Chapter 806: The Great Con
I promised Xiao Qin that I would give her 5000 gold stars if she helped me save Ai Mi from Ai ShuQiao.
Infiltrating the Happy Science Cult and stealing the calculator program should be considered as one of the sub-quests under the mission to save Ai Mi. That’s why I promised Xiao Qin I would give her 2500 gold stars as long as she helps me complete my task.
Plus, the sub-quest of to help Gong CaiCai break away from the cult would reward 50 gold stars, so a conservative estimate is that Xiao Qin will earn at least 2550 gold stars this time.
If Xiao Qin performs more good deeds after infiltrating the cult, obtaining a total of 3000 gold stars wouldn’t be a pipe dream.
I can create thousands and tens of thousands of stars on the star list with a single move of my fingers, but for Xiao Qin, it represents hope —— I promised she could be my girlfriend again as soon as she saved 10,000 gold stars.
Xiao Qin’s current star list contains three gold stars and two silver silvers, denoted as: ★★★☆☆. The three gold stars were obtained for persuading Winnie’s parents to stop fighting and to go back to the parent-teacher meeting. The two silver stars, on the other hand, were for helping Ai Mi get chips, as well as cooking by herself earlier, which I gave her earlier as an exception in order to encourage her.
As the stars increase, we will definitely have to change the method we use to keep track of stars, maybe to something like [★] 3000 [☆] 4 (every five silver stars will be exchanged for a gold star, so the value of silver stars will generally be in the single digits).
In order to make counting easier, it makes more sense to remove silver stars and use only gold stars. However, in order for the ‘step-sister discipline plan’ to have a smooth start, the silver star is indispensable even if it has a lower value.
As the saying goes, don’t stop yourself from performing an act of kindness just because it is small in nature. The silver star is used to reward small acts of kindness and subconsciously change the way Xiao Qin does things.
I think I learned some bad stuff from H manga and now I’m putting it into practice.
But it’s all for Xiao Qin’s sake! I’ll also treat Ai Mi in the same manner! I’m only disciplining my sisters to help them become more outstanding! My motives are completely pure and not dirty at all! If I have any bad thoughts, then let Kyle get hit by a truck and die!
After eating, Xiao Qin wanted to wash the dishes by herself and she asked me for a silver star. I didn’t give it to her and washed the dishes together with her.
“Ye Lin cla.s.smate, don’t be so stingy!” Xiao Qin muttered, “Does it matter if you just give me one silver star?”
“It does!” I scrubbed the rim of the pot with steel wire while saying seriously, “The stars are to encourage you to do good deeds, not to encourage you to be a maid!”
“But I’m completely willing to be your maid~~”
“I’m not giving you any stars! It’s useless to act coquettishly!”
“Fine.” Xiao Qin sighed exaggeratedly, “I’d better concentrate on how to fool those guys from the Happy Science Cult. In order to be Ye Lin cla.s.smate’s girlfriend again, those 2500 gold stars are essential…”
“Helping Gong CaiCai break free from the cult will also reward 50 gold stars.” I reminded Xiao Qin.
Xiao Qin suddenly had an epiphany: “It seems like the number of stars Ye Lin cla.s.smate awards me is not only determined by the difficulty, but it also takes into account how important the good deed is to the person being helped!”
I couldn’t help but use my wet index finger to affectionately poke Xiao Qin’s forehead.
“You finally figured it out! Your biggest character flaw in the past was that you didn’t know how to think from someone else’s point of view, for example how you hit me every day when you were a kid…”
Xiao Qin, who was just enjoying being, immediately covered her face sheepishly once she heard me mention her past.
“You promised you won’t bring up my childhood anymore as long as I don’t actively mention it! Ye Lin cla.s.smate doesn’t keep his word!”
Xiao Qin wailed.
“Anyway, I wasn’t happy when I was getting hit by you every day.” I quickly finished my complaint about the past, then changed the topic back to the present.
“Let’s use what happened today at noon as an example. Winnie’s parents fought and wanted to leave, but you went up and stopped them with your tears. It may have been an easy task for you, but it’s something very important to Winnie —— you did your friend a big favor, even if Winnie has a bad memory, she will still remember your kindness.”
Xiao Qin moved her hands away from her face when she noticed I stopped talking about the past, but her cheeks were still flushed.
“It doesn’t matter if Winnie can’t remember. If it makes her happy, I didn’t squeeze out my tears for nothing…”
“That’s the type of thinking I want!” I praised Xiao Qin, “If you can put yourself in someone else’s shoes and treat others the same way as you treat Winnie, you will be reborn!”
Xiao Qin disagreed: “Winnie is my best friend, so of course I have to treat her better than anyone else! If I treat everyone the same, then wouldn’t I be a robot.”
I was stumped and replied, “I’m just giving an example. You can start with the people around you, for example, treating Gong CaiCai similar to the way you treat Winnie…”
Xiao Qin finished washing the last bowl and returned to the living room with me.
