Chapter 75

Not Hungry

Some people are still standing on the outside while their soul has already shattered and flown away.

Curly Hair saw Chao Musheng sitting in a wheelchair — first came the worry, then the recollection that she was still holding a garbage bag she'd cleaned out of a patient room. She froze in place and didn't go over.

In the moment of hesitation, Chao Musheng was already being wheeled inside. She stood there wringing the bag, cursing the Main God comprehensively in her head.

That wretched thing — always hovering around Xiao Chao, looking for an angle.

She stood at the doorway, trying to see past the medical staff surrounding him, rising onto her toes for a better view.

Qi Shi watched her making every effort to crane into the room and finally couldn't look anymore. He reached out, pulled her aside, and dropped his voice: "Do you want to get yourself killed?"

First day in the instance and already gawking at an NPC. She was ranked in the top two hundred — how could she still be this careless?

"Shi-ge." Curly Hair and Qi Shi hadn't been in an instance together before, but they'd run into each other in the player lounge often enough that they weren't strangers — just not particularly close either.

"You may not be assigned to Ward Four, but don't forget what the floor manager said — any patient has the right to file a complaint against us." Qi Shi's tone was flat. "You've made it this far. Don't suddenly do something stupid."

The patient was admittedly good-looking. But no NPC, however attractive, was worth the clear.

"Thank you for the reminder, Shi-ge." Curly Hair said nothing about knowing Chao Musheng. Players who'd cracked the top two hundred were seasoned to the bone — none of them were easy to deal with. And the higher the rank, the more instances cleared. Players who still had soft spots, who still operated with habits from the real world, didn't make it to two hundred.

They were players now, completely and entirely. Not people from the real world.

"Shi-ge and Curly Hair seem to get along well." You Jiu passed them with a mop bucket, his expression somewhere between amused and neutral. "Running into each other again — fate, isn't it?"

None of the five of them trusted the others, but no one was going to show their hand right now.

"Fate it is." Curly Hair raised an eyebrow. "Otherwise we wouldn't keep meeting so quickly."

She picked up the garbage bag and went downstairs to the collection area.

This floor was the premium ward, which meant no garbage was permitted to remain on the floor at any time — waste bins were to be emptied on a rolling basis, not a speck of dust on the windows.

The floors below housed rehabilitation and geriatric units. The lighting was bright and cold, and the hallways were quiet. Curly Hair went down the fire exit and barely saw a soul.

The collection area was immaculate. Every bag was tied off tightly, sorted by color. Aside from the smell of disinfectant, nothing.

"Watch your step." An older man pulling up in a small electric cleaning cart parked near the collection area. He noticed Curly Hair in full protective gear and helped move a few bags. "You're from the premium ward on nine?"

Curly Hair nodded. "How did you know, sir?"

"Only the ninth floor premium ward requires that level of kit for cleaning staff." The old man wore his coveralls without a hat, mask down around his chin.

She noticed a slight limp in his walk and helped him sort the bags into their proper sections.

"Thank you, young lady." He had a dark complexion and considerable energy for his age. "It's the lunch hour now — have you eaten?"

"Thank you, I'm not hungry." The mask had been on too long and she was glad to pull it off. She smiled at him. "Sir, this is my first day at the hospital — could you tell me what I should watch out for on the cleaning staff?"

"Other floors, you just need to work hard and stay diligent." He seemed to take to her on sight and elaborated: "I've only been at this hospital two or three months, but I've already heard that nine has gone through quite a few cleaners."

"What happened to them?"

"The patients on nine are all wealthy or well-connected. Some cleaners didn't know their place, ended up offending someone. Others got ideas they shouldn't have had — those didn't last either." He pulled a water bottle from the cart and took a long drink. "The kind of people with money have very particular ways. For ordinary folk like us, just do the work properly, don't ask extra questions, don't look where you're not meant to look."

"Dad."

A lean young man appeared, carrying a faded cloth bag with a thermal food container inside.

"Xiao Yi." The old man turned, and his whole face opened into a wide smile. "I told you to eat at the hospital canteen — it's cheap and clean. This heat, you rode your bike over here?"

"The family I tutor had their kids go out today so I didn't need to go in. I made chicken at home." The young man handed over the bag. "Mom's portion is already with her."

"Have you eaten?" The old man took his son's arm and pulled him to the steps of the fire exit to sit. "Come rest here first."

The young man sat on the step without a thought for whether it was dirty. "Dad, I already ate. You go ahead and eat while it's hot."

The thermal container opened. The smell of chicken broth reached Curly Hair's nose.

She swallowed. So she was a little hungry after all.

"Sir, enjoy your meal — I'll head back up." She didn't want to intrude on the two of them any longer and turned toward the stairs.

The young man gave her a polite smile and turned his attention back to his father.

*

Back on the ninth floor, Curly Hair found the bodyguards carrying an insulated crate and distributing boxed meals and drinks to the staff on the floor.

"Xiao Juan." The floor manager waved her over as soon as she appeared. "Mr. Chao is treating everyone to lunch — come get your portion."

Mr. Chao?

You Jiu, already holding a meal box, felt his skin prickle at the name. It was the same form of address from the last instance — the one associated with the NPC the system had wanted him to eliminate.

Impossible. After he'd used the forced exit card, that instance had collapsed immediately. The NPCs in a collapsed instance ceased to exist with it.

He took his meal box back to the cleaning staff room and dropped it in the bin.

The other three players, watching, showed no surprise. Food from an NPC, the more enticing it smelled, the more likely something was wrong.

"What a waste." Another player threw their box in too. Food this well-packaged was exactly like the queen's apple in Snow White — beautiful, sweet-smelling, and poisoned.

