"Hmph!"
Su Jin let out another dramatic snort as she scanned the QR code pasted on the food stall.
"One hundred yuan received!"A voice chirped from the boss's beat-up Bluetooth speaker.
The vendor blinked. "Little girl, that's too much. Really, I wasn't—"
"It's a thank-you tip, Uncle," Su Jin cut in, wiping her eyes and throwing the phone toward Wang Xian as she stormed off.
"Thanks again, boss," Wang Xian added with a polite nod, catching the phone. He could already guess what had happened from the exchange: no bag, no phone, no idea where to go. Classic Su Jin luck.
"Wait, young man—hey, at least take your change!" the boss called after him, reaching for his own phone.
"No need," Wang Xian replied, flipping a gold coin from his backpack onto the stall. "Keep it. Consider it interest."
Before the vendor could protest, Wang Xian turned and jogged after Su Jin.
The vendor froze, staring down at the gleaming coin.
"…Gold?" he murmured, stunned. He wasn't a digitization expert, but his son had ranted about gold coins. This one? Worth ten thousand dragon coins, at least. Maybe more.
Who the hell is that guy?
Wang Xian caught up to Su Jin easily and fell into step beside her. "Xiao Jin, where are you headed?"
"None of your business," she huffed, still munching her sandwich.
"What do you mean, 'none of my business'? I'm your brother-in-law."
"Was, past tense. Try to keep up." She didn't even look at him.
Wang Xian winced. Fair point.
"The situation with your sister… we'll talk about it later. But let's be real—your bag got stolen, your ID is gone, and you've got no money or phone. If I don't help you, who will?"
Su Jin paused mid-chew, clearly caught off-guard.
"…I'll figure it out," she muttered.
"By doing what? Starving on principle?"
She turned to glare. "Being abducted sounds better than hanging around a scumbag like you!"
Wang Xian actually laughed at that. "You little brat…"
Then he lunged forward, grabbed the collar of her hoodie, and lifted her off the ground like a feisty kitten.
"W-Wang Xian! Put me down!"
She kicked and flailed, but his grip was steady, and she weighed practically nothing to someone with his current strength stat.
"Nope. Time for a time-out," he said, ignoring her protests and carrying her back toward his electric tricycle like a sack of flour.
They passed the sandwich stall again. The boss caught sight of them and chuckled. "Got your hands full, eh?"
Wang Xian just nodded, grinning.
Su Jin finally gave up struggling and took another bite of her sandwich, fuming but silent.
At the parking lot, Wang Xian gently set Su Jin down in the tricycle's rear seat, then paid to retrieve the vehicle and started the engine.
For a while, they traveled in silence—until Wang Xian felt her tug on his sleeve.
"What is it?"
Su Jin didn't say a word. She just pointed off to the right.
He turned to look—and burst out laughing.
"Seafood market?"
Su Jin gave a small nod, cheeks pink.
"Hungry again already?"
"…Shut up."
He didn't press her further. With a chuckle, Wang Xian pulled the trike around and headed for the market.
Inside, the seafood had, like everything else, undergone digitization. Most creatures were level 0 to 3, some as high as level 5, but all still manageable. And delicious.
"What do you want to eat?"
"All of it," Su Jin said, squatting beside a tank of king crabs with glimmering eyes.
Wang Xian parked the tricycle and turned to the vendor.
"Boss, two king crabs."
"No—!" Su Jin blurted, jumping up. "I don't like crab!"
The vendor paused, confused.
"She's lying," Wang Xian said. "Give me your two biggest."
"You got it!" the vendor beamed, eager to sell.
"You idiot, those things are expensive!" Su Jin hissed as the vendor wrestled a crab the size of a tire out of the tank.
Wang Xian waved her off. "Don't worry about it."
Then he pointed around randomly. "Boss, toss in some of that. That one. That big one. Whatever that weird spiky thing is—yeah, that too."
The vendor grinned wide, piling seafood into the cart until Su Jin was squeezed into the corner by sacks of shellfish and fish that flopped harmlessly due to their low level.
"How much?" Wang Xian asked casually.
The vendor wiped his hands and said, "Normally? Thirty-five thousand seven hundred. But I'll cut it down to thirty-five flat."
Wang Xian let out a low whistle. "Yikes. Not cheap."
He reached for his phone.
"Thirty-five what?!" Su Jin screeched, bolting upright. "No! Absolutely not!"
She scrambled toward Wang Xian, trying to block the scan code. "Don't pay! Don't you dare pay—!"
"Sit down," Wang Xian said calmly, placing one hand on her forehead and gently pushing her back into the seat.
Beep!
"Payment confirmed," the vendor's speaker chirped.
The vendor beamed.
Su Jin glared up at Wang Xian from beneath a pile of shrimp and indignation.
"You're out of your mind…"
Wang Xian grinned. "Sure. But at least you're not hungry."