Chapter 1523
Making Money Isn't Shameful
Chapter 1523 Making Money Isn't Shameful
The road to the garbage planet is difficult.
After trudging down the mountain of garbage, my freshly cleaned eyepiece was quickly covered in dust again, turning it into a frosted glass.
“This dust is really thick…” Antonio raised his hand to wipe it, but tripped and almost fell flat on his face, but Lin Fan grabbed him.
“Who says otherwise?” Lu Shi, who was walking ahead, said cheerfully, “This place is so dusty you can choke on your breath. Watch your step, boss, the road is rough.”
Lan Bingru hesitated for a moment: "Will those people whose helmets we took be alright? It's not that I'm soft-hearted, it's just that I feel it's not worth taking on such a life-or-death situation so easily..."
"We won't die!" Lu Shiban turned to the side and waved his hand. "I've been here for so long that I'm used to this lousy air. Taking a breath of it will keep me healthy. It's not a big problem. Besides, they're all awake. They're just waiting for us to get away and run away. If you don't believe me, go back now and you'll see there's not a single hair left on the ground."
“You’re really brave!” Antonio exclaimed. “Knowing they were all awake, you still brazenly took things from them.”
Lu Shi is a very interesting girl.
He made a show of force at first, but then quickly took advantage of the situation; he was very clever.
Seeing that the three men were very tolerant of her, after taking off her shoes, she ransacked the people lying on the ground who dared not move.
The broken pipe fittings that Antonio had scrapped, all in pieces, were carried away in a sack by her.
If stripping clothes weren't so time-consuming, Lin Fan would have suspected that this girl, who was so quick to pluck feathers from passing geese, could have stripped all those people naked.
"Hey~ Since we're already here! With you guys here, they don't dare to get up. I'm not stupid to take such a good opportunity!" Lu Shi casually switched to a different shoulder bag and waved to the back.
"Besides, with you guys protecting me these next couple of days, and I'm leaving soon, they won't have a chance to get revenge..." He chuckled a few times, "If I don't take this opportunity to get my revenge, when will I ever have another chance? It's not enough, but it's better than nothing! Bah! I'm not afraid of them!"
Antonio actually thought it made sense, but he disagreed and advised, "You little girl, you keep talking about birds and farts, who taught you that? You should change it."
Lu Shi paused, turned around, and gave Antonio a thorough once-over.
Although his vision was blurry, Antonio was certain the little girl couldn't see anything at all, but he still asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Lu Shi shook his head and sighed, then turned back to continue leading the way.
"This guy clearly hasn't experienced hardship; he's terrifyingly naive..."
“M-Uncle?” Antonio’s mind went blank at the word.
Antonio has always been synonymous with handsome men, tough guys, and good-looking men. How did he suddenly become an uncle?
Although it's not unreasonable for his age, his face and physique don't look like a stubble-faced, weathered, and down-on-his-luck middle-aged man at all.
"No, how am I an old man?" Antonio immediately jumped in front of Lu Shi, took off his helmet to show her, "Someone like me should at least call me 'brother'!"
Lu Shi glanced at Antonio's handsome face, which was flushed with anxiety and covered in ashes, clicked his tongue, and walked straight past him.
"Hey!" Antonio wanted to ask more questions, but Lin Fan grabbed him and forcefully put the helmet back on him, so he could only shout from behind, "No, your attitude is not good! You have to deduct money!"
Lu Shi immediately turned around and asked Lin Fan, "Boss, is this going to be penalized too?"
"No, I won't deduct it." Lin Fan pushed Antonio. "She's just a young girl, it's not wrong for her to call you 'uncle,' what's there to argue about?"
"Exactly! The boss is so generous!" Lu Shi turned around with a smile.
Knowing that she wouldn't have her pay docked, she felt relieved.
"No, why are you the boss and I'm just an uncle? Why don't you call her auntie..." Antonio persisted.
"Aren't you bored?" Lin Fan kicked him.
"Because the boss pays!" Lu Shi said matter-of-factly. "If you pay me, I can call you Boss Brother too."
“…That’s realistic.” Antonio gave her a thumbs up, but Lu Shi didn’t turn around and couldn’t see it. “What about the other one? What did you call her? Xiao Lan, say something.”
