Her entire family was already seated at the breakfast table and Wen Jiexi was the last to arrive. Smiling sweetly at the three seating people, she greeted,
"Good morning brother and good morning mom and dad."
"Good morning, little Xi." Wen Shan was the first to lift his head up. His originally cold and strict face revealed a slight smile when he saw his dearest little daughter.
"Little Xi, are you feeling better today?" A handsome young man, about 25 years old, sat opposite of Wen Shan. His noble bearing displayed a stable and mature temperament, however when he saw Wen Jiexi, an apprehensive smile appeared. This man is Wen Jiexi's older brother, Wen Linshu.
"I feel fine, brother. In fact, I actually feel really refreshed and energetic today." Wen Jiexi walked over to her brother and sat on the pulled out chair.
"What would you like to eat today, Miss?" A middle-aged woman walked out of the kitchen, wearing an apron over her clothes. With a face full of smiles she greeted Wen Jiexi. She was the one in charge of the cooking and cleaning, Wang Ma. (Editor Notes: "Ma" in this context means housekeeper, helper, nanny; something like that )
"Just some porridge and steamed buns will be enough for me." replied Wen Jiexi. Although their family was quite wealthy, they didn't indulge in themselves and live lavishly, so even their breakfast was quite simple.
"En, now that little Xi mentions it, I can see that your complexion has made some improvement." Wen Linshu rubbed his chin as he inspected his sister's face and hands. His words attracted the attention of Wen Shan (Dad) and Tan Yashi (Mom) who turned to look at their daughter. Looking closely, they realized their son's words were correct! The once pale and sickly daughter was nowhere to be seen, as if she had been reborn overnight!
"Hehe, I don't make bad products, they are always honest and top notch! My handiwork, naturally is the best!" Dango smugly waved its arms around and said proudly.
Yes, Yes, you're the best.
Dango: How cold! (QAQ) (Editor Notes: This is supposed to be a crying face lol)
"We'll invite Dr. Huang over to take a look." Wen Shan said bluntly, he had always paid extra attention and care when it came to his daughter's poor health.
"That's right, we'll wait for his diagnosis. After all, school starts again the day after tomorrow, so if your body is still weak, it'll be better to just stay home and rest." Tan Yashi said as she poured a glass of milk and handed it to Wen Jiexi.
'I understand. Thanks, mom." Wen Jiexi politely answered as she reached over to take the glass of milk. She knew how anxious and worried her family always felt about her poor state of health, so she didn't object to seeing the doctor.
After breakfast, Wen Shan and Wen Linshu both went to work while Tan Yashi stayed at home, although she had a tea party to attend later. Since Wen Jiexi's family was considered part of the middle-upper echelons of society, so her mother still had to maintain their reputation and was often invited to such extravagant gatherings.
Originally, Tan Yashi wanted to take Wen Jiexi with her to the tea party, but Wen Jiexi refused. So Tan Yashi could only accompany her daughter as they waited for Dr. Huang to arrive.
"Madame, Young Lady." Dr. Huang nodded as he greeted them. Although Dr. Huang was rather young for a doctor, around 40 years old, he had a little fame amongst the elite circles.
"Dr. Huang, I'm sorry to trouble you again." Tan Yashi smiled.
"It's no trouble, Madame." Dr. Huang nodded.
Due to Wen Jiexi's frail and sickly body, Dr. Huang usually visited the Wen household several times a week and had become quite familiar with the matters of the Wen household. With practiced ease, he took out several simple tools and tested her body. As the results came out, Dr. Huang's eyes widened as he became more and more surprised. He lowered his head and furiously recorded the data.
"Dr. Huang? Is something wrong? Is little Xi's body…" Tan Yashi naturally saw Dr. Huang's astonishment and although she felt puzzled, she couldn't help but have some expectations within her heart.
