"Mr. Xue, I won't disturb you two any longer." Ma Laosan quickly signaled for his two Ma Zai to help him up. "From now on, you can set up your stall wherever you want on Gold Street. All management fees are waived. If any blind fool comes looking for trouble, just come find me at the New Era Bar. I'll be sure to teach them a lesson!"
After saying his piece, Ma Laosan immediately slipped away, practically fleeing the scene.
Shen Lu couldn't say she was happy with this outcome, but she couldn't say she was unhappy either. It just felt awkward.
Xue Can finished the egg waffle in just a few bites, his expression shifting repeatedly.
'So it's not just the mint water that can soothe the Spiritual Sea. The egg waffles have the same effect.'
'Just which prominent family's young lady is she?'
Xue Can couldn't help but mentally run through the young ladies from the major families of the Imperial City.
'Could she be the third young miss of the Xiao Family?'
'Or maybe the eldest young miss of the Bai Family?'
Xue Can narrowed his eyes and shook his head internally.
'No, that's not it. None of them fit.'
"Here, this one's on me."
Caught off guard, he saw the young woman holding a cup of mint water, standing on her tiptoes to bring it to him.
"Thank you for today."
'It wasn't just about today. For some time to come, she would probably be under Xue Can's protection.'
Although she didn't quite understand the reason for the drastic change in his attitude, Shen Lu's intuition told her that Xue Can wouldn't harm her, at least for now.
Xue Can took the mint water but didn't drink it right away. Instead, he asked her, "Can I pour this into my water bottle?"
His Spiritual Sea was feeling quite comfortable at the moment, so drinking more wouldn't have a significant effect. It was better to pour it into his bottle and save it for when he felt unwell again.
"Of course." Shen Lu glanced at the silver-white bottle in his hand. "I can even give you a couple more cups."
'Consider it protection money.'
Xue Can said, "Alright," and Shen Lu bent down to fill his bottle with mint water.
She actually wanted to ask him if he had any connections to get rare metals, but the system bluntly reminded her that cheating was not advisable and would result in punishment if discovered.
[Please be down-to-earth, Host. Don't think about taking shortcuts!]
[Only scavenged metals can be exchanged for ingredients.]
Shen Lu felt a little guilty, but her mind was already racing.
'Seems like there's a loophole to exploit, huh?'
'Ahem, I'll test it out in a couple of days.'
'Going to the junkyard to scavenge every day is no easy task. It's not just dirty; it's also very easy to get hurt.'
Xue Can took the water bottle and paid for it.
"I still don't know your name. Would you mind telling me?"
"Shen Lu." The girl's lips curved into a smile. "You're welcome to come again tomorrow."
Xue Can carefully put the water bottle away and strode off.
He needed to investigate the background of this "Shen Lu."
After Xue Can left, a trickle of customers came by. Around four in the afternoon, all the prepared ingredients were sold out.
Shen Lu packed up her things and pushed the cart frame back to her rented room.
[DING-DONG. Mint water 15/15 detected, egg waffles 5/5 detected. Task complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]
Holding her breath, Shen Lu managed to move Fu Cheng onto the bed, accidentally putting pressure on his broken right arm in the process.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to."
Watching the bloodstain rapidly spread, the already-unclean gauze became even dirtier.
Shen Lu quickly opened the folding medical kit, found two rolls of gauze and some dressing, and re-bandaged his right arm according to the instructions.
In truth, Fu Cheng's other wounds also needed to be re-bandaged to prevent infection and inflammation.
But Shen Lu was too busy. The moment she opened her eyes, she had to go scavenge. After scavenging, she had to run her stall. Only after selling everything did she have time to deal with Fu Cheng.
"There's not enough gauze," Shen Lu sighed. "I have to go buy more. I wonder how much it'll cost."
Shen Lu had saved some ingredients for herself, and she cooked them up now.
She ate one and a half egg waffles, as before, and soaked the remaining half until it was soft to feed to Fu Cheng.
After all that, Shen Lu went out, needing to buy the gauze and get back before sunset.
She searched the neighborhood but couldn't find a pharmacy, only a general store.
But the general store also sold gauze. The quality wasn't great, not as good as the ones from the folding medical kit.
"No wonder they say medical treatment is so expensive. A single roll of gauze like this actually costs 100 Star Coins!" Shen Lu grumbled indignantly while holding three rolls. Now she finally understood why the bandages on Fu Cheng's body had been torn to shreds.
'So someone must have taken the cleaner pieces of gauze to sell for money.'
'How depraved.'
Mulling this over, Shen Lu hurried back to her rented room.
She shut the door, and her heart, which had been lodged in her throat, finally settled back into her chest.
On the way back, she had felt at least four or five malicious gazes fixed on her.
It was as if she would have been snatched away the moment she slowed her pace.
"Damn it, why hasn't this body awakened a superpower?" Shen Lu turned on the light and squinted as she changed Fu Cheng's dressing and gauze. "Without a superpower for protection, I don't feel safe at all."
She glanced at Fu Cheng with envy. "If only I were half as strong as you."
As the main villain, Fu Cheng's combat power was immense. He was a rare dual-Superpower User, meaning he possessed two superpowers.
Fu Cheng heard every word of Shen Lu's muttering.
Fu Cheng was also growing anxious.
He knew that Ma Laosan had come looking for trouble with Shen Lu today. He had wanted to intervene, but he couldn't.
Fortunately, for some unknown reason, Xue Can had resolved the issue for her.
But having been deceived before, Fu Cheng didn't believe Xue Can's intentions were pure. He definitely had an ulterior motive.
Shen Lu was right. It would be better if she had a superpower.
But awakening a superpower wasn't something you could rush. It depended on luck and talent.
After finishing bandaging Fu Cheng, Shen Lu plopped down on the sofa and gleefully counted her money.
She had earned over 900 Star Coins today. Subtracting the 300 for the gauze, she had more than 600 left. Adding yesterday's remainder, her total was 821 Star Coins.
'This money is surprisingly easy to make.'
Shen Lu flattened the Star Coin bills one by one, stacked them in order from smallest to largest denomination, and tucked them into an inner pocket.
She opened the system panel with her thoughts.
[Name: Shen Lu
Popularity Value: 59
Task: 1. Own your own small food shop and give it a name.]
'Excellent! My popularity value went up by 44 points.'
Shen Lu sat cross-legged on the sofa and directed the system to open the lottery panel.
Shen Lu silently chanted, "Lottery."
The blind box lottery machine immediately began to flash. White spots of light jumped back and forth between the squares, and after three seconds, it let out a BEEP.
[Congratulations, Host! You have drawn the prize from blind box #99: one 100,000-volt anti-pervert baton.]
[100,000-Volt Anti-Pervert Baton: The perfect companion for home and travel! Whether it's a vicious criminal or a lecherous creep, the 100,000-Volt Anti-Pervert Baton will teach him (or her) a lesson they'll never forget!]
Shen Lu nearly jumped off the sofa!
'The system must be a mind reader! It knew exactly what I wanted!'
Shen Lu exclaimed in her mind, 'Tongzi, you are... my god!'
[Ahem... Calm down, Host. This is all due to your own good luck.]
The system said that, but in reality, its invisible tail was already wagging with pride.
'Although I can't exactly open the back door for the Host, a tiny bit of appropriate help is no problem at all.'
'We systems exist to worry about what the Host worries about and think about what the Host wants. We have to help our Hosts live happily here, after all.'