He was amused for a moment by her whimsical idea.
Begging together?
It sounded quite interesting.
"Wait for me a moment."
Shen Ruxu didn't have anything to do at the moment, and the base wasn't too far from Shen Yi's location.
After finishing the phone call, the two agreed on a meeting place for the evening, and he just brazenly abducted her like that.
It wasn't too late at this time. Everyone at the base was gathered together chatting. A female member leaned back in her chair and waved her hand without looking back: "Hi, Shen Ruxu, I ordered some milk tea, do you want some?"
Shen Ruxu casually grabbed a cup, and as if remembering something, he turned sideways, revealing the little girl behind him carrying a backpack, who was poking her head out and observing the place.
"I brought someone back," he said in a casual tone. "Don't let her starve to death. Remember to share a little with her when you eat."
In his view, raising a child was fine as long as they weren't killed or starved to death.
After all, that was exactly how Shen Ruxu had been raised by his parents since childhood.
In their early years, Wen Ya was the one making money to support the family, while Shen Sixing was responsible for staying at home and taking care of the children.
And the phrase 'before children develop intelligence, they should all be raised like dogs' was only taken to heart by his dad.
Shen Sixing always found him too noisy when he was little. When he got annoyed with taking care of the kid, he would often casually lock him in a dog cage, euphemistically calling it cultivating the child's independence.
However, when his mom found out, she would usually shove his dad's head into the trash can to reflect on his actions.
Shen Ruxu didn't really understand how normal people raised children. Anyway, the conclusion he drew from his parents was that not starving someone to death was already very good.
"Pfft—" Suddenly seeing a little girl following behind him, one of the men almost choked on his milk tea. "Your child?"
"No," Shen Ruxu reached out and touched the back of her head, pulling her into a hug. His eyes curved into two beautiful crescents, and his voice was as brisk as if he were humming a song. "She's my sister. My younger sister."
As he said this, the corners of his mouth were turned up, the end of his sentence rising with a hint of inexplicable, unconcealable pride.
The base fell silent for a second.
Then the man who had choked on his milk tea widened his eyes: "So you're not an orphan?"
Shen Ruxu turned his head. "Did you all think I was an orphan?"
"Yeah." A girl next to them who was munching on an apple chimed in, her tone matter-of-fact. "We've never heard you mention anyone in your family. Besides, those who can do our line of work mostly have pretty rough backgrounds."
There were those who went down the path of no return into crime because of poverty, highly intelligent individuals whose minds were twisted due to family factors, and then there were orphans who were self-taught geniuses.
Normal, good people wouldn't be able to do this kind of work anyway.
Shen Ruxu thought about it.
He indeed never brought up matters concerning his family. After all, there was nothing much to say.
His parents were busy with murder and arson, everyone was doing their own thing, and he was wandering outside all by himself. It really wasn't any different from being an orphan.
He didn't explain further.
Shen Yi followed behind him.
This base was much more normal than she had imagined.
It wasn't some gloomy basement, nor was it an armory filled with weapons and ammunition.
It was just an ordinary office with desks, swivel chairs, computers, and documents, along with a messy assortment of daily necessities.
There was a small refrigerator in the corner. A few sticky notes were attached to the fridge door, reading harmless jokes like "The milk is gone," "Who took my yogurt," and "I'll kill you tomorrow."
It was just...
She turned her head and saw that the wall not far away was densely covered with photos of unknown individuals. Some people had been circled with a red pen, making it look exceptionally ominous.
Shen Ruxu sat on the sofa in the break room and handed the fruit tea in his hand to Shen Yi.
He then went to get another cup of milk tea for himself.
He preferred sweet things.
But Shen Yi didn't really like the taste of fruit tea either.
She had always felt that the limes in fruit tea were a bit bitter. Glancing at Shen Ruxu's milk tea, the girl decisively raised her cup and leaned closer to Shen Ruxu: "Brother, let's swap."
Shen Ruxu didn't even turn his head: "In your dreams."
Rejected, Shen Yi didn't give up. She raised the fruit tea a bit higher, almost shoving it in his face: "Then you can drink my fruit tea, and I'll order some takeout."
She felt like she hadn't had takeout milk tea in eight lifetimes. Home-cooked meals were healthy, of course.
