Someone Paid Me to Keep Her Alive

Ring, ring, ring—
The living room phone rang again.

Wang Chunying grumbled about how lively it was today, put down the dishes she was clearing, and went to answer it.

“Who are you looking for? Yes, Wang Xiaoer is here at home.”
Holding the receiver, Wang Chunying looked at Bai Ke.
“I’ll let him come to the phone.”

Bai Ke froze, pointing at himself instinctively.
“Me?!”

“Xiao’er, it’s for you.”
Wang Chunying put the phone down and went back to washing the dishes.

Bai Ke exchanged a bewildered glance with Su Lai.

“Hello?”
Bai Ke picked up the phone hesitantly.
Su Lai took over his task of clearing the table.

Wang Chunying turned on the faucet, gossiping over the rush of water.
“The one who called is a girl.
Her voice sounds very young.”

“Your cousin’s really something. I never pegged him as the type girls like.
He’s only been here two days, and already a girl’s calling for him.”

Wang Chunying slanted a glance at Su Lai, her murky eyes full of implication.
Su Lai’s expression was blank.
“I have Mom. That’s enough.”

With that one sentence, he effectively shut down any further nosy长辈 chatter.

Over by the phone, Bai Ke was fidgeting nervously.
The receiver in his hand felt like a hot potato.
Frowning, he kept shooting pleading looks at Su Lai.
Finally, he put the receiver down.
“Cousin… actually, they want to talk to you.”

Wang Chunying and Su Lai: “…”

“Wang Xiaosi, an opportunity for cooperation has arrived.”
Qi Mu’s voice came from the other end of the line.

That morning at the Village Committee office, he had left Wang Chunying’s landline number with Qi Mu and Qi Mao, stating he was in the delivery business and open for collaboration.
Among that group of players in the office, a single glance had told him the siblings were experienced veterans.

Qi Mu was concise.
“Not delivering goods. Delivering a person.”

Su Lai didn’t ask unnecessary questions either.
He responded directly.
“Alive or dead?”

Qi Mu: “Alive. You’ve seen her.”

Su Lai glanced at his little e-bike parked outside.
“Just so you know, live ones are more expensive. Especially live ones you know.”

It was a monopoly, after all.
He wasn’t afraid of price gouging.

Qi Mu laughed.
“No problem. The person to deliver is Bei Yao from this morning. Try to keep her alive, okay?”

Bei Yao. The other female player that morning, besides Qi Mu.
Also one of Pervert Xu’s tenants.

Su Lai was puzzled.
That morning, Qi Mu and Bei Yao hadn’t seemed to know each other.
So why was Qi Mu placing this request now?
Were they that close? Or had they reached some agreement?

When Wang Chunying first answered the phone, why had the caller asked for Bai Ke instead of directly for him?
Was Qi Mu’s real purpose really to help Bei Yao?

Su Lai didn’t quite believe that goodwill transcending boundaries could exist in a world governed by the law of the jungle.
Especially not from experienced players.

Sensing Su Lai’s silence on the other end of the line, Qi Mu threw out a figure.
“8888. Try your best to keep her alive until 7 PM. How about it?”

Su Lai paused.
“Renminbi?”
He confirmed.

Qi Mu paused too.
“Mm. Cash.”

Su Lai named his price.
“How about making it a round number?”

Qi Mu: “Ten thousand cash.”

It was now 1 PM. Six hours until 7 PM.
Six hours, ten thousand, for delivering a person.
And the client was leaving wiggle room, saying “try your best to keep her alive.” The unspoken implication was that if she died, oh well.

Sounded like a decent gig.

Su Lai: “Deal.”
Money made the world go round, especially for a cash-strapped living person like him.

Su Lai pulled out pen and paper.
“Pickup address and delivery address.”

Qi Mu: “Pickup address is the Village Committee office. Better be quick, though. If Bei Yao dies before you get there, your order is cancelled.”
“As for the delivery address, use your judgment. My only requirement is keeping her alive until 7.”

This wasn’t a delivery job; it was a bodyguard gig.
But the hefty fee made Su Lai swallow any complaints.

After hanging up, Su Lai briefly filled Bai Ke in on the job.

