Chapter 46: Meng Xiaoni
She leaned closer, her eyes deliberately sweeping over him. "You can even have a hundred."
Lu Yucai’s expression stiffened. "But you’ll have to pay with your body."
His ears immediately turned red. "Mengxue!"
Ni Mengxue laughed softly, but the smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes, and he noticed it.
He stared at her for several seconds before his expression slowly became serious. "What happened?"
Ni Mengxue froze. "Nothing."
"You’ve been smiling strangely since you entered."
Her eyes flickered.
Lu Yucai continued softly, "What kind of news did you receive that made you this sad?"
Ni Mengxue instinctively looked away.
He immediately became uneasy. "Is it related to me?"
Her lips trembled slightly. She bit them before finally sighing.
"The orphanage director you’ve been searching for..."
Lu Yucai’s expression became tense. Ni Mengxue lowered her gaze.
"According to the information I received, he most likely became a zombie."
The room instantly fell silent. Lu Yucai’s eyes widened. "Impossible."
His voice was barely audible. "How? No... that’s impossible."
His breathing gradually became faster, and his face turned pale as dizziness suddenly overwhelmed him.
Ni Mengxue immediately knelt before him and cupped his face with both hands. "Yucai, calm down."
He stared at her blankly.
"Listen to me."
She gently rubbed his cheeks. "I can make the zombie virus antidote."
Lu Yucai froze.
Ni Mengxue continued,
"So even if your orphanage director really turned into a zombie, there is still a chance. Don’t you believe in my capability?"
Lu Yucai’s trembling gradually stopped. Indeed.
If Ni Mengxue could create something as unbelievable as the levelling-up potion, perhaps creating a zombie virus antidote wasn’t impossible for her either.
Then he finally understood.
The reason she had told him about the potion wasn’t simply to help him become stronger.
She had wanted to give him hope before telling him the truth.
His heart suddenly warmed. Without thinking, he reached forward and pulled her into his arms.
Because Ni Mengxue was kneeling in front of him, he could easily embrace her.
She stiffened for a moment before quietly resting her head against his chest.
"Thank you."
Lu Yucai’s voice was soft.
’It has been a long time since someone comforted me like this.’
Ni Mengxue didn’t answer. She simply wrapped her arms around him.
For so long, he had carried everything alone.
He had lost his family, been abandoned, been treated as useless because of his crippled legs, and even when he desperately wanted to find the person who had once cared for him, he had been forced to walk that path alone.
But now, someone was telling him that there was still hope.
Even though the truth waiting for him might be cruel, the weight of it suddenly didn’t seem as frightening as before.
Burning Star Base.
"Xiaoni, you should take some rest." A soft voice echoed in the machinery area. Many researchers who were working subconsciously looked over.
Meng Xiaoni, with slightly messy hair and a hunched figure, focused on the machine he was tinkering with, completely ignoring the blue-haired woman with delicate features standing beside him.
Chu Lin clenched her fist when he ignored her again. Before the apocalypse, she and Meng Xiaoni used to live in the same villa area. At that time, she could only admire him from afar.
He was an untouchable noble prince with endless talent and belonging to a wealthy family. While she was just one of the ordinary women he met.
Before the apocalypse, he was engaged to Su Yao, the heiress of the wealthy Su family, and she had no chance of being with her. But now... now he was married to a dunce, a good-for-nothing.
Surely, now he can see her potential and look in her direction, right? She was so considerate and even chased him daily, even when he looked so messy now and his half-face was burnt.
"As long as you agree to come with me, I will take you away, and no one will ever recognise you as Meng Xiaoni. I will also give you the title of equal husband!"
Meng Xiaoni, like a robot, focused on the work. All his attention was on the fact that his family was still waiting for him to help them.
"Just divorce that bitch Mengxue! She only knows how to curse! I can even let you meet Su Yao for closure! I have some connections!" Chu Lin insisted.
Having had enough, Meng Xiaoni frowned and said sternly, "I am not interested, neither in you nor in Su Yao. Leave me alone."
"So are you going to waste away your life slaving here? Don’t tell me you want to save your family! 20,000 kg of pure rice is required to redeem just a single person! Xiaoni, come to your senses!"
"Did I ask for your help?" Meng Xiaoni shouted; his disfigured face made Chu Lin flinch, and disgust appeared in her eyes subconsciously.
"Leave." He snorted and then buried himself in work. Feeling humiliated, Chu Lin gritted her teeth and shouted, "Do you think you are still that mighty prince? Or wait... do you think you are as talented as Mo Beichan?"
Everyone fell silent while Chu Lin felt thrilled seeing Meng Xiaoni freeze and continued,
"Mo Beichan is the genius who invented the recovery potion, and you... you tried to steal it! If it weren’t for her grace, Su Yao, you would have wronged an innocent person. I truly wonder how many of your accolades were actually earned by your own hand."
Meng Xiaoni roared, "It was him! He had stolen my work, I..."
"Shut up. You know what? I am not interested in pursuing a plagiarist like you!" Chu Lin waved her hand and walked away, while other workers started to point fingers at him.
Gritting his teeth, Meng Xiaoni ignored the burning pain in his stomach and focused on his work. He didn’t care how many years it would require... all he wanted... was to save his family.
At 8 pm, he walked back to his locker room, only to find it open.