Love Lock

Chapter 13 The Entangled One
Seeing that Zhao Zun had agreed, Han Lei walked to the wall and stood still, closed her eyes and used her divine sense to open the system panel, preparing to start buying food.

She looked as if she were praying devoutly with her eyes closed.

Having learned from her previous experience, Han Lei decided not to buy refined grains this time, since the army was too large and refined grains were too expensive. And with her five hundred taels of gold, after deducting the cost of medicine, there wasn't much left for food.

After considering it in her mind, Han Lei bought 20,000 jin of millet and 30,000 jin of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

She planned to keep several thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes and potatoes to plant. These two crops have extremely high yields, so that their army would no longer face food shortages next year.

More importantly, Han Lei also purchased 10,000 jin (5,000 kg) of frozen pork, pork fat, and salt. After all, with the heavy snow blocking the mountains from hunting wild game, the army hadn't seen any meat for a long time.

Pork fat can be rendered into lard, which can be added to cooking and soups to enhance the flavor and provide some nutrition.

Needless to say, salt is scarce. In the two days Han Lei has been here, the meals have been bland and tasteless. Clearly, salt is very precious here.

After verifying the quantity of the items, Han Lei clicked "confirm" and placed the order for pickup.

Suddenly, Zhao Zun saw bags of grain inexplicably fall from mid-air and be neatly stacked against the wall, and boxes of medicine fall down and be neatly stacked on the other side of the wall.

Such an amazing scene left Zhao Zun so astonished that his mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an egg.

"My God, did you pray to the Bodhisattva for this?" Zhao Zun blurted out, then quickly covered his mouth, remembering that Han Lei had forbidden him to ask.

A small, exquisite watch landed precisely in Han Lei's hands.

Han Lei rolled her eyes at Zhao Zun as she put on her watch. "You wish! I paid for all of this. If you want more food next time, you'll have to give me money to buy it again. I'm penniless after buying so much for you."

"Okay, next time..."

It's only natural to spend money to buy things, Zhao Zun nodded repeatedly. Before he could finish speaking, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded in Han Lei's mind.

"Chi chi chi..."

"Friendly reminder to the host: All items in the system must be purchased or exchanged using system rewards; external currency cannot be used."

"What?" Han Lei exclaimed in surprise. "What if you don't give me a reward? Am I supposed to starve to death here?"

"Host can continue doing tasks. The system has enough goods for emergencies. Host can earn money for living expenses in the meantime!"

"Fuck!"

Han Lei couldn't help but swear, her soft and sweet voice making even the most exquisite Chinese opera sound so pleasant.

Zhao Zun stared at Han Lei talking to herself in mid-air with a look of utter disbelief, feeling a chill run down his spine. He considered asking her who she was talking to several times, but he held back, keeping their agreement.

"Can I return some of those things? They're not what I really wanted."

Han Lei looked at the room filled with food and medicine and almost cried.

If she had known it would be like this, why was she so selfless? She should have kept some of the gold from the system rewards for herself, just in case.

"No, the system rewards you for doing good deeds. You then use those rewards to buy food and medicine to save lives. That's accumulating merit and doing good deeds; it's a virtuous cycle. Don't you like it?" The system's voice was cold, yet it spoke with great logic.

"I'm dizzy!" Han Lei tried to bargain with the system. "But those wounded and those soldiers have nothing to do with me. Even if I'm doing good deeds, I should at least do what I can, right?"

"How could there be no connection? The Buddha said: Everyone you meet in this life may have had entanglements with you in a past life. In this life, they are either here to repay debts or to repay kindness."

"Yue, yue your head!" (Please note that this character is pronounced "yue," not "yue.")
Han Lei was furious and shut down the system immediately.

Seeing that she hadn't been talking to herself for a while, Zhao Zun cautiously leaned closer.

"Are you alright? You seem very angry."

"Hmph!" Han Lei rolled her eyes at him. No wonder she was angry! But soon, her gaze returned to Zhao Zun, and she looked him up and down.

Just now, what did the system say about Buddha?
She traveled to this place, saved Zhao Zun, helped him treat wounded soldiers, and solved the problem of food supplies.

All of these events revolved around Zhao Zun, and the gold awarded by the system twice was all spent on Zhao Zun.

Could it be that she really had some entanglement with Zhao Zun in her previous life, and that she transmigrated to pay off her debt?

"Sigh! I must have owed you something in my past life." Thinking this, Han Lei glared at Zhao Zun again, leaving Zhao Zun completely bewildered.

"Don't be angry. You've given me so much food, so I'll give you something in return."

Zhao Zun smiled ingratiatingly, then took out a jade ring with a slot at the bottom and handed it to Han Lei.

"What is this thing?" Han Lei asked dismissively, without reaching out to take it.

"This is my token. Wear it around your neck, and you will be free to enter and leave my territory. All servants will regard this jade ring as if they were seeing me. Remember, you must wear it on your person."

What Zhao Zun didn't say was that this thing comes in a pair, called "Love Lock Knots." The other one is on Zhao Zun's person. If a man and a woman wear them, it will increase their feelings for each other and make them love each other more deeply.

The love lock was given to his father by a wandering Taoist priest many years ago; one was given to each of his parents.

He didn't know if this thing was effective or not; all he knew was that his parents had a very good relationship.

After his father died in battle, his mother gave him a pair of "love locks" and told him to give one of them to the girl he liked in the future.

The reason he gave the love lock to Han Lei was that he felt that he had fallen deeply in love with her without knowing why.

Having heard about this thing that allows free movement within the military camp, Han Lei took the jade ring and hung it around her neck without even looking at it, instantly dispelling the unpleasantness brought on by the system.

For Han Lei now, this jade ring was nothing more than a key to enter and exit the military camp.

The moment the love lock was hung around Han Lei's neck, Zhao Zun's lips curled up slightly, and a bright smile appeared on his usually cold face.

May the Bodhisattva protect us, and may the love lock work wonders! Zhao Zun prayed silently in his heart.

Han Lei, oblivious to Zhao Zun's ulterior motives, simply opened the burlap sack containing potatoes and sweet potatoes and took out a few of each.

"Your Highness, look, this is a potato, and this is a sweet potato," Han Lei introduced to Zhao Zun. "Don't eat all of these two grains; save some to plant. They will yield more than all the grains you are currently growing."

"Potatoes? Sweet potatoes?" Zhao Zun asked curiously, picking them up and examining them.

"Yes! These two crops have a relatively short growth cycle. If you grow them yourselves, the army will no longer run out of food in just one year."

"It's too cold in Beiguan, is it suitable for planting there?"

"Of course! I just don't know if production will be affected."

.........

With Han Lei's help once again, the food problem for the garrison in Beiguan was solved. Moreover, potatoes and sweet potatoes not only tasted good, but were also very filling.

When the stewed pork with salted potatoes, along with steamed sweet potatoes, appeared before the soldiers, the entire army erupted in cheers.

How long has it been since the beginning of winter that the army has had no meat? Finally, on this day, they enjoyed a delicious meal, and even the biting cold wind from the North Pass didn't feel cold anymore.

On the sixth day of the eleventh lunar month, the grain and fodder distributed by the Ministry of War finally arrived, completely solving the problem of feeding the troops stationed in Beiguan.

After seven or eight days of treatment, the wounded soldier's condition had fully improved, and Han Lei was able to relax.