Qi Shi put his box on the table. Didn't eat. Didn't throw it away.

Curly Hair was the last one back. She came in carrying not only her meal box and soup, but also two pieces of fruit and a box of biscuits.

She looked at the garbage bin covered by a black bag, and at the empty hands of the three players, and said nothing. She sat down in a chair, pulled off the lid, and drank directly from the soup container.

Ding — warm nutritious soup consumed. HP +5.

She bit into a small fragrant pear.

Ding — fresh fruit consumed. HP +5.

Every eye in the room was on her. Aside from the sound of her chewing, the room was silent.

The smell of the food was remarkable. Curly Hair kept her head down and worked through the meal without looking up. She wasn't naive — she'd already worked out that Xiao Chao had arranged this specifically for her.

Ding — nutritious lunch consumed. HP +10.

The twenty HP she'd lost entering the instance was now fully restored.

Watching the others throw their boxes in the bin, her first reaction had been anger.

Then, after the anger, a sudden clarity — the players were right not to eat NPC food. That was the correct response. And her first instinct had been don't waste food.

She'd been in Xiao Chao's world too long. This world had gotten into her thinking.

For the first time, she understood exactly how Wan You had been absorbed into a world like this.

The players' wariness wasn't wrong. What was wrong was the Main God who had made them this way.

The room was full of the smell of the food. Hungry players swallowed quietly and looked away from Curly Hair.

Her expression gave nothing away. The food appeared to have no negative effect on her.

But no one asked whether it was safe to eat, because even if she answered, no one would believe her.

In an instance, mutual scheming and mutual suspicion were the norm.

"Is it good?" Qi Shi watched her get through half the box with no sign of stopping. He sat down beside her.

"Very." Curly Hair pointed to the 四海樓 logo on the box — Sihai Lou. "Missing this would be a serious mistake."

How expensive Sihai Lou food was — none of you uncultured players would understand.

No taste. Any of you.

Qi Shi hesitated. He remembered the expression on the patient in Ward Four when they'd made eye contact, and he opened the box.

The rice was pristine, the dishes vivid in color and smell. He couldn't help picking up a piece of chicken — tender, rich, impossible to stop at one.

Ding — slightly cooled nutritious lunch consumed. HP +5.

Qi Shi stared at his bowl in disbelief, then lifted the soup and drank.

Ding — warm nutritious broth consumed. HP +3.

Eight HP in rapid succession. He stopped thinking about anything else and ate.

"Those two..." The remaining players watched them eat with speed and dedication, and assumed the NPC food had compromised their judgment. They let a cold, disdainful smile show. Clear this many instances and still fall for something in the food. Whatever happens to them, they deserve it.

You Jiu, though, read something different in the two faces. He looked back at the bin with his discarded meal box inside, took less than three seconds, and bent down to retrieve it.

He went to sit beside Curly Hair and tasted a mouthful.

Ding — lunch consumed. HP +2.

His eyes went bright with something close to disbelief. Things like this still existed?

"All of you have lost it." The two remaining players watched three people eat without dignity and felt the cold move down their spines.

Even experienced players couldn't resist the food in this instance. This instance was genuinely dangerous.

With the smell still dragging at their appetites, afraid they'd end up in the same state as the three, they put their masks on and left the break room.

*

Red blood moved through the needle into the vacuum tube. Chao Musheng didn't flinch, but Xu Chenzhu sat beside him with his brow tightly furrowed, looking as though he were the one being drawn.

The nurse removed the needle and pressed a cotton ball over the puncture. "Mr. Chao, please hold this for three to five minutes before discarding it."

"I'll do it." Xu Chenzhu sat on the edge of the bed and pressed the cotton ball down himself.

"Mr. Xu — the blood panel results will be ready in about fifteen minutes. We'll prescribe accordingly." The doctor observed both of them. "Mr. Chao has high fever and fatigue, and may need an IV drip."

If Mr. Chao was President Xu's chief assistant, an IV course would mean several days of delays. Uncertain whether President Xu would have objections.

"The patient's health is the only consideration." Xu Chenzhu held the cotton ball steady, not a tremor in his fingers when he spoke. "Nothing else matters."

"Understood, Mr. Xu."

The heat from Chao Musheng's skin moved through the cotton ball into Xu Chenzhu's fingertips. Looking at the flush on his face, Xu Chenzhu's expression dimmed.

"Mr. Xu, I'm fine." Chao Musheng glanced at the clock on the wall. "You and Brother Liu haven't eaten yet. Go and eat first."

"It's all right. I'm not hungry." Xu Chenzhu put his other hand on Chao Musheng's forehead. His palm ran slightly cool; Chao Musheng's eyes closed with something like relief.

Five minutes later, Xu Chenzhu carefully lifted the cotton ball, confirmed no further bleeding at the puncture site, and adjusted Chao Musheng's sleeve back down. "Would you like to try sleeping again?"

"No energy, but can't sleep either." Chao Musheng reached for his phone. Nearly out of battery too.

"Mr. Xu — could you swap hands?" He shifted into the blanket. "Your left hand has already gotten warm from my forehead."

"Of course." Xu Chenzhu switched.

Outside the door, Secretary Liu intercepted the bodyguard who had been about to bring in the boss's meal.

"Hold on a minute before you go in. The boss isn't hungry yet."

The bodyguard blinked. "When will the boss be hungry?"

Secretary Liu looked through the gap in the door.

"Wait until the doctor comes back with the results."

The boss wasn't going to starve. He was running on something far more sustaining than food.

Breathing the same air was enough. He didn't even need water.