"Twice?"
Ji Tianzong's smile widened, feeling confident as he confirmed with Qiu E, "Twice."
As for Wen Bai, he truly disliked living day to day without knowing where the next meal would come from. To complete his mission in this world, he had to survive first.
"Deal."
"Brother, why are you late again? I've been waiting for you for ages, and you haven't shown up. Did you forget...?" someone pushed the door open.
"What's that smell... Damn it... This early in the morning..."
Ji Tianle had arranged to discuss some matters with his brother today. He waited at their meeting spot for half an hour without seeing him. Finally, he realized his brother might have forgotten and decided to come find him.
To his surprise, he walked in just as his brother was pulling and tugging with another man. Anyone with eyes could see that his brother's affections shifted from one person to another, never to be reeled back in.
People came and went around him, yet there was never a shortage of those who flocked to him.
He turned his head and saw the person his brother was holding. It seemed his brother's delay in meeting him was all because of this person.
Ji Tianle felt annoyed. Glancing over, he didn't even look directly at Wen Bai, as if afraid of dirtying his own eyes. He simply threw a sentence, "Finish up quickly, I'll wait for you in the garage."
With that, he slammed the door shut.
"The second male lead, Ji Tianle. He meets the female lead in the mall and falls in love with her at first sight, becoming a stepping stone in the romance between the female lead and the male lead. Whenever the female lead is hurt, he's by her side. When the female lead and male lead reconcile, he quietly retreats. He's a typical rich second-generation with a love-obsessed mindset. Oh, right, this world is relatively simple, with the entire plot revolving around the romantic relationship between the male and female leads. There isn't much grand love or hate. If the plot needs to be disrupted, he's a good starting point."
Wen Bai followed Ji Tianle out.
"Where are you going? Didn't we agree you'd work here?"
"Are we starting now?"
Ji Tianzong's gaze swept over Wen Bai's head, a smug smile appearing on his face. "Am I that harsh a boss? Take a few days off. Come back after the wound on your head heals a bit. There's no rush here."
Wen Bai walked down the street, seemingly without a destination. System 001 couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing now?"
Wen Bai: "Eating."
Logically, 001 should have freaked out at this response. The host wasn't proactive, had issues, and they were on the run!
However, when it thought about its host enduring such a harsh environment just for meager wages, then saw Wen Bai's injured head, and finally heard that his first priority after getting money was food, a wave of bittersweet emotions surged within 001. It suddenly understood the poignant emotions of humans.
Upon seeing Wen Bai order a table full of food, 001's feeling of sorrow reached its peak. It couldn't help but sigh, "This must be the most pitiable host I've ever had."
Wen Bai, unaware of System 001's thoughts, devoured the food on the table with a refined yet rapid pace.
Ever since he was exiled to the barren lands, he hadn't eaten anything edible for a very, very, very long time. There was nothing there.
For others, the loneliness and isolation that would drive them mad were nothing to Wen Bai. While he wouldn't die, he would starve, which was unbearable to him. The emptiness and hollowness in his stomach far outweighed the side effects of his emotions.
He had an innate obsession with food, dating back to his prenatal days.
Facing a table full of delicacies now, he felt as if a beast within him was about to roar out and devour everything on the table.
After consuming several plates, Wen Bai's hunger was finally satisfied.
He sighed inwardly, "Indeed, this is what people eat."
Wen Bai sat in the main dining hall, not in a private room. Alone, and at such an early hour, he managed to create an atmosphere as if he had booked the entire place.
There were no other customers in the restaurant at the moment, and everyone was focused on him, ready to serve him.
Wen Bai raised a hand, and sure enough, a waiter from not far away immediately approached, "Sir, is there anything else you require?"
"This, this, this, this, this, and another one," Wen Bai said, wiping food from the corner of his lips with a napkin.
He quickly added several dishes, his gaze never leaving the food on the table.
"Y-yes... yes," the waiter stammered in response.
Although he had recovered from his initial shock and was now slightly more accustomed, his eyes couldn't help but scan Wen Bai's flat stomach, wondering: How could such a flat stomach hold so much food, enough for three to four people?
"Pack a bowl of fish congee..." a somewhat familiar voice rang out.
Wen Bai's seating position was particularly conspicuous. The person tilted their head slightly and spotted the person sitting in the middle of the hall, conspicuously busy eating and unable to attend to anything else.
The newcomer was Su Ying. He loved the congee at this establishment and would often take a detour to pack a bowl for breakfast. He hadn't expected to run into an acquaintance here.
Before Wen Bai's chopsticks could even touch the food on his plate, he saw a pair of slender, well-articulated hands lift the entire plate he was about to pick from.
