Holding her new phone, Qiao An beamed with a sunny smile. Even if Little Bai and Little Qing weren't impressed, Little Fox was snuggled in her arms, watching videos with her. She watched her roll around the bed, laughing at a few hairless humans (use your imagination).
Grinning from ear to ear with a goofy laugh, Qiao An finally turned over lazily after getting her fill of handsome men and opened her account backend.
She hadn't checked before, but a single glance was all it took to give her a shock. Her balance had skyrocketed again!
During her last stream, she had been attacked by that crazed man and her phone had been smashed. She had no idea how the stream had gone, only that there had been a lot of viewers at the time. Afterward, all her attention had been focused on digging that pit, and she hadn't paid any more attention to it.
She never expected that in such a short time, she would have received so many tips. The total had once again reached a four-figure sum.
With money in her pocket and courage in her heart, Qiao An leaped from the bed, patting the drowsy Little Bai and Little Qing. She grinned, "Your big sis is rich now! I'm taking you guys out for a feast tonight. What do you want to eat?"
Little Qing perked up instantly, wagging its tail nonstop for a tasty treat.
Little Bai, with a look of indifference, hooked its tail around the blanket again, having no desire to leave the warm cocoon. "Sister, we're pythons. If you want to feed both of us until we're full, you'll need to get at least one live cow, right?"
Qiao An thought about it and realized he was right. She pulled out her phone to search, and her spirits instantly deflated.
"A single cow costs over twenty thousand? Isn't that more than my life is worth?"
Qiao An, who had thought she was loaded, was defeated by reality. Who would have thought a cow could be so expensive? A single meal would cost tens of thousands.
Little Bai watched Qiao An's expression shift rapidly and snickered from under the blanket.
"Don't stress over a live cow. Just buy a freshly killed chicken for me and Little Qing. We haven't had fresh meat in a long time. You're about to turn Little Qing into a dog."
Two live chickens weren't too expensive. Qiao An nodded in agreement, then looked at Little Fox.
"Sweetie, aren't you going to go home?"
She had found the baby Little Fox and lured it home. Unlike Little Bai and Little Qing, who were adult pythons, it at least needed to go home and explain the situation.
Chewing on its own fluffy tail, Little Fox thought for a moment. It was at a playful age, drawn to the strange and wonderful things in the city, but it was also afraid of getting scolded when it got home. Its hesitant look was utterly adorable.
"Sister, I want to play here for a few more days, but my mommy and daddy are waiting for me on the mountain. I have to go home first."
Hugging Little Fox tightly and ruffling its fur again, Qiao An couldn't bear to let it go either. But casually abducting underage animals wasn't exactly a good thing. She could only send it home safely and then bring it back to play after getting its parents' permission.
"You're such a good, sensible boy. Alright, I'll take you home first, then go buy these guys some treats."
This was winter. Otherwise, given Little Bai and Little Qing's appetites, Qiao An wouldn't be able to afford them at all. The two snakes simply had no appetite because of the cold weather. They were just hiding out here for the warmth, not wanting to hibernate in the wild.
Once spring came and life returned to the world, Little Bai and Little Qing would crawl back to the mountains behind, where they could find any game they wanted to eat.
Tucking Little Fox into her sweatshirt and zipping it up, Qiao An ignored the biting cold wind and once again sped through the city on a shared bike.
Before it left, Little Fox even reminded her, "Sister, remember to come pick me up here in three days. I want to come play at your house again."
After releasing Little Fox at the edge of the large mountain behind the cluster of abandoned buildings, Qiao An watched reluctantly as its figure darted through the woods and quickly disappeared.
Now, riding the shared bike and aimlessly wandering, Qiao An felt a bit bored. She couldn't stream at night, which freed up some time. She had a little money in her pocket now, but who could afford to just sit around and burn through their savings?
As she mulled this over, Qiao An gradually neared the most prosperous section of the city center. It was a completely different scene from the Urban Village, like two different worlds.
The clean and tidy streets were paved with stone bricks, the streetlights were brilliant and bright, and there was no stench of rotting garbage. Even the people passing by were exquisitely dressed, and from time to time, an intoxicating scent of perfume would drift past.
Seeing how bright and beautiful this place was, Qiao An felt more sadness than longing.
Humans were constantly squeezing the living space of animals. It seemed that higher-class humans were constantly climbing up, stepping on those less successful to reach higher positions. How was this any different from the interstellar era she had come from?
