Good news: Zhang Shan had transmigrated to another world, and he even brought a Super Rebate System along for the ride.

Bad news: The damn thing was broken.

Before him lay endless, sprawling mountains. The village he was stuck in was so small and insignificant it didn’t even have a name. Every night, Zhang Shan would climb onto the roof and stare blankly at the sky.

“My life is over. Maybe I should just end it here. Take this defective System with me, reroll my save file, and start over.” Zhang Shan gazed up at the bright full moon, his suicidal thoughts bubbling to the surface yet again.

In his previous life, he had been a corporate drone who died from overwork. When he first arrived in this new world, he was brimming with confidence and ambition. After all, he had a System.

“With my knowledge of science and the Super Rebate System, I’ll reach the peak of this world within three years!”

Born into poverty in the mountains? No big deal.

Raised by a hunter as a foster father? Not a problem.

Honestly, it was better than transmigrating into a rich family—no need to fear backstabbing relatives or endure the humiliation of a “crippled trash” start.

He had a perfect starting hand. It was a guaranteed win.

But not long after, panic set in.

This village was completely cut off from the outside world. To call it a “godforsaken backwater” would be a compliment. If not for the ancient tombstones carved by past village chiefs on the distant burial mounds, Zhang Shan would have doubted whether he was even in a civilized human society.

And then there was the System he brought with him—it was even worse than the location.

To be fair, the System itself was incredible: once he bonded with a target and gifted them something, he would receive an enormous return. The more he gave, the richer he would become.

But there was one critical condition: only a “Daughter of Destiny”—as defined by the System—could trigger these returns.

Where the hell was he supposed to find a Daughter of Destiny in this forgotten corner of the world?!

Zhang Shan cursed loudly. On his very first day, he had scrutinized every living thing in the village. He even checked the bird eggs in the nests.

Nothing.

“It seems I’ll have to rely on my own strength to leave these mountains,” Zhang Shan thought, still nurturing dreams of the big city. He diligently learned farming and hunting from his foster father.

Five years passed.

Zhang Shan found himself constantly longing for his old 996 work schedule. Compared to surviving in the wild, being exploited by capitalists felt like a luxury vacation.

Then, the village chief fell ill and died. Zhang Shan personally carved the tombstone for him.

From that moment on, Zhang Shan became the only literate person left in the village.

Around the same time, he gained a little sidekick—a five-year-old girl with messy black hair whom the village chief had picked up off the streets.

That year, Zhang Shan turned twenty.

“This girl will be your wife someday. Her food and clothing are your responsibility now,” his foster father told him.

Looking into the little girl’s pitiful eyes, seeing her covered in dirt and grime, Zhang Shan felt nothing but despair. “I’m destined to leave these mountains and marry a princess! Marrying this dirty little brat? I might as well hang myself.”

Ten more years passed.

Zhang Shan still hadn’t managed to escape the mountains. All he had gained were countless scars.

During this time, he personally erected over a dozen tombstones, including one for his hunter foster father.

The memories of the previous generation were slowly fading away, buried under the earth one by one.

As for the System… Ha! What a piece of junk!

【Ding! Daughter of Destiny discovered: Zhang Lele.】

Late at night, a notification chimed in his mind, jolting Zhang Shan awake from his daze on the rooftop.

What the hell?! Who is Zhang Lele?

Zhang Shan thought he was hallucinating, but the ethereal subtitles floating before his eyes confirmed it was real.

Lele… Lele… Oh my god! The black-haired girl!

Zhang Shan nearly did a backflip in surprise. Why the brat? And why now?

His mind was flooded with questions, but none of that mattered. As long as there was a return, the System could declare a dog to be the Daughter of Destiny and he’d accept it happily.

“I’m finally going to get rich!” Zhang Shan wept tears of excitement.

“Hey! Brat! Wake up!” He burst into the room, moving faster than he ever had in his life.

“Ouch…” The girl before him slowly sat up, still half-asleep.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Zhang Shan simply couldn’t reconcile her with the title “Daughter of Destiny.”

Her hair was stringy and greasy, her skin rough and flaky—she was utterly unappealing.

This girl was light-years away from the women he’d known in his previous life. Forget smooth, fair skin or a curvaceous figure—she couldn’t even compare to the village’s pretty widow whose husband died a few years back. At least the widow had a nice ass!

“Brother Shan, I just fell asleep. What do you want now?” the girl mumbled. Her eyes were barely open, but she instinctively wrapped her legs around Zhang Shan and snuggled close.

Unlike Zhang Shan, the girl had always considered herself his little wife. She was fifteen now—old enough to bear children for Brother Shan!

