Women were observant. Noticing that something was off about him, Lily Wright quieted down and tore her tissue in half, passing the other piece across the table, she did this as a joke to cheer him up even though he wasn't tearing up yet.
She asked softly, "Brother… did this bring back some painful memories?"
Don smiled faintly. "Lily, go home. Even if your parents are in the wrong, children shouldn't be so stubborn."
Lily shook her head again. "Brother, you don't know about my family situation. If we get closer one day, I'll tell you."
"Alright. I'll wait for that day. Hopefully we both make the shortlist of five."
"Just call me Lily. That's what my friends call me."
"Okay."
Lily had a serious appetite. The two of them polished off the entire pound of buns in no time, and in the end Don ordered another three ounces, which finally filled them both up.
Stepping out of the steamed bun shop, Lily smacked her lips in satisfaction. "So good! This must be the legendary Goubuli."
Don shook his head. "Another one fooled by the Goubuli reputation."
"What do you mean?"
"Tell your friends in the future, when they come to Liverpool, don't bother with Goubuli. It's not authentic anymore. All the ancestral craftsmanship has been lost."
"Oh, I see. But this little place is really nice. I might come here more often."
Don felt a small pang of sadness. She was easy to please, at least. These buns weren't expensive, but they weren't cheap either, twenty-five yuan a pound, enough to cover daily groceries for a family of three in Liverpool.
Still, judging by her clothes and appearance, her family background had to be comfortable. And years of reading people had sharpened his instincts. This girl was the kind who was naive, the kind who got taken advantage of easily.
So he went a little further than he probably should have. When they were almost back at the building entrance, he asked her to wait a moment, walked over to the ATM at the nearby American Construction Bank, and withdrew two thousand dollars.
He handed it to her directly. "Take this. Book a hotel for a few days. Use the rest for food. And think things through, go home as soon as you can. Don't keep making trouble for yourself out here, you hear me?"
Lily stuck out her tongue. "Why do you sound a bit like my dad?"
"Whoa, do I look that old? I'm only twenty-three."
"Well, you're almost twenty-three, so I guess I should call you uncle." She teased, eyes glinting.
"Fine. Whatever." He was speechless.
She happily tucked the money into her pocket. "Brother, I'll remember your life-saving kindness. I'll repay you tenfold one day."
"Don't give me that. Just pay back the principal, I'm not even expecting interest."
"To be honest, my family is really rich."
"That's your family's business. It doesn't really have anything to do with you. If you're capable, you should earn the money yourself and pay me back. That's real ability, don't you think?"
"Hmph. Of course I can make money. I earned a lot of gold coins yesterday."
"A lot? How many?"
"Nine. Scared now?" she said smugly.
Don was genuinely surprised. Nine gold coins was a considerable sum, and the ability to earn money in-game was one of the clearest indicators of a player's skill. For a girl to pull in nine coins in just over six hours meant her level was already quite high. It was unexpected. This little lady had a real knack for virtual games.
After a good meal, both of them felt much better, the weariness finally lifting from their faces.
In the elevator, Lily asked, "Brother, I forgot to ask, what class did you pick?"
"Thief."
"Oh no. I was hoping to extort some equipment from you if you'd picked a different class. But that's not going to happen now, our gear conflicts."
"Doesn't matter. Equipment is something you can get if you put your mind to it. Oh, right, I forgot to ask you. Are you training as an archer, crossbowman, or bowman?"
"Crossbowman, of course. Dark Elves have much better figures than for it than archers. It's a perfect match for their graceful silhouette."
Lily said this without a hint of a blush. And honestly, it was rare to meet a girl who could eat like she did and still have such a perfect figure.
"By the way, brother, give me a call when you log on. I'll ask a friend to help you level up."
"No need. I level pretty fast."
"Oh? Then let's compete. No bothering each other for a week, let's see who's higher level by the end of it."
"That's exactly what I had in mind."
Back at the Extraordinary Studio, only a handful of people remained in the lobby. Number Sixteen had also logged off and was sitting to one side, drinking a bowl of KFC egg drop porridge. When she saw them come in, she gave a polite nod.
Lily, being the outgoing type she was, immediately struck up a conversation. "Hey, sis. Going to keep grinding later?"
"Yeah. Did you two go get breakfast?" Number Sixteen's appearance leaned slightly masculine, but her voice was surprisingly pleasant, soft, with a hint of magnetism. Honestly, she would have been even prettier with longer hair.
"Yes. I had steamed buns. Liverpool buns are really delicious."
"You're lucky. Your boyfriend treats you well."
Don started sweating, how do people always misunderstand casual relationships like this "Excuse me, big sister, she's not my girlfriend. We're friends."
"Please. I'm only twenty-two this year. I shouldn't be called 'big sister,' should I?"
"Uh… sorry. My mistake."
She smiled faintly and went back to her porridge.
Lily asked cheerfully, "By the way, sis, what class are you playing?"
"Me? Knight."
"Yes! Our team has a tank now," Lily said excitedly. "Sis, you'd better level up fast so we can team up."
"Haha, thanks for the kind words. It's just that knights level slowly. I'm only Level 13 right now."
Don was taken aback. "Reaching Level 13 as a knight in this amount of time is actually impressive."