But junk food truly made one feel delighted.
"Do you even have money to order takeout? Kids shouldn't be spendthrifts. Finish what's in your hands first. Don't waste food, Xiao Yi."
Shen Ruxu replied without even lifting his head.
For some reason.
He couldn't help but want to tease her every time.
Being lectured by Shen Ruxu with such a heavy dad-vibe made Shen Yi even angrier.
She reached out and forcefully pushed his head down from behind. "Then drink it all yourself! You can have both cups!"
Shen Ruxu's face was pressed against the laptop keyboard, typing out a string of gibberish on the screen.
He let out a muffled groan but wasn't angry. He simply raised his hand and, smiling, pressed down on Shen Yi's head, refusing to show weakness.
"You're actually letting me drink two cups? Thank you so much, Shen Yi, but you should drink too. Your brother's heart aches for you."
The siblings pressed each other's heads down.
Their eyes were fixed firmly on one another.
Shen Yi: "I don't want to drink fruit tea! I want milk tea!"
Shen Ruxu: "Our conditions here don't allow us to order takeout."
Shen Yi was in disbelief. She couldn't imagine anyone being so badly off that they didn't even have enough money for a cup of milk tea.
She let go of the hand pressing on his head, walked around to the side, grabbed his collar, and pulled back hard.
"Where is your money? Shen Ruxu."
Shen Ruxu: "..."
He was suddenly choked by the collar, his breathing hitching slightly.
What a brat.
Shen Ruxu was almost strangled to death. He finally understood this person.
Her docility was faked. Once she confirmed that the other party posed no threat, she would push her luck.
Actually, he could tell that the underlying tone of Shen Yi's personality was somewhat tinged with a bandit-like aura.
Perhaps it was due to the unpleasantness of her past in the orphanage? She had been suppressing her emotions, but now her whole being carried a kind of brightness, like clouds parting to reveal the sun.
...And, she was a bit too lively.
Being dragged by the collar by her, Shen Ruxu felt a bit helpless.
His voice softened, carrying a hint of resignation: "It hurts, Shen Yi. Didn't I tell you before? I lost it all gambling."
"I was just about to go out and rob some money to spend. Do you want to come with me?"
"..."
Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, Shen Yi fell silent for two seconds and let go: "No thanks. If you go to prison for robbery and get sentenced to thirty years, I'll be the only one in the family who can bring you meals."
As the saying goes, poor siblings have a miserable life in everything.
Ah, wait!
Shen Yi suddenly remembered what she had brought with her.
She quickly unzipped her backpack and held it up for him to see: "Second Brother, I have money."
Shen Ruxu glanced over casually.
As a result, his gaze paused slightly as he discovered that this girl was actually carrying a backpack full of bright red, brand-new banknotes.
When Shen Yi came, she had hurriedly withdrawn a whole backpack of cash from her card, precisely to prevent the two siblings from ending up living on the streets.
"..."
Shen Ruxu: "Who gave you this?"
"Third Brother." After answering, Shen Yi tilted her head back, a bit elated: "From now on, I'm going to eat takeout, instant noodles, and junk food."
The very first thing to do after escaping parental control is to get into some junk.
Shen Ruxu reached out and hefted the backpack full of cash. Successfully won over by the overwhelming weight of the money, he readily agreed,
"No problem."
The other members in the base were actually quite easy to get along with.
They were completely different from the vicious and dangerous criminals Shen Yi had imagined.
"Hey, Xiao Yi, have you finished your homework?"
When evil adults question kids, they always ask about grades and homework.
"My school got blown up."
"Classes are temporarily suspended," Shen Yi added. "So there is no homework."
Her school got blown up...
He paused for a moment, not taking her words as a joke, but analyzing them instead.
Speaking of recent school incidents...
The most sensational one was undoubtedly Hejing International School.
Looking again at the girl dressed head-to-toe in designer brands, coupled with the backpack of cash on the table, his mouth twitched. "You're a student at Hejing?"
"Yes."
"Oh, then I suppose I know why your school suspended classes."
He tried to hold back a laugh. "Hahahaha, the mastermind behind this incident was called Changtian, right? They were seriously hilarious. They made such a massive scene with all the TV coverage, only to end up dying in such an obscure, baffling way."
