Guide To Lying Flat And Getting Rich As A Kept Alpha - Chapter 2
2
Finally free from those two for the time being, Luo Hetu had already made up her mind to move. She had no intention of staying here where they could find her. Naturally, she wouldn’t return to the brick-moving construction site either. Xiao Luo, working herself to the bone day after day, looking gaunt and exhausted—she wasn’t about to keep doing that.
Her main job was as a coder, with a side gig as a hacker. In this era, where the internet hadn’t even been introduced, her skills had no real outlet. But when it came to making money, there was always a way.
Feeling physically drained, she collapsed and slept. She slept straight through to the evening, then changed into a fresh set of clothes and headed out to the streets.
Everything on the street looked like a scene from a 90s TV drama. It was late summer, and there weren’t many high-rise buildings. At a small shop, an old man in a white tank top sat on a low stool, fanning himself. A bulky CRT television played a Hong Kong drama, a bottle of soda cost six mao, and you had to return the glass bottle after drinking. The bustling street was alive with people coming and going, with places like restaurants, shopping malls, arcades, dance halls, roller-skating rinks, bookstores, and a discreet video hall tucked away. The sign at the video hall’s entrance was covered with movie titles that made one’s cheeks flush and heart race. For a few bucks, you could buy a ticket, slip into the dark room, and watch those unspeakable films. A group of kids played arcade games at the street corner, teenagers zipped through the alleys on bicycles, and the sound of pigeon whistles filled the air as a flock of flapping doves flew overhead.
Luo Hetu stood in front of the video hall, eyeing the movie titles.
“Seductive Omega Needs Ten Alphas to Sleep”
“What to Do When the Boss Goes Into Heat Without Suppressants on a Business Trip”
“The Only Omega in an Alpha School”
Luo Hetu: …
The 90s were indeed wild. Such brazen films could be openly watched for the price of a ticket.
In her original world, she’d heard a sixty-something uncle talk about how, in his childhood, there were similar video halls on the streets, dubbed “little movies.” Later, they became a staple of secretive video rental shops, or were peddled by street vendors hiding discs inside their coats at train stations or under overpasses. Eventually, they moved online to foreign websites, constantly evading cyber police.
The video hall’s owner noticed her lingering and poked his head out from behind the glass. “Come in if you’re watching.”
Luo Hetu was actually tempted. Not that she had those kinds of needs—she was just curious about how things worked in this ABO world.
But after some hesitation, she decided against it.
Who knew if the chaotic mix of pheromones in that dim room would make her nauseous? Besides, as a useless nobody, she had no use for it.
Luo Hetu wandered around a bit more, popping into any shop that caught her interest and chatting with the owners. Finally, she visited the market, buying some fruit, beef, onions, eggs, tomatoes, and pickled vegetables, spending a total of eight yuan.
Leaving the market and standing on the street, she watched people flood in from all directions to buy groceries after work. The lid of a steaming bun pot was lifted, and the warm, wheaty aroma mixed with the steam hit her face—a unique liveliness of this era. Luo Hetu sipped the last of her orange soda through a straw, returned the bottle to the shopkeeper, and got four mao back.
“How much for beer?”
“One yuan a bottle, with a five-mao deposit per bottle. Return it for a refund.”
Luo Hetu bought two bottles of beer, spending three yuan, and chatted with the shopkeeper for a bit.
A luxurious sedan, fancy for this era, glided by. A man in a suit got out, walked around to the other side, and opened the door.
A woman stepped out, dressed in a deep purple qipao, her black hair pinned up with a jade hairpin. She ascended the steps of the “National Restaurant” across the street.
Between the slits of her qipao, her slender, fair calves were visible, and even the glimpse of her delicate, jade-like toes exuded refinement. Her curves were soft and alluring, her movements graceful. Just her silhouette suggested she was a beauty.
She entered the restaurant, followed by a deferential assistant. Her posture was upright, clearly from a wealthy, cultured family, exuding an unapproachable air of pride.
The shopkeeper had just mentioned that the National Restaurant was the best in the area, where even a casual meal cost at least a few hundred yuan.
Was she an Alpha or an Omega? Luo Hetu watched her disappear into the restaurant, feeling a flicker of longing.
In her original world, she’d always liked girls, but she died in her twenties without ever having a relationship. Plenty of girls had pursued her in school—she’d been a good student, firmly against early romance. After starting work, there were still plenty of suitors, but none sparked that special feeling. Luo Hetu had an almost ritualistic view of love that others found hard to understand. She believed her first love had to be someone she loved to her core, touching her soul, and it had to be a love that lasted a lifetime.
