Chapter 5: Let Me Show You My Heart
“What’s wrong?” The doctor was clueless.
“…” After a few seconds of silence, the large-scale breeder finally spoke up, “The one who gave me the temporary bandage was the vet from our village’s animal husbandry station.”
After a moment, fearing the doctor might take offense, he added emphatically, “Our Dr. Rong is a top graduate from a prestigious university—he’s exceptionally skilled!”
“…” So what? So, fuck, isn’t he just another college graduate, not yet a doctor right? The farmer’s inexplicably reverent tone only deepened the doctor’s awkwardness.
————— –
Meanwhile, things weren’t much more pleasant on the loan shark’s end.
Rong Ziyin had been stationed in the village for nearly half a month now, and not a single piece of bad news had trickled back. With the rumors finally dying down, the rich kid was released from house arrest. His first move was to seek out the loan shark for updates on Rong Ziyin.
“Has that bastard paid up yet?” That was the heir’s primary concern.
But the loan shark’s expression darkened. He simply couldn’t answer that question.
To say he hadn’t paid at all would be untrue—Rong Ziyin had indeed repaid a portion. To say he had paid everything would be a lie—the total owed was sixty. Judging by the young master’s reaction, telling the truth would likely end badly.
As the loan shark hesitated, the rich kid grew even more impatient. He slammed open the loan company’s computer and logged into the Alipay account.
“No need for you to explain. I’ll check the records myself.”
Back then, to solidify Rong Ziyin’s debt, the rich kid had devised a perfect scheme, trapping Rong Ziyin dead inside it. The Alipay account belonged to a clean, natural person with no mobile number linked to it, meaning it could only be accessed via the loan company’s computer.
The moment he opened the transaction history, two thirty-yuan transfers from Rong Ziyin were glaringly displayed—as if slapping him in the face. Enraged, the rich kid immediately smashed his mouse.
Thirty bucks? Barely enough for a bubble tea. If Rong Ziyin hadn’t paid back the money at all, the rich kid might not have even gotten angry. But Rong Ziyin’s sincere repayment was disgusting to him—he genuinely couldn’t stand it.
“Call him! Quickly! No nonsense—just demand the money back!”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Seeing the rich kid’s rage, the loan shark quickly dialed Rong Ziyin’s number.
After a single ring, the phone emitted a prompt: “Sorry, the number you dialed is power off. Please redial later.”
“Um… maybe he’s asleep?” The loan shark ventured cautiously.
The rich kid was so furious he was practically jumping up and down.
Great. Asleep. After squeezing them dry to the point of suffocation, Rong Ziyin had the nerve to go to sleep comfortably.
The rich kid slammed his phone down.
“Fine! Call him every half hour until tomorrow morning! I’ll see what time he gets up.”
So when Rong Ziyin woke up, brushed his teeth, turned on his phone, and answered the call, both the rich kid and the loan shark had endured a sleepless night.
The peak of their rage had passed, and now, when the call connected, they found themselves inexplicably at a loss for words.
Rong Ziyin waited half a minute. Seeing no response from the other end, he simply hung up.
The debtor hung up on the creditor! The loan shark instantly lost it. The rich kid was itching to grab the phone and call back immediately.
But just then, he received a transfer notification: Rong Ziyin had sent eight yuan.
Clearly, it was the four worthless eggs from yesterday’s five consecutive draws.
Yet the rich kid and loan shark had no clue. They could only stare at that highly auspicious eight yuan, nearly spitting blood in frustration.
But after enduring the entire night, even the fiercest temper had grown numb. This time, the rich kid and loan shark didn’t even have the energy to get angry. Plus, Rong Ziyin was completely unyielding, and there clearly wasn’t any immediate way to deal with him.
So, it wasn’t until quite some time later that the rich kid slowly uttered a sentence, “Send him a text. Tell him not to transfer anything less than a thousand yuan. I refuse to accept it.”
After saying that, the spoiled rich kid got up and left, feeling utterly defeated.