【Ding! Zhang Lele’s destiny attribute remains unactivated; bonding failed.】

Zhang Shan was dumbfounded.

He almost spat out a mouthful of blood from sheer frustration.

Me?!

What the…?!

Why the hell?!

His inner self roared with fury. If the System had a physical body, he would have hung it up and beaten it mercilessly for a full year!

You’re messing with me! You’re playing tricks on me! What does “unactivated” even mean?!

How do I activate it? Does touching her work?

Zhang Shan gently touched the girl’s thigh.

She froze, her dark complexion gradually flushing a soft pink.

“Brother Shan, where are you touching? Are you…?”

In her mind, she recalled the raunchy jokes shared among the village women. Just thinking about them made her head spin.

Oh no! This is so embarrassing!

Though a bit scared, she felt far more shy—and eager.

Zhang Shan waited for a long while, but the System remained silent.

Damn it! After cursing the System for thirty thousand words in his head, Zhang Shan launched into a frantic brainstorm.

Could it be that I need to give her an… injection?

No way! She’s too young. What’s the difference between me and a beast if I do that?

At least wait until she’s eighteen—no, sixteen!

“Brother Shan, are you okay?” the girl asked, her big eyes wide.

“I’m fine.” Unwilling to give up, Zhang Shan touched her face, pinched her shoulders, squeezed her feet, and even kissed her forehead—but still, no activation.

The girl was both shocked and flustered. Never before had her Brother Shan been so proactive!

Unfortunately, Zhang Shan didn’t follow through, leaving her with a lingering sense of disappointment.

Does he think I haven’t developed enough? But I’m still so young! The girl fumed inwardly.

Zhang Shan spent the entire day racking his brain about the activation method, yet he still had no clue. Finally, evening arrived.

Tonight was the night of the full moon. It was the girl’s favorite time because Brother Shan always told her stories on these nights.

“Brother Shan, Brother Shan! If it were you, who would you like better? Xiao Zhao is gentle and pitiful, Zhi Ruo has a tragic fate, and Princess Minmin is bold and passionate—oh, I love them all!”

“Of course I’d want them all!” Zhang Shan clenched his fist, imagining himself as the greedy official from the stories.

“Tch! Brother Shan is such a lecher!” The girl pretended to be angry.

She had been with Zhang Shan for ten years. She knew how much he longed to leave the mountains, but the world outside was too dangerous, and the mountains too vast.

Brother Shan had nearly died in the wilderness several times. Over the years, he seemed to have given up.

Brother Shan was incredibly talented—he could do almost anything, tell countless fascinating stories, and even teach her to read and write.

Under the moonlight, looking at the faint streaks of gray at his temples, the girl suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

Brother Shan was already thirty. In his stories, thirty was the prime of a man’s life, the age of ambition.

But she knew that in these mountains, thirty was already past one’s prime. He hadn’t managed to leave in fifteen years; it was even more impossible now.

Poor Brother Shan… these mountains have trapped him. He doesn’t belong here.

Though they were exhausted every day and often went hungry, as long as Brother Shan was by her side, she felt happy. That was why she stubbornly named herself Zhang Lele—”Le” for happiness—because she truly felt happy every day.

She also felt a bit insecure. Alas, she wasn’t like the beautiful, fair-skinned heroines in his books.

But she wasn’t jealous. She had Brother Shan. Even if he didn’t love her, she was content just to stay quietly by his side, even as a humble servant.

As Zhang Shan continued his story, he suddenly heard a soft snore.

He looked down. The black-haired girl was curled up in his arms, fast asleep with a gentle smile on her lips, lost in a sweet dream.

Zhang Shan smiled.

Looking at the girl in his arms… truthfully speaking, she wasn’t ugly at all. Big eyes, small face. As for being dark and dirty, who in these mountains wasn’t?

It was too dangerous here—even taking a bath was a luxury. The water sources were infested with ferocious beasts. Giving her a bath once every two weeks was already the height of luxury in this village.

As for her figure… well, she was a bottomless pit. No matter how much she ate, she never seemed to fill out.

Whatever. I’ll just wait until she’s an adult.

There weren’t many households in the village anyway. It wouldn’t do to spend his whole life as a virgin—that would be too miserable.

As for activating her destiny attribute, he’d take it one step at a time. It was probably just another trick played by this damn System.

“Girl, I’ll marry you when you turn eighteen,” Zhang Shan murmured softly.

“Really?” The girl’s eyes snapped open, wide as copper bells!

【Ding! 60-point Daughter of Destiny discovered: Nan Gong Yao.】