"Madame, it seems that Young Lady's body is…completely healed. Her body can be considered to be in good health." Dr. Huang looked over the data multiple times, hesitated, but in the end believed the results to be accurate and smiled in congratulations at Tan Yashi.
"This…this…" Tan Yashi could hardly believe her ears! Although she had felt her daughter looked better today, she never thought that the daughter would announce that her daughter was in good health. Who wouldn't feel happy that their child's body is finally healthy?
"However, Madame, this seems to be a special case, an outlier. I'm afraid we'll still need to monitor her health and do a few check ups every week just in case. Therefore, I advise that the Young Lady stay vigilant and take it easy for now." Dr. Huang advised them as he packed up his things.
"I understand, Dr. Huang. Please take care."
Dango: "GAHH! Are you doubting my ability?! Hmph! It is impossible for me to make a mistake!"
Wen Jiexi watched helplessly as the little ghost turned pink and flew in dizzying circles around Dr. Huang's head. However, no matter how many times it cursed, the person in question would not be able to hear it.
"Mom, it's almost time for you to leave."
"Ah! You're right." The Tan Yashi who had been calling Wen Shan and Wen Liushu to tell them the good news, looked up at the clock and saw the time. She hurriedly jumped up and quickly applied some makeup before leaving.
"Then little Xi, mother will be leaving first. Take care and don't forget to eat lunch!"
"I know."
10 minutes later, Wen Jiexi returned to her room and saw the little ghost flying around excitedly,
"Dango, can you explain the details of the missions?"
"Huh?" Dango shook side to side, flew over to Wen Jiexi, and then opened its arms,
"The missions vary based on a person's wishes. Usually the missions will be set according to one's ability, with one main mission per month and the others being side missions. From what I can tell, your wish is for a healthy body and combined with the divine power I give you, your missions will be mainly physical based! However, because of the extra power I gave you, the difficulty will be doubled~"
What! Can you take back your damned extra power?! If your "gift" = double the difficulty, might as well take it back!
"Sorry, but once the gifts are given~ They're non-refundable~~"For the first time, Dango had a sly and mischievous expression, revealing a devious intention. Dango's predecessor had told it that as long as the contractor completed the doubled difficult mission, it would get double the energy! Like this, after the contract with this host is finished, it would be reborn! HAHAHAHAHA!
Wen Jiexi, on the other hand, felt that she was scammed and could feel a headache coming on. After getting a healthy body, naturally she was happy to pay back this debt through missions, but with the difficulty doubled….she wouldn't have to do anything weird….right?
Suddenly, Wen Jiexi felt a pounding sensation in her head. Although the pain wasn't too strong, it still caused her to frown and bite her lips.
"Oooo, the missions screen has finally arrived! Hold on a little longer Jiexi!"
Missions screen? As Wen Jiexi questioned, the pounding sensation stopped. In front of her appeared what seemed like a ….video game screen? Wen Jiexi rubbed her eyes.
"Wahaha, it has appeared! Finally, it seems like it took a long time this time around." Dango explained beside her.
"This is…" Wen Jiexi looked at the panel in front of her and moved around. The panel seemed to follow her and never left her sight. At the top was a long bar that had a zero in front of it and a (0/100) and the end of it. On the bottom right was something like a barcode with multiple stripes, but looked more like a thermometer. In the middle was a rectangular frame that had the words "mission" in blue and a circle that kept spinning continuously like it was loading. A lot like something on the internet…wait does this even connect to the internet?!
Uh…there was even something in the bottom left, eh? Shop? You can even buy things on here?
Wen Jiexi was speechless as she looked at this panel that seemed to be straight out of a video game.
"Come, Jiexi, press your finger on the spinning circle under the word 'mission', please." Dango waved its arms at the panel.
"Ok…" Ignoring the question forming in the back of her head, Wen Jiexi tentatively reached out and touched the blue circle before her eyes.When she touched it, Wen Jiexi felt like she was touching an actual screen, causing her to feel startled. She wasn't just hallucinating was she? How was there an actual screen levitating in front of her?
