Before Jiang Ye saw the accommodation Kun Wu had arranged for her and A Xing, she didn't pay much attention to Kun Wu's description of 'home'.
After all, to her, both this place and the disintegrated Wasteland were just temporary resting spots, not worthy of being called home.
But Ditch Street was more complete than Jiang Ye had imagined. It was like an absurd small town where most things were repurposed. The shapes were bizarre and awkward, yet there was a sense of unity, as if it was meant to be this way, naturally so.
There were no lush green grasses here, only mud all over.
Yet, even so, the expressions on the faces of the people here were entirely different from those on the Wasteland where Scar Tiger was.
When they saw Kun Wu appear with Jiang Ye and A Xing, everyone had smiles on their faces, and some even greeted Jiang Ye and A Xing enthusiastically.
They weren't exactly well-off; as Kun Wu said, they lived like rats.
But rats have their own happiness.
Jiang Ye followed behind Kun Wu, arriving at the place Kun Wu had prepared for her and A Xing.
It was a small house, made from a discarded starship. It had a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout. Although it didn't seem as large as the small wooden hut she had bought with money in the game, it felt much cozier.
In the game, it was Syrian-style, bare-bones decoration.
Here, this house had a touch of industrial style.
Though small, it had everything one needed.
"Are you satisfied?" Kun Wu asked.
Jiang Ye walked in and found that she didn't have to stoop or bend over like before. She could even take several wide strides forward. Every detail in the house, the clean furniture, made Jiang Ye feel Kun Wu's thoughtfulness.
She finally understood what Kun Wu meant by 'home'.
In this star system, to have such a place to settle down on such a wasteland could indeed be called a home.
Jiang Ye looked at A Xing's expression. This guy was already beaming with joy, like a lively puppy in a new home, looking around, sniffing everywhere, not missing a single detail.
"A Xing, do you like it?" Kun Wu asked.
"Do you need to ask?" Jiang Ye smiled.
"I like it, I like it!" A Xing replied happily.
He immediately lay on the floor and rolled around several times.
"It's been so long since I've lived in such a comfortable place."
A Xing sighed, his tone filled with relief.
After rolling, A Xing nimbly sat up, crossed his legs, played with his ankles, and looked up at Jiang Ye.
"Little Jiang, don't you like it?" A Xing said energetically, "From now on, this is our home!"
"I like it," Jiang Ye said with a smile.
A Xing stared intently at Jiang Ye's expression for a while. Then he suddenly stood up, slapped his thigh, and said seriously, "I know!"
"Know what?" Jiang Ye asked, not understanding.
"We can't be ecstatic about this small victory. After all, our journey is the star ocean. When our careers succeed in the future, we can live in even bigger and better houses! We can have even more and better lives!" A Xing shouted with grand ambition.
Jiang Ye shook her head, thinking this kid was suited for reading comprehension on Blue Star.
He would definitely get a high score.
She exchanged a look with Kun Wu, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.
To celebrate their arrival, Kun Wu decided to hold a small ceremony. Everyone gathered together and drank various flavors of nutrient solution.
Fresh vegetables were a luxury, something the people of the wasteland could not afford to taste.
What made this ceremony most joyful was that Kun Wu contributed two boxes of canned meat.
A Xing's eyes lit up with desire, and he drooled.
Jiang Ye tasted a little. She couldn't quite figure out what the meat was made of. Based on her past experience eating meat, this thing might not be real meat. She wasn't hungry and didn't want to show it in front of everyone, lest she spoil the mood.
Jiang Ye just said she was full from drinking the nutrient solution and told them to eat more.
At this small gathering, Jiang Ye and A Xing learned more about Kun Wu's story from the other inhabitants of Ditch Street.
It turned out that when he was imprisoned, his wife died in an accident, and even the child in her womb was lost.
As her subordinate mentioned this, Jiang Ye sat on a metal box and looked towards Kun Wu.
Kun Wu was at the entrance, welcoming a guest. He stood in the dark, his expression resolute, leaving one to wonder if he had heard Jiang Ye's conversation.
But the only certainty was that Jiang Ye knew he was a man who could keep secrets. It seemed as if he carried the sky on his shoulders, the sky of this wasteland.
"Brother Kun Wu!" a clear female voice called out.
A pretty and delicate-looking girl walked in, wearing a relaxed and enthusiastic smile.
"I'm here."
"Jiang Dongyue," Kun Wu introduced, "this is Jiang Ye and A Xing."
Jiang Dongyue greeted them, showing no shyness. She grabbed a metal box and sat next to Jiang Ye.
"Can I call you Sister Ye?" Jiang Dongyue asked.
"Of course," Jiang Ye said. Having been here for so long, this was the first time she had met such a lively girl in reality. She happily raised her nutrient solution and clinked glasses with Jiang Dongyue.
"Why are you eating this?" Jiang Dongyue saw the canned meat on the table.
"Want a bite?" someone nearby asked.
Jiang Dongyue shook her head with a hint of disgust.
"No," she said, lifting her chin, "this isn't good. I feel sick every time I smell it."
A Xing, who was scooping a large mouthful into his mouth, heard Jiang Dongyue's words. He quietly closed his mouth. He couldn't spit it out, nor could he swallow it.
Jiang Ye felt that Jiang Dongyue was too direct.
She quickly pulled Jiang Dongyue aside to chat. During their conversation, they happened to discuss the address for shopping on the Wasteland.
Jiang Ye remembered that Jing Lian had asked her to provide the address within three days to deliver the game pod, so she secretly memorized the address Jiang Dongyue mentioned.
After the welcoming reception concluded and everyone went home, Jiang Ye reconfirmed the address with Kun Wu, but she was still uneasy.