Those planets that maintained prosperity grew stronger and stronger by exploiting lower-class planets, eventually leading to resource depletion and the complete destruction of the planet.
In the eyes of those higher beings, lower beings were as stupid as pigs, not even as useful as the Beast Clan. At least the Beast Clan was strong and could accomplish more tasks.
SIGH.
Just as Qiao An, feeling utterly out of place, was about to leave after a soft sigh, someone called out to her.
Lazily sipping his coffee, Xie Shan happened to be walking out of a convenience store. He waved his arms enthusiastically to greet Qiao An.
HI!
The ever-enthusiastic Xie Shan made Qiao An stop her shared bike again. She tilted her head and looked at him.
"Sister Qiao, what brings you over here? This is my turf, I know it well. Where are you heading? I can give you a ride."
Seeing Qiao An at this hour, an uneasy Xie Shan had no intention of letting her go. Otherwise, if she went livestreaming again, he might have to work overtime. Already surviving on coffee every day, Xie Shan really didn't want to go back to the station and deal with his captain's moods.
"Oh, nothing. I just came to experience the prosperity of the city center. When I make money in the future, maybe I can move here."
That wasn't a lie. Qiao An's long-held dream was to move out of the Urban Village. As long as she didn't have to share a place with other people, she wouldn't mind taking in a few more poor little animals.
Still slurping his iced coffee in the cold wind, Xie Shan chuckled and pointed to a towering skyscraper nearby.
"That's easy. Pick a spot in this building, and I'll let you live there for free."
...
Qiao An's shocked gaze shifted from the building to Xie Shan. She was completely floored!
'Heavens above! I'm never calling you Grandpa again! You obviously don't see me as your real grandchild! Why does Xie Shan get to have it all?!'
Although Qiao An was screaming her lungs out on the inside, she forced a smile onto her face.
"Xie Shan, are you really secretly rich?"
With an exaggerated flourish, Xie Shan extended his wrist. A shimmering watch appeared before Qiao An's eyes.
"Let me show you what your bro is made of. Did you think I was just messing around all this time?"
Hmm...
After a long moment of contemplation, Qiao An spoke with great earnestness, "Bro, you shouldn't drink iced coffee in the middle of winter, it'll give you the runs. Also, with your wrist exposed like that, you'll catch a cold. You'll get sick when you're older. You should bundle up more. You have to tuck your long johns into your socks to stay warm."
Faced with Qiao An's sudden concern, Xie Shan was at a loss for words.
After a long pause, it dawned on him. Qiao An didn't recognize the watch; she was only concerned that his exposed wrist meant he wasn't wearing thermal underwear.
Showing off wealth requires the right audience. Clearly, Qiao An had never been wealthy. She didn't understand brands, let alone which brands had "luxury" attached to them.
'How expensive can a stupid watch be?' she probably thought. She used her phone to check the time; who even wore a watch anymore?
Still sipping his iced coffee, Xie Shan's spirit crumbled a little in the cold wind. He never imagined that his first attempt at flexing his wealth would hit such a brick wall.
"Uh, I really am rich. How about I treat you to a buffet to prove it? The most expensive one around, all-you-can-eat seafood!"
This time, Qiao An's eyes lit up, and her smile became much warmer.
"A buffet... is that the kind of place where you can eat whatever you want, as much as you want?"
Qiao An had seen ads for such places on her phone, but the prices were always rather high, not as practical as splurging on egg fried rice from a street stall. Now that Xie Shan was offering to treat her, how could she possibly refuse?
"Of course. Eat as much as you want. It's on me. How about it?"
Seeing how generous Xie Shan was being, Qiao An hesitated.
"What's wrong? Do you have something else to do?"
Clutching the handlebars of the shared bike, Qiao An lowered her head again and said sheepishly, "You'll have to wait for me, then. There's no docking station here, so I have to ride it back..."
Xie Shan's second attempt to show off his wealth was defeated by a shared bike. He was getting annoyed!
"Don't worry about it. I'll arrange for someone to return the bike for you. You just come to the buffet with me. Just let me play with Little Fox next time."
Soon, Xie Shan had arranged for his butler to come over. Seeing his young master standing in the cold wind chatting with a slender girl, the butler was just about to utter the classic line—"It's been so long since I've seen the young master smile like this"—when he noticed the girl was constantly shaking her head and refusing.
If his young master wasn't an active-duty police officer, he would have been tempted to call the cops on him.
'Xie Shan, what an injustice!'