What if I don't?

Tang Zhang laughed.

As a rich kid, he was used to throwing his weight around in the real world. Especially with Shao Lan looking like an ordinary office drone in his white shirt and black trousers, he saw nothing intimidating about him.

Tang Zhang asked flippantly, "What if I don't?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Shao Lan lunged forward!

He drew his knife as he moved. Tang Zhang only saw a cold flash in the air before the tip pressed against his throat.

The tip pierced his skin, and blood trickled down the gleaming blade.

Li Yun screamed, "Murder! Murder!"

Shao Lan turned to look calmly at Li Yun. "Shout one more time, and I really will kill him."

Only then did Li Yun see clearly: the knife tip had pierced Tang Zhang's skin and stopped less than a centimeter from his artery. It wasn't fatal, but it was terrifyingly dangerous.

Li Yun began trembling. "Y-you can talk this out. How is this any different from what those robbers did..."

Shao Lan raised an eyebrow. "Good question, miss. I'd like to ask you the same thing. How are you any different from robbers?"

"We saved him by showing up!" Tang Zhang roared. "Shouldn't he repay us? Besides, he's going to die! Food is precious. Isn't feeding a dying man a waste?!"

"Tang Zhang! Shut up for a second!" Li Yun was better at reading the room than Tang Zhang, after all. She swallowed, fear creeping up on her despite herself.

Li Yun softened her tone, trying to tempt him with an offer. "Look, how about this? If you want some too, we can split it..."

Shao Lan shook his head. "Split what? As far as I'm concerned, feeding someone like you is an even bigger waste."

It seemed there was no room for negotiation.

Li Yun bit her lip, silently working out what to do.

They weren't strong to begin with. They had simply seen Jiang Mingran half-dead and Pancake Uncle old and disabled, and figured they could talk their way into getting plenty of food. With such an easy chance to take advantage of someone, why wouldn't they?

Who could have expected someone this ruthless to suddenly appear on the other side?

Seeing Tang Zhang stiffen his neck, ready to say more, Li Yun hurriedly grabbed him and pulled with all her strength.

"Look, Shao, we were just too hungry and wanted something to eat. We didn't do anything to your friends. Really, our arrival helped drive off the robbers, so surely that counts for something, right..."

Li Yun forced a smile. "We're all neighbors. Let's keep things peaceful. Your friend looks badly hurt. Why don't you check on him? We'll get out of your way..."

As she spoke, Li Yun dragged Tang Zhang away with every ounce of strength she had.

Li Yun had been right about one thing: Jiang Mingran really was in terrible shape.

Shao Lan strode to the bedside to check on him.

Jiang Mingran's face was ashen, and his body burned like a piece of glowing charcoal. His wounds were clearly severely infected.

Still, it wasn't a major problem.

As long as he had a breath left, getting him into the elevator would keep him alive.

Shao Lan asked Pancake Uncle how much time had passed since he left. Pancake Uncle checked the time displayed on the vending machine and found that it had been exactly twenty-four hours.

Shao Lan had spent around three days in Xu Family Village-it seemed time inside the Instance wasn't synchronized with time in the building. No matter how long he stayed in the Instance, twenty-four hours would pass in the building, one full day.

That day had been difficult for Pancake Uncle and Jiang Mingran, too.

"Jiang's injuries were so bad. I finally managed to stop the bleeding, but then he started running a fever." Pancake Uncle was frantic, his voice hoarse. "I don't know if any of those nails were rusty, and we're almost out of money..."

"Don't worry," Shao Lan said. "We can sort it all out."

His voice wasn't loud, but Pancake Uncle immediately felt reassured.

Shao was a capable young man. If he said he could sort it out, then he could.

When those three thugs had come to rob them, Pancake Uncle had thought they were certain to die. Yet Shao had managed to deal with them.

Shao had been so badly injured that he was on the verge of death, but now he had recovered. Surely he had a way to save Jiang, too.

Pancake Uncle waited nearby, ready to do whatever Shao Lan asked.

Sure enough, Shao Lan spoke. "Pancake Uncle."

"Yes!"

"Have something to eat first."

Pancake Uncle paused, not expecting those to be Shao Lan's first words.

"I..." He opened his mouth, then finally smiled and waved a hand. "I'm not hungry."

Shao Lan looked Pancake Uncle over.

Pancake Uncle looked awful. He swayed a little when he walked, and his lips were so dry that the skin had cracked and peeled all around them. They had no color at all.

They had been in the building for two days now, and Pancake Uncle had eaten only a few bites of potato in total. During the twenty-four hours Shao Lan had been away, he had barely eaten or drunk anything.

Pancake Uncle knew he was weak. With his lame leg, he couldn't possibly earn much money by taking part in Instances, so he was all the more determined to save. Like an elderly person who had spent a lifetime being frugal, he couldn't bear to spend money on food or drink.

Even so, he had used his own money to buy bandages and medicine for Jiang Mingran.

Worried that Pancake Uncle's blood sugar was low, Shao Lan urged him to eat some bread first. Pancake Uncle waved him off. "That bread was bought with Jiang's money."

Shao Lan said, "It's fine. I earned money from this Instance. I'll buy him more."

"You risked your life for that money. I can't take it," Pancake Uncle said. "Shao, I know you're capable, but even capable people fall on hard times. If you spend all your money now, what will you do when that happens?"

In truth, a loaf of bread cost ten yuan, which was easily affordable with Shao Lan's current balance.

But he knew that, simple and stubborn as Pancake Uncle was, he wouldn't accept it if Shao Lan just gave it to him.

Shao Lan thought for a moment. "How about this, Pancake Uncle? I won't give it to you for free."

"You must have noticed that ingredients in this vending machine aren't that expensive. It's the ready-to-eat food that costs a lot."

"I can't cook. Why don't I buy some ingredients and have you cook for me? Every time you finish, you get a portion as payment for the cooking."

Seeing Pancake Uncle still hesitate, Shao Lan headed straight for the vending machine. "If you won't agree, I'll have to buy prepared dishes-I really don't want to eat boiled potatoes anymore."

"If you won't earn this money, I'll just let the vending machine earn it..."

Before he could finish, Pancake Uncle had already stopped him.

"I'll cook. I'll do it."

Shao Lan smiled. "All right. Then you pick the ingredients."

Pancake Uncle wiped his eyes. He knew Shao was finding a way to help him.

Pancake Uncle had always been careful with his living expenses, and now he wanted to stretch every yuan as far as it could possibly go. Shao Lan gave him a budget of a hundred yuan, but he ended up spending only fifty.

That fifty yuan went a long way. Pancake Uncle made three dishes and a soup: braised small yellow croaker, dry-pot chicken wings, tofu braised with scallions, and spinach meatball soup.

They all looked like ordinary home cooking, but once they were ready, they smelled so good that even the dying Jiang Mingran drooled in his unconscious state.

Unfortunately, Jiang Mingran was too badly injured to eat substantial dishes, so Pancake Uncle prepared a separate meal for him: steamed egg custard and noodles simmered until soft.

Shao Lan had always thought he could eat anything, but after biting into a dry-pot chicken wing, crisp outside, tender inside, and deliciously fragrant... he felt he could never go back to those days of eating boiled potatoes.

That money was so well spent!

Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, Shao Lan went to the vending machine and began searching for something important-an iron door.