He was completely powerless against Rong Ziyin. The previous incidents had already reached his grandfather’s ears. If he dared to openly do anything to Rong Ziyin again, he’d likely face serious consequences.
But the thought of having to endure this forever made his heart ache unbearably.
To be honest, the root of their feud stemmed from Rong Ziyin being too outstanding.
Rong Ziyin was renowned as the department’s top student and was quite handsome too. The rich kid’s grandfather had visited the school just once, but that day, he happened to encounter Rong Ziyin.
The old man exchanged barely three words with Rong Ziyin before declaring him no ordinary talent.
But what the hell was Rong Ziyin studying? Veterinary medicine!
When he’d been assigned to this program, it became a laughingstock for his entire family. Even now, his father dared not mention his son’s major in public.
And yet his grandfather had gone and praised Rong Ziyin?
He looked down on his own grandson, yet held an outsider in such high regard. Fuck that! Even if he knew his grandfather had just said it offhand, forgetting it the next moment, his hatred and jealousy toward Rong Ziyin had already seeped into his bones.
Life depended on money, and this rich kid was determined to trample Rong Ziyin into the mud, forcing them all to see what reality truly looked like.
The real reality, however, was that the gold coins Rong Ziyin earned from the anger points generated by their night’s work only bought him fifteen more salted duck eggs.
Carefully placing the duck eggs into his basket, Rong Ziyin’s phone buzzed with a text from the loan shark.
“Don’t bother transferring less than a thousand.” Concise and to the point.
Yet after pondering for a moment, Rong Ziyin replied leisurely with another sentence. The System glanced at it and nearly choked.
“I refuse.” Equally crisp and decisive, it nearly sent the loan shark packing on the spot. Unfortunately, there was no such legal provision stipulating that debtors must repay no less than a certain amount each time.
System: “Host, you’re shearing the same sheep every time. Won’t you end up leaving it bald?”
Rong Ziyin, however, spoke with rare emotion: “I don’t think it’s enough.”
Rong Ziyin’s promising future had been utterly ruined by this loan shark and the rich kid. Only his innate magnanimity kept him from sinking into despair.
But magnanimity didn’t mean he wasn’t furious.
Right now, he had no power, no influence, and no concrete evidence to pin them down. So he had to endure. Otherwise, even a clay figure has its limits—Rong Ziyin would have sent them to jail long ago.
The system couldn’t help but ask, “Host, are you really planning to repay the debt?”
Rong Ziyin couldn’t help but laugh. “Why would I? The truth will come out eventually.”
Everyone assumed that Rong Ziyin’s arrival at the village livestock station meant he had resigned himself to his fate. But in reality, Rong Ziyin had always harbored plans to turn the tables. The timing just wasn’t right yet, so he held back for now.
As for this rotten debt? Whoever owes it will pay it back. And that rich second-generation scum who framed him? Rong Ziyin would never let him off lightly. Sending him to taste prison tears was only a matter of time.
Recalling that he himself had contributed gold coins yesterday, a ripple stirred in Rong Ziyin’s heart.
But he quickly composed himself and headed to the livestock station. An ant cannot shake a tree. Confrontation head-on would only be suicide. Some matters required patience and careful planning.
He would wait. Wait for that crucial piece of evidence. Wait for the perfect opportunity to stage his ultimate counterattack.
————
When Rong Ziyin sat down at the lab bench again, his emotions had completely settled, and he quickly immersed himself in his work.
After a night of culture in petri dishes, the bacteria had begun to develop. Rong Ziyin made his notes, then opened his computer, typed up the report, and uploaded it to the system to apply for national compensation for the villagers.
Duck tuberculosis was a contagious disease. The fact that the neighboring village still hadn’t completed a full village-wide screening suggested the bacteria might have already spread extensively.
Moreover, according to Huaguo’s laws, livestock infected with contagious diseases were eligible for state compensation after undergoing harmless disposal. However, this compensation required testing by provincial-level or higher authorities. Even though Rong Ziyin, as the local animal husbandry station, could make a preliminary judgment, the final decision rested with the higher-level departments.