"Don't worry, only you'll be able to see the missions page. Alright, here it comes! The first mission is the one you have to do every month!"
Wne Jiesi watched as the panel shined with a golden light, and the words slowly appeared one at a time, this extra dramatic effect…well, she wouldn't comment on it now, and obediently read the mission.
Every month please lift 100000….wait, how many zeroes are there! Dumbfounded, Wen Jiexi continued to read and when the zeroes finally stopped, there was a「catties」attached to the end of it [1]. The sentence was finished, but her heart had broken into pieces.
"Hey, hey, don't look so sad, okay? The missions are created based on what the contractor can achieve, unless the contractor doesn't try, there are very few cases where the contractor failed in their missions." Dango said nervously and scratched its cheek as it looked at the gloomy Wen Jiexi. At the same time, he felt guilty towards this contractor who treated him with more kindness than the previous ones. Yet, the little ghost had increased the difficulty for her just so it can be reborn.
"Don't mind it, it's ok…." Wen Jiexi rubbed her aching temples and began to calculate. She had to lift about 1000 tons, which was about 1,000,000 kilograms, which was roughly about 2,000,000 catties…the more she thought, the sadder she became.
"Jiexi, you can also gain rewards with your side missions! With your difficulty, just by walking around outside you can pick up some side missions! Unlike the main missions, the side missions are not mandatory and you can pick them up or cancel them anytime. You can see some side missions appearing right now, however the ones in blue are one-time only. Once the contractor upgrades to the second level, there will be many more different types of missions appearing." Dango pointed at the missions page, and there really were two blue colored missions.
「Do 100 sit-ups (0/100)」 Mission Reward: 100 catties [Yes/No]
「Do 100 push-ups (0/100)」Mission Reward: 100 Catties [Yes/No]
Although 100 catties seemed insignificant, no matter how small, it was still something. If she could do a few more of these types of missions, she might be able to accumulate enough to complete the monthly mission! Wen Jiexi felt the burden on her shoulders lighten just a little bit.
"That's right, Dango, you said something about an upgrade? How do I upgrade?" Wen Jiexi asked.
"Upgrading is actually pretty easy. As long as this bar at the top fills up, you will automatically level up! The only way to get the points to fill up the bar is to finish the missions! Once a mission is completed, points will be rewarded based on the difficulty. In my opinion, as long as you finish the monthly mission, you'll get at least 200 points! So if you work hard, you can upgrade about two levels! Then you'll be able to access the shop and as your level continues to increase, you'll be able to buy more things as well! See how cost-effective they are~" Dango smiled and continued to promote the benefits from doing the side missions.
"So when does the contract end?" Wen Jiexi was worried. Would she have to do missions for the rest of her life? When she thought about how she had to continue doing missions well into her seventies or eighties, she shivered.
"It will be enough when you reach level 20!" Dango replied.
"Oh, that's it?" Wen Jiexi nodded and felt relieved.
"Jiexi, why are you changing clothes?"
"Naturally it's because I'm going to do the missions." No matter how you look at it, the pajamas she was wearing were just not suitable for exercising. After clicking the「Yes」button, a Ding! sounded in her ears and the characters「Accepted」appeared.
"Let's go!" After receiving a healthy body, Wen Jiexi became more outspoken and straightforward and opened the door with the wave of her hand. Naturally the best place to work out was in the living room!
An hour later, because he was doubtful about the good news his wife told him, Wen Shan dropped his things and rushed home to see his daughter. The moment he opened the door, he saw the sweating lower body, the upper body that quickly went up and down, and this person who was doing sit-ups was…actually his own daughter! Was this his daughter? No, was this even a human being?
OMG! I must be dreaming!
T/N note:
[1] catties: a chinese measurement 1 catty = 500 grams = roughly 1 pound.