Chapter 431: Qiao Xiaoxian’s Greatest Love Rival!

It was another quiet day with no customers at all.

Jiang Ke’er lay on the recliner at the door, idly crossing her legs and holding a newspaper.

[Headline News!]

[Yesterday at noon, leaders of all races in Shenzhou held a Peace Summit in Jiangdu City.

Human Clan representative Yu Wenhua Ji pointed out that with the Descent of the Heavenly Demon, all races should cease hostilities, stop pointless internal conflict, develop peacefully, and unite against the common enemy.

Demon Race representative Li Yuan affirmed Yu Wenhua Ji’s proposal, stating that the Demon Race was willing to accept the peace agreement proposed by the Human Clan, reduce friction between the two races, and treat the Heavenly Demon as the top threat to all clans.

Under the pressure of the Heavenly Demon, the two races successfully signed a peace treaty, declaring that they would release captives, lift border blockades, restore trade, and promote the common prosperity of all races in Shenzhou.]

The best way to end a war is to create a common enemy that both sides feel is an undeniable threat.

And Jiang Ke’er had become that threat.

Even though the Demon Race hadn’t truly turned their backs on her, the scars the Heavenly Demon carved into the Nine Provinces were already etched into the history books, left in the memories of every generation, never to be forgotten.

Even if they wouldn’t lay a hand on Jiang Ke’er, they would feel threatened and be on guard against her.

Fortunately, Jiang Ke’er didn’t care about any of that.

She had absolutely no desire to conquer the world. All that dark side and extreme stuff was just for putting on a show for the Ancient God.

Besides, losing her heart wasn’t a big deal. She didn’t use her heart to think anyway. Who uses their heart to think? The brain is for breathing, right?

She still couldn’t understand why the Ancient God insisted on crushing her heart.

Anyway, no matter how the whole world watched out for her, she didn’t care. She just wanted to dress up like a newbie and live a peaceful, stable life with Qiao Xiaoxian.

With a rustling sound, Jiang Ke’er set the newspaper aside.

It was actually a newspaper from three months ago. That news was already three months old.

A lot of things had happened in those three months. Jiang Ke’er would need to catch up slowly.

[Acquired 1000 Orthodox Points from Pei Min.]

[Acquired 1000 Villain Points from Pei Min.]

Jiang Ke’er never imagined someone could be so persistent toward her.

Two years now. She had seen so many people go from fervent, hateful—all kinds of intense emotions that once drove them crazy—gradually fade, until they forgot.

Even Bloodpill Ancestor, who hated her to the bone, had quieted down recently. He only contributed a batch of Villain Points every now and then at night, probably from nightmares.

Orthodox Points were even harder to maintain. People’s gratitude was always quickly forgotten, while hatred lingered for a long time.

But this name was the exception.

Pei Min.

For two years, he never stopped contributing Orthodox Points to her every single day. So positive that Jiang Ke’er even wondered if this was a System Bug.

Every morning when she woke up, she could see the Orthodox Points he sent her. Every night before bed, she saw them again.

Jiang Ke’er had no idea what she had done to make him so grateful to her.

Yet when she searched through everyone around her, she’d never heard of anyone named Pei Min, or anyone who knew a Pei Min.

The System had one good thing: it let Jiang Ke’er know immediately who hated her and who was grateful to her.

The feeling of being thought of by him every day had become an important reason for Jiang Ke’er to cheer herself up when she was in a bad mood.

Just remembering that someone felt goodwill toward her every day made life feel a lot more meaningful.

But recently, things had changed a bit.

Even though that name still sent her Orthodox Points every day, it would also send some Villain Points right after.

Jiang Ke’er didn’t understand why.

She guessed that something bad might have happened to that person, and that something might be related to her.

No, if it was bad because of her, then the Orthodox Points wouldn’t still be there.

So that meant… was it something like displaced anger?

Pei Min.

Jiang Ke’er was starting to worry about him.

Even though they had never met, Jiang Ke’er felt like she had already known him for a long time as an old friend.

If one day that name that contributed Orthodox Points disappeared, or completely turned into Villain Points… she would probably feel down for quite a while.

“Don’t just loaf around. Uncle Zhao’s fishing boat is going out to sea, and he’s short-handed. Come with me.”

Qiao Xiaoxian had somehow changed into a set of coarse cloth clothes, dressed like a farm girl.

Even though her clothes were plain, they still couldn’t hide her stunning appearance. She still had a beauty that could topple a city, just in a different flavor.

Jiang Ke’er was about the same.

As soon as the two of them settled into the village, their reputation spread throughout the entire place. Young men with restless hearts often found excuses to pass by the yard.

The two girls weren’t arrogant, but they would remind the wives to keep an eye on their husbands and sons: “Stop blocking the blacksmith shop! We need to do business!”

Unfortunately, just as Qiao Xiaoxian had predicted, the blacksmith shop’s business was lukewarm at best.

The biggest job Jiang Ke’er had gotten so far was sharpening a hoe for Second Uncle Wang at the head of the village.

Business was slow, not enough to go bankrupt, but to legitimately live a wealthy, luxurious life would take who knows how many years of saving.

So Qiao Xiaoxian started a side job. Whenever she had time, she would go to the beach to catch some fish and shrimp, then take them to the market to sell. That was the only way this not-so-rich family could afford a modest living.

Seeing Jiang Ke’er in a bad mood and not answering her, Qiao Xiaoxian smiled gently and said, “Here, I picked this up just now. It’s a pretty shell. For you.”

Jiang Ke’er reluctantly took the shell. “It’s just a dead lamellibranch mollusk body, at most a little calcium carbonate. What’s so pretty about it… This kind of flirting trick is so outdated!”

“With all that nonsense, do you want it or not?”

“I want it.”

Jiang Ke’er quickly took the shell and stuffed it into another small pouch at her waist.

She didn’t really have a hobby of collecting shells. Her reason for keeping them was purely practical—to sell for some money.

If she packaged these shells, strung them on a line, and sold them to passing tourists, if she was lucky enough to run into a couple on their honeymoon, she could swindle seven or eight Spirit Stones out of them. That was half a month’s income for the blacksmith shop.

“Did you hear what I just said? Uncle Zhao’s fishing boat is going out to sea. One of the sailors has diarrhea and can’t come, so he’s short-handed. If we go, we can each get 50 Spirit Stones as pay!” Qiao Xiaoxian said with a smile. “I know you don’t want to work for others, but we need to save up for the wedding, right?”

“Who said I’m marrying you?” Jiang Ke’er glared at her again.

“Didn’t you say you liked me the other day?”

“That… that doesn’t mean I’m marrying you!”

“If you’re not marrying me, then who are you marrying?” Qiao Xiaoxian’s pretty face instantly turned cold. Alarms rang wildly in her mind. The name Jiang Ke’er had once mentioned flashed through her thoughts, and a surge of killing intent rose. “Could it be… Shirakami Fubuki?”