't know this. After all, only those who played well with her could be considered "people" by her, and those who couldn't be driven away were just a pack of stray dogs. To her, their existence was like a pack of dogs wandering around where she lived every day. To Qin Zhixin, they were just a pack of dogs, and who knew if they would suddenly disappear one day.

Stray dogs are like wild rats, wandering, ownerless, harmful, and aggressive. Their existence itself represents instability.

Entering her password to log into her student account, Yang Qichao sent her a message inviting her to a donkey hot pot in the back street for lunch. Qin Zhixin replied with an emoji of a silly anime donkey, taking it as an agreement. Without even asking if the other party replied, she logged out of her "student account" and logged into "Hunyuan Dachu"'s account.

There were so many messages in the group chat that her phone started to freeze the moment she logged in, and the touchscreen became unresponsive. Qin Zhixin felt a bit bored, so she slumped over the table, squinting at her phone, waiting for a refresh.

Zhao Jiajun was still shouting, his slightly raspy, drab voice probably audible even from the next door. He was excitedly bragging about spending over 6,000 yuan on card draws in "Diffusive Million Arthur," and getting a ton of five- and six-star cards. Ma Lisheng, who was chatting with him, was also playing the game, but unlike Zhao Jiajun, he never spent any money, so his five- and six-star cards were pitifully few, and the high-star cards were all useless bonus cards.

2013 was the year when Eryou first achieved great success in the domestic market. In fact, "Diffusion" was already released in 2012. It was first a huge success in the overseas market, followed by various krypton golds. At that time, a krypton gold of 648 was equivalent to 99.9 US dollars in overseas krypton gold. When the character drawings of other card-drawing games were still based on abstract and impressionist styles, "Diffusion" took the initiative to make the characters as otaku-friendly as possible.

It can be said that this game opened the era of krypton gold in mobile games. The studio found that a large number of players would spend real money as if they were under mental control just by adding some two-dimensional characters. Players would even curse, "Your game is too troublesome to deduct money!" and then continue to pay.

Even though most players lacked funds, they still managed to squeeze money out of their meager living expenses to fund card draws, effectively giving card-drawing mobile games the stereotype of "vegetarian dishes at meat prices." Countless game studios rushed into this blue ocean, like pirates with letters of marque. They forged new paths, and all sorts of girly, skin-swapped card-playing mobile games sprang up like mushrooms after a rain. Conscientious companies hired experienced artists, while unscrupulous ones simply hired a few art majors—after all, the characters could be assembled from scraps of material.

No, normally pure butter is free, but this is really the opposite of what happened.

Listening to Zhao Jiajun's bragging, Qin Zhixin couldn't help rolling her eyes while lying on the table.

As a "noble" PC single-player freeloader, Qin Zhixin naturally looked down on mobile games that only paid premium. What a joke! Who was she? A true internet-savvy veteran freeloader, she even created a forum dedicated to the idea.

Her disdain for mobile games is understandable. After all, she's broke and can't afford a good phone; her savings have all gone to her patched-up computer. A person's financial and energy investment is limited. Even console gamers automatically divide into "XBOX" and "PlayStation" groups based on their choices, criticizing each other. After all, people always rationalize their choices and derive a sense of superiority, even if it's illusory.

However, this sense of superiority is worthless in front of real money. When Zhao Jiajun said the number "six thousand", Qin Zhixin still shook her ears sensitively. The sound was like a large bag of silver coins hanging on the ground, more refreshing than the teacher asking her to answer questions in class.

But then came a strange feeling of frustration.

The crappy forum she created by walking on the edge of the law can only earn a little money from traffic, plus pirated models, she works herself to death typing away on the keyboard, and only makes a little over a thousand yuan a month in extra income. She is still under the watchful eye of the system to prevent her from doing anything wrong, but then this bastard suddenly shows up and charges money for the paper man portrait without any ambiguity.

[Hell, if I had that much money, I'd buy a GTX780, and I could even buy four RAM sticks with the rest.]

Qin Zhixin was furious, even starting to think about how she'd spend the six thousand. Graphics card prices weren't exorbitant in 2013; even a flagship was only $499, so six thousand yuan still had plenty of purchasing power in the accessories market. But for a spendthrift like Qin Zhixin, who was always preoccupied with food, drink, and entertainment, even a little over two thousand yuan was a significant sum. Although she had over eight thousand yuan in savings thanks to the Fiji Cup, she couldn't afford to drain it all just to upgrade her specs.

Even if I gave you 6,000, you wouldn't want to spend it. You only buy second-hand junk, and you'd rather pick up trash for free. It would be fun if your computer burned out one day.

Qin Zhixin's lips almost pouted when she heard this.

[Am I so stingy in your heart? ]

[That's not stingy, that's rough, that's a gambling habit. Aren't the broken power supply and fan in your computer just picked up when you bought a second-hand CPU?]

Qin Zhixin sighed.

[Save where you can, spend where you can. I heard my middle school upgraded the computer room, and the old computers are all piled up and sold as scrap.]

"What? You want to go pick up junk? Those things must be ten years old, right?"

[Where? It's only been eight years, the memory sticks can be removed, right? DDR 2nd Generation 533, it has two Gs, so you can still use them in series.]

Qin Zhixin felt a little regretful, as if she regretted not picking up the trash.

How do you know the computer's configuration?

[Silly, of course I checked.]

The system was shocked. It felt that this girl had most likely been thinking about it for a long time, but this was indeed in line with her carefree personality.

The phone was still stuck, it had been stuck for at least two minutes, and the interface hadn't loaded yet. It was probably frozen. Qin Zhixin sighed, pressed and held the power button to shut it down, then restarted it. She looked at her broken phone with a resentful look that was quite endearing.

[System, I think I need to change my phone.]

【You buy it.】

Qin Zhixin rubbed the acrylic shell of her mobile phone back and forth. The paint on the corners had peeled off, revealing the transparent plastic inside. It had even turned yellow because it had been used for too long. She couldn't bear to replace it after using it for so long.

[Forget it, it's still usable. I'll wait until it's completely broken.]

Chapter 55: Strange Changes

Qin Zhixin felt quite sad.

She has indeed been looking at new mobile phones recently, but she has directly rejected Apple and Samsung phones because they are too expensive. There is no need for her to try to get something with diminishing marginal returns.

After all, she is not a wealthy man like Liu Yujin and Zhao Jiajun, and her little savings can't withstand the test.

There was a strong wind outside the window, blowing wildly and randomly, picking off the dead leaves from the branches, making the window glass shake, and the sky was gloomy.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is over, and the Autumnal Equinox will be here in a few days.

The weather in Nanling was already quite cold. Before the holiday, most students were still wearing short-sleeved shirts, or at most a thin shirt. But after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the girls all started wearing coats.

Qin Zhixin, having lived in Nanling for nearly fifteen years, knew from her experience that given the weather in this shabby place, it wouldn't be long before it experienced a devastating cold snap. The maximum temperature could plummet by over ten degrees in a single night, instantly transforming from summer to winter.

The phone has restarted, and now she can access her "Hunyuan Dachu" account.