Therefore, to avoid delaying overall epidemic control and ensure villagers receive compensation, Rong Ziyin dispatched the pathogen samples to Yanjing for testing at the fastest possible speed after submitting his report.
As for Rong Ziyin’s next task, it was equally crucial. Today, he would examine every duck in the village to determine if any others were infected with duck tuberculosis.
Given the small size of the village station, bringing all the ducks there would be impractical.
Rong Ziyin simply carried his medical kit to each villager’s home, helping them disinfect the duck coops along the way.
After a busy day, Rong Ziyin reaped substantial rewards—earning over ten thousand gratitude points. Most fortunately, none of the other villagers’ ducks were infected, bringing collective relief.
Time swiftly passed to 5 PM. Standing at the gate of the last household awaiting inspection, Rong Ziyin resolved to finish this task before resting.
But as he stepped through the gate, it dawned on him belatedly: this was the very household where the boar had gone berserk and mauled someone the night before.
Unlike yesterday’s blood-soaked, life-threatening state, this major breeder now leaned on a cane yet radiated vitality. To the uninformed, he might as well have been unharmed.
This couldn’t be normal. After all, even a shallow wound would have caused significant blood loss. Moreover, the bone fracture was real. The fact that he could get out of bed the very next day was undoubtedly due to the additional effect of the golden finger [Thunderbolt] that Rong Ziyin had obtained from the system.
However, while it worked this way on humans, he wondered what effect it would have on animals or plants.
Rong Ziyin mentally ran through the possibilities but couldn’t arrive at a precise answer.
Yet upon seeing Rong Ziyin, the large-scale breeder paid no attention to anything else. His first instinct was to call his wife and son out to entertain the guest.
Rong Ziyin had originally come to inspect the ducks, but before he could even get started, he was ushered inside and seated, a slice of sweet, juicy watermelon thrust into his hand.
“How’s your injury? What did the county doctor say?” Rong Ziyin casually inquired about his condition.
“The doctor said it’s nothing serious—all thanks to you, Doctor Rong!” The farmer recounted the county doctor’s praise for Rong Ziyin yesterday while offering him two thousand gratitude points.
Meanwhile, the farmer’s wife listening nearby and the young boy who had fetched Rong Ziyin yesterday both had a steady stream of gratitude-filled comments floating above their heads.
Especially the young boy—his comments even featured a little yellow Minion emoji with an adoring fanboy face.
Rong Ziyin found the kid amusing and casually patted the furry head that kept nuzzling close.
In the comments, the fanboy face instantly sprouted bright red hearts, fluttering and fluttering. Thus, Rong Ziyin smoothly earned another 3,000 admiration points.
System: Whoa! Host, hurry up! He only needs another 2,000 admiration points to become your loyal minion, ready to work like a horse or ox for you.
Rong Ziyin: There are plenty of horses and oxen in the countryside. We really don’t need people to work like that. Don’t you understand the core socialist values? We reject blind, excessive worship!
So reasonable. The system was thoroughly rebuked and could only fall silent.
Soon the watermelon was finished, and Rong Ziyin got to work. He headed to the back to examine the ducks. This household primarily raised pigs, with only a few ducks, so the checkup was quick.
The young boy followed closely behind Rong Ziyin, his admiration points climbing steadily as he watched the vet’s professional and efficient movements.
By the time Rong Ziyin prepared to leave, the admiration had reached four thousand points, and the boy trailed behind him like a little tail.
“Like this? Want to be a vet someday?” Rong Ziyin asked him.
“Mhm.” The young boy nodded earnestly. “Doctor Rong is so amazing! I want to be that amazing too someday.”
Kids this age—they see someone impressive and immediately want to emulate them. Rong Ziyin didn’t dwell on it too much.
Rong Ziyin’s aloofness only deepened the young boy’s sense of awe during his rebellious phase, instantly propelling his admiration for Rong Ziyin past the five-thousand mark.
System: Younger Brother Candidate, available to conquer.