"Isn't that you?" Mi Guo pointed at Liu Yifei, "Only you look younger now."
Mi Guo looked confused, the older sister looked very much like the female lead in a TV series.
Liu Yifei was already over thirty when she starred in this film, while Gu Qingcheng was only thirteen at the time. In two months, after the new year, she would be fourteen, naturally full of youthful energy. That's why Mi Guo could still tell the difference; otherwise, there would be very little difference.
"I told you you could live off your looks, but you insisted on being an athlete."
Gu Chaobei teased his daughter from the side.
His daughter was beautiful, but he had never directly praised her for it, fearing she might use her good looks to act recklessly.
After all, in reality, many beautiful girls didn't even finish high school or go to college.
It wasn't that beautiful girls were dumb; it was simply because they were too attractive and easily influenced by external factors and temptations. Early relationships, for instance, could affect their studies.
These girls often had difficult lives, many dropping out early to marry and have children, lacking education and any marketable skills. In the end, their youth would fade, and they might even be abandoned by the very person who swore to love them, relegated to the lower strata of society.
Gu Chaobei and his wife didn't like to praise their daughter's appearance because they wanted her to be more sensible, to not care about her looks, but to rely on her own abilities to live.
In fact, their approach had been quite effective; Gu Qingcheng was truly beautiful without being aware of it.
In the archery team, others always praised her beauty. Some even uploaded videos of her in competitions, looking heroic and stunning, to the internet, gaining millions of followers overnight.
She was hailed as the top beauty of the local archery team.
However, Gu Qingcheng remained unfazed, continuing to pursue her passion. She didn't develop the idea of living off her looks just because she was popular.
Gu Chaobei and his wife felt greatly relieved, believing their parenting had been successful.
When Gu Qingcheng first transmigrated, she didn't know how long the original host had gone without bathing. She was filthy and tanned black from the sun, so her good looks were hidden.
Now, after the three of them had deeply merged with the original host, their appearances were increasingly aligning with her original looks.
The Gu family of three could at best be said to have a 40% resemblance to the original host's family before. Now, they looked 80-90% alike. The remaining 10-20% difference was because they had all become "younger" compared to their modern selves.
Therefore, it was normal for Mi Guo to be stunned by Gu Qingcheng's beauty.
However, the person who cared the least about it was Gu Qingcheng herself. She glanced at the "immortal sister" from "A Dream of Splendor" and said with admiration:
"How can you compare? The immortal sister is much more beautiful than me!"
"You are also an immortal sister; you are as beautiful as she is," Mi Guo insisted.
"Alright, as you think so,"
Gu Qingcheng's words were clearly perfunctory.
She secretly rejoiced; luckily, she had found a free version. Otherwise, she had topped up for a month's membership to follow this drama.
Unexpectedly, she had only watched halfway through when she had to participate in an archery competition, her phone was confiscated, and she couldn't watch it. That month's membership was wasted, which pained her deeply.
Now she had gotten her money's worth.
Gu Qingcheng was so happy she couldn't help herself.
"No staying up late, go to bed," Hu Lanfang called out when she was engrossed in her drama.
"Mom, just let us be. Watch if we want, sleep until we naturally wake up. We have nothing to do during the day anyway."
Gu Qingcheng wailed.
She finally understood why the Eskimos would go hunting even in such freezing weather.
Survival was one aspect, but being confined indoors every day would drive one mad. Fortunately, she didn't have claustrophobia.
Gu Qingcheng rambled on, expressing her inner feelings.
Gu Chaobei felt they needed to shift their focus; being cooped up in a small cabin every day would indeed drive them mad.
He slapped his thigh and said:
"Qingcheng, I suddenly thought that there should be many country squires like Old Master Gu in the nearby villages. Why don't we go and scavenge a bit more?"
These were all local tyrants and corrupt gentry. In times of famine, they could gorge themselves until they were plump. Weren't they bad people?
Gu Chaobei had no psychological burden in scavenging from them.
Gu Qingcheng's eyes lit up, and she slapped her thigh in agreement:
"Yes, great idea! We should do it quickly. Otherwise, once the King of Xia recovers his senses, the government will start taking action again."
"Don't go. We have enough to eat and drink. Why scavenge so much?"
Hu Lanfang feared they might encounter danger.
"It's alright. My father and I saw quite a few villages along the Jinsha River yesterday, and they are quite large. If we don't go scavenging now, the weather will turn warm, and things will spoil. What a waste.
Besides, everyone is short of food and drink; it's not just our family of four. If I collect more, I can support more people later."
"Ding, please complete the main quest of collecting supplies and treating villagers. For every 100,000 worth of supplies collected, you will be rewarded with 100 cool points."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Gu Qingcheng finished speaking, the system issued a quest that could earn her cool points.
"Ah? Can I choose not to complete it?" Gu Qingcheng was speechless.
"Yes, you won't get cool points if you don't complete it," the golden finger tempted.
"Oh, I'm so done. I accept the quest."
Gu Qingcheng gritted her back teeth.
She was a bit rebellious; things she wanted to do herself, she would do actively. When the system pressured her with quests, she felt a bit annoyed.
Well, it wasn't entirely annoyance; it was rather cool to be able to go out and explore.
"Fine, if you want to go, I'll go too," Hu Lanfang said helplessly.
"Dad, can I go too?"
Mi Guo had been bored cooped up on the mountain for two days.
Besides, after taking the powerful pill, he felt a vigorous vitality surging within him, which he couldn't suppress. He wanted to go out and vent.
Gu Chaobei pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, then let's all go."
The matter was settled.
Since they were going out and worried about the unexpected, they had to make thorough preparations, especially by bringing defensive weapons.
The three of them were equipped with three swords. Mi Guo didn't have a weapon, so Gu Qingcheng handed him the heavy-backed sickle to try.
Mi Guo could now wield it with ease.
Hu Lanfang then casually handed him her sword to try. Mi Guo didn't feel any strain either and could easily pick up the sword to practice moves.
Everyone was happy.
Mi Guo had always been their weakness, with poor physique, and everyone had to take care of him. Now, this shortcoming had been addressed, and the combat strength of the family of four had greatly increased.
However, a problem arose: if they all went down the mountain, how would they leave the rope ladder?
After much discussion, one person had to stay on the mountain to maintain the underfloor heating and guard the house, ensuring their survival base remained intact.
In the end, Hu Lanfang stayed on the mountain. In the future, they would take turns accompanying Qingcheng down the mountain, as only Qingcheng possessed the storage space.
The matter was decided after a night of discussion.
Gu Qingcheng took a pound of cherries, a melon, four dragon fruits, and five mangoes from the storage cabinet, cut them into a fruit platter, and let everyone supplement their vitamins.
It was after coming to the Gu family that Mi Guo learned what fruit was. He ate it with great delight.