Bai Ke jumped up in protest.
“Cousin, this task is bad news. Bei Yao is being hunted by Pervert Xu right now. Why wade into that mess? Offending an original resident NPC is definitely not good…”
His voice trailed off as he suddenly remembered just how many original residents his cousin had already offended in half a day.

“And something feels off. Qi Mu doesn’t seem like the type to be this helpful…”

Su Lai: “Think of the money.”
Ten thousand for just six hours.

Bai Ke: “I’m afraid of having money to earn but no life to spend it.”

Su Lai gave him a cool glance.
“Fine.”
“Then forget the money. Cousin, how about doing me a favor?” He rephrased.

Bai Ke: “…”
Left speechless, he gritted his teeth.
“Fine.”

Who asked him to latch onto this thigh and board this pirate ship?

In the time it took to answer the phone, Uncle Wang had already fixed the e-bike tire and charged it up.

Wang Chunying even handed him a protective charm.
“Little Four, it’s chaotic out there. All sorts of neighbors. Take this. It carries my thoughts for you. Can protect you in danger.”

Su Lai took the yellow charm.
He noticed it had a pixelated red eye drawn on it.

—Eyes again.

He tucked away this charm, condensed with firm maternal love.

Before leaving, Su Lai asked Wang Chunying.
“Does Pervert Xu have any family living nearby?”

Wang Chunying nodded.
“He has a ferocious mother. Loves face and is hard to please. Often chases kids down the street scolding them. Used to sell tofu at the market entrance. People called her Tofu Cixi.”

“Then that makes it easy,” Su Lai said.

He’d already tested it during his nap. The rule about [Pointing and Whispering] applied to everyone, regardless of whether they were outsiders or original residents.
After all, others are hell. In a residential area like an urban village with no privacy, it was the hell of hells. No one was immune.

And with Pervert Xu having a Tofu Cixi mother, he should be even more susceptible to pointing and whispering.
Might as well use this money-making opportunity to test the rules.

After giving Bai Ke a few instructions, Su Lai removed the delivery box from the back seat, put on his helmet, and prepared to leave.

Bai Ke: “… You could have told me earlier the delivery box didn’t have to stay on the bike. I wouldn’t have had to hug it all this time.”

Su Lai: “Hugging it gives you a sense of security.”
“When you’re scared, you can bury your head in the box.”

Bai Ke: “…”
Hard to argue with the boss’s logic.

“See you later.”
Su Lai started his little e-bike and sped off.

* * * *

The system suddenly issued continuous alarms.
Bei Yao looked at her interface.
The 27 hours of survival time she had painstakingly accumulated were plummeting rapidly.

[Due to your resident affection rapidly decreasing, already converted survival time will be deducted.]
[Resident Affection -1]
[Survival Time -1]
[…]

A stream of -1s flashed across her system interface.
Bei Yao’s eyes widened in horror—
So the survival time earned by converting affection could be reduced if affection decreased!

If it accidentally fell into negative territory…
The answer was obvious.
Bei Yao forced herself to calm down and quickly reviewed the possibilities for the affection drop.

She had strictly followed the resident guidelines and done nothing out of bounds.
Why was her affection suddenly dropping so sharply?
The contaminated world operated by its own rules. Affection couldn’t drop for no reason. There had to be some hidden cause…

By the time her survival time had been deducted down to a mere 3 hours, the static-filled TV received a signal.

On the screen, her landlord Brother Xu appeared, carrying two watermelon knives, angrily striding through a narrow alley.
His eyeballs rolled up and down.
His thick lips, stained with watermelon juice, quivered incessantly as he repeatedly chanted her name and various obscenities.

With every step Brother Xu took, his fat jiggled.
His sweaty skin gleamed greasily in the dim light, like a half-melted lump of lard.

The sight was nauseating even through a screen.

Suddenly, all her questions had answers.
Someone had leaked her report plan to landlord Xu.
Obviously, it was Director Jia, who had suddenly returned to the rental house.

Having deduced the cause and effect, Bei Yao immediately headed for the Village Committee office.
Qi Mu and Qi Mao happened to be walking that way too.