Her old-fashioned view of romance was mocked by colleagues and friends. Eventually, they realized Luo Hetu was just lazy and hated complications—she even found dating too bothersome and made excuses for herself.
As the qipao-clad woman entered a private room filled with delicacies, two bottles of thousand-yuan liquor, and mature businessmen, Luo Hetu, dressed in pants and a shirt, carried her groceries home under the setting sun.
She cooked a pot of rice in a pressure cooker and made two dishes: cumin beef and tomato scrambled eggs. She poured the pickled vegetables into a small dish, cracked open a beer, and watched the foam rise under the twilight sky. Satisfied, she said to herself, “I’m awesome,” then polished off all the food and rice, still wanting more.
Rummaging through the kitchen, she found two packs of instant noodles. She cooked them with an egg and ate while watching TV.
After finishing, washing the dishes, and taking a shower, she bit into a freshly washed peach. Suddenly, a ding sounded in her mind, and a line of text appeared before her eyes:
[Welcome, Host, to the Book-Transmigration Mall]
…Huh?
[Due to the Host’s exceptional talent and untimely death at a young age, you have been granted a second life in a parallel world along with system rewards. The Host can earn mall coins by completing tasks, which can be used to purchase items in the mall. Non-physical items will appear automatically after purchase. Please avoid using the system in the presence of others.]
Luo Hetu: …
So, because she was naturally gifted and died too young, she was being rewarded?
[Exactly, Host!]
Did that mean all the brilliant people who died young got to live again in another world?
[In theory, yes. But I’m just your system, and I don’t know if other systems have their own young, tragic hosts.]
It even gave itself a nickname. Luo Hetu mentally assigned it a cutesy, loli voice.
Why didn’t you say anything all day and only show up now?
[Because the Host was malnourished, the mall lacked enough energy to activate. Now that the Host is well-fed, I have the strength to appear!]
She knew it!
Xiao Luo, that fool who starved herself to support someone else’s girlfriend, had really let her body waste away!
Luo Hetu pinched her own arm in frustration.
She browsed the mall, which had an interface like a modern shopping website, with detailed categories and every item imaginable. The coins needed to buy things were roughly equivalent to real-world prices. Besides the item mall, there was an information mall.
Her eyes lit up when she clicked into it.
In an era without widespread internet, people relied on print media, TV, and radio for information. Getting a head start on trends could let her exploit information gaps to make money. The information mall was like the internet, allowing searches and data downloads.
Luo Hetu excitedly slapped her thigh.
Her earlier stroll had already sparked a few ideas for making money in this era. Without connections, she’d planned to explore more over the next few days. But now, the mall was like a cheat code dropped right in her lap.
[Would the Host like to start a task now?]
Sure, why not?
A code-breaking task popped up.
Since the system claimed to serve young, tragically deceased geniuses, it seemed to tailor tasks to their skills.
She solved it in a few minutes. The system confirmed it was correct and awarded her 10 coins.
Now energized, she asked, “Got any tougher ones?”
[Yes, please select the difficulty level.]
She chose “hard.” This one took her over forty minutes, but she got it right, earning 50 coins.
Now hooked, she picked another hard task, but these were tougher than the trickiest problems on hacker forums. After an hour, she got it wrong.
Determined to redeem herself, she tried again, but the system interrupted: [You are currently limited to three tasks per day. Increase your intimacy level with the mall to unlock more tasks~]
As a top-tier hacker, she was stunned that the system’s tasks could stump her. It suggested the system might contain a vast repository of universal knowledge. Suddenly, Luo Hetu felt excited about life in this 90s book world. She could hone her code-breaking skills, earn coins, and exchange them for goods.
With 60 coins in hand, she went to the information mall and searched for the most popular novels in her original world. She selected a well-known, concise, and classic female-oriented historical romance novel, downloading and printing it for 10 coins.
That afternoon, she’d visited a bookstore. In this era, with basic needs met, people craved intellectual fulfillment. The state-run bookstore was packed, and novels were in such demand that shelves were nearly empty.
She’d planned to write out a few memorable novels from her world to sell, figuring they’d be hits in this reading-obsessed era. But the system gave her a lazy shortcut.
With a tap of her finger, a freshly printed copy of The Noble Lady of the Marquis House appeared before her.