Wen Bai looked up in displeasure, meeting a pair of eyes filled with a smile.
"Your injury hasn't healed yet, you shouldn't eat these," the gaze intentionally fell on Wen Bai's head.
Without waiting for a reply, Su Ying once again reached out and took some of the food from the table.
Wen Bai became angry and stood up to protect the food Su Ying was taking.
"I can eat it," he said, hastily swallowing the food in his mouth.
As if surprised by Wen Bai's strong reaction, Su Ying paused. "The wound will get inflamed."
Su Ying observed the person before him, who had been on the verge of death last night, and was now full of vigor.
Su Ying said slowly, "The wound is on your head. If it doesn't heal quickly, it will leave a scar." Seeing that Wen Bai showed no reaction, Su Ying continued, "If it becomes inflamed and worsens, you'll lose consciousness."
Wen Bai's hand, which had been poised to reclaim the food, stopped.
He didn't want to experience that feeling of being powerless again. The physical condition of this body was indeed subpar.
Wen Bai sat back down and continued eating what he could. Noticing Su Ying was still there,
Wen Bai asked, "Do you have other business?"
"No."
Wen Bai: "Do you want to sit down and eat together?"
After all, more than half of this much food he couldn't eat now. While his health was important, it couldn't be wasted. He had already ordered it, and it couldn't be returned. He had even added an extra dish! This person had helped him last night, so it was better to let him eat it than to waste it.
Su Ying was taken aback. Was this person, who had previously been so resistant to him, now inviting him?
He gestured to the waiter next to him to bring his packed congee, and he began eating it there.
He placed the fish congee in front of Wen Bai. "The congee here is good."
Wen Bai accepted it as a matter of course.
Neither of them spoke, and they finished the meal in an unexpected silence.
Su Ying looked at the empty plates in front of Wen Bai. Initially, he thought the other person had come with friends, but then he realized this person had eaten all this by themselves.
And they were still going.
Su Ying couldn't help but say, "Eating like this can easily lead to indigestion."
Wen Bai naturally ignored him.
After eating their fill, most of the table was cleared, except for the dishes Wen Bai couldn't eat.
Wen Bai gave the person opposite him a dissatisfied look. His appetite was so small, such a waste!
He calmly held his teacup and drank tea, his eyes lowered to the floating tea leaves in the cup. Wisps of steam gently brushed past his long, slender eyelashes, slowly condensing into mist.
"Full?"
Wen Bai lazily rubbed his stomach and repeated, "Full."
This was the first time he had truly felt full.
It was better here. He would never go back to that cursed place of exile. He was determined to disrupt these worlds.
Didn't 001 say that disrupting this world would earn him money? Then he could eat more and better things!
The person opposite him looked at him inexplicably, his gaze suddenly becoming resolute.
Seeing that Wen Bai had indeed finished eating, Su Ying signaled the waiter and considerately paid the bill.
Wen Bai's eyes widened slightly, and his gaze towards Su Ying was no longer as guarded.
Noticing the sudden change in Wen Bai's eyes, which widened slightly as they looked at him, Su Ying remained composed.
At the entrance of the restaurant, Su Ying reached out and checked the gauze wrapped around Wen Bai's head. "You should rest well now to let the wound heal faster."
Rarely, Wen Bai replied, "Mmm."
"Didn't you dislike him?" System 001's voice chimed in.
"He paid for me," Wen Bai replied calmly.
So, paying the bill meant listening to him about resting and healing, and even getting a head pat?
001 felt that its host was acting a bit strange, but it couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
That night, Wen Bai staked out the male lead's usual route and, as expected, waited for him.
It was incredibly easy to collapse a world. If either the male or female lead was gone, the world could no longer sustain itself.
He and 001 had remarkably similar ideas on this matter. This was the quickest and most effective method.
Of course, he wouldn't do this himself. The physical condition of his current body was too poor!
He easily found the people who had robbed him by the river and persuaded them to cause trouble for the male lead.
These people never imagined that their whim to rob someone for money that night would result in them being robbed instead, and that it wasn't over yet, they were now being threatened with fists.
The group was trembling, but Wen Bai's methods were ruthless and his appearance extremely intimidating. The memory of being beaten up still made them agree. Who could be more terrifying than the fiend before them?
It was just about bringing someone here; wouldn't a few people be able to handle one person?
Yu Yang looked at the group of people with unfriendly faces approaching him. He signaled for those behind him to stand back, twisted his neck, and slightly rolled his shoulder blades backward.
He was in a bad mood today, and it had been a while since he had exercised his muscles. Now, some foolish people had shown up, which was just perfect.