Bai Youwei glanced down at her wrist. Her follower count had already reached 105.
Now that she was squaring up directly against these two thugs, the number was surging faster than ever — rising seven or eight every second, and picking up speed.
She swept another glance at Yi Zichu’s count. His was slowing — several seconds would pass before it rose by one.
Probably because the audience had decided Yi Zichu was a lost cause, and had moved on to something more interesting to watch.
Bai Youwei turned this over quietly in her mind.
The rules of this world… were interesting.
“Hey!” The tall man saw that Bai Youwei still hadn’t said anything, and looked at her with suspicion. “Scared stiff?!”
The short man sniggered and nudged his partner with an elbow. “This one’s a looker, isn’t she? Bring her back for some fun?”
The tall man gave him an impatient look. “That little brat just called the cops. Police will be here soon. Don’t push our luck — we can always come back tonight.”
They were still somewhat wary of the prop police, but as long as they weren’t caught in the act, there was nothing to fear.
“I have something I’d like to give you both…” Bai Youwei said softly, and began reaching into her crossbody bag.
Both men paused.
The tall man raised an eyebrow. “What, are you going to pay their debt for them?”
“That’s not quite it…” Bai Youwei pulled out a white rabbit mask.
Both men stared blankly.
What in the world? What was a mask supposed to do — entertain the children?
Bai Youwei put the mask on unhurriedly, then reached into her bag again and produced a small black canister — barely larger than a tube of lip balm.
“Know what this is?” Bai Youwei said. “Open your eyes wide. Take a good look~”
Both men leaned in instinctively to look.
And then they watched as Bai Youwei twisted off the cap, revealing a spray nozzle. She aimed it directly at their eyes — *psssht* —
“AAAAAHHH!!!”
Both men screamed simultaneously!
They clapped their hands over their eyes and dropped to the ground, writhing. Then came a violent, explosive fit of coughing — chest-heaving, convulsive coughing that shook their entire frames! Tears and snot streamed freely! Their faces flushed red as if set on fire!
The spray was brutally potent. The two men practically crawled their way out, scrambling and rolling, nearly blinded, staggering and stumbling, wailing and sobbing — an utterly wretched spectacle!
Bai Youwei pulled off her mask and watched their retreating figures, saying mildly, “A rabbit mask and personal defense spray. Truly a perfect combination.”
Yi Zichu had been close enough to catch the edge of the spray. He covered his mouth and nose, coughing quietly.
He waved vigorously at the lingering peppery cloud as it slowly dispersed. His eyes had already gone red. He managed, with difficulty, to ask Bai Youwei: “Where did you get that spray?”
“I traded for it at the service station. 180 points — only 60 milliliters. Quite expensive.”
Bai Youwei capped the canister and put it away, then glanced at the sharply rising number on her wrist. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. “…Expensive, but for now, it’ll do.”
“180 points?!” Yi Zichu was stunned — his mind instantly snapping to what mattered.
How many packs of instant noodles could 180 points buy?!
He couldn’t help asking, “What about food and water? Did you buy those? If you don’t get any gift payments this month, then you…”
“Zichu-gege! This isn’t the time for that!” Ning Yao dragged herself up from the ground and, ignoring the pain all over her body, shouted urgently, “Those two aren’t going to just let this go! They’ll come back for revenge! Diandian and Jiujiu are so small — where would we even run?!”
She had been holding herself together stubbornly through the confrontation with the thugs. Now she broke into full, helpless tears.
Ning Yao sobbed loudly, “What do we do, Zichu-gege?! If I’d known it would come to this, I would have just let them take me! Why did we have to make enemies of them?! People like that will stop at nothing! ……”
Bai Youwei’s brow creased slightly.
“…So loud.”