The staff member was just opening her thermos, about to take her first sip of tea during her午休 break.

“Our task is to find the peeper in the community before 7 PM, right?”
Bei Yao asked breathlessly.

The staff member frowned impatiently and nodded.
“Correct.”

“Meaning we can report them anytime before 7, correct?”
She opened her phone album and placed the evidence of the landlord’s threats from last night in front of the staff member.
“I want to report Brother Xu from 174 Huai’an Lane. He was peeping at me from the balcony last night.”
“I rent his house. This is the evidence.”

The office fan whirred, the whole room filled with the sluggishness of an afternoon nap.
The tension belonged to Bei Yao alone.

The staff member couldn’t even be bothered to lift an eyelid.
She casually pulled out a registry book.
“Register the names of the reporter and the reported person.”

Names? Bei Yao quickly retrieved her rental contract, which had the landlord’s signature.
She wrote: Reporter: Bei Yao; Reported Person: Xu Zhiwei.

Bei Yao handed the completed registry back to the staff member.
The old auntie waved her hand.
“Alright. You can go now.”

“What?”
Bei Yao was stunned.
“Aren’t you going to take any measures?”

The staff member had no intention of answering her question.
She tossed the registration form aside carelessly, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes to rest.

“Hey?!”
Bei Yao’s shoulders tensed, leaning forward.
“I need an explanation.”
Her voice trembled with urgency.

The staff member lazily cracked open one eyelid and pointed at the clock on the wall.
“Deadline. 7 PM.”

Bei Yao: “What does that mean?”

This time, the staff member truly refused to answer.
She simply pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for quiet.

Did this mean measures against the reported “peeper” would only be taken after the answer was announced at 7 PM?

How was she, with less than 3 hours left, supposed to survive until 7 PM?
Landlord Xu Zhiwei was already out there waving a knife, wanting to chop her.
She couldn’t exactly stroll around earning affection now.

The staff member rested her hand on the desk, tapping the edge with increasing impatience.
“Now. Immediately.”

“How can you…”
Bei Yao’s eyes reddened with desperation.
Flustered and helpless, she was pulled out of the office by Hu Xiang.

“Sister Bei Yao, the staff member’s already impatient. Better not make things difficult for them,” Hu Xiang advised.

“Then what am I supposed to do…”
Bei Yao looked at her dwindling survival time, nearing collapse.
“How can they just do nothing? Xu Zhiwei is out there with a knife wanting to kill me!”

“Sister Bei Yao…” Hu Xiang was at a loss for words.

“I found you a rescuer. You owe me one. Deal?”
Qi Mu, who had been on the phone outside the office, spoke up.

Bei Yao frowned in confusion.
“Rescuer?”

Qi Mu pointed at the public phone booth nearby.
“Yeah. Just called for. Fresh and hot.”

Bei Yao grew even more suspicious.
She had tried this public phone too. But the phones here were just decorations; they couldn’t dial out.
How had Qi Mu managed it?

But there was no time to dwell on it.
Xu Zhiwei, wielding his knife, appeared at the street corner.
He locked onto Bei Yao’s direction and charged.

Damn it.
Bei Yao had no combat skills, no defensive items.

As players, they couldn’t just attack NPCs arbitrarily.
For a moment, she panicked.

She looked to Hu Xiang for help.
Hu Xiang, however, ran faster than she did.

“Men. Can’t rely on them.”
Qi Mu smiled coolly beside her, pointing at the other street corner.
“Lucky you. Your rescuer’s here.”
“A ten-thousand-kuai rescuer. Not cheap. Hope he’s worth it.”

The buzzing sound of an e-bike filled the air.

Following Qi Mu’s pointing finger, Bei Yao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

A pair of pink flip-flops and a battered little e-bike appeared in her field of vision.

This fresh rescuer moved quickly.
He reached the Village Committee entrance just before Pervert Xu could.

Bei Yao was still a bit dazed.
In her panic, one question instinctively popped out.
“Isn’t that delivery guy in flip-flops also a man?”

Just a moment ago, Qi Mu had complained that men couldn’t be relied on.

Qi Mu shrugged.
“Yeah. So he might not be reliable either. Gotta gamble, right?”