Chapter 151: A Girl Appears
“Hey, bros, sorry to bother you—interested in a little service? We’ve got all kinds, a whole box of bread, and you can play however you want.” At the door stood a slick-looking man with a jacket over his head to block the rain, wiping water from his face as he spoke.
The people inside hadn’t even reacted yet when the man waved his hand and a group of drenched women appeared at the door. They stepped right over the high threshold and into the room.
The older ones looked to be over forty; the youngest clearly wasn’t even an adult yet. All of them had their clothes soaked by the rain, outlining seductive or youthful figures.
Even Antonio—who considered himself worldly—was stunned, not to mention the youngest of the group, Lu Xi, whose face turned bright red. He didn’t even know where to look.
The man stood at the back, gripping a small girl and whispering threats in her ear before shoving her forward roughly.
The girl couldn’t have been older than eighteen or nineteen. With an oval face, she was actually quite pretty. Her eyes were red, and her face was full of grievance and reluctance. In the end, she stood at the back of the group with tears in her eyes, looking delicate and pitiful in the dim light.
“Buddy, spare us some food. Pick whichever type you like,” the man at the back of the group said with a grin.
Among the five people inside, Antonio and Lu Weiyi were both already attached. Lu Xi was underage, and Lu Weiyi definitely wouldn’t let him fool around. That only left Li Zhuang and Li Qing.
Antonio glanced at Li Zhuang, who stood there by the heated brick bed as if he hadn’t seen anything, smiling faintly and whispering something to Lu Weiyi, which earned him a glare.
Antonio then looked to Li Qing. Li Qing scanned the group of women coldly, and just when Antonio thought he was going to pick one, he asked sharply, “Are you all here willingly?”
“…” Antonio.
Even Lu Weiyi spared him a glance.
None of the women answered. Finally, the man who’d brought them laughed and said, “Buddy, in this day and age, doing this means they can at least eat. If not, are you gonna feed them?”
“…” Li Qing looked at the women, now openly treated as commodities, and couldn’t say a word.
“Take them away,” Antonio said, knowing Li Qing had a strong sense of justice because of his background. But this world wasn’t like before—he made the call for everyone.
“Hey man, come on, just let them eat. If you don’t want them, they’ll be starving tonight,” the man tried again, not ready to give up, especially since their supplies were stuck in a broken vehicle.
“If it’s cleanliness you’re worried about, this one’s brand new—just came into my hands, just of age, and untouched…” he said, pushing forward the girl he’d shoved earlier.
“Let go! Where did you take my daughter? Let me go!” A woman’s voice called from outside. “Let me go!”
“Mama!” the girl shouted, shoving the man away and running out.
A woman in her fifties ran over, throwing her arms around the girl, saying, “Lulu, don’t be afraid. Mommy’s here. It’s okay.” Her eyes glared at the approaching men.
“Mama, mama,” the girl sobbed, clinging tightly to her mother as they slowly backed away into the rain.
Forcing women into prostitution wasn’t even rare anymore in this world.
Lu Weiyi swept his gaze across them, then paused, frowning at the older woman. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Wait.”
Li Qing’s words to stop them froze in his mouth. The others looked at Lu Weiyi in disbelief, as if he’d just said something shocking.
“Hey buddy, if you want this girl, I guarantee she’s pure. If it weren’t for us losing our supplies, I’d never let her go cheap like this. This is basically a discount…”
“Let them in,” Lu Weiyi cut him off.
“Alrighty!” the man grinned, then turned around with a cold face and shouted something at the mother and daughter in the rain.
It was pouring hard. Lu Weiyi didn’t try to listen in. He only saw the girl cry as she pried herself from her mother and walked forward. But the woman held her tight, refusing to let go.
The man eventually yanked the girl over, while the other men dragged the woman toward the neighboring building.
“Lulu—!” the woman screamed, her voice ripping with anguish.
“Mama,” the girl cried softly.
“Let them both in,” Lu Weiyi said.
Antonio’s eyes were wide, glancing at everyone else—seeing that their expressions mirrored his finally assured him he wasn’t just overreacting.
The man holding Lulu hesitated but said, “Sure, but these two will just cost a bit more.”
He gestured for the others to bring the woman over.
The moment she entered, the woman shielded her daughter and stared at Lu Weiyi, her face wary and terrified.
The man pitched the other women again. When no one showed interest, he told them to leave, then turned to Lu Weiyi to ask for payment.
Lu Weiyi gave him a glance. “Did I say I was paying you?”
The man’s face darkened. With a cocky grin, he said, “Come on, kid. Don’t make this difficult. Just fork it over…”
“Antonio!” Lu Weiyi called out.
Antonio, who’d been quietly watching, blinked. Realizing he was being asked to act, he looked a bit embarrassed—it was a freebie, after all.
Still, he had to save face.
With a flick of his hand, Antonio threw two throwing knives—one aimed at the man’s throat, the other straight at his forehead.
The man froze, hands raised in surrender. “Hey, man, let’s talk this out. Just a couple of women—I’m giving them to you as a gift…”
“Great,” Lu Weiyi replied calmly.
The man: “…” I was just being polite.
Everyone else: “…” So this is the kind of person Lu Weiyi is?
The man retreated. The room fell silent.
