Benevolent Help

As Zhao Tianlei spoke, the female assistant immediately eyed him with suspicion, as if she associated him with Lin Mu's tactics of using food to lure girls.

How could Zhao Tianlei not understand her look? He glared and said, "The food is over there. If you don't eat it, I can't do anything. But don't lump me in with that scoundrel Lin Mu. If I had ill intentions towards you, you could just scream."

With that, Zhao Tianlei prepared to leave. The female assistant quickly grabbed him and crouched down, saying to Shen Xinyu, "Xinyu, that Lin Mu was already trying to cause trouble for us. Let's find a less crowded place. That way, if he comes down again, he won't involve others nearby. Besides, just now, when we were being bullied, no one around was willing to step out and help us; they're all cowards."

The female assistant deliberately said this for the benefit of those around them. Some of the men nearby deliberately turned their faces away, as they had all seen Shen Xinyu and her assistant offend Lin Mu earlier.

If Lin Mu was truly unresigned and came down to trouble them again, their proximity would indeed implicate them. Therefore, even though these people usually treated Shen Xinyu like a goddess, at this moment, she had become a ticking time bomb, and everyone around wished she would move further away.

Shen Xinyu was very curious about her assistant's actions, having no idea what Zhao Tianlei had whispered to her to make her say such things. However, at this moment, Shen Xinyu trusted her assistant the most; she believed whatever her assistant said. She knew her assistant must have had a reason for speaking to the crowd like that and pulling her away.

After a slight hesitation, Shen Xinyu stood up and followed behind her assistant, walking towards the corner with Zhao Tianlei ahead of them. Upon reaching the corner, Ye Sitong and Wu Bin quickly stood up and inquired about Shen Xinyu's well-being. After a brief, awkward exchange, the conversation died down.

Feeling unsafe, Shen Xinyu immediately said to her assistant, "Sister Hua, what are you dragging me over here for? Weren't we fine over there? Why are we disturbing others?"

Hearing Shen Xinyu's words, Zhao Tianlei quickly interjected, "Shen Xinyu, come here for a moment. And you, assistant, keep your voices down. Wu Bin and Ye Sitong, you two guard the entrance to this safety passage. Don't let anyone get close. If anyone approaches, tell me in advance."

Ye Sitong replied, "Okay, Tianlei, don't worry. Wu Bin and I will keep watch for you. If anyone comes, I'll just keep coughing."

"Where are you taking us?"

Seeing Zhao Tianlei leading her and her assistant into a more secluded stairwell, Shen Xinyu's guard rose again, and she asked nervously.

Seeing the goddess's demeanor, Zhao Tianlei couldn't help but grin. "What's wrong? Is the goddess so scared? You'll know once you come inside."

Saying that, Zhao Tianlei actually pulled her assistant into the stairwell right in front of Shen Xinyu. Shen Xinyu was stunned and quickly followed. It should be noted that Shen Xinyu's assistant was vastly different from her. While their heights were similar, the assistant weighed about twice as much as Shen Xinyu. As for appearance, she was half as attractive as Shen Xinyu. Because of this, the assistant had always felt safe following Shen Xinyu and had never been harassed. This allowed her to work wholeheartedly for Shen Xinyu.

As Shen Xinyu followed Zhao Tianlei and her assistant into the stairwell, worried, she discovered that Zhao Tianlei hadn't done anything to the assistant. Instead, he took out his backpack, opened it, and handed some items to the assistant. "It's been a morning, you must be hungry too. I have some food here, eat up."

With that, Zhao Tianlei took out bag after bag of snacks from his backpack and stuffed them into the assistant's hands. Shen Xinyu witnessed this and was completely surprised that this young man was so kind-hearted. When everyone else had become selfish with the outbreak of the apocalypse, this person was still thinking of others.

Then, Zhao Tianlei also took out some food and handed it to Shen Xinyu. "Shen Xinyu, you eat something too. You look so thin; being a big star must be tough. You probably have to be frugal to appear on screen and don't usually eat these snacks. But these are special times. If you don't eat these, you might starve. Then, if zombies appear, you won't have the strength to fight back or escape. There's plenty of snacks, but water is scarce. There are only two bottles here. You two take this bottle to drink."

Holding the snacks and water Zhao Tianlei had put in her hands, Shen Xinyu was stunned. Just as Zhao Tianlei had said, ever since she became a star, she hadn't dared to eat these snacks to maintain her figure. But what girl doesn't love snacks? Now that the apocalypse had arrived and everyone was starving, who would care about their figure and not eat? She suspected that by the time food became truly scarce, she might not even have the chance to gain weight.

Although these foods were inexpensive, holding them now felt heavier than holding gold or silver. An inexplicable sense of gratitude washed over her. While her assistant, unable to bear her hunger, had already started eating, Shen Xinyu held the food in her hands, unsure what to do. She could only look at Zhao Tianlei gratefully and say, "Zhao Tianlei, thank you. Just now, when the apocalypse broke out, I fantasized countless times about people coming to save me, but I never imagined that the one who would finally save me would be you."

"Snap." With a soft sound, a bag of bread was roughly opened by Zhao Tianlei. He then reached out, tore off a small piece, and brought it to Shen Xinyu's mouth, gently feeding it to her as she stared in disbelief.

"Eat without worry. As long as I'm here, I won't let you go hungry. But you should eat quickly. Who knows, if those guys outside smell the food when they're starving, they might come to snatch it. I can handle two or three people, but if a large group comes, even I might get eaten."

With that, Zhao Tianlei gave Shen Xinyu a slight smile and walked towards the stairwell entrance, leaving them some private space to eat freely.

After starving for half a day and with the loss of order and law, no one cared about eating ungracefully. Under hunger, filling one's stomach quickly was more important than maintaining a ladylike appearance. Shen Xinyu felt for the first time that these snacks, usually considered junk food, tasted better than main courses. Being hungry truly made one feel terrible.

"Xinyu, if you trust Sister Hua, then listen carefully to what Sister Hua says."