“That!” Su Xiao called out to Li Yao, his ears flushed red, looking incredibly shy, “Can I add you on WeChat?”
He scratched his head, “It’s just easier to contact you directly.”
Li Yao carefully observed the man in front of her; his face was getting redder by the moment. She gave Su Xiao her WeChat QR code. Su Xiao scanned it immediately, then walked away blushing.
[What is Li Yao up to? There’s a rule forbidding emotional attachments with Earthlings—that’s against the rules.]
[I’ve long heard Li Yao has a bad reputation. Seems like it’s true—she just gives out her contact info to anyone.]
[Very disappointing. With her looks, I could have supported her as just a pretty face forever, but giving out contact info so casually? I don’t want to be a fan anymore. Gross.]
Assistant director Jiang Yong watched Li Yao’s behavior with concern and asked Zhou Chengxing, “Boss, do you think she might break the contract and try to have a romance with an Earthling? That would be bad.”
Zhou Chengxing’s expression darkened. Calmly shaking his head, he said, “It’s just a contact method, don’t worry yet. Let’s wait and see.”
He was also worried. The guy asking for the contact was quite a handsome young man. If they got together, Li Yao might start talking about interstellar matters.
He prayed Li Yao wouldn’t mess things up. He didn’t want the project cut off right at the start. Heaven only knows how long he had worked to get the time-space jump certification.
If Li Yao did have such ideas, it’d be best to wrap it up before the variety show ended.
Zhou Chengxing’s mind raced. He told Jiang Yong, “Get someone to specially watch Li Yao. If she dares reveal her identity, give her a warning first.”
Jiang Yong immediately set to work.
After adding Li Yao on WeChat, Su Xiao was left to gather dust in a corner. He wasn’t Li Yao’s type, but she knew if she didn’t respond to him properly, he’d keep pestering her. She was busy now with many things to do.
That night, she went for hotpot. Alone in a private room, she ordered a whole tableful: fatty beef, fatty lamb, shrimp paste, tripe, duck intestine, goose intestine, tofu skin, and pork aorta. She ate every bite with great reverence.
Though the livestream equipment couldn’t appear, it diligently analyzed the food data. Li Yao’s livestream room was full of wails.
[Give me a bite! I want some too! I’m tired of tasting tasteless nutrition fluids from the stars.]
[I can almost smell it through the screen, ahhh, I want to eat too.]
[Sob sob, I want to eat too, but there’s none here. Please, even if the nutrition fluid tasted like this, it’d be okay.]
Li Yao didn’t know that her hotpot meal brought a lot of viewers to her livestream. The haters didn’t dare speak up because just thinking about the food made their mouths water.
Li Yao thought she might stockpile some hotpot base too. When the extreme cold came, eating hotpot would be such a comfort.
On the way home, she kept thinking about the hotpot. Seeing milk tea by the roadside, she couldn’t resist and bought two cups.
She placed them carefully for the equipment to analyze.
[Ooh ooh ooh, this tastes so good.]
[Li Yao, my Yao sister, I hope you eat delicious things every day.]
[Hope the production team shares the data analysis so I can order custom nutrition fluid with this flavor tomorrow.]
This milk tea flavor drove the livestream room crazy — so delicious.
The production team was generous, posting the data on the official website. Many nutrition fluid manufacturers even launched Earth-style milk tea flavor nutrition fluids.
Li Yao returned to her rented apartment. She rented a place with a good location. The community’s buildings were made from good materials, which made her willing to rent here.
Just as Li Yao stepped into the elevator, she saw Su Xiao enter. When Su Xiao saw Li Yao, surprise turned to joy.
“What a coincidence.” His eyes shone brightly.
Li Yao nodded. It really was quite a coincidence.
But when the elevator stopped on the same floor and Su Xiao revealed he lived right opposite her, Li Yao began to suspect.
She never believed in such coincidences.
“So we’re neighbors. I just moved in the day before yesterday. I’m Su Xiao,” he smiled brightly.
“Hello.” Li Yao’s attitude remained indifferent.
After entering her room, Li Yao sat in the living room. Inside her space was a house, with electricity and water. She could use a battery and solar panels.
She had already bought these, just waiting for delivery.
The power problem was solved; water was easy to get, but in the apocalypse, she couldn’t be too conspicuous.
She contacted bottled water suppliers — bottled and barrelled — all to be sent to the warehouse, with deliveries scheduled. Li Yao would personally receive the goods.
Only when she counted supplies with her own hands could she be assured. She had many secrets — her space, her powers.
At this moment, several people were renting the place opposite Li Yao’s.
Looking at the cleanly dressed Su Xiao, their eyes glowed, “How is she?”
Su Xiao smiled, “She’s a fat sheep. The supermarket under renovation is hers, and there’s a big warehouse behind it. The stuff inside is worth several million.”
He caught his breath. “A lot of the goods are being shipped elsewhere. I guess she doesn’t just have one supermarket.”
The people in the room looked envious and red-eyed. “Damn rich people.”
They noticed Li Yao. At first, they only thought she was pretty, but then they realized she was rich. They were all lazy, hoping to get rich quick without working.
So they sent the handsome Su Xiao to create a chance encounter, because girls love that.
Su Xiao shook his head, “Her name’s Li Yao. She’s very guarded and doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Li Xiang, with yellow hair, spat, “That won’t do. You gotta be faster. Rent here is 15,000 a month, or we’ll get kicked out. Damn, I heard the place opposite rents for 20,000 a month. That woman rented for half a year. I heard she even has another place under renovation.”
Half a year’s rent adds up to 120,000, enough for them to live carefree for a long time.
Su Xiao looked at the bright beauty in the room chatting lazily — she was probably playing the long game.
He told Yan Wantong, “Wantong, find a way to get close to Li Yao. Make her your best friend. Once we know her secrets, we can move.”
Finally, they had a big fish. They had to catch it.
Yan Wantong didn’t care, “Don’t worry, just use the old tricks.”
Su Xiao frowned. He felt those old tricks wouldn’t work on Li Yao. Compared to Li Yao, Yan Wantong didn’t look as good and seemed dull.
“Achoo.” Well-fed and addicted to shopping, Li Yao sneezed. Someone was talking bad about her behind her back.
She added several sets of extreme cold protection suits to her cart, along with warm coral fleece pajamas — lifesavers in the apocalypse.
She had bought plenty of winter gear; the extreme cold would last long, and she wanted to eat well and stay warm through winter.
With no sun during the extreme cold, she ordered a few stoves. Wood, charcoal, and coal could be negotiated with factories.
After planning the next day, Li Yao took a shower and went to sleep.
The next morning, Su Xiao across the hall heard the door open and immediately got up. He hadn’t slept all night. Standing by the window, he saw Li Yao driving her truck out of the community.