"Is there a way to help me handle this?" Jiang Ye asked.
"I'm familiar with this," A Xing leaned over, smiling playfully, "moving goods and selling them, isn't that my old profession?"
"You can, but why?" Kun Wu seemed confused.
"A Leaf Boat has a great reputation. I don't want anyone to have any chance to find me in reality," Jiang Ye said rationally, "After all, you and I both know that in reality, we struggle even to face a Scar Tiger, let alone others."
"If there's a direct address record, the game company can easily trace my location. This is not what I want."
"Farsighted!" A Xing gave a thumbs-up.
"Stop it," Jiang Ye pushed A Xing's head away.
"Just tell me if you can help me with this," Jiang Ye asked A Xing.
"No problem," A Xing readily agreed, "I can handle this small matter, boss. Just wait and see."
"However, Little Jiang, since when are you so rich? Are you planning to buy a new login device from the game company? Why don't you consider my channels? They're cheap and reliable."
"You're still talking about 'cheap and reliable' to me?" Jiang Ye narrowed her eyes, "Also, I'm not rich. This isn't a purchase. Technically, the game company is going to give me a login pod."
"Damn! There's such a good thing!" A Xing exclaimed.
"An unsolicited favor means something is fishy, Jiang Ye, you should be careful," Kun Wu frowned.
"See? A Xing, this is what we call 'vision'." Jiang Ye teased.
A Xing grumbled.
After Kun Wu left, he pulled Jiang Ye aside to whisper.
"Little Jiang, tell me, is this game pod being given to you because of a bug? As compensation."
"Yes."
With Jiang Ye's confirmation, A Xing's mind started to wander.
"Then, if I go to the black market now and specifically buy a malfunctioning login device, and also trigger a bug, will the game company give me a pod too?"
"You can try," Jiang Ye patted A Xing's head, "I'm going to log into the game now."
"Go ahead, go ahead," A Xing raised his hand to fix his hair and muttered, "Why does this guy always treat me like a kid? I'm the boss here, you know."
He checked his hairstyle in the mirror, satisfied, and returned to his room, genuinely starting to research the feasibility of exploiting bugs.
Jiang Ye wasn't as idle as A Xing.
The moment she logged into the game and opened her eyes, she met Jing Lian's handsome face.
"You weren't waiting for me in this wooden hut the whole time, were you?" Jiang Ye asked casually.
Jing Lian remained silent.
Jiang Ye reached out and tapped the shell of the pet egg.
Jing Lian was forced to let out a "Mm".
Jiang Ye made a gesture as if to continue tapping, and Jing Lian relented.
"Of course," he replied, his tone tinged with a hint of unacknowledged grievance, "After you logged off, you placed this egg on the table. I couldn't go anywhere and could only stand here waiting for you."
"No way? Why didn't you log off?" Jiang Ye wondered.
Are the NPCs who play real people this diligent now?
So dedicated and conscientious, never disappearing for 24 hours?
Jing Lian didn't speak, only gazing at Jiang Ye with his eyes as bright as the moon.
Unable to get a response, Jiang Ye didn't push it and silently began to do what she wanted to do.
The chickens she had asked A Xing to buy were already in her backpack. She planned to raise chickens during her island time, mainly because she hadn't eaten eggs in too long and was craving them.
She hadn't thought much of it before on Blue Star, but only after arriving here did she realize that tomato and egg stir-fry was actually a rare delicacy.
If the game store directly sold eggs, Jiang Ye wouldn't be in such trouble.
But they didn't.
Jiang Ye had to buy chickens and try her luck, hoping they could lay eggs and become the champions of the chicken world.
She picked a spot on the island and began to build a fence using the same method she had used to repair the wooden hut manually.
Jing Lian was forced to watch for a long time. Seeing the woman repeatedly hit the wood with her head, he couldn't stand it and carefully said, "Actually, I remember there are hammers in this game."
"It's fine, this is good too," Jiang Ye said dismissively, brushing the stray hairs from her forehead.
Not only can I build fences, but I can also practice the Iron Head Technique. It's killing two birds with one stone.
"By the way, can the live broadcast system that you guys turned off before be turned on again?" Jiang Ye asked while working.
"You want to turn it on?"
"Of course," Jiang Ye didn't hide her intentions, "I don't have much time left on this island anyway. I thought I could turn on the live broadcast and let everyone see my island life."
"Before, I only dared to stream from inside the wooden hut because I was worried about other players discovering abnormalities."
"Aren't you worried now?" Jing Lian asked.
"I only have a few days left to live, what am I worried about?" Jiang Ye smiled optimistically, "The real goal is to earn more money while I have the chance."
"I remember you said that the items in my account can be transferred to a new account, right? Including gold coins," Jiang Ye confirmed.
Jing Lian nodded.
"Phew." Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced at Jing Lian's expression. He still looked gentle and refined, but he hadn't agreed to her live broadcast request.
Jiang Ye decided to try reasoning first.
"You said that the time I spend on the island is free, right? Then, opening a live broadcast should be a player's free right, shouldn't it? Moreover, your map hasn't been updated yet, right? Just consider me a game tester, and you can save on testing costs. By using live broadcasts to show everyone the situation on the island, I can also observe other players' reactions to the current gameplay, can't I?"
Jing Lian still didn't give a clear "yes".
Jiang Ye had to pull out her trump card.
She lightly scratched the surface of the pet egg with the nail of her index finger.
"Mmm—" Jing Lian frowned.
Jiang Ye continued to stroke the pet egg rhythmically.
"Promise?" she threatened leisurely.
"You—" Jing Lian couldn't even finish a complete sentence, his mind filled with only two words.
Scoundrel.
Players are scoundrels.