Holding Hands? Pay Up!

The atmosphere in the living room had turned cold for quite some time.

Elysia and Mobius were both waiting for Lin Li to come out, but she seemed to be taking rather a long time.

Mobius pulled back her sleeve and checked her watch.

It was ten in the morning. If she remembered correctly, she had left the lab at nine-thirty. Including the time it took to get here, no more than ten minutes...

"Why isn't she out yet?"

Mobius was clearly growing impatient.

Usually, other people waited for her. This was the first time she had waited for someone else.

And for this long, no less.

"Uh... Xiao Li should be ready soon, right? She's probably already picked out her clothes." Elysia looked toward the bedroom door.

Xiao Li, whatever you do, don't come out yet. Don't let Doctor take you away already. I still want to go shopping with you.

"Tch, is getting dressed really that troublesome?" Mobius narrowed her eyes, her gaze shifting between the bedroom door and Elysia. "Or is this a premeditated delay? Is the goal to make me lose patience and leave?"

"Ah... haha, how could that be? You're joking, Doctor."

Elysia forced a smile.

She would have liked to do exactly that. If only she had Lin Li's phone number, she definitely would have told her not to come out.

"Your eyes tell me you're nervous." Mobius adjusted her glasses. "What are you nervous about? Did I hit the mark with what you were thinking? Or..."

Creak—

The sound of the door slowly opening rang clearly through the spacious living room.

The two women on the sofa looked over together, only to see...

Inside the room, Lin Li raised the mirror and was momentarily stunned by her own appearance.

"Holy shit, I'm fucking gorgeous."

That was right. It was the only description Lin Li could think of.

If she were still a high school student, she probably could have used plenty of elegant phrases to describe her looks. But she wasn't. She had stopped studying after high school.

Now, all she could say was holy shit.

Lin Li raised a hand, looked at herself in the mirror, and touched her face.

None of this felt real.

She could tell that this face was seventy percent similar to the one she had in her original world, but she had no idea where the other thirty percent differed.

She looked so much like her old self, so why was she so beautiful now?

Well... of course, she wasn't saying she had been unattractive before.

It was just that compared to the person in the mirror, she fell a little short.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Lin Li sighed with feeling.

But she quickly stopped dwelling on her appearance and began picking out clothes.

After some time, she chose three or four outfits in colors and styles she often wore before, then tried them on one by one.

And so, more than twenty minutes passed. Lin Li finally found an outfit that suited her temperament, struck a pose at her reflection, and sighed:

"I'm fucking gorgeous."

Then she composed herself and pushed open the door.

The first thing they saw was a delicate face like an ink-wash painting, refined yet warm. Her black, star-like eyes resembled jade untouched by the dust of the world, pure and captivating as they reflected a faint glow beneath the lights.

Lin Li's hairstyle was simple yet exquisite: a basic half-up style, with several loose strands falling over her brows, lending her a hint of playfulness and liveliness.

She wore a loose white patterned T-shirt, white straight-leg pants, and white canvas shoes. The outfit looked stylish without being overly flashy.

Lin Li's red lips curved slightly upward, adding a trace of allure. She looked even more like an ethereal fairy descending into the mortal world.

Her gaze settled on the two women on the sofa. When she saw Mobius, she froze for a moment before walking over.

"Elysia, this is...?"

"Dr. Mobius," Elysia introduced. "The one we were just talking about."

"Oh... oh, hello, Dr. Mobius."

Lin Li nodded at Mobius.

At that, Mobius stood up, frowned, and studied Lin Li.

"So you were just talking about me? What did you say? Let me hear it."

"..."

Lin Li looked at Elysia, who gave her a subtle look telling her not to say anything.

But Lin Li had never been particularly good at reading such hints. She had no idea what Elysia meant, so she said what she thought.

"Elysia and I were talking about me becoming your assistant."

"w(?Д?)w"

The instant Elysia heard that, she knew it was over.

"Oh~ becoming my assistant? Interesting." Mobius glanced at Elysia. "She must have suggested it, right? Looks like your relationship isn't all that great."

"What...? Why would you say that?" Lin Li frowned slightly, confused.

"Heh." Mobius sneered. "Becoming my assistant? Please. Even ordinary soldiers would probably be afraid to stay around me. A newcomer like you naturally wouldn't think much of it."

"For Elysia to tell you about that, honestly... tch."

"Forget it, let's not talk about that. If you want to be my assistant, of course you can. But... what's your purpose?"

"To make money." Lin Li had always preferred being direct.

"...Huh?" Mobius touched the earring on her earlobe, doubting that she had heard correctly. "Your only reason for wanting to join my lab is to make money?"

"Yes. Is there a problem with that?" Lin Li asked back, her wide eyes full of incomprehension at the question. Tilting her head, she said, "Elysia recommended it to me because of that. It's close to home, and the pay is high..."

"Wait." Mobius cut her off. A trace of disbelief flashed through her dark green eyes as she turned to Elysia. "Where did you hear that my lab pays well?"

"Huh... doesn't it?" Elysia was confused as well.

"Of course not!"

Mobius rolled her eyes and paced casually around the living room, seeming to ponder whether these two genuinely did not know or were merely playing dumb.

Judging by the situation... they really did seem not to know.

Fine. It looked like she had wronged Elysia.

"My lab pays terribly, and there's a lot of work. It's all dirty, exhausting work, and you see blood every day... Now that I've put it that way, what do you think?"

"No." Lin Li shook her head like a rattle. "You didn't even need to say the rest. The moment you said the pay was low, I lost interest."

"So you really just wanted to make money?" Mobius confirmed again.

"Mm, what else would it be?"

"..."

Mobius was speechless.

She rubbed her eyes, feeling that this was the first time she had encountered something so absurd.

If her lab paid well, she probably would not have only Bianca as an assistant right now... Wait, the reason her lab had so few people did not seem to be the pay.

It was because most people were afraid of her.

Right, she had brought up Bianca's resignation again earlier. Bianca would be leaving in a week. Damn it, her lab would only have one person left then. Looking at it this way, she really could lure Lin Li in.

Tch. Her original purpose had been to study Lin Li, but now it seemed she could first lure Lin Li into her lab.

Mobius let out a breath and walked to the door.

"Aren't you going out? We can talk as we walk."

"..."

Lin Li looked at Elysia. Taking the opportunity, Elysia grabbed her hand and led her toward the door.

But Lin Li immediately pulled her hand free.

Then she saw Elysia wearing a pitiful expression.

"Xiao Li~ How could you do this..." Elysia tried to grab her again, but Lin Li, with her agility boosted, instantly pulled away.

Mobius narrowed her eyes as she watched, a little startled.

So fast. But her reaction speed seems a little slow. Elysia's hand was practically touching Lin Li before she dodged.

Lin Li did not fall for cutesy behavior. She was a girl herself, so that sort of thing had no effect on her at all... though Elysia really did look quite pitiful when she acted cute.

Still, even if it did not work on her, she could not bear to see a girl make that expression.

So, after considering it carefully and checking the system panel, Lin Li said, in keeping with her professional ethics:

"Pay up."