Tang Fei returned to the living room. The Old Man and Little Fatty were sitting at the table with large bowls, drinking mutton soup.
"Brother, time to eat," Little Fatty looked up at Tang Fei and greeted him, saying, "I saved the meat broth for you."
"Good."
Tang Fei walked over, sat down, picked up his large bowl, and started eating. With soup and meat, seasoned with salt and garnished with chili flakes, today was considered an improvement in their living conditions.
"Is that little woman dealt with?" the Old Man asked, slurping his soup without lifting his head.
"Dealt with," Tang Fei replied.
"What are you planning to do?" the Old Man said aloud.
Tang Fei looked up towards the Old Man and asked aloud, "What do you mean?"
"She came from a New Star, and she arrived in an Escape Pod. Why did she escape? And who wants to murder her?" the Old Man asked aloud.
He chewed a large piece of mutton liver, looked towards Tang Fei, and said, "The most crucial thing is, will those people come looking for us?"
"We agreed that once her injuries heal a bit, she will leave," Tang Fei said aloud.
"Hmm, that is one way," the Old Man nodded and said, "This isn't your style."
"What?" Tang Fei looked up towards the Old Man.
"With your cowardly nature, you wouldn't easily carry a stranger home. What's going on today?" the Old Man questioned aloud.
"How can you say I'm cowardly? I'm just cautious," Tang Fei argued indignantly.
After a pause, he explained, "I just felt it was wrong to leave her in the wilderness. Moreover, she was severely injured and couldn't move easily. Staying there would only lead to a dead end."
"Speak plainly."
"I originally intended to leave, but she looked at me, and we made Eye Contact." Tang Fei became a little embarrassed and said, "I thought she was quite pretty, so I carried her back."
"Brother, I also think she's quite pretty," Fatty chimed in, agreeing with him, and added, "She's just too thin, doesn't look strong, not suitable for hitting Stones."
*Smack!*
The Old Man tapped Little Fatty's Head and scolded him, "What business is it of yours?"
Little Fatty looked wronged but dared not argue with the Old Man, quickly picking up his large bowl to slurp his soup.
"Don't always hit him," Tang Fei frowned, looking at Little Fatty, "If you hit him, don't hit his head; he'll be hit silly."
"With his intelligence, hitting him is just helping him open up," the Old Man, dissatisfied with Tang Fei interfering with his way of educating Little Fatty, said aloud, "We are talking about your business now. You thought she looked good, so you carried her home. Do you intend to keep her?"
"Do you think I can keep her?" Tang Fei asked.
"No."
"."
"I'm not trying to discourage you," the Old Man saw Tang Fei fall silent, thinking his young heart was hurt—infatuation in youth was natural—so he comforted him, "Think about her face, her figure, her attire, the demeanor she shows with every gesture. Do you think this barren land can keep someone like that?"
"Does she like you because you haven't bathed in ages, or because you haven't cut your hair in years? Or perhaps she enjoys the exciting life of never knowing where the next meal is coming from? One must have self-awareness."
"When did you ever see her gestures?" Tang Fei pouted, hating the Old Man's pretense of knowing everything when lecturing. "When you saw her, she was still unconscious."
"Delusion. Do you understand delusion? With looks and temperament like that, if she wore a gown slit up to here"—while speaking, the Old Man lewdly made a large V-shape on his Chest—"or a handsome Phoenix Empire military uniform, how dazzling would she be?"
"Oh, she said her name is Phoenix," Tang Fei said aloud.
The Old Man's expression stiffened slightly, then he instantly relaxed, saying, "There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, named Phoenix in the Phoenix Empire. It's nothing strange."
Tang Fei nodded, looking towards the Old Man with a puzzled gaze, and said, "You seem very familiar with the Phoenix Empire? As if you've been to the New Star yourself."
"Haven't I seen a pig run even if I haven't eaten pork? Have you forgotten who I am? I am the most famous guide in the Hen Shan Gathering Area. Those nobles coming from the New Star who want to explore ruins can't do without me! I've heard them talk about many things on the New Star."
"Look at you getting smug," Tang Fei couldn't help but pour cold water on the Old Man, saying, "You only heard a few mentions from others, acting like you lived there for many years."
"I wouldn't go there! What's so good about the New Star? It's not as good as our Hen Shan," the Old Man crunched loudly on the Two-headed Sheep meat in his mouth, saying, "Here we eat what we want, hit Stones when we want, and don't bathe when we want. Can they compare?"