The woman clung to her daughter, staring at Lu Weiyi as she carefully backed into the corner of the room.
The others looked to Lu Weiyi, wondering what was going on, only to hear him casually ask, “So, have you decided what you want to eat?”
“…” Is now really the time to talk about that?
The group exchanged glances. Eventually, Li Zhuang said, “Let’s just cook some instant noodles.”
Lu Weiyi nodded. He took out a gas tank, stove, vegetables, and noodles from his storage.
Tossing in veggies, meatballs, sausage, and eggs, he quickly whipped up a pot of deluxe instant noodles.
“Sorry to bother you,” someone said at the door before they could even serve the food. It was the same man from earlier, now with a few others behind him. “Since the rain’s lightened up, could we borrow your truck? We want to go pick up our supplies.”
“No,” Lu Weiyi replied. Their truck was broken, and if they picked up supplies, they’d have to store them in Lu Weiyi’s truck, meaning they might have to travel together tomorrow—which was a no-go.
“I’ll pay with crystal cores—buy your truck outright,” the man said, bowing and scraping.
Lu Weiyi didn’t lack trucks—he had several in his space. He was about to decline when he saw the man pull out a gold crystal core from his jacket.
“…Deal,” Lu Weiyi immediately changed his tune.
He asked Li Zhuang for the truck keys and tossed them to the man, who simultaneously threw the crystal core to him.
“I thought you were the kind of guy who ‘couldn’t be tempted by wealth,’” Antonio said as a few others walked away. He stirred the noodles with his chopsticks and looked at Lu Weiyi.
“That’s a metal-element crystal core,” Lu Weiyi replied.
“You’re too sharp. It’s just a truck—we’ve got plenty of those. But crystal cores? No one ever complains about having too many. You’re like the embodiment of Athena in my heart—brilliant beyond compare…” Antonio said with a serious face, gesturing dramatically. If you didn’t hear what he said, his expression alone would make you think he was giving a passionate speech.
“So dramatic?” Li Qing said, surprised.
Then Lu Weiyi casually tossed the newly obtained core to Antonio, who caught it with a grin and began examining it in his hands.
It was their first time seeing a metal-element core. The others leaned in to take a look. It was a transparent crystal, with what looked like golden liquid swirling inside. If not for the faint gray mist circling it, it would have been absolutely beautiful.
“Put it away. I’ll ask for it when I need it,” Antonio said after a while, handing it back to Lu Weiyi.
“Why not just absorb it?” Li Qing asked.
Because it needs purification first, Antonio thought, but instead said, “I want to take it back for Dean to examine.”
“…” That came out of nowhere like dog food, Li Qing’s face was blank. “Let’s eat.”
(*Note: “dog food” is slang for public displays of affection that make others feel single and left out.)
Lu Weiyi took out bowls and chopsticks for five from his spatial storage and handed them to Li Zhuang, who raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The others wanted to ask questions, but with the two women still present, they thought better of it and kept quiet.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Lu Weiyi stretched and moved over to the heated brick bed.
Here it comes—he’s finally going to say it.
Is he going to tell us to avoid them?
Or…
“I’m sleepy. You guys wash the pot and keep watch,” Lu Weiyi said, then laid down on one side of the bed and pulled a light blanket over himself.
That’s it?
Lu Xi let out a sigh of relief and went to wash the pot.
Li Zhuang remained indifferent, while the remaining two exchanged confused glances, then gave up and went to busy themselves.
As for the two women at the back of the room, everyone silently agreed to ignore their presence. Perhaps they themselves wished they didn’t exist either.
That night, Li Qing took the night watch.
The heavy rain finally stopped around ten o’clock.
Though the rain ceased, the temperature didn’t rise—in fact, it seemed to drop even more. By around midnight, Li Qing could see his breath forming white mist.
In the dim light, he glanced at the four people sleeping on the bed. Antonio and Li Zhuang immediately opened their eyes at the sound. Lu Weiyi also woke, frowning, and the first thing he saw was Lu Xi curled up against him, practically clinging to his side.
“The temperature’s dropped,” Li Qing said in a low voice.
“Mm.” Lu Weiyi responded. He pulled a few thick cotton quilts from his spatial storage and first covered Lu Xi with one.
“Bro…” Lu Xi, stirred awake, mumbled sleepily and hugged the quilt tighter.
“Go back to sleep,” Lu Weiyi whispered, touching his forehead and cheek. He wasn’t frostbitten, so he relaxed.
“Mm.” Lu Xi responded and closed his eyes.
Each person got a quilt, and he handed Li Qing an extra thick cotton coat. Just as Lu Weiyi was about to go back to sleep, the girl from the back of the room, who had barely made her presence known all night, suddenly walked over, knelt before them, and tearfully said, “My mother has a fever. Could you spare us a quilt? I’ll do anything. Please, I’m begging you.”
Lu Weiyi still had use for the two of them and wouldn’t let someone just die. He gave her a quilt and, without hesitation, also handed her a box of fever-reducing medicine.
Li Qing immediately passed her a bottle of water. He wanted to help her up, but hesitated, feeling it might seem too attentive. He stood there awkwardly with his hand mid-air.
The girl thanked them and returned to her mother with the supplies.
