Ella Village was settled less than twenty years ago. Most of the villagers were wanderers until they met the village chief, Woodall, who helped them settle down here.

Violet was no exception.@@novelbin@@

Unfortunately, when she was eleven years old, she and her sister, Elle, lost their parents during the Great Migration, and the two sisters were on their own for more than half a year. Later, when they passed through the Ella Forest, they met Woodall who was hunting, and he invited them to stay in Ella Village.

One of the sisters was good at growing fruits, while the other was good at sewing clothes. After they settled in the village, they were helping everyone and were deeply loved by the villagers. However, a year and a half later, another tragedy occurred.

When Violet was thirteen years old, her sister, Elle, was attacked and killed by a wild beast while picking herbs in the woods. Since then, Violet had been left all alone. The village chief Woodall and his wife took care of her like her biological parents during that time and accompanied her through the difficult times.

Eventually, Violet got over her grief. Now, not only did she manage the village orchard, but she was also good at sewing, like her sister. Whenever she had free time, she helped everyone mend their clothes. The villagers appreciated her very much.

"But, I don't know why, Dave and Bacon dislike Violet. Sometimes they are scared away by her as if they have seen a ghost. I wonder if there is something wrong with these two guys' brains."

Grandma Kana spoke as slowly as she moved. Banning, the new boy in the village, sat beside her and listened patiently, then stood up and thanked her solemnly.

"Thank you, Grandma Kana."

"Oh, what's there to thank me for... By the way, did you fall in love with Violet as soon as you arrived? You can't do anything without my approval!"

"What are you talking about, Grandma Kana? I just wanted to ask about her because she brought me water."

Banning turned his face away in embarrassment, but this little action did not escape Grandma Kana's eyes, which were usually dim but never missed anything when it came to gossiping.

"Hahaha~ Okay~ Okay~ Okay~ I'm so happy that someone is willing to talk to an old hag like me!"

Amid Kana's laughter, the shy Banning ran away, and Kana muttered, "Oh, I forgot to thank him for helping me move my things!"

… 

Silly Ni: (You, you're such a good actor, no wonder you lie without blinking.)

Jiang Ran did not respond to the stupid loli's ridicule. Wearing different masks had long been his daily life.

Jiang Ran actually learned what Kana said just now from other villagers. With the ability of mind reading, it was easy for him to find out any news, but the real purpose of talking to Kana was to spread the word that "Banning seems to be interested in Violet" through the old woman's mouth.

These old ladies couldn't do anything else, but if they wanted to spread gossip and rumors, they could walk five miles in one breath without any effort.

In such a small village, gossip would soon reach the ears of the person involved, that is, Violet. When that happened, Jiang Ran's second card, the 'Love Compensation Effect', would begin to take effect.

In human society, the same words spoken by different people have different effects. If Jiang Ran told Violet in person that he liked her, it would be a direct confession, and she would have the final say on the outcome; but if Violet heard from others that "Banning likes you", then the matter would be completely different.

Regardless of whether it's a man or a woman, as long as someone finds out that a person has a crush on them, they will involuntarily start to pay attention to that person and want to find out whether the said person really likes them. 

Even if the one in question didn't like this person, it wouldn't hinder their curiosity to find out about this matter. Only a very small number of social phobics would directly find the other party to confirm in person, and Jiang Ran was very sure that Violet was not such a person.

As a result, as long as Violet heard this rumor, she would start paying attention to Jiang Ran even if she didn't care about him before. This was the Love Compensation Effect: people were always more inclined to pay attention to those who liked them.

After this, Jiang Ran could achieve the key milestone of his strategy: change from active to passive, and start using the Intermittent Reinforcement Theory to continuously strengthen Violet's attachment to him.

Jiang Ran agreed with the saying: In a romantic relationship, the passive party has the advantage.

… 

Jiang Ran had already laid out the rumor trap, and there was no need to interfere at this point, so he continued to help around the village. Under the seemingly enthusiastic appearance, his real intention was actually to find a key event that he could use to improve his social status.

Jiang Ran was also a firm supporter of the Attraction Theory. He strongly agreed with the view that "boyfriends or girlfriends should be attracted rather than pursued."

It was true that there were many love affairs in the world that came about through persistent pursuit and dedication, but this was a path full of thorns, and an efficiency-oriented person like Jiang Ran wouldn't do so, not to mention the harsh conditions of the parallel world did not allow for it either.

Jiang Ran believed that as a poor boy who had just arrived in Ella Village, he urgently needed some traits that could attract Violet.

Generally speaking, such traits could be appearance, physical (combat) ability, material resources, wealth, power and status, etc.

Jiang Ran was not sure what the aesthetic standards of this Prison Star World were, and he did not agree with the immature love that only relied on appearance to attract the opposite sex. After excluding physical abilities that could not be quickly acquired, Jiang Ran's remaining option was to quickly obtain a large amount of material resources, wealth, or power and status.

After carefully investigating Ella Village, Jiang Ran chose to pursue social status. He believed that this was the best choice in such a village with a sparse and poorly educated population.

"Hey, this must be a punishment from God. Joseph must have done something bad underhandedly, otherwise, there is no explanation!"

"Hey, stop talking. He's already dead, and you're still nagging."

When passing by the burned wooden house, Jiang Ran heard the villagers gathered there chatting, so he went up to ask what they were talking about. 

A villager told him that there was a woodcutter named Joseph in the village. This morning, he got a set of rare clothes from who knows where and put them on to show off when he returned to the village. Not long after, a monster suddenly came down from the sky, and a terrifying giant pillar of fire instantly burned him to death, implicating many other people and houses too. Fortunately, the monster flew away after setting the fire; otherwise, the people in their village wouldn't have had a chance to survive.

Jiang Ran then asked about the details of the monster's appearance, but the villagers said that the monster was surrounded by flames and was far away. Except for a vague black shadow that seemed to be wearing armor, they didn't see anything clearly.

The conversation about Joseph and the monster ended there. The villagers looked at the wooden houses that were burned black by the fire and started to discuss how to deal with them.

"These houses are already in ruins. It's not surprising if they collapse at any time. Didn't Violet almost get hit just now? I think we should just tear them down!"

"Tearing them down is fine, but how to deal with so much garbage? There is not much open space in the village."

Hearing this, Jiang Ran first checked the thoughts of the villagers, and he knew that his chance to establish a reputation in Ella Village had come.