Lan Bingru had no intention of getting involved in this pointless debate over titles, but since Antonio called her out, she had no choice but to express her opinion.
"Brother An, I don't care, as long as you don't curse me, you can call me whatever you want."
“See, that’s the difference.” Lu Shi glanced at Antonio, who was still arguing. “Older people care when others say they’re old; younger people don’t care at all. If you really can’t accept it, you can give me a name-change fee, and I’ll immediately start calling you ‘brother’!”
As she spoke, she stretched out her hand, palm up. Antonio, who was initially annoyed, saw this and irritably swatted her hand away.
"Is this what you really want? You little brat, all these tricks up your sleeve, you just want to swindle money from me, don't you?"
"What you're saying..." Lu Shi, unfazed by being exposed, tugged at the sack and continued walking. "It was consensual, how can you call it a scam? Making money isn't shameful. I'll need a lot of money to live on after I leave here, why not take the opportunity to earn it? So, are you going to change your mind?"
"No, no!" Antonio crossed his arms, no longer caring about being called "uncle." "Little brat, not old, but big-hearted."
"Tch!" Lu Shi scoffed and muttered under his breath, "What a cheapskate!"
"Don't think I didn't hear you!" Antonio's ears were so sharp that it was hard for him not to hear, so he immediately complained to Lin Fan, "Honey, she insulted me, deduct her pay!"
Lin Fan was speechless at his childish game, but ultimately defended his own people and warned, "Lu Shi..."
"Understood, boss!" Lu Shi cleverly interrupted her. "I'll be careful."
With Antonio's witty banter, the tedious and boring road of the garbage planet wasn't too difficult to endure.
Lu Shi's background gradually became clear.
She was abandoned on a garbage planet as a child, not knowing her parents or her origins. She was found in a garbage dump by a lousy old man and named Lu Shi – meaning picked up on the road.
On this garbage planet where the strong prey on the weak and everything depends on fighting for it, she grew wildly under the protection of an old man and through his unorthodox teachings.
"When the old man was alive, he always said that only by leaving could one find a way to survive. After he died, I had no more worries and was just waiting to save enough money. Now, I've met a benefactor like you, boss!"
Lu Shixi pushed open a dilapidated door with a big smile and fumbled for the light switch on the wall: "This is my home, come in and rest for a bit."
Lin Fan lowered his head and entered, only to meet the gaze of the tall young man standing inside. They stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Lan Bingru, who was behind Lin Fan, also suddenly stopped.
The two men blocked the narrow doorway, preventing Antonio from getting in.
"Don't be shy, boss! Make yourself at home! Please sit down!" Lu Shi was still gesturing from outside.
“This dilapidated house of yours…” Antonio peeked inside, then immediately pushed Lan Bingru aside and squeezed half of his body inside. “Little girl, I didn’t expect you to be hiding a man at such a young age!”
Lu Shi just mentioned that the old man she lived with had been dead for some time.
Even if she were to come back to life, she shouldn't look this young.
"Who?" Lu Shi's expression changed drastically. He crawled under Antonio's arm.
Upon seeing who was in the room, she instantly bristled: "Ah! How did you get awake?"
"Who's he?" Antonio nudged Lu Shi with his elbow in a cheeky manner. "Your lover?"
"What?!" Lu Shi irritably pushed him aside, squeezed into the room, and rushed to the young man, both anxious and angry. "Why did you have to wake up at this time!"
The young man looked bewildered and somewhat nervously awkward: "Otherwise... when should I wake up?"
"Oh dear!" Lu Shi scratched his head and squatted down. "It's a mess! Everything's a mess! Why didn't you wake up sooner or later... I should have known better than to save you!"
"..." The young man looked at Lu Shi, then at the three people watching the commotion at the door, "Should I... say thank you?"
"No need, no need!" Lu Shi stood up irritably, grabbed the young man and headed for the door. "Since you're alright, get out of here and stop getting in my way!"
Lin Fan and the other two quickly moved aside at the doorway.
The young man was a head taller and more muscular than Lu Shi, but Lu Shi still dragged him out the door and slammed it shut.
Lin Fan had no intention of interfering in Lu Yao's private affairs, but he didn't expect to hear the young man's murmur outside the door.
"Where did I end up? System? Where's my cheat system? Why isn't there any plot hints at all?!"