"There are no wild beasts on the New Star, no Acid Rain, and no need to hit Stones every day. I heard they use machines," Fatty interjected.
"You know nothing!" The Old Man glanced sideways at Fatty and said, "There are people up there, dense crowds of people. Human hearts are far more terrifying than the fangs of wild beasts."
"You've never fought a wild beast, so what do you know?" Tang Fei undermined him from the side.
Ever since he could remember things, he had to take a shovel to dig for mountain earthworms and field Rats.
From childhood to adulthood, he shouldered the heavy burden of supporting the family.
"Nonsense. When you two were little, didn't I raise you inch by inch? Did you crawl out of the womb able to hunt? If I hadn't hunted back then, what would you two eat? What would you drink?" the Old Man scolded angrily.
Tang Fei and Little Fatty fell silent.
The Old Man was stating facts; they couldn't refute it.
The Old Man glanced at Tang Fei and said, "Don't be sad. People who don't belong here are just passersby in life—just like the Prey you bring back every day. Today it's a Two-headed Sheep, tomorrow it's a wild boar. The final result is just to eat it."
Tang Fei was greatly alarmed and said, "Didn't we agree not to eat people?"
*Slap!*
The Old Man slapped Tang Fei's Head, saying with disappointment, "I wasn't talking about *that* eating."
"Then how should I eat?"
"Sleep. I meant sleeping."
"Why should I sleep with her? Isn't sleeping alone on my own bed fine? It's big and wide, I can sleep however I want, roll around however I want..."
"."
The Old Man looked at Tang Fei, then at Little Fatty burying his head in his large bowl, thinking that the adolescent issues of these two brats needed attention.
But how should one educate them in this area?
He couldn't exactly find a woman to demonstrate on the spot.
Besides, he couldn't find a woman either.
Of course, there were plenty of women in the human gathering area. With his robust physique and skill at hitting Stones and building houses, he figured quite a few women would be willing to sleep with him.
He just wasn't interested.
"Anyway, the 'eating' I mentioned is not the 'eating' you're thinking of, and the 'sleeping' I mentioned is not the same as your usual sleeping," the Old Man said in exasperation, "Anyway, when this little woman leaves, don't you dare cry your eyes out."
"How could I? I wish she would leave quickly," Tang Fei said aloud.
The Old Man looked at Tang Fei skeptically and asked, "Why?"
"We agreed that after she returns to the New Star, to thank me for saving her life, she will give me a Flying Car, three Pulse Guns, and a ton of supplies..."
"Think about it, with these things, I can drive a Flying Car out to find Prey, carry a Pulse Gun, and crush any god or Buddha in my way. Even if I encounter a Mutant King Kong Tiger, I can still rip off its hind leg to make you roasted skewers."
"Are you an idiot?" The Old Man stared at Tang Fei with utter astonishment, feeling that all his years of education had been a complete Failure. "You believe a woman's words?"
"."
"Didn't I tell you the story of the Dragon Slayer? What did Zhang Wuji's mother say to Zhang Wuji? Never trust a woman's words; the prettier the woman, the more she lies. That little woman you brought back is so good-looking, with curves in all the right places, she must be very good at deceiving people."
Tang Fei looked towards the Old Man and said with a smile, "Even without those things, I would have brought her back, wouldn't I?"
"That's true," the Old Man nodded and said, "You have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. If you weren't constantly helping those Orphans and widows outside, our lives wouldn't be this way."
"They've helped us quite a bit too, always mending and patching things for us three old men. It's just returning favors. Since we were going to save her anyway, if she is willing to repay us, and she gives us things we need, then that's all the better. If not... we'll just consider it doing a good deed and saving a stray cat or a stray dog. Don't you agree?"
The Old Man looked at Tang Fei and asked, "Did she really promise those things?"
"Yes," Tang Fei nodded. "At least, that's what she said."
"Hurry up and get a bowl, ladle a bowl of meat broth," the Old Man urged.
"What for?"
"We can't let our distinguished guest, who traveled from afar, go hungry. She is Weak right now and can't eat meat, so give her extra broth to fill her stomach. Mutton is nourishing and will help her recover faster so she can leave sooner. If such a delicate and beautiful young lady gets lost, her Elder must be worried sick."
"Got it," Tang Fei agreed.
Little Fatty looked up at the Old Man, then at Tang Fei busy ladling soup, and sighed softly.