“Then… if Winnie wanted to touch Gong CaiCai’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s and I held Gong CaiCai from behind to make it easier for Winnie to do it, would that be a good deed that helped my best friend?”
“No!” I gasped, “That’s considered a prank! If Winnie also had a star list, I would have took away her stars!”
“Sigh, so many complicated rules! Looks like I’d better go to the Happy Science Cult and farm some more stars…”
Since Ren Peng was a game addict, Xiao Qin heard many game terms and used them in her conversations.
“That’s right! Does helping someone other than Gong CaiCai break free of the Happy Science Cult also reward stars?”
I nodded my head after a moment of contemplation, “Yes, stars will also be rewarded, 5 gold stars for each person.”
The reason why the reward for helping the general public leave the cult was much less than Gong CaiCai’s 50 stars was to keep Xiao Qin focused. Otherwise, she would have put the cart before the horse if she focused on farming stars and forgot about stealing the program.
“Only 5 stars per person?” Xiao Qin said as she curled her fingers in front of her mouth fretfully, “Each one barely gives any experience, so I’ll have to rely on numbers. I wonder if the total number of followers of the Happy Science Cult is enough…”
“If there aren’t enough believers, should I preach first to attract enough believers, then save them one by one…”
Why are you seriously coming up with a plan! So, in the end, you still haven’t given up on farming stars! What’s the difference between this and helping an old lady cross the road back and forth repeatedly in an infinite loop? Be careful, you might get arrested for spreading an evil cult!
After seriously criticizing Xiao Qin’s idea, we ate some after-dinner fruit and turned on the worn out TV that was on top of the drawers.
The small 10 year old TV with a fluorescent screen was playing Zhao BenShan’s cla.s.sic skit “Selling an Abduction”.
“We’re lucky!” Xiao Qin said while holding half an apple, “We need an instructional video like this right now!”
“Instructional video?” I frowned, “This is a comedy skit! It’s not you’re first time watching it, right?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t a skit!” After taking a bite of apple, Xiao Qin continued, “But it’s also an instructional video that can help us improve our con game! We can’t infiltrate the cult without conning others!”
A conversation between Zhao BenShan and Gao XiuMin came from the TV:
“Ha ha, no way! I don’t believe that you can trick someone with normal legs into believing that they are crippled!”
“My stage name is The Trickster, it’s my specialty!”
Xiao Qin watched intently as if Zhao BenShan could provide her with necessary information to infiltrate into the cult.
I thought it was very unreliable to use a skit as an example. The skit was at most an example of fooling Fan Wei, but I’m afraid it wasn’t enough to deal against Fang Xin and Professor Bai.
“It’s useless, right? Fan Wei isn’t actually that dumb in real life. The Happy Science Cult isn’t an ordinary religion, it’s a very compelling new religion that’s cloaked by science…”
Xiao Qin blinked, “I often hear my cousin say a phrase ‘the light is fooling you’, so all religions are tricks, right? As long as we practice our conning skills, we can definitely reverse trick the other believers and win without bloodshed!”
There seemed to be some truth behind her words, so Xiao Qin and I watched the entire trilogy of the skits. After watching it, we felt that our fooling skills had improved and if we met the Fan Wei from the skit, we could almost trick him into believing he was crippled. If we didn’t trick him, then Xiao Qin and I could also beat him until he was crippled.
The next problem was to decide whether to go to the psychiatric hospital to see Fang Xin or to go to the Happy Science Cult to see Professor Bai first.
According to the other party’s logic, I would have been considered as successfully tricked if I went to visit Fang Xin. Anyway, if Dr. Yu didn’t inform me, I would have already been fooled by Fang Xin to doubt the scientific community.
But it’s really embarra.s.sing to visit a patient in a psychiatric hospital and pretend to believe his words and worship him as a G.o.d! Are you I wouldn’t be arrested by the nurses?
While I was thinking about a way to see Fang Xin, Xiao Qin cleared her throat, but didn’t speak, as if she was just trying to get my attention.
I looked up and realized that the clock hanging in the living room was already pointing to 7:00 p.m. The two of us, Xiao Qin and I, had been there for a long time.
“Are you going home?” I asked subconsciously, “If you go home now, I can accompany you to the subway station.”
Xiao Qin showed a slightly afflicted expression and mumbled, “I, I don’t want to go home today…”
“Huh?”
“I sent two text messages to my mom when I went to the bathroom earlier, but she didn’t reply. I guess she’s drunk again, so even if I go home today, I’ll be by myself, it’s pretty lonely…”
“That’s why… if you can confirm that Uncle Ye is also not coming back tonight, then can I stay overnight as a childhood friend?”
She pinched the corner of her school uniform and looked at me with a flushed face as if she was afraid of being rejected.