Chapter 149: Here for Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao

“I—Is this really what I’m supposed to do?”

For a moment, Ying Ruoying didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“I thought…”

Before she could finish, Shi Yuebai turned to look at her.

“What did you think?”

Ying Ruoying shook her head in a daze, her heart a tangle of emotions. For a while, she didn’t know what to say.

All she could do was turn away, her back to Shi Yuebai.

It had been so long since she’d met someone as pure as Shi Yuebai.

Shi Yuebai’s voice came from behind her.

“I’ve already sent a message—someone’s coming to help you get your residency permit.”

“Clean this place up. Pile all the trash in the basement.”

Shi Yuebai had already drawn a small teleportation array in the basement.

If trash was piled on the array, once it reached a certain amount, it would automatically be sent to the main array.

Shi Yuebai pointed with a long stick at a dozen or so plastic bags in the corner.

“There’s food in here. Spend this time cleaning up the house, and collect some supplies from passersby.”

“Keep what you need for yourself, and put the rest—separate from the trash—at the designated spot.”

After giving all the instructions, Shi Yuebai added,

“As for your grudge with Xiao Lingye, just remember: if you’re in danger, run to the trash pile in the basement.”

She handed Ying Ruoying a stone token.

Strange, intricate runes were carved into it.

“Don’t lose this token. If you do, and Xiao Lingye wants you dead, you’ll have no choice but to die.”

Ying Ruoying nodded.

She didn’t fully understand the hidden meaning in Shi Yuebai’s words.

But Shi Yuebai was capable—she trusted her.

It’s just that this shopfront was a mess.

And it was too close to the city wall.

Even though Ying Ruoying had never lived in a big city before, she knew this wasn’t a good location.

People of the wasteland had a bone-deep fear of mutant beasts.

Living at the base of the city wall meant you had no guarantee of personal safety.

Everyone wanted to live in the city center.

In a way, Shi Yuebai’s three million points had been used to buy a shop that was basically a scam.

Ying Ruoying shook her head, rolled up her sleeves, and started cleaning up the chaotic basement.

Shi Yuebai said all the trash had to be piled in the basement.

So the first step was to clean up the basement itself.

Ying Ruoying worried the basement wouldn’t be able to hold so much stuff.

In the messy basement, at the spot Shi Yuebai had designated for trash and supplies, there was a circular pattern about four square meters in size.

Ying Ruoying worked hard, piling trash onto the circle.

Broken stones, busted furniture, ruined cars—she pushed it all to the same spot.

She was anxious, almost desperate to finish so she could go check on Xiao Lingye.

So she didn’t think too much about it.

By the time she realized, the once-crowded, chaotic basement was already much tidier.

Shi Yuebai had disappeared at some point.

Only a few pieces of trash remained at the designated spot.

Sweating all over, Ying Ruoying looked at the teleportation array and took two steps back.

This… this was incredible.

Shi Yuebai seemed almost omnipotent.

The rustle of plastic caught her attention. Ying Ruoying looked down and saw her ankle had bumped into a pile of packaged food.

These were what Shi Yuebai had given her, saying she could use them to trade for supplies.

Any kind of supplies would do.

Ying Ruoying glanced at the corner. The dozen or so large plastic bags were all filled with packaged food, and one bag held dozens of bottles of water.

The sight made Ying Ruoying gasp.

Shi Yuebai was so generous.

Ying Ruoying looked up and saw a full-length mirror in the basement.

The mirror was still intact, covered with a white cloth.

She lifted the cloth, revealing her own face.

It was filthy beyond recognition.

But Ying Ruoying was the kind of person who looked better the thinner she got.

Even in ragged clothes, her poise remained.

Years of ballet had given her a natural grace, etched into her bones.

If nothing else, she could easily charm a man if she wanted to.

But now, Shi Yuebai had her cleaning up garbage and reclaiming wasteland.

Unable to help herself, Ying Ruoying pressed her forehead to the mirror and whispered,

“Shi Yuebai, why are you so good to me?”

She’d given her a means of self-defense, pulled her out of hell, and provided her a way to survive.

Ying Ruoying’s throat tightened.

She suddenly wanted to cry.

But in the end, she held it in, turned, and kept cleaning.

When she was hungry, she ate some of the packaged food; when she was thirsty, she drank some water.

It was the cleanest, sweetest water she’d had in a long time.

Ying Ruoying stuffed her mouth full.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back a tear.

Taking a deep breath, she worked through the night without stopping.

At the Shi family estate outside the city, Shi Yuebai woke up the next morning to find her storage array filled with trash again.

Among the junk was even a wrecked car.

With a clang, Guai Guai stood by the car, pulled off a part, and tossed it aside.

He turned to Shi Yuebai and said,

“This car’s electric. If you charge it, it’ll run.”

Shi Yuebai: “…”

Was the car really the point here?

What she cared about was—what on earth had Ying Ruoying been up to all night?

“Does this woman not sleep?”

“Does she not have a sleeping bag?”

Shi Yuebai couldn’t imagine it. When she’d found Ying Ruoying, she’d been killing someone.

After killing, she’d spent the whole night cleaning up trash.

Did Ying Ruoying have a perpetual engine inside her?

She immediately called in Commander Qiao.

“Go check on Xiao Lingye for me.”

“Is Ying Ruoying planning to finish all the work and then go die with Xiao Lingye?”

Commander Qiao quickly set off for the city.

But not long after, he came running back.

With a grim face, he said to Shi Yuebai,

“Xiao Lingye is heading this way, and he’s bringing a lot of people. I was afraid he’d spot me, so I hurried back.”

Second Sister-in-law Shi also came out in a rush.

“There’s thirty of them. They’re here for Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao.”

“Xiao Lingye said this is his last chance to turn things around.”

He’d already gone to see the office manager in charge.

That person was actually very dissatisfied with Xiao Lingye—not only did he scold him, he refused to help him out.

But he was willing to give Xiao Lingye a chance to redeem himself.

As long as Xiao Lingye delivered the people he promised.

This time, Xiao Lingye was coming for Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao.

…I